Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[EYFanatic]

He’s seemed to have reverted to TACO mode on Iran (“Help is on the way etc. that hasn’t materialised as bigger boys said everything there is fine) - so who can say things won’t change on Greenland over the next few days?

Although I can see the Swiss cheese brain kicking in and a load of US Troops ascending out of Grønland Underground Station in Central Oslo in a week.

What is TACO mode? Seen it on various sites and news outlets (including CNN with a great deal of generosity) but a google search gives me either something to do with Lyft or aircraft designations

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Kick them out of Menwith Hill.

Appeasement doesn’t work. It won’t work. It has never worked.

And Lakenheath!

 

[Strathclyder]

What is TACO mode? Seen it on various sites and news outlets (including CNN with a great deal of generosity) but a google search gives me either something to do with Lyft or aircraft designations

In this context, TACO stands for 'Trump Always Chickens Out'. Bascially a shorthand for his weakness and complete inability to follow through on anything.

 

[Mr. SW]

The Epstein files and the Russian Kompromat must full of some truly and really steaming hot stuff if you're threatening everyone including - er - allies...

 

[najaB]

In this context, TACO stands for 'Trump Always Chickens Out'. Bascially a shorthand for his weakness and complete inability to follow through on anything.

It started as a stock trading strategy: invest contrary to whatever Trump is saying today because you stand to make a killing when he changes his mind tomorrow

 

[adc82140]

I did see a joke online somewhere saying that Denmark should rename Greenland to Epstein Island so that Trump wants to stay well away.

 

[Ostrich]

I think you've got to bring it home to the American people that they are rapidly heading for pariah status. And you can start with sport.

EU-wide ban on teams taking part in the World Cup 2026. Stage an alternative competition of some description in Europe.
No American sports people accepted over here in future - no tennis pros, golf, NFL, whatever.

And then be quite open and make it public to the American people that things will only return to normal when Trump's gone and sanity returns.

 

[rapmastaj]

I did see a joke online somewhere saying that Denmark should rename Greenland to Epstein Island so that Trump wants to stay well away.

Nice idea but that would attract Trump to come running straight there

 

[AndrewE]

The Epstein files and the Russian Kompromat must full of some truly and really steaming hot stuff if you're threatening everyone including - er - allies...

but he doesn't have allies. He seems to live in the minute and clearly doesn't give a toss about anything that he has agreed to beforehand, let alone anything agreed by previous US governments (like treaties etc.)
(His) Might is right, so consistency, fact or actual truth is irrelevant if he is in the grip of some new whim. It's as though he has modelled himself on some gangster - or one he has seen on a film - and just wants to dominate. Aka bullying.

 

[adc82140]

Unfortunately under the US constitution, if Trump goes we end up with Vance. There is no provision for early elections.

 

[AndrewE]

I think you've got to bring it home to the American people that they are rapidly heading for pariah status. And you can start with sport.

EU-wide ban on teams taking part in the World Cup 2026. Stage an alternative competition of some description in Europe.
No American sports people accepted over here in future - no tennis pros, golf, NFL, whatever.

And then be quite open and make it public to the American people that things will only return to normal when Trump's gone and sanity returns.

That's not going to happen. See Israel's (almost) universal acceptance regardless of what they do in Gaza and teh West Bank.

 

[rapmastaj]

I think you've got to bring it home to the American people that they are rapidly heading for pariah status. And you can start with sport.

EU-wide ban on teams taking part in the World Cup 2026. Stage an alternative competition of some description in Europe.
No American sports people accepted over here in future - no tennis pros, golf, NFL, whatever.

And then be quite open and make it public to the American people that things will only return to normal when Trump's gone and sanity returns.

Trump threatens tariffs? Great! Let's minimise our trade with the US, reduce our dependency on them and rebuild European relations instead.

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That's not going to happen. See Israel's (almost) universal acceptance regardless of what they do in Gaza and teh West Bank.

Yes I know its unlikely, but you can but wish.

 

[BAFRA77]

Absolutely, conceding to Trump will just encourage him more. Far more needs to be done to counter his threats.

There’s a word for that which I’ve heard before…

Appeasement

 

[Tetchytyke]

That's not going to happen. See Israel's (almost) universal acceptance regardless of what they do in Gaza and teh West Bank.

European leaders don’t have the stones.

Israel is a funny one. The entire country has a population of about nine million people, which is less than London. Why does it have such an oversized influence on the world?

 

[najaB]

Why does it have such an oversized influence on the world?

There are a few conspiracy theorists with an answer for that one...

 

[yorkie]

European leaders don’t have the stones.

Israel is a funny one. The entire country has a population of about nine million people, which is less than London. Why does it have such an oversized influence on the world?

Perhaps that was a rhetorical question, but if not, the topic would require a whole new thread. Feel free to create one if you really want to, but I am not sure if it will be a good topic to debate...

 

[EYFanatic]

Unfortunately under the US constitution, if Trump goes we end up with Vance. There is no provision for early elections.

They could then 25 Vance and then it would fall, if I remember rightly from watching The West Wing, to the Speaker

 

[Annetts key]

Israel is a funny one. The entire country has a population of about nine million people, which is less than London. Why does it have such an oversized influence on the world?

Because they have their long fingers deeply into U.S. politics. Both the main parties.

Edit - sorry, going off topic. I won't say any more on this here.

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They could then 25 Vance and then it would fall, if I remember rightly from watching The West Wing, to the Speaker

Need the Democrats to have control of Congress before dealing with Vance. So not likely until after the midterms.

 

[Mr. SW]

Israel is not the independent state it purports to be. It is a de-facto colony and military protectorate of the United States.

 

[Pegpilot]

Tetchytyke has it right. Menwith Hill, Croughton, Molesworth, the lot, gone, now. Oh and let Universal Studios know that their planning permission for Stewartby is revoked with immediate effect.
The one big plus from this is that we now have absolute clarity that Trump is not our friend and we should stop pandering to him. Just finished reading my Xmas prezzie, "Who will defend Europe" by Keir Giles and it scared me silly. He called it exactly right.

 

[DarloRich]

I see the demented tango coloured shot gibbon is at it again.

What is the game here? What is the real story? What is being hidden?

Kick them out of Menwith Hill.

Problem is the "take" from menwith is very useful for gchq!

 

[RichJF]

Beyond reality & the territory of a senile old man that's lost it.

That's the only real explanation I can come up with...

 

[brad465]

Beyond reality & the territory of a senile old man that's lost it.

That's the only real explanation I can come up with...

While controlled by one of the biggest psychopaths in living memory, Stephen Miller.

 

[Krokodil]

But that would also affect businesses in the US with devastating consequences.

Hasn't stopped him so far

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Tetchytyke has it right. Menwith Hill, Croughton, Molesworth, the lot, gone, now.

Kick them out of Ramstein and send the equipment they will inevitably leave behind to Ukraine.

Just finished reading my Xmas prezzie, "Who will defend Europe" by Keir Giles

Mine was "They thought they were free - the Germans 1933 to 1945". I thought that it would provide a useful lesson in the current climate.

 

[Pegpilot]

Hasn't stopped him so far

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jan 2026 ==


Kick them out of Ramstein and send the equipment they will inevitably leave behind to Ukraine.


Mine was "They thought they were free - the Germans 1933 to 1945". I thought that it would provide a useful lesson in the current climate.

Funny enough, and at the risk of thread drift, Krokodil, my late mum was born in 1939 in the Czech-owned Sudetenland (conceived on the night of Hitler's annexation of same when all the ethnic Germans celebrated rather too wildly. Her WW2 ended up in deportation and a cattle truck on a train to the rump of Germany and 10 years of poverty before Germany slowly recovered. Not a story that many people are interested in, and I understand why, but it demonstrates the risks of following a despot.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Problem is the "take" from menwith is very useful for gchq!

It’s more useful for the CIA and the NSA, though. GCHQ and MI5 can already do what they want, as we see with the neo-Nazi MI5 agent that the BBC have reporting on to little effect.

How MI5 piled falsehood on falsehood in court in the case of a spy who abused women

Security Service continued to provide misleading evidence even after its lie was exposed, BBC can reveal.

www.bbc.co.uk

When the BBC revealed that MI5 had lied to three courts, the Security Service apologised for giving false evidence - vowing to investigate and explain how such a serious failure had occurred.

But on Wednesday, the High Court ruled that these inquiries were "deficient", ordering a new "robust" investigation. A panel of judges said they would consider the issue of contempt of court proceedings against individuals once that was complete.

Now we can detail how, over the past few months leading up to the judgment, MI5 continued to provide misleading evidence and tried to keep damning material secret.

The material gives an unprecedented insight into the internal chaos at MI5 as it responded to what has become a major crisis and test of its credibility.

At the heart of the case is the violent abuse of a woman by a state agent under MI5's control. After the BBC began investigating, MI5 attempted to cover its tracks - scattering a trail of false and misleading evidence.

The case started very simply: I was investigating a neo-Nazi, who I came to understand was also an abusive misogynist and MI5 agent.

After I contacted this man - known publicly as X - in 2020 to challenge him on his extremism, a senior MI5 officer called me up and tried to stop me running a story.

 

[Annetts key]

I personally think that the affected countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland) should respond strongly.

I'm just not sure what measures would be best in order to get Trump to TACO. But we (and Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland) can't just sit on our hands and take this abuse from a bully.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jan 2026 ==


Absolutely, conceding to Trump will just encourage him more. Far more needs to be done to counter his threats.

Okay, having had time to think about it, the first thing that both the U.K. and other NATO and European countries should do, is to sell off holdings in U.S. Government debt (U.S. Treasury securities).

According to Forbes, just the U.K. alone has around $807 Billion in U.S. Treasury securities (link to source).

As of January 2026, NATO allies collectively own more than $1 trillion in U.S. national debt. Google AI gives a figure of "approximately $2.2 trillion".

Foreign holdings of US Treasuries at all-time high in November, but China pulls back​

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
January 15, 2026 9:36 PM GMT Updated January 15, 2026

NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries hit record highs in November, rising after two straight months of declines as market sentiment improved ‌after the U.S. federal government ended the longest-ever shutdown in history.
The U.S. government shuttered on October 1, staying closed for a record 43 days. The shutdown ended on November 12, with President Trump signing a funding bill into law to reopen the government.

Holdings of U.S. Treasuries rose to an all-time peak of $9.355 trillion in November, ‌up from October's $9.243 trillion, data from the Treasury Department showed on Thursday. Compared with a year earlier, Treasuries owned by foreigners were up 7.2% in November.

The increase in holdings was led by Japan, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Canada.

Japan remained the biggest non-U.S. holder of Treasuries with $1.202 trillion in ‍November, its biggest holdings since July 2022, when its stash of U.S. government debt hit $1.231 trillion. Japan's Treasuries have increased for 11 straight months.

The UK, the second-largest owner of Treasuries, also raised its holdings by $888.5 billion, up 1.2% from October. ⁠The UK is widely seen as a major custody hub, often serving as a proxy for hedge ‍fund investment flows. Hedge funds also use other custody jurisdictions, including the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.

Canada also boosted ‌its holdings ‌by 13% to a record $472.2 billion in November. That was a big turnaround from a nearly 14% drop in April with Treasury holdings of $368.4 billion as Trump hit Canada with tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles.

In contrast, China's stash of U.S. government debt fell to $682.6 billion in November, the lowest since September 2008, ⁠when holdings tumbled to $618.2 ⁠billion. China is the third-largest non-U.S. owner of Treasuries, but its holdings have declined by more than 10% since the beginning of 2025.

U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields started November with a yield of 4.107%, ending nearly nine basis points lower to 4.019% by ‍the end of that month.

On a transaction basis, foreigners bought Treasuries in November, with inflows into the sector of $85.6 billion, from outflows of $60.1 billion in the previous month. In May, there were foreign inflows of $147.4 billion in Treasuries, the largest since August 2022.

Foreign investors also bought $92.2 billion in U.S. stocks, compared ‍with purchases of $60.3 billion in October.
Data also showed net overall capital inflow of $212 billion into the United States in November, after posting outflows of a revised $22.5 billion in October.

Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Chris Reese and Diane Craft

Link to source

Foreign Holdings of US Treasuries Climbed to Record in November​

By Chris Anstey and Anya Andrianova
January 15, 2026 at 9:15 PM GMT

Overseas holdings of US Treasuries advanced in November to the highest level on record, with increases in Norwegian, Canadian and Saudi Arabian stockpiles helping offset another monthly drop in China’s total.

Overall foreign holdings rose by $112.8 billion, to $9.36 trillion, Treasury Department data showed on Thursday. The figure represents both net sales and valuation changes. A Bloomberg index of the US Treasury market showed a fourth straight monthly advance for November.

China’s stockpile of Treasuries, the third largest, dropped by $6.1 billion in November from the previous month, to $682.6 — the lowest level since 2008. Belgium, whose holdings include Chinese custodial accounts according to market analysts, saw its holdings go up by $12.6 billion, to $481 billion.

Japan, the biggest foreign holder of Treasuries, saw a $2.6 billion rise in its holdings, to $1.20 trillion — the highest level since July 2022.

The UK, which has the second-largest foreign pool of US government debt, saw a $10.6 billion increase, to $888.5 billion.


Canadian holdings soared by $53.1 billion, to $472.2 billion. The US neighbor’s figures have tended to be volatile this year, regularly rising or falling by more than $50 billion a month.

Norway’s holdings jumped by $25.2 billion on the month, while Saudi Arabia’s increased $14.4 billion.

Link to source


(relevant details from the above screenshot of the webpage above are given below)
This site (macromicro) gives the following as the top ten countries that own U.S. debt as at November 2025:

• Japan: 1,202.60
• U.K.: 888.50
• China: 682.60
• Cayman Islands: 427.40
• Canada: 472.20
• Belgium: 481.00
• Luxembourg: 425.60
• France: 376.10
• Ireland: 340.30
• Switzerland: 300.30
• Taiwan: 312.50

Trump and his nasty administration can't wage war if they have difficulty getting money to spend on their military (the U.S. Navy already has problems with it's budget). And as the Republicans passed Trump's 'big, beautiful bill', tax income for the treasury is falling.

The BBC reports

the Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill could add $3.3tn to federal deficits over the next 10 years

(Link to source).

We should also reduce our exports to the U.S. so that the U.S. treasury has less income from the tariffs that Trump has illegally imposed.

 

[martin butler]

Lets be honest, If America were to take Greenland by force, there is very little we can do about it on day one, but by day 5 America will have a massive problem, every Nato Country that hosts US forces will be ordering them to leave, the dollar will collapse, I would imagine travel bans, and closures of US owned firms will soon follow, and that's just the start, defence orders would be cancelled and replaced by European, or other systems, Than comes the military fall out, Nato will be gone, replaced by an pan European and others agreement without the US, and others such as Hungary Putin's worse nightmare will be realised, an aggressive western European pact that is armed to the teeth, and includes Ukraine,
Suddenly Trumps direct line to Putin will go very quiet, I would imagine, the leaks will start about girls in Russian hotels, his real involvement with Epstein , ( far worse than anyone thought) money laundering, and evidence of Treasonable acts against his own people, I think he will be looking for a bolt hole but there won't be one,

 

[weeklycommuter]

As the following article makes clear there are serious concerns about the physical and mental health of the current President of the United States of America Donald Trump. His claims of Russian and Chinese ships around Greenland and that Russia and China will occupy Greenland is just one of many indications that he has lost the plot.

Trump's health issue is growing. Maybe it's JD Vance time. | Opinion

Nothing snuffs out questions about a near-octogenarian president’s health quite like that president repeatedly bragging about passing a dementia test.

eu.usatoday.com

As a longtime observer of Donald Trump, I can confidently say the president has grown more rambling, drifting far afield of whatever subject he’s addressing and demonstrating even less inhibition.
Rex Huppke USA TODAY

Nothing snuffs out questions about a near-octogenarian president’s health quite like that president repeatedly bragging about passing a dementia test and telling the world he ignores his doctors and doesn’t exercise.
As 2026 begins, President Donald Trump’s health has become a more-than-reasonable concern. We’ve repeatedly seen him attempting to cover up odd bruises on his hands, he struggles to stay awake during public events and now, by his own admission, he’s ignoring his doctor’s advice and taking a high daily dose of aspirin because he’s “superstitious.”
In announcing an unauthorized weekend attack on Venezuela, Trump appeared exhausted and often incoherent, slurring words as he spoke. While others spoke, the president seemed to struggle to stay awake.

FACT FOCUS: Trump repeats false claims when discussing Greenland's security in the Arctic

U.S. President Donald Trump has made an American takeover of Greenland a focus of his second term in the White House.

apnews.com

THE FACTS: Experts have repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s claims of Chinese and Russian military forces lurking off Greenland’s coastline. Experts say Russia instead operates in the Barents Sea, off the Scandinavian coast, and both China and Russia have a presence in the Bering Sea south of Alaska.

 

[jon0844]

Lets be honest, If America were to take Greenland by force, there is very little we can do about it on day one, but by day 5 America will have a massive problem, every Nato Country that hosts US forces will be ordering them to leave, the dollar will collapse, I would imagine travel bans, and closures of US owned firms will soon follow, and that's just the start, defence orders would be cancelled and replaced by European, or other systems, Than comes the military fall out, Nato will be gone, replaced by an pan European and others agreement without the US, and others such as Hungary Putin's worse nightmare will be realised, an aggressive western European pact that is armed to the teeth, and includes Ukraine,
Suddenly Trumps direct line to Putin will go very quiet, I would imagine, the leaks will start about girls in Russian hotels, his real involvement with Epstein , ( far worse than anyone thought) money laundering, and evidence of Treasonable acts against his own people, I think he will be looking for a bolt hole but there won't be one,

At this stage, whatever Putin may have on Trump will not in any way surprise anyone anymore.

 

[dgl]

I don't think there is any "may" in terms of Putin having dirt on Trump, imagine all of this happening during the cold war, Trump would have been rightly branded a traitor ans imprisoned.