Where is/can Donald Trump take US (sic)?

[Darc Knight]

A possible US-Russia Summit on the cards. Be interesting to see how this unfolds. Trump does seem to have a talent for strategy in deal making ...... or screwing people over lol.
Going to be very interesting to watch Trump and Poody go at it.
popcorn.jpeg

 

[basilio]

The entire Western alliance is unravelling. Ramifications for everyone are ???

EU must 'prepare for worst-case scenarios' under Trump, top official warns
Senior officials concerned about the future under a new American doctrine in which there are ‘no friends, only enemies’

Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels

Wed 27 Jun 2018 19.41 BST Last modified on Thu 28 Jun 2018 01.05 BST

Shares
471



The European Council’s president, Donald Tusk, said ‘trans-Atlantic relations are under immense pressure due to the policies of President Trump.’ Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/REX/Shutterstock
Donald Trump has been accused by the European Union of pioneering a new American doctrine in which there are “no friends, only enemies”.

Ahead of what is set to be a stormy Nato summit next week – and with EU leaders gathering in Brussels to discuss a developing transatlantic trade war among other issues – the bloc’s most senior officials expressed deep anxiety about the future.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...case-scenarios-under-trump-top-official-warns

 

[SirRumpole]

Another diplomat resigns over Trump's Europe policies.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-...ad-us-ambassador-to-estonia-to-resign/9927928

 

[basilio]

Are we the baddies ? As we watch Donald Trump destroying Nato, trashing Canada and Mexico., starting trade wars around the world, separating familes into separte detention facililities simply for wanting to escape murderous conditions you have to ask your the question - Are we the baddies ?

Check out the story.
What clip best sums up the Trump era? An old Mitchell and Webb sketch about WW2

Hadley Freeman
Politicians and media figures are starting to let their roots show, and this meme is about them
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/30/trump-era-mitchell-webb-are-we-the-baddies

 

[moXJO]

Are we the baddies ? As we watch Donald Trump destroying Nato, trashing Canada and Mexico., starting trade wars around the world, separating familes into separte detention facililities simply for wanting to escape murderous conditions you have to ask your the question - Are we the baddies ?

Check out the story.
What clip best sums up the Trump era? An old Mitchell and Webb sketch about WW2

Hadley Freeman
Politicians and media figures are starting to let their roots show, and this meme is about them
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/30/trump-era-mitchell-webb-are-we-the-baddies

Really.... thats where the left think we are at?
Next wave Nazism. Possibly the most stupid ploy yet to get trump kicked out by the left.

The same accusations were been thrown around during the bush administration.

 

[basilio]

Next wave Nazism. Possibly the most stupid ploy yet to get trump kicked out by the left.

Give it a break Moxjo. The conversation is "Are we the baddies ?" not "Are we the Nazi's". If you have read the story the point is that through all of our lives we have lived with the certainty that the US was on "right/good" side of world politics. This was regardless of which side of US politics was in power because we believed the overall direction of US relationships with the world was one we thought was generally constructive and honourable.

In 2018 that belief is evaporating like a puddle on a hot day. The decisions to pull out of the Paris CC accord, to destroy the Iran nuclear agreement, to start a world trade war, to trash Canada , Mexico the European allies, the idea of separating familes trying to flee murderous regimes.. How many more examples do you want to see?

In the eyes of many countries and individuals the US is looking like the baddies. How that plays out in terms of diplomacy, economic and political relationships and in fact the stability of the world is a roll of the dice. Let's see what happens in the NATO conference next week.

 

[SirRumpole]

In 2018 that belief is evaporating like a puddle on a hot day. The decisions to pull out of the Paris CC accord, to destroy the Iran nuclear agreement, to start a world trade war, to trash Canada , Mexico the European allies, the idea of separating familes trying to flee murderous regimes.. How many more examples do you want to see?

Some analysis may indicate that TRump has a point in some of those areas, even though his responses may be extreme, ungracious and undiplomatic.

1. Pulling out of the Paris accord. Bad move in my opinion but typical of his agenda.

2. Iran nuclear agreement. We have an unstable anti Western regime developing nuclear weapons. I don't blame him for trying to stop them.

3. The European allies. Europe has been an exclusive trading cartel for decades and if you exclude others for long enough then you can't blame others for retaliating. As for Canada, perhaps they have pretty restrictive tariffs, I don't know. But sure, if you put military alliances at risk then that's a bad outcome.

4. "Separating families fleeing murderous regimes". The bulk of migrants appear to be Mexicans. Are they governed by a murderous regime ? They appear to be basically economic migrants without any "well justified fear of persecution" and can't really be considered genuine refugees.

 

[moXJO]

Give it a break Moxjo. The conversation is "Are we the baddies ?" not "Are we the Nazi's". If you have read the story the point is that through all of our lives we have lived with the certainty that the US was on "right/good" side of world politics. This was regardless of which side of US politics was in power because we believed the overall direction of US relationships with the world was one we thought was generally constructive and honourable.

In 2018 that belief is evaporating like a puddle on a hot day. The decisions to pull out of the Paris CC accord, to destroy the Iran nuclear agreement, to start a world trade war, to trash Canada , Mexico the European allies, the idea of separating familes trying to flee murderous regimes.. How many more examples do you want to see?

In the eyes of many countries and individuals the US is looking like the baddies. How that plays out in terms of diplomacy, economic and political relationships and in fact the stability of the world is a roll of the dice. Let's see what happens in the NATO conference next week.

The whole thing shades it like Trump is the next hitler. He did something similar to what Australia did. Only we are probably worse. We locked people up in detention till they either take a plane ride home, or find another country.But it stopped others floating in.

Labors "give em a hug policy" was morally right until people started flooding the system. Not to mention boats smashing into rocks and taking hundreds. How many ended up in detention.

Dutton and Morrison cleared the numbers out. We still take in refugees at a higher rate, but watch the lefties cry "Hitler" or "Nazi" at Dutton.
I've got leftie "nazi" fatigue to tell you the truth. It's lefty propaganda to rally numbers.

The bad guys are the ones killing their citizens and repressing any freedom of their people. You know, like Syria and Iran.

Most countries are guilty of something. But its not on the US to shoulder all the weight.

 

[Darc Knight]

Intelligence reports suggesting North Korea has increased production of enriched Uranium.

 

[Tink]

 

[Tisme]

The USAs new improved ground missile defence systems and laser weaponed drones are causing the Ruskies and Chinese some heartache. It seems their nuclear payloads might have been money ill spent.

 

[sptrawler]

Looks like Trump has pulled off another blinder, getting NATO to spend more on defense, rather than freeloading on the U.S.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-...es-agree-to-increase-defence-spending/9987810

He certainly seems to be getting more done, than any President in recent history.

 

[McLovin]

Looks like Trump has pulled off another blinder, getting NATO to spend more on defense, rather than freeloading on the U.S.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-...es-agree-to-increase-defence-spending/9987810

He certainly seems to be getting more done, than any President in recent history.

So he says...

Last month it was Little Rocket Man denuking. That seems to have stalled already. Quelle surprise! Even the most basic request the US made is not being followed through on.

SEOUL — North Korean officials did not turn up to a Thursday meeting with the U.S. military about repatriating the remains of the war dead, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation.

...

State Department officials had said that the meeting would likely take place on July 12, though they added that the date could shift.

On Thursday, however, Department of Defense and United Nations Command officials were left waiting in the DMZ’s Joint Security Area. The expected North Korean officials never arrived, according to the official who requested anonymity as he was not permitted to talk publicly about the event.

“We were ready,” the official said. “It just didn’t happen. They didn’t show.”

...

Trump told a crowd of supporters [a week after the Singapore summit] that the remains of 200 Americans “have been sent back.” Military officials later denied that, but told reporters that they expected the remains to arrive within days and had made prearrangements for their arrival, such as storing caskets at the DMZ.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3d3b8a301ca5

And why did they not show?

SEOUL: After failing to show for expected talks with American officials on Thursday, North Korea called for general-level military negotiations to discuss the return of the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War, Yonhap news agency reported.

Citing an unidentified South Korean official, Yonhap reported that the North Koreans want to speak with an American general, possibly as early as Sunday.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...discuss-us-soldiers--remains--yonhap-10524434

No one knows how to stall like the DPRK. Those remains ain't going nowhere until they get something out of it.

The average Trump supporter seems to have a memory shorter than a goldfish, so all he has to do is find a new shiny bauble to dangle in front of them. This month it's NATO.

 

[luutzu]

Looks like Trump has pulled off another blinder, getting NATO to spend more on defense, rather than freeloading on the U.S.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-...es-agree-to-increase-defence-spending/9987810

He certainly seems to be getting more done, than any President in recent history.

He's just representing the Arms Industry. That and pizzing off the few remaining US allies for kicks.

I know the EU is just a few vassal states, but come on, you can't talk to their leadership like that. Dressing them down, calling them freeloaders, forcing them to buy more expensive US/Saudi energy instead of Russian/Iranian ones at 1/3rd the cost.

Asking them to increase military spending, pegging it to GDP. Jesus man, where's the money to pay for that. Gutting social services and other national plans?

And why. Russia is no longer the commies. Their military budget was a mere $70B a year... that's the same amount the US just increased this year on its previous $670B.

If the EU, notably UK, France and Germany doesn't have their own military industrial complex that also demand subsidies, they wouldn't put up with it.

Mearsheimer was saying in some lecture a few years ago that the US is pivoting away from Europe and into Asia - to confront China.

I guess them leaving would put a big dent in the arms merchants annual results. We can't have that now can we... so the push for more EU spending to make up the difference. Those carriers and next-generation nuclear weapons projects aren't going to pay themselves.

 

[sptrawler]

So he says...

Last month it was Little Rocket Man denuking. That seems to have stalled already. Quelle surprise! Even the most basic request the US made is not being followed through on.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3d3b8a301ca5



The average Trump supporter seems to have a memory shorter than a goldfish, so all he has to do is find a new shiny bauble to dangle in front of them. This month it's NATO.

Well from an outsider looking in, it would appear he is making headway, rather than just sitting on his hands and giving a state of the nation talk as his predecessors appeared to do.
But as you know, news in Australia is very selective, in both quality and quantity.

I guess the next election will tell how his support is going.

 

[McLovin]

Well from an outsider looking in, it would appear he is making headway, rather than just sitting on his hands and giving a state of the nation talk as his predecessors appeared to do.

Or maybe his predecessors had a better idea of how state actors operate. The problem for Trump is he is pretty transparent; he luxuriates in being told how amazing he is, and in plain old grandstanding. And honestly, who thinks Russia is going to try and have a go at Germany or Western Europe?

(And that's before you get to the idea of encouraging Germany to increase its military spending, which would have been heresy only a generation ago. History tells you why the US carried the largest burden in Europe, it was because the Europeans have a habit of killing each other and dragging the rest of us into it. Maggie Thatcher and Mitterrand must be rolling over in their graves)

 

[luutzu]

Or maybe his predecessors had a better idea of how state actors operate. The problem for Trump is he is pretty transparent; he luxuriates in being told how amazing he is, and in plain old grandstanding. And honestly, who thinks Russia is going to try and have a go at Germany or Western Europe?

(And that's before you get to the idea of encouraging Germany to increase its military spending, which would have been heresy only a generation ago. History tells you why the US carried the largest burden in Europe, it was because the Europeans have a habit of killing each other and dragging the rest of us into it. Maggie Thatcher and Mitterrand must be rolling over in their graves)

Ey that's a good point.

Telling the Europeans to spend more on their military. Assuming they would never turn it on each other or force the yank to move their bases out.

The hardliners in Japan can't wait 'til he turn up telling them to arms up to forward strike capability.

 

[sptrawler]

Or maybe his predecessors had a better idea of how state actors operate. The problem for Trump is he is pretty transparent; he luxuriates in being told how amazing he is, and in plain old grandstanding. And honestly, who thinks Russia is going to try and have a go at Germany or Western Europe?

I would have thought the biggest problem Trump has, is a huge deficit that they have no way of filling, without selling U.S made product.
At the moment the only people buying U.S military equipment in any quantity, is the U.S.
To get a stalled monetary system moving i.e inflation up, interest up and pay rates up, they have to be able to sell their product, whatever it is.
With the Chinese Yuan linked to the U.S dollar, the U.S can't make their products cheaper by reducing the value of their currency, the Chinese product goes down in line with the U.S product.
It doesn't leave many options, when the trade imbalance is something like $630billion to $130billion China's way.
The U.S wants to put interest rates up, but that makes the U.S product dearer, as the currency appreciates.
Begging everyone to play the game, hasn't worked in the past, the U.S has been begging China to float their currency for years.
I really don't care much either way, it just appears to me that Trump is trying to kick start the U.S economy, it is a big market place that the capitalist system requires as an engine room.
Just my humble opinion, from a limited understanding of the issues.

 

[McLovin]

And hours after Trump said he got them spending more the truth comes out...


https://www.ft.com/content/86fe69d0-85a3-11e8-a29d-73e3d454535d

Later, at an impromptu press conference Mr Trump said: “I told people that I would be very unhappy if they didn’t up their commitments very substantially … and countries are going to start upping their commitments.”

No sooner had Mr Trump departed the summit, however, than some of the other leaders suggested that the alliance had only agreed to “redouble” their efforts to boost spending without making any commitments.

Mr Macron described the meeting as a “moment of truth” about burden sharing, but dismissed suggestions that the allies had agreed to go beyond the 2 per cent goal. “Today we are sticking to our commitments and now we have to deliver,” Mr Macron said.

Ms Merkel acknowledged the need to address the issue, but indicated there had been no additional spending commitment. “We presented the current situation,” she said. “But considering the discussion among the European allies, not only the Americans, I think we need to ask ourselves consistently what more we can do.”

 

[SirRumpole]

Wouldn't surprise me if the Europeans say "right, the US won't defend us any more, our only chance is nuclear weapons, so the Yanks can pi$$ off and we will nuclearise".

Britain and France already have them of course, Germany has the reactors and the means to produce them. Same with Japan if the US leaves them in the lurch as well.

I'd be surprised if there wasn't research going on in the background for this possibility.