Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[Killingworth]

Back on topic: I'll be surprised if Turnip makes it to November in any capacity.

Quite clearly the majority contributing to this thread have very low opinions if Trump. My social media rarely shows anything positive but it is there.

There was a baying red neck mob hounding Biden, with some justification. Democrats are now returning fire. Both men exhibit frailties of age. Biden was propped up and Trump will be. How long for?

How active he'll be by November remains to be seen but I sense he will tenaciously see this year out at least. Medical science may keep him going for another 10 years or more! It all rather depends on his inner team. Have any the courage to mount what would effectively be a coup? What he appears to concede to Iran (and Israel) will be crucial.

 

[brad465]

Quite clearly the majority contributing to this thread have very low opinions if Trump. My social media rarely shows anything positive but it is there.

There was a baying red neck mob hounding Biden, with some justification. Democrats are now returning fire. Both men exhibit frailties of age. Biden was propped up and Trump will be. How long for?

How active he'll be by November remains to be seen but I sense he will tenaciously see this year out at least. Medical science may keep him going for another 10 years or more! It all rather depends on his inner team. Have any the courage to mount what would effectively be a coup? What he appears to concede to Iran (and Israel) will be crucial.

The difference is the Democrats did eventually see the light and got Biden to step aside, even if it was much later than they should have. The same cannot be said for the Republicans and Trump.

 

[Gloster]

Quite clearly the majority contributing to this thread have very low opinions if Trump. My social media rarely shows anything positive but it is there.

There was a baying red neck mob hounding Biden, with some justification. Democrats are now returning fire. Both men exhibit frailties of age. Biden was propped up and Trump will be. How long for?

How active he'll be by November remains to be seen but I sense he will tenaciously see this year out at least. Medical science may keep him going for another 10 years or more! It all rather depends on his inner team. Have any the courage to mount what would effectively be a coup? What he appears to concede to Iran (and Israel) will be crucial.

As I have said before, I think that his handlers are just trying to keep him going until the mid-terms in November. He still has plenty of faithful who will vote for the Republicans as long as he is president, but may be somewhat lukewarm about doing so if Vance has taken over. Despite all the chaos that he has caused, the numbers of faithful might prove enough to keep the GOP in power in Washington. After the mid-terms the handlers will probably dump Trump as they know he is on the way out, although Vance probably hopes he will last to January 21.

 

[Killingworth]

As I have said before, I think that his handlers are just trying to keep him going until the mid-terms in November. He still has plenty of faithful who will vote for the Republicans as long as he is president, but may be somewhat lukewarm about doing so if Vance has taken over. Despite all the chaos that he has caused, the numbers of faithful might prove enough to keep the GOP in power in Washington. After the mid-terms the handlers will probably dump Trump as they know he is on the way out, although Vance probably hopes he will last to January 21.

Which may beg a question "Is the US likely to be better off with a lame duck Trump for his final 2 years, or his stand in Vance resented by ultra Trump loyalists - almost as much as by Democrats?"

And a second question "Would Vance be better for Britain, Europe and the World than Trump?"

All scenarios sound less than positive, not least because Democrats have no strong candidate to coalesce around. Rather too similar to us over here.

 

[jon0844]

To be fair to Trump I don't have much hope his replacement (left or right) will be significantly (or any) better. After all, the "swing" voters only voted for him because the alternative was rubbish. I think US politics generally is in a pretty poor state at the moment. All the more reason to get off US tech if we can though.

Whoever gets in and whatever is done to try and restore sanity, things will never be the same. Europe (EU) has now launched its own alternatives to American tech services (Microsoft, Google etc) and will be continuing to end reliance on US-owned big tech. That includes banking, card transactions and more.

Google is still able to provide some services to Europe, but the data will be stored on European servers to prevent the USA having access to European data. I am sure the EU will also be mindful of the risks of working with the USA on things like military equipment and even intelligence.

I am not sure what the UK might do. If we get a Reform Government, I fully expect we'll hand over everything to the Americans - but I would hope we're going to distance ourselves too, and better still, return to a close relationship with the EU.

Trump has pretty much destroyed the USA for many, many years (perhaps decades) after he passes on.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jun 2026 ==

Uninspiring, maybe, but rubbish? Nope. If anything she was way too sensible with costed plans to grow the economy and make inroads on the national debt.

Can you imagine living with that annoying laugh? No! On balance, the USA under Trump is the lesser of two evils.....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jun 2026 ==

Youtube really is brilliant.

Over 10m watching when I dipped in!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jun 2026 ==

The difference is the Democrats did eventually see the light and got Biden to step aside, even if it was much later than they should have. The same cannot be said for the Republicans and Trump.

I honestly believe if Trump died this weekend, they'd try and cover it up and have the people that also have access to his Truth Social account pretend he's still fine for as long as they could.

 

[najaB]

I honestly believe if Trump died this weekend, they'd try and cover it up and have the people that also have access to his Truth Social account pretend he's still fine for as long as they could.

One can hope...

 

[Cdd89]

I think it's also notable how the Iran war has had at least 4 insane escalations and de-escalations, which haven't really been mentioned in either thread. There is just nothing to say about them that hasn't already been said. But it's still utterly bizarre for a war.

 

[Gloster]

I think it's also notable how the Iran war has had at least 4 insane escalations and de-escalations, which haven't really been mentioned in either thread. There is just nothing to say about them that hasn't already been said. But it's still utterly bizarre for a war.

It is just too difficult to keep up with what Trump and his henchmen are up to. Just about every day my news feed contains one more items about something bizarre or undemocratic that Trump and his bunch have done, but we just can’t keep up with the insanity of it all.

 

[DelW]

I think it's also notable how the Iran war has had at least 4 insane escalations and de-escalations, which haven't really been mentioned in either thread. There is just nothing to say about them that hasn't already been said. But it's still utterly bizarre for a war.

Every time Trump says either "agreement is imminent" or "renewed attack is imminent" the price of oil, and value of oil industry shares, goes up or down by significant amounts. I suspect that Trump's family and/or acolytes may be trading in those shares every time. Normally the US Securities and Exchange Commission would investigate such trades - but it currently has two vacancies and three Republicans on its board, one of whom is its Trump-appointed chairman.

 

[jupiter]

Recent history has shown the US constitution’s checks and balances to have been woefully inadequate and not fit for purpose to stop this extreme level of corruption.

 

[Annetts key]

Which may beg a question "Is the US likely to be better off with a lame duck Trump for his final 2 years, or his stand in Vance resented by ultra Trump loyalists - almost as much as by Democrats?"

And a second question "Would Vance be better for Britain, Europe and the World than Trump?"

All scenarios sound less than positive, not least because Democrats have no strong candidate to coalesce around. Rather too similar to us over here.

Depending on how much of a majority (assuming they get a majority) the Democrats get in both houses of Congress, there are other options. So it is possible for the next president to be someone other than Vance.

 

[Bayum]

Trump says a deal is ready to be signed tomorrow… Sunday doesn’t begin with a T so this may be the real deal?

 

[Annetts key]

Trump says a deal is ready to be signed tomorrow… Sunday doesn’t begin with a T so this may be the real deal?

On BBC One TV Evening News, the reporter said that apparently Iran says that it won't be signed tomorrow.

The BBC News website says:

Before Trump's comments Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei expressed caution saying: "We will have to wait and see about the exact date of the signing of the memorandum of understanding, although it will not be tomorrow."

 

[najaB]

Trump says a deal is ready to be signed tomorrow… Sunday doesn’t begin with a T so this may be the real deal?

Iran has no reason to rush anything. And this isn't a deal, it's a memorandum of understanding covering talks which will occur over the next sixty days about a potential deal that covers some of the issues.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Iran has no reason to rush anything. And this isn't a deal, it's a memorandum of understanding covering talks which will occur over the next sixty days about a potential deal that covers some of the issues.

Rinse and repeat. Fortunately the world has moved on and reoriented its supply chains with the big winner being the US.

 

[najaB]

Fortunately the world has moved on and reoriented its supply chains with the big winner being the US.

In what way is the USA a big winner in this?

 

[Gloster]

Trump says a deal is ready to be signed tomorrow… Sunday doesn’t begin with a T so this may be the real deal?

I find it quite possible that he is just carrying on with his usual build ’em up, knock ‘em down behaviour in order to buy and sell advantageously, but hasn’t realised that the markets are closed because it is the weekend. Such is Trump’s level of confusion that, somewhat worryingly, I find that well within the bounds of the possible.

 

[najaB]

I find it quite possible that he is just carrying on with his usual build ’em up, knock ‘em down behaviour in order to buy and sell advantageously, but hasn’t realised that the markets are closed because it is the weekend. Such is Trump’s level of confusion that, somewhat worryingly, I find that well within the bounds of the possible.

More likely is that he wants to sell the idea of a "win" for his birthday.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I find it quite possible that he is just carrying on with his usual build ’em up, knock ‘em down behaviour in order to buy and sell advantageously, but hasn’t realised that the markets are closed because it is the weekend. Such is Trump’s level of confusion that, somewhat worryingly, I find that well within the bounds of the possible.

They could be doing a bigger than usual build up of anticipation across the whole weekend in the hope of a bigger than usual movement in the market on Monday?

 

[JamesT]

In what way is the USA a big winner in this?

They’re the world’s largest oil producer and presumably have picked up additional customers who would have been supplied by the Gulf?

 

[najaB]

They’re the world’s largest oil producer and presumably have picked up additional customers who would have been supplied by the Gulf?

It doesn't work that way. US oil is "sweet" and Persian Gulf oil is "sour". While it is possible to change a refinery configured for one to process the other, it's a process that would take years, rather than months.

In any case, that would be good for US oil companies, but benefit the US government or people comparatively little.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Please provide proof that the U.S.A. was ever "great"...

When Trump wa doing all his renaming stuff like the Gulf of Mexico/America we did wonder whether he’d go for renaming the country Great America or something

 

[JamesT]

It doesn't work that way. US oil is "sweet" and Persian Gulf oil is "sour". While it is possible to change a refinery configured for one to process the other, it's a process that would take years, rather than months.

Well, someone is buying it. https://energy-oil-gas.com/news/us-fuel-exports-surge-as-hormuz-disruption-redraws-energy-trade/

American energy producers and exporters responded rapidly as buyers sought alternatives to Middle Eastern supply. US crude oil and petroleum product exports reportedly reached nearly 13 million barrels per day during the height of the disruption, setting a new record for outbound shipments.

 

[najaB]

Well, someone is buying it. https://energy-oil-gas.com/news/us-fuel-exports-surge-as-hormuz-disruption-redraws-energy-trade/

The quote does say that the total includes petroleum products, so there's a good chance that a sizable portion of that was refined products from customers who would usually purchase crude oil from the Gulf states, having to import gasoline and diesel to keep the lights on. If that's the case then they will switch back to Gulf supplies as soon as possible.

 

[JamesT]

The quote does say that the total includes petroleum products, so there's a good chance that a sizable portion of that was refined products from customers who would usually purchase crude oil from the Gulf states, having to import gasoline and diesel to keep the lights on. If that's the case then they will switch back to Gulf supplies as soon as possible.

Sure, it may not be just crude oil. But the point is still that the US may be ‘winning’ by making increased sales at higher prices whilst others can’t.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

In what way is the USA a big winner in this?

Supplying more LNG than ever to Europe also covering off the big deficit in Jet A1 that used to come of of the GCC

 

[najaB]

Sure, it may not be just crude oil. But the point is still that the US may be ‘winning’ by making increased sales at higher prices whilst others can’t.

US oil companies, sure. But the government and people?

Supplying more LNG than ever to Europe also covering off the big deficit in Jet A1 that used to come of of the GCC

Short-term gain for the oil companies, long-term loss of credibility for the US military and ceding the diplomatic high ground. All to end up with a deal that's worse than the JCPOA.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Short-term gain for the oil companies, long-term loss of credibility for the US military and ceding the diplomatic high ground. All to end up with a deal that's worse than the JCPOA.

For sure but I was responding to how work arounds are ameliorating much of th Hormuz disruption

 

[brad465]

US oil companies, sure. But the government and people?

Short-term gain for the oil companies, long-term loss of credibility for the US military and ceding the diplomatic high ground. All to end up with a deal that's worse than the JCPOA.

Trump's "Obama Derangement Syndrome" has to be one of the world's most costly mental health problems: Trump wanted to be president because Obama mocked him in 2011 at the WH Correspondent's dinner, he ripped up the Iran deal because Obama signed it, he wants a Nobel Peace Prize because Obama got one, and can't stop mocking and bringing him up in all sorts of situations.

 

[martin butler]

The only people in the US doing well has to be Trumps immediate family, those fellow crooks in his circle of friends, ( you can be they are as corrupt as he is) every time the stocks rise and fall, you can bet theres someone with their hands in the till,

Trump hates Obama because he is a successful black man, and that gets under his skin, how dare a black man be better than him, with his gifted wealth, what he has never grasped is Obama is a very intelligent, educated man, regardless of his skin colour, whereas trump is thick .