Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Gorsameth]

I don't want to jump right to "the numbers are better then expected/I wanted so they must be fake" but lets just say I would not be surprised in the least if they were faked.

growth went from 2.4% in q4 '24 to -0.5 in q1 '25 and now its up to 3%?

[prwraith]

I don't want to jump right to "the numbers are better then expected/I wanted so they must be fake" but lets just say I would not be surprised in the least if they were faked.

growth went from 2.4% in q4 '24 to -0.5 in q1 '25 and now its up to 3%?

I'm kind of there with you. I'd be happy to be proven wrong and that his policies are good for the economy, but something isn't adding up there. Especially with sources like ADP providing conflicting facts with the white house. ADP is perhaps as scummy as any company, but I doubt they'd risk everything and give fake data

[Breccia]

growth went from 2.4% in q4 '24 to -0.5 in q1 '25 and now its up to 3%?

Last quarter was smashed negative because Trump told everyone "I am going to raise tariffs" and they imported a bunch of stuff early, fucking the trade gap like a $130,000 whore. This quarter very likely saw fewer imports, reversing the trend, since companies were stockpiling on purpose.

The fact that Trump had to intentionally market manipulate and lie just to get 3% for one quarter, when he'd long since said his target was 4%, is pretty bad. The fact that the average is 1.25% is damning indeed. Trump's up-and-down will they/won't they with tariffs do not form a pattern people can work with, and more importantly, those 15%+ will be applied eventually and stay there, intentionally raising taxes on the American consumer and hiking prices with it.

They're not faked. Nobody would fake numbers this poor.

[En Sabah Nur]

Hope I manage to stay alive long enough to see this country get fixed in the decades ahead, 'cos right now its just fucked.

[prwraith]

Hope I manage to stay alive long enough to see this country get fixed in the decades ahead, 'cos right now its just fucked.

Between the brain drain of PhD's jumping ship, us forcing mass emigration, and in general attacking our education system. I think decades is optimistics

[Breccia]

Key US inflation gauge rose last month as Trump's tariffs lifted goods prices

Prices rose 2.6% in June compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from an annual pace of 2.4% in May. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices rose 2.8% in the past year, the same as the previous month, which was revised higher. The figures are above the Fed’s 2% goal.

The uptick in prices helps explain the central bank’s reluctance to cut its key interest rate this week, despite repeated demands from Trump that it do so. On Wednesday, the Fed left its key rate unchanged at 4.3%, and Chair Fed Powell suggested it could take months for the central bank to determine whether the import duties will cause just a one-time rise in prices or a more persistent increase in inflation.

On a monthly basis, prices ticked up 0.3% from May to June, while core prices also rose 0.3%. Both figures are higher than consistent with the 2% target.

The government's measure of gas prices jumped 0.9% from May to June, while grocery costs rose 0.3%. Many longer-lasting goods that are heavily imported saw clear price increases, with furniture prices up 1.3% just last month, appliances up 1.9%, and computers up 1.4%.

Speaking of appliances, Trump just slapped a 50% copper tariff on, well, copper the element, I suppose. Importing copper is apparently a national security risk now.

"It is a very clear and obvious risk to American business interests and therefore a National Security Lol."

Hmm. Did you say that when Trump put a tariff on all copper in his first term?

"Let me just look back and-"

Don't bother, he didn't do that. If it's such a grave national security risk that he's going straight to 50% with no hope of negotiation, copper being a metal and therefore unlikely to sign anything, why didn't Trump do something earlier?

These tariffs continue to be unplanned and random. Trump probably heard someone say the word "copper" and thought he was about to be arrested.

[En Sabah Nur]

Between the brain drain of PhD's jumping ship, us forcing mass emigration, and in general attacking our education system. I think decades is optimistics

The last scrap of my optimism, yup.

[draynay]

Really hitting a new level of regression when you’re trying to reverse the Bronze Age.

[Gorsameth]

Key US inflation gauge rose last month as Trump's tariffs lifted goods prices



Speaking of appliances, Trump just slapped a 50% copper tariff on, well, copper the element, I suppose. Importing copper is apparently a national security risk now.

"It is a very clear and obvious risk to American business interests and therefore a National Security Lol."

Hmm. Did you say that when Trump put a tariff on all copper in his first term?

"Let me just look back and-"

Don't bother, he didn't do that. If it's such a grave national security risk that he's going straight to 50% with no hope of negotiation, copper being a metal and therefore unlikely to sign anything, why didn't Trump do something earlier?

These tariffs continue to be unplanned and random. Trump probably heard someone say the word "copper" and thought he was about to be arrested.

Trump already put a 50% tariff on steel and aluminium, went into effect in June.

I assume heavily taxing important raw materials is going to seriously increase prices all throughout America.

[Mayhem]

Trump already put a 50% tariff on steel and aluminium, went into effect in June.

I assume heavily taxing important raw materials is going to seriously increase prices all throughout America.

American businesses are going to have a pretty hard time competing in the European markets with all these tariffs. lol

[btlcryct]

TACOman strikes again! Delays tariffs with Mexico for 90 days.

https://nypost.com/2025/07/31/us-new...ne-trump-says/

[Edge-]

TACOman strikes again! Delays tariffs with Mexico for 90 days.

https://nypost.com/2025/07/31/us-new...ne-trump-says/

lmao

you get a tariff

just kidding

not kidding

actually just kidding

NEW TARIFF

naw maybe later

even later

NEW ONE AGAIN

not this time either

Donald and Republicans are making America into a global joke.

[Breccia]

TACOman strikes again! Delays tariffs with Mexico for 90 days.

It is impossible to justify this lack of pattern.

"Tariffs are required for national security!"
"Then why delay them?"
"Well he's trying to make a deal to lower them!"
"...so they're not required? Are Mexican tomatoes a threat or not?"
"They're too cheap, we need to keep prices down by raising them!"

[Edge-]

It is impossible to justify this lack of pattern.

"Tariffs are required for national security!"
"Then why delay them?"
"Well he's trying to make a deal to lower them!"
"...so they're not required? Are Mexican tomatoes a threat or not?"
"They're too cheap, we need to keep prices down by raising them!"

it's insane that he's still allowed to just go "national lolsecurity" and enact tariffs willy nilly, to begin with

just absolute chaos and anarchy in the government, which seems to very much be the intention of republicans and the heritage foundation

[btlcryct]

The chaos and anarchy are very much a planned thing. Easier to hide what you're really doing if everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to figure out which way is up.

[Timester]

Is there still any doubt that the Orange Clown suffers from dementia? There is no logic at all, even the fucking Joker would consider all of this too chaotic.

[Bwgmon]

Is there still any doubt that the Orange Clown suffers from dementia? There is no logic at all, even the fucking Joker would consider all of this too chaotic.

The Joker is usually smart enough to stay out of government anyway, even he knows that some things aren't to be fucked with.

[Edge-]

Also just saying...

On Wednesday, Trump said there will be no more delays, posting in all caps that "THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE IS THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE."

Yesterday he said no more delays or extensions.

Today he says 90-day extension.

Is it any surprise nobody believes a word he says or takes him seriously? He's making this nation into a clown college.

[Poopymonster]

The Joker is usually smart enough to stay out of government anyway, even he knows that some things aren't to be fucked with.

I believe this was what you were referencing.

[Edge-]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/0...trump-00484885

The Department of Homeland Security is offering new Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruits signing bonuses of up to $50,000 and student loan forgiveness, as the agency — suddenly flush with cash — seeks to meet President Donald Trump’s goal of hiring 10,000 new ICE agents and deporting a million people a year.

i thought it was unconstitutional to do this?

republicans sued biden like 20 times over his multiple attempts to do this

but now i guess it's constitutional because donald wants to do it?

wonder if any republicans will sue over it this time, since they sure thought it was a gross overreach of executive authority the previous four years

given CBP and ICE have already struggled with hiring people who can read or who aren't also drug/sex traffickers i think their goal of hiring 10K more ICE officers is pretty ambitious, but who knows, maybe those are features for potential hires nowadays