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

great bunch of lads!

Haven’t heard him blame Biden in a while…give it time

He need not "invade" Greenland, just fly in more US military forces to the airbase the US has there. Trump and the DOD calling the new bodies on the base in Greenland whatever he/they wants, they won't be there for the defence of Greenland as part of the US Personnel already there as part of the NATO partnership with Denmark. However, he keeps saying he's going to take Greenland into the US as part of US territory for what he claims are national security. I wouldn't expect to be disappointed if he didn't keep his word, just happy if it was just more of his bargaining style "saying one thing to get something else in exchange". I reckon you would have as much trust about his word as the O/P at the treaty table would.

I posted about it a few pages back, he uses a tactic called “Disruptive Bargaining”, he basically has to win in a negotiation, like he would have done when doing business in NY etc. He basically sees a chess match as a coin flip, that is legitimately how he views this, he has to “win”, and in a diplomatic setting that is just not how it works.

Yes. A lack of a LotO is a very serious drawback in US politics. In other two party countries, like the UK, there's an attempt to put forth a case against what a sitting government is doing and saying. In the US there's little the opposing party is interested (or even capable) of doing until an election year it seems.

However, the Republicans have control of everything, as remarkable as that actually seems, and that places the Democrats firmly in the ha'penny place. The media is the only visible battleground that they realistically have and there have been some voices raised about what Trump and his monkeys are doing in their dismantling of the nation. Bernie Sanders has been on numerous times pointing out Trump's truly egregious nonsense, but the trouble with that is that Republican voters, and especially Trump voters, won't watch the channels that the likes of Sanders is on and they've been conditioned to think "communist" (amongst other nonsense) when they see him. So they'll just immediately disregard everything he says, even when he's telling those voters that the people you've voted into power are going to make your lives more difficult by making the cheap imported goods you buy more expensive, that your job is directly under threat and your social security & government assistance is under attack (which affects a large number of the Trump votership).

The Democrats appear to be sitting back for the time being, knowing that there's really nothing that they can do, and letting Trump do his worst in the hope that, eventually, the American public will come to there senses. Outside of the MAGA cult, of course, because that demographic is lost completely to any kind of reality.

Remember this is only the first 40+ days of Trump being in office. Despite all the warnings, I don't think anybody expected this level of sheer damaging and harmful destruction so early in his tenure. So the simple fact is that the Democrats don't know how to respond to this, because it's so unprecedented.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-03/us-manufacturing-activity-nears-stagnation-while-prices-jump?srnd=homepage-americas&embedded-checkout=true

Slow 👏 Bravo Trump

I thought Bush Jnr was bad back in the 00’s (he was) but this is on a different level of crazy for sure.
It is what it is though and looks like he’ll be there for the 4 years unless he dies in office so best we all adapt.

As for the American people -quite simply they’re screwed- many already tolerate his lies-

the economy, prices, jobs, companies folding - none of those will ultimately lie- people will feel it in their pockets.

But would that be enough to get people off their arses and on to the streets? I think learned helplessness will kick in and they may just accept things.

This scaremongering about war and the need to increase US defence etc etc - it’s another way to instill fear into the citizens of the USA-

Trump seized power by creating fear amongst people- that’s how he won this election - he’s going to maintain that fear throughout ensuring a MAGA victory next election - I don’t think we’ve seen nontin yet!

Nobody heard of Lesotho, but apparently they make jeans for Levis and Wrangler and they shipped $237M of garments and textiles to the US last year.

OMG. ROFL

They must be ninja's!

And the Prince is a friend of Prince Harry since Harry was 19.

ROFL

These tariffs are going to be the most likely to hurt him. Americans just can't do with even the slightest of hardship. They've been insulated from wars, given cheap fuel and goods for decades. The inflation of the last few years caused them to turn on Biden (as well as not being intelligent enough to see they were being fed lies from Trump). The price rises due to the tariffs will be exponentially worse. Canadians and Mexicans will suck it up as its a matter of national pride, even Europe will take the pain if needs be but the yanks won't. It will back fire. It remains to be seen if the reaction causes him to change course. Somehow I doubt it.

The Art of the Steal.

it means hello, sounds like they’re going to erase it and start again, aid agencies rushing out, no aid in. Not looking good, best for people to get out if they can.
For a man who doesn’t drink they sure are whiskey sounding posts.

Here lies the reason Greenland could be in big trouble - previous mining attempts for uranium and other minerals caused serious pollution or risk of pollution and it stopped - the country is now being sued for billions of dollars - by a Chinese backed company no less.

This is why Trump has his sights on Greenland - if the lawsuit is successful Trump knows Greenland can’t pay it - so he’ll step in with the money to pay off the debt, in return for owning Greenland - the citizens and the land will be fcked.

“In the Greenland case, ETM, which is partly owned by the Chinese government-backed Shenghe Resources, said it had spent more than $100m developing the site in the expectation it would be allowed to operate it as a mine. Its $11.5bn claim is based on the $7.5bn value of the mine plus $4bn in interest.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/05/greenland-mining-energy-transition-minerals-environmental-laws-uranium-rare-earth-toxic-waste-investor-state-dispute-settlement-isds-aoe

I believe the Greenland focus is mainly about controlling the Northwest Passage sea route which grows in importance as the Arctic Ocean ice melts for more of the year. Canada and Greenland/Denmark are key here. It's a much shorter sea route than having to use the Panama canal. They also want further bases on Greenland to keep an eye on Russia/China who will control the Northern Sea Route (top of Russia).

He’s more concerned with China and Iran that’s where Putin comes in, Ukraine is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Sounds like a case of this https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/05/revealed-how-wall-street-is-making-millions-betting-against-green-laws-isds-aoe