Want to understand what Trump is doing?

Hasnt Croatia government just gone into coalition with the far right. I might be confusing them with elsewhere.

Claremont

J52

I wonder if the US will find that there’s a drop in tourism from the rest of the world? Just a thought.

Would you go in next 4 years? I certainly would not- we planned to finally visit Yellowstone with US friends- but we cancelled and they are joining us on our trip to Croatia and Montenegro instead.

No I wouldn’t. We love Canada and have had great holidays there. We are planning a rail trip around the Eastern Cities, but haven’t booked anything yet. We will wait a while before we do.

Canada and Mexico have said that they are now working together to mitigate the effect on both countries of the tariffs. An interesting development.

MaizieD

President Trudeau gave an excellent speech about the tariffs. It brought a tear to my eye and I have nothing to do with Canada at all😆

Worth watching, I think.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=92rutFiIWAM

... well worth watching MaizieD.

Not least to listen to his calm and measured speech, in contrast to Trump's tub-thumping, and sometimes rambling, rhetoric.

Team Canada!

(I do have Canadian relatives though).

J52

I wonder if the US will find that there’s a drop in tourism from the rest of the world? Just a thought.

We have shelved plans to holiday there (pre Caribbean cruise). I don't want to put a cent into their economy, and will not risk sharing my precious holiday time with MAGA supporters, could be a heated discussion.

...I don't want to put a cent into their economy...

If this sentiment gathers pace universally - it's the ordinary American consumer who will suffer. As always.

Will those 'ordinary folk' who voted for Trump feel let down?

Not if Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has anything to do with it.

During a "Meet the Press" session she acknowledged that Trump's tariffs could raise prices but said the blame would fall on other countries for not following Trump’s demands, rather than the president, encouraging other countries to “get on board and to make sure that they’re not pushing up prices” and claiming “if prices go up, it’s because of other people’s reactions to America’s laws.”

... for not following Trump's demands -

I'd very much like some of Trump's GN supporters to come on here and give their view on this. At the moment, it's a bit of an echo-chamber.

In spite of the Canada - Mexico strategic relationship -

As the opioid epidemic raged in the United States, killing thousands, Congress in 2020 established a commission to look into ways to reduce the flow of the drugs into the country. The commission found that “Canada is not known to be a major source of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids or precursor chemicals to the United States, a conclusion primarily drawn from seizure data,” according to its February 2022 report.

Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted about 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border, compared with almost 9,600 kilograms at the border with Mexico, where cartels mass-produce the drug.

(SOURCE: NY Times) ARTICLE: Trump Calls Canada a Big Player in the Fentanyl Trade. Is It?

Is it? And is this the best way to deal with the 'Fentanyl Trade'?

A North American trade war – foreshadowed by the Canadian and Mexican governments – might then only be harbinger of things to come: significant economic harm, the erosion of trust among trading partners, and increased volatility in global markets.
(THE CONVERSATION The Conversation is a global, nonprofit, independent source of news and views)

- so we might all feel the 'PAIN' that Donald Trump thinks is "WORTH IT" to MAGA.

Galaxy

Hasnt Croatia government just gone into coalition with the far right. I might be confusing them with elsewhere.

Yes, last May the Democratic Union agreed to form a coalition with the right-wing Homeland Movement.

Whilst the world looks on at what the trade war might do to its economy, Musk and cohorts are creating a kleptocracy in the USA.

I'm in Canada and I think the Canadian Government had no choice but to retaliate against Trump. As Justin Trudeau said in his speech ( link above in Dickens post) both countries will suffer because of the tariffs. Justin Trudeau has asked us not to buy US goods and that is already happening.

MaizieD

President Trudeau gave an excellent speech about the tariffs. It brought a tear to my eye and I have nothing to do with Canada at all😆

Worth watching, I think.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=92rutFiIWAM

It was an excellent speech MaizieD. I do hope Canada is in talks with all European countries.

Thank you for posting the Trudeau speech, what a class act, no hysteria, calm but positive. "Vive Le Canada" indeed.

Musk is believed to have accessed the Social Security I formation for every single American.

Now it appears he has accessed classified information. When he was denied access, the top 2 officials were put on leave.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/us/politics/usaid-official-leave-musk.html

There's a paywall up imaround, its in the Guardian

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/02/usaid-officials-put-on-leave-musk-doge

Sorry about that! Thanks for the link.

Also in that article:

Not only is Trump rapidly cutting down on foreign aid, but:

“USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk wrote on X, the social network that he owns. “Time for it to die.” In another post, he referred to the agency in the past tense, saying it “was a viper’s nest of radical left-marxists who hate America”.

Yes - Aid projects.

Reports from today.

Rubio threatened Panama again.
Trump suggested again that Canada become the 51st state.
Trump has decided to cut off all funding to South Africa
Vance threatened Greenland again

The US will never recover from this. Musk has control of the federal computer system and the Treasury. Anyone who stands in his way is physically removed.

Even if this all was stopped tomorrow, the damage already done will take forever to revert.

They are ruling by fear at the moment, I cannot imagine what decent Republicans must be feeling, surely some feel "not in my name".

Where is the opposition.

I can’t imagine his supporters actually voted for some of the consequences of his actions though.

I assume all the states in Europe are being given this informstion by their own civil service and security services and the likely outcomes.

Undoubtedly it will be discussed by them all in Brussels this week. I am trusting that they come up with a good defence plan, both for the trade war and the threatened expansion into Greenland. I would also like to see the collective states (EU and U.K.) offer assistance to Canada.

The ONLY way to deal with a bully is to say NO.

No ifs - you simply can’t get away with this behaviour.

Of course, Mr Trump controls most of the media, so Americans will be told that any rising prices will be the fault of everyone else not doing the right thing .
Sadly, I fear, many will believe this.

The Department of Justice, at the Whitehouse's urging, told Acting Director Driscoll ( appointed by Trump and seen to be extremely conservative) to give them the names of the 1,000 or more agents who worked on J6 cases, and a couple of other cases. Reportedly, Driscoll is resisting and saying "no".

This is a flicker of a democratic resurgence but one to hold on to in theses times.

No, I don’t want to understand what Trump is doing because none of it makes any sense. I’ve stopped torturing myself by reading news about him and focus on of what purpose I can be in my own community. Otherwise I’d go insane.

Chocolatelovinggran

Of course, Mr Trump controls most of the media, so Americans will be told that any rising prices will be the fault of everyone else not doing the right thing .
Sadly, I fear, many will believe this.

...so Americans will be told that any rising prices will be the fault of everyone else not doing the right thing.

That has already been taken care of - Trump is not to be blamed for rising prices, the fault lies with those who refused to accede to his demands.

This is what Kristi Noem said - she is the Homeland Security Secretary - during a "Meet The Press" session.

She acknowledged that Trump's tariffs could raise prices but said the blame would fall on other countries for not following Trump’s demands.

She encouraged other countries to "get on board and to make sure that they’re not pushing up prices" claiming "if prices go up, it’s because of other people’s reactions to America’s laws".

Basically then unless Canada (in this case) accepts this self-absorbed megalomaniac bully's demands - it will be that country's leader's fault that prices rise because - what? - Canadian industry and commerce should just accept and absorb the tariffs and make themselves poorer...

... because Trump demands it?

At the risk of being accused of hysteria I think this is damned-all to do with the so-called 'Fentanyl Trade' and everything to do with Trump attempting to further the Trump-Dynasty and his and its expansionist plans to MAGA. He's riding on the euphoric wave of adulation from his MAGA fanbase and feels he's been raised to a divine rank - a demi-God.

He has said he was saved by God to make America great again. He's on a mission. This is much more than a trade-war.

‘Americans are saying no, no, no’ to Trump's tariffs, senior data reporter says

Short video

edition.cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/video/andrew-mccabe-doj-questioning-fbi-employees-jan-6-trump-related-cases-digvid