Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[Tetchytyke]

She's trying to play the game.

Definitely.

I don't think you can play the game with Trump though. He is so venal that the idea of quid pro quo never even enters his head. He will gladly accept things that you offer him but he will offer nothing in return. He doesn't do gratitude, he does entitlement.

A lot of the interest in Greenland is tied up with the minerals and oil in the land, not the security. That's why Trump is of the opinion that he has to own it. According to The Guardian, he's being led this way by the billionaire Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder fortune: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...lionaire-donor-donald-trump-ukraine-greenland

One day during his first term, Donald Trump summoned a top aide to discuss a new idea. “Trump called me down to the Oval Office,” John Bolton, national security adviser in 2018, told the Guardian. “He said a prominent businessman had just suggested the US buy Greenland.”

It was an extraordinary proposal. And it originated from a longtime friend of the president who would go on to acquire business interests in the Danish territory.

The businessman, Bolton learned, was Ronald Lauder. Heir to a makeup fortune – the global cosmetics brand Estée Lauder – he had known Trump, a fellow wealthy New Yorker, for more than 60 years.

Bolton said he discussed the Greenland proposition with Lauder. After the billionaire’s intervention, a White House team began to explore ways to increase US sway in the vast Arctic territory controlled by Denmark.

Trump’s renewed pursuit of Lauder’s idea during his second term is typical of how the president operates, Bolton said. “Bits of information that he hears from friends, he takes them as truth and you can’t shake his opinion.”

The proposal seems to have stirred Trump’s imperialist ambitions: eight years on, he is mulling not just buying Greenland but perhaps taking it by force.

Like many of those around the president, Lauder’s policy suggestions appear to intersect with his business interests. As Trump has ratcheted up his threats to seize Greenland, Lauder has acquired commercial holdings there. Lauder is also part of the consortium whose desire to access Ukrainian minerals appears to have spurred Trump to demand a share of the war-torn country’s resources.

Same thing is happening in Ukraine.

A leaked November 2023 letter sent by the head of TechMet, a mining company, to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, named Lauder as part of a consortium hoping to exploit a lithium deposit in the war-torn country.

Lauder said at the time that he had not discussed Ukrainian minerals with Trump himself but had “raised the issue with stakeholders in the US and Ukraine for many years up to the present day”. Leading Republicans joined a campaign for the US to gain a hold on Ukraine’s prodigious resources. Trump became its loudest proponent.

Weeks after Lauder’s Maga Inc donations, Washington and Kyiv signed a deal to jointly exploit Ukraine’s minerals. It went some way to preserving Trump’s support for Ukraine following his televised Oval Office tirade against Zelenskyy for what he deemed insufficient gratitude for US backing.

The lithium deposit was the first to be tendered under the minerals deal. This month, the Lauder consortium reportedly won it.

 

[ainsworth74]

I don't think you can play the game with Trump though. He is so venal that the idea of quid pro quo never even enters his head. He will gladly accept things that you offer him but he will offer nothing in return. He doesn't do gratitude, he does entitlement.

Certainly I don't think you can anymore. Perhaps Trump 1.0 in 2016-2020 you might be able to get quid pro quos like that (as long as he thinks you're "his guy/gal" as a result). But Trump 2.0 with his brain increasingly turning to narcissistic and dementia riddled (and who knows maybe even stroke damaged) mush? Not a chance. He is clearly just lurching from whatever makes him feel good in the moment. Today it's the Peace Prize, tomorrow it'll be Greenland again, the day after it'll be the "domestic terrorists" in Minneapolis and so on and so on.

 

[najaB]

A leaked November 2023 letter sent by the head of TechMet, a mining company, to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, named Lauder as part of a consortium hoping to exploit a lithium deposit in the war-torn country.

Lauder said at the time that he had not discussed Ukrainian minerals with Trump himself but had “raised the issue with stakeholders in the US and Ukraine for many years up to the present day”. Leading Republicans joined a campaign for the US to gain a hold on Ukraine’s prodigious resources. Trump became its loudest proponent.

Weeks after Lauder’s Maga Inc donations, Washington and Kyiv signed a deal to jointly exploit Ukraine’s minerals. It went some way to preserving Trump’s support for Ukraine following his televised Oval Office tirade against Zelenskyy for what he deemed insufficient gratitude for US backing.

The lithium deposit was the first to be tendered under the minerals deal. This month, the Lauder consortium reportedly won it.

The thing is, Lithium isn't even a scarce element - it's significantly more abundant than Lead and Tin for example.

 

[Annetts key]

The thing is, Lithium isn't even a scarce element - it's significantly more abundant than Lead and Tin for example.

And despite what many people may think, a Lithium cell or battery typically has only around 2% to 7% of Lithium in it. For many smaller cells they are at the 2% end of the scale.

 

[nw1]

Definitely.

I don't think you can play the game with Trump though. He is so venal that the idea of quid pro quo never even enters his head. He will gladly accept things that you offer him but he will offer nothing in return. He doesn't do gratitude, he does entitlement.

A lot of the interest in Greenland is tied up with the minerals and oil in the land, not the security. That's why Trump is of the opinion that he has to own it. According to The Guardian, he's being led this way by the billionaire Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder fortune: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...lionaire-donor-donald-trump-ukraine-greenland



Same thing is happening in Ukraine.

I've never heard of this Ronald Lauder but, on the basis of the above, he sounds like a highly contemptible and utterly obnoxious imperialist.

 

[Krokodil]

I don't think you can play the game with Trump though. He is so venal that the idea of quid pro quo never even enters his head. He will gladly accept things that you offer him but he will offer nothing in return. He doesn't do gratitude, he does entitlement.

He is very vain though so flattery helps. Alternatively you convince him that X would be a very strong thing to do. Thing is though that he just listens to whatever the last thing someone told him was. He starts contemplating sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine and one phone call from Putin changes his mind. If Trump actually did something to end the war justly (things like sending Tomahawks to Ukraine) then I'd nominate him myself.

The thing is, Lithium isn't even a scarce element - it's significantly more abundant than Lead and Tin for example.

Rare earth minerals aren't scarce in general, they're just difficult (and therefore expensive) to extract.

Still; dilithium, kryptonite and madeupium are indeed very scarce. Nobel Appease Prize well deserved:
[Link to clip of Lewis MacLeod doing a very realistic and entertaining impersonation of the Tangerine Tyrant at the Private Eye Year in Review 2025]

 

[nw1]

Rare earth minerals aren't scarce in general, they're just difficult (and therefore expensive) to extract.

Technically, lithium isn't a rare-earth, which is the name usually given to the row starting with lanthanum.

As for dilithium... reminds me of a computer game from the 80s, "Dilithium Lift". A gaseous form of lithium similar to other diatomic molecules (oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, halogens) which exists at high temperatures?

 

[Cowley]

The thing is, Lithium isn't even a scarce element - it's significantly more abundant than Lead and Tin for example.

Oh dear. Watch out Cornwall!

 

[brad465]

We now live in a world where a winner of a Nobel Peace Prize has to bring shiny things to appease one of the most powerful leaders on the planet. What a time to be alive....

Definitely.

I don't think you can play the game with Trump though. He is so venal that the idea of quid pro quo never even enters his head. He will gladly accept things that you offer him but he will offer nothing in return. He doesn't do gratitude, he does entitlement.

A lot of the interest in Greenland is tied up with the minerals and oil in the land, not the security. That's why Trump is of the opinion that he has to own it. According to The Guardian, he's being led this way by the billionaire Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder fortune: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...lionaire-donor-donald-trump-ukraine-greenland

Same thing is happening in Ukraine.

The homage being paid to Trump makes The Human Centipede look like a party conga line.

 

[Tetchytyke]

He is very vain though so flattery helps.

If you don't kiss his backside he definitely won't help you. But if you do kiss his backside then your chances do improve: he almost certainly won't help you.

As for lithium, he should be OK with his mate Milei being in charge in Argentina.

 

[najaB]

In a development that should surprise nobody:

As Republicans face down slipping approval ratings and growing voter discontent, President Donald Trump is musing about canceling - or refusing to accept the outcome of - the 2026 midterms.

"It's some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don't win the midterms," Trump told Reuters in an interview published on Thursday. "When you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election."

Source: MSN News: Trump says US 'shouldn't even have an election' as he threatens Insurrection Act

Actually, it's a little surprising to me - I expected he'd at least wait a few more days.

 

[DerekC]

So yes, it's got absolutely nothing to do with American security. It's about greed and wanting to make America bigger. Trump presumably wants to be remembered as the man that made America greater. That may also be why he wants to "own" Greenland.

I totally agree, Trump has said at some point (but I can't find the reference) that he will be the president who made the biggest addition to the territory of the United States, ever. That's why nothing but a takeover will do.

 

[ainsworth74]

I totally agree, Trump has said at some point (but I can't find the reference) that he will be the president who made the biggest addition to the territory of the United States, ever. That's why nothing but a takeover will do.

I reckon something else playing a role here is that Trump has been thinking about his legacy and his own mortality recently (wasn't there a slightly odd, even by his standards, statement about how he didn't think he'd be going to heaven a few months ago?). He's probably looking at his legacy and thinking that actually it's not all that great. Tariffs haven't worked, the deportation battle isn't particularly popular (outside of a narrow subset of people), stuff from his first administration hasn't really stuck in the mind all that much (and what has wasn't great such as the Covid response), so what's left? Well what about the biggest expansion of US territory ever...

 

[najaB]

Well what about the biggest expansion of US territory ever.

Just. The Louisiana Purchase expanded the USA by 2.14 million square kilometres and Greenland is 2.16 million square kilometres.

 

[ainsworth74]

Just. The Louisiana Purchase expanded the USA by 2.14 million square kilometres and Greenland is 2.16 million square kilometres.

Still the biggest and I reckon that's all that would matter to him!

 

[YorkshireBear]

A new threat to allies opposed to US expasion.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qpy952xvno

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to place tariffs on nations that do not go along with his ambitions to annex Greenland.
Trump said at a White House meeting that he "may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland," which is a self-governing territory that is controlled by Denmark.
He did not say which countries might be hit with new tariffs, or what authority he would invoke to use tariffs in pursuit of his goal.
Along with Denmark and Greenland, other countries oppose his ambitions, and many in the US have expressed scepticism about an acquisition. As Trump spoke, a bipartisan congressional delegation was visiting Greenland to show support for the territory.
The 11-member group included Republicans who voiced concerns about the president's calls for the US to somehow acquire Greenland for national security reasons. They met MPs as well as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Group leader Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat, said their trip was to listen to the locals and take their views back to Washington "to lower the temperature".
Trump has said Greenland is vital for US security - and the US would get it "the easy way" or "the hard way" - a reference to ideas to buy the island or take it by force.
"I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security," Trump said at the White House meeting on rural healthcare.
Greenland is sparsely-populated but resource-rich and its location between North America and the Arctic makes it well placed for early warning systems in the event of missile attacks and for monitoring vessels in the region.
The US already has more than 100 military personnel permanently stationed at its Pituffik base - a facility that has been operated by the US since World War Two.
Under existing agreements with Denmark, the US has the power to bring as many troops as it wants to Greenland.
But Trump has said the US needs to "own" it to defend it properly against possible Russian or Chinese attacks.
Denmark has warned that military action would spell the end of Nato - the trans-Atlantic defence alliance where the US is the most influential partner.
Nato works on the principle that allies have to aid each other in case of attack from outside - it has never faced an option where one member would use force against another.
European allies have rallied to Denmark's support.
They have also said the Arctic region is equally important to them and that its security should be a joint Nato responsibility - with the US involved.
To this end, several countries including France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK have sent a limited number of troops to Greenland in a so-called reconnaissance mission.
French President Emmanuel Macron said "land, air, and sea assets" would soon be sent.



The visit of the US Congressional comes days after high-level talks in Washington failed to dissuade Trump from his plans.
The delegation includes senators and members of the US House of Representatives who are fervent supporters of Nato.
Though Coons and the majority of the delegation are Democratic opponents of Trump, the group includes Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski.
Asked what the elected members of Congress could do to stop Trump, Murkowski said Congress had its role in deciding on spending in the US - a reference to the legislators' ability not to authorise monies for military operations.
Greenlandic MP Aaja Chemnitz said the meeting with US legislators had made her "hopeful". She told the BBC: "We need friends. We need allies."
Asked about the wide gulf between the view of the White House and the position of Greenland and Denmark, she said: "It's a marathon, not a short sprint.
"The pressure from the US side is something that we've seen since 2019. It would be naive to think that everything is over now."
She added: "It's changing almost hour by hour. So as much support as we can get, the better."
Murkowski is one of the sponsors of a bipartisan bill aimed at foiling the annexation of Greenland.

A Republican congressman has also introduced a rival bill in support of annexing the island.
Trump's envoy to Greenland Jeff Landry told Fox News on Friday that the US should talk with Greenland's leaders, not Denmark.
"I do believe that there's a deal that should and will be made once this plays out," he said.
"The president is serious. I think he's laid the markers down. He's told Denmark what he's looking for, and now it's a matter of having Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio and Vice-President JD Vance make a deal.
"The United States has always been a welcoming party. We don't go in there trying to conquer anybody and trying to take over anybody's country. We say, 'Listen. We represent liberty. We represented economic strength. We represent protection.'"

 

[najaB]

Still the biggest and I reckon that's all that would matter to him!

So all the Danes need to do is say that they have to hold on to 21,000 square kilometres... Actually, exclude Disko Island, Traill Island and one other from the treaty and that's his legacy gone!

 

[Pete_uk]

One can only hope tye military turn the other way when he gives them the order to invade.

That or he snuffs it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

One can only hope tye military turn the other way when he gives them the order to invade.

That or he snuffs it.

I don't like to wish death on people, but there are presently two people in the world who it'd be better did do exactly that. Trump is one and Putin is the other. Trump is 79 and in poor health, so we can but hope. Putin is younger and appears less unhealthy so we're unlikely to be as lucky there.

 

[DarloRich]

One can only hope tye military turn the other way when he gives them the order to invade.

That or he snuffs it.

I don't like to wish death on people, but there are presently two people in the world who it'd be better did do exactly that. Trump is one and Putin is the other. Trump is 79 and in poor health, so we can but hope. Putin is younger and appears less unhealthy so we're unlikely to be as lucky there.

Unless they blow their brains out on a sofa in a bunker the evil people tend to last for ever!

 

[dgl]

We forget that evil people generally get the best of everything so unless they are incredibly unhealthy they'll be having all the treatments/care needed to keep them going no matter the cost.
Imagine if we had a prime minister as deluded as Trump, they wouldn't be in power for long (we'll just ignore Boris).

 

[Annetts key]

One can only hope tye military turn the other way when he gives them the order to invade.

The U.S. military are far more likely to refuse illegal orders (I 'm assuming that Congress will not agree to a military operation) if the Danish are assisted by other European NATO member military forces. Especially if it's from some of the long standing European NATO members.

Any operation to invade and take control of Greenland would require far more resources than the operation that the U.S. carried out in Venezuela.

For the U.S. to keep control of Greenland they will need good logistics. And it's likely that the U.S. will have difficulty with this especially if the other NATO countries break away from the U.S. and stop the U.S. from operating from bases within their territory.

Taking territory like Greenland and holding it are very different things.

 

[Cowley]

Unless they blow their brains out on a sofa in a bunker the evil people tend to last for ever!

Definitely. Many dreadful people seem to last for ever - possibly because they export their stress onto other peoples shoulders.

Trumps father lived well into his 90s, although he did suffer from dementia in his later years.

 

[brad465]

Definitely. Many dreadful people seem to last for ever - possibly because they export their stress onto other peoples shoulders.

Trumps father lived well into his 90s, although he did suffer from dementia in his later years.

Putin is well-rumoured to send body doubles to do risky business, and however long he lives, there is plenty to suggest he is extremely paranoid, starting with his unusually long table. The evil people who die early tend to be the ones who go too far and/or do something else that gets them overthrown.

 

[martin butler]

We now live in a world where a winner of a Nobel Peace Prize has to bring shiny things to appease one of the most powerful leaders on the planet. What a time to be alive....

That old Chinese proverb springs to mind, may you live in interesting times, Either congress finds a spine, and puts the toddler back in his pen , or we watch the entire world become a very dark, and dangerious place, With ICE running amok seemingly able to murder at will, and regular law and order not being able to stop them, its going to turn very dark, because armed groups will soon start fighting back, that will lead to a full on civil war, that will destroy the US from within, or Trump will make a mistake. invade an ally, and then destroy the US economically, and the fall out will be felt all over the world,

 

[Krokodil]

We forget that evil people generally get the best of everything so unless they are incredibly unhealthy they'll be having all the treatments/care needed to keep them going no matter the cost.

Trump was mysteriously absent for a while last autumn, all signs pointing to a stroke. The White House tried putting out photos to prove that he was well but they were very clearly old ones (a child in one has grown a bit since). The bruises on his hands are clear evidence of treatment, probably for frontotemporal dementia. He's certainly not a healthy eater, he prefers America's national dish (McDonald's).

The U.S. military are far more likely to refuse illegal orders

They recently carried on their long tradition of bombing shipwrecked mariners (then the survivors of RMS Laconia, now Venezuelan fishermen/refugees). The US has always had a cavalier attitude to the laws of armed combat. Admiral Holsey did resign but he was replaced by a yes-man. Look at the response when several veteran members of congress (including ex-astronaut Mark Kelly) sent out a video reminding servicemen of their duty to refuse illegal orders.

Trumps father lived well into his 90s, although he did suffer from dementia in his later years.

They used to just give him fake papers to sign so that he could pretend to be in charge. I wish they'd do that with Trump, except that leaves the odious creature Miller running the show with Vance.

 

[brad465]

If you want some extra cash, work as an irony meter repairer:

Blair and Rubio among names on Gaza 'Board of Peace'

The former UK prime minister and US secretary of state will sit on the "founding executive board", the White House says.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Trump administration has named US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair as two of the founding members of its "Board of Peace" for Gaza.

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner will also sit on the "founding executive board", the White House said in a statement, external on Friday.
Trump will act as chairman of the board, which forms part of his 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
It is expected to temporarily oversee the running of Gaza and manage its reconstruction.

Also on the founding executive board are Marc Rowan, the head of a private equity firm, World Bank chief Ajay Banga and a US national security adviser, Robert Gabriel.
Each member would have a portfolio "critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success", the White House statement said.
Trump had said on Thursday that the board had been formed, calling it the "Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place".
Further members of the board would be named in the coming weeks, the White House said.
Sir Tony was UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007 and took the UK into the Iraq War in 2003. After leaving office, he served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers (the US, EU, Russia and the UN).

 

[jon0844]

Bet they start at the seafront. Meanwhile Israel is moving the blocks defining the yellow line inwards every day...

 

[Falcon1200]

The U.S. military are far more likely to refuse illegal orders (I 'm assuming that Congress will not agree to a military operation) if the Danish are assisted by other European NATO member military forces. Especially if it's from some of the long standing European NATO members.

Hopefully senior figures in NATO and Europe have quietly told the US administration that, should they start a military operation against Greenland, although they would prevail (thanks to their superiority in weaponry and people) there will be resistance and American ships, aircraft and most importantly soldiers would be lost.

 

[edwin_m]

Hopefully senior figures in NATO and Europe have quietly told the US administration that, should they start a military operation against Greenland, although they would prevail (thanks to their superiority in weaponry and people) there will be resistance and American ships, aircraft and most importantly soldiers would be lost.

Any attempt at military resistance would just make this worse on all counts.