President Trump and US politics catchall

[Yeeb]

Odd news this morning re Vance and us Uk deal, hard to take anything they say or do seriously as everything is a ‘deal’ with them and some leverage.
Am sure some of the remainer types on here will say it’s a negative even if an agreement happens that helps Uk and puts eu at a disadvantage…

My gut feel is that Vance Trump just want to pressure the EU with these sort of musings, and in reality there is no likelihood of a uk us deal happening soon. It’s all a game to them & they change their mind daily so a any deal could be scrapped in days anyways.

Remoaner anseo.

But I'd like to think all but the most ideological would favour UK prosperity first, an ex-UK EU second, and preferably both.

Not sure this MAGA crowd can be trusted either. Thwarted on the first mafia stupid plan their next surely must be divide and rule, so any great deal will surely come with strings attached. Stop talking to China, give us this, don't give that etc.

I don't trust the f#ckers, and Brexit has flip all to do with it. Looks like they need to go through their own first.

Quite a few chaps earlier on this thread & others are but but but but tariffs are the same as Brexit end quote.

US has burned goodwill and trust possibly quicker than anyone else in history , even Truss was a short lived blip in comparison. A quite astounding burning of bridges.

[Hal Jordan]

I'm sure Starmer is cooking up a way to bend the knee to show deference to tje Special Relationship.

[dpedin]

Trade with EU is more than double that with the US and we are heavily dependent upon EU for food, etc. I wouldn't trust the US for one minute in any trade deal - remember both Canada and Mexico had a trade deal with the US signed off by ... Trump, which he subsequently reneged on. They are now one of the most untrustworthy partners to do a deal with anywhere in the world. Regardless of how folk voted re Brexit it is clear that any deal with the US that puts our trading, political and military relationships with the EU at risk isn't worth the paper it is written on. I wouldn't cut our nose off to spite our face but on the other hand I wouldn't be agreeing to any deal with the brown shirted moronic shysters in the US Gov at the moment without going through it with a fine tooth comb and then some! I presume any chlorinated chicken/food standards, pharmaceuticals, NHS etc will never be subjected to negotiation?

[Flockwitt]

Yep, have you seen the screaming on social media by the posing MAGA government representatives. They (insert Australia/EU/whoever) ban our great beef!!!"

Ah... who wants your anti-biotic ridden garbage on steroids?

Then there'll be, you are either with us or against us vs. China and forget the deal we made 6 months ago.

This Trump administration puts a new meaning of flip with their flops.

[Tichtheid]

The rise of end times fascism
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor

The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng- ... yY66Ldt3KA

[Raggs]

Yep, have you seen the screaming on social media by the posing MAGA government representatives. They (insert Australia/EU/whoever) ban our great beef!!!"

Ah... who wants your anti-biotic ridden garbage on steroids?

Then there'll be, you are either with us or against us vs. China and forget the deal we made 6 months ago.

This Trump administration puts a new meaning of flip with their flops.

Found the guy who said if China doesn't want their beef, they'll just sell it to India, to be particularly amusing.

[tabascoboy]

Assuming the federal government has the means to pay out again after being hollowed out by Musk and DOGE, another tariff win!

Farmers across the United States say they could face financial ruin – unless there is a huge taxpayer-funded bail out to compensate for losses generated by Donald Trump’s sweeping cuts and chaotic tariffs.

Small- and medium-sized farms were already struggling amid worsening climate shocks and volatile commodities markets, on top of being squeezed by large corporations that dominate the supply chain.

In recent weeks, farmers in Texas and across the midwest have suffered millions of dollars of crop losses due to unprecedented heavy rainfall and flooding.

The climate crisis-fuelled extreme weather is compounded by the US president’s looming trade war and the administration targeting popular federal programs and staff, leaving farmers reeling and resigned to needing another bailout.

[fishfoodie]

Former President Barack Obama is applauding Harvard University's decision to refuse the White House's demands that it change its policies or lose federal money, in his first social media post to criticise the Trump administration since at least Inauguration Day.

President Donald Trump is freezing more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for Harvard because it would not make changes to its hiring, admissions and teaching practices that his administration said were key to fighting antisemitism on campus.

Obama, a Harvard alum, described the freeze as "unlawful and ham-handed".

He called on other institutions to follow Harvard's lead in not conceding to Trump's demands.

"Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect," Obama wrote on social media.

...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0w2656x33o

Obama is of course wrong in this; we should applaud the Traitor & his puppeteers in this, as it provides an incredible opportunity to utterly destroy the US's almost monopoly on R&D, & will lead to a flood of the best & brightest to other, tolerant Countries, that aren't Governed by complete cunts !

It will end in a "Golden Age", for every other Country, while the shit eating morons can wallow in their own stupidity.

[Yeeb]

Former President Barack Obama is applauding Harvard University's decision to refuse the White House's demands that it change its policies or lose federal money, in his first social media post to criticise the Trump administration since at least Inauguration Day.

President Donald Trump is freezing more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for Harvard because it would not make changes to its hiring, admissions and teaching practices that his administration said were key to fighting antisemitism on campus.

Obama, a Harvard alum, described the freeze as "unlawful and ham-handed".

He called on other institutions to follow Harvard's lead in not conceding to Trump's demands.

"Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect," Obama wrote on social media.

...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0w2656x33o

Obama is of course wrong in this; we should applaud the Traitor & his puppeteers in this, as it provides an incredible opportunity to utterly destroy the US's almost monopoly on R&D, & will lead to a flood of the best & brightest to other, tolerant Countries, that aren't Governed by complete cunts !

It will end in a "Golden Age", for every other Country, while the shit eating morons can wallow in their own stupidity.

Not really knowing the r&d industry , I wonder which country would benefit the most if there is a reverse brain drain from USa and Silicon Valley ? Need a science bod like Nolanator to update with where the brains go. My gut feel is that it would be China Uk France Germany Japan (not necessarily in that order). Netherlands, Sweden & Ireland as well perhaps in my field (healthcare) or previous field (food & drink)

Like a lot of multinationals , we do our r&d in UK mostly (and global HQ in London) , and make the stuff in east Europe , Ireland (our pills), Switzerland and the US (with third parties manufactured under licence in India and Thailand). Uk factories (which were old and smaller and in one case couldn’t physically expand any more as was surrounded by motorway and houses) closed for redevelopment into housing or divestment from the business, usual types would solely blame Brexit of course.

[Biffer]

Former President Barack Obama is applauding Harvard University's decision to refuse the White House's demands that it change its policies or lose federal money, in his first social media post to criticise the Trump administration since at least Inauguration Day.

President Donald Trump is freezing more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for Harvard because it would not make changes to its hiring, admissions and teaching practices that his administration said were key to fighting antisemitism on campus.

Obama, a Harvard alum, described the freeze as "unlawful and ham-handed".

He called on other institutions to follow Harvard's lead in not conceding to Trump's demands.

"Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect," Obama wrote on social media.

...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0w2656x33o

Obama is of course wrong in this; we should applaud the Traitor & his puppeteers in this, as it provides an incredible opportunity to utterly destroy the US's almost monopoly on R&D, & will lead to a flood of the best & brightest to other, tolerant Countries, that aren't Governed by complete cunts !

It will end in a "Golden Age", for every other Country, while the shit eating morons can wallow in their own stupidity.

Several European countries are already providing funding to recruit academics from the USA

[Sandstorm]

Former President Barack Obama is applauding Harvard University's decision to refuse the White House's demands ------ were key to fighting antisemitism on campus.

Obama, a Harvard alum, described the freeze as "unlawful and ham-handed".

Love Barrack's turn of phrase.

[Biffer]

Former President Barack Obama is applauding Harvard University's decision to refuse the White House's demands ------ were key to fighting antisemitism on campus.

Obama, a Harvard alum, described the freeze as "unlawful and ham-handed".

Love Barrack's turn of phrase.

It would have been more of a dig if it was ‘a little ham handed’

[tabascoboy]

[Sandstorm]

What a twat he is

[tabascoboy]

Yes please...

The DeSantis Hope Florida scandal looks like real trouble
Where did all the public money go?.

...

Let’s be clear: Under no circumstance would it be appropriate for public money to be spent on political campaigns. But now GOP legislators are saying it may have been more than simply inappropriate; it may have been illegal.

State Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said the money-moving “looks like criminal fraud by some of those involved.” And House Speaker Daniel Perez said the transaction “looks as if it could be illegal.”

Roger Stone, the often hyperbolic ally of Donald Trump, went so far as to predict that both DeSantises and A.G. Uthmeier “are going to prison.”
...

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/0 ... le-column/

[Hal Jordan]

Yes please...

The DeSantis Hope Florida scandal looks like real trouble
Where did all the public money go?.

...

Let’s be clear: Under no circumstance would it be appropriate for public money to be spent on political campaigns. But now GOP legislators are saying it may have been more than simply inappropriate; it may have been illegal.

State Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said the money-moving “looks like criminal fraud by some of those involved.” And House Speaker Daniel Perez said the transaction “looks as if it could be illegal.”

Roger Stone, the often hyperbolic ally of Donald Trump, went so far as to predict that both DeSantises and A.G. Uthmeier “are going to prison.”
...

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/0 ... le-column/

Because stealing money from a charity really held Trump back.

[Niegs]

Yet another tariff hike will ruin many small businesses that rely on Chinese manufactured products, no?

A compilation of reddit stories: https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelabramwe ... mp-tariffs

[sockwithaticket]

Yes please...

The DeSantis Hope Florida scandal looks like real trouble
Where did all the public money go?.

...

Let’s be clear: Under no circumstance would it be appropriate for public money to be spent on political campaigns. But now GOP legislators are saying it may have been more than simply inappropriate; it may have been illegal.

State Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said the money-moving “looks like criminal fraud by some of those involved.” And House Speaker Daniel Perez said the transaction “looks as if it could be illegal.”

Roger Stone, the often hyperbolic ally of Donald Trump, went so far as to predict that both DeSantises and A.G. Uthmeier “are going to prison.”
...

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/0 ... le-column/

Given that his replacement would likely be a Trump zealot, be careful what you wish for...

[Blackmac]

Yet another tariff hike will ruin many small businesses that rely on Chinese manufactured products, no?

A compilation of reddit stories: https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelabramwe ... mp-tariffs

I was reading about one small business owner who had a shipment of $240000 of goods arriving and would be faced with paying an additional $248000 worth of tariffs. She didn't have it so was going to go bust.

[lemonhead]

Yet another tariff hike will ruin many small businesses that rely on Chinese manufactured products, no?

A compilation of reddit stories: https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelabramwe ... mp-tariffs

I was reading about one small business owner who had a shipment of $240000 of goods arriving and would be faced with paying an additional $248000 worth of tariffs. She didn't have it so was going to go bust.

Apparently if they decide not to accept the shipment they have to pay to ship it back as well.

All kinds of fcked.

[Niegs]

Out of interest, what are sensible ways they could reshore manufacturing? Or is it highly unlikely to be profitable any way given the costs of doing business?

[fishfoodie]

Out of interest, what are sensible ways they could reshore manufacturing? Or is it highly unlikely to be profitable any way given the costs of doing business?

Well take one I'm familiar with, Semiconductors.

TSMC have been building & commissioning a Fab in Arizona

Atop a newly completed, 3.5-million-square-foot building that stands on 1,100 acres in the Arizona desert north of Phoenix is a giant logo of a microchip wafer and the letters TSMC.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's first Arizona chip fabrication plant, or fab, is making history because it's the most advanced chip fab on U.S. soil, and Apple has committed to being the site's largest customer.

CNBC first visited the fab in 2021, not long after TSMC broke ground. The company initially announced the plant would cost $12 billion and pump out 5-nanometer chips by the end of 2024. Three years later, that price tag has soared to $20 billion and full production is delayed until 2025.

Instead, the fab is in pilot production, making sample wafers and sending them to customers for verification. TSMC has committed to building two more fabs on the site by the end of the decade, for a total investment of $65 billion.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/13/inside- ... e-us-.html

So they spent a vast amount of money, & setup in an area with established Semiconductor manufacturers, & with Government support & they still ended up late, & massively over budget.

They also had enormous workforce issues, with a lack of sufficient skills & numbers, & TSMC just not being good at transferring technology overseas.

Now keep in mind, once you build that fab, & gotten & trained your workforce, you now need to fill it with Billions of dollars worth of equipment, from across the globe. Several years ago one ASML Scanner cost ~$65 million, that's one piece of equipment !!, now the Tango Traitor has just put a wacking great tariff on that equipment & ASML don't have any competition; if you don't buy from them, & their equipment is strictly on allocation, you don't have a factory !

They might get announcements of money being spent, but unless there's factories lieing empty & magically ready to start operation, they won't see anything significant happening for years

[Flockwitt]

Yep. And when you are establishing factories in a completely artificial economy then what ever you are doing for the US won’t work for the rest of the world. So any global supplier of Americas will need two factories. One for the USA and one for the rest of the world. Bonkers.

Even now if you are a chocolate bar producer in the US with a global market you have to now go and build a factory outside of the US to do business because the incoming tariffs on your raw materials are making you uncompetitive. Rank stupidity. If the Trump admin had any idea of what they were doing they should have put tariff relief for reexport so value add could be done in the US. But they don’t have a clue. None at all.

[Dogbert]

Yep. And when you are establishing factories in a completely artificial economy then what ever you are doing for the US won’t work for the rest of the world. So any global supplier of Americas will need two factories. One for the USA and one for the rest of the world. Bonkers.

Even now if you are a chocolate bar producer in the US with a global market you have to now go and build a factory outside of the US to do business because the incoming tariffs on your raw materials are making you uncompetitive. Rank stupidity. If the Trump admin had any idea of what they were doing they should have put tariff relief for reexport so value add could be done in the US. But they don’t have a clue. None at all.

Who the f**k wants to eat american chocolate though

[Flockwitt]

Yep. And when you are establishing factories in a completely artificial economy then what ever you are doing for the US won’t work for the rest of the world. So any global supplier of Americas will need two factories. One for the USA and one for the rest of the world. Bonkers.

Even now if you are a chocolate bar producer in the US with a global market you have to now go and build a factory outside of the US to do business because the incoming tariffs on your raw materials are making you uncompetitive. Rank stupidity. If the Trump admin had any idea of what they were doing they should have put tariff relief for reexport so value add could be done in the US. But they don’t have a clue. None at all.

Who the f**k wants to eat american chocolate though

YouTube merch bro. Trust me, there are entirely new markets out there that boomer old farts ain’t got the foggiest about.

[Fingal raving]

Yet another tariff hike will ruin many small businesses that rely on Chinese manufactured products, no?

A compilation of reddit stories: https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelabramwe ... mp-tariffs

I was reading about one small business owner who had a shipment of $240000 of goods arriving and would be faced with paying an additional $248000 worth of tariffs. She didn't have it so was going to go bust.

Scott Galloway on his recent pod mentioned he knew one business owner who had $60 million in stock currently on the water from China and to allow the goods to be landed he has to go to the dock with a cheque for $85 million. He didn't want to mention the sector but he did say that much of the stock is already price labelled in China so the importer then has to relabel the stock with post tariff prices. Total mess.

[Uncle fester]

Out of interest, what are sensible ways they could reshore manufacturing? Or is it highly unlikely to be profitable any way given the costs of doing business?

You could try educating your workforce.

[Dogbert]

Yep. And when you are establishing factories in a completely artificial economy then what ever you are doing for the US won’t work for the rest of the world. So any global supplier of Americas will need two factories. One for the USA and one for the rest of the world. Bonkers.

Even now if you are a chocolate bar producer in the US with a global market you have to now go and build a factory outside of the US to do business because the incoming tariffs on your raw materials are making you uncompetitive. Rank stupidity. If the Trump admin had any idea of what they were doing they should have put tariff relief for reexport so value add could be done in the US. But they don’t have a clue. None at all.

Who the f**k wants to eat american chocolate though

YouTube merch bro. Trust me, there are entirely new markets out there that boomer old farts ain’t got the foggiest about.

We've not met , Right?

[fishfoodie]

Out of interest, what are sensible ways they could reshore manufacturing? Or is it highly unlikely to be profitable any way given the costs of doing business?

You could try educating your workforce.

Or maybe make choosing STEM over, say Law an option !

I've a good friend I used to work with; one of the best EE's I worked with, & his wife was a Harvard Law grad, top of her class, but she stayed home & raised their three boys. He said that if he was to give his sons advice, it was to choose Law instead of Engineering, because you'd always have your salary undercut in Engineering by H1B visa kids, & get treated like cattle by your employer.

It wasn't foreign Countries that destroyed American Manufacturing, it was American Corporations, & cooperative GOP administrations, who wanted to pay everyone a pittance, so their Board & Executives could get paid 100x what their employees earned.

[Uncle fester]

We've covered trump wanting to send US citizens to El Salvador?

[Enzedder]

Wanting to? Isn't he doing that now?

[C69]

Wanting to? Isn't he doing that now?

NO

[fishfoodie]

Wanting to? Isn't he doing that now?

No. So far they've just been illegally deporting poor sods who've been previously granted Green cards, or Visas; but now they want to essentially rescind birthright citizenship.

On the plus side, if the SCOTUS don't bitch slap him down, then the likes of Space Karen is now Canada's problem, & maybe Obama in his 3rd term can deport the entire D'umpt clan back to whatever burg they came from ?

[TB63]

To all the pearl clutching , knickers in a twist posters, she's landed. Sailed through customs and none of her 100+ party were asked to open their phones....

[Kiwias]

To all the pearl clutching , knickers in a twist posters, she's landed. Sailed through customs and none of her 100+ party were asked to open their phones....

[Guy Smiley]

To all the pearl clutching , knickers in a twist posters, she's landed. Sailed through customs and none of her 100+ party were asked to open their phones....

Wind your dumb neck in, the concerns wee valid while your complacency over the issue was and is misplaced. She got in ok… great. She’s not out yet, don’t count your chickens.

Fucking weird attitude.

[dpedin]

Wanting to? Isn't he doing that now?

No. So far they've just been illegally deporting poor sods who've been previously granted Green cards, or Visas; but now they want to essentially rescind birthright citizenship.

On the plus side, if the SCOTUS don't bitch slap him down, then the likes of Space Karen is now Canada's problem, & maybe Obama in his 3rd term can deport the entire D'umpt clan back to whatever burg they came from ?

Can I just make it 100% clear that although Tango Turd's mother was Scottish he relinquished any hope of calling Scotland home many, many years ago. We dont want him anywhere near Scotland.

PS When up north golfing last week we stopped in at Trump International for a peek. It looks fantastic but quite quiet on the day we visited.We didnt spend a penny there and my mates had to hold me back from pissing on the 1st tee! They are busy building a 2nd course which should be completed this year. For a money laundering scheme it has at least created some nice golf courses for Scotland once we take them into public ownership on the basis of proceeds from crime after the Unexplained Wealth Order is issued.

[Uncle fester]

So the "leave now" communications to US citizens have started. Just coincidentally happened to be two immigration lawyers getting them.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ci ... rcna201451

[Niegs]

It wasn't foreign Countries that destroyed American Manufacturing, it was American Corporations, & cooperative GOP administrations, who wanted to pay everyone a pittance, so their Board & Executives could get paid 100x what their employees earned.

It feels like things are geared toward growth for the top and hope that riches trickle down no matter who's in charge or where you are.

We're close to a federal election and I keep hearing bros (including mine ) go on about the 'globalist', 'banker' as interim PM as someone who'll 'ruin' Canada. Right, so the conservative "let's deregulate and let the market solve things" guy is going to make lives for us working stiffs better? (And the socialists are predicted to lose official party status.)

[Uncle fester]

https://www.reddit.com/r/law/s/sAxVqbqsUu

Even advocating for Kilmar Garcia could see people getting charged.