From Trump to Cyprus: when loyalty collides with reality

The disruption caused by Donald Trump’s presidency continues to reverberate far beyond the United States. Whether in foreign policy or domestic governance, his instinct to dismiss inconvenient facts rather than confront them has become an increasingly defining feature of his administration. The ranks of those who once supported the president unequivocally, only to later regret it, continue to grow. Mitch McConnell, Elon Musk and Marjorie Taylor Greene have all, in different ways, distanced themselves from Trump. The latest addition is, remarkably, Jeanine Pirro, the district attorney for the District of Columbia. A former judge and Fox News host, Pirro built a reputation as one of Trump’s most enthusiastic defenders. Rarely, if ever, did she publicly question the president’s actions. That unwavering loyalty was ultimately rewarded with her appointment as district attorney. Reality, however, has a habit of intruding. The catalyst was the renovation of Washington’s famous Reflecting Pool. As part of the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, Trump ordered the refurbishment of the landmark at a reported public cost of $14 million. The contract, awarded without a competitive tender to a company owned by a Trump donor, was rushed to meet the Independence Day deadline. The result was far from impressive. Instead of a crystal-clear reflecting pool, visitors were greeted by what looked more like a stagnant green pond, covered in algae. Although numerous reports attributed the problem to construction errors, Trump dismissed them as “fake news”, insisting instead that vandals were responsible. Acting in her capacity as district attorney, Pirro charged David Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympian, with vandalism after he was seen lifting a section of liner floating on the surface of the pool. Last week, however, Pirro dropped the charges after concluding there was no evidence to support the prosecution. More significantly, her office stated that the pool’s condition resulted from mistakes made during the renovation project, directly contradicting the president’s account. It was a striking acknowledgement that facts, eventually, have a way of reasserting themselves. Trump responded in his customary fashion. Rather than reconsider his position, he publicly criticised Pirro, claiming she had done “a really bad job”. Years of unwavering loyalty counted for little. Like many devoted supporters before her, Pirro discovered that, in Trump’s world, allegiance is valued only for as long as it remains unquestioning. The episode reminded me of an interview given to Kathimerini last Sunday by Cyprus’ former energy minister, George Papanastasiou. Although the circumstances are entirely different, there is a common thread: the willingness – or otherwise – to acknowledge reality when it collides with political loyalty. Papanastasiou, who left office in the previous cabinet reshuffle, remained diplomatic about his departure. Without directly criticising President Nikos Christodoulides, he hinted that he had not received the political backing he had expected. He argued that he had encountered resistance from powerful financial interests in the renewable energy sector, whose exceptionally high returns could be affected by changes in energy policy. He also suggested that he had failed to convince certain “economic actors” – widely interpreted as a reference to Finance Minister Makis Keravnos – of the strategic importance of proceeding with the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), the project designed to link the electricity grids of Cyprus, Greece and, ultimately, Israel. As an economist and accountant, I take issue with the broad characterisation of “economic actors” as somehow incapable of appreciating the wider strategic picture. Then again, I have myself criticised Keravnos on several occasions for what I considered his excessively short-term approach on a number of projects. Events over the past week may now offer him an opportunity to prove otherwise. On Wednesday, the French infrastructure investment group Meridiam announced that it had acquired a 66 per cent stake in the GSI from the Greek transmission system operator Admie. Meridiam has an impressive international track record in delivering major infrastructure projects, and its participation significantly strengthens both the financial credibility and the long-term viability of the interconnector. When I previously questioned Keravnos’ reservations about the project, several readers contacted me to argue that I had overlooked an important consideration. They maintained that Admie’s takeover of the project from the Cypriot-owned EuroAsia Interconnector in 2023 had tilted the balance too far in favour of Greek interests at the expense of Cyprus, an issue that reportedly caused disconcert from parts of the Greek government. Whether or not that argument was justified, many of those concerns have now been substantially addressed. With Meridiam holding a controlling 66 per cent stake, while Admie retains a 34 per cent share and responsibility for the technical implementation, fears that the project might be unduly dominated by one party appear considerably less persuasive. The arguments for delaying the project will therefore now be put to the test. Whether Keravnos continues to insist that the project is not viable is unclear. I hope that he does not display the stubbornness that Trump is famous for. Otherwise, Cyprus risks repeating a familiar mistake: allowing political obstinacy to stand in the way of long-term national interest. Unlike Washington’s reflecting pool, the consequences would not simply be cosmetic. They would shape the island’s energy security and economic resilience for decades to come.