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

Not the first time he tried to extort them....

Mr Quid Pro Quo strikes again

It’s really a case of “with friends like these” isn’t it?

What has happened the world? Next up we’ll have Trump saying Russia is a great friend of America - it’s absolutely not inconceivable at this point.

This is extortion - plain and simple. Trump is essentially ensuring Ukraine remains in poverty forevermore - “neutralised” - at any other time Ukraine would be praised for their bravery.

Europe needs to man up - there’s only a feint indication of common ground between the EU countries on this issue - if we roll over on this we’re essentially finished- Russia will regroup and pick another country next time - all the billions seized from Russia need to be used to build back Ukraine - but I’ll bet Trump has plans to release this money back to Russia too

I guess if the Torygraph, I mean Telegraph, said it then it must be true…

Without the support of Ukraine and the rest of Europe a peace deal will not go ahead so let him off and see what deal he comes back with at least

Not sure if anybody saw the most recent episode of "Last week tonight with John Oliver" but he made a very good point that Drumpf is chaotically flooding the news in the hope that the news outlets can't concentrate on any specific story. Kinda makes sense I think. I get breaking news RTE updates on an almost daily basis about the next stupid thing he's done or is about to do.

An unbelievable sh1tshow happening in NYC, with Trump holding charges over Adams, with the promise to drop them if he does what he is told.

Multiple DOJ attorneys resigning in protest rather than sign the papers to filed.

Bondi telling DOJ employees that they are there to do Trump's bidding, when their loyalty is to the Constitution.

We are not even a month in and it is pure chaos.

But… better than "sleepy joe made eggs expensive" I guess…

FFS

With the Americans there is no such thing as a free dinner. USA gave loans and aid to the UK in WW2 but the UK had to pay it back : final payment for that was in Dec. 2006, a few generations after the war.

The USA has given Ukraine something like 70 billion in aid and are it's biggest supporter. The UK has given something like 13 billion in aid to Ukraine.

I suppose the USA is now questioning why they always seem to be the biggest aid giver in the world in so many conflicts when it's own economy is F***Ed. As its own government says many of its most profitable companies are offshoring their profits to IRELAND. I never saw anyone spitting out a word with so much venom and disgust.

I think Taoiseach Harris insulting Trump by calling him an awful ghol, and leftie Higgins sniping remarks, all the time while we freeload our freedom on NATO and our neighbours, has not gone un-noticed.

It took Trumps DoJ 3 weeks to blatantly do what they accused Biden of doing for the last 4 yrs without a shred of evidence.

Here, 7 people have resigned rather than debase themselves by getting involved. We didn't see that once, or hear a hint of discomfort about DoJ overreach while Biden was in office. Trump is the biggest crook to ever hold the office. And Adam's is showing once again what a see you next Tuesday he is.

That happened on Bidens watch.

Trump is trying to clean up the mess now.

Except it isn't just the Telegraph describing the deal as exploitive.

Don't think Biden was president in 1994

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl3ndxglwxo

Thirty years ago, on 5 December 1994, at a ceremony in Budapest, Ukraine joined Belarus and Kazakhstan in giving up their nuclear arsenals in return for security guarantees from the United States, the UK, France, China and Russia.

What point are you trying to make?

No one is saying this is a done deal, but it is a fact that Trump officials are meeting Russian ones in Saudi Arabia without any Ukrainian or EU representatives present.

Trump is "negotiating", except he's doing it with Russia and ignoring Kyiv. He'll likely then try to threaten Zelensky with being abandoned unless he gives up what Trump wants. Trump probably isn't happy to see EU leaders meet and talk about continuing to support Ukraine. That would be the worst case outcome for him.

When America invaded Afghanistan in 2002, the taliban told them "You have the clocks, we have the time". 20 odd years later and the Taliban are back in power and all the US invasion did was waste trillions of dollars and kill hundreds of thousands of people.

That is still a successful outcome for many in Washington beholden to the military industrial complex, but America can't have it's cake and eat it also like Trump wishes. They either spend money to retain their influence on the world, or they don't spend it, and lose that influence.

Seems to be a reoccuring theme with Trump supporters…

Pretty much the entirety of this post is false.

The vast majority of US aid to Ukraine actually stays within the US economy (arms manufacturing), it is not a cash transfer as you have framed it.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the U.S. has poured tens of billions of dollars into the country’s attempt to survive. For many American voters and commentators, Ukraine aid headlines may evoke images of planes delivering palettes of cash to Kyiv, but this isn’t how the system works.

In reality, only a small percentage of the overall aid package takes the form of cash transfers to Kyiv; the vast majority goes right back into the U.S. economy through several federal government mechanisms.

One of the main mechanisms through which the U.S. provides security assistance to Ukraine is the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI)—a funding program led by the Department of Defense. Aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s armed forces, USAI provides funds for training and advising of Ukrainian military personnel, as well as for procurement of weapons. Nearly $32 billion has been allocated to USAI in three years of Russia’s all-out war.

The State Department’s Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program is a similar tool, yet its focus is not only on Ukraine but, rather, U.S. foreign policy goals more broadly. FMF helps American allies like Ukraine buy weapons specifically from U.S. manufacturers, supporting U.S. international interests and its military-industrial complex. FMF funding is not transferred to the recipient and is executed by American government agencies. Congress has allocated roughly $6.3 billion to this program for Ukraine security purposes since 2022. 

The US only accounts for around 43% of total aid to Ukraine.

And lastly, Simon Harris is not Taoiseach

Yeah maybe an element of truth because Trump might very well want 50% of Ukraine but if he presents a bad deal to Ukraine then Zelensky will walk.

The real question is. What are the chances of Drumpf producing a good deal for all involved? Slim is what I'd argue but at least the conversation has been started

Ireland have missed a trick here, we are a western nation, took in a lot of Ukrainian civilians, non-NATO and have historical ties to Russia. One would imagine that our nation could provide a safe space for these meetings to take place. If we had any military left we would also be a good choice for peace keeping one would imagine