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

I heard about that the other day and was surprised it had got no airtime. How can anyone keep working for more than a month with only a Trumpian promise of getting paid ? Well, it seems plenty can't, and have called in sick, leaving fewer and fewer colleagues to handle more and more travellers. Just as well the US isn't planning to host any major international sporting events in the very near future, isn't it ? /s

Good point. I should have googled for info first.

Seeing this published by Trump's favourite tabloid must rankle the man.

A very clever way to drive a wedge were any of the saner western countries considering more full throated support for Trump or naval deployments.

how is it safe to negotiate the mines, pardon my ignorance

@Patrick2010

No need for mines when you can just send a garage assembled warhead on a styrofoam drone powered by a 2 stroke moped engine.

BBC News 5 pm

Trump said ”we have protected you for 40 years and you won’t now give us what we want “

Criticising countries who stood beside you and lost soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan doesn’t seem very grateful.

Imposing tariffs willy nilly and making a mess of the world economy doesn’t seem very friendly either.

You have an Armada in the Middle East. let’s see you use that before you berate every other country and demand that they hand over more young soldiers to face up to the enemy you chose to go to war against.
Have you sought Israeli help ?

Maybe it’s time to go home and stop bombing -

Friendship will endure the personalities involved? Friendships are entirely based on the personalities involved. If one side of the friendship decides not to be friends, then the friendship's over.

Best the UK can hope for is to have better relations with a succeeding administration, but that's not guaranteed to come in, and even if it does, it could only be temporary.

@tarvis

Criticising countries who stood beside you and that lost soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan doesn’t seem very grateful.

Honestly, it would be far more shocking if Trump had said something conciliatory.

CNN's report of the minelaying was refuted by Hegseth a couple of days after they reported it.
Couple that with Dom banging on about the destruction of the entire Iranian navy.
The IRGC no doubt have the ability to lay mines via speedboat, but the Iranian navy itself is, according to the US completely destroyed.

The CNN report.

Reuters report refuting it. https://www.reuters.com/world/no-evidence-iran-has-mined-strait-hormuz-pentagons-hegseth-says-2026-03-13/

There is no reports of mining via the major OSINT channels either and TBH, Iran don't need to do so as of yet IMO.
They can control the strait via threat and stand off weapons at present.

this is like something out of catch 22 the whole thing is completely bonkers the whole administration are nutcases

How Europe should respond to Trump's call to help in Iran....

Your degree is free if your means get you a grant.

And plenty of EU countries provide free third level without the same multinational tax take, so please spare us the US cheering.

On the global standing I wonder how these Us colleges now fair for stem.

Although this might work, if it doesn't, then history will judge it especially harshly. Imagine it said with a black and white newsreel voice,

"….and with the American administration having gone crazy, European leaders agreed among themselves to hang on for dear life, placate dear leader at every turn and hope the whole thing would somehow blow over!"

Really puts the flack Neville Chamberlain got in perspective.

Yes, fully agree.

That was why I said they should not do this at the expense of their own principles, inflicting self harm that way.

As many others commented it would be completely crazy and a disaster for any country in Europe to join in on his/Netanyahu's war.

It may turn out to be impossible to avoid bigger blow ups and punishment from the US in any case.

e.g. he might de-facto pull the US from NATO or at least accelerate a US pull back from the organisation using the excuse that members would not follow his orders re. Iran.

Apparently Trump "is not happy with the UK"

Sounds like unalloyed good news for a change(?)