First his protectionist/isolationist policies are putting him outside of the general milieu of nations states.
The USA cannot go it alone, it simply does not have the resources.
His tariff announcement was a complete economic and geo-political game changer.
They brought the USA debt to near collapse, with the realisation that huge bond holders like China could and would exercise their power to bring the USA to its knees.
This has massive implications for Trumps planned big tax cuts next autumn and his ability to fund them through debt.
Trust in the USA has melted away, and very few people will be willing to buy US bonds as a secure bet.
In fact what has happened this week has massive implications for geo-politics in defence, soft power and willingness for countries to cooperate.
Trump has been a disaster for the USA
Whitewavemark2
One thing I think is pretty certain is that China will not back down.
I see on X how they are reporting Vance and his assertion that the Chinese are all peasants.
They are making Vance look pretty stupid.
That could be because Vance is “pretty stupid”
Sparklefizz
Gosh! I thought that was Barron in the photo. His son is the spitting image of Trump as a young man.
God help us- Trump 2.0
Churchview
When I think of Trump, Johnson, Farage or others of their ilk I always hear this in my head....
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Indeed. To all of these feckless creatures this is all just a game!
Churchview
When I think of Trump, Johnson, Farage or others of their ilk I always hear this in my head....
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Yes, that was a great ending for the book wasn’t it? So true of some very wealthy people in the world.
What was his intention in saying that? Stoking the fire? Hoping China would "lose it? and retaliate in some way - as if they were so daft. So childish.
Well instead, a climb down on computer parts and computers.
Churchview
When I think of Trump, Johnson, Farage or others of their ilk I always hear this in my head....
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Good quote!
I am also reading that some of his biggest supporters (money wise) are alarmed at what he is doing. This alongside a number of republicans sounding warnings.
They clearly had not been listening, to what Trump had said he would do over the past few years.
It will be interesting (or not - depending on your point of view😄) to see what musk does.
He has lost billions this last week.
Perhaps he will rejoin the democrats!!
Yes good quote churchview
Silverbrooks
Prophetic as it may sound, Full Fact and Reuters found no evidence that Mary Trump ever said that.
fullfact.org/online/no-evidence-mary-donald-trump-quote/
www.reuters.com/article/world/false-claim-donald-trumps-mother-said-he-would-be-a-disaster-in-politics-idUSKBN21Z29U/
It's very appealing but I'd have been surprised if Mrs Trump Snr had said that about her beloved, spoilt son.
My understanding was that she thought he could do no wrong and the sun shone from his backside.
Silverbrooks
Prophetic as it may sound, Full Fact and Reuters found no evidence that Mary Trump ever said that.
fullfact.org/online/no-evidence-mary-donald-trump-quote/
www.reuters.com/article/world/false-claim-donald-trumps-mother-said-he-would-be-a-disaster-in-politics-idUSKBN21Z29U/
I once posted that mother's alleged statement on Facebook - only it was supposedly made by Boris Johnson's mother about him...
Facebook 'corrected' me (then).
I fear it is just "fake noos".
I remember that Dickens.
👋 by the way!
Liam Halligan
“Trump isn’t bonkers. There’s method in his madness
Imposing global tariffs in order to level the playing field is an entirely justified intention”
I like Liam Halligan and trust his judgement on economics.
More:
“American agricultural exports to the EU have also faced stiff barriers for many years, not only high import taxes but also deeply onerous “non-tariff barriers” – to say nothing of endless propaganda about the dangers of “chlorinated chicken”, which is perfectly safe.
The bien-pensant commentators calling Trump “bonkers” should understand the EU is a protectionist bloc, its notoriously high trade barriers are almost entirely about promoting the interest of large corporations rather than EU consumers.
So if Trump wants to use high tariff barriers temporarily as a way of forcing other nations to do deals which ultimately “level the playing field” with lower barriers – and there is plenty of evidence he does – then that is an entirely justified intention.”
My concern is that Starmer will mess up the chance of a broad free trade deal and try to keep it minimalist in order to pacify the EU.
It may be his intention but its not working, given the climb downs.
FriedGreenTomatoes2
Liam Halligan
“Trump isn’t bonkers. There’s method in his madness
Imposing global tariffs in order to level the playing field is an entirely justified intention”
I like Liam Halligan and trust his judgement on economics.
Quote from Liam Halligan one day ago - not quite what you've quoted....
"The economic tariffs announced this week by U.S. President Donald Trump have sent economic shockwaves around the world- from mayhem within financial markets to reciprocal tariffs from the countries most impacted. But will they help him accomplish his trade goals? Will Americans be financially better off? And are his measures madness or genius?
I'll go for madness.
If Halligan is claiming that he knows exactly what Trump is doing, then he is being less than truthful.
The EU is the U.K. s best bet with regard to future trade snd geo-politics.
We simply can no longer rely on the USAs stability.
What the past week turn out to be was all about the bond market and the horror of that crashing.
It doesn't take much research to find where Liam Halligan stands. When you look at who he writes for, who he supports (Reform) - GB news - this is not your unbiased objective POV. By all means quote him, but know where it's coming from when he's commentating home or abroad.
Her's part of an article that gives a look at recent events in terms of Trumps reputation and craziness.
"Larry Summers, a former treasury secretary, described it as “the biggest self-inflicted wound we’ve put on our economy in history”. Some chief executives who had backed Trump in last year’s election expressed buyer’s remorse as their fortunes sank. Tech giants such as Apple saw their stock prices drop; analysts predicted potential price increases for iPhones by as much as 43%.
In the White House, Trump’s closest advisers were rattled. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, engaged in a highly public and insulting feud with Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro over the impact of tariffs on Tesla, calling Navarro a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks”.
Trump insisted he was right and elite opinion was wrong. As he blithely golfed over the weekend, even as markets crashed and haemorrhaged trillions of dollars,
the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to plea for a strategy that could include improved trade deals with foreign countries.
Republicans were anxious as they heard the complaints of constituents worried about retirement savings. Some spoke out or considered legislation to curb Trump’s tariffs power. Senator Ted Cruz, a staunch Trump supporter, warned: “Tariffs are a tax on consumers, and I’m not a fan of jacking up taxes on American consumers.”
It was a notable break from a party long criticised for a sycophantic, cultish devotion to Trump on all other issues. James Bennet, a columnist for the Economist magazine, told the Guardian’s Politics Weekly America podcast: “There are limits to how far Donald Trump can go and it is conceivable that Republicans could rise up against him."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/13/trump-tariffs-us-economy
FriedGreenTomatoes2
Liam Halligan
“Trump isn’t bonkers. There’s method in his madness
Imposing global tariffs in order to level the playing field is an entirely justified intention”
I like Liam Halligan and trust his judgement on economics.
In this case I think he's wrong.
There was no way he would have ended up levelling any playing field, but I guess it sounds good to his followers.
Apart from making some very poor countries even poorer and driving them into the arms of China, the result will be pushing up prices for poor Americans.
Not only that, but China is dumping its US bonds (it's the second biggest investor globally), which will undermine the value of the US dollar.
I think Halligan supports the economics of Trump in a broad way and is therefore attempting to defend or rationalise the policies, but ignores that its not just a matter of policy, but how you operate them.
I started a thread yesterday and I stand by what I wrote. The results of his isolationist policies and his trade war against the rest of the world are turning the USA into a larger version of North Korea with Trump as the Orange Dear Leader. It means that millions of ordinary Americans will be unable to afford to live. We used to look to the USA as the superpower of the free world but no longer. Another outcome is that the rest of the world is becoming increasingly unstable politically. Even more terrifying is that the Orange Dear Leader has his finger on the nuclear button.
Wyllow3
I think Halligan supports the economics of Trump in a broad way and is therefore attempting to defend or rationalise the policies, but ignores that its not just a matter of policy, but how you operate them.
Halligan is a maverick! He was Dominic Cummings' flatmate when they both lived in Moscow and there's more than a bit of Cummings-think about Halligan. I doubt if he supports any politician. He's just started a substack and it will be interesting to see what he writes when he's not constrained by his editors.
Clothing prices in US could go up by 60% and pharmaceuticals by more than 12%. The BBC have been talking to ordinary Americans out shopping who are really worried by price rises.
FriedGreenTomatoes2
Liam Halligan
“Trump isn’t bonkers. There’s method in his madness
Imposing global tariffs in order to level the playing field is an entirely justified intention”
I like Liam Halligan and trust his judgement on economics.
Ov course you like him. He is telling you what you want to hear. However he really doesn't seem to understand just how trading works, or what tarrifs do, for that matter.
Never mind. Trump is depending on such people and as long he has them he will continue to make the poorest people in poorer countries even poorer, and the poorest in richer countries less able to make ends meet.
Just when did anyone insist the person they bought goods from bought an equal amount of what they had to sell or they would put a tax on those goods when they resold them, making it harder, if not impossible to actually sell?
FGT I think it was PoliticsNerd who poted this video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-1s9AykUyU
I think you might benefit from watching the first 20 minutes or so.
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