Perspective: The Cost of Thinking in Commodities, What Comes After Deal-First Foreign Policy

A Slovenian weekly really went there with a viral cover that splashes U.S. President Donald Trump front and center — crude oil dripping from his nose in a shape uncannily like Hitler’s mustache and the blunt headline “American Attack on Venezuela.” The artwork, for Objektiv (the weekly supplement of Slovenia’s Dnevnik), was crafted by political illustrator Tomato Košir as a visual indictment of Trump’s Venezuela policy, arguing it’s driven not by democracy but by oil and profit. Coming from Melania Trump’s home country, the image has ignited global debate and amassed millions of views online, distilling huge geopolitical critique into one provocative visual.

The cover doesn’t invent a new critique, it crystallizes an old one. For much of the world, U.S. power abroad has long seemed driven by deals rather than doctrine, and the image signals that history isn’t just watching — it’s weighing whether this approach will endure.

— Asli Omur for GP