Donald Trump the Megathread part II - Mod Warning updated in OP 12/2/26

walshb · 18-01-2026 11:58AM

Trump is like a villain in Bond movie!!!

threeball · 18-01-2026 12:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158655#Comment_124158655

No one ever wants a bit of pain, even short term, but they ignore the fact that they alternative is much worse.

We need to implement a digital tax on all US companies operating within the EU. Any found to be spreading disinformation would be taxed at a higher rate or banned. X for example bring nothing to the discourse bar promoting nazi ideology and spreading sexual assault material of both children and adults. Its full of bots or posters with fake identities. Musk is actively trying to influence European politics. Both he and his platform have no place.

It would be a Europe wide tax and held in a central European fund to be used for an purpose deemed necessary, up to and including the defence of the continent.

Igotadose · 18-01-2026 12:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158686#Comment_124158686

Nahh. They're usually smart.

brickster69 · 18-01-2026 12:17PM

Sounds very much like Trump has thrown his Kurdish partners and allies ( SDF ) under the bus again in Syria. Looking very bleak now for the minority groups in the near future, especially with Al Jolani's henchmen currently freeing some of the prisons which are home to 20,000 Isis prisoners.

plodder · 18-01-2026 12:18PM

Imagine (the unlikely event) if Ireland were to stand with Denmark and send troops to Greenland, that we would have to overcome an American veto at the UN Security council?

astrofool · 18-01-2026 12:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158549#Comment_124158549

Can kicking, see the right wing Telegraph's take here (they think it's dumb) the US sites (even liberal) are more moderate lest they upset their commander.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/14/supreme-court-us-tariffs-trump-ftse-100-markets/

thamus doku · 18-01-2026 12:23PM

The reality is Europe is at a crossroads.
Europe needs to be able to stand up militarily on its own feet against all potential aggressors including America.
to do that means vastly increased spending on defence and that means vast cuts to welfare budgets.
it’s not an easy political decision but Europe cannot continue its stance of America will protect it, those days are finished.

The harsh reality that all Europeans now face is that while Europe must militarise to defend itself now, who knows what that militarisation means for Europe in the future.
Some say the best defence is to go on the attack.

Nobody saw what America would become 25 years ago , with a powerful economic and militarised Germany at the heart of Europe , who knows what Europe might become over the next 25 years.

kowloon · 18-01-2026 12:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158723#Comment_124158723

The UN is a completely toothless organisation, and that makes it more irrelevant as time passes.

everlast75 · 18-01-2026 12:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158686#Comment_124158686

Dr (doesn't understand the meaning of) No?

Blo-hard?

Francisco ScareyMaga?

FoolsGoldfinger?

plodder · 18-01-2026 12:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158549#Comment_124158549

It's coming this Wednesday according to Reuters

ixoy · 18-01-2026 12:35PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158745#Comment_124158745

The cynic in me wonders if it was delayed because they heard there were a whole load of new tariff threats incoming and wanted to incorporate that.

Igotadose · 18-01-2026 12:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158753#Comment_124158753

Hard to say, if indeed Wednesday happens (thought it would've happened last Wednesday), that decision is done and dusted.

Patser · 18-01-2026 12:41PM

It's gas that Trump is tariffing Denmark for moving troops to It's own territory, that is an issue because Denmark don't have enough troops there.

And interesting to see that in the US thisnissue is almost universally being viewed negatively. Most Americans were just dismissing it as Trump being Trump, but now that its escalating and escalating, they really seem to ge questioning why the Hell he's pushing for Greenland so much, and even a lot of his big online supporters are kind of saying this makes little sense - you still have the Hell Yeah Maga bots saying USA so strong we take what we want, but I feel offline normal people are asking seriously Greenland....

septictank · 18-01-2026 12:45PM

Trump doesn't respect or understand why any laws or rules should apply to the most powerful man in the world.

He has in my opinion a to do list before he quits the job, everyone is letting him away with crazy stuff so why not think big.

Why is the most powerful man in the world not the richest man in the world? he see's these IT wimps with half a Trillion each and it annoys him, he'll fix that.

Why should the most powerful country in the world owe $38 Trillion, lets just wipe that away.

Most of it is owned by US investors about 80% so once he has control of the Fed, just print what he needs and tell them it's there if you need it and will get the usual interest, nothing has changed, you just cant remove it from the FED. Other countries who own debt, well tough, and if you want to see any of it back then play the game his way.

Crazy, but he's crazy enough to try it, who's to stop him.

He's got his Ice army on the US streets, Military command hand picked, budget increased by 50%, and the rest of the world looking at each other to do something.

Throw in Right wing Christianity, Near control of the Media that counts, get his Tec guys to close down any "Anti MAGA" stuff and nearly there.

I know world finance and trade would be up in the air, but with the way he is plays with tariffs, they were a way to test the waters as to how other countries would behave.

The Dollar as the worlds trade currency, if he threatened to go Crypto, even as a bluff, the rest of the world would be begging him to leave the Dollar alone and just suck it up.

This is the chance the 2025 people get to fix things, now or never, who would have thought a year ago that Nato soldiers would be on Greenland to defend against a US takeover, lets hope TACO kicks in.

Seth Brundle · 18-01-2026 12:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158783#Comment_124158783

He has in my opinion a to do list before he quits the job, everyone is letting him away with crazy stuff so why not think big.

I assume that his current campaign is to both distract from the Epstein Files and also because it will likely result in the end of NATO which suits his owner in Moscow

For Forks Sake · 18-01-2026 12:49PM

Assuming no TACO (yeah I know)
Off the top of my head,

Ozempic (Novo Nordisk - Denmark, new site open/opening in Athlone)

Botox (Abvie - 80%+ of the worlds supply is produced in Westport)

Viagra (Pfizer, manufactured in Cork, most of the world supply)

Breast implants (various manufacturers, approx 95% of supply comes from Europe)

So that's Mar-A-Lagos inhabitants f*cked, he'll cave

plodder · 18-01-2026 01:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158753#Comment_124158753

More likely I'd say, that the decision is close and contested. Total speculation on my part but some of the conservative judges could be conflicted by believing in stronger presidential powers, but at same time, are not happy about Trump's abuses of power.

plodder · 18-01-2026 01:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158770#Comment_124158770

Yep, 1% of Democrat voters and 8% of Republican voters think it's a good idea to take military action over Greenland. A tiny minority overall.

aloyisious · 18-01-2026 01:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158209#Comment_124158209

I'd approach the U.S commerce giants about Trump's use of the tariffs card again and remind them the last times he used it was supposedly for the purposes of getting trade deals advantageous to the U.S commerce industry but this time tariffs are nakedly being used to satisfy some imagined whim of Trump's that Greenland has to be seized [in the style of Putin] and possessed by the U.S [Trump] for military strategic purposes.

I'd let them know that Trump's new action will end with the shutters being pulled down on trading between Europe and the U.S which, given how he has years to go in office, will last several years. I'd also tell them Trump has threatened to use their sons and daughters in the U.S military to get his way over seizing Greenland for what he claims are solid commercial reasons., that given the amount of time, exploration and funding to extract the base ores etc from under the ice before the material could even begin the processing routine it goes through every where else on earth for commerce success.

I'd remind them that Trump will be cutting off U.S armaments sales to Europe into the bargain because no one will trust him now, due to his unreliable manner of treating equals around the world, that he has shown himself to be their worst enemy, the one inside the camp. If all else fails to work to protect the world of U.S commerce, they may have to consider removing Trump from the Oval Office and the Presidency.

Ozymandius2011 · 18-01-2026 01:21PM

Now back to something good Trump is doing. He's cracking down on Russian oil.

Why Trump Is Going for Russia’s Oil Industry

swiwi_ · 18-01-2026 01:28PM

Macron channeling his inner Cameron Crowe for the Guardian

aloyisious · 18-01-2026 01:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158549#Comment_124158549

It would be nice to think they were somehow aware of Trump making decisions affecting their grandkids futures and getting worried about it, like somehow they were given a heads-up about his new tariffs not being imposed to help U.S commerce but to punish other countries allied to the U.S in a peace pact with the U.S after Trump decided he is minded to use the U.S Treasury and the U.S Military to seize control of another nations territory.

There's a secondary idea: that he was minded to use the Insurrection Act to get pesky peaceful protestors off the streets because he was offended that the protestors were protesting against him. It'd be nice if that had entered the minds of SCOTUS.

aloyisious · 18-01-2026 01:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158783#Comment_124158783

Hopefully there's a notary public keeping notes of everything Trump is doing and every executive order Trump signs so people in the "delete it" office know exactly what to remove and shred.

Edit: as with ozymandius211 post above and your post, Trump may be minded to think Putin is intent on stopping him ending the Ukraine-Russia war before his term in office is up and that is why he's shutting down foreign oil earnings to Putin. Not because it's good for the U.S but it'd be good for his ego.

briany · 18-01-2026 01:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124158783#Comment_124158783

Trump will not stop wanting to be president of the USA so long as he's alive and somewhat lucid. If there's anything we know about him, it's that he's not the kind of person will step out of the spotlight in a timely and orderly fashion.

Even if the law holds on this, Trump will just seek to be a 'special advisor' in another Republican term. Think of the office that was created for Musk and how people joked that Musk was the real president, giving press conferences standing while Trump sat placidly beside him. Something very much like that, just even more on the nose, like calling the office President Emeritus.

Strazdas · 18-01-2026 01:50PM

Larry Donnelly points out this morning that Trump still has massive support within the MAGA cult (and even outside it). A big problem for the West is that the US itself has largely gone rogue - it's not a case of one power mad megalomaniac and dictator going against the wishes of his people.