The proximate cause of the breakup was the granting of a preliminary injunction against the deal by U.S.

A lot of research, and especially mainstream media, conflate the proximate cause of something with the underlying cause of it.

It's understandable that people are focused on the proximate threat of Donald Trumpov, but the Trumpov administration, as you just said, was a clown show.

The filing said the accident was a “direct and proximate” result of the Singaporean firms’ “carelessness, negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness, and as a result of the unseaworthiness of the vessel.”

Since the floods came on the heels of the massive Thomas fire in late 2017, that incident was deemed the “proximate cause” of the damage.