Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[edwin_m]

Apparently Trump's approval rating has dropped well into the negative since his inauguration according to several pollsters, including on the economy. So his actions may have made those who initially gave him the benefit of the doubt after he won the popular vote are now less willing to do so.

A few Republicans turning in either the Senate or the House could make a big dent in some of his domestic plans, but not so much the foreign ones. There must be some who aren't standing next time, and even the threat of others being "primaried" would disappear if Trump was unpopular enough that his endorsing someone else wasn't much of a downside. That would, however, require a large slice of Republican party members to turn against Trump, not just of the general population.

 

[Acfb]

If I'm honest the whole situation regarding Ukraine and Russia with Russia claiming victimhood has just further pushed my own view that these populist parties popping up are all just grifters who seek to gain power regardless of consequence. They've seen their supporters take in pro-Russia stances, presumably from a dissatisfaction with their own state, and decided to promote these views further instead of shooting them down as disinformation. Turning away from Ukraine and praising Russia just shows what cowards these people are and how easily they can and will be bought out. Putin has managed to do what soviet leaders could only dream of while still being openly authoritarian.

I went to Dresden at the beginning of 2023 and there was this extremely noisy/aggressive mile long AfD convoy which went past and they had the flags of Russia, Germany and Saxony on the cars and they had weird slogans to do with 'peace' in German as well (I can't remember what exactly).

 

[sor]

Trump's begun purging the military. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Chief of Naval Operations are getting most of the attention, but apparently more worrying is the changes to the JAG leadership. Someone on another forum said it's basically like putting the already turbo-partisan republican supreme court judges into military fatigues.

Yet another reason for the UK and the rest of Europe to look at options to decouple from US dependence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr2xvn4dpo

US President Donald Trump has fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown, the highest-ranking officer in the country, as part of a major shake-up of top military leadership.

Later on Friday, Hegseth announced the firings of two additional senior officers: Chief of Naval Operations Adm Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen Jim Slife.

 

[Cowley]

There’s a new thread on what’s happening in Germany here.

The upcoming German elections 2025

I went to Dresden at the beginning of 2023 and there was this extremely noisy/aggressive mile long AfD convoy which went past and they had the flags of Russia, Germany and Saxony on the cars and they had weird slogans to do with 'peace' in German as well (I can't remember what exactly). Just...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[DelW]

A somewhat bizarre claim here, and no corroborating evidence is offered, so scepticism is advised. But it could explain some of the stranger aspects of both Trumps' presidencies, and his pro-Putin, anti-Ukraine outbursts over the last few days.

MSN

A former Soviet intelligence officer has claimed Donald Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987 and given the codename “Krasnov”.

The bombshell allegation was made by Alnur Mussayev, a former Kazakh intelligence chief, in a Facebook post. The 71-year-old, who previously headed Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, said he had served in the 6th Directorate of the KGB in Moscow, which was responsible for counter-intelligence support within the economy.


One of the directorate’s primary objectives, he claimed, was “recruiting businessmen from capitalist countries.” According to Mussayev, Trump, then a 40-year-old New York real estate developer, was one of those recruits. "In 1987, our directorate recruited Donald Trump under the pseudonym Krasnov,” he wrote.

 

[YorkshireBear]

A somewhat bizarre claim here, and no corroborating evidence is offered, so scepticism is advised. But it could explain some of the stranger aspects of both Trumps' presidencies, and his pro-Putin, anti-Ukraine outbursts over the last few days.

MSN

I wouldn't give that much credit!

 

[Ghostbus]

I can't believe that a USA that has been terrified of the Russians since 1917 now has a bona fide KGB agent in the Oval Office. The world has, quite literally, gone mad.

No, people have just gotten lazy and entitled. Not born with the brains they had, let alone the education their parents worked hard to give them.

They were raised to believe democracy just endures. As if by magic. That you could could tell whatever lie you wanted, invade whatever country you like, insult whichever voter didn't meet your moral standards, and nothing would really change. Democracy would somehow endure.

Twenty five (25!) years passed between the fall of the Berlin Wall and Trump becoming President in 2016.

That's a pretty normal rate of change, when you examine world history, especially European history, in quarter century chunks. How different is the EU of its foundation to 25 years later? The Ottoman Empire. Germany. Yugoslavia. Israel.

We're actually pretty lucky in the West to have had (and totally squandered) this many clear and obvious warning signs from voters, rioters and terrorists that the post 1990 Western world had somehow forgotten everything that had come before democracy, freedom and the rule of law.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Why do I suddenly feel like with everything the last couple of days that we are doomed?

I hope the people who voted him in are happy with themselves

 

[Bevan Price]

Trump's America voted against a United Nations resolution voting against a motion condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. My opinion of Trump is unrepeatable in polite society. And the next problem is - will future President Vance be better or even worse than Trump??

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Trump's America voted against a United Nations resolution voting against a motion condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. My opinion of Trump is unrepeatable in polite society. And the next problem is - will future President Vance be better or even worse than Trump??

TBF the resolution talked about maintaining Ukraine's territorial integrity. Since Trump has already made it clear he does not expect Ukraine to regain all the occupied territory it would have been a touch hypocritical for the US to support that resolution. It does also illustrate just how far and how quickly Trump has changed the USA's foreign policy position.

 

[GusB]

Trump's America voted against a United Nations resolution voting against a motion condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. My opinion of Trump is unrepeatable in polite society. And the next problem is - will future President Vance be better or even worse than Trump??

I had a similar reaction when I heard this on the radio earlier. I don't think that Vance will be any better - twa cheeks o' the same erse.

TBF the resolution talked about maintaining Ukraine's territorial integrity. Since Trump has already made it clear he does not expect Ukraine to regain all the occupied territory it would have been a touch hypocritical for the US to support that resolution. It does also illustrate just how far and how quickly Trump has changed the USA's foreign policy position.

The US could at least have abstained rather than voting against the resolution. By voting against the resolution, the US has made it quite clear that it has already made up its mind.

 

[trainswitheddy]

Does anyone else just get the feeling the dems aren't really doing...anything? To me it just seems like they've given up when right now they have a prime oppurtunity to be a decent opposition.

 

[GusB]

Does anyone else just get the feeling the dems aren't really doing...anything? To me it just seems like they've given up when right now they have a prime oppurtunity to be a decent opposition.

Is there anything they can do?

 

[edwin_m]

Does anyone else just get the feeling the dems aren't really doing...anything? To me it just seems like they've given up when right now they have a prime oppurtunity to be a decent opposition.

My feeling is they're not disturbing the enemy when he's making a mistake ... or several. The sort of voters that will listen to Democrats are already vehemently against Trump, and the "gulf of America" is wide enough that those Republicans who might swing against him are probably less likely to do so if the Dems point out how wrong they were.

 

[sor]

Is there anything they can do?

would be a start if they stopped voting to confirm trump's picks - no democrat votes are actually needed for them to get through - but the "work across the aisle" brain rot persists. This is especially true of those military officials that Trump has taken the unprecedented step of firing with an aim to replace with lackeys.

No point taking part in the budget discussions either, if it's going to be damaging to the country then vote against it and allow the republicans (who have a narrow majority) to fight among themselves & own the inevitable government shutdown

Some representatives are doing a better job of publicising what's going on than those actually at the top of the party.

 

[nlogax]

Is there anything they can do?

Right now? Very little. The direct impact of the new regime's policies on Trump voters will open up opportunities for Dems to regain ground and momentum. Pain will inevitably be felt in terms of household finances, jobs and access to healthcare via Medicaid, at which point there will be conversations to be had that will return voters to the middle ground.

Until that happens it's going to be pretty ugly.

 

[Giugiaro]

The main lesson we should learn from history (besides that we don't learn anything from history) is "never let anyone get too rich and powerful".

I believe regulation plays a part in this. Like in aviation, "rules are written in blood" as we write regulations to prevent a specific disaster from ever happening again.
Centuries have passed, but phrases like "Dura lex, sed lex", "just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" and "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" still ring in people's heads to this day

Regular people are more prone to ask for reform.
If anyone starts to clamor for deregulation more often than not it's politicians or powerful people asking for a favor.

Thus why the likes of Trump and Elon Musk despise the EU and other countries shaped after modern European values.
They see a restrained world bound by the rule of law and the duty to respect the rights of others.
One where they are accountable. One where democracy is tended and not exploited. One where the well-being of the many is above the ambitions of the few.

The EU quickly moving to regulate ride-sharing, scooter-sharing, data privacy, and artificial intelligence is the opposite of what these companies are trying to achieve. And the "Brussels effect" in particular probably gives Trump some very bad nightmares.
A few years or decades of total and undisputed dominance is what most powerful individuals are striving for. They couldn't care less about whatever impacts this will have on society and nature, their only care is how long and how much they'll earn from the technology.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

I am going to give my opinion of Trump and the way he is currently acting, I will of course leave out any swear words.

" "

 

[Loppylugs]

Latest acronym:

TRUMP = Take Ravaged Ukraine Mr. Putin.

 

[D6130]

Yorkshire English Dictionary: Trump = fart.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Yorkshire English Dictionary: Trump = fart.

It is quite true to say that Donald is the most powerful Trump on the planet...

 

[dosxuk]

With Tesla sales plummeting across Europe, how long before Trump declares this to be some sort of state level anti-American behaviour and then uses it to justify new/increased tarrifs?

 

[AlterEgo]

With Tesla sales plummeting across Europe, how long before Trump declares this to be some sort of state level anti-American behaviour and then uses it to justify new/increased tarrifs?

Depends how much Musk cares.

It's hard to see how Tesla recovers with him involved at the moment. Dreadfully stained brand.

 

[najaB]

Depends how much Musk cares.

His money is involved, so I am going to guess "a lot".

 

[AlterEgo]

His money is involved, so I am going to guess "a lot".

This may sound weird but I think he’s so cooked now mentally that I’m not even sure he’s the hard nosed businessman he once was.

 

[SuspectUsual]

This may sound weird but I think he’s so cooked now mentally that I’m not even sure he’s the hard nosed businessman he once was.

I scan read "cooked" as "crooked" and found myself nodding in agreement

 

[AlterEgo]

I scan read "cooked" as "crooked" and found myself nodding in agreement

Either works.

 

[DarloRich]

It's hard to see how Tesla recovers with him involved at the moment. Dreadfully stained brand.

Your brand is in trouble when it is starting to be referred to as the swasticar!

 

[Harpo]

It's hard to see how Tesla recovers with him involved at the moment. Dreadfully stained brand.

"Shares in electric car maker Tesla have slumped more than 9% after EU and UK sales fell by almost half in January."

(BBC news)

 

[SHD]

Your brand is in trouble when it is starting to be referred to as the swasticar!

I mean, in the long run, Volkswagen and Porsche recovered from their associations with Nazism. Porsche (the man) wasn't even properly de-Nazified.