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

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Comments

  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 31,241 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    The real shame of this tariff nonsense is how much smaller businesses and niche industries will pay the price.

    Based on some online quarters I frequent, the board game industry is a good example of this. Quite complex international production and shipping, often with long lead in times between orders and deliveries due to the prevalence of crowdfunding campaigns. Some companies face potentially fatal price increases on the back of what's happening with the absurd China tariffs or even the 10% tariff on other countries. And while others have long planned for regional production so will survive, there simply isn't anywhere enough capacity and knowledge for everyone to suddenly pivot to US production, not even factoring in the potentially unviable costs.

    Hard to feel much sympathy for larger corporations in all this, but they're not the only ones that are going to take the hit. Plenty of successful businesses in their own right now face catastrophe through no fault of their own, just the petulance of one man.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,144 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    Can't even do that. Duplo comes from Hungry apparently.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 839 ✭✭✭poop emoji




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 839 ✭✭✭poop emoji


    IMG_5792.jpeg

    Why doesn’t Xi call?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,021 ✭✭✭✭AMKC
    Ms


    Only 1351 more days of this Clown and his admistration to go before they are hopefully gone.

    Live long and Prosper

    Peace and long life.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,305 ✭✭✭Mefistofelino


    I'm a little concerned that there may not be enough face-eating leopards to go around.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 14,038 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    There was a guy on James O'Brien the other day who was launching a Kickstarter for a board game. The company is in the UK, but the game is made in China, and many of the potential backers are in the USA. People like that are in for a world of hurt. The demand in the USA will fall off a cliff.

    Plenty of manufacturing orders were placed with Chinese companies long ago and are going to be shipped on time to get hit by the tariffs. Nobody priced any of this in when placing orders or setting retail prices. And while that's part of the risk of doing business, these costs are beyond any reasonable safety margin.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,958 ✭✭✭indioblack


    This makes Brexit look like a shrewd move.

    [I voted Remain.]



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,237 ✭✭✭aidanodr


    Like i said here recently - any US software / downloadable stuff you want .. maybe now is a good time to buy OR wait for the EURO value to get even better. I seem to remember a time whan €1 was about $1.40 .. will we get there again?

    The euro is above 1.14, trading at its highest level in over three years. The dollar has lost 5.5% of its value against the euro since Liberation Day. That means buying European imports will now cost Americans 15.5% more. 10% for the tariffs and 5.5% due to dollar depreciation.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,109 ✭✭✭✭Discodog


    Watching Karoline Leavitt is like North Korean news.



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  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 97,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    UK exports increased after Brexit. By about the same amount as the pound fell. The importers of UK goods weren't spending more of their own currency. It was a move that depreciated assets like the life savings and homes of UK citizens by 10-15% relative to other countries.

    Devaluing currency can work in economies that export more than they import. See Italy devaluing the Lira back when they were making cheap cars and domestic appliances. For countries that import more it's like shooting yourself in the foot reloading and then shooting yourself in the other foot.

    Protectionism might sound good , but if you don't have a domestic supplier then at best it's a stealth tax which affects the poor more.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭eire4


    Its Orwell's The Ministry of Truth in real life.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 8,781 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sierra Oscar


    The turbulence on the bond market hitting mortgage holders in the US hard.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/11/mortgage-rates-surge-tariffs-bond-market.html

    The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage surged 13 basis points Friday to 7.1%, according to Mortgage News Daily.

    Meanwhile, inflation expected to reach the highest level since 1981.

    On Friday, another monthly report on consumer sentiment came in substantially lower than expected. The expectation for inflation jumped from 5% in March to 6.7% in April, the highest level since 1981.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,008 ✭✭✭RickBlaine


    One of the side effects of Trump's reversal is that it makes his defenders look like total dopes. Before the reversal they were like, "Of course there will be no pause. That is fake news! Why would President Trump pause the greatest economic decision ever made. Only weak democrats would pause tariffs. There will be no pause!" Then after Trump capitulates, the same people are like, "Pausing the tariffs is a stroke of genius and was his plan all along!"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,237 ✭✭✭aidanodr


    Not sure if y'all remember a great game called HALF-LIFE and HALF-LIVE 2 from the 90s. I could see these Overwatch Voice announcements across cities and towns happening in the US soon:



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,008 ✭✭✭RickBlaine


    The Pod Save America podcast had a short montage of clips from right wing media responding to Trump's tariff pause and it is the biggest load of BS propaganda I've ever seen. If Trump took 2 hours to walk 100m, they would all say he is one of America's greatest athletes.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,458 ✭✭✭trashcan


    I know there is no point responding to Trump with logic, but if he can’t stop the war now, how exactly would he have prevented it in the first place ?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 350 ✭✭Qaanaaq


    The Lying by this administration really is off the scale. Its unbelievable. But it just seems its the new normal now and everyone is just anaesthetised to it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,814 ✭✭✭✭briany


    If you take Fox News as an example, it's like a different world if you go back and watch their output from 2008, to pick a year in the 'before time'. OK, yeah, they were still heavily biased towards the Republicans and a mouthpiece for Rupert Murdoch, but at least there was some semblance of civility or reason. John Stewart could sit across from Bill O' Reilly and have a respectful debate.

    What has happened since then is that their audience became radicalised through social media where absolutely anything goes because you can be essentially anonymous, and conspiracy theories became wildly popular. Right wing news media in the states have had to echo the talking points found online because they know that if they don't, the audience will drift over to the first network that does . This is absolutely not helped by having a president who will actively tell his supporters to change the channel if one network particularly displeases him. And the networks do this because they exist solely to garner ratings and profit.

    Do the anchors on those networks believe what they're saying? Probably not. Do they feel guilty? Eh, maybe. But any guilt felt they can drown out with the material pleasures that a massive salary brings.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 483 ✭✭Will_I_Amnt


    They wouldn't need to scrape it. They'd have it stored in JSON or XML or some kind of database. But there are regulations about what they're allowed to do with PPI data and they're undoubtedly breaking those rules



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,512 ✭✭✭PropJoe10


    Just reading about how apparently Trump officials contacted the Chinese to warn them against retaliatory tariffs, but they went ahead anyway. Never thought I'd say it but fair play to the Chinese. I hope they laughed down the phone while they were at it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,275 ✭✭✭✭Leroy42


    And at the end of the article the guy still says he doesn't blame Trump, its those around him.

    TThst encapsulates why Trump remains popular. He can simultaneously be the strongest and greatest leader ever and also completely unable to make any decision himself.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,094 ✭✭✭✭aloyisious




  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 18,074 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    Ars Technica have a good article about the complexity of moving iPhone manufacturing to the US, which apparently the Orange One wants.

    "the idea of an American-made iPhone is impossible at worst and highly expensive at best."



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,907 ✭✭✭✭breezy1985


    No.

    The Fox News audience because radicalised by Fox news. They did adapt or tag on to the rot they created the rot.

    The type of headline/soundbite only mentality that created Twitter is a red top mindset. They were also printing absolutely fake stories about the "woke" GLC back in the 80's.

    It looked better in 0i8 because Murdoch was just easing people in.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,458 ✭✭✭trashcan


    When we look back at the chief villains of the last 50 years Murdoch will be very close to the top of the tree. Evil man.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,140 ✭✭✭✭Strazdas


    Judging by Trump's social media reaction the other day, he genuinely thought he could bully the Chinese into submission and was shocked when they instantly hit back with large tariffs of their own. He has taken on a big opponent here - looks like they are totally up for a battle with him.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 863 ✭✭✭reclose




  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 97,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Apple chartered aircraft to fly in 600 tons of iPhones from India to beat the tariffs. (~1.5 million) They make 20% of them in India.

    It's not that strange as AFAIK iPhones go by air normally so they don't have to wait weeks for cash flow. Apple didn't need to change the process, just get in some extra capacity.

    Any new jobs will be going to India, not USA. Trump's playing 3D chess against masters of transfer pricing.



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  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 97,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/state-report-anti-christian-bias-033535

    The Trump administration has ordered State Department employees to report on any instances of coworkers displaying “anti-Christian bias” as part of its effort to implement a sweeping new executive order on supporting employees of Christian faith working in the federal government.

    “It’s very ‘Handmaid’s Tale’-esque,” one official said.

    There are lots of differences between Christian faiths as anyone who has heard about the 30 Years' War would be aware of. Or to put it another way , "That's the great thing about Catholicism - it's very vague and no-one knows what its really all about." — Father Ted

    Will the witch trials be televised ?



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