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

Or come to Ireland instead. Ditch going to that backward country.

More detail from the Irish Times.

The products that won’t be subject to Trump’s new tariffs also include machines used to make semiconductors. That would be important for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which has announced a major new investment in the US as well as other chipmakers.

So he's learned that China won't fold to his tariffs, but he is dependent on China for the equipment to become independent of China.

Chinese smartphone component and assembly companies make the same margin off supplying Chinese brands as they do off foreign owned brands like Apple. Chinese brands can flood the markets with affordable options that don't include google services to protect themselves from any future Huawei type bans.

It's another reason to not invest in the US, get anyway successful like TicktoK and they'll ban you to protect the profitability of their own cash cows.

China are winning this trade war blindfolded

It isn't just Trump and MAGA though. He and it are just the natural path of modern right wing politics. It's been going this way for decades.

But at nearly every juncture, being supportive of right wing political goals and politicians makes you a liar. If you supported Brexit, you had to be a liar. If you supported the Tories, you had to be a liar. If you supported Nigel Farage, you had to be a liar. If you support Israel & what they're doing in Palestine and the surrounding areas, you have to be a liar.

And, of course, anyone supporting Trump has to debase themselves with his and their own lies on a continual basis. It's an absolute pre-requisite.

It's not even the usual bending of truth that goes on in general politicking. It's just shameful, artless, bald faced, lies.

China does nothing, wins.

It's not just the right, though. The left has plenty to be blamed for in the 'rise of the stupid' that is America. Who were the educators?

There is no left in America.

Anyone visiting America now has to register with the federal government if they’re there longer than 30 days, or face deportation and a ban on returning. Leavitt said “if you register, you may have the opportunity to return later, legally.”

Why would anyone want to visit that country at the moment? Vile, cruel, disgusting administration. They are grotesque.

Another thought on the iPhone exemptions is that if you're a smartphone assembly and parts business in China you will prioritise clients whose main markets avoid the USA.

For a start tariff uncertainty could delay collections which block up storage facilities right up the supply line.

Secondly you'll prefer payment in your own currency rather than holding depreciating US credit notes so Chinese smartphone makers will have the edge there.

This last week has been a Berlin wall event in global alignment.

This would be quite the response in fairness

Yes, that would be a clever move. Not allow Trump to cherry pick his way through a trade war.

I get what you mean, but 77m other people voted for him too.

This far right has been very prevalent in the US for a number of years, just bubbling under the surface. Most visitors never see it, NY, DC, California, Vegas, even Orlando are not the places you'll come across it.

Go to almost anywhere inland, places where they call it United States of Merica not United States of America.

Now they have a big loud voice to 'represent' them. What were whispers and said in private settings can be shouted from the rooftops, you can proudly declare all that you are, because those at the top are shouting and screaming it too. It's now socially acceptable to lash out at immigrants, LGBQT+ etc. Really shows their Christian values, huh?

They don't care about the lies, they want someone to 'hear' them. The fact that the someone is only pretending to hear them will become a problem, but it's gonna take another while for that to sink in. It'll probably start with the hangers on, the 'new' converts. Whether it'll rise to the glorious one, is another question. What happens if it does is anyone's guess.

The USA had not been United for a long time, there's 2 very different countries and cultures under that umbrella.

So is he saying he doesn't want electronics manufactured in America? Just cars and clothes?

Exactly what I was about to post. So much for bringing back high tech industry.

I think the day Fox started explaining tariffs was around the time Trump finally understood that Americans pay the tariff. Yes, it was the bond market as well, but the timing matches perfectly for Republicans finally understanding this basic economic concept.