The Donald Trump Presidency Thread After Hours

[Franco Pinion]

This sounds pretty ominous : Vance not using the word 'annexation' but not exactly denying it either.

 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1905690882281738508

Wait till the quiet man, Mr Xi Jinping starts getting annoyed with Taiwan and attacks. Who will stand up to him? Our world is beginning to be divided by three demons and there seems no one can stop the march. Democracy is looking shaky.

 

[Bandit]

I see Trump is now claiming in a CNN interview there is a method that would allow him a third term, and that he isn't joking.
When asked if he meant running as vice president and the elected president standing down, in effect finding a way around the 12th amendment, he said there was that but other ways as well, without specifying what they were.

I wonder if one idea would be for him to stand for election to the House of Representatives and assuming the republicans controlled the House, get himself elected as speaker, then both the president and vice president stand down, leaving him to assume the presidency. This does, however have a lot of ifs in it, so no guarantee this plan would succeed.

Another idea is to circumvent the 12th amendment rules on standing for election as vice president by having the elected president stand down then on assuming the presidency the former vice president selects Trump as his VP and then stands down.

 

[Tom]

I see Trump is now claiming in a CNN interview there is a method that would allow him a third term, and that he isn't joking.
When asked if he meant running as vice president and the elected president standing down, in effect finding a way around the 12th amendment, he said there was that but other ways as well, without specifying what they were.

I wonder if one idea would be for him to stand for election to the House of Representatives and assuming the republicans controlled the House, get himself elected as speaker, then both the president and vice president stand down, leaving him to assume the presidency. This does, however have a lot of ifs in it, so no guarantee this plan would succeed.

Another idea is to circumvent the 12th amendment rules on standing for election as vice president by having the elected president stand down then on assuming the presidency the former vice president selects Trump as his VP and then stands down.

There is no need for him to do anything so creative. He will just stand if he wants. That, or simply declare himself dictator President for life. The groundwork has been done with the courts and separation of powers etc.

 

[Franco Pinion]

The US is bringing in sweeping new tariffs on goods from around the world. Here are the key points:

A 10% baseline rate

A minimum 10% tariff will apply to most countries, including the UK, Australia, Argentina and Saudi Arabia. It's set to start on 5 April.

Country-specific rates

Roughly 60 countries the US sees as the "worst offenders" will face specific "reciprocal" tariffs. The US says these were calculated using a formula based on what it sees as unfair trade practices. These come into effect on 9 April. Examples include:

• European Union: 20%
• China: 54%
• Japan: 24%

No new tariffs for Canada and Mexico

The White House says it will deal with both countries through an already announced framework, which includes 25% tariffs with some exceptions.

Cars to get 25% tariffs

A 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars was also put in place and came into effect at midnight on 3 April.

Other specified products - such as steel and aluminium - will retain tariff rates already set.

Chaos incoming

 

[Sophie]

Chaos incoming

Does this mean everything will be more expensive?

 

[Gemma]

Does this mean everything will be more expensive?

Probably. I don't think Trump even knows what tariffs are. I think somewhere down the line, it will have something to do with trying to make the rich richer. But yeah, he doesn't have a clue.

 

[Tom]

I know tariff policy isn't going to sway the average American pre-election but a part of me thinks the US market is simply getting what it deserves as his views on tariffs weren't unknown, and he would even brag about it.

It really is quite astonishing that he thought this would be a good tactic. I thought he might use the tariff talk to try and bully a few countries into getting what he wanted (similar to what he tried with Mexico and Canada), but to effectively take this globally again, pretty much every country is insane. Any decent A-level Economics student would tell you this is crazy.

 

[Sad Professor]

At the moment, I think it's the worst single economic policy decision of any US President since the tariffs which exacerbated the Great Depression.

Even Ronald Reagan said:

You see, at first, when someone says, "Let's impose tariffs on foreign imports,'' it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works -- but only for a short time. What eventually occurs is: First, homegrown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets. And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition. So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs. The memory of all this occurring back in the thirties made me determined when I came to Washington to spare the American people the protectionist legislation that destroys prosperity.

The trouble is, Trump's tariffs are not just about other countries tariffs. It's about a combination of things including the trade deficit plus other so called "restrictions". No government can change the trade deficit overnight even if they wanted to.

And it's got nothing to do with fairness or injustice. No one forces Americans to buy products imported from other countries. And most Americans believe in a free market, as that is supposed to keep consumer goods prices low.

And trade deficits are a worldwide issue that will exist as long as there are countries or regions where there is a significant difference in living standards and other factors in the cost of production.

Putting large tariffs on the imports from poorer countries will not help the people in those countries to increase their own living standards. Meanwhile, as a country that imposes tariffs on imports, you are driving up the cost of living and hence driving down the standard of living for your own population.

 

[Franco Pinion]

At the moment, I think it's the worst single economic policy decision of any US President since the tariffs which exacerbated the Great Depression.

Even Ronald Reagan said:



The trouble is, Trump's tariffs are not just about other countries tariffs. It's about a combination of things including the trade deficit plus other so called "restrictions". No government can change the trade deficit overnight even if they wanted to.

And it's got nothing to do with fairness or injustice. No one forces Americans to buy products imported from other countries. And most Americans believe in a free market, as that is supposed to keep consumer goods prices low.

And trade deficits are a worldwide issue that will exist as long as there are countries or regions where there is a significant difference in living standards and other factors in the cost of production.

Putting large tariffs on the imports from poorer countries will not help the people in those countries to increase their own living standards. Meanwhile, as a country that imposes tariffs on imports, you are driving up the cost of living and hence driving down the standard of living for your own population.

I don't disagree. This is Trump though; he makes it up as he goes and will claim "victory" regardless (unless things become so bad even he can't bluster his way through).

 

[Scotty G]

At the moment, I think it's the worst single economic policy decision of any US President since the tariffs which exacerbated the Great Depression.

Even Ronald Reagan said:



The trouble is, Trump's tariffs are not just about other countries tariffs. It's about a combination of things including the trade deficit plus other so called "restrictions". No government can change the trade deficit overnight even if they wanted to.

And it's got nothing to do with fairness or injustice. No one forces Americans to buy products imported from other countries. And most Americans believe in a free market, as that is supposed to keep consumer goods prices low.

And trade deficits are a worldwide issue that will exist as long as there are countries or regions where there is a significant difference in living standards and other factors in the cost of production.

Putting large tariffs on the imports from poorer countries will not help the people in those countries to increase their own living standards. Meanwhile, as a country that imposes tariffs on imports, you are driving up the cost of living and hence driving down the standard of living for your own population.

I just wonder how stubborn he actually is. I suspect he will eventually backtrack but try and portray it as a win but I'm not sure how he could pull that off.

I asked a friend who supports Trump (not a US citizen) and he says it's just the media/people overreacting because it's Trump