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

Saw someone on TikTok earlier questioning why Mexico already has so many tariffs on US goods but the US doesn't have any on Mexican goods. What!? its not true first off but also, wasn't is Trump who tore up NAFTA and then put a copypasta version in-place with his name on it?…he literally re-negotiated the trade deals with Canda and Mexico during his first term. If trade is imbalanced, that is his doing…

Gaslighting is going to be a big theme for the next 4 years.

The only thing I blame the Democrats for, is despite having 4yrs to bring charges and try the orange turd for treason and various other crimes like trying to subvert and election, they managed to not bring one decent charge until it was too late. He should have been in prison by 2022.

Until this administration, Justice isn't political. Trump was tried in the appropriate courts, he was able to exhaust all legal options viz. the federal charges by Smith by having his duly-appointed SCOTUS delay then give out that farcical 'immunity' ruling. The Mar-a-Largo case had a completely compromised Judge in charge (Cannon) who dutifully delayed and distracted. The only case where he was convicted was at the State level (Fraud) and that's because he couldn't get his lackeys to interfere. As it is, he was convicted but not sentenced.

If I were to blame any particular Democrat, it's Fani Willis who blew it. Nice state-level case, screwed up.

Nor is this about to change, until there are actual qualifications for POTUS beyond age and where they're born.

I'd agree with most of that except that justice was political since the last administration. Trump placed very conservative figures on the SCOTUS and the Democrats knew damn well what they were dealing with from there. They should have made sure the right people and resources were in place to have him tried and convicted in jot time. There nonsense over the top respect for the office of president prevented them from doing the needful for the greater good.

You're not going to keep a lid on Trump and his minions with due process. If you allow MAGA to grow to the size it has, you've already lost the game.

Like all insurgent movements, MAGA has a great advantage in that it doesn't feel the need to play by the rules of the current system. It's that system they're seeking to overthrow, so why would they?

The Democrats seem to be of this belief that MAGA will just go away and the USA will go back to being on an even keel. It's utterly insane. They think that they can get another party insider like Gavin Newsome or someone in office in 2028, and that MAGAs will throw their red hats away and start getting all their information from nice broadsheet newspapers?

Defeating MAGA means making some really hard choices and also being up for some proper confrontation. I don't know if any of the current Democratic elite really have the heart for that, though.

If anyone won today, it was the President of Mexico, masterclass on how to handle Trump.

Throughout this trade crisis, President Claudia Sheinbaum has called for “cool heads” and “calm”. 

Even on Friday, she said she was confident of a last-minute reprieve from the 25% tariffs on Mexican goods. And so it proved, following an early morning telephone call with President Trump.

Announcing the agreement soon after, she could barely wipe the smile from her face and her supporters have heralded what they see as a masterclass in how to handle Donald Trump. 

Yes, she agreed to send National Guard troops to the border to focus on fentanyl-smuggling, but crucially she secured what she wanted from Trump too.

As well as the obvious – a stay on tariffs – she also got Trump to “promise” the US would do more to tackle the traffic of high-powered weapons from the US into Mexico, to prevent them from ending up in the arms of cartel gunmen.

But she also bought herself another vital commodity: time. 

She now has several weeks in which to build on the points agreed in that telephone call and turn the temporary hold on tariffs into a permanent one.

Win for Trump? Laughable.

2 walk backs in a day from his threats.

Trump losing twice in a day shows you what kind of “negotiator” he really is. Loser.

Canada folds a few hours after Mexico. Trudeau has made commitments he'll have to keep.

I guess we can be thankful he responded positively to negotiations.
Ideally you don’t want the tariffs to begin with.

Bluster from Trump it seems.

No tariffs for Canada either,paused for now.

Mexico and Canada had no choice but to bend the knee for a 30 day grace period but feel free to twist it whatever way you like.

It looks like the bad reaction of the stock markets spooked Trump and he caved in like a poodle. He will claim a win just as he claimed that his renogotiation of NAFTA was the best trade deal in history. Unfortunately for Trump, his memory isn't the best as he has been claiming recently that Mexico and Canada were treating the US horribly on trade

And meanwhile Canadians have already instigated an informal 'don't buy USA goods' push, I wonder will all suddenly be forgiven and forgotten. Seems unlikely.

From the Washington Post:

"President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order aimed at eventually closing the Education Department and, in the short term, dismantling it from within, according to three people briefed on its contents."

If he's lost to Canada and Mexico, wait til he goes face to face with the big boys. China and the EU actually can afford a trade war if needs be.