Random question regarding the tariffa.
I know the cost is applied to the end product, but that additional xx% of cost on the product who gets that?
Does it go to the treasury or to the supplier?
Treasury
Came here to ask the same thing, but saw that Vance had insulted the UK by saying it had not fought a war in 30 years. Odd that, I guess what I saw in 2012 and 2016 was just a dream.
Maybe he's alluding to us not participating in the great triumph of invading Grenada ?
I'm trying to think of when the last time the US fought a war anything like Russia's invasion of Ukraine with both sides hurling huge amounts of shells back and forth. Korea maybe?
2hr congress Speech by Trump
Only 2hr speech? That's weak as President. President Trump should give at least a 4hr speech to be considered beautiful speech. 😀
Does it go to the treasury or to the supplier?
As Del says to the treasury hence the claim it can be used to counter tax cuts for the oligarchs.
The beautiful American people will pay, pay, and pay again. God bless them.
US Capitalism has peaked, withdrawl of security to a victim nation by a Dictator to make a few dollars. This is not new for the USA but it's the first time it's been done in plain sight.
WW1 almost the 11th hour, to get a seat at the peace table.
1930s on the bones of their arse their economy was built on WW2
WW2 sent destroyers to South Africa to take the last UK gold reserve, didn't declare war on Germany.
Stamped every rifle under lend lease as US property just to remind the infantry who gave them a gun.
WW2 Roosevelt told Churchill and Stalin to wake him up when they had sorted Poland out to discuss West Germany.
Post WW2 the Marshall Plan every dollar was from profits made in WW2.
Dwight Eisinhower recognised the Industrial Military Complex.
Rubio's little face when that journalist questioned why zelensky wasn't wearing a suit spoke volumes..
Say what you like about him, but he knows fine well that he's working for/surrounded by absolute idiots.
Yep, I was vaguely paying attention to what Rubio was saying about Trump 4/5 years ago and about Russia/Ukraine at the start of the war. Be interested to see if all his old tweets and stuff are still online. I'm not a Rubio fan or anything but can't imagine he's comfortable with what's going on.
As I don't want to encourage him having his own thread, the is excellent from The Rest is Politics. (The News Agents is great at the moment as well)
https://youtube.com/shorts/zvqZRkMW37s?si=r4rL6d7QqzaubC1P
As Del says to the treasury hence the claim it can be used to counter tax cuts for the oligarchs.
This is what I don't get with the focus on tariffs (and perhaps reinforces the idea that they are not the main event).
To fund cuts on an ongoing basis the tariffs would have to be permanent which is at odds with their current use as the big stick for other concessions. Also, one of the stated aims is encouraging production in the US - at which point tariffs become less effective anyway if consumers are buying local.
Oh, and walk-backs already - temporary tariff exemption for car manufacturers.
Be interested to see if all his old tweets and stuff are still online. I'm not a Rubio fan or anything but can't imagine he's comfortable with what's going on
Every post that a politician makes gets screenshotted and recorded. His hypocrisy is well documented but the one thing that Trump has taught GOP politicians is that shamelessness is their most powerful tool. Rubio wants to be president one day and his only hope to achieve that is to echo MAGA talking points.
To fund cuts on an ongoing basis the tariffs would have to be permanent which is at odds with their current use as the big stick for other concessions. Also, one of the stated aims is encouraging production in the US - at which point tariffs become less effective anyway if consumers are buying local.
Exactly. Investors kinda assumed that Trump was just using tariffs as a stick to get concessions, but it's not obvious what concessions he actually wants, especially from Canada. Then, when they realized he was serious, stock markets fell because tariffs would cause massive harm to the U.S. economy. As revenue gathering exercise, they will be ineffective except in the short term because people will either reduce their purchasing or switch to local suppliers.
Maybe thats it? Maybe Trumps deal is to gift Ukraine to Russia, and in return Russia fixes a referendum in Greenland for them to Join the US? Russia is pretty good at that kind of thing.
Re: Tariffs. Make no sense until you realise that he's just using them as a cudgel to get what he wants from other countries.
I'm not sure that anyone would recognise an election in Greenland that was rigged. The population is small enough (and independent enough) that you would know something was up.
With Trump, everything is about money, either personal wealth for him or his family, or for the people that backed him into office as kick-backs. The tariffs are there because he's a bully and the money that the Treasury gets from them will go, as oldmanmtb said, to fund tax cuts for the ultra rich. In the long term it _will_ screw the US, but the rich do not care, Trump sure as hell does not care and the poor/everyone else will be told that the fault is with someone else and not him.
With Trump: Follow the money.
This is the thing I don't get with the ultra rich now, they are surely smart enough to realise that they are damaging the economies that are needed for them to profit from, or are they really so indoctrinated into the dogma of greed that they actually believe that they can just keep taking and taking everything without consequence. When they are living in golden castles in the sky while everyone else is in shanty towns where do they think their wealth will come from, what the **** is their end game.
This is the problem with the growth doctrine, it has already reached the point where the growth just goes to the few and is making life worse for the many, we need redistribution not growth, we need affordability not continued asset inflation.
Man loses job for speaking truth. OK, given his job he arguably should have been more discreet but we all know he was right. You'd hope that more people pointing this stuff out might make some Americans do their own fact checking and think again.
BBC News - NZ fires envoy to UK who questioned Trump's grasp of history
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3yew446k5o
Ooh a funny one, those secret documents that he was keeping at the golf course(that got him into trouble), he’s took them back.
Goff, a former foreign minister and lawmaker in the centre-left Labour Party, was appointed as ambassador to the UK in 2023.Peters leads the populist NZ First party in the current right-leaning coalition governing New Zealand. https://www.reuters.com/world/new-zealand-sacks-ambassador-uk-after-he-questions-trumps-grasp-history-2025-03-06/
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark was among those who criticised Mr Goff's sacking, saying it was backed by a "very thin excuse". (from the BBC article^^)
I love the fact that the Canadian and Mexican trade deal that he has been slagging off as 'The worst deal in the world. I don't know how this was passed". Was negotiated and signed by him during his last term.
How do you shame someone who is proud of their own BS?
"With Trump: Follow the money."
Can we all agree that Trump is a "useful idiot". For Putin, yes, but who else? the tech giants? Someone is pulling the strings back there, but who?
I l
How do you shame someone who is proud of their own BS?
Yoy can't. He is incapable of it. Thr truth is whsr he says it is. Psychopathy. No conscience. No moral compass. That bit of his brain does not work
Anyone else find it somewhat ironic that, the very day after The Mandarin Man announces that USA has suspended access to remote-sensed Intel, there's a missile strike on an hotel in Kryvyi Rih? Which just happened to be housing American (& UK) aid workers. Much as I obviously wouldn't wish harm upon them at all, had there been injuries or worse, then would the policy of Intel Suspension be reviewed PDFQ?
I l
How do you shame someone who is proud of their own BS?
Yoy can't. He is incapable of it. Thr truth is whsr he says it is. Psychopathy. No conscience. No moral compass. That bit of his brain does not work
I remember reading an article last year where a psychologist scored trump as way beyond the threshold for being defined as a psychopath. Pretty much called out exactly what would happen when he got in power.
I'm fairly convinced there's something out there proving that Trump is one of the very worst people ever to have existed. Something Epstein-esque.
I think Trump set out on a mission to be too big to send to jail and through a combination of seeking support whilst being both the exploiter and exploited he has created a pyramid of bastards upon which he has been elected president twice.
Not dissimilar, in fact, to the very accusations he used to smear the Clintons. To someone of Trump's character, using something like that against an opponent, in that manner, would be gratifying.
As I typed that, I realised it contradicted something I wrote the other day about Trump not being worried about kompromat.
That tells me two things:
1. Trump is such a disgusting blight on humanity that to my brain - brought up with some common decency, I hope - someone like him is impossible to figure out.
2. I'm spending way too much time thinking about the horrible ****.
Time to cut myself off from the news a bit, I think.
Can we all agree that Trump is a "useful idiot". For Putin, yes, but who else? the tech giants? Someone is pulling the strings back there, but who?
This may sound like a conspiracy theory, but I've had an opinion for a long time that the global billionaire power brokers who exercise control/influence over governments across the world have had a long term plan to reshape the world for a post-climate change/resources scarcity era. They got rich on the largesse of the capitalist system they imposed on us and did so in the full knowledge that it would destroy the environment and global geopolitical status quo. Now they're carving up the planet to protect their wealth and prepare for what comes next. It's not a coincidence that all the billionaires are buying up land in places like New Zealand. Many of them openly talk about 'the event' and how they're planning on surviving it. Seems to me everything that's happening now is just the transition into the next phase of this 'plan'.
This may sound like a conspiracy theory,
You'd do well to have a read of writing of Curtis Yarvin. He has a blog https://graymirror.substack.com/ His philosophy is essentially that the world should be run by Corporate Kings who run city sized 'corporations' that essentially enslave regular people. He was/is incredibly influential for the mega-billionaire class who emerged from silicon valley in the early naughties and informed the thinking of Musk and Theil. The Heritage Foundation 2025 project comes directly from this. (with a side order of the John Birch Society)
It'll do nothing to dissuade you that it isn't a conspiracy though
Tell me now he is not a Russian puppet
Tell me now he is not a Russian puppet
Nah..
Whilst I remain convinced putin has something on trump (2 hookers and a spot of watersports come to mind), the actions in that article point to pure vindictiveness. Trump is a vengeful, thin skinned, spiteful psychopath. Those actions are absolutely in line with the rest of his deeply flawed personality
The sooner he breaths his last the better for all mankind. The pain and suffering one man can singlehandedly inflict in a month of being in office is extraordinary, given what is meant to be a civilised democratic society. I for one will toast his eventual demise, and I don't think I've ever said that about another person ...ever...
Tell me now he is not a Russian puppet
Unbridled evilness. Condemning people to death because he's a petulant arsehole
I will celebrate his eventual death. It will fill me with joy. Sadly the damage he can do between now and then is terrifying
"With Trump: Follow the money."
Can we all agree that Trump is a "useful idiot". For Putin, yes, but who else? the tech giants? Someone is pulling the strings back there, but who?
check out Dave Troy's reporting and you'll find out the "who/why"
Linkss not working but google him
Tell me now he is not a Russian puppet
He's not a Russian puppet.
The elephant in the room which everyone seems to ignore is the fact that Trump is unquestionably a narcissist, I suspect that aspect of his character affects his behaviour more than anything else.
Trump behaving as if he wants Putin to be his bitch is seen by some as evidence that Putin pulling his strings. Trump is currently easily the most powerful man on earth he doesn't need anyone to pull his strings. And as a narcissist with a massively overinflated ego Trump certainly isn't going to let Putin, the president of a country with a struggling economy and an inability to win a war against a much weaker neighbour, tell him what to do.
Trump does precisely what he wants.
If Trump is considering deporting anti-Russian Ukrainians back to Ukraine how on earth does that help Putin? There are nearly a quarter of a million of them in the United States if anything I imagine Putin would be very pleased if it was double or treble that amount.
Over half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, are also at risk so it obviously has nothing to do with singling out Ukrainians.
I think everything should be seen in the context that Trump is a huge narcissist. He wants to be adored by his Republican base and he wants to be an important chapter in future history books. That is what drives him to do what he does imo.
And his Republican base love what he is doing, including his isolationist policies and cutting expenditure. Plus he is definitely establishing himself as a very important US president in future history books. In a hundred years time Joe Biden will be a footnote but Trump will likely still be a topic of discussion.
It's all going fairly well for him although I am not sure he's made much headway towards getting the Nobel Peace Prize yet
Trump acting in Putin’s interests again:
WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar with the matter said, potentially putting them on a fast-track to deportation.The move, expected as soon as April, would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under President Joe Biden's administration.
If Trump is considering deporting anti-Russian Ukrainians back to Ukraine how on earth does that help Putin?
It’s harder for him to kill or detain them while they are in the USA.
They are more likely to be “anti-death-at-Russian-hands” rather than simply “anti-Russian” as you put it, if they have fled half way around the world.
In a hundred years time Joe Biden will be a footnote but Trump will likely still be a topic of discussion. But a narcissistic will not want to be known negatively as another Chamberlain, and thats what Trump is establishing at the moment. I`m seeing a lot of Russia couldnt beat Ukraine in 3 years whilst they defeated USA in 30 days.
Tell me now he is not a Russian puppet
Surely this helps VZ rather than Putin as Ukraine now has another pool of potential conscripts...
Whether those sent back to Ukraine suits Putin or not would largely depend on who they were, men of fighting age not so good for Putin, however mothers, children and grandparents who were safe and are now in danger will add to the demoralisation of the nation.
If Trump is considering deporting anti-Russian Ukrainians back to Ukraine how on earth does that help Putin
Really, it's not hard to figure out! It's further confirmation to zelensky that they are being cut off by the US. That the US will provide zero support militarily or otherwise to the people of Ukraine. He's basically saying, unless you do what I want, you are on your own.
And from what I can see, Zelensky doing what trump wants plays right into Putins hands.
It's not as if he's sending home 200k special forces soldiers to bolster the front line is it..
The elephant in the room which everyone seems to ignore is the fact that Trump is unquestionably a narcissist
Yeah, I mean its not like there's a post on every page of this 10 year old thread pointing that out after all.
however mothers, children and grandparents who were safe and are now in danger will add to the demoralisation of the nation.
Are these the Ukrainians who Kelvin suggests might be killed or detained?
Really, it's not hard to figure out!
Go on then, tell me how sending back nearly a quarter of a million Ukrainians who don't appear to be very pro Russian help Putin?
I suspect that whatever the reason it is exactly the same reason that over half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, are going to be in the same position as Ukrainians living in the US.
Yeah, I mean its not like there's a post on every page of this 10 year old thread pointing that out after all.
And yet bizarrely the conclusion some come to is that this narcissist, who happens to be by far the most powerful man on earth, is having his strings pulled by someone who is incomparably weaker than him.
Correct. Is there a point you'd like to make?
Are these the Ukrainians who Kelvin suggests might be killed or detained?
Putin doesn't give a flying **** who gets killed, hitting schools and hospitals is part of his MO.
Go on then, tell me how sending back nearly a quarter of a million Ukrainians who don't appear to be very pro Russian help Putin?
Uummmm.i just did. In the very next sentence....
And yet bizarrely the conclusion some come to is that this narcissist, who happens to be by far the most powerful man on earth, is having his strings pulled by someone who is incomparably weaker than him.
If the sole metrics for measuring "power" is size of the military and/or size of GDP, then undoubtedly Trump could be considered "the most powerful man in the world" BUT the USA still has plenty of checks and balances (currently) on that power that Russia (and China?) don't.
The current narrative is that Trump can, and does, do anything he wants whereas in actual fact there is a huge amount of bluster and bull-shit around and he isn't getting his own way all the time. Whereas, I suspect Putin can do what the f++k he wants at any time (within his sphere of influence), and has zero problem "dealing with" his enemies. That is a type of power Trump doesn't have (at the moment).
I don't know any better than anyone on this forum, but I'm of the opinion that Trump will meet his downfall in some way before, or shortly after, the mid term elections. Someone will bring him down and I suspect that it will be someone in the GOP or a very rich/powerful backer which starts the process, rather than Putin. Maybe I'm being hopefully optimistic....
Re deporting Ukraine's refugees from the US .
It helps Putin because all those mouths to feed and find homes for, hospital appointments ect ect . It drains the Ukraine cash and resources from the front line.
Trumps also reportedly had talks with the opposition political leaders of Ukraine that's not for his own self worth that's trying to change governments.
Apparently they told him to FO so that's nice.
Trump my be a narcissist but some of the things he is spouting off about are seeds that have been planted
Uummmm.i just did. In the very next sentence....
Well I saw:
It's further confirmation to zelensky that they are being cut off by the US.
But I didn't think you were suggesting that was the purpose. Why on earth do you think Trump needs to confirm anything to Zelensky? He's just cut off his military aid and intelligence sharing, I think that tells Zelensky everything he needs to know.
Kicking out Ukrainians is just in line with what Trump is also proposing to do with Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
It helps Putin because all those mouths to feed and find homes for, hospital appointments ect ect . It drains the Ukraine cash and resources from the front line.
I am not sure that making the Ukrainian population any larger will help Putin secure more territory but I am damn sure that stopping military aid and sharing intelligence will.
It's all going fairly well for him although I am not sure he's made much headway towards getting the Nobel Peace Prize yet
That made me chuckle, brilliantly understated
If the sole metrics for measuring "power" is size of the military and/or size of GDP, then undoubtedly Trump could be considered "the most powerful man in the world" BUT the USA still has plenty of checks and balances (currently) on that power that Russia (and China?) don't.
Sure, power is much more concentrated in say Russia and China but it doesn't match the power that the United States President has over global affairs.
And in practical terms that means that for example sanctions against Russia can be applied and the world can more or else continue in much the same way as before, but sanctions against the United States if they were applied in the same way would have catastrophic consequences for the rest of the world.
Hopefully that global dependency will wane in time as US influence diminishes but that's the situation right now.
This is excellent imo, both a plausible and a fairly optimistic analysis, plus pretty amusing.
I particularly liked:
Speaking of scams, Trump just announced something called a “strategic crypto reserve.” I don’t know what that is, but I do know if you put “crypto” and “Trump” in the same sentence, somebody is getting fleeced. And it ain’t him or his fat-cat friends in the tech industry.
And as a narcissist with a massively overinflated ego Trump certainly isn't going to let Putin, the president of a country with a struggling economy and an inability to win a war against a much weaker neighbour, tell him what to do.
I don't think "Trump is a narcissist and won't listen to weak Putin" and "Trump is being controlled by Putin" are necessarily contradictory.
Trump is such a narcissist that I would imagine it's very possible for someone savvy (say, Putin) to manipulate him fairly easily. Pull the wool over his eyes a bit, flatter him, put thoughts into his head and make him think it's his own idea, etc.
Then bingo you have Trump doing what he wants, which just happens to be (mostly) what Russia also wants.
Plus I don't think Russia/Putin is as weak and feeble as all that. Not for the purposes of this discussion. Russia pretty much takes up half the planet size-wise and is one of the most influential countries in the world, not to mention they are 'important' simply by reputation and history. Russia is very very different to, say, some tiny country in the middle of Africa, and that would still be the case if they had equal GDP and military strength. Military strength anyway is a bit hard to measure, sure their equipment might be rusting garbage but they have a lot of soldiers and, most importantly, thousands of nukes.
A psychopath like trump will be craven towards someone who appears more powerful..
Its all a part of how tbey react. Trample those with less power. Kowtow to those with more.
Kicking out Ukrainians is just in line with what Trump is also proposing to do with Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
So you think it's a coincidence that days after a bust up with zelensky he announces all the ukranian refugees are getting kicked out?
You don't think he's using them as further leverage against zelensky?
Given we all know trump is a vindictive, vengeful individual, you honestly don't think trumps actions were directly aimed at weakening zelensky's position? Obviously stopping intelligence and arms is going to have a far greater impact, but this is just another move from the spiteful orange one to add pressure. It's blindingly obviously.
Why do you think he did it now? Coincidence? And why do you think Putin would want them to stay, or to quote you, have 'treble that amount in the US'? You do realise that the refugees are woman and children? They aren't going to contribute in any way to defending ukraine.
Trump is such a narcissist that I would imagine it's very possible for someone savvy (say, Putin) to manipulate him fairly easily. Pull the wool over his eyes a bit, flatter him, put thoughts into his head and make him think it's his own idea, etc.
I think there’s a large amount of plain old jealousy going on too. Just look at Trump and you know he’d just love to be in Putins position. Shutting down any media critical of you? Having your political opponents thrown in prison? Having all your enemies meet with unfortunate ‘accidents’?
Trump would just LOVE to be Putin, having shut down democracy, made yourself president for life and purged the country of all who disagree with him. He longs to be a dictator, which is why he is so fawningly in awe of them and is more than happy to do their bidding
Its pathetic really
You don't think he's using them as further leverage against zelensky?
Whatever the reason for announcing it now I certainly don't think it is because Putin is "pulling his strings" or in anyway controls him. I have no doubt that Trump does and says what he wants, not what Putin tells him to do or say.
To give another example, do you think that Trump announced that all Palestinians had to leave Gaza because Netanyahu pulls his strings and controls him? It certainly provided a lot of leverage in Netanyahu's favour.
Many pro-palestine supporters think that Israel controls the US government because it seems to fit the picture that they see, but all the evidence is the other way round - Israel is the United States very important client state in a region vital to US interests.
Trump is doing what he is doing with regards to Ukraine because it suits his agenda, not because he is forced to by Putin. And his agenda is heavily influenced by his narcissism. He wants a peace deal in Ukraine because Joe Biden couldn't offer anything other than an neverending war - Biden wanted a stalemate because either side winning was unacceptable to him, so he fine tuned aid to Ukraine to maintain a stalemate.
Trump also wants a peace deal because that is what his adoring isolatist Republican base want, they don't want to be involved in foreign wars especially ones involving American troops. He also wants a peace deal because he wants to cut US government expenditure, something else that will appeal to his adoring supporters. And of course he wants a peace deal because you can't extract rare earths very effectively in a war zone.
The question should be "why wouldn't Trump want a peace deal?" rather than asking why does he want a peace deal and then concluding that it can only be because Putin controls him.
I suspect that Putin doesn't want a peace deal at all and would much rather that the war ended with the total collapse of Ukraine.
Trumps never going to make 4 years. He’s basically already Father Jack in the 3 ages of Elvis. He’s going to die on the bog, eating a cheeseburger
Someone should interest him in the delicacy the Deep-fried Mars bar. That’ll seize up the arteries.
Interesting stat on Newscast just now… house prices in Washington have dropped 10% in 6 weeks as all the public sector workers have been laid off by Elon
So you think it's a coincidence that days after a bust up with zelensky he announces all the ukranian refugees are getting kicked out?
You don't think he's using them as further leverage against zelensky?
Given we all know trump is a vindictive, vengeful individual, you honestly don't think trumps actions were directly aimed at weakening zelensky's position? Obviously stopping intelligence and arms is going to have a far greater impact, but this is just another move from the spiteful orange one to add pressure. It's blindingly obviously.
Why do you think he did it now? Coincidence? And why do you think Putin would want them to stay, or to quote you, have 'treble that amount in the US'? You do realise that the refugees are woman and children? They aren't going to contribute in any way to defending ukraine.
Hang on - wasn't this all arranged before he ever met Zelensky? Perhaps bringing it up at a press conference and making a thing of it now is somewhat spiteful, but this is not directly in response to their recent argument. It even says so quite clearly in the article.
Deleted. Double post.
Interesting stat on Newscast just now… house prices in Washington have dropped 10% in 6 weeks as all the public sector workers have been laid off by Elon
I think I know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway...
Washington politics are notoriously dominated by lobbyists, and most of these are savvy political operators (often the cream of the crop of Ivy League universities or large law firms) and they have rich clients with deep pockets to do research. Yes, they probably have a right wing viewpoint but even so, has even the simplest joined-up-thinking been deemed unnecessary?!?!
My guess is that President Trump is trying to make peace with Russia by offering Ukraine as tribute, in order to isolate China.
Economically and financially, Russia is not a threat but China is and with US printers running out of ink to print more money, they need to find ways to reduce China's growing influence over the world.
Fighting the war with Russia will only drain the US economy and reduce the power of petrol dollar.
Therefore, making peace with Russia is merely a smoke screen for getting to China. i.e. they are trying bait Russia.
If Russia takes the bait they will be "hook, line and sinker". Currently, the US is acting both the good cop and bad cop roles.
Does making peace with Russia mean having to be nice to Iran and NK?
Trump is doing what he is doing with regards to Ukraine because it suits his agenda
Trump couldn't point to Ukraine on a map, he doesn't have an agenda other than "Be The President That Stops The War" He's generally supportive of Russia's POV and unsupportive of Ukriane's because he himself and those around him are influenced by the 'ultra' right wing Christian Nationalists who've paid for his win, and are guiding [certainly foreign policy] decisions who are in turn generally supportive of Russia [or more accurately, Putin] because their own politics align quite strongly. Nationalist, "family oriented' (ie very anti LGBTQ+) militaristic, and authoritarian, all of which they'd very much like to replicate in the USA. Further; Trump [very much like Putin] sees the world in power-blocks, he's fine for Europe to be Russia's sphere of influence, just as he'd like Greenland and Panama to be in his own. I agree with you that Putin isn't pulling his strings directly, but they are so closely aligned in their thinking, Putin can safely rely on Trump to be "on message" Zelelnsky is getting in the way of the things that Putin wants to do, and Trump will back Putin because he thinks like Putin does, and doesn't GAS about Ukraine.
The question should be "why wouldn't Trump want a peace deal?" rather than asking why does he want a peace deal and then concluding that it can only be because Putin controls him.
I suspect that Putin doesn't want a peace deal at all and would much rather that the war ended with the total collapse of Ukraine.
It doesn't happen often 🙂 but I agree with ernie on that point
If President Trump was a Russian agent then it would have been found out years ago and the Dems were of course looking at great expense, google the Steele Dossier, which is one of the reasons that that the FBI is suffering his ire now
There's plenty of "raw intelligence" but that has to be winnowed and finessed into the truth and evidence.
Trump seems to be open to a good conspiracy theory, hence revisiting the theories that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election/Hunter Biden/Joe Biden stories years after they were concluded for most people
He's also open to a business deal, e.g. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China renting Trump Tower office space in 2019, which is allegedly "somewhat murky"
The lease was set to expire on October 31, 2019, according to a debt prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2018, the state-owned bank agreed to a new lease in a different office building nearby, suggesting it might leave Trump Tower. But then, the bank decided to stay in the president’s building anyway. “They are keeping a couple of floors,” Eric Trump confirmed onstage at a business conference in October 2019.
The new arrangement is somewhat murky. Contacted Friday morning, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization initially said that the bank had “consolidated with their other offices in New York.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/23/forbes-estimates-china-paid-trump-at-least-54-million-since-he-took-office-via-mysterious-trump-tower-lease/
Ukraine is the only pawn that Trump can control and his bluster and retract tactics have a mixed success leading to mistrust and uncertain outcomes with consequences for the US, e.g. the US economy and tariffs, Ukraine, etc.
He's also seeding the US with potential foreign agents with all of the disaffected senior military and civil servants that are getting booted out, but that's more consequence than deliberate action.
The most damaging spies are disaffected rather than motivated solely by money, e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66243806 and https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/28/politics/us-intel-russia-china-attempt-recruit-disgruntled-federal-employees/index.html
Biden wanted a stalemate because either side winning was unacceptable to him, so he fine tuned aid to Ukraine to maintain a stalemate.
Please show your working out on that one.
Trumps never going to make 4 years. He’s basically already Father Jack in the 3 ages of Elvis. He’s going to die on the bog, eating a cheeseburger
Rumour has it that he doesn't even bother going to the bog.
I just assume Trump and Putin wish to carve up the mineral wealth between them personally, and secondly the US and Russia.
Stopping intelligence is pure spite, it costs nothing except lives. Why does no one question this decision with him on camera.
The other question I never hear is if Putin agrees a peace deal, why does he care who provides the peace keepers or if Ukraine joins NATO unless they plan on invading again, which they obviously do.
It's a couple of weeks old but here is an interesting interview with Belarusian born and raised political commentator Tatsiana Kulakevich
Something which shouldn't be forgotten is Trump's obsession with the growing threat China posses the United States. IMO from a US president perspective he is right to take it seriously, China is the only country which is a real threat to US interests and global influence. US sanctions and the war in Ukraine has driven Russia much closer to China, a reversal of that situation would be significantly beneficial to the United States.
Btw some further info on Tatsiana Kulakevich :
Dr. Tatsiana Kulakevich is an Associate Professor of Instruction in Research Methods and Quantitative Analysis at the University of South Florida's School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies and a research fellow and affiliated faculty at the USF Institute for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies.
My guess is that President Trump is trying to make peace with Russia by offering Ukraine as tribute, in order to isolate China.
President Nixon (Rep) tried to isolate Russia by making peace with China in 1972. It didn't work then and the much-written about "reverse Nixon" won't work now because nobody trusts Trump. When he announced a "pause" in weapons supplies to Ukraine Dmitry Peskov's response was that they'd need to see the details first.
Russia is massively linked to China because they are one of the few countries buying Russian energy in bulk. They also supply Russia with a variety of essentials
Economically and financially, Russia is not a threat but China is and with US printers running out of ink to print more money, they need to find ways to reduce China's growing influence over the world.Fighting the war with Russia will only drain the US economy and reduce the power of petrol dollar.
Supplying Ukraine with aid and weapons is confining Russia, the second listed "issue" for the US, massively and all for a bargain price in US$. Supplying them more would quicken the likelihood of a fair and reasoned peace deal
Therefore, making peace with Russia is merely a smoke screen for getting to China. i.e. they are trying bait Russia.If Russia takes the bait they will be "hook, line and sinker". Currently, the US is acting both the good cop and bad cop roles.
They won't take any bait, but they will take advantage
This made me chuckle this morning
Has this been already posted? It's the first I've seen of it and my first reaction was that I might have missed April 1st
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/25/politics/us-gold-card-foreigners-trump/index.html
offering a path to citizenship in exchange for a $5 million fee.
Asked whether he would consider selling the cards to Russian oligarchs, Trump responded: “Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
I am not sure how being a very nice person comes into it, presumably even not very nice people have $5 million.
^ no I posted it a few pages back.... as I said then: if you we to write a list of "things a Russian asset might do", Selling US citizenships to Russian Oligarchs would be one of them.
Since my post (2 days ago) - we can also add:
- Voicing his intention to lift Russian sanctions
- Pausing all supply of arms (even those already paid for) to Ukraine
- Stopping sharing Intel with Ukraine
- Stopping cyber activities aimed at Russia
As I said then - whether or not he IS a Russian asset seems irrelevant - he's acting exactly like one.
<deleted stuff I posted on the wrong thread>