6 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

As am I. What’s more, he’s also taking America’s “allies” along with him.

 

I suspect if the US carries on like this much longer it'll find itself shorn of most allies in the not too distant future.

 

The evidence is mounting that the ugly stupid Yanks who came to Munich recently to gob off have induced a sea change in allied thinking - just not the one they wanted.

14 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Well now, looky here. A whining MAGA.

Another one?

 

Perhaps the USA is no longer the promised land, and perhaps Trump is no longer the messiah he claimed to be.

 

Well he was voted into power, and those that voted for him may start to regret that decision soon.

3 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Another one?

 

Perhaps the USA is no longer the promised land, and perhaps Trump is no longer the messiah he claimed to be.

 

Well he was voted into power, and those that voted for him may start to regret that decision soon.

 

I see no more evidence that the US is any longer the 'land of the free and home of the brave'.

 

Which is a shame because I honestly think that's the best national anthem in the world for all sorts of reasons. Not least its spirit. Certainly beats 'God save the whoever' by several astronomical units.

7 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

The reason the US is declining is in part due to allowing itself to be taken advantage of, by accepting other countries unfair trade practices and lack of human rights.

 

Trump is addressing the issue.

 

Good on him. 

The US is declining because it has not invested in public infrastructure for a long time. Bridges are rusting, roads are cracking. It only has 80 km of high speed rail. Some of its manufacturing plants have equipment going back to the early 1900's. It can't compete with modern plants, equipped with robotics.

 

Trump has set it on a retrograde path of the internal combustion engine and fossil fuels, when everyone else is ramping up in renewable energy and EV's.

 

Time was, American goods were regarded as quality, and Japanese stuff was thought to be rubbish. The wheel has turned 180 degrees.

 

Time was, America produced half of the world's steel. Now, it produces one-tenth of what China does.

 

Somewhat ironic the country that trumpeted the virtues of free trade is now squealing about tariffs, which will do nothing but drive up the cost of living for Americans, and hurt its competitiveness when the retaliatory tariffs kick in.

 

 

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

IIRC during the Biden administration Trump was wanting the economy to go into recession.

And that right there tells you how little regarding the creep has for the average American person. 

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

Another one?

 

Perhaps the USA is no longer the promised land, and perhaps Trump is no longer the messiah he claimed to be.

 

Well he was voted into power, and those that voted for him may start to regret that decision soon.

Not may start, but will start. Only a matter of time now. 

1 hour ago, BusyB said:

 

I suspect if the US carries on like this much longer it'll find itself shorn of most allies in the not too distant future.

 

The evidence is mounting that the ugly stupid Yanks who came to Munich recently to gob off have induced a sea change in allied thinking - just not the one they wanted.

Those two are real bottom of the barrel Americans. Very little talent or skill. Just how Trump seems to like them. 

4 hours ago, sharot724 said:

Simply look at a dozen eggs in America at 4.95 $, up to 8.87 $.

Thailand 1.77$

At todays KBank forex rate of USD $33.51 my wife buys a tray of 30 size 0 eggs at the local market for 150 thb, or about 1.16$ USD for a dozen large eggs.

Next thing you know Trump will be blaming Ukraine for starting the war

56 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Those two are real bottom of the barrel Americans. Very little talent or skill. Just how Trump seems to like them. 

Just like the rest of the US 'government' sadly. A pack of talentless, cowardly, grifters and grovelers without a spine to share between 'em.

Led by the biggest one of them all, currently groveling to Putin after threatening his friends and small countries. And so betraying everything the US at least ever claims to have stood for.

 

An elected national insult to the world like Johnson et al were to Europe.

 

All the while the Dem corpse barely twitches.

 

10 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

Trump will kill the USA.

 

China, Russia, North Korea and others are just sitting back enjoying the show.

They are not just sitting back. China's propanda is now full steam on the claim that the U.S. is only interested in stealing other countries resources!

 

(I perfectly know that it's rich from China).

30 minutes ago, TheFishman1 said:

Next thing you know Trump will be blaming Ukraine for starting the war

Done already.

The one thing Elon Musk doesn't tweet about: Tariffs

 

Elon Musk undoubtedly tweets a lot, recently offering about 270 posts, reposts, or comments to his X platform during the 24 hours of Presidents' Day. It was an average day for him.

But one subject has been glaringly absent in spite of Musk's 10+ post-per-hour velocity in the early weeks of Trump 2.0: the president's tariff plans.

 

In fact, a variety of searches of Musk's posting history using the X search engine for terms like "tariff" or "import duty" revealed minimal to no results. And when the topic does pop up, it's invariably in a post that is years old and sounds very different from how Donald Trump talks about the issue today.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-one-thing-elon-musk-doesnt-tweet-about-tariffs-132213151.html

1 hour ago, CallumWK said:

The one thing Elon Musk doesn't tweet about: Tariffs

 

Elon Musk undoubtedly tweets a lot, recently offering about 270 posts, reposts, or comments to his X platform during the 24 hours of Presidents' Day. It was an average day for him.

But one subject has been glaringly absent in spite of Musk's 10+ post-per-hour velocity in the early weeks of Trump 2.0: the president's tariff plans.

 

In fact, a variety of searches of Musk's posting history using the X search engine for terms like "tariff" or "import duty" revealed minimal to no results. And when the topic does pop up, it's invariably in a post that is years old and sounds very different from how Donald Trump talks about the issue today.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-one-thing-elon-musk-doesnt-tweet-about-tariffs-132213151.html

Of course.

To start with, it's not good for his business in China  as the government can easily retaliate against it.

Then there is the production in the U.S. I would not be surprised if it uses parts produced in China or elsewhere.

Finally, the boycott of Tesla has already de facto started and will certainly gain momentum in countries affected by Trump's tariffs.

11 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

Next thing you know Trump will be blaming Ukraine for starting the war

,

A great essay from the NY Times. It cuts through alot of the nonsense, and reveals the stunning level of Trump's ignorance. 

 

It’s a total mess. As the Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley courageously (compared to other chief executives) pointed out, “Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.”

 

So, either Trump wants to blow that hole, or he’s bluffing, or he is clueless. If it is the latter, Trump is going to get a crash course in the hard realities of the global economy as it really is — not how he imagines it.

 

Ecosystems? Listen a bit to Beinhocker, who is also the executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. In the real world, he argues, “There is no such thing as the American economy anymore that you can identify in any real, tangible way. There’s just this accounting fiction that we call U.S. G.D.P.” To be sure, he says, “There are American interests in the economy. There are American workers. There are American consumers. There are firms based in America. But there is no American economy in that isolated sense.”

 

The old days, he added, “where you made wine and I made cheese, and you had everything you needed to make wine and I had everything I needed to make cheese and so we traded with each other — which made us both better off, as Adam Smith taught — those days are long gone.” Except in Trump’s head.

 

Instead, there is a global web of commercial, manufacturing, services and trading “ecosystems,” explains Beinhocker. “There is an automobile ecosystem. There’s an A.I. ecosystem. There’s a smartphone ecosystem. There’s a drug development ecosystem. There is the chip-making ecosystem.” And the people, parts and knowledge that make up those ecosystems all move back and forth across many economies.

 

As NPR noted in a recent story about the auto industry, “carmakers have built a vast, complicated supply chain that spans North America, with parts crossing back and forth across borders throughout the auto manufacturing process. … Some parts cross borders multiple times — like, say, a wire that is manufactured in the U.S., sent to Mexico to be bundled into a group of wires, and then back to the U.S. for installation into a bigger piece of a car, like a seat.”

 

Trump just waves off all of this. He told reporters that the U.S. is not reliant on Canada. “We don’t need them to make our cars,” he said.

 

Actually, we do. And thank goodness for that. It not only enables us to make cars cheaper, but also better. All that a Model T did was get you from point to point faster than a horse, but today’s cars offer you heating and cooling and entertainment from the internet and satellites. They will navigate for you and even drive for you — and they’re much safer. When we can combine more complex knowledge and complex parts to solve complex problems, our quality of life soars.

 

But here’s the catch. You cannot make complex stuff alone anymore. It’s too complex. And if you are not part of these ecosystems, your country will not thrive.”

 

And trust is the essential ingredient that makes these ecosystems work and grow, Beinhocker adds. Trust acts as both glue and grease. It glues together bonds of cooperation, while at the same time it greases the flows of people, products, capital and ideas from one country to the next. Remove trust and the ecosystems start to collapse.

 

Trust, though, is built by good rules and healthy relationships, and Trump is trampling on both. The result: If he goes down this road, Trump will make America and the world poorer. Mr. President, do your homework.

13 hours ago, candide said:

They are not just sitting back. China's propanda is now full steam on the claim that the U.S. is only interested in stealing other countries resources!

 

(I perfectly know that it's rich from China).

Unlike the US, China doesn’t invade other countries to steal their resources. They are more pragmatic, doing business with a win-win view for both. Many African and Asian countries are benefiting from this approach. Western countries are being left behind thanks to their hubris.

On 2/19/2025 at 8:19 AM, mushroomdave said:

"That’s all right. I don’t mind. Let them do it. Let them do it," Trump told reporters.

 

Yes let them do it, but that wont hurt your "promise"?????

 

“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One,”  Trump stated at many rallies. 

 

Well you are 29 days late so far on that one Orange One.

 

You clearly haven't seen the numbers "Starting from Day 1" 

 

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

 

Another fake promise, another bald-faced lie from this absolute creep who will say or do anything fro power. 

 

The New York Times editorial on globalization certainly schooled this ignoramus, who knows nothing about the topic. 

On 2/19/2025 at 7:22 AM, TheFishman1 said:

America will never be the same you survived Trump’s first presidency barely when he tried to change the Poplar vote and steal an election he lied never admitted it he learned that from his lawyer never admit anything if you tell a lie long enough people will believe you he’s going down as the worst president ever

So you say, You don't have to like DT     Just look what he's doing for the country.

DT is the only one that 's got the guts to do something for the country 

(But you know that )  

Not like the other No hopers  that's been there in the big house.

On 2/19/2025 at 8:34 AM, JimHuaHin said:

Trump will kill the USA.

 

China, Russia, North Korea and others are just sitting back enjoying the show.

Russian inflation 10% 

Why is Trump alienated our allies that we built up for 80 years and now whatever Putin the dictator says he’s repeating it’s like he’s respecting the dictators and just yesterday I heard him say that the president of Ukraine only has a 4% of the population agree with them well that’s exactly what Putin was saying the day before so anything Putin says this president of the United States is now repeating he lied about how much 80s they’ve given to Ukraine by 300% can anybody say to the president United States hey you’re going too far these Russians are not the good guys Trump is gonna be played by Putin look what Trump is promised to lower the prices of eggs but they’ve gone up 25% tariff on all the metal it’s gonna blow a big hole in the Car industry is that ignorant miracle will never recuperate from this recover he wants to throw away all the Democratic rules and he wants to be the king 

6 minutes ago, TheFishman1 said:

Why is Trump alienated our allies that we built up for 80 years and now whatever Putin the dictator says he’s repeating it’s like he’s respecting the dictators and just yesterday I heard him say that the president of Ukraine only has a 4% of the population agree with them well that’s exactly what Putin was saying the day before so anything Putin says this president of the United States is now repeating he lied about how much 80s they’ve given to Ukraine by 300% can anybody say to the president United States hey you’re going too far these Russians are not the good guys Trump is gonna be played by Putin look what Trump is promised to lower the prices of eggs but they’ve gone up 25% tariff on all the metal it’s gonna blow a big hole in the Car industry is that ignorant miracle will never recuperate from this recover he wants to throw away all the Democratic rules and he wants to be the king 

Allies? US and USSR saved these sad sacks in war. 

7 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Unlike the US, China doesn’t invade other countries to steal their resources. They are more pragmatic, doing business with a win-win view for both. Many African and Asian countries are benefiting from this approach. Western countries are being left behind thanks to their hubris.

 

Hardly a win-win given how indebted  many African and Asian countries are to China, and the price that they pay for that debt.

For the last nine years Trump has been praising Putin it almost after talks to sounds like what Putin is saying I wonder if Trump is really a Russian Putin plant it must have something really good on him because it’s weird how all of a sudden our allies are enemies in our enemies or allies is that that guy in North Korea he said they wrote love letters together the guy killed with a miss his own uncle he looks up for to dictators and I really believe that the time he’s finished America will never recuperate from him being president what did he promise the price of actually going down the first day he been in office for a month they’re going up inflation is gonna go skyrocketing with all these ideas that he has about tariffs all the expert economic people are saying he’s incorrect I don’t know could it be a plant

On 2/19/2025 at 10:58 AM, Tug said:

Trump doesn’t care because it doesn’t affect him personally.

An unfortunate reality.

He discovered the word "groceries" and became fascinated because it was probably a life revelation that it describes household items that normal people or paid staff actually purchase whereas  in his experience  since childhood has been that such menial items simply were present and beneath consideration of how.

That ignorance extends across  every aspect of his mis-perceptions of reality.

tariffs and restrictions with immediate or even "delayed" application  does/has  not left trade partners hanging in expectation. They have immediately sought and found alternatives.

US trade deficits are on course to increase and will be coupled to inflation.

Technology bans have backfired as the market has diversified and expanded.

The  "pipe dream" of Made in the USA" has been hobbled by base resource material restrictions and the defunct factories pre exodus to China are in demolition condition anyway .

Agriculture and farming is in turmoil .

 

 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, RayC said:

 

Hardly a win-win given how indebted  many African and Asian countries are to China, and the price that they pay for that debt.

Predictably, right on cue. So indebted that Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are all in BRICS now…

17 hours ago, sharot724 said:

,

He did 

8 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Russian inflation 10% 

The annual inflation rate in Russia rose to 9.9% in January of 2025 from 9.5% in the previous month, the highest since base effects from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine kicked in in February 2023. The result was in line with the Bank of Russia’s warning that inflation would approach the 10% threshold at the turn of the year amid a weaker ruble, a labor force crisis forced by military mobilization, and soaring levels of deficit spending that drove OFZ yields to surge. From the previous month, Russian consumer prices rose by 1.2%. source: Federal State Statistics Service

On 2/20/2025 at 9:06 AM, spidermike007 said:

 

Trust, though, is built by good rules and healthy relationships, and Trump is trampling on both. The result: If he goes down this road, Trump will make America and the world poorer. Mr. President, do your homework.

Oh , come on. A person with the concentration span of a goldfish can't handle homework.

On 2/20/2025 at 2:25 PM, TheFishman1 said:

Why is Trump alienated our allies that we built up for 80 years and now whatever Putin the dictator says he’s repeating it’s like he’s respecting the dictators and just yesterday I heard him say that the president of Ukraine only has a 4% of the population agree with them well that’s exactly what Putin was saying the day before so anything Putin says this president of the United States is now repeating he lied about how much 80s they’ve given to Ukraine by 300% can anybody say to the president United States hey you’re going too far these Russians are not the good guys Trump is gonna be played by Putin look what Trump is promised to lower the prices of eggs but they’ve gone up 25% tariff on all the metal it’s gonna blow a big hole in the Car industry is that ignorant miracle will never recuperate from this recover he wants to throw away all the Democratic rules and he wants to be the king 

Trump is an absolutely horrific negotiator, and one can see that fully on display now. When you give away the talking points of a negotiation prior to sitting down at the table you have failed. There is a 0% chance of success once you do that, and any decent negotiator knows that. The man could negotiate his way out of a paper bag to save his own life. The United States is now dependent upon this creep for to defend itself.

 

Prior to the election all of his supporters knew that he adored dictators and despots and he had a lack of affection for democratically elected leaders, but did anybody guess that it would be this bad, so soon? 

 

Trump is a clear and present danger to the security of both the United States and the Free World and he must be stopped. The Senators and Congress members of his own party and the Democratic party must stand up and defend freedom and rational thinking, against this insane goon.