The U.S. will pause all military aid to Kyiv until President Trump determines that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is making a good-faith effort toward peace negotiations with Russia, according to a White House official.
Trump's revenge is now complete.
Time for Europe to step up, give Trump the middle finger and support Ukraine by themselves. They have more than enough to support Ukraine all by themselves (although not without a little pain).
Holy shit!! Have you seen the Atlanta fed GDP Now projection??? If true, Trump has single-handedly turned a robust economy to shit in less than two months.
Re: holy shit! https://www.atlantafed.org/cqer/research/gdpnow
Expectations at work. Or, from the look of it, dread.
I expected we'd be in a recession by the end of the year. It's a big economy - it's like a supertanker - and not that easy to change direction. This has got to be some kind of record. Even if they're too pessimistic by a factor of two, it's still a pretty sharp downturn.
Monday's ISM manufacturing index for February dropped far below expectations, from a consensus of 50.8 to 50.3. Above 50 means expansion, so, factories are seeing a very sudden slowdown after rushing imports ahead of tariffs in January. The GDP Now notes says that they're now projecting 0% real PCE.
All eyes on the jobs report this Friday. Consensus is ~160K. First full month of effects of deportation threats.
Jobs numbers are based on data from the second week of February, before the worst really hit. Next month’s numbers should show a bigger decline.
New unemployment claims is weekly. If we see 250,000+, hold onto your hat.
ADP numbers came in ~ half of what was expected. And of course, the market thinks this means the Feds will cut its rate.
Which it won't.
Because inflation will rise, ever so slightly, right up until inventories shipped ahead of the tariffs are depleted. Then, prices will surge.
Maybe not normally, but the stock market has been overheated for close to two years and it way overpriced. Single family home prices have been overheated for longer and are at their breaking point with the buyers mostly on strike. Even Wall Street thinks homes are overpriced.
All it takes is some terrible employment numbers and a clearly weakening economy to finally start a panic among sellers to get off their inflated price expectations and sell while there are still buyers.
So, there's a bunch of stuff ready for a major correction.
I do believe that we're headed for a stock market correction this spring but the housing market is a bit more complicated. In markets like Texas and Florida, prices are falling as inventory rises. But in other states inventory is at historic lows keeping prices high
People selling their homes because they've lost their jobs will help cure that. There will be a massive number of homes that hit the market this spring, tons of homes that didn't sell over the winter got pulled from the market and will be relisted this spring as sellers try to hold onto their aspirational prices.
Unfortunately for those sellers, the economy will be a hot mess and unemployment will be rising, so they probably should have dropped their price enough to find a buyer last winter.
Yes I didn't factor in Trumps mass firing of federal workers which will create a lot of sellers especially in the NoVa housing market
Never underestimate Trumps ability to fuck things up.
1++
Well said. It is why Putin is BFF with donnie.
I don't want to rain on everyone's parade, but don't forget history. Ronald Reagan had a terrible recession about a year or so into office. Worst since the Great Depression. It was caused by the Fed raising interest rates to conquer inflation. Once the recessions started the Fed lowered interest rates and the economy started growing. Had nothing to do with anything Reagan did. Even the Fed chair was appointed by Carter. Because the recession happened at the beginning of his term, by the time he was up for reelection the country forgot about the recession and gave credit to Reagan for saving the economy. [ Krugman often points out that the big hollowing out of manufacturing jobs happened during Reagan, but no one seems to care about that. Not now. Not then. ]
I'm not saying an early recession by Trump will work the same way, but keep it in mind. If the economy in 3.5 years is good, people will forget that this was all caused by Trump.
I was initially worried that Trump would get credit for all the factories that were started under Biden, but completed under him. Now I'm worried the economy will crash and we'll have high unemployment. I'm told everyone prefers that to higher inflation. I'd much rather have a job and pay a little more for food. Of course, maybe we'll have higher unemployment and inflation.
High unemployment is preferable to inflation in one aspect: high unemployment affects only that percentage of the population that loses its job(s), but high inflation affects everyone across the board.
OTOH, high inflation means you have some lower amount of purchasing power while being unemployed means you lose essentially 100% of it. Like most things in life, it makes winners and losers. But the winners only win until they lose too.
Somebody in Hotlanta does not like the Mafioso.
or they're just modelling the data. 25% tariffs on our 2 biggest trading partners, retaliatory tariffs from them, massive fed gov job cuts, consumer sentiment declining and a government shutdown highly probable. seems like a recession is inevitable.
Looks like worse than a recession. Looks like stagflation. Having lived through the stagflation of the 1970's, I have no desire for a repeat.
Exactly. Twenty-plus percent interest rates for business capital, new layoffs every month, and the drawdown from Vietnam. LOTS of unemployment.
Well, it'll keep immigrants away. There's that.
Expectations of juicy tax cuts can only sustain the animal spirits for just so long...
Don’t forget firing people and deporting other people. People with no income don’t spend as much on American goods and services. And people not in America also don’t spend as much on American goods and services. And something like two thirds of the American economy is driven by individuals buying goods and services. Billionaires will only buy so many Big Macs and only need so many haircuts - they can’t make up the difference of millions of poorer and middle class individuals removed from the consumer side of the macroeconomic equation.
Presumably the next round of firings will be at the Atlanta Fed for letting that bad news go out.
+ 2 Standard Deviations on the "Wow That Was a Good Joke!" normal curve.
Anecdotal evidence: there are still more than 20,000 tickets left for Coachella Week 1. WTF? Gaga is the headliner, and it's only five weeks away.
i have no idea what's normal. does coachella usually sell out well ahead?
Better than that, for sure. You really can't "come from LA for the day", at least, not if you want to be safe going home. So people get tickets and hotels early if they can.
LA is one of easiest places to drive or fly into to see an event, with a quick turnaround, though Indio isn't really LA, if you don't get a campsite, hotels probably already sold out so could stay in Vegas, extend the trip.
I may be misunderstanding you too, if so my apologies.
good. enough war.
If this is your response to US halting arms, then yes Ukrainians will live with no more war
just like folks in North Korea
If this is your response to US halting arms, then yes Ukrainians will live with no more war
just like folks in North Korea
for that matter when 2.0 is done dismantling our constitution , we’ll have peace also, just like folks in Russia
+1
I assume that includes access to the Starlink network. I'd be less depressed if there weren't so many influential people still refusing to acknowledge the reality of what Trump is doing. Even some of the Europeans are still talking inanely about getting America back on side with a new peace deal.
Trump hasn't the slightest concern about Ukraine's future independence. He certainly has no intention of doing anything constructive to guarantee it. I understand why the rest of the world doesn't want to do anything to force America even further into Russia's arms, but it has to proceed on the assumption that's where Washington's sympathies lie.
Trump has been in Putins pocket for sometime. It just took awhile for him to include the rest of us. To get us away from putin we have to get away from Trump.
The consensus as of now on Euro media is a crystal clear assessment of where things lie with Trump. Leadership has to walk a finer line, but if the perspectives on France 24 and DW are any indication the EU is not trapped in a delusional bubble like U.S. media and Dems.
If this was the play all along, given the camera op looked orchestrated, what's the end game? Are we really selling our soul to wrest the best possible deal we can get for Ukrainian rare earth minerals, while pushing Europe to remilitarize?
This has nothing whatsoever with rare earth minerals or any other Ukrainian assets. The only asset that's relevant is Putin's: that would be DJT.
Trump has no moral compass at all. There's no overarching strategy at work. He's simple-minded and utterly transactional. Putin helped him get elected and re-elected: Putin good. Trump is convinced that Ukraine worked against him in 2016 and Zelensky refused to help him in 2020: Ukraine bad. It's really just that simple.
Was really more of a rhetorical question, we're dealing with multiple overlapping layers of dishonesty, disinformation and subterfuge here.
I've been thinking the same things. There are forces underneath the obvious. To me the long game is no secret - Bannon and global far rightists have been broadcasting it for years. Something like this:
Create "competitive democracy" unitary executive rule in the US - Hungary is the model. (Corollary: TrumpCo is not going to leave the White House unless it's carried out by force.)
Create a domestic socio-economic reality that increasingly mirrors Russia. Tariffs move this along nicely.
Privatize the entire US government to proven subservient oligarchic allies. Every revenue stream will have a mafia level vig.
Align, ally with, and materially support Putin, North Korea, Orban, far right Euros, any authoritarian group/people/nation/society globally.
Isolate, weaken, and fracture the EU. Complete destruction is unnecessary, only its ability to counter the above. The Euro far right is key here - the enemy within.
Reduce third world peoples and nations to destitution. Install/support/control the inevitable authoritarian ruling orders that emerge from the chaos. Pillage their national resources like there's no tomorrow. Their collapse as functional societies is irrelevant as long as the oil/gas/metals/whatever keep flowing.
Create a permanent world order of interlinked autocracies.
That's the plan.
"competitive autocracy" dammit
Luckily this plan won't bear fruit, but we'll have to remain vigilant against offshoots, as AI becomes more online and capable, especially if quantum computing ever pans out (and it doesn't have to pan out like everything else has and become universally commoditized, the most dangerous transition period will be when it's workable but only affordable to the wealthiest countries, corporations, cartels and/other cabals).
And in terms of our country, we need to be very resilient and transparent democratically at that time.
" Putin helped him get elected and re-elected: Putin good."
That is only partial. Also:
Putin dictator - Putin good.
Puting strong (i.e. suppress the population) - Putin very good.
Putin kill opponents - Putin brilliant.
It seems to be more than just tranactional.
+1
The point was to humiliate Zelenskyy and provide an excuse to go all in on all Putin.
Trump can also blame Zelenskyy if there is no peace deal. Of course, the buck never stops with Trump.
Probably already had given Putin everything he wanted, needed an after-the-fact ‘justification’
No, we're not "selling our soul to wrest the best possible deal we can get for Ukrainian rare earth minerals". If we were doing that, we would be poking Putin in the eye with a very sharp, nuclear tipped stick. At this point, China is going to end up with them, at the very minimum the wonderful people of Ukraine, the Baltic states, Finland and maybe even Poland will end up with Russian puppet theocracies governing them, and western Europe will be neutered, but only because they have a few of those nuclear tipped pokers to keep the goose-steppers away
[Yes, Russian troops goose-step. Did you think it was only a Nazi thing?]
I think the endgame is to get Europe to re-militarize so the US can exit NATO. Conservatives have held a grudge for years about foreign aid and the US being the world's policeman at the taxpayer expense. It's more of the "lazy bastards who don't work as hard as I do are getting benefits" mentality so pervasive on the right.
"I think the endgame is to get Europe to re-militarize so the US can exit NATO. "
No.
The endgame is Trump a dictator, host Putin in Mar-a-lago and chats with him about all the people they jailed and killed.
Yes. And so much more. See my post above.
Shameful. Still hard to grasp that this monster is the US president. A narcissistic sociopath, with great power in their hands, can do tremendous harm.
The purported reason is to force Ukraine into negotiation. Oddly, no additional pressure on Russia.
Neither the Ukrainians nor their European supporters seem to think that Europe alone can hold off the Russians. https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-war-united-states-europe-replace-weapons-military-spending-donald-trump/ I am not so pessimistic. It will take time for Europe to ramp up production on large systems, but Ukraine has ramped up development and production of airborne and sea-surface drones and remotely-driven land vehicles even under wartime conditions, and they have proved extremely effective. Many of the parts are being produced on 3-D printers, other components are off-the-shelf. Clearly Europe could produce these rapidly in quantity. Europe has the talent and skills to increase autonomy, for resistance to jamming and spoofing. Ukraine (and the rest of Europe) need this technology to counteract the sheer numbers of troops that Russia can muster.
I saw a video of a Ukrainian drone equipped with a stripped-down shotgun, as a re-usable anti-drone interceptor. That kind of innovation must be multiplied many times over.
Just as important, Europeans must use their best diplomatic efforts to persuade the U.S. to maintain sanctions, in full if possible, but certainly on any military or dual-use technology. And allow Europe to purchase weapons systems directly from U.S. manufacturers.
In the short term, Russia should be limited to its own resources, and those of its few allies, to re-arm. In the medium and longer term, they should find themselves facing a Ukrainian army, navy and air force of killer robots, with as few personnel exposed to Russian weapons as must be.
Quite so. This is a new kind of war, fought on the cheap, with killer robots. The key is that sanctions on military technology must be maintained. Trump is already talking about lifting sanctions, and although it's not clear if military technologies would be included, knowing Trump...well...does anyone think he wouldn't do it?
Very cogent analysis. The future cyberwar has been invented in the last three years, and here we thought it was going to be waged with Androids. Well, I guess it is, but the handheld kind.......
"Europeans must use their best diplomatic efforts to persuade the U.S. to maintain sanctions, in full if possible, but certainly on any military or dual-use technology. And allow Europe to purchase weapons systems directly from U.S. manufacturers.
i think we can now see that's not an achievable goal with trump in the white house.
Europe could stop sales to the U.S. from BAE, Thales, Oerlikon, …. Stryker is made in Canada, as we know, a sovereign nation/une nation souveraine.
Starlink is the big enchilada here. Ukraine is heavily dependent on it. If Musk pulls Ukrainian access to Starlink, they're in trouble.
There are competitors to Starlink. Someone with deep pockets just needs to cut a deal. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/starlink-competitors/
I'm not sure negotiation is the right word. It would be more like capitulation. Trump wants to force his terms on Ukraine. And when I say his terms we all know it's really Putins terms.
+25. When you don't even invite one of the participants/victims to the negotiating table, it's not a "negotiation."
Agree with both of you.
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) today:
"It’s gonna be Putin and President Trump, and the people on our side, that will end up making this decision for the future of Ukraine.”
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/gop-senator-insists-trump-and-putin-will-decide-on-future-of-ukraine-zelensky-is-not-even-in-the-game/
Yet another waste of oxygen.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/jd-vance-ukraine-russia-aid-zelensky-b2708399.html
Vance claimed that Zelensky had “showed a clear unwillingness to engage in the peace process that President Trump has said is the policy of the American people and of their president” by refusing to accept Trump’s desire to negotiate a peace plan on his country’s behalf.
Vance added: “I think Zelensky wasn't yet there, and I think, frankly, now still isn't there, but I think we'll get there eventually. He has to.”
What Vance means is Zalensky didnt agree to let Trump sell him and his country out to Russia. What a dishonest asshole he is.
What a "dishonest asshole" they all are.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mandelson-starmer-trump-macron-putin-ukraine-b2707822.html
"[UK Ambassador Peter] Mandelson has said Ukraine should be the first side to declare a ceasefire in its war with Russia as he called for Volodymyr Zelensky to back Donald Trump’s minerals deal in a clash with Downing Street’s position on the war."
A unilateral ceasefire? I thing the word he's looking for is "surrender."
That future entails serving up Ukraine to Putin on a silver platter.
One wonders when the military parades glorifying Trump are coming...
Somebody is already running commercials every half hour on the local networks I watch here in metro DC praising everything Trump does. But it’s too cold for military parades - those will likely be on Trump’s birthday in June, for which he’ll likely move Juneteenth to coincide with.
If you examine all of his actions, the convicted felon Trump isn't just 100% transactional; he's 100% trying to always win a zero-sum game. That means the bargaining will have to end at a quid pro quo. If he's not getting anything out of backing Ukraine, he's going to go at it with Russia.
That's where he's at right now. The next step is to end Russian sanctions. If he signs a deal which he later realizes has placed him at a disadvantage in the zero-sum game, he will tear up the deal and start all over again.
You might get him back to the negotiating table with Ukraine, but he will not honor his commitments. Just look at how easily he's being driven by emotional outbursts and his two flip-flops in 3 days.
And if Europe hasn't realized it yet, he will at some point try to extricate the US from NATO, the UN, and the G7.
He's surely transactional, but from what I can see, there's one thing that overrides his desire to "win": his overwhelming sense of victimhood and his desire for revenge. He hates Ukraine and Zelensky with a passion and he's going to get even no matter what it takes. I think that's what's driving this. Remember we're dealing with a toddler, here.
Yeah, that's the "ego" and "vanity" part that is the essence of the convicted felon, Trump. He doesn't deal with humiliation well.
so right
"..there's one thing that overrides his desire to "win".."
That skips his adulation of dictators.
I would say he is 98% narcissist and 2% dictators admirer.
In this case, Trump is acting more like a Putin Puppet. He may think in terms of a zero-sum game, but in this case, Trump is playing to get 10% whiling making sure Putin gets 90%.
It only looks that way b/c of his history with favoring Russia, but he's an opportunist always looking for a transaction:
- His past ties with Russia came down to those willing to help him in 2016 and in return, he pursued policy favorable to Russia
- His initial dustup with Zelensky was in search of a quid pro quo
- He complains about China but has placed larger tariffs on Mexico and Canada even while he's flip-flopped on TikTok
- His comments recently put it in plain words: pay us or we're not coming to defend you
"His initial dustup with Zelensky was in search of a quid pro quo"
True, but look at the transcript of that famous phone call. Trump was also accusing Zelensky of Ukraine's harboring of Clinton email servers; that is another basis of his animosity.
In other words, Trump is delusional, and is acting (and committing the US to act) on the basis of those delusions.
He makes shit up if he thinks it'll serve as leverage (threats) in negotiations; it's not just something he used in an isolated case against Zelensky.
Recall he kept doing this in trying to get Arizona and Georgia to overturn election results.
I mean, I guess. It _could_ be that Trump somehow thought it would be leverage to baffle Zelensky with references to a crowdstrike server:
"I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has it. "
But I'd say this server nonsense was just something stewing in Trump's brain. Same as his references to the "late great Hannibal Lecter," that weird time when for a while he kept insisting that there were duct taped women and prayer rugs at the border because he confused a movie he saw with reality, etc. The guy is not well.
I stand corrected; he just makes shit up all the time because his mind is mush and at other times he thinks no one will notice that he's always lying.
Kinda hard not to see how ongoing developments could have been orchestrated to coincide for Trump's speech to Congress tomorrow night, including the escalated tariffs.
Bullying is never complete. At least not until Russia fully incorporates Ukraine and Putin reserves to himself the rights to bully.
Something sure has happened. It’s a new world where the foreign policy of the most powerful country on Earth has been rapidly reorganised around the fragile ego of a sullen and resentful old man and as a result has the US of A been turned into a puppet state (def:
A country that appears to be independent but is actually controlled by another nation)
Vjatjeslav Nokonov , one of Putin’s most trusted agitators are overjoyed when appearing in his talk show Bolsjaja Igra (the big game). Nokonov is a grandchild to Molotov , Stalin’s minister of foreign affairs , who signed an agreement with Hitler dividing Eastern European into zones of interest giving Hitler and Stalin Carte Blanche to occupy smaller neighbors, murdering and torturing at will.
The rest of Russian media are hardly believing the total capitulation of Trump in these “negotiations”.
This is comparable to the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement (look it up). Both Putin and Trump are of the opinions that strong nations have a right to occupy any neighboring nation to small to protect itself. Trump is given the right to move on Panama , Canada and Greenland (Denmark) and Trump will have his way with Eastern Europe
Remember, the Kremlin remains committed to achieving the original goals of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — namely the destruction of the Ukrainian state, dissolution of the current Ukrainian government (meaning killing Zelensky)
A comment from a disillusioned Swede
You're not the only one. I think it's safe to say a lot us here and our allies are just as disillusioned and dumbfounded by Trumps actions. I can understand Trumps motivations, he's a narcasist. Everything he's done serves his ego. Have the Republicans also sold out to the Russians? What's their game?
Using a Constitution dating from a time when the fastest way to communicate was a rider and a horse, a time when the book of genesis was commonly regarded as the unchallenged truth isn’t that smart.
The continued fetishizing of something like 7 white male slave owners as the best possible designers of a governance system to have ever walked the Earth is just bizarre.
This is what happens…
One has been able to read a lot about right wing extremists gaining support in Europe and we sure have a problem but we are protected by our more democratic political systems. In many European countries are right wing extremists gaining roughly 20% in elections. That goes for my Sweden but also Finland, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain. Denmark has been there but the right wing party imploded. But gaining 20% in a parliamentary system means getting only limited access to power or no power att all .
Trump had slightly more support roughly 28% of people of voting age, but he is in total control.
A small reminder from a Swede
Thanks. Useful as always when smug Europeans tell us that everything we’re doing is wrong, and helpfully neglect to provide any advice on how we can establish the paradise they have in Europe, without having two world wars as the impetus for the paradise’s creation of course.
So nice of you to genuinely care so much about us. Like how people tell already pregnant teens that they should’ve kept their legs closed.
Without changes to the constitution, transferable votes for Congress (and other single person winner elections) is the obvious solution. It removes the power of primaries, and give chance to third (and more) candidates, in general more centrists.
The Democratic should really go and install it everywhere they can, and then push it in purple area.
Obviously will take time to have an effect, but that is the best approach.
America’s great appeal to the world was its promise of possibilities . It presented itself as virgin territory ,someplace where one could start fresh and everything was possible and maybe that was true a long time ago…if you had the right ethnicity. Many Americans loves to still nurse the myth of the land of the free home of the brave
But now we see something else, a country dragged down by the dead weight of its past. A country powerless to deal with a danger in its present or to make a better future.
The land of possibility stands paralysed and the American dream is dead , at least in America.
America is a failed state when it comes to public health , democracy, freedom, social progress , violence. It’s not a place unbiased international experts are recommending to raise a family in and it’s not a place to be a young woman anymore
Your Congress is paralyzed due to your nonfunctional political system and a small group of religious fundamentalists are busy turning the clock back to 1789
Republicans are setting the agenda with a flurry of lies and Democrats are playing defense severely divided .
When will Democrats grab the initiative?
A comment by a worried Swede
"A comment by a worried Swede"
Oh, are you Swedish? How interesting.
I’m regularly commenting in US media, haven’t been here for years. I always states my nationality to avoid misunderstandings
Some time back in the 20th century, maybe around the onset of Reaganism, America's arteries hardened. Worship of "The Founding Fathers" stymied efforts to modernize the Constitution.
I'm not defending this.
Our Constitution is still genius, and the Scottish Enlightenment still the pinnacle of moral, political and philosophical thought (industrialization, technology, and information advances haven't really impacted that).
We do need a few more amendments though to fix campaign finance, corporate person, transparency/freedom of information (strengthened), and (actual) right to privacy.
+10
It’s impossible to amend your constitution in a more democratic way anymore. Nothing of importance has been amended since 1919. Since then has a lot happened outside of your borders if we are talking about democracy
People like to say this, doesn't make it true. MAGA is not just all about Trump, and he's done after this term, the amendments I mentioned would resonate with all kinds of dissatisfied Americans, across the spectrum (and many on Right don't admit to themselves that money is buying politics either, which is helpful).
The US Constitution, as amended, is a far better plan for governance than the body of recent rulings by the Supreme Court — money as speech, civil rights for corporations, and similar nonsense.
Nokonov is a grandchild to Molotov , Stalin’s minister of foreign affairs , who signed an agreement with Hitler dividing Eastern European into zones of interest giving Hitler and Stalin Carte Blanche to occupy smaller neighbors, murdering and torturing at will.
Vyacheslav Molotov is also notorious for having informed to the NKVD about his wife, and testified against her when she was accused of treason in 1948. She was released from a lbor camp after Stalin's death.
Revenge is still the wrong word for this.
Putin's man in DC has been targeting Ukraine from the get go.
It would be like describing Putins actions towards Ukraine as revenge because the 2014 invasion wasn't fully successful, or because Ukraine stopped the initial push to Kyiv in 2021.
Or the abuser who beats his wife a 5th time and insists this time is because she didnt properly submit to his will after the 3rd and 4th beating. It isn't revenge. It's a continuing line of action.
The second or third or fourth attempt on Ukraine may be different or more intense than the original, but there is no evidence that this continual line of action is caused by an original harm and is the fault of Ukraine.
Correct. "Revenge" disregards all of Donny's history with Ukraine before the impeachment.
Putins plan has come to fruition. FIFY.
It will not be complete until US intelligence stops Russian murder squads from assassinating Zelinsky and they murder him and his family.
"Trump's revenge is now complete."
Sadly, this is far from true. His revenge won't be complete till we are providing arms and logistical support for Putin and probably not till the US actually begins bombing Ukraine.
Trump's "revenge" is never complete.
No scolding or chainsaw budget threats over the $1+B we still give to Iraq, who handed over their territory and our weapons to ISIS, and who show their “gratefulness” by repeatedly asking us to get our troops out. otoh he did let the Kurds take horrendous losses defeating ISIS, then sold them out for a Trump hotel in Istanbul. My guess is after he trades Ukraine for cheaper Russian energy, he’ll swap Taiwan for South China Sea access. btw that’s why he needs Canada- to rule over the largest empire on earth
The only hope for reining him in is Maybe American greed. A deep recession will either embarrass him or grow a backbone in congress . . . .
Nah - We’re screwed
"My guess is after he trades Ukraine for cheaper Russian energy"
Which again shows Trump's idiocy. Russia's stupid economy almost entirely only exports oil and natural gas which are the US's top exports as well. So, getting "cheaper Russian energy" means undercutting US exports and US producers.
Even for a moron who issued an executive order screeching about a US "energy emergency" whereby we somehow don't have a big enough supply of natural gas domestically and are not exporting enough, you'd think that the ill-advisedness of getting a competitor to undercut your own market is something Trump could grasp.
From a purely commercial perspective, if you can import something for $70 and export your own production of the same thing for $100, it's a good deal. I'm not arguing in favor of this happening - I oppose giving Russia any financial relief at all.
Also, crude oil is not a simple substitution - refineries are engineered to run on a specific type (or blend) of crude oils, so they might have to be reconfigured, at some expense in time and money. And the oil companies are not going to be eager to do so if they think that the cheap supply is not secure.
Probably worse. A deep recession will provide the lame excuse he needs to impose martial law.
🎯
All the more reason to predict a sea change in Congressional elections in two years, the economy was going to be bad enough, now looks like will be even worse, along with gratuitously piled-on foreign policy and DOGE incompetence/scuffling.
The speed in which Trump do things raises the possibility that he feels so too, and intends to have enough power by than to prevent losing too much. He may be able to do it by intimidating away good Democratic candidates.
Hubris and overconfidence always a slippery thing, especially when surrounded by ideologists and yes men, rather than actual competence.
"ideologists and yes men..." Just like his corrupt businesses. He thinks this country exists for his benefit alone.
When you’re handily reelected after selling election denial,
the country actually DOES exist for his benefit !
The convicted felon has cut off all intelligence sharing w/ Ukraine, even directing UK to not share intelligence. He claimed to want the killing to stop, but all he's done is made it easier for Russia to weaken Ukraine and kill more Ukrainians.
He didn't bring them peace; he extorted Ukraine and brought them more death and destruction so that he might later rob them of their natural resources and future.
The coward in chief, who hid from the draft through a paid-for medical lie, who doesn't understand why Americans would volunteer to serve in the military, who denigrated Gold Star parents, is lying when he says he wants peace. He wants the weaker side to capitulate so that he can claim a Nobel Prize. And for that reason, he will never get one.
He's a mental case, fucked up in the head, who would give comfort and aid to White terrorists while calling out your drug dealer's supplier who isn't White.
Yes “tough love” to stop the killing in Ukraine , just like he did for Gaza
oh wait
Other than that, how do you like him? 🤣
I can’t begin to express how despicable I regard him to be. The legacy of this depraved individual will be the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, through his reckless, incompetent Covid policy, and now this betrayal of Ukrainians we had been supporting.
That neither Ratcliffe nor Waltz resigned over this tells you all you need to know about them. The US is now aligned with Russia. They’re not Chamberlains, they’re Quislings.
The thing with Trump is to primarily focus on his dishonesty and/or cluelessness (which couples with his lack of accountability for anything but good things), and his incompetence.
Unfortunately Democrats and other critics often got ahead of themselves and wasted too much time trying to prosecute him, or impeach him, which makes his base want to double down and defend him even more, which if necessary means becoming even more uncritical of all the falsehoods and incompetence (suspending disbelief in Hollywood terms).
Focus on the substance and metrics that matter, because ultimately it should come down to...is the country better or worse off? If American leadership isn't up to snuff or the challenge, we gotta change it up because this is real life for us, and our wallets and our security, not reality TV.
Don't make him a sympathetic figure, instead just keep pointing out the obvious (and not so obvious), part of which is Republicans since Reagan-Bush have become generally more incompetent when in power, so in that way Trump is just another (bombastic) titular head, but they've got the edge on Supreme Court so opposition needs to be really competent and on point, no letting up, no distractions, nothing personal.
This advice falls short because it's your aasumption that there are 'obvious' things that will will turn the tide if only these items were focused on.
But in reality, it's not actually clear at all what these 'obvious things' are, or that it will change the perception for Trump voters.
This is like the advice to just do the things that will work, stop doing the things that won't work. Simple....yet completely useless advice.
When you hear Trump speak and a little voice in your head doesn't scream "CONMAN", but says now that's a successful businessman there really is no reaching you.
With all due respect, your response is garbage, just BS, come back to me when you've got something else.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit