Civil War

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

(January 6, 2027)

As President Davidson makes his way to the White House press room for what is now becoming his daily trip to the room to speak to the press, he's going over his plan for what he's going to say today. Since today's message is meant more for the international community, and it's about a bit of a delicate subject, he know he has to be delicate about how he presents his message, especially if he wants to avoid worsening America's relations with countries all over the world by the end of his speech.

As he enters the room, he hears, "And now, the President of the United States." Davidson walks into view of the cameras and reporters and takes his place at the podium.

"Good morning," he greets everyone assembled in the room before he continues with his speech, "Less than a week ago, the governments of Poland and Ukraine announced their recognition of the rebel movements in Texas and the so-called UAR. To say that such a move is a great betrayal is stating it lightly. The United States has enjoyed good relations with the people of Ukraine for many years, and Poland has been one of our greatest friends since joining NATO almost 30 years ago. This move by their governments spits in the face of the relationships we have formed, but we do not wish for things to be like this."

"After consulting with my Cabinet, I wish to present a warning to the countries that have given their recognition to Texas and the so-called UAR. The government of the United States of America does not take lightly your decisions, and consider it tantamount to an act of aggression. If you do not retract your announcements and remove your diplomatic recognition of the rebel groups, then the government of the United States will be forced to sever all diplomatic relations. We do not wish to lose the relationships our countries have built together, but must take this step if other countries refuse to accept our complete sovereignty."

"To the rest of the world, I now issue the same warning. Should any further countries grant diplomatic recognition to Texas or the UAR, it will result in the immediate termination of all diplomatic relations with the United States of America. We do not wish to see this happen, and encourage no further countries to grant recognition to these radical secessionist groups."

"These rebels in the southern states will be dealt with, and the states in question will be returned to the Union. I encourage countries around the world not to risk relationships with the United States over a lost cause such as this. This Union will be preserved, and those who have put their efforts towards its destruction will be punished."

As he continues speaking, he internally sights with relief. He feels that he handled it pretty well, and presented his terms in a calm, rational tone that will hopefully avoid causing undue strain in foreign relations.

He has no idea how wrong he is.

(That evening)

On a couch in the Oval Office, Davidson slumps a bit in the cushions and rests his forehead in his hand. Today had absolutely not gone as planned.

After he made his announcement, he had hoped that at least one of the countries that had granted recognition to Texas or the UAR would retract it, or at the very least, he wouldn't hear anything about it. Instead, he had gotten almost the exact opposite. Within 4 hours of the news conference, President Pardo held a news conference in Mexico City in which she had announced that Mexico was officially cutting all diplomatic relations with the United States, gave a deadline for the US ambassador to leave the country, and recalled their own ambassador in Washington. This was followed 2 hours later by President Zelenskyy announcing that Ukraine was following in Mexico's footsteps and cutting diplomatic relations with the United States. This was followed an hour later by Brazil doing the same, and finally, an hour ago, Poland had announced they were cutting diplomatic relations with the US.

Poland's move of cutting diplomatic relations caused some serious problems. Although NATO had a history of members with serious tensions with another, namely Greece and Turkey, these tensions had never involved a member cutting ties with the United States, the alliance's biggest and most powerful member. This would a be a big change for how NATO would operate going forward, and could be a big changer for Poland's defense, with Poland likely to turn further towards South Korea and Germany for arms, and potentially Texas. The fact that Poland was also recognizing Texas and the UAR as sovereign countries added another layer of complexity to the situation.

However, another move made by another country had Davidson perhaps even more worried than the other 4 cutting ties with the US. That had come in the early afternoon, when the government of Taiwan issued an announcement. Davidson had not expected a response from Taiwan, since they already didn't have diplomatic relations with the US, and what informal relations they did have were almost dead.

However, Davidson had been mistaken. The government of Taiwan issued an official press release in which they stated that they no longer recognized the government in Washington DC as the rightful government of the United States. Instead, they were recognizing the UAR as the rightful government of the United States.

This was a dangerous move for Davidson's regime. If other countries began to follow Taiwan's example and recognize the UAR as the rightful government of the United States, it could threaten the US' place in various international organizations. He especially worried about it being used as justification to throw the US out of NATO or off the UN Security Council.

Davidson looks across the room, where Admiral Grady is sitting, one of several men who had been summoned for a late meeting with the president. "Admiral, we need to maintain pressure on the rebels. But we can't afford to waste any troops in massive attacks where they'll just be slaughtered. I want the Army to start probing attacks along Florida's northern border."

"Yes, Mr. President," Admiral Grady responds simply.