Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Rasulis]

Seems like China has correctly identified that there is no point negotiating with someone who changes his mind before you leave the room and they are better of just waiting for the US to implode and businesses to pressure Congress into overruling Trump.

Whether it will be this Congress of the next remains to be seen.

They been cast as the bullying baddy for so long, this is a chance for them to play the victim and improve their tattered relationships with US (former) allies. I don't think they are in any hurry to talk.

[Breccia]

Donald lied again, the US and China aren't speaking.

Huge decline at L.A. port is a hit to truckers—and a stark warning of coming tariff damage

Logistics experts are warning that cargo volumes at U.S. ports are undergoing a precipitous drop. This trend is most apparent in Los Angeles, home to the nation’s busiest port, and one that is first to feel any drop-off from Asian shipping. The drop in container shipping is the latest sign the White House’s trade war is having a real effect on the U.S. economy, and one sizable group of workers is poised to feel the impact first: long-haul truckers.

On Thursday, the founder of a media firm that tracks shipping trends reported that daily volumes this week are equivalent to Thanksgiving and Christmas Day—the two slowest shipping days of the year. The founder, Craig Fuller, also warned truckers to avoid hauling shipments to Los Angeles since they would likely have to “deadhead” back home—the industry term for driving an empty load.

Trucking volumes out of Los Angeles are equivalent to Thanksgiving and close to Christmas.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are typically the lowest volume days of the year.

So, truckers will have less to do and therefore less work. At least they'll all speak English! (eyeroll)

On X, entrepreneur Molson Hart posted shipping route data to show that in the next two weeks, containers will stop arriving in Houston and Chicago, and that the same will happen in New York a week later

Okay, y'all know I don't like to post Some Guy On Twitter. But if they're good enough for Fortune Magazine, they're good enough for me.

Link to the post

The White House has put itself and the country in a bad situation but doesn’t realize it yet.

Around April 10th China to USA trade shut down.

It takes ~30 days for containers to go from China to LA.

45 to Houston by sea, 45 to Chicago by train.

55 to New York by sea.

That means that there are no economic effects of what was done on April 10th until about May 10th.

Around that time (it’s already started to happen) trucking work is going to dry up. Warehouses will start doing layoffs because no labor is needed to unload containers and some products will be out of stock, reducing the need for shipping labor.

All this will start in the Los Angeles area.

After about 2 weeks, it’ll start hitting Chicago and Houston.

Let’s say the White House, after 3 weeks, changes its mind, on May 31st.

“This isn’t working out like we thought it would. Tariffs back to 0.”

Let’s say China says “bygones be bygones, we’ll go back to how things were”.

Let’s say every factory in China that got screwed by their orders being cancelled says the same thing “no problem, we’ll make and ship”.

The problem is, even under the most favorable conditions of China and the factories restarting economic ties as though nothing happened, it will be at least another 30 days before economic activity is revived.

And that’s just in LA.

In Chicago/Houston, you’ll need to wait another 45 days.

New York, at that point, will still be getting containers from before April 10th, they will then have 50 days (May 31 minus April 10) of zero economic activity at the ports, in trucking of Chinese goods, in warehousing.

The whole situation is a bit like lockdowns. Once you shut down, it takes a long time to get economic activity back to where it was, if you ever can.

And again, this assumes, that China and its factories, which make things you can’t buy elsewhere, will start right back up again as though nothing happened, which is unlikely.

It’s almost like we’re speeding towards a brick wall but the driver of the car doesn’t see it yet.

By the time he does, it’ll be too late to hit the brakes.

[Fugus]

At the gym to help my dad and this just happened.

A guy we have known for over 30 years comes here and is a Trumper. My dad was on a leg machine and he was talking to a man on the machine beside us and he was trying to argue with him on how Tarrifs work trying to claim the other nations paid and Canada was charging us 200% or something Tarrifs. I chimed in to tell him that wasn’t how Tarrifs work.

Asked him to describe how he thought they worked. He couldn’t describe it to me and didn’t want me to tell him how it worked, flipped me the bird and told me that I didn’t work so I didn’t know anything about it and walked off to the restrooms, think he left after that.

Didn’t know how they worked, didn’t care to learn and couldn’t admit to any of it. Just pure blind allegiance based on lies….


Edit: last time he tried to talk he brought it up to us directly and tried praising Kennedy for trying to go after vaccines and saying it caused Autism and about how he read they found Human DNA In McDonald’s meats….

Got mad and left when I told him he was wrong then too, didn’t want any explanation on anything nor could he really give one himself that could stand up to scrutiny.

[Rasulis]

That means that there are no economic effects of what was done on April 10th until about May 10th.

I would say early to mid-June is when we would start feeling the impact. Maybe even July. US companies been stockpiling. Warehouses are starting to run out of room.

“Our phones were ringing off the wall like crazy,” he said. “Normally the demand is not big for bonded warehouse space.”

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A bunch companies (GM, Kraft, Electrolux, etc.) have pulled their 2025 forecasts. UPS plans to lay off 20k. The company needs a lot less people with the reduced amount of shippings.

[Edge-]

A bunch companies (GM, Kraft, Electrolux, etc.) have pulled their 2025 forecasts. UPS plans to lay off 20k. The company needs a lot less people with the reduced amount of shippings.

when's donald gonna demand investigations into these companies lmao

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https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1...bution-threats

Trump has used government powers to target more than 100 perceived enemies

Eyup

When Donald Trump campaigned for president, he promised his followers payback.

"I am your retribution," he said in 2023.

It was not just campaign rhetoric.

In the first 100 days of his second term, President Trump has moved aggressively to fulfill his promise of retribution against an extraordinary range of individuals and organizations, targeting political opponents, news organizations, former government officials, universities, international student protesters and law firms.

An NPR review has found that the administration is using a vast array of government powers to launch criminal investigations, sweep people into ICE detention, ban companies from receiving federal contracts, revoke security clearances and fire employees.

Consider just one week in April.

On Wednesday, April 9, Trump ordered criminal probes into two former Trump administration officials, saying one was "guilty of treason" — a crime, Trump has noted, that is punishable by death. That same day, he signed an order targeting a law firm for alleged "election misconduct."

The next day, Thursday, Trump's former personal attorney, who is now the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, announced criminal investigations into the state's Democratic governor and attorney general over immigration policies.

That Friday, his administration sent a series of sweeping demands to Harvard University, including an end to diversity programs, audits to ensure "viewpoint diversity" and bans on certain student groups.

This agenda of retribution has defined the early days of the second Trump administration.

The list of targets now exceeds 100, according to NPR's review, ranging from some of the United States' most prominent Democratic politicians to international students who were unknown to the general public. The FBI's arrest last week of a Wisconsin judge for allegedly obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement has raised additional concerns that the administration may also be targeting members of the judiciary. While discussing the case on Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi described some judges as "deranged" and added "no one is above the law."

Trump has enlisted a wide spectrum of major and minor government agencies in his retaliation campaign. Among those agencies, NPR has found, are the departments of Justice, Defense, Homeland Security, Education, and Health and Human Services, along with the IRS, the General Services Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and even the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

At the same time, Trump has continued to pursue personal lawsuits aimed at imposing financial penalties on companies and news organizations that have angered him.

Some of the president's allies argue that his actions mark the end of what they call the "weaponization" of law enforcement that began under President Joe Biden.

"We now see no political prosecutions, no sham indictments, no fake grand jury proceedings, but instead a way of looking at the Department of Justice in terms of restoration and ensuring that the rule of law will be carried out going forward," said John Lauro, who served as Trump's personal defense lawyer, at an event moderated by the conservative Federalist Society.

Others in Trump's orbit have praised the crackdown — and urged the administration to go further.

"We are approaching 100 days of the new admin and nobody has gone to jail yet," lamented Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has informally advised Trump both during the campaign and in office.

Much more in the reporting, but another great report on the authoritarian bend of this administration and how Donald and Republicans are doing precisely what they've always accused Democrats of without evidence - weaponizing the government against their political opponents.

I'm sure we'll have someone arguing that this is all normal and valid and lawful and Democrats did it first any second, now.

[Rasulis]

The latest Beige Book report.

Mostly flat. Like the market now.

Job opening decreased from 7.5M to 7.2M. Lowest since September 2024. One time dip or sign of what's to come?

[Edge-]

https://www.removepaywall.com/search...ck%2F682573%2F

Atlantic article on Donald Trump.

‘I Run the Country and the World’
Donald Trump believes he’s invincible. But the cracks are beginning to show.

In case you're wondering what kind of tone it will be. One bit in particular stood out to me -

But we’ve both covered Trump long enough to know that his first word is rarely his final one. So at 10:45 on a Saturday morning in late March, we called him on his cellphone. (Don’t ask how we got his number. All we can say is that the White House staff have imperfect control over Trump’s personal communication devices.) The president was at the country club he owns in Bedminster, New Jersey. The number that flashed on his screen was an unfamiliar one, but he answered anyway. “Who’s calling?” he asked.

So apparently it's not terribly difficult to get the private personal number of Donald Trump.

And he picks up the phone no matter who's calling?

And his staff have no idea who he's speaking with.

And to end with -

Near the end of the interview, we asked Trump why, given that he’s now definitively won a second term, he can’t just let go of the claim that he won the 2020 election.

The president told us it would “be easier” for him to just accept our assertion. But he couldn’t. “I’m a very honest person, and I believe it with all my heart,” he said. “And I believe it with fact—you know, more important than heart. I believe it with fact.”

“I’d like to say that that is reality,” Trump said. “Probably I do create some things, but I didn’t create that.”

Never mind that the votes had been counted, the court cases concluded. He was still trying to shift perceptions, make a sale, bend the world to his will.

dementia don needs to go to the retirement home

[Rasulis]

Trump administration dismisses all authors of 2023 National Climate Assessment report. That was the fifth in the series of reports mandated by Congress. There won't be a sixth report.

Considering that we are starting the year with one of the worst wildfire seasons in the US, including regions that are not normally associated with wildfires, this may not be the best move.

[Edge-]

Trump administration dismisses all authors of 2023 National Climate Assessment report. That was the fifth in the series of reports mandated by Congress. There won't be a sixth report.

wait

congress mandated those reports, right?

so doesn't that mean donald is breaking the law by firing the authors and preventing a sixth report from coming out?

also, shocker that republicans are trying to pretend climate change doesn't exist by firing scientists who tell them inconvenient truths

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https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5...eace-security/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday declared he had begun to shutter a Pentagon program meant to advance women’s participation in peace-building and conflict prevention, a law written by GOP lawmakers that President Trump signed in his first term.

“This morning, I proudly ENDED the “Women, Peace & Security” (WPS) program inside the [Defense Department],” Hegseth wrote in a post on X.

He said the program was “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING.”

Hegseth also called WPS a “UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists,” claiming that “troops HATE it.”

NO MORE WOKE WOMEN IN THE MILITARY

Drunk Hegseth says so!

What sissy libified POTUS signed that into law? anyways?

Wait...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday declared he had begun to shutter a Pentagon program meant to advance women’s participation in peace-building and conflict prevention, a law written by GOP lawmakers that President Trump signed in his first term.

Yeah, Hegseth is belligerently drunk this morning.

Nobody hates the policies and legislation of donald trumps first term more than donald trump, apparently.

[NED funded]

We're following breaking news. Commerce Secretary Howard Luttnik, confirming that tariff relief is coming to the auto sector. Luttnik saying that tariff relief will be available to all US built vehicles and cars that are finished in the US and will not be imposed to tariffs. Meanwhile, tariffs will apply to foreign car makers building cars in the US. The manufacturers will get a 15% offset for the value of those vehicles against parts imports, according to Secretary Luttnik. Tariff relief will be phased in over three years to allow automakers to produce supply chains in the US. This is the latest, as we're continuing to track some of the auto tariff exemptions that the industry had been looking for.

The stupidity of these people cannot be understated

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/howa...162430619.html

[Rasulis]

The stupidity of these people cannot be understated

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/howa...162430619.html

I like to add that in 2024, GM imported 750,000 vehicles (not parts) from Mexico into the US. Those cars are subject to 25% tariff. If you need a car, buy now. By June, prices will be up. Probably a lot.

[Edge-]

The stupidity of these people cannot be understated

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/howa...162430619.html

ok they're legit just trying to crash the economy at this point you can't convince me otherwise

these are genuinely the dumbest, most malicious people on earth

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I like to add that in 2024, GM imported 750,000 vehicles (not parts) from Mexico into the US. Those cars are subject to 25% tariff. If you need a car, buy now. By June, prices will be up. Probably a lot.

used market gonna be going fucking bonkers. again.

[Flarelaine]

2. does nobody check their fucking baskets and the charges before checkout or something?

Culture of credit?

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Okay, y'all know I don't like to post Some Guy On Twitter. But if they're good enough for Fortune Magazine, they're good enough for me.
Link to the post

Well, your Some Guy said

It’s almost like we’re speeding towards a brick wall but the driver of the car doesn’t see it yet.

and I have to ask... is it a Tesla on autopilot?

[Edge-]

and I have to ask... is it a Tesla on autopilot?

considering donald isn't able to drive a car (we've never seen it), i think this would be the only real option for him.

[Flarelaine]

dementia don needs to go to the retirement home

Retirement my ass. He needs to go to Florence. The one in Kansas.

[Breccia]

CNN with rampant glee posts 100 objective lies Trump has told in 100 days.

We know a lot of these, like "grocery prices are down" and "we have given Ukraine $350 billion in aid" (it's $135 billion, also known as "the cost of one DOGE").

There are some good ones here which I don't remember covering, however. Seems like good ammunition to have lying around. Basically, since these are objective lies, there's no point in asking Trump supporters to opine on them. They're just flat-out factual falsehoods. Instead, Trump supporters will be accurately quoted as knowing they are lies, and choosing to accept them as lies. Anything else would be disingenuous of them.

[Paranoid Android]

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer meeting Donald Trump on the tarmac and hugging him is icky.

She can't blame this one on an "ambush."

https://bsky.app/profile/artcandee.b.../3lny432bzbs2a

Vid in link

Not even close to Chris Christie welcoming Obama after Hurricane Sandy.

Idk why Democrats embracing this person as everything is normal.

At least she is out of the picture for Presidential nom.

Edit: She appeared at Trump's rally

[Trifle]

So the government has no evidence and wants to argue that the executive branch is above the law and the authority of federal courts. This isn't a foreign policy matter, this is a Constitutional Rights matter.

Don't you know that the US would have created a lasting peace in the middle east by now, if only this student hadn't led a protest?!

[Xath]

I would say early to mid-June is when we would start feeling the impact. Maybe even July. US companies been stockpiling. Warehouses are starting to run out of room.



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A bunch companies (GM, Kraft, Electrolux, etc.) have pulled their 2025 forecasts. UPS plans to lay off 20k. The company needs a lot less people with the reduced amount of shippings.

The stockpiling could theoretically save us if someone can get in the moron's ear and get him to realize that insane tariffs do not work with a global economy. The ironic thing is the economic impact might save us from full on fascism if he wasn't doing this there would be a lot fewer of his undecided voters going wait what.

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https://bsky.app/profile/artcandee.b.../3lny432bzbs2a

Vid in link

Not even close to Chris Christie welcoming Obama after Hurricane Sandy.

Idk why Democrats embracing this person as everything is normal.

At least she is out of the picture for Presidential nom.

She is trying to keep an air force base open I believe but still very ick.

[Edge-]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-f...y?id=121245662

An F/A-18E fighter jet rolled off the side an aircraft carrier and sank to the bottom of the Red Sea, the Navy announced on Monday.

There was one enlisted crew member aboard the jet and a second enlisted crew member inside the tractor when the incident occurred.

Both personnel were able to jump out in time with only one person sustaining a minor injury, according to officials.

In the extraordinary mishap, the $70 million jet was being towed out of the hanger bay of the USS Harry S. Truman when the crew lost control.

"The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard," the Navy wrote in a statement.

"Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway," the service added.

Do we need to bring back the people with pronouns in their signature?

It seems like it, because now multi-million dollar warplanes are falling off aircraft carriers in Pete Hegseth's military.

The carrier was slated to come home last month, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth extended its deployment while ordering another carrier -- the USS Carl Vinson -- to the region to bolster military power.

Because, actually, he did order them to remain deployed so this likely would not have happened otherwise.

I wonder if it's gonna come out of his pay?

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https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/...risdiction-ina

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled today that Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and recent Columbia graduate student, can move forward with his lawsuit claiming the government is unlawfully detaining him for his political views. The court rejected the government’s attempt to shut down Mr. Khalil’s case before it could be heard.

Just how much is this racist, xenophobic, First Amendment-hating administration going to cost US taxpayers when all is said and done?

You know, in addition to the abject cruelty towards others.

The Trump administration has tried to argue that provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act prevent the court from reviewing Mr. Khalil’s First Amendment claims right now. But the court firmly disagreed, concluding “that jurisdiction is not stripped over the Petitioner’s claims that the Secretary of State’s determination and the alleged policy are unconstitutional.” In a previous ruling, the court blocked Mr. Khalil’s deportation in the absence of a court order.

Constitutional Rights trump the Immigration and Nationality Act and this administration is now above the law as they so frequently act like.