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

He isn't going to be good for Ireland so why do some here support him?

So was Hitler.

If it's 2% we might lose relatively little. If it's 10/15% jobs will go in Ireland. We lose competitiveness overnight. It makes drugs made here uncompetitive in the US because they'll be more expensive vs their US competitors. Doesn't matter if the consumer pays it or not.

ThIs is Lutnik's work, not Trump's. He knows exactly how to put an end to our "nonsense", as he put it.

Problem arises that plenty of companies simply don't necessarily have access to the facilities or infrastructure depending on the drugs. So matching the production magically in the US isn't gonna happen. So it'll hit Ireland to some extent but moreso it'll hit those who need the drugs.

RBB should spend a month internship with Primark, sourcing/management/shipping side might teach to keep his mouth shut about things he knows SFA about.

I believe it's messaging. There had always been disaffected people especially young men, but the reach of fringe elements would have been limited in the past. Now with social media and the instant dissemination of information the likes of Rogan, Tate, etc have an instant audience. In the past people like that would have not had such a widespread outlet and would be treated rightly as fringe elements.

If you look at the shift in youth vote towards Trump you can see the problem. Young people have historically been more liberal and voted that way yet between 2020 and 2024 the 18 - 29 year old male went from 56% Biden to 56% Trump. That is a massive swing.

The issue is it's not just young men who have fallen foul of the social media rabbit hole. The older generation also.

Now I know that the above is merely diagnosing rather than suggesting a solution. There is no easy answer. The cat is out of the bag with these charlatans and the have brainwashed the masses. That is not an easy thing to reverse. What "the other side" need to do is to offer a viable alternative. The issue is sanity and nuance doesn't sell as easy as conspiracy theories and "red pill" propaganda. Social media had hanged the game. I'm an IT professional, so was always quick off the mark with new technologies. I was on Facebook early, twitter out the gate but not long into it I could spot the issues. It became clear when less tech savvy people like my parents generation started using social media and were treating everything the read with the same credence as legitimate news sources. I spent so much time trying to drill into them the same policy I have with social media. "Assume everything you read is complete bullshit until you reliably verify it with multiple reputable sources". I think we might have lost an entire generation of young men to this thinking. So I think the focus needs to be to offer something else to the next generation as opposed to these brainless red pill types.

I know it's a bit of a ramble without any clear solutions but it's what my thoughts are at the moment.

Does anyone know what kind of pharma gets exported? If Pfizer IRL produces a pill under patent for 10¢ and exports it Pfizer US, which sells it on to the public for €10, which value is placed on the export, 10¢ I assume? So even a 100% tariffs can easily be absorbed. Customer ain't gonna notice a 10¢ increase.

It's obviously not as simple as that, but with everything Trump related, nothing is thought through.

This outbreak has been going on since last year and is at the tail end, with most people affected being cured at this stage. The 2 deaths occured early last year, not recently. Don't know why it has suddenly become worldwide news or can be blamed on the new administration, or the previous. Here is an article from August about it

Be inclined to replace orator with liar.

Millar has to back his boss.

He was a fine person

………………

My worry is that it may, in fact, be thoroughly thought through. There must be some people in Trump's circle who'd stand to gain immensely from tariffs. I sincerely doubt it'll be anyone in the American general public unless they can ramp up domestic production of goods on an unprecedented scale.

He’s not in long but already democracy in America is falling apart. Just today he signed off on another EO ordering federal agencies to identify and deport any foreign students on visas who took part in protests against the bombing of Gaza.

Meanwhile some MAGA billionaire threatened to fund the primaries of opponents to any senators who don’t ratify RFK jr. Big business has really taken over the funding of the GOP

He used to put chickens and live mice in a blender, perfectly standard behavior. The other one in relation to the drugs, he was also supposedly dealing. Once again though, the RFK advocates are avoiding this topic entirely.