Trump / Musk (other than DOGE) Omnibus Thread

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In virtually every permutation of game theory, acting 'unpredictably' is a horrible strategy. Regardless of what the orange clown has said, the West, and large parts of the world, have acted in relatively good faith since 1945, and especially since 1989, and world prosperity is at an all-time high. But fuck it. Let's go back to the law of the jungle because some asshole has made people think false braggadocio will 'Make America - currently, by any almost measure, the greatest country in history - Great....Again?'.
 
Gmonet said:
In virtually every permutation of game theory, acting 'unpredictably' is a horrible strategy. Regardless of what the orange clown has said, the West, and large parts of the world, have acted in relatively good faith since 1945, and especially since 1989, and world prosperity is at an all-time high. But fuck it. Let's go back to the law of the jungle because some asshole has made people think false braggadocio will 'Make America - currently, by any almost measure, the greatest country in history - Great....Again?'
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Correct. The only people who think that chaos and unpredictability are somehow effective negotiating chips when it comes to critical geopolitical alliances, are stupid people.
 
CFordUNC said:
Correct. The only people who think that chaos and unpredictability are somehow effective negotiating chips when it comes to critical geopolitical alliances, are stupid people.
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Let me offer a slight refinement.

It's not true that unpredictability can never be an effective strategy for anyone. For North Korea, for instance, unpredictability gives KJU a stature in international diplomacy that far exceeds what he should have based on the size, power and economic might of his country. It's a way for a nothing country to become a something country in this one respect.

But for a country that isn't just a something country but is actually a BFD, unpredictability is a negative -- as we all agree. My point is that Trump takes his cues from Orban and KJU -- i.e. leaders of nothing countries aspiring to be something countries. That's his mentality. It's also true that "unpredictability" is really just a polished turd of dementia.
 
mpaer said:
The unpredictable part has its "merits" perhaps . Tearing apart our relationships with our neighbors and presumably with out European allies is the really scary part
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They'll forgive us. Trump is simply using the economic might of the US as leverage in a way no other US President has done before. It's a bit unseemly but that's Trump. Canada and Mexico (from their perspective) can't afford to call his bluff.
 
Ramrouser said:
They'll forgive us. Trump is simply using the economic might of the US as leverage in a way no other US President has done before. It's a bit unseemly but that's Trump. Canada and Mexico (from their perspective) can't afford to call his bluff.
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With friends like these...

As a hegemonic, or near-hegemonic, power with the largest economy in the world, remind me why we are looking to upset the apple cart?
 
superrific said:
yes, humiliated. I was tossing you a bone with "maybe a slight increase for a couple of years" (that is, maybe 10% of the 181% rise was because of Trump) but never mind. The expert cited in the Politico article was very clear. Any MOU would be complete window dressing. Everyone LNG buyer in Europe is a market participant that buys according to the market. There is regulation of that sector, but the regulation is done on the national level, not the EU level.

Your golden boy Trump was played and that's the long and short of it. Completely played, because he doesn't know shit about the world and won't listen to people who do. Sound familiar?
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"Tossing me a bone" based on your assumption that the deal resulted in "Nothing. Absolutely Nothing". Then you make more assumptions with your "couple of years" claim. Now, piling on more baseless assumptions attributing 10% of the 181%. You're making things up as you go.

You and I have no idea what, if anything, changed on the EU side that may have resulted in a legitimate increase in LNG purchases from the US even if the EU, as an entity, does no actual purchasing on its own.
 
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Ramrouser said:
to solve the border issue.
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The only way the “border issue” will be truly fixed is to fix the root cause of massive migration. We can build a 50 foot high wall and do all kinds of barbaric stuff to these folks….and they are still going to come.
 
Ramrouser said:
They'll forgive us. Trump is simply using the economic might of the US as leverage in a way no other US President has done before. It's a bit unseemly but that's Trump. Canada and Mexico (from their perspective) can't afford to call his bluff.
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The problem is, they really can’t afford to not call his bluff either. And they know vanity is his weakness. The people of Mexico and Canada are more likely to forgive their leaders standing up to a craven bully than Americans are to forgive Trump for sabotaging the US economy.
 
It's less about fixing the cause and more about how to utilize the resource it actually is. Properly done, it's an opportunity and not a problem but that doesn't scare anybody into voting Republican.
 
Ramrouser said:
to solve the border issue.
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But again, what if they call his bluff. What does Trump do then? Because "solving the border crisis by requiring Mexico to pay for the wall" didn't work last time, and they are coming to the table with a much better plan this time.

Keep in mind, Trump plays a very short game (it's why he gets a diplomacy handicap). He just has to look like a winner until he dies. That's his aim. Countries like Mexico and Canada simply aren't interested in encouraging bad behavior from their already volatile sibling.
 
My prediction: the economy will slowly worsen over time during Trump’s presidency (except for an uptick after the recession) and Trump’s acolytes will claim victory no matter what.
 
sringwal said:
But again, what if they call his bluff. What does Trump do then? Because "solving the border crisis by requiring Mexico to pay for the wall" didn't work last time, and they are coming to the table with a much better plan this time.

Keep in mind, Trump plays a very short game (it's why he gets a diplomacy handicap). He just has to look like a winner until he dies. That's his aim. Countries like Mexico and Canada simply aren't interested in encouraging bad behavior from their already volatile sibling.
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At the end of Trump's first term, the border issue (massive people streaming into the country) was largely solved. It was under Biden/Harris that the flood gates were opened. He'll get things under control fast with the help from Mexico and Canada.

No argument from me that Trump plays the short game. As he says, we'll have to see what happens next. I'm betting on much more cooperation on the border from our neighbors between now and Inauguration Day and no tariffs imposed.
 
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