Donald Trump the Megathread part II - Mod Warning added to OP 10/1/26

The time has come for Ireland Inc to take its eyes off the US and prioritise it’s sales efforts to the rest of the world - - - the places our lower Ministers visit on March 17.
The US is a lost cause - its greatness is behind it. It is just a part of a continent and there are five continents - 4•5 markets ready to trade.

I have no indepth knowledge about specific companies in this line of work ,however in my opinion its places like this which will be hit hardest if tariffs go-ahead. We could see massive closures of distillers/ brewing companies. If a bottle of whisky was to cost say 50 dollars and a 200% tariff goes on it, noway will consumers buy it. Hopefully this is all bluster by Trump. If not what's coming is a genuinely scary thought for the whole country.

….prioritise it’s sales efforts to the rest of the world - - - the places our lower Ministers visit on March 17.”

Excellent point! Just what have our politicians achieved from these “rest of the world” visits? Now is certainly the time to start asking

Am I the only one that thinks if a foreign country is decent enough to acknowledge St Patricks day that it's no big deal if we send a politician over to help foster a good relationship with them as a thank you for their recognition of our national day?

And almost all of these trips involve meetings with business leaders or politicians to promote trade or investment as well.

Of all the things to complain about, building international relationships and possible trade/investment, or simply acknowledging a gesture of recognizing our national day, are well down the list of problems in regards of the governance of this country for me.

As for politicians complaining about it, they'd be the first ones on the plane if they had the chance, so let's ignore their cries of foul.

They’ve been viewed in the past as junkets - a ministerial perk - they need to move from that to become part of an actual business development strategy for Ireland - politicians who go need to be spearheading clear objectives and achieving those objectives - and in fairness that will do their image no harm so it’s in their interest to take these trips seriously

There are other types of tariffs, like naming rights meaning a cheese sold in the EU can only be called feta if it's made in Greece, so Irish and other producers adapted by simply calling their version "Greek style cheese".

The consumer isn't really affected, however Trump's tariff doctrine really is a daily inflicted punch in the balls for US consumers.

Even before he got reelected cocoa and coffee prices have seen a massive rise in response to Chinese consumer demand.

Irish producers might lose US customers to Trump tariffs but there's pockets of rising consumer demand all over the world.

There's half a billion Spanish speaking potential consumers in the rest of the Americas that can be targeted by Irish food exporters.

English language intransigence can be overcome.

Face to face dealing still better than sending a local language prospectus, although that's exactly how German train makers overtook the British in South America in the 19th century.

The Brits had invested in rail tracks for phosphate mining and had assumed they had those markets tied up.

I guess as NATO members all Trump's threats are bluster until they aren't.

Actually in the early years of NATO the US funded factions to fight the Portuguese in Angola even though Portugal was a NATO member.

honestly I see an outright us civil war happening before an invasion of Canada and Greenland.

In Trump's mind a tariff is a stone that he uses to throw at people he doesn't like.

I'm convinced that he, either, A. hasn't a clue what genuine uses they can be employed for or B. is deliberately trying to tank the US economy so the likes of him and the people on his particular echelon of the American social strata can then buy up more & more at knock down prices when the inevitable downturn/crash happens.

Both scenarios are undesirable and make him a very dangerous person to have in control of a nation's purse strings, as far as ordinary people are concerned.

The Spanish spoken in South America varies wildly, to the point that someone in Uruguay would struggle to understand someone in regions of Agentina, Chile or Peru.

So unfortunately Myanmar is in a terrible state following their Earthquake and have been seeking international assistance.

A place with lots of oil & gas - high-quality jade and rubies - deposits of gold, silver, tin, tungsten, zinc, lead, and copper.

Expect Trump to offer assistance any hour now.

Republicans have been obsessed with the teachings of Alexander Hamilton since beginning of 20th century. They see his view of economic policy the only view.

We have to remember Hoover used tariffs too which made the Great Depression far far worse. They don't care though. It's all about all the money going to very top.

If budget surplus or lowering the debt meant anything then Bill Clinton would be hailed a hero by Republicans, instead he and his wife have been public enemy #1 since he announced his candidacy. Hillary was told back in 1990 by Bush Sr team the Republicans would do everything in their power to destroy them both if Bill ran for President..