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Thoughts on the Trump presidency

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Strathclyder

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One of the biggest wind-ups here for me personally is that if the switch was flipped and the EU nations asked the US to help them with a war they started, the Americans would be demanding some kind of compensation or payments that will take generations to pay back. Already any support to Ukraine is now through buying military gear from the US and then sending it there, and that's an example of a defensive war! In principle I do strongly support the NATO alliance but this particular administration really has me questioning the whole "special relationship" nonsense.
The 'Special Relationship' has become, ever more blatantly than before, purely transactional in favour of the US and whatever the whims of a petulant deranged lunatic demand.

The NATO alliance in general I'm strongly in favour of too, but the UK/US relationship needs a serious rethink imho, as they are clearly never more than 4 years away from electing a nutcase and thus can't be relied on to be consistent in the long term. As someone said a few pages back, Trump's first election could've been reasonably seen at the time as a aborration, a pothole on the road if you will. His second one, with the context of everything that he did between 2017 & 2021, never mind everything he did during Biden's term? Unforgivable and a clear sign of a deeply broken, deeply divided nation that simply can't be relied upon in good faith.

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If the King's US trip goes ahead, I wonder what Trump will say to him that's beyond cringeworthy?
I'd bet a good fifty that he'll end up referring to the late Princess Diana as his mother or sister.
Something to do with Princess Diana for sure, would bet a good 100 on it.
 

EYFanatic

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Trump has, according to the radio, threatened nuclear attacks on Iran if they do not surrender on his terms... The best terms... The greatest terms they will ever get...

One can only wonder if such an order would finally push JD and Gang into action - or what would happen if the submarine got such an order and refused to obey it
 

Sorcerer

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The NATO alliance in general I'm strongly in favour of too, but the UK/US relationship needs a serious rethink imho, as they are clearly never more than 4 years away from electing a nutcase and thus can't be relied on to be consistent in the long term. As someone said a few pages back, Trump's first election could've been reasonably seen at the time as a aborration, a pothole on the road if you will. His second one, with the context of everything that he did between 2017 & 2021, never mind everything he did during Biden's term? Unforgivable and a clear sign of a deeply broken, deeply divided nation that simply can't be relied upon in good faith.
This is why I think Europe as a whole will be wanting to move away and decrease reliance on the US in the long-term. Right now we are hoping to be able to ride out this disaster of a Presidency hoping a rational successor takes the oval office after him, but long-term a relationship can't be at the whim of a few thousand swing voters electing another lunatic. Inevitably I feel like the world will eventually evolve into a more insular society of blocs and spheres of influence.
 

edwin_m

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This is why I think Europe as a whole will be wanting to move away and decrease reliance on the US in the long-term. Right now we are hoping to be able to ride out this disaster of a Presidency hoping a rational successor takes the oval office after him, but long-term a relationship can't be at the whim of a few thousand swing voters electing another lunatic. Inevitably I feel like the world will eventually evolve into a more insular society of blocs and spheres of influence.
I believe Europe is aiming to reduce dependency on the US including buying less US weaponry. But it will take several years, well beyond Trump's term, to accomplish so we have to live with him in the meantime.
 

Cowley

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Either that or he'll claim Charles had her killed to his face.

The most astonishing thing about that is that some version of it really isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
 

Strathclyder

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The most astonishing thing about that is that some version of it really isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
Wouldn't seem too astonishing to me unfortunately. I know I'm wearing this phrase thin, but it wholly applies here: 'We can be shocked but we can't be surprised'.
 

Strathclyder

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Confusion over events in 1776 maybe.
Wouldn't be the first time either. Seem to recall (it's hard to keep up with/remember it all sometimes) he said at one point during his first regime that jets/planes were used in the Revolutionary War.
 
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martin butler

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Trump has to make everything about himself, so he will say she was a great woman, had a great figure I would have dated her,
Hopefully, Charles advisors will say the King is too unwell to travel. and cancel the trip until the next president.

As regards NATO, i think the US , is no longer someone who can be trusted and should be thrown out And then the organisation needs to look at what it stands for, the world is a different place now, with new problems, I think we , the West should do more to help Ukraine militarily, and that should mean having spearhead divisions on Ukrainian soil to deter Russian attempts to take more land, and to assist a Sovereign country that's been invaded.
 

Gloster

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Trump has to make everything about himself, so he will say she was a great woman, had a great figure I would have dated her,
Hopefully, Charles advisors will say the King is too unwell to travel. and cancel the trip until the next president.

As regards NATO, i think the US , is no longer someone who can be trusted and should be thrown out And then the organisation needs to look at what it stands for, the world is a different place now, with new problems, I think we , the West should do more to help Ukraine militarily, and that should mean having spearhead divisions on Ukrainian soil to deter Russian attempts to take more land, and to assist a Sovereign country that's been invaded.

No, Trump would have said ‘she would have dated me’. It’s all about him.

The only thing that would shock would be if Trump acted in a sensible, moderate and rational way.
 

najaB

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Seem to recall (it's hard to keep up with/remember it all sometimes) he said at one point during his first regime that jets/planes were used in the Revolutionary War
Almost. He said that they "defended the airports" when he meant to say "defended the ramparts". But, in typical "I'm always right" Trump fashion he 'corrected' himself to "they defended the airports and the ramparts". :)
 

Strathclyder

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Almost. He said that they "defended the airports" when he meant to say "defended the ramparts". But, in typical "I'm always right" Trump fashion he 'corrected' himself to "they defended the airports and the ramparts". :)
Ah yes, that's what it was. Like I say, it's real difficult to keep up with/remember this crap sometimes; dunno why I bother sometimes.

Also in typical Trumpy fashion, the 'correction' ends up being worse than the initial mistake, the above being a glowing example of that trope in action.
 

Sorcerer

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As regards NATO, i think the US , is no longer someone who can be trusted and should be thrown out And then the organisation needs to look at what it stands for, the world is a different place now, with new problems, I think we , the West should do more to help Ukraine militarily, and that should mean having spearhead divisions on Ukrainian soil to deter Russian attempts to take more land, and to assist a Sovereign country that's been invaded.
You cannot throw the US out of NATO because there is no internal mechanism to do so, and it is a purely defensive alliance that cannot deploy boots on the ground in a non-member state to fight against another nuclear power even if Russia is the clear enemy whose threat of expansion was the very cause for the creation of the alliance. It's because Ukraine isn't a member that Russia felt comfortable enough to invade and why membership is a dealbreaker for them.

I'd not go as far as to say NATO is a paper tiger without the US since the UK and France still have a well-trained conventional force with nuclear capabilities and a proper blue-water navy to some extent, but it's definitely not as powerful as it could be without the American security umbrella, partly by design as well. Like it or not, any future for NATO without the US will be at the whim of the White House, which is admittedly worrying with Trump in the Oval Office.
 

nw1

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You cannot throw the US out of NATO because there is no internal mechanism to do so, and it is a purely defensive alliance that cannot deploy boots on the ground in a non-member state to fight against another nuclear power even if Russia is the clear enemy whose threat of expansion was the very cause for the creation of the alliance. It's because Ukraine isn't a member that Russia felt comfortable enough to invade and why membership is a dealbreaker for them.

I'd not go as far as to say NATO is a paper tiger without the US since the UK and France still have a well-trained conventional force with nuclear capabilities and a proper blue-water navy to some extent, but it's definitely not as powerful as it could be without the American security umbrella, partly by design as well. Like it or not, any future for NATO without the US will be at the whim of the White House, which is admittedly worrying with Trump in the Oval Office.

Rather than trying to throw the US out of NATO, we should be trying to throw Trump out of the US.

With him gone, I suspect reasonably-friendly relations with the US will return.
 

Sorcerer

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Rather than trying to throw the US out of NATO, we should be trying to throw Trump out of the US.

With him gone, I suspect reasonably-friendly relations with the US will return.
Honestly I would take JD Vance at this stage because while he is an unpleasant sycophant, he is not visibly in a mental decline, and by nature of being a yes-man he is predictable. Plus the MAGA cult, like any right-wing populist group, is built largely around a single glorious leader. MAGA is built around Trump in the same way the Turquoise Tories Reform are built around Nigel Farage here. Get rid of the figurehead and it will likely collapse in no time.
 

Annetts key

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I wonder why we aren't bombing Iran on Trump's side.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce84073mr06t

Trump can rant and rave as much as he likes, but it's simply not practical to defend commercial vessels such as oil tankers, LNG tankers or any other large cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The minimum width may be 24 miles, but to reduce the possibility of collision or grounding, there are two shipping lanes. One for inbound ships and one for outbound ships. Each lane being two miles wide. The two lanes are separated by a two-mile-wide median.

Large slow moving commercial ships which have to stay in the designated shipping lanes and which have very limited ability to manoeuvre are extremely venerable.

Even the mighty U.S. Navy doesn't have anywhere near enough ships to undertake escort duties. Plus warships themselves become targets. And some of their defensive weapons are unlikely to be particularly effective in this environment.

Meanwhile, on the land, any number of people can fire at passing ships from countless locations. Either with artillery, unguided rockets, drones (air or water types), guided missiles, small fast boats with magnetic explosives, jet skis. Mines can also be deployed by small boats. And many of these can hide anywhere along the coast. Plus there are tunnels build to hold some of these.

Trying to eliminate all threats is hence impractical.
 
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Bantamzen

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That's something that a lot of people don't appreciate. There are people in positions of power in the US government who actively want to bring on the end of humanity.

That should scare everyone.
Indeed, when the conversation moves to religious extremists most people tend to think of Islamic ones. What a lot of people, especially away from the US fail to realise is that Christian extremists have been on the rise, even gaining more traction than Islamic ones because they've learnt how to actually seize control without firing a shot.

And talking of which, I'm not usually one for the tin foil hat stuff, but I can't help stumble upon the thought that maybe all these "blunders" by Trump as well as the well documented attempt on his life are maybe part of a bigger plot from those behind and to the right of Trump. Make him look like he was saved by god, then have him drive his country into a state of war both internally and externally, bring in the trigger happy Israeli government to go a bit too far, call it "The Will of God", or make him the "Chosen One" or the "Second Coming", then spam those launch codes. It sounds crazy I know, and I'm sure I'm wrong, except I doubt myself on this because everything I see going on with the Trump Circus at The White House seems to be leading to just this. And if you scratch the surface of the cess pool that is social media these days, you'll find plenty of Christian Americans cheering this on. Having not had the latest Rapture happen as many predicted, there's a palpable sense that they want some way of bringing about Armageddon so that they can all be whisked to sit at the side of their god.

I hope I am wrong, because these people are far closer to that end that any terrorist claiming to be fighting for Islam....
 

najaB

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I hope I am wrong, because these people are far closer to that end that any terrorist claiming to be fighting for Islam....
It's worth noting that it's claimed that the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, assisted in sending red heifers to Israel.

If true this is should scare you as the slaughter of a red heifer in Jerusalem is seen as a key step on the path to Armageddon.

This is one of the most powerful (notionally) people in the US government actively trying to make it happen!
 

gg1

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I'd not go as far as to say NATO is a paper tiger without the US since the UK and France still have a well-trained conventional force with nuclear capabilities and a proper blue-water navy to some extent, but it's definitely not as powerful as it could be without the American security umbrella, partly by design as well. Like it or not, any future for NATO without the US will be at the whim of the White House, which is admittedly worrying with Trump in the Oval Office.
Worth remembering that even if the US left NATO, the combined miltary budgets of the remaining NATO members would still be greater than those of China and Russia combined, still an extremely potent defensive alliance.

https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2025-04/2504_fs_milex_2024.pdf
 

najaB

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Worth remembering that even if the US left NATO, the combined miltary budgets of the remaining NATO members would still be greater than those of China and Russia combined, still an extremely potent defensive alliance.
And of those two, Russia is largely a spent force thanks to Putin's misadventure in Ukraine.

And the likelihood Europe and China ending up in a shooting war must be pretty low.
 

Bantamzen

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It's worth noting that it's claimed that the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, assisted in sending red heifers to Israel.

If true this is should scare you as the slaughter of a red heifer in Jerusalem is seen as a key step on the path to Armageddon.

This is one of the most powerful (notionally) people in the US government actively trying to make it happen!
Just give me a few moments to get my wine and whiskey order in. If we a barrelling towards the end of days, I want my wine racks full...
 

brad465

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It's worth noting that it's claimed that the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, assisted in sending red heifers to Israel.

If true this is should scare you as the slaughter of a red heifer in Jerusalem is seen as a key step on the path to Armageddon.

This is one of the most powerful (notionally) people in the US government actively trying to make it happen!
Sounds like Mike Johnson was kicked in the head by one of those cows before he sent them.
 

nw1

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I hope the recent posts are not altogether serious, they are starting to frighten me a little.

@najaB @Bantamzen do you honestly think we are heading towards some terrible outcome thanks to lunatic fundamentalist Christians?

Sorry to ask but those posts have spooked me.
 

Peter Mugridge

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If the King's US trip goes ahead, I wonder what Trump will say to him that's beyond cringeworthy?
"Come and have a bigly tea party with me; we can hold it at Boston near New York. TREMENDOUS place. Lots of history. You Brits like your history don't you?"
 

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