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

They're expecting a $90bn shortfall in revenue from tourism this year. Next year that's set to increase as Trump tightens his grip

It reminds me of when I was kid. My older brother would raid the dining room where my mother kept the sweets. He would include me to lessen the inevitable backlash when his gluttony was discovered. He would give me one and he would take two. Naturally I would complain about the unfairness and he would say "you only want more because I have more, if I had the same you would be content". That really stuck with me, as annoying as it was, there is no no moral justification for me to have the same as others if what I have is enough. It's my fallacy and weakness of character aka envy , that leads to my own unhappiness. That is an issue with modern society, a lack of self discipline and total indulgence in envy and vanity etc. you will always be unhappy no matter what you have if you don't have power over yourself.

I was reading that one of the big issues is the reduction in states sales taxes due to shortfall in tourist revenue. Florida will be hit hardest, they have a high number of Canadians who go there for months on end and sales tax amounts to 80% of the States revenue (they have no income tax)

I am finding it hard to understand why Ukraine seems to be going along with the minerals deal or is it a case of trying to keep the US onside and hope they come around? Unfortunately I don't think that will work

It just feels like a slow car crash ATM.

The true effect of the tariffs, drop in tourism figures, mass federal layoffs haven't really been counted yet. Feels like in a few months it's all going to come crashing down.

Its also worth noting the Don Jrs latest squeeze is a director of a wildlife foundation, promoting floridas natural wildlife. Whilst he goes around shooting endangered ducks in Italy and his father removes wildlife protections worldwide. You couldn't make this shít up. The women that surround this administration have zero morals, no interests apart from their own promotion/enrichment. From Leavitt, to Noam, to Green, to Gabbard. The list is long and they are a sick bunch of individuals.

If the Demo’s win the next president election it will take all ofthe 4 years , ATLEAST, to unwind the clock and ofthe voting pop is not happen with the way it does it is there a chance that the GOP will be voted back in again?

World Cup next year, how many will risk travel to the games being held in the US if there's a risk of being detained/deported on arrival?

We could see half empty stadia.

I remember talking to a friend of mine about this. How and when did the whole world become so dependent on one country (and now it seems one person) when it comes to the world economy. This should be lesson learned in for the future to not let one country have so much control over the entire planets finances.

if the dems win they'll be left with a real mess that the dems will get the blame for during their tenure and then the republicans get back in again. trump, if he's still alive, will just blame everything happening on them even though it was all his fault.

Two people killed and six more injured in a shooting incident at Florida State University yesterday.

A white man who was a member of a Charlie Kirk Turning Point Chapter and who was previously kicked out of a College based political discussion group because of his outright far right views.

He was also the son of a Sherriff's Deputy and apparently used her gun in the shooting. This is an outcome of political radicalisation that the administration and its mouthpieces like Charlie Kirk have pushed over the last number of years.

It's also a singular incident involving an incident on college campus, by a radicalised individual that has had more impact than all of the Palestinian support protests at Universities across the country and yet there won't be a single conversation or comment within the current administration about acting to understand it and ensure it won't happen again. And meanwhile, Palestinian supporters are being lifted off the streets and getting emails telling them to self deport.

America is an Authoritarian state, not at risk of becoming one, it is one, right now.

Wow a radicalised MAGA

Given that China declined to respond in kind after Trump's last increase in tariffs on it, it leave's one with little doubt as to why he's going after it's ships and shipping. He wants to provoke China into aping him. Hopefully it will decline and just pull down the shutters on exports to the US. No supplies, no business….

They also suffer an extreme case of 'it could be me one day', it won't but they would like to believe one day that they might become rich & powerful.

Their inheritance tax threshold is something crazy like 5 miliion dollars. Ours is something like 360,000 euros off the top of my head. Shows their mentality.

not as easy a comparison to make as you might think. 360k euros when you have a guarantee of a pension, health care (which has cost you nearly nothing all your life) and all sorts of goodies. Housing is (relative to the US) affordable, so a\ low threshould might work in a small, wealthy country like Ireland. In the US where everything's taxed to a fare-the-well especially real estate profits, where there isn't a government-paid pension and you pay for your own healthcare till you're 65, and that's subject to congressional whims, well, having a high threshold does make some sense. Plus tax thresholds and rates vary by state. And of course, real estate there is far more expensive than in Ireland. Been looking lately, a grungy 1 bedroom/1 bath condo in a prosperous coastal city is around $300k. 2 bedrooms $500k, and really those are low-end numbers, the sky is the limit in the US.