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

The US actually domestically mines rare earths but then has to ship them to China to be refined.

Theres probably loads more deposits in the USA but their mentality is very much frontier claim staking, which overlooks the processing phase.

missed donnie vonshitzinpants having a snooze…looks a bit like Homer Simpson…melania looks like she got a wiff of something a bit ripe too…and wearing a fairly bright blue suit and tie…to the Popes funeral??and just on the fashion topic…where did Volodymyr Zelenskyy get the black suit he was wearing? im no into fashion but have to say he looked sharp!!

Commercially China doesn't need US rare earths, it just takes payment for refining for the USA as if it was any other paying customer.

Edit to add tariffs may not apply for processing a material that won't be sold in China.

Not really the same, our constitution says nothing about control of Donegal or territory. Since 1998 the constitution recognises everyone born on the island as being entitled to be part of the Irish Nation.

We don't have anything about the actual government or control of territory in there. In theory you could give Donegal to the UK without any constitutional changes

They take USD of course and then spend it developing trade infrastructure in poor countries that the west neglect.

The rise in the price of cocoa for western consumers at the moment is a good example of Chinese investment cutting out the western middlemen. China took its USD surplus, invested in cocoa processing plants in Ivory Coast and Ghana and then takes payment for the loan in refined cocoa for the Chinese market.

Previously western countries wouldn't lend to these countries whereas China has kept the trade tangible, lending to them to develop their processing which adds enormous value to their exports as refined product can be warehoused longer than raw crop which gives them massive market leverage.

Western media will of course paint this as some form of Chinese exploitation, but in reality it's the type of development that should have happened decades ago, but western companies made their profit in the processing stage so they were never going to fund domestic processing there.

China simply applied US dollars to where they should have gone decades ago.

Article 1 and 5 would surely preclude us from handing Donegal over to the UK, even if they are not directly worded that way. Article 1: The constitution asserts the "inalienable, indefeasible, and sovereign right" of the Irish people to self-determination and Article 5: The state is declared to be "sovereign, independent, and democratic". As Donegal is part of the state and those who live there there are part of "the Irish people", anything that would remove their right to self-determination and to sovereignty and independence (from outside rule) would presumably be unconstitutional.

On the point of Ukraine, it appears to be the case that it would be unconstitutional for Zelensky to 'hand over' Crimea to the Russians. This could only done by amending the constitution (which can only be done by Parliament - they don't hold referendums). Hard to see how this can ever come to pass - the Ukrainian parliament will surely never agree to a constitution that says Crimea belongs to Russia, having been illegally invaded by the Russians in 2014.

Rubio, in a "meet the press" event with MSNBC yesterday, said "that of course, everyone should have their day in court" when asked whether all citizens and non-US citizens on US soil are entitled to due process BUT followed that up with this "But let me tell you, on immigration standing, the laws are very specific,' he added, appearing to realize what he had said about a day in court 'If you're in this country unlawfully, you have no right to be here and you must be removed, that's what the law says.'

This follows on from Trumps statement about how it would take too long to hear each deportation case in court, referring to them as alleged criminals "it would, without exaggeration, take 200 hundred years". SCOTUS has ruled that the deportees must be given the chance to challenge their removal, EDIT; by the Admin under the "Enemy Aliens" act.

If it's as non-existent as his previous (Easter) ceasefire, then no doubt we will see more disinformation about Ukrainian aggression.

That's I meant.

Trump is over 1 month into his war with the Houthi's and now it looks like India and Pakistan could break in to all out conflict.

Using his logic, that's his fault as well.

And of course the war in Ukraine and the genocide in Palestine are continuing.

This from the self-anointed most peaceful President ever.

And what's he doing? Creating unenforceable laws to target specific people with his all delivery drivers must be able to speak english law announced today.

Safe to say this isn't going to be the thing to turn those falling poll numbers around.

Yep. But it's for safety reasons don't you know. Who cares if they have valid drivers licenses for which they had to prove they understood road signs and the rules of the road.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/trump-to-sign-executive-order-mandating-truckers-speak-english

According to a White House document obtained by Breitbart News, the order emphasizes that English proficiency is a "non-negotiable safety requirement" for professional drivers.

The document outlines the necessity for truckers to "read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety officers, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station personnel, and provide and receive feedback and directions in English."

It's literally trying to push America back 100 years.

Such a joke, this coming from a man that hasn't managed to put a coherent sentence together in God knows how long.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-fire-and-fury-smart-genius-obama-774169

It's ok, with the China tariffs, the number of boats arriving from China will drop next month so there will be layoffs of drivers because there will be **** all containers to truck throughout the US.

ICE deports a 4 year old child with cancer, who is a US citizen, no less.

Loss of empathy is a key problem in people with frontotemporal dementia

Can't think of any currently sitting US president that fits to a 'T' … or can I?