January 26, 2018

The point when Trump evokes warm laughter from the Davos crowd.

I recorded this clip, which came during the question session after the speech. The interviewer (the head of the World Economic Forum) had asked him what in his background prepared him for his current role. Trump had 2 points. The first was that he was a businessman, which was good because we've always just had politicians and military generals as presidents. The second was this:



ADDED: There are 2 laugh reactions in that little clip. On the second one, you might think you're hearing some booing mixed in. I've listened a few times, and to me, it sounds more like an "ooh" that acknowledges the boldness of attacking the press right to their face.

AND: Here's the whole speech and question answering:

73 comments:

dreams said...

I heard that too and I think it was booing.

traditionalguy said...

Trump is being winsome, warm and loving; and that it is making it harder to recruit good assassination teams that the CIA/FBI Complex needs to eliminate our President before Trump eliminates them.

dreams said...

I don't see any reason to give the looney tunes the benefit of doubt based on their history.

tim in vermont said...

Important points to defend the Davos smug elite positions.

“Whatever you may have heard, stupid, it’s not the economy!”
Corollaries:
Even though our economy is undergoing a phase of automation, we need more unskilled labor (It’s for the votes)
The working poor are lazy and we need a new working poor who are harder working. (Chamber of Commerce position)

Ignorance is Bliss said...

According to The Independent Trump was booed.

By the press.

David Begley said...

Here's Trump's message to those who will listen: Attack the press in your own country. They are hated and discredited.

Lyle Smith said...

The Press is big business like Exxon. They can be named called too.

traditionalguy said...

The Press is the opposition party. If you don't believe that, go back and watch the Election Night coverage.

tim in vermont said...

I am sure the press probably booed him for calling them out on their partisanship. So what? They are partisan. Wikileaks proved it.

tim in vermont said...

Not “proved it,” Wikileaks documented it. Their coverage proved it.

tim in vermont said...

I think the “assassination” stuff is pretty out there, BTW. Not that somebody somewhere wouldn’t like to do it, but it would most likely backfire in a huge way.

Infinite Monkeys said...

Trump was booed.

By the press.


So, no one whose opinion matters.

bagoh20 said...

How would the talking heads who were holding back tears on election night handle a Trump assasination?

I think they would put a nice big bow on the huge package of paranoia, vicious hatred and lies they have given us for over a year now.

tim in vermont said...

Davos slogan this year: "Creating a shared future in a fractured world"

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
- John Lennon’s Internationale

What could go wrong?

SayAahh said...

Oohs are almost whispered. Those were clearly boos.

Bay Area Guy said...

Never been there, but Davos sounds like a nice place - kinda like Aspen, Colorado, but with rich, European elites.

BarrySanders20 said...

So stereotypically European with the band as part of the welcome at the 30:00 mark in the second video. Men in funny hats and costumes playing their rehearsed song while Trump endures.

Fernandinande said...

I had two laugh reactions to this:

1 - "Sandeep Rehal, who worked at The Weinstein Company for two years between 2013 and 2015, claims she felt demeaned and terrified while working for the disgraced film mogul."

2 - "Weinstein even made the then-26-year-old type emails he dictated while naked, according to the suit."

tim in vermont said...

My Trump hating friends sold all of their stocks the day after the election. Too bad, because that stupid decision is going to make retirement that much harder for them, now that they have missed out on the 44% gain, per the Drudge Report anyway, since that foul date!

26,000 Dow, I said it was going to go there as a joke when it broke 25,000. I am sure if Hillary had raised taxes, and ended fracking, or made it extremely rare, like she promised, it would be just as high!

dreams said...

"Trump was booed.

By the press."

Yeah, but they still feel that they're an unbiased press.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Tim in Vermont said...

26,000 Dow, I said it was going to go there as a joke when it broke 25,000.

The Dow is headed for a correction, absolutely, positively, guaranteed. The only thing I don't know is if it will be a correction from 26,000 to 20,000, or from 50,000 to 40,000. Or from some other number to some other number. But it's coming!

traditionalguy said...

@Bay Area Guy...A place kind of like Aspen but full of European elites is called Vail.

theribbonguy said...

Watched the whole thing this morning (home with the crud). What struck me the most was the calm, dignified, dare I say Presidential delivery. This drives home, for me anyway,that the braggadocios vulgarian act he puts on is just that, an act to bait the press...and of course to wad the panties of the LLR Chuck contingent.

traditionalguy said...

Driving into work this AM, the highly educated NPR guys were desperate for something to despise about that Orange Haired Clown. So they ran 3 snipetsdescribing the coming financial crash. It seems that the better things get, the more likely it is that the Markets will crash. And they pre-blamed Trump for having no financial medicine to use when the British Bankers do it .

tim in vermont said...

The U.S. crowing from the top of a hill long occupied by Saudi Arabia or Russia would scramble geopolitics. A new world energy order could emerge. That shuffling will be good for America but not so much for the planet.

For one, the influence of one of the most powerful forces of the past half-century, the modern petrostate, would be diminished. No longer would “America First” diplomats need to tiptoe around oil-supplying nations such as Saudi Arabia. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would find it tougher to agree on production guidelines, and lower prices could result, reopening old wounds in the cartel. That would take some muscle out of Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy, while Russia’s oligarchs would find it more difficult to maintain the lifestyles to which they’ve become accustomed.
- Bloomberg

I am sure that there will be a correction, and you can’t really credit Trump for the oil boom, except that he defeated Hillary, who wanted to tamp it down, which, as Bloomberg notes, would be in Putin’s interest. But certain facts on the ground have changed. Fracking has made cheap natural gas, which is not easy to export, available to US manufacturing. My brother, before he retired, ran a factory and he mentioned that cheap natural gas saved that factory a million dollars a year in energy costs. Not to mention the availability of chemical feedstocks.

The tax cut makes US corporate tax rates competitive, bringing money home. $350 billion from Apple alone. These factors change the fundamentals. There is something behind this stock market spike besides unreasoned optimism because we have a president who doesn’t despise business.

But of course, its bad for the planet! You would think that before you institute policies that restrict economic growth to the tune of trillions, that you would want to have all of your ducks in a row scientifically, but no! It’s too important to check the facts!

Curious George said...

You want to know how effective Trump is, and how troubling the boomerang of the ivestigation (memo, texts, etc), and how much the left is scrambling to cope?

There was a school shooting Wednesday and radio silence from the left. No call for gun control. Nothing.

JML said...

"I have a team of just, tremendous people..."

I'd work for him. (And I do, and a government employee...)

Curious George said...

Just got my first Trump Tax paycheck....cha ching. Blue Wave? I don't think so.

traditionalguy said...

But what about the end of the world from sea level rising and temperatures rising to flood and burn up the planet?

The Davos Rich-in Charge have been living off and directing those slush funds that paid for Mass Big Lie Propaganda and 100% faked pseudo-science for the last 28 years. They could at least stop and give it a decent funeral.

Dude1394 said...

"Blogger Tim in Vermont said...

My Trump hating friends sold all of their stocks the day after the election. "

They've bought them back, just ask them. They talk big but do not have the courage of their convictions. Unless it is with someone else's money.

Dude1394 said...

"I am sure that there will be a correction, and you can’t really credit Trump for the oil boom,"

You cannot "uncredit" him either. Down my way there have been about 3-4 pipelines announced, announcement for new deep-water dredging to handle bigger/heavier supertankers. I expect those would NOT have happened with Hillary.

Another reason to look at nevertrumpers and just plainly say "you are stupid".

Kate said...

I watched the whole speech this morning. When Trump says "America First" he makes the ok symbol with his fingers. He makes this sign a lot in relation to random words. But I'm waiting for the NAZI!!1!! meme to begin.

Curious George said...

Dude1394 said...
"I am sure that there will be a correction, and you can’t really credit Trump for the oil boom,"

You cannot "uncredit" him either. Down my way there have been about 3-4 pipelines announced, announcement for new deep-water dredging to handle bigger/heavier supertankers. I expect those would NOT have happened with Hillary.

Another reason to look at nevertrumpers and just plainly say "you are stupid".

Meh. More importantly did he say "shithole" or not. He never specifically denied it, or put on the record what he did say. Where the fuck are your priorities!

Darkisland said...

I am waiting for the reaction to a headline "Trump kills at Davos"

As in gives a killer speech.

That will lead to calls for more gun control.

John Henry

tim in vermont said...

They’ve bought them back, just ask them.

Nope, he will gladly tell you, and has convinced his wife, that this boom is part of the 18 months that Obama is responsible for, and that once that is over, lookout below!

eric said...

Blogger Ignorance is Bliss said...
Tim in Vermont said...

26,000 Dow, I said it was going to go there as a joke when it broke 25,000.

The Dow is headed for a correction,


I think we are headed for a crash. Not a correction. It's the best way to bring this president down.

It'll be like being a Falcons fan and you're 25 points ahead at halftime during the Superbowl. It'll be soul crushing.

tim in vermont said...

They think its like when Wyle E. Coyote runs off the cliff and hangs in the air, he doesn’t drop until he looks out below.

tim in vermont said...

t'll be like being a Falcons fan and you're 25 points ahead at halftime during the Superbowl. It’ll be soul crushing.

I think there is a solid foundation for the market, but I am no expert, and people worry that the market will crash and that Trump will be assassinated. An assassination of Trump would certainly accomplish a market crash! And probably the only way the “blue wave” which has petered out markedly, will happen, is a market crash just prior to the election, so naturally we worry about it.

But thank you for reminding me of that sweet Super Bowl memory!

Gahrie said...

I think we are headed for a crash. Not a correction. It's the best way to bring this president down.

What's going to cause this crash?

Cheap energy?

Surging consumer confidence?

Effective tax reform?

Record breaking unemployment numbers?

Repatriation and domestic investment of overseas profits?

Bonuses and raises given to employees by American businesses?

tim in vermont said...

It would have to be a conspiracy Soros type thing to “crash” this market. Corrections are to be expected. That’s what people worry about.

Kovacs said...

They were saying "Boo-urns":

https://youtu.be/hKu0TVlumcc?t=1m14s

Drago said...

eric: "I think we are headed for a crash. Not a correction."

A real estate bubble burst is certainly possible, but unlike in 2008 the underlying strength of the rest of the economy today is likely to absorb and help cushion any real estate market shock which will minimize the overall downside.

alan markus said...

A year ago our financial planner advised us to reduce our equity exposure from 90% to 65% because my wife and I will both be retired within a few months. I have done that, but if equities drop, we will be going shopping. I suspect that any major drop will be of a short term nature - a lot of people have sat on the sidelines (or did not have the cash that they have now) and don't want to miss the next wave as momentum rebuilds.

eric said...


Blogger Gahrie said...
I think we are headed for a crash. Not a correction. It's the best way to bring this president down.

What's going to cause this crash?

Cheap energy?

Surging consumer confidence?

Effective tax reform?

Record breaking unemployment numbers?

Repatriation and domestic investment of overseas profits?

Bonuses and raises given to employees by American businesses?


I think, as mentioned above, it'll be a Soros type manipulation, if you will. A conspiracy.

However, that's not what will be blamed. If you look at market headlines, there are always reasons posted for the direction of the market that day. Doesn't matter that they are usually wrong. Or have nothing at all to do with the days market.

So when we crash, due to a conspiracy to bring Trump and Republicans down, they will find the news of the day, or week, and blame that. Whether it's saber rattling, bit coin crashing, or an earthquake in Antarctica, something will be blamed.

Heck, if I were a part of this conspiracy, I'd wait for some solid news to crash the market. Maybe a volcano erupting, or a terror attack. Some premise.

Because even if we have another 9/11, or act of God, the market going down will still be Trump's fault.

Achilles said...

eric: "I think we are headed for a crash. Not a correction."

About the DOW Jones. Everyone needs to realize this is an average of 30 cherry picked "blue chip" companies. It is barely reflective of the economy. Every time I see this number thrown out there it angers me.

The S&P covers the 500 largest publicly traded companies. If you want to know how big business is doing go here. The thing is it rarely makes news because it is a flat as shit line.

Neither of these really reflect the daily life of the average citizen. For that you need to watch the total workforce numbers and wage levels.

Achilles said...

Most of the people with 401k's don't have as many stocks measured by the Dow Jones as they think.

alan markus said...

@ Drago: A real estate bubble burst is certainly possible

Supposedly the amount of student loan debt outstanding is a bubble that could burst.

This Economic Bubble Is Going to Wreak Havoc When It Bursts

Our daughter is going to technical college - costs are much more reasonable, no need to borrow or use her Savings Bond fund, and we are spending the difference on funding a ROTH IRA for her in the meantime.

Achilles said...

Have Trump's eyes always been that squinty and beady? I think the skin around them is inflamed
or something.

The presidency takes it's pound of flesh on everyone.

tcrosse said...

My Trump hating friends sold all of their stocks the day after the election.

Now they're waiting for a correction, otherwise known as a Buying Opportunity.

Gahrie said...

The S&P covers the 500 largest publicly traded companies. If you want to know how big business is doing go here. The thing is it rarely makes news because it is a flat as shit line.

My 403b is tied to the S&P and I've seen steady gains.

dreams said...

"My Trump hating friends sold all of their stocks the day after the election."

"Now they're waiting for a correction, otherwise known as a Buying Opportunity."

Good, that means I can continue making money without having to worry too much about a pullback. The stock market must punish these liberal fools.

dreams said...

"Most of the people with 401k's don't have as many stocks measured by the Dow Jones as they think."

Yeah, the Dow clearly outperformed the S&P 500 last year but I outperformed the Dow. I was up 32% for the year and the Dow was up 28.11% and the S&P 500 was up 21.83%.

Via Fidelity Investments.

S&P 500® Index +21.83% +21.83%

Dow Jones Industrial Average +28.11%

Ignorance is Bliss said...


Achilles said...

The S&P covers the 500 largest publicly traded companies. If you want to know how big business is doing go here. The thing is it rarely makes news because it is a flat as shit line.

So business is doing damn good.

And Achilles' shit is not particularly flat.

roesch/voltaire said...

The cameras were not turned off-- fake claim from Trump as usual, and he was booed.

tcrosse said...

The Telegraph reports that the boos were coming from the roped-off press area.

Drago said...

R/V: "The cameras were not turned off-- fake claim from Trump as usual, and he was booed."

LOL

The cameras turning off line is a joke and part of Trumps standard Q&A schtick.

And nobody cares if media types and Davos elitists whine about the media being called out.

Yoy lefties really dont like the rules you created being applied to you, do you?

Dude1394 said...

"Blogger tcrosse said...

The Telegraph reports that the boos were coming from the roped-off press area.

1/26/18, 12:52 PM"

Booed by the press, badge of honor I'd say. You go my favorite POTUS.

Howard said...

R/V's comment points out the fact that in the midst of a streetfight, the left keeps harping on the Marquis of Queensberry rules. Trump is a lowest common denominator confidence man... don't understand how so-called smaat kids keep falling to the foil.

The job must be tough because Trump looks like he has aged 5-years since the election.

Drago said...

Howard: "R/V's comment points out the fact that in the midst of a streetfight, the left keeps harping on the Marquis of Queensberry rules."

Well put.

Howard: "... don't understand how so-called smaat kids keep falling to the foil."

Because they aren't smart. They are simply credentialed and connected.

Hagar said...

I think the stock market was artificially inflated while the economy proper struggled through "The Great Recession." Why can't the opposite also happen - the stock market bubble bursts while the economy is doing just fine and takes it in stride?

buwaya said...

My main US fund tracks the Russell 3000.
That's just up 21% in 2017

My foreign investments (held in US brokerage) have done better, 24.5% for my in 2017

That's not my foreign hedge however.

The S&P is more volatile than the Russell, and that's up 24.6%
So if I'd been doing a pure S&P fund I would have beat myself in 2017.

Still, I have made more than enough in 2017 to buy a nice flat in Spain.

buwaya said...

"Why can't the opposite also happen - the stock market bubble bursts while the economy is doing just fine and takes it in stride?"

1987

buwaya said...

"I am sure that there will be a correction,"

So am I. There is ALWAYS a correction. Just a matter of when and how bad.

SayAahh said...

If you are so sure there will be a correction then profit off it with perfect timing.
Everybody brags about their gains. Nobody ever talks about their losses.

dreams said...

Via Fidelity Investments.

S&P 500® Index +21.83

Dow Jones Industrial Average +28.11%

Russell 3000 +21.13%

tim in vermont said...

The cameras were not turned off-- fake claim from Trump as usual, and he was booed.

Trump made an obvious joke, and R/V refuses to understand it, as usual, calls him a liar.

He was booed by the PRESS, yes, we know, they hate him and did everything they could to prevent his election.

tim in vermont said...

Who has the more ossified worldview? Gadfly, or R/V?

pacwest said...

Alongside the indexes I've always paid close attention to the P/E multiples. They have went up, but not as much as the markets. There is still a lot of upside.

Pension plans have benefited greatly from the past year. A looming crisis delayed.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Blogger SayAahh said...
If you are so sure there will be a correction then profit off it with perfect timing.
Everybody brags about their gains. Nobody ever talks about their losses.

I have a coworker who spent at least four hours a week managing his portfolio (a TIAA-CREF 403B). I am vested in the same plan, but I just keep half of it in a stock index fund and half of it in bonds. Zero management time! We are both nearing retirement so we compared how we did.
Over two decades, his rate of return and mine were the same.
There was a time when being savvy & having unique insights would allow you to beat the market, legally. Warren Buffet is supposed to have gotten rich this way. But these days, with information on virtually everything at everyone's fingertips, I think Buffet works differently. He leverages his wealth, with is basically economy of scale (which is still legal).
The ultimate end of capitalism is zero economic profit. You can't charge any more for anything than the lowest bidder, and the lowest bidder will only cover his costs (including his labor).
If there is a way to beat the market these days, I suppose it would be to leverage the fact that there are a lot of Krugmans out there -- people who will bet on their ideology rather than the market.

Achilles said...

Ignorance is Bliss said...

And Achilles' shit is not particularly flat.

Flat = Consistent.

Technical trading would be a pain.

Chuck said...

Althouse, it was booing. No amount of Alt(house)-right blogging can make it not booing.

Bad Lieutenant said...


Tim in Vermont said...
Who has the more ossified worldview? Gadfly, or R/V?

1/26/18, 3:01 PM

Roesch, the serial killer manque, is just an apparatchik. With gadfly, it's personal.

JAORE said...

"I just keep half of it in a stock index fund and half of it in bonds"

Like me, you appear to be happy with (relatively) steady growth and (relatively) little risk over time. Congratulations to us both.

I'm a bit more aggressive than you, but I have a decent pension that provided a floor and I got a late (second*) start.


* The one piece of advice I am absolutely confident in is that "investing" in a divorce does NOT help your bottom line.