Looks like he's trying to take on the Chinese with 104% tariffs, can't see it going well. And the love in with Musk seems to have crashed and burned as many predicted. Musk labels Trump trade adviser 'moron' over Tesla comments, another useful idiot (Musk) cast aside when no longer useful. I bet Elon is fuming and taking out on anyone close by.
The US has some the highest wages/salaries in the world what looney industrialist wakes up and thinks, right I'll build my tat factory in Ohio.
To be fair Trump has now very significantly put up the prices of their competitors so US manufacturers/potential manufacturers can, and undoubtedly will, put up their prices to match.
Whether this will be sufficient to cover their larger wage bills is another matter.
What you can absolutely guarantee is that American companies will be wasting no time in a good old bit of blatant ‘Disaster Capitalist’ profiteering
Never waste a good crisis!
The US has some the highest wages/salaries in the world what looney industrialist wakes up and thinks, right I'll build my tat factory in Ohio.
In a nutshell, that nails it.
The world has fed the most rampantly greedy, polluting, throwaway culture in history. And now some in that culture have decided that it isn't enough. They've hollowed out their own society in the pursuit of comfort and achieved complacency.
More precisely, though, they have decided that they like the idea of more manufacturing jobs. But they won't like what those jobs will pay if those firms want to be competitive. Even if the US market is rigged in their favour.
Still, they've made their bed now.
🤷♂️
Picking a trade war with China is very stupid, they can stand way more pain politically and financially than the US and shift very cheap goods to the rest of the world. XI has 100% of the vote, Donald has 51%
Didn't even have 51%. Not even 50%
Just got more electoral college votes - the Septics' system is even worse than our 1st past the post - at least we have 650 seats and it's 1 MP per seat, not like the un-democratic electoral college scoring system in the 50+1 states..
Dear god! 
China can cancel thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas
To be honest, I think that might be their best play.......don't match his latest tariff hike - just cancel every single export headed to the US...and wait for industrialists and consumers to lose their shit. For added fun 'invite' your closest half a dozen neighbours to join you and bail them out with 'loans' to keep them in business.
China can cancel thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas
To be honest, I think that might be their best play.......don't match his latest tariff hike - just cancel every single export headed to the US...and wait for industrialists and consumers to lose their shit. For added fun 'invite' your closest half a dozen neighbours to join you and bail them out with 'loans' to keep them in business.
Pretty sure the rest of the world can figure that out between them if they really wanted to.
Hang on I didn't think Trump believed in climate change
Trump needs more global warming to access the rare earths currently in the permafrost, after he has annexed Greenland :
https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/why-world-turning-to-greenlands-rare-earth-metals/32694/
Trump introduced the orders, repeatedly referring to “beautiful, clean coal.”
Trump needs more global warming to access the rare earths currently in the permafrost, after he has annexed Greenland :
Never mind the knock on effect to the world, cheaper rare earths!
To be honest, I think that might be their best play.......don't match his latest tariff hike - just cancel every single export headed to the US...and wait for industrialists and consumers to lose their shit. For added fun 'invite' your closest half a dozen neighbours to join you and bail them out with 'loans' to keep them in business.
That's what I'd be doing if I was China.
International cooperation* eh? Kind of makes forging of alliances between countries with similar needs attractive...
*With the obvious caveat that China has more power than most yo 'persuade' other countries to join them.
one thing not being mentioned much, is that the understood goals of these tarifs (bring more manufacturing to USA, renegotiate various trade policies to have terms more favourable to the USA) are completely contradictory.
Oh god, liberation day shock and awe comments from the Treasury Secretary that 70 countries have reached out to renegotiate trade deals.
Schrödinger's Tarrifs.
TBH China and Taiwan could coerced into building factories for chip and electronics assembly in the us as part of a trade deal.
But a Trump Trade Deals not worth the paper it’s written on, so they could go thru the motions of this and give trump the media content he requires for the next episode without actually following thru.
Its truely the greatest TV reality show in the world.
But a Trump Trade Deals not worth the paper it’s written on, so they could go thru the motions of this and give trump the media content he requires for the next episode without actually following thru.
They could, but then that would allow the Donald to convince his brain dead supporters that he 'won'. Remember that somehow, millions of Mercans voted for him. It really depends on what China wants.
If you are after reigning Trump in and toppling him and the MAGA nonsense, subtlety is not your friend. Cancelling Thanksgiving and Christmas is the way forward.
China can cancel thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas
To be honest, I think that might be their best play.......don't match his latest tariff hike - just cancel every single export headed to the US...and wait for industrialists and consumers to lose their shit. For added fun 'invite' your closest half a dozen neighbours to join you and bail them out with 'loans' to keep them in business.
China is already doing the whole "yeah, whatever" thing.
US exports account for 3% (ish) of China's economy.
One depressing scenario is that should China invade Taiwan, they'll inevitably get hit with sanctions and will have planned for that. Getting hit with tariffs to some extent takes the sanction risk off the table as their US exports are effectively dead, killed by Trump. So, why not bring forward any invasion plans?
On BBC news earlier, they mentioned talks between Trump and Iran regarding nuclear weapons. What on earth does that mean?
It has a bit of a history, but Iran has nuclear power capability. It takes a lot more work to turn that ability into a viable nuclear weapon.
Iran has had that knowledge for twenty years and had been actively enriching uranium. Despite the occasional mysterious computer virus, power cuts and explosions, Iran continued to progress toward nuclear weapons until President Obama negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015
During Trump v1 the decision was made to walk away from JCPOA talks with Iran, which had effectively curtailed Iran's nuclear weapon development and Iran responded by continuing development. They now have several times the amount of enriched uranium needed to produce a weapon and are probably at weapons-grade purity.
There's still a way to go to make a weapon, but they have ballistic missiles that can reach Europe so it's just the pointy end that needs development
President Biden attempted to get JCPOA back on track, but the glowing nuclear cat is out of the bag and Iran has made its facilities more secure from attack and refused international inspections in November 2024
This 2022 article is a little behind where Iran is now, but explains the issues,
Sadly, as a result of President Trump’s actions, there are no good options left, but there is a decent one: that is to negotiate steps for Iran to again accept restrictions over how much nuclear material it can possess and what it can do with that material—if we can. Such restrictions are what the ongoing negotiations in Vienna among the JCPOA members are all about. But there is a catch. Even if the original terms of the JCPOA can be reimposed, Iran will have cleared many of the technical hurdles that enabled the original agreement to put Iran at least one year away from a weapons capability. https://thebulletin.org/2022/02/irans-nuclear-potential-can-be-cut-but-not-eliminated/#post-heading
The other threat is that if Iran gets viable weapons then everyone else in the middle-east will want them
Vance has now upset the Chinese by saying the USA has been borrowing money from Chinese peasants.
And Trump has said “World leaders queueing up to kiss my ass"
According to another BBC report, the Chinese have 759bn USD of USA Government bonds, if they do a fire sale, which is happening on a small scale today, the USA is knackered with high interest rates and lack of inward investment for the foreseeable future, at least until Trump is out, thus they’ll print their own money, and inflation will balloon up.
Vance has now upset the Chinese by saying the USA has been borrowing money from Chinese peasants.
And Trump has said “World leaders queueing up to kiss my ass"
According to another BBC report, the Chinese have 759bn USD of USA Government bonds, if they do a fire sale, which is happening on a small scale today, the USA is knackered with high interest rates and lack of inward investment for the foreseeable future, at least until Trump is out, thus they’ll print their own money, and inflation will balloon up.
If you include Hong Kong, they hold over $1trn. It's unlikely that China will wholesale sell US securities because that doesn't make economic sense
US total debt is around $36trn, mostly held internally. Number 3 in the foreign holders of US securities charts is the UK
Vance has now upset the Chinese by saying the USA has been borrowing money from Chinese peasants.
And Trump has said “World leaders queueing up to kiss my ass"
Is there a threshold beyond which an American citizen who was persuaded to vote Trump might begin to realise they voted for a wrong'un? Not the full blown maga fanbois obviously - they are lost to the world. But those a shade or two less batshit. Obviously you have to have been a festering cretin to have voted that way in the first place, what with the....I don't know....the sexual assault conviction, the fraud conviction, the obvious insurrection intentions; or even the 'drink bleach' pandemic advice.
But there comes a point when even to the stupidest of people, the penny must drop. And when your guy starts talking about other leaders needing to kiss his ass and his deputy calling the population of the world's largest country peasants - the penny must be starting to roll just a little bit. That and all the cheap shit you like to buy at Walmart no longer being cheap shit.
i think you might be underestimating just how many "regular" Americans are OK with that sort of language coming from POTUS and VPOTUS, lots will see it as their equivalent of the Hugh Grant PM speech.
Yep, Americans have a knack of believing they and their country are the best, awesome in fact.
Trump and co certainly are bonkers mad! They are acting like knuckle dragging bullies. I can imagine many countries populations wanting to see China give Trumps USA a bloody nose. The world order as we knew it just 4 months ago is gone forever .. USA are undoubtedly, regardless of other countries leaders kissing Trumps arse to get a deal, losing all respect, trust and credibility.
China just called on trump - another 35% on USA.
Not exactly kissing arse, lol, it's the exact opposite 🤔
In Trump season one, my concern was for US citizens... and even more so those in the US who weren't citizens. That the voters chose season 2... well, they're all on their own now over there. No sympathy. Backs turned. It shouldn't be that way, but they've given us little choice, the world over.
Is there a threshold beyond which an American citizen who was persuaded to vote Trump might begin to realise they voted for a wrong'un?
If there is a threshold we haven't got there yet. Today on R4 this morning had interviews with people in Pittsburgh. One guy owned a garage and he was saying that the cost of the brakes he fits will go up from $69 to over $100. He is fine with that though as "what are people gonna do, they still have to buy brakes, right?". You can't argue with that sort of stoopid.
Its also worth noting that his voters were okay with "grab em by the pussy", Jan 6, multiple indictments, criminal conviction, Jan 6 insurrection, Zelenskyy bullying, pulling out of Paris agreement, pulling out of WHO, injecting bleach, shutting education dept, illegally deporting people to foreign countries, Hurricane Dorian Sharpie, Charlottesville good people on both sides and on and on and on and on and on and on..........
I said it earlier, I think things will only change if eggs and gas get more expensive or if he attempts to introduce gun controls.
It looks like this is turning into an act of economic self-harm that could eclipse Brexit
Pity the rest of us all get clobbered too, otherwise it would be hilarious
Everything gets real expensive.
Trump blames "China Tariffs".
Trump's vote share increases.
what are people gonna do
Not buy something else.. because money's going to the government instead of in their pockets....
Did the Trump Clan sell their shares the week before he inflicted this on the rest of The World?
I said it earlier, I think things will only change if eggs and gas get more expensive or if he attempts to introduce gun controls.
TBH look at Brexit,only heard someone on a tv program happy that the eu were getting 20% tariff as opposed to U.Ks 10% as the EU were still punishing us over Brexit.
Don't underestimate how much people can delude themselves and that well worn 1984 lineThe Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.
These people seem to be happy if as long someone else is feeling the pain as well.
It looks like this is turning into an act of economic self-harm that could eclipse Brexit
This is going to have far more significant issues for the US longer term than brexit ever will for us.
Economic destruction, loss of trust on the world stage, potentially loss of the dollar being reserve currency, definitely asignificant reduction in the reliance of the rest of the world in both the US as a partner and of US products
If there is a threshold we haven't got there yet.
I think, if the changes are bit by bit by bit by bit, then that threshold can be a lot further along the road to ruin than you might imagine... Examples in history do exist.
Certainly could be failure of an empire in quite a novel way.
But there comes a point when even to the stupidest of people, the penny must drop.
It depends very much on your chosen framing of an issue and the timescales, but I'd say we've been waiting nearly 9 years and I haven't heard many clinky noises of penny hitting floor.
Looks like he’s ‘done a Truss’ on a massive scale
Examples in history do exist.
Sadly true. Recommended before, but 'Winter' by Len Deighton is a very good novel depicting a Berlin family in the first half of the 20th century. In a proper boiling frog narrative, 'normal' just changed imperceptibly until 'normal' became horrific and inhuman.
When do the mid term results take effect? I would guess that's the next chance the US populace has to impose some sanity on the situation. If they can vote themselves a democrat house of reps, they can maybe, just maybe, engage the safety catch on the monkey's machine gun.
Mind you, the current executive order shootstorm has been conducted within the letter of the law, if not the spirit. So there's that.
Actually I've heard enough people who voted "for" Brexit say stuff like "but this isn't what I meant" to believe that the fine balance necessary to tip the scales exists. In trumps case, I suspect he got in, not because he was the majority's preference but rather because lots of the people who should have voted against him didn't vote at all. (Indeed that was a Brexit factor - it wasn't that people wanted this, it was that not enough people were sufficiently motivated to defend the status quo). You won't change the 1/3rd of die hard will always turn up and vote republican whoever the candidate is types - but the "swing" voters who either switch or abstain are the important ones. I suspect a lot of them will have 401k's, or work in government departments under DOGE threats.But there comes a point when even to the stupidest of people, the penny must drop.
It depends very much on your chosen framing of an issue and the timescales, but I'd say we've been waiting nearly 9 years and I haven't heard many clinky noises of penny hitting floor.
Sell off of US government debt is pushing up government and company borrowing costs too, what a bit of a mess.
I suspect a lot of them will have 401k's, or work in government departments under DOGE threats.
Current estimates suggest someone between 215,000 - 300,000 employees have lost their jobs as a result of DOGE.
I suspect a lot of them will have 401k's, or work in government departments under DOGE threats.
Current estimates suggest someone between 215,000 - 300,000 employees have lost their jobs as a result of DOGE.
And had their pensions trashed at the same time if they are near to using it...
And now have to worry about health insurance..
I bet they are well happy.
