But here's my First-100-Days question: Does Trump know what he's doing?
The 2 questions are intertwined. If you don't agree with where you think he is trying to take us, you might want to raise the alarm by crediting him as a great political genius. He knows what he's doing in both senses. He's highly skilled and he is taking us to Hell... on purpose.
I think it's less common these days for Trump antagonists to portray him as stupid and reckless — making endless mistakes in a chaotic, crazy way.
I'm mostly judging from the headlines of those "100 Days" articles. I refuse to read much more than the headline.
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I don't tread them because it's a meaningless, artificial metric. The stories will really about the writer and not the subject.
Trump has a much better grasp on what he's doing this time than he did last time and has surrounded himself with better people. Does that add up to knowing what he's doing? Too soon to tell. 100 days is not enough time to form any substantial judgment.
Ann Althouse, "Does Trump know what he's doing?"
There is a written plan that is being followed. It was developed a year or two ago. It was reworked in order to maximize its effectiveness.
Today our excellent Sec. of Treasury said something to the effect that Trump uses strategic uncertainty when making deals.
What you have fallen prey to is the Left's constant drumbeat of chaos, chaos, chaos.
This was all planned out. Those executive orders were written months ago.
Time to start thinking about SC nominations. Will Alito and Thomas retire this term?
I think it's less common these days for Trump antagonists to portray him as stupid and reckless — making endless mistakes in a chaotic, crazy way.
Really?! And pray tell, what do you attribute this thought to? Especially since in the very next sentence you tell us: "I'm mostly judging from the headlines of those "100 Days" articles. I refuse to read much more than the headline."
I guess ignorance really is bliss.
Our hostess frames the question perfectly. But last night on PBS News Hour, the theme was explicitly "chaos" and "chaotic" as they interviewed talking heads about the first 100 days. I wondered as I watched it what purpose this theme serves, as the chaos theme becomes more unbelievable every day. Trump is actually accomplishing things and checking off items from a list of campaign promises made, and now delivered. If it's chaos, then why can't the democrats defeat it with just the tiniest bit of moderate order? The answer is that it's not chaos. It's just that he's doing a lot of things in a hurry. Some are failing, but the success rate is surprisingly high.
Does the 100 days originate with Napoleon?
Since he fired high ranking people in the DOJ that, we are assured, served under both Republican and Democrat presidents, I'm willing to give a tentative yes to he knows what he is doing from both perspectives. However, the lack of actual legislation from congress is concerning. I think a lot of GOPe still think they can wait Trump out, all this MAGA nonsense will go away, and they can get back to the grift.
Trump got elected through a combination of generating hysteria about illegal immigration and trans people (mostly trans women), and promising to lower prices (not stabilize) "on day one" and ending the Ukraine war in twenty-four hours. He has failed miserably at both. His tariffs will cause shortages and inflation within the next thirty days (just look how many fewer cargo ships are headed to our ports).
And no matter he claims otherwise, tariffs are a tax on consumers and businesses in the U.S., not the country producing the goods.
Does he have the knowledge and skill to perform the grand tasks he's undertaken?
That is a great question and gets to the heart of his past 50-60 years. One answer is no and he never has.
He is not an architect to take just one example of core competencies. He does not know how to design a building.
Yet he is known for building many significant and generally well liked building. He does not need to be an architect (or a lawyer, engineer, producer, diplomat, writer and so on)
He doesn't need to be. He needs to have a vision for what should be. He can then hire an architect to actually design the building. And so on.
He does not need to know how to run the country. He needs the vision of how it should be run. Or at least a vision, not everyone likes it nor should, He then needs to hire specialists to implement the vision and supervise them to keep them on track.
John Henry
he's been negotiating billion dollar deals on a daily basis for about 50yrs straight. no other president had that kind of experience.
the famed "Sundance" (conservativetreehouse) thinks trump maneuvered a Carney win bc trump wants a separate trade deal with Canada instead of the current mex-usa-can deal and that he can get that with Carney.
McCullough,
I don't think the 100 days, in the sense used here, originated with Napoleon. There is a 100 days associated with Napoleon but it was his last 100 days, when he had escaped Elba and was trying to regain his position as emperor. It culminated in his defeat at Waterloo.
In this case, and with most recent presidents, the 100 days refers to their first 100 days of actually being in power.
It might be a bit of a callback but is very different.
John Henry
I don't listen to the cry of "it's chaos" from those who benefit from the appearance that it's chaos.
I also note that tics don't like to be disturbed on my dog. They prefer that I leave them alone. They only squirm when I try to pull their blood-sucking heads out of my dog.
Freder Frederson said..."Trump got elected …"
Trump got elected in large part because his opponent was as dumb as a box of rocks.
As a builder and developer, Trump knew what he wanted in his head even if he couldn't articulate it. I think that's true in his presidency. He knows what he wants to do, has an idea of how to achieve it but doesn't spell it out. He knows that with only a few votes to spare in the House and lacking 60 votes in the Senate he cannot get legislation passed so he is relying on executive orders. As far as the chaos goes, war with the left is going to continue to be chaotic and it really is a war. People keep forgetting that Trump is not a politician who wants to get along and please everyone. He is a New York City real estate developer who was trained to fight and argue and demand and has spent his life doing so.
"Trump got elected in large part because his opponent was as dumb as a box of rocks."
I've currently have a box of rocks. It never say dumb, asinine things. So I dispute your exertion that Harris is as dumb as a box of rocks.
If it's so important to evaluate the first 100 days, then we should evaluate by comparison to Joe Biden's first 100 days, as the most recent, cogent indicator. Oh, that's right. There weren't any 'First 100 Days' reports done on Joe. There aren't any comparisons being done, do you notice that?
I read somewhere that over 90% of Trump's coverage by the televised media so far, has been negative. One only has to do a Wordle of the vocabulary used in these scripts to see that negativity. 'Chaotic', 'Escalation', 'Extreme', and so on.
Trump has been the diametric opposite of Biden. He is continually accessible to the media, more in 100 days than Biden's 1400+ days.
The world of politics as the progressive democrats know it, is dead. The captured institutions of the media have been its life support in recent decades - and they are all dying, starved of viewership. Good Riddance !
Hey ! The Trash Can is back !
Freder Frederson said...
Trump got elected through a combination of generating hysteria about illegal immigration...
Laziest possible take. Anyone that wasn't "hysterical" was a leftist or not paying attention. Did Trump generate huge mobs of illegals streaming towards our border in 2021? Did he set up photo ops of them wading across the river in their hundreds?
He made a promise to stanch the bleeding, and he's kept it. Waiting to see how deportations play out over 4 years.
The media created the event of "First 100 days" just so they could make a big deal out of it.
Just like they create the very controversies about which they later step forward and earnestly report as a brewing controversy.
Traditional or Main-stream Media today means one thing - the media company CFO wants revenue. All the talk of the fourth estate and the importance of free press in our constitutional republic is nothing but sales schtick.
@Original Mike, I agree. You cannot talk about the whys of Trump's Election without considering the elevation of Harris to be Candidate without so much as a by-your-leave by any voters. Anyone who cares about the Democratic Process could not in good faith vote for Harris.
BIG ROUND NUMBERS.
Standard stuff.
After Biden and Kamala the left can't pretend Trump is stupid anymore.
And Barry Obama is starting to be recognized as a mediocre mind at best as well.
All of our elite and expert classes have looked pretty stupid for the last 20 years in hindsight.
"Everything is fine" doesn't create forwards and clickthroughs, which is why the press spent the last four years writing daily about Trump's possible return.
I don't believe you can have negotiations about tariffs and non-tariff barriers with dozens of countries at the same time without considerable planning. I read last night that when he broke Bretton Woods in '71 and floated our currency due to rising inflation, Nixon instituted a 10% temporary tariff to protect US industry from the tumult. I just remember the wage and price controls, which didn't work. International trade was not what it is now.
It occurred to me yesterday that Trump may hope with Carney's net zero idiocy that Alberta & Saskatchewan secede, or at least raise such a stink with Ottawa that Trump can get what he wants. Carney and Bessent have apparently crossed paths before when B was working for Soros (shudder).
Trump as the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral has managed to make the Canadian election all about him.
How about we do a "First 100 days" of the press performance.
We're now getting books written about President Biden's infirmities - books they want you to buy - that contain the facts and conclusions that they should have been reporting all along. So, I can only see two logical explanations. Either (1) they were too inept to see and get the story then, or (2) they very well knew the story, but it wasn't "safe" to report it until now. Either way, why would we ever trust them to say anything accurate or meaningful again?
I thought the 100 days stuff began with FDR in '33. How many of all the bills passed turned out to be worthless or counter productive? He had enough seats and the will for Congress to actually do something, which may have satisfied some people besides liberal historians.
Trump burns a lot of political capital in his first 100 days. His vision of a Trump master plan is fading into incoherence.
Simultaneously — he appears to be trying to cut trade deficits, protect US manufacturing, boost federal revenues, bring down other countries’ tariffs by offering deals, coerce them into a variety of actions (including allowing the US to annex Greenland or Canada), extract favors for granting exceptions to US companies, and maintain the spotlight squarely on himself.
Did Julius Caesar know what he was doing? Did Octavian? How about yon Brutus?
I can't understand why 100 days has become so important. Why not 90 days, or 120, or whatever. This is a Journolist thing. Every msm reporter wanted an excuse to vent and generate clicks.
I think Teddy Roosevelt's observations about "the man in the arena" are apropos. You go to war with the army you've got.
But why are you asking us, when you have Grok? Does Grok know what he's doing?
tariffs are a tax on consumers and businesses in the U.S., not the country producing the goods.
And yet, it is the countries that want to export to the US that are really upset about them. The American people, who you say would pay them, not so much.
Why would Canada or China, for example, be upset about tariffs if, as you say, they don't pay them?
At the risk of being pedantic, I would also say that tariffs are not "taxes". Taxes are involuntary, collected by govt at gunpoint.
Tariffs are mainly voluntary. I can choose to buy a Nissan made in Texas and pay no tariffs (assuming it is totally made in US) or a Hyundai made in Korea and pay a lot of tariff.
Ditto a toaster from GE (Made in Kentucky) or an imported chinese toaster.
We still do a LOT of manufacturing in the US.
Manufacturing per capita, constant 2017 dollars, St Louis Federal Reserve Bank
1950 $1,986
1970 $2,659
1990 $3,258
2023 $4,019
I'll be happy to share the complete annual numbers from 1950 on. There were a few years where it declined, but not many and never by very much.
John Henry
The claim "he's highly skilled and he is taking us to Hell... on purpose.." has gained traction. Especially with tariffs.
The claim is he's tanking the markets, buying low, calling for a tariff pause, and selling high. (Or it's being done for him.)
"The billionaire is doing all of this to get rich" has never been a compelling argument.
Me? I hope to hell he (and those around him) know what they're doing. So much of it is virtually unprecedented. No real blueprint.
There is danger in several of the things he's doing, even the stuff I support. If you can't acknowledge that, you need to put down the partisan pom-poms and think about it.
winkleheimer: "I think a lot of GOPe still think they can wait Trump out, all this MAGA nonsense will go away, and they can get back to the grift."
Yes, but they are wrong. Another Wolf Hall analogy: Thomas Cromwell complained that the old nobility thought the Tudors were just "Welsh sheep thieves," an interruption in the way things should be. Well, they got 45 years of Elizabeth I and a complete reordering of English civilization.
We won't get 45 years of Ivanka, but we are well on the way to a similarly drastic reordering.
JSM
Why are you trying to avoid them? Perhaps because the press coverage of President Trump is 92% negative, according to Fox News.
What's more significant for the 100 days is toting up what Congress hasn't done/enacted to help Trump.
Hundred days, schmundred days. Who decided this was a benchmark?
When you're trying to change the world's economy at the same time you're closing the border (done) and removing tens of thousands of of illegal immigrant gang members, as well as hundreds of thousands of repetitive Federal jobs, well...that takes some time.
Not to mention rebuilding the military, working toward a peace arrangement with people who want nothing to do with peace, and removing wealthy private elite universities from the public dole.
This is not 'hell'. I'm sorry you're feeling that it is. It's hard work. It's messy. It does not contain pretty oratory and there will be mistakes. Mistakes are things that happen when people are actually doing something. But this is far from hell.
If you want to see hell, watch what happens to Canada in the next few years. Trudeau brought them to the edge. Carney- bizarrely running against Trump- is now in office and he'll do the final push over that edge.
wasn't there Supposed to be, some HUGE stock crash over tariffs?
I thought they said that there was a Huge stock crash over tarriffs?
what ever happened to That?
just my IRA, it's down hundred and seventy-six dollars from March 30..
it's UP $3,124 from March 13th; and up about 26 THOUSAND for the last 365 days (not including my withdraws).
I'm not making much money right now, but i'm not losing Anything..
WHERE IS THIS HUGE CRASH????
WHERE?!?!?!?
Freder Frederson said...
Trump got elected through a combination of generating hysteria about illegal immigration and trans people (mostly trans women), and promising to lower prices (not stabilize) "on day one" and ending the Ukraine war in twenty-four hours. He has failed miserably at both. His tariffs will cause shortages and inflation within the next thirty days (just look how many fewer cargo ships are headed to our ports).
And no matter he claims otherwise, tariffs are a tax on consumers and businesses in the U.S., not the country producing the goods.
What I find interesting about Freder's stupidity here is just how little thought these democrat drones put into their ideas.
Everything he listed in his dumb little rant is obviously stupid and clearly contradicted by reality. Only reading the NYT's will support this now. Nobody who samples a broad range of information will fall for this anymore.
And watching their little ignorance bubble shrink and the globalist regime fall has to be shocking.
Bill O’Reilly describes Trump as h disrupter. Like Lincoln, teddy roosevelt, fdr, Truman. It was really hard and they took a lot of flack, bit we’re right in the end. Trump is trying to fix the USA a AND western civilization problem(s) that no one had the stones to tackle. He knows what he is doing but he might have to adjust along the way. We HAVE to get our debt down or we will go bankrupt and the result will be something different than a Republic. We HAVE to decouple from China. So do the rest of the west. Only Trump/elon are willing to take the heat for doing what is absolutely necessary. I also loudly commend the rest of his cabinet. Bondi, Hoffman, Rubio, kash, the treasury guy( :) ) and the rest. This may be the bravest, most consequential administration in my lifetime. They are not risking getting hung but with the radical Democrats they ARE risking their lives via assassination. I’m literally in awe of their courage, because I don’t have it
What is also disturbing and telling. The propaganda media finally found a poll of ( not even likely voters ) saying what they want and line the propaganda machine they are, it is everywhere flooding the zone.
Temujin said...
This is not 'hell'. I'm sorry you're feeling that it is. It's hard work. It's messy. It does not contain pretty oratory and there will be mistakes. Mistakes are things that happen when people are actually doing something. But this is far from hell.
This is actually hell for the unproductive HR manager class.
A lot of jobs that were created specifically to ensconce women in air conditioned comfort while producing nothing of value making six figures are going to go away.
Karen can't Karen anymore and is losing her unearned social status.
To about 30% of the population this is hell.
I think congress is
Very, very busy on getting a new tax bill/budget through reconciliation. It is paramount. The rest will have to wait. Probably an omnibus decision bill.
I think he has a direction he wants to go in but is often undisciplined and distracted in getting there.
One example; aside from his own amusement and pumping up his base, what point was there to repeatedly insulting Canadians by calling their Prime Minister Governor and pushing the 51st State thing? The Canadians' reaction was predictable and the Conservatives lost an election they should have won.
The Hundred Days became a benchmark with FDR. It had to do with his convening a special three-month session of Congress. In the first 100 days, Congress passed 77 laws and Roosevelt issued 99 executive orders (more than any president issued in his first 100 days - until Trump 47). I assumed reporters coined the "hundred days" phrase, but it was FDR himself in a radio address:
First, I think that we all wanted the opportunity of a little quiet thought to examine and assimilate in a mental picture the crowding events of the hundred days which had been devoted to the starting of the wheels of the New Deal.
Was he thinking of Napoleon? That might have been rattling around in the back of his head, but I doubt it was intentional.
JFK made reference to the hundred days in his own inaugural:
All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
There is a theory in economics. I call it "The Peasant Theory". Because it is how peasants think. It basically says," If you have more than everyone else(me), then you stole it from them(me). This describes Democrats to a T.
"Trump promised he'd bring peace between Putin and Zalensky in the first 24 hours!" This is how peasants,(and children), think. The realities of the situation never enter their thinking. What Trump actually said was that in the first 24 hours he would work to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine. There's a difference that adults understand and the child-like minds of peasants don't.
Quayle's been homering all morning, and others are too.
Kaka and Freder are valuable for their comic contributions, as usual. Proof that the trolls get paid by the word.
Trump has genius aplenty on his team and that has the MSM shitting the bed. Lovin' every minute of it.
I think it was bill Maher talking recently and stated or responded to someone that the democrat party has not had an actual real president nominated by the voters, it has all been selected by the party. First hillary, then Biden, then Kamala. I believe that gives you and idea of what the democrat party wants for the country.
Mediaswine/Democrat hysteria notwithstanding it’s mostly going fine. Fewer deportations than expected. Fewer layoffs and firings than expected. Too bad. Nobody knows how the tariffs will work out. Probably no worse than Democrat corporate tax increases. Time for SCOTUS to reel in corrupt Dem judges or for Trump to ignore them.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-describes-how-he-could-solve-russia-ukraine-conflict-24-hours?msockid=2a5b978495ae6b140310870394d06af9
COULD
how he COULD
scagboys like Reading and Lonejustice (Chuck) Pretend that "describing HOW he COULD"
is a "PROMISE" that he WOULD
Readering? LoneJustice? care to explain your reasoning to us?
Oh, that's right; there Was NO reasoning.. There was only slantie lies
Kate (10:39am):
If presidents were inaugurated at noon on New Year's Day, 90 or 120 days would be a perfect period for reflection and assessment, ending at noon on April 1st (April Fool's!) or May 1st (Mayday! Mayday! Help, we're sinking!).
But presidents are inaugurated at noon on January 20th, and it's never a leap year, so 100 days brings us to noon on April 30th, as close to the end of a month as you can get with a noon.
If Canadians are so shallow that they based their vote on social media comments by an American President, then they deserve all the pain they have coming to them.
Judging by my canadian bank stocks, he's doing great.
The Democraticals being projected to lose 27 seats in the House of Representatives is a helluva motivator.
Remember that Canadian politics is 100% based on Who Hates Americans the Most. That’s their only issue.
COULD
how he COULD
Considering he claims he hates people dying every day in the war, if he COULD end it, why hasn't he ended it?
But here's my First-100-Days question: Does Trump know what he's doing?
Well, here's what I see Trump doing:
1: Putting on a full court press to undo illegitimate limits on Executive power
2: Ending US taxpayer funding of the Left
3: Drive out illegals
4: Make America a better country for blue collar workers
5: Break the power of the Left
Has he done a perfect job? No
Can I stand teh way he talks? No
Has he done a much better job than I expected, given how much he fucked up during his 1st term?
Hell yes. Solid B
Would have been an A if he'd vetoed the budget bill, "shut down" the gov't, and kept it shut down until the GOP passed a budget that shut down USAID and implemented a bunch of his cuts into law
What Trump actually said was that in the first 24 hours he would work to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine. There's a difference that adults understand and the child-like minds of peasants don't.
Can you provide a link to this claim of what he actually said?
Trump knows exactly what he’s doing: In every moment of his life he’s sought to be the main player, with the fierceness of a salmon swimming upstream to spawn. When you’re the main player it doesn’t matter whether you succeed or fail; indeed, failure often makes for greater and better drama.
Of course he said it: "Day one." Last week he sort of walked it back, saying he's pursuing it but he didn't think both sides would push back so much on peace when he made the first prediction. Write it down, Freder. He finally admitted a mistake!
The first 100 were just the warm up's. I honestly think the "media" secretly thank Trump for giving them purpose again. After covering the corpse of Biden like it was a fiction novel, it's back to "real news".
Also on tariffs, I would be willing to bet that for all the hoorah about tariffs, by 2029 tariffs will either not have significantly changed or will be lower than in 2024. There might be a coupld of exceptions but they won't be many.
Presifent Trump is mainly waving tariffs around like a wild man to scare the crap out of everyone else in negotiating better trade treatment and tariff reductions on US goods.
He is viewed as "crazy" or "chaotic" though a better word would be unpredictable. Unpredictable is good in negotiations. "We better give him what he wants because there is no telling what he might do if we don't!"
The other prediction I will make for 2029 is that we will have a 10% tariff on everything that comes into the US from anywhere (Caveat: There may be a few, limited, exceptions and it may not be 10% but will be around 10%)
I think getting the 10% general tariff is one of the major goals of all the tariff hoorah. If he had started off with this, he would never get it. Now, "10%? Not 75%? Whew, we dodged a bullet there. Give it to him before he changes his mind"
He would use it to replace the income tax which would be very popular. I don't know how the economics of it work out. We do about $3tr of imports so a 10% general tariff would raise $300bn (Assuming imports remain constant. They might not). Not nothing but not the $2.1tr collected in personal income tax annually.
In principle I am infavor of a general 10% tariff but will need to see some more details.
John Henry
I don't trust any polling on Trump outside of Rasmussen and Rich Baris, the two that got '16 '20 and '24 correct. Like Baris said recently, "Why would you trust those colleges ever again that were always wrong about Trump, and KNEW their numbers were wrong, like the Iowa poll?"
Make America a better country for blue collar workers
Can you provide one policy or initiative Trump has introduced to "make America a better country for blue collar workers". I sure can't think of any. I guess you could argue that cracking down on immigration will allow hard working blue collar Americans to get lucrative careers in roofing, lawn maintenance, picking crops, and hanging out in front of Home Depot hoping to get some day labor. Gutting the Mine Health and Safety Agency, the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health, and firing board members so the NLRB no longer has a quorum certainly doesn't "help" blue collar workers.
Every article about Trump in MSM will be negative. We've been doing this for 9 years now!
Trump is either reckless, wrong, authoritarian, unethical, stupid, or evil. And if he does something right, it was done in the wrong way. Or he was forced to do it.
Seriously, show me all the articles that praise Trump the way Biden or Obama were praised. Doesn't not exist.
Re the Prime Minister for Canada and Trump calling him a governor.
Canada actually has a governor. More accurately, the King of Canada has a governor general for who he appoints.
The King of Canada's Prime Minister for (not of) Canada is actually appointed by the governor who can also unappoint them at any time.
Perhaps a better analogy for Carney than governor would be city manager. The PM has no executive authority. Everything the PM and parliament does, laws, policies, military deployments, courts etc has to be signed off by the king, generally via the governor.
Carney did not win the election, he was not even on the ballot. His party was, in the form of a number of MPs but even there, they did not win. They got the most seats, but not quite a majority.
Legally, the king could choose someone else to be his prime minister for Canada. He probably won't, thouth.
John Henry
I simply ignore the MSM when they attack Trump. They've lied so many times and deliberately not reported things that made him look good, or refused to investigate claims that made him look bad, there's simply no point in trusting them.
And that includes polls. I would only trust a MSM poll that showed people approve of whatever Trump is doing because you know the MSM would rather not report that, if possible.
He would use it to replace the income tax which would be very popular.
And Rusty bemoans the lefties here for thinking like children! Replacing the income tax with tariffs creates a regressive tax system, with those on the bottom paying much more tax (as a proportion of their income) than those at the top. Even if the tariffs worked perfectly and all manufacturing returned to the U.S., tariffs are still inflationary. Domestic manufactures will raise their prices under the cover of tariffs ("hey we can charge 5% more for pure profit, it will still be cheaper than imports") .
"I guess you could argue that cracking down on immigration will allow hard working blue collar Americans to get lucrative careers in roofing, lawn maintenance, picking crops"
Yes, we can argue that. Thanks for acknowledging it.
Last week he sort of walked it back, saying he's pursuing it but he didn't think both sides would push back so much on peace when he made the first prediction.
And when every sane person knew that this was the case. How could he not know that? And yes, when you get something so wrong that even one of the greatest liars in the history of mankind can't cover his complete fuck up, how does that demonstrate his genius if he finally admits he was full of shit?
What Trump actually said was that in the first 24 hours he would work to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Oh fer fuck’s sake. Trump promised a version of the following more than fifty times in the months leading up to the 2024 election:
“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we all together win the presidency, we will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled. It will be settled. The war is going to be settled. I’ll get them both – I know Zelensky, I know Putin, it’ll be done within 24 hours, you watch. They all say, ‘That’s such a boast.’ It will be done very quickly.”
I’m not going to provide a link because anyone with a phone can type the words “trump ukraine 24 hours” and see the results in seven seconds or less. If you’re incapable of that you either lack curiosity or are blinded by all the Trump spunk in your eyes.
the federalist is likely to have the close to most honest take,
Legally, the king could choose someone else to be his prime minister for Canada.
No he can't. That's not how a Constitutional Monarchy works. The King has no real real power, and if he tried to exercise his fictional power he would be out of a job.
"Freder Frederson said...
Make America a better country for blue collar workers
Can you provide one policy or initiative Trump has introduced to "make America a better country for blue collar workers".
Opening up exploration, production, and delivery has reduced the cost of energy.
“And before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled.”
it DOES seem pretty well settled.
The Ukraine LOST. Do you need me to spell thing out for you?
T.H.E. U.K.R.A.I.N.E. L.O.S.T.
GET IT? seems pretty settled, doesn't it?
But of course, you can't admit things.. Can You?
I guess you could argue that cracking down on immigration will allow hard working blue collar Americans to get lucrative careers in roofing, lawn maintenance, picking crops, and hanging out in front of Home Depot hoping to get some day labor.
All of which are honest work and very necessary. If the illegals are chucked back over the wall, and the layabouts and welfare chiselers are cut off without a penny of government handouts, and forced to choose between getting a job or starving to death in the gutter, we will come to a new equilibrium and those jobs will be paid what they are worth.
yes ukraine kept firing rockets into the steppes, and yadda yadda,
Opening up exploration, production, and delivery has reduced the cost of energy.
Umm, no it hasn't. Oil has dropped because the economy is slowing and OPEC has increased production. Even if Trump had declared that you don't need a permit to drill and you can ignore every environmental regulation out there, it would take years for all that new energy to come on line. Oil is currently in the $60 a barrel neighborhood. If it drops much more, it will simply not be profitable to continue to produce domestic oil at the rate we are. Getting oil out of the ground in Saudi is a lot cheaper and easier than it is here.
If the illegals are chucked back over the wall, and the layabouts and welfare chiselers are cut off without a penny of government handouts, and forced to choose between getting a job or starving to death in the gutter, we will come to a new equilibrium and those jobs will be paid what they are worth.
And there is the cruelty of MAGA in a single sentence. Having a permanent underclass one accident or job loss away from starving in the street is perfectly fine with you.
Me? I hope to hell he (and those around him) know what they're doing. So much of it is virtually unprecedented. No real blueprint.
I wonder how true 'virtually unprdcedented' is. It may need another caveat 'virtually unprecedented in the 21st century'.
Is there anything he is doing that has no other analog since the Constitution was ratified?
Scott Bessent today further damaged his credibility by saying China needs a deal more than the US because it has a bilateral trade surplus with the US.
This, as any economics undergraduate would know, is the exact reversal of the truth.
For China, the trade war is mainly a demand shock, while for the US it is mainly a supply shock. It is easier to replace lost demand than missing supply.
Kakistocracy said...Scott Bessent today further damaged his credibility by saying China needs a deal more than the US because it has a bilateral trade surplus with the US.
Bessent is right because China relies on its exports to the US to keep its economy afloat. For the US, China is a luxury good that we don't need.
Trump to Soften Blow of Automotive Tariffs ~ WSJ
Lutnick is a better stock market pumper than Bessent — even though he sounds infinitely more sleazy and much dumber. He feeds the market’s spoonful of ‘cave juice’ every day. Today it’s auto tariffs.
Last week he sort of walked it back, saying he's pursuing it but he didn't think both sides would push back so much on peace when he made the first prediction.
I thought this particular boast was a mistake the day he made it. The Slavs are the most hard-headed, stubborn, grudge-holding ethnic group on the planet. In Serbia they are still amazingly butt-hurt about a battle they lost in 1389.
If you want some entertainment, get a Serb, a Greek, and a Bulgarian in the same room, and ask them each to talk about the history of Macedonia.
Freder Frederson said...
Me: Make America a better country for blue collar workers
Can you provide one policy or initiative Trump has introduced to "make America a better country for blue collar workers". I sure can't think of any.
Then you must be even more of a moron than I thought you were.
I guess you could argue that cracking down on immigration will allow hard working blue collar Americans to get lucrative careers in roofing, lawn maintenance, picking crops, and hanging out in front of Home Depot hoping to get some day labor.
Losing access to the Home Depot illegals will force construction companies to hire actual employees for the jobs, if they're worth doing.
It takes a special kind of stupid to say "gee, I dont' want those kind of jobs, therefore no one else could want them, either", but Freder is up to that task.
the peanut gallery has really run dry,
Kakistocracy said...
Scott Bessent today further damaged his credibility by saying China needs a deal more than the US because it has a bilateral trade surplus with the US.
This, as any economics undergraduate would know, is the exact reversal of the truth.
Thank you Mr retard.
in the real world, China's gov't is dependent upon massive exports to keep the populace under control, and losing them hurts, massively.
So thank you for sharing that you have no clue
"And there is the cruelty of MAGA in a single sentence. Having a permanent underclass one accident or job loss away from starving in the street is perfectly fine with you."
You seem to be ok with a permanent underclass so long as its brown and easily exploitable.
In any event, being a roofer does not make you part of a permanent underclass. I worked some pretty hard physical jobs in my youth, but somehow I managed to get a Masters degree. And roofers send their kids to school, same as everyone else. The fact that you think blue collar work makes you part of an "underclass" says a lot more about you than you realized.
Oh, and apparently you have never heard of workers comp.
Our hostess's opinion of Trump encapsulates her remoteness from everyday life. Based on her blogs since retirement she seemingly only has conversations/interaction with Meade & grok. Doesn't seem healthy!
" It is easier to replace lost demand than missing supply."
How is China going to do that. We are their biggest customer by far, and still the biggest economy. China is already shutting down factories and therefore putting people out of work.
"Having a permanent underclass one accident or job loss away from starving in the street is perfectly fine with you. "
The Mayor of San Francisco would like a word. They've got plenty of programs to help you keep your fix fat and secure, on the back of the taxpayers. This is what Progressive Democrats call 'fixing the problem', and the annual budget for this largess has ballooned way past $1 billion per year. But hey = they're sure well intentioned, aren't they?
"Can you provide one policy or initiative Trump has introduced to "make America a better country for blue collar workers".
here's several
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/04/29/heres-what-the-democrats-dont-want-you-to-know-about-the-trump-economy-n4939344
I thought Elon Musk was the real president. Shouldn't this be Elon's first 100 days, not Trump's. How, exactly, does Freder expect Trump to make any progress now that President Musk has gone back to Tesla? And the DOGE crew is still digging around the bureaucracy. Why is that not still a threat to "ma democracy", Social Security and Medicare? It's almost like all the Dems were just bull shitting us all along. Or is the silence from the left just because Freder and crew are now totally fixated on saving the country from the current existential threat, which is apparently the deportation of alien criminal gang members? Plus, what happened the tariff threat? Are we done with that, too?
Anyhoo, I think that Target clerk who told Shiff that "Democrats are A-Holes" may have been on to something. But I would modify that description to "dumb, chaotic A-holes."
Did you know that back in the sixties Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Senator Walter Mondale joined Cesar Chavez on the border to protest against illegal aliens.
" It is easier to replace lost demand than missing supply."
You might want to mention that to Budweiser.
Trump may be influenced by the stock market, but his real target is the bond market. Treasury has to roll over $3T in debt this year (2025) alone, and a lot more in subsequent years. Much of this maturing debt is at near zero percent interest, and it's vital that it does not get refinanced at >4%. Usually when stocks crash, bonds go up in price (=lower interest rate). He needs to keep his eye on the target.
I think Trump is fine with the outcome of the Canada election. After a few more years of Liberal party government, Canadians, at least the productive ones, will be clamoring to become the 51st state.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/china-waives-tariffs-us-ethane-imports-sources-say-2025-04-29/
"How is China going to do that. We are their biggest customer by far, and still the biggest economy. China is already shutting down factories and therefore putting people out of work."
As always, KaKa is regurgitating "wisdom" he acquired by "being in the room".
China is an outlier; its economy is built on massive overproduction. They are going to struggle finding a depository for it if the world's largest economy is no longer available to them. Other countries are leery of accepting it.
And as to the US replacing missing supply: to the extent that the solution is rebuilding our own production, yes, it's going to take time. But that's also the point.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116hres268ih/html/BILLS-116hres268ih.htm
https://www.dailynews.com/2025/04/01/inconvenient-legacy-of-cesar-chavez/
https://cis.org/Oped/Cesar-Chavez-Belonged-Vanishing-Breed-ProBorders-Left
[Freder seems] to be ok with a permanent underclass so long as its brown and easily exploitable.
True, although the skin color is beside the point. Freder and other Democrats are delighted to have a permanent underclass that helps their party amass power. They hold dozens more seats in Congress than they would if only citizens were counted in the Census for purposes of reapportionment.
They also need to replace the white Democrats who are going the way of the dodo bird thanks to their devotion to sodomy, abortion, anti-natalist environmental panic, and gen-z-boss-girl-in-a-mini careerism. Until this past election, naturalized Hispanic immigrants and their offspring were a reliable Democrat bloc vote, although that seems to be changing dramatically under Trump.
And it's beyond any reasonable doubt that a non-trivial number of the illegals are being registered to vote, and are either voting themselves or (more likely) having ballots cast in their name by Democrat Party ward heelers in the smoky back rooms.
"For Christians, this present life [on Earth] is the closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven." ― Randy Alcorn
Trump wants to have Carney as a foil and a physical, proximal counterpoint to MAGA, to exemplify. Carney has bamboozled his way into office on the back of Trump's insulting rhetoric, using them to scaremonger about the US, presenting himself as the balanced centrist. But in the meantime, the Liberals worked hard to cancel competing politicians, in much the same way that Hillary did in '16. It was a dirty campaign.
But many Canadians already prefer the soft, enfolding bosom of socialist politics, even though it has proven, many times over, the old Benjamin Franklin maxim of ending up with neither freedom nor security. Canadians are going to get what they voted for, good and hard, and Carney can afford to waste no time implementing it, because Globalism is on the wane worldwide. I think Trump is thinking down the road to the next two elections. He preferred Carney.
it seems most media engages in the 'wet streets, cause rain' hypothesis, reverse cause and effect, in so far as Carney is a catspaw as Trudeau was
https://substack.com/@elizabethnickson/p-159943682
We have a commenter here (I'm embarrassed I can't remember his name) who said he works in the Australian construction business. His report was that all of a sudden Australian companies were being offered very cheap materials from China. Couple that with the Australian government publicly rejecting China's overtures to ally with it in opposition to Trump's tariffs and you can see evidence that China isn't going to find a lot of options for offloading it's manufacturing output.
Aggie said..."Hey ! The Trash Can is back !"
Not for me. (sads)
ron winkleheimer said..."I've currently have a box of rocks. It never say dumb, asinine things. So I dispute your exertion that Harris is as dumb as a box of rocks."
Point taken. None of my rocks say stupid things either.
I apologize to rocks everywhere.
You're in Hell now under Trump, annie.
Please.
That's quite the assumption.
You must own stocks or have illegal workers you rely upon? The rest of us are doing fine. Don't put your opinions into the hypotheticals, proffy. Not everyone shares your experiences or attitudes. You never did learn that in the classroom, eh?
Punchbowl News reports:
Amazon to display tariff costs for consumers
April 29, 2025
Amazon doesn’t want to shoulder the blame for the cost of President Donald Trump’s trade war.
According to a person familiar with the plan, the e-commerce giant will soon show how much Trump’s tariffs are increasing the price of each product.
The shopping site will display the percentage of an item’s cost derived from tariffs right next to the product’s total listed price.
The White House quickly slammed the proposal.
"I just got off the phone with the president about Amazon's announcement — this is a hostile and political act by Amazon," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
It wasn't the only phone call about the issue on Tuesday: President Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after he learned about the news story laying out a plan to show tariff price hikes, two sources said on condition of anonymity to speak about the private conversation.
Despite a mention that Amazon's Haul, a new but dinky import service, considered the possibility, Amazon had already decided not to notify Haul Service importers about tariffs on their small purchases.
The question, of course, is why Trump cares. He is already improperly telling consumers that foreign exporters bear the burden of tariffs, and Haul customers are importers. And even if Bezos chose to list the percentage of tariffs online, he is not breaking the law.
Amexpat,
A "Constitutional Monarchy" requires a constitution. Can you provide a link to either Canada's or England's? Nope, they have unwritten constitutions which are nothing more than a series of precedents, court rulings and customs that change daily.
Under the Canadian and British constitution all power, and I mean ALL power, resides in the King, currently Chuck 3. He is supposed to simply be a rubber stamp. Parliament passes a law? Chuck rubber stamps it.
But it relies on his good nature and compliance. If he decides not to rubber stamp, there is nothing anyone can do about it. Citizens are unarmed, parliament has no power over the army, military is sworn personally to Chuck and so on.
The PM for Canada is supposed to be the person who can command a majority of parliament. That is probably Carney but he did not win a majority of parliament. only a plurality. The 4 other parties combined hold the actual majority by 8-10 seats.
If they formed a coalition, they could go to King and demand that he appoint their candidate PM and it would be constitutionally legitimate for him to do so.
Probably unlikely, but constitutionally possible and kosher.
John Henry
gadfly yammered:
"Amazon doesn’t want to shoulder the blame for the cost of President Donald Trump’s trade war.
According to a person familiar with the plan, the e-commerce giant will soon show how much Trump’s tariffs are increasing the price of each product.
The shopping site will display the percentage of an item’s cost derived from tariffs right next to the product’s total listed price."
Do it, Amazon, do it!
"This will backfire.
Amazon buys Chinese trash for $0.70 cents. Pays $0.50 tariff. Sells to you for $18 plus $0.50. Customer realizes they’re buying Chinese trash."
John Henry pointed out, that in England:
"Citizens are unarmed, parliament has no power over the army, military is sworn personally to Chuck and so on."
It blew my mind, when i found out the oath that British military make:
I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles III, His Heirs and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, in Person, Crown and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and of the [admirals/generals/air officers] and officers set over me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_(United_Kingdom)#Armed_forces
compare that, to the oath that American Military make:
I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (So help me God)."
"true allegiance to their King", vs
"support and defend the Constitution of the United States"
and
"observe and obey all orders", vs
"obey the orders.. according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice"
They (LITERALLY!) swear to King.. NOT Country (certainly NOT Constitution),
and they SWEAR to "obey ALL orders".. not just the legal ones.
Of you're in the British Army, and King Charles (or King Ali, or which Ever of his "Heirs and Successors" wins the crown) orders you to kill ALL the Christians..
you've SWORN to do it (or, ANY other thing he orders)
The regular party apparatchiks out in force, showing the rest of us normies why Ann is right-waste of time to read what will end up being the normal hate fest.
Hating Trump is all they have. Their masters told them to act, speak, and think a certain way- the leftist comments here are predictable, and written for them by Maddow and the MSM. Kinda sad, but also fun watching them destroy their own crediblity.
Oh, and chaos is a legit business tactic. Keeps the idiots unhinged, and unable to react.
Chaos is also the buzzword of the hour. Later today it will be changed, and the leftists will parrot what ever daddy tells them
@Gadfly, you were incomplete in your comment - you neglected to point out that Leavitt's comment re: Amazon was to inquire why it was, that Amazon did not make the same notations on their invoices with respect to inflation under the Biden Administration. Would have been the act of a fair-minded business, no? Passing on the information consumers need to know, about why their prices are ratcheting higher?
1) How would Amazon know what tariff a company paid on a product? I have goods that arrived in Dec. 2024. And good that arrived last week.
2) If anyone is interested, look up what other countries tariffed Chinese steel last year. The list is long.
gilbar: "They (LITERALLY!) swear to King.. NOT Country (certainly NOT Constitution),
and they SWEAR to "obey ALL orders".. not just the legal ones."
The King is the ultimate guarantor of the British small-c constitution. He swore at his coronation to, inter alia, guarantee the Bill of Rights.
It's far more likely that the elected government of the day will order British troops to put Jews in boxcars or something than that the King ever would. Then the troops could use their oath as a legal reason not to follow Keir Sturmer's whim.
Really both systems are just words unless the people with power have internalized a sense of fair play. So both countries are probably fucked.
JSM
"I suppose it's a combination of already knowing the material that will be itemized..."
Like this, no doubt:
1. Trump sucks.
.
.
.
.
.
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100. Trump sucks.
If he decides not to rubber stamp, there is nothing anyone can do about it. Citizens are unarmed, parliament has no power over the army, military is sworn personally to Chuck and so on.
The UK Parliament has more power than you seem to acknowledge, most especially the power of the purse.
I've heard the current arrangements likened to the "Mutual Assured Destruction" postures of the US and Soviet Union in the Cold War.
Parliament can abolish the monarchy tomorrow, or defund it and turn Charles out in the street with nothing but a suitcase and a worthless title, or replace him with someone else who is more to their liking, but they would risk the wrath of the people getting thoroughly rid of them at the next election.
The King, by contrast, really has only one trump card to play against intolerable actions by Parliament as a whole or by the PM and government of the day, and that is abdication. It's a nuclear weapon that forces the people to choose between Parliament and the monarchy, and effectively the mirror image of Parliament voting for a republic and the abolition of the Crown.
The old Queen was a canny steward of the family business and kept the monarchy relevant far longer than most people would have expected when she took the throne in the early 1950's. I'm not sure Charles has anything like her grit and wisdom and determination, let alone the love of the masses that she enjoyed, so I would not be surprised to see scum like Keir Starmer kick him out one of these days and turn the place into an impoverished, tyrannical Marxist shithole.
If it doesn't happen in Charles' reign or even in my lifetime, it certainly will become a Muslim caliphate by the turn of the century. At that time, all of its nuclear weapons will be deployed to wipe Israel off the map, and the great-granddaughters of the purple-haired leftist freaks who now vote for unfettered immigration will live out their lives under a burka and without a clitoris.
With all my family connections to the place, it pains me to say this, but they really are becoming an enemy of Western civilization. I sincerely fear to visit there, lest I be put in prison for a decade for speaking my mind about the filth who run the place and the filth they have allowed to invade it.
This is only 1 of 53 distinct statements of what trump said about stopping war in one day. It is no wonder you can put any credibility in people up in here who spin this shit with their own interpretations. Evidently they refuse to HEAR or SEE the real WORDS ,you know the best words that's why I always pass over any statements made by such up in here ,not credible..TRUMP March 4, 2023. Speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled. It will be settled quickly. Quickly. I will get the problem solved and I will get it solved in rapid order and it will take me no longer than one day. I know exactly what to say to each of them.” One of many times the 24 hour scenario was blabbed out and yup the trumpers bought it hook line and sinker. Shame on ya.. The truth will set you free...
"If anyone is interested, look up what other countries tariffed Chinese steel last year. The list is long."
I'm interested. Can you provide a link?
I did find this:
"China faces significant tariffs on its steel exports from various countries, notably including Vietnam, which has imposed temporary tariffs ranging from 19% to 28% on certain Chinese steel products, and South Korea, which has set a provisional tariff of 38% on Chinese steel plate shipments. Additionally, the U.S. has enacted a blanket 25% tariff on steel imports, affecting Chinese steel indirectly through broader trade policies."
Does China tolerate other countries imposing tariffs but not the US? What tariffs on Chinese steel coming into the US were in place before this all started?
It's an interesting question. Jupiter's right: he's the man in the arena.
The problem is the arena. The two Parties, the media scurrying like rodents to create panic and division, yadda yadda.
He's not playing 4th dimensional chess. He's trying to fix a country that has been broken by and for the benefit of the people who surround him, who made the rules.
He isn't perfect. He's going to need that if he is going to succeed against these thugs. I can't think of anyone else who has a chance in hell to do it. Maybe a honey badger.
As an actual importer and exporter of Chinese product, most of the people commenting here really don't understand what Trump is trying to do with tariffs. To be sure it is absolutely horrendous for my business but that isn't his concern. What Trump is doing is being is being the flamboyant real estate developer he has been for nearly fifty years: having a vision get people interested then make insane demands knowing full well he won't get them but knowing what pragmatically he can get. China doesn't have the same or better cards than the US has. Theirs are far worse. China is already in a major recession, their economy is tottering, the provincial governments are
broke, their banks a disaster and the US is 20% of their exports. Factories of all kinds are shuttering in South China and their suppliers are getting crushed as well. Could be as high as 30 million people will be losing their jobs and with no replacement jobs.Trump knows this and is banking on this to get conditions bad enough that China given a fig leaf will give him most of what he will settle for. Given the lead times and shipping schedules a deal will be struck by the end of May. Trump was to reduce US dependence on China as a supplier and encourage more domestic manufacturing but he knows that for many items that is not possible so he is furiously squeezing the diffusement countries that would take a chunk of that export trade. The rest of the world isn't big enough to absorb what what would have gone to the US and the Chinese internal market can't either. The tariffs will most likely never go to 10% on everything from every country. We have a $6tn budget spending and $tn in tax collections. The hope is DOGE can find $1tn to cut and the tariffs raise maybe $600bn thus reducing the deficit growth immensely. In the meantime I have to figure out how to survive.
The new import requirements come amid increasing concerns about China's excess industrial capacity flooding global markets with exports amid weak domestic demand. It comes after Biden in May hiked tariffs on a broad array of strategic goods from China, including steel and aluminum, electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors and critical minerals.
Remember the uproar when Biden hiked tariffs on China?
Yeah, me neither.
Gadfly steps on another rake as Amazon denies doing any such thing regarding tariff pricing.
Hope you can work it out, cubanbob.
I also hope Trump is successful at reshoring critical industries. I don't care about dishwashers, but chips, military goods, pharmaceuticals, … it's dangerous being dependent on our foes.
If tariffs are an issue, then they were during Obama, Biden et al. If Amazon wants to be consistent, then it must acknowledge labor arbitrage through fair labor practices etc, and environmental arbitrage leveraged by the Green blight and signatories to the Climate Pledge etc.
They (LITERALLY!) swear to King.. NOT Country (certainly NOT Constitution),
Not actually correct, Gilbar per the oath you quoted. They swear their oath not to "The king", a position. They swear their oath to "King Charles III" an individual. (Like the German oath "I swear by God this holy oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to the Leader of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler...")
So when Chuck goes tits up, so does the oath. Arguably, though it does apply to unnamed heirs and successors. When Elizabeth died, pretty much everyone, military or civilian that drew a govt paycheck had to swear a new oath.
As for power of parliament, Amexpat, they swear the same oath. Under British (and I assume Canadian) law it would be "Treason" for parliament to try to overthrow the king.
If the king then dissolved parliament and ordered the military (Chuck is officially Commander in Chief) to arrest them, what could the military do? As Gilbar points out, they swear to carry out all orders, not just legal ones. And would an order to arrest now former members of an insubordinate parliament be illegal anyway?
The whole British political system seems incredibly fragile by it's nature built as it is on the good nature of one person. What happens when they get a king or queen who lacks a better nature?
Suppose Harry (Markle's husband) were the heir instead of William? Suppose it had been Andrew instead of Chuck who had succeeded Liz?
John Henry
Not taking any exception to anythng you said, Gilbar. Your point about following all orders, legal and other is very well taken.
Just pointing out that it is worse than swearing allegiance to a king and emphasizing theat they swear allegiance to a person.
John Henry
I’ll state the obvious; Trump is a demented, doddering fool. He’s a puppet for the project 2025 faithful.
Big orange daddy’s politics of rage, retribution and resentment set the table but he’s not even driving this bus anymore.
I get it, Biden being over the hill during the last of his term means that MAGAts will cry big salty tears and this point is functionally irrelevant but it’s true and you know it.
If the war ends by the end of the year, that will be soon enough, and if the US plays a role in ending it that would be quite an achievement.
*
China may not mind if the other Asian tigers tariff its goods. If the US - long felt to be a paper tiger by Chinese governments - does so, China will howl. They recognize how much more important perceptions are in American politics than facts are, and they're confident that they can play the appearances game well enough in DC.
“the peanut gallery has really run dry”
We’re left to pick the ‘fly specks out of the pepper and change kaKAW’s anti-psychotic meds
@cubanbob, hope it all works out for you.
A chaotic spiral of tariffs has been threatened, delayed, imposed, lifted, or riddled with loopholes. The most striking example occurred on April 2, dubbed "liberation day," when a new round of tariffs was announced, only to be partially suspended a week later amid market turmoil.
Over time, claims of a Trump master plan have dwindled, and the arguments supporting them have grown less convincing. It has become increasingly clear that no coherent plan exists with a single target and a clear path to achieve it. Instead, Trump's tariff policy reflects a mix of competing, often contradictory aims and a misunderstanding of the blunt tools he wields.
The chaos surrounding his tariff policy stems not only from ineptitude but also from these profound contradictions.
Another factor contributing to the chaos is the lack of consensus among his economic and trade officials, coupled with the sense that none have the authority or inclination to challenge him.
Those seeking logic in Trump's tariffs are likely to remain disappointed. His current efforts to sign trade deals with various countries to lift the tariff threats imposed on April 2 will test whether partner governments believe there is enough continuity and coherence to trust that any agreement will be upheld. Experience thus far suggests there is not.
Freder, you're channeling Sinclair Lewis! "Gutting" MSHA and OSHA doesn't do a thing to change the statutes governing workplace safety. And even if, in the DOGE era, half the inspectors were cut, it would have a negligible effect on enforcement, as there are only about 2400 OSHA instructors for 8 million workplaces. Basically almost all workplaces operate safely under existing statutes because risk management tells them it's better to do so - you never know when one of those rare inspectors might show up, and if a worker is seriously injured or killed in your plant, regardless of whether an inspector has stopped by recently, you've got a major lawsuit/PR problem.
Leftist D-bag-Hag -
Project 2025? you are such a moron.
btw - Kamala LOST.
Dumb, big salty tears
This thread has already been a treasure trove of examples of leftist/dem/LLR-democratical (but I repeat myself) idiocy by Abacus Boy LLR-democratical Rich ("I was in the room when big BIG business decisions were made!" LOL), Soy-Boy Cat Lady gadfly and Field Marshall Freder to name a few.
Every moronic, dem lying, ChatGPT bastardization has already been fully addressed so no need to pile on there.
The proof will be in the final results, as always.
But the sheer sweat-drenched desperation of kamala/Jazzy Spirit Fingers Stolen Valor Walz fangirrrrrrl Abacus Boy Rich to "convince" any and all that "failure" has already been achieved is truly a Harry-Sisson/David Hogg Act to behold!
And recall, Richie boy guaranteed, literally, that kamala was going to win.
Absolutely guaranteed it. I mean, he ABSOLUTELY guaranteed it.
And he has continued to maintain his 100% Failed Prediction Rate now for many years! He hasn't even experienced an inadvertant, accidentally correct prediction success...which a 3 year old playing in the mud would have experienced by now simply due to the laws of probability!
I see Kak has deployed the c-word that our host observes even the news media are abandoning.
I see TBH has deployed the claims of Trump's idiocy and (!) dementia that are simply unfathomable, except maybe as examples of projection.
I see gadfly has deployed the "he made a very specific promise that he didn't keep to the letter!" thing to which we're all accustomed, without reference to, say, Obama's red line, a specific promise that was kept in NONE of its particulars.
"And he has continued to maintain his 100% Failed Prediction Rate now for many years!"
I refer to it as "world-class wish-casting". I don't think I've ever seen a greater example, anywhere.
Trump's got a few months to sort out the China situation. Kak is right, Don has spent a ton of political capital without any realized benefits. Risk taker behavior.
We'll see what happens.
Kak is right, Don has spent a ton of political capital without any realized benefits. Risk taker behavior.
... says Howard. Can't manage italics right now - the dog just fell asleep on my right arm and I'm so right-handed that there's no way I can do it with my left hand.
Yes, Howard, risk taker behavior, but Kak attributes it to clueless, heedless stupidity, whereas you appear to attribute it to knowledgeable, if risky, intent. I think that's what our host was getting at, isn't it? Do we see Trump's behavior as knowledgeable and purposeful, and if purposeful, benevolent or malevolent?
I'm with you.
Howard: "Don has spent a ton of political capital without any realized benefits. Risk taker behavior."
Welcome to the long play, by a guy who survived assassination attempts and a weaponized federal and state govt lawfare cabal which also failed to "assassinate"/destroy him AND his children and the results of a lifetime of work and now is putting everything he has into the fight to turnback from the socialist/authoritarian nightmare the New Soviet Democraticals, aligned with the ChiComs/EU socialists/Islamic supremacists want to inflict upon us.
Kakistocracy said...
Scott Bessent today further damaged his credibility by saying China needs a deal more than the US because it has a bilateral trade surplus with the US.
This, as any economics undergraduate would know, is the exact reversal of the truth.
For China, the trade war is mainly a demand shock, while for the US it is mainly a supply shock. It is easier to replace lost demand than missing supply.
Wow.
That is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen on a message board.
Good job Rich. Keep on being stupidly wrong.
Thank you for this, Ann. I've been doing the same. The two I tried to read were clearly not trying to review the first 100 days, but convince the readership that they had been awful. Not news, but sort social media-type fluff? It's bad when even a paper like WSJ begins to abandon reporting and go straight to tweets of wrath in article format.
You posting about it made me aware of why I am acting this way.
On Main Street, Trump is holding his own. In the Pauliine Kael tradition, Ivies, Wall Street, and those who live off DC money are crying their hearts out.
Many times in my life I didn't know what I was doing, when I was doing what needed to be done.
Trump is doing what needs to be done. He seems to know what he is doing, but maybe he doesn't. He knows what needs to be done.
Tea Bag Hag: your name describes a woman sucking a man's balls. Explain, exactly, what that means to you, and define your sex (not gender) so we know precisely where your bias strikes. We can manage you better that way. And you need managing, sweetie.
Howard said...
Trump's got a few months to sort out the China situation. Kak is right, Don has spent a ton of political capital without any realized benefits. Risk taker behavior.
We'll see what happens.
Ridiculous.
Trump's policies have clear goals and predictable outcomes. Only an idiot like Rich can't figure out what will happen. And stop pretending Trump came out of a vacuum.
The middle class in the US has been sold out for decades. The working population has been crying out for decades. The TEA party was the first go and that was the most peaceful movement ever. They had various government agencies sent after them. During the 2012 primaries the base clearly did not want Romney and the GOPe cucks wanted Romney. 2016 the GOPe cucks thought they would get one of their groomed traitors like Bush or Rubio or Cruz.
Trump was the only one who had Americans first policies. So he won.
The true risk taking behavior in this situation would be to thwart Trump using shenanigans and non-democratic means like the globalist pawns currently are.
If Trump is stopped like this you will not like who comes next.
Trump has been very busy. When will he find time to ban abortion nationwide, eliminate Social Security and Madicare, and put Black people back in chains, as the Democrats promised?
tcrosse said...
Trump has been very busy. When will he find time to ban abortion nationwide, eliminate Social Security and Madicare, and put Black people back in chains, as the Democrats promised?
Don't forget the Nazi part.
Internment camps and gas chambers. They promised us gas chambers. A whole bunch of "Journalists" should be in jail right now. They said Trump was going to throw them in jail.
No need to read a summation of first 100 days because the articles on his actions THROUGHOUT his presidency so far speak for themselves, no commentary , or slant needed by whoever is writing that 'First 100 Days' article. So much winning! I feel safer everyday. Everyday is another promise fulfilled.
The Soviet-Democrat Press/ Democrat party hate machine - pays dividends.
I agree with the comment about the end goal being 10% tarriffs. This is basically a 10% VAT with an exemption for domestic produced goods - who will pay 10% on their imported raw materials and other inputs.
Notice that there are 2 levels to the question. One has to do with expertise: Does he have the knowledge and skill to perform the grand tasks he's undertaken?
@Althouse, your question is nonsensical. Does he have a team in place that shares his vision and accepts his leadership? Does he have a collection of advisors he trusts and to whom he will listen? The short answer is affirmative, in marked contrast to his first term.
The other has to do with whether he is trying to reach the ends that the asker of the question believes are where his actions will take us.
This question is awkward to parse. Do I approve of his stated goals? Certainly. Do I believe that everything he does is a step towards one or more of his goals? No. Some actions are trolling his domestic adversaries, while others pursue targets of opportunity. Are most of his actions a step towards a goal? Absolutely.
Trump learned a lot from his first administration, and I am always admire people who are able to learn and adjust. He did not enter his first term with people who understood his vision and shared it, but administration #2 is very different in that regard. Consequently I think he will be more successful this time around. It would be wonderful if he was 100% successful, but that’s a lot to hope for. Trump is not, in my estimation, a political genius, but he learns, and he adjusts, and that’s 90% as good.
But back to your true question, Althouse, my hope is that you find yourself avoiding 100 day articles, could it be that you’ve learned something? About the sort of Trump-related articles that one finds in formerly great news sources such as the New York Times and Washington Post? Maybe you’re tired of articles that can be summarized as “I hate Trump, I really, really hate, hate Trump.”
I can dream.
The damage is already being done, and is likely to compound over time. Even if Trump capitulates tomorrow on tariffs, he is still going to have to live with fall-out from DOGE and a marginally unpopular immigration crackdown. The fallout from the trade war isn't going to resolve itself overnight either, and the hollowing out of government agencies is going to have a financial and political cost that will compound over time. e.g. in the case of Social Security staff cuts in particular, Trump is engaging in a major act of political self-harm. The DOGE cuts have hit rural communities that were generally supportive of Trump. There are still big geopolitical risks, especially in the Middle East.
The Democrats have major issues in presidential cycles. However, the party has constructed its base around high propensity voters who show up in mid-terms. Under normal circumstances, the mid-terms tend to have lower turnout for the incumbent party. The same is likely to be the case in 2026 (similar to 2018). There are millions of Trump voters who show up for him when he is on the ballot, but they don't vote for the Republicans otherwise.
As we get closer to the election, and as the polling continues to show an electoral wipe-out for the Republican Party, I suspect we are going to see more of an effort by Trump and the people around him to undermine the integrity of the 2026 election. It wouldn't surprise me if those efforts also backfire. Trump has the anti-Midas touch right now. Trump wants to become the world's first Trillionaire, but he wants to become the world's first Trillionaire the laziest way possible: by looting the federal treasury and using the power of the U.S. state to bully countries and rich people into giving him their money. Those actions are hard to square with doing things that are actually going to be popular.
Trump wants to become the world's first Trillionaire, but he wants to become the world's first Trillionaire the laziest way possible: by looting the federal treasury and using the power of the U.S. state to bully countries and rich people into giving him their money.
This is the most hallucinatory groundless nonsense you've ever posted here, which is really saying something. Trump's public service to the country has cost him billions of dollars. There is almost no prospect he will ever recoup it.
Trump wants to become the world's first Trillionaire....
If that's the case, you'd think he'd at least start taking a salary.
Generally, people don't get richer by working for free.
“The Democrats have major issues in presidential cycles. However, the party has constructed its base around high propensity voters who show up in mid-terms. “
“As we get closer to the election, and as the polling continues to show an electoral wipe-out for the Republican Party, I suspect we are going to see more of an effort by Trump and the people around him to undermine the integrity of the 2026 election.”
Almost an admissions that the Dems steal elections. Except that it’s going to be much harder in 2026 and esp 2028.
- illegals won’t be voting.
- non-citizens will not be voting in as high numbers
- the dead won’t be voting, and many fewer of those who have moved away.
- ActBlue will be out of business, with some of those involved having been indicted.
- USAID money won’t be flowing to Dems to fund their election fraud.
- decent chance that voter id of some sort will be in effect for many states, based on EOs, and the withholding of monies to the states.
These are just some of the steps to combat Dem election fraud already taken, in Trump’s first 100 days.
So, keep dreaming that your artificial polls you are so enamored with are real.
As for election fraud, guess what we (and the FBI) now know? Those Dominion vote counting machines that supposedly couldn’t be connected to the Internet, actually were connected for the 2020 election.
"Trump wants to become the world's first Trillionaire...."
Remember several posts ago I commented on the "Peasant Mentality"? This is it right here.
“ Overall, I think things are going very well. The screams of anguish from the left convince me as nothing else could that Trump is doing the right things.”
I think that things are going better than expected. Illegal immigration has crashed, almost to zero. Some 165k federal workers have been canned, with more taking retirement officers. USAID and the State Department are undergoing massive reorganization. A bloodbath over at the DOJ’s Civil Rights division, as the new AAG over it ordered it to switch from voter suppression to election fraud, fighting antisemitism and anti-Christianism from using disparate impact to fight those groups, etc. some of her 11 Section Chiefs were reassigned outside their area of expertise/dominance - and resigned. After a year of the military significantly failing to meet its recruiting goals, they now have many more applicants than openings.
Overall, I think that things are going quite well.we are still well within the honeymoon, and very few are going to remember the chaos a year and a half from now, when they go to the polls to vote. But this time around, instead of ActBlue funneling foreign and USAID money to Dem candidates, they will likely be defunct, with its former leadership under indictment for RICO. And the USAID money used to fund challenges to voter integrity laws will be gone too. Instead of challenging clean election laws, the DOJ Civil Rights Division is now under control of one of Trump’s most successful election lawyers , and she is dedicated to clean elections. So, no, I’m not the least bit worried.
Apologies on post last pm, Ms. Althouse. You DID post my comment on 100 days article. I.must have missed it!
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