Donald Trump the Megathread part II - mod warnings in OP, Updated 18/03/25

dogbert27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123324493#Comment_123324493

low water pressure, sharks that attack boats, could tell they had tears in their eyes….. Sounds like he was talking to the penguins!

dogbert27

Officer, if you remove the 8 pints I've just drunk then I'm perfectly sober.

dogbert27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123324675#Comment_123324675

The above was response to this. Forgot to quote it

Mr.Wemmick

“He actually has a plan” is the funniest thing I’ve read yet on the tariff debacle. Sums up why Trump is King POTUS for the ignorant and the thick.

He’s so drunk on power he can do whatever he likes and not give a sh!t. He’s in great company with Musk. Like petulant children grabbing all the sweets in the shop with not enough hands to carry them.

The ridiculousness of it is head-wrecking.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123324446#Comment_123324446

I meant at a R&D level, governmental level etc. The EU and Ireland have hitched to the US in many areas and thought grand one of of our allies covers that, we don't need to focus. I think now is a good time to change that.

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123324675#Comment_123324675

yes, stable in the short term.

Sam Russell

Since Jan 20th, the USD has lost over 7% of its value re EUR. Most has been in the last 24 hours or so. [€1=US$1.027 vs US$1.10.]

No one likes the tariffs.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325333#Comment_123325333

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." Comes to mind.

8-10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123324789#Comment_123324789

I'm not fully buying this. There's still a small amount of private trade happening with Russia of higher value than some of the countries on the list so it looks unusual to exclude them, especially as more is coming out about the crude method of calculation proving that not much common sense came into the thinking

North Korea and Cuba escaping tariffs is more understandable

But Belarus? That's the really off one. There's some individuals and companies sanctioned there, but there's not the same sweeping sanctions across the Belarusian economy as there is in Russia

Have the administration commented on why Belarus didn't get any tariffs at all?

Doesn't smell right

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123324928#Comment_123324928

you are making the MAJOR assumption that what is not sold into the US is taken up by importing of the same amount of drugs by other countries. If ,say , Canada is already using drugs imported from Ireland and up to now can increase purchasing more if needed but it does not because it is importing enough already. So why would Canada increase its importation when approached by the Irish based - American owned- drug manufacturer so as to take up what the US is not buying?

thatsdaft

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325193#Comment_123325193

Don’t forget to say thanks

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325060#Comment_123325060

why are some saying that What Trump has done puts an end to global/ international trading. The US is not the world. Can international trading carry on without the US being as major a player? I can VERY EASILY see ‘ The Collision Of the WIlling ‘ coming together in an even more cooperative/friendly way than heretofore to work out deals/trading agreements - if only to give Thump the ‘TWO FINGURES’ - hope that Michael L has not patented the concept!!!!!!!. Such deals may mean that - in an indirect way at least- growth might slow, standards of living may not rise, income might stagnate, etc, BUT WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

Cody montana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325358#Comment_123325358

Have they blamed Biden yet?

thatsdaft

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325393#Comment_123325393

Have they crowed on about checks and balances yet?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/04/03/trump-tariffs-taxation-congress/

Largest tax hike ever without congress

Baba Yaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325393#Comment_123325393

wasnt Biden…its the Haitians that were in Springfield,the ones eating the dogs…

Field east

Are you forgetting that the EU is a democracy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325118#Comment_123325118

Are you forgetting that the EU is a DEMOCRACY? Each member has their own ideas / opinions , etc, and through discussion/argument/debate they reach an AGREED way forward. Can look messy to some but that’s the way it is in a democracy. Are you also forgetting that Ireland has BENEFITTED a lot from being a member of the EU- EEC in the past. Is a core tenet of the EU that it contributes finance , etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, when you are ‘poor’ and when you ‘get rich’ you contribute to funds to help the ‘ ‘poor’ members/ ‘poor’ sectors within the members/ EU environmental issues/ certain overseas issues of concern to the membership eg supporting Ukr

ixoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325423#Comment_123325423

That's the thing: you almost feel surely there's a greater plan here. It can't be that dumb/stupid. Well yes I really believe it is and, right now, lots of Americans falling for it.

Ashbourne hoop

What's happening in America at the moment is truly bizzare. I've never seen anything like it. The level of "Dear Leader" is beyond even North Korea level. They seem willing to throw away 250 years of democracy and make themselves poorer for Donald F**king Trump? Do they really hate trans and foreigners that much? So weird.

Dr Robert

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325450#Comment_123325450

Bizarre stuff.

It will get worse too. They'll do everything to stay in power.

However, they are betting on the stock market turning around this year before the mid terms next year.

If people get hit badly in the pockets it's game over for Maga.

thatsdaft

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325450#Comment_123325450

The MAGA mind virus is strong

Pitty they can’t also start injections of bleach and do the rest of us a favour

pad406

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325449#Comment_123325449

There may well be a plan, but there is nothing to indicate from this or the previous time he was in power that it is a GOOD PLAN

Dr Robert

It's not a one size fits all for MAGA. That's where they were clever tbf.

Big corporations voted him in as tax breaks will make them bigger and richer. He got all the top tech guys on board before the vote.

Conservatives love him for what he is doing to the whole judicial system.

He used powerful social media platforms to get a lot of young people on board. This was key. The Democrats messed up on this one.

Then you have his finatical core. Their vote was certain anyway.

Thee immigration and trans stuff was just easy stuff to get people riled up. Trump will do little to curb immigration, it's all BS.

The US is so polarised when it comes to politics it's difficult to see a rational debate on anything. It's all soundbites, lies and shout everyone down.

Neamhshuntasach

Having a plan is meaningless if the plan is ridiculous.

Like Mike Tyson said,

"Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth. Then, like a rat, they stop in fear and freeze."

thereiver

I don't think democrats or liberals or most young people support trump imposing tariffs that crashed the stock market Milions of people did not vote for trump .he,s also draining the social security system in 10 years time people who retire including army veterans will discover that pension payments that are funded by taxpayers will be much less than they were promised .He'd doing this so that the rich will get more tax cuts now rob poor

peter to pay rich Paul

He,s friends with Putin but does not like Europe and is saying Fu to American ally's .

no one was ready for this .But America has free speech an independent press you can read 1000 s of blogs and listen to podcasts that criticize trump America is not North Korea .Yes the Universitys are now bowing down to trump in order to receive federal grants .They are hiring security guards to stop protestors

The phrase you betrayed me for 30 pieces of silver comes to mind

There are some signs of hope some democrats are winning in state elections

Universitys since the 60,s have always been beacons of free speech and anti-government protest

Its almost like trump wants to destroy the American economy out of sheer incompetence

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325218#Comment_123325218

Oh yep totally agree on the diplomatic level. It's more the posters assuming there's a rational end goal with Trump. I no longer believe there is at this stage.

thatsdaft

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325489#Comment_123325489

The Plan^TM has been revealed

aloyisious

Trump clearly doesn't [want to] understand how the imports process works where costs are involved. No one could be that thick to keep on spouting the same line after months of economists advice and tutoring on how it works. Trump on how the patient [the US] is doing after the tariffs announcement: 5/6 Trillion is coming in.

He, not by accident, lets the fact that the 5/6 Trillion is the value put on and paid, or to be paid, in US dollars by the US importers and customers for the imported goods sail completely over his head. The dollars are not coming in from abroad, only the goods. in the eventual analysis, the dollars are going abroad out of the US economy into other economies.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123325423#Comment_123325423

I think Trump has deeply held opinions. Some warped, some less warped but all defined very much by his own existence.

IMO His plan is what it says on the tin. Tax the world because the US is the biggest Dawg in the pound.

I believe he thinks his actions will result in a gold rush for the US. But he views that through the prism of him being lord of the manor while the plebs toll in the mines.

That's why I can't understand the poor voting for him. He wants to bring back a time where the working man was flogged to death for pennies.

Kermit.de.frog

The UK is progressing it's negotiations for the removal of the 10% tariff there. They say it's going well.

Micheál Martin saying this morning that the US administration has shown 'worrying antipathy to the EU' so far in negotiation attempts.

It would be a particular blow to us if the UK ends up with no tariff and we're stuck on 20%. That's a real competitive disadvantage especially for food/drink and also those multinationals exporting to the USA. Production jobs and manufacturing could start leaking to the UK or the North.

looksee

He does not have the employees or infrastructure to collect the tariffs. Once the blockages start because nothing is moving, that's when the practical, as against theoretical or financial problems will be seen.