Is President Trump an Idiot? Or does he think we are?

[VitaMan]

Did you hear any of the speech Trump gave this week ?


It was on and on and on about how great he is.

[ICU 812]

He seems to unextend how tariffs work and ow to make them work for the USA.

[txdot-guy]

Originally Posted by Tiny

He's got some intelligent people in his administration. The problem until a couple of days ago at least was that he was listening to the idiots, like Peter Retarrdo. (That Elon Musk's nickname for Peter Navarro, not mine).

I’m sure there are some people in the administration who are rational and educated enough to understand how government, foreign policy, technology and the economy work but with people like Laura Loomer around who have the ability to convince Trump to fire you for not being loyal enough why speak up at all.

Trump is an idiot that rules by fear, and when your employees fear you then they can’t do their jobs properly. This is a big reason our government is in so much turmoil.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by txdot-guy

I’m sure there are some people in the administration who are rational and educated enough to understand how government, foreign policy, technology and the economy work but with people like Laura Loomer around who have the ability to convince Trump to fire you for not being loyal enough why speak up at all.

Trump is an idiot that rules by fear, and when your employees fear you then they can’t do their jobs properly. This is a big reason our government is in so much turmoil.

Laura Loomer, LOL. Yeah, I thought Susie Wiles was supposed to keep the idiots and the nut cases away from Trump. She needs to up her game.

[Schwarzer Ritter]

Originally Posted by VitaMan

Did you hear any of the speech Trump gave this week ?


It was on and on and on about how great he is.

Well, he can't rely on the press to fairly report his accomplishments.

[Tiny]

It looks like Apple is going to get a waiver on tariffs for its parts for cell phones. One of the analysts on a Sunday show this morning cited a study showing companies who contributed disproportionately to Republicans during Trump's first round of tariffs, from 2017 to 2020, were more likely to get waivers. And those who supported Democrats were less likely.

Apple may be able to afford to buy off the U.S. government, but how are smaller companies dependent on Chinese imports going to survive? Who can they pay off? Maybe the customs inspector?

Milton Friedman must be rolling over in his grave. And undoubtedly Rand Paul and Jeff Flake are shaking their heads.

Free markets and the rule of law and sanctity of contracts (and treaties) are a large part of what made the USA the most prosperous large country in the world, by far.

Trump appears intent on making the USA into a Banana Republic, where crony capitalism reigns.

[txdot-guy]

Originally Posted by Tiny

Free markets and the rule of law and sanctity of contracts (and treaties) are a large part of what made the USA the most prosperous large country in the world, by far.

Trump appears intent on making the USA into a Banana Republic, where crony capitalism reigns.

Trump is a shady individual who runs a shady business. Now all those that want the government run like a business are surprised that he runs it in a shady manner.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by txdot-guy

Trump is a shady individual who runs a shady business. Now all those that want the government run like a business are surprised that he runs it in a shady manner.

Running government more like business is not necessarily a bad idea. For example, government could definitely stand to improve efficiency. But running the USA like Trump ran his businesses is not.

He learned a lot lessons that don't work well at the national level. Like low interest rates and walking away from your debt will always serve you well. Or screwing over your vendors, customers and investors is a great way to get ahead.

[Salty Again]

... And yet - we're seeing the Intelligence of Trump - as the
tariffs idea seems to have worked - as over 100 nations ALL
surely want to re-negotiate things. ... Which is a WIN for America!

So, NO - neither President Trump nor the American people are idiots.

#### Salty

[DEAR_JOHN]

Originally Posted by txdot-guy

Trump is a shady individual who runs a shady business. Now all those that want the government run like a business are surprised that he runs it in a shady manner.

But Biden was perfect, and Harris would've picked up from where Biden left off. Check.


We, including the hate Trump clique here, don't have any positive proof who has been running America over the past couple of years. Just remember that everything that can be said against Trump can come right back and find fault with Biden, and his criminal handlers, along with the main stream media.



If Trump is such a piece of shit like the clique here want's readers to believe, then explain his winning by over 2 million popular votes, his landslide electoral vote win, and his being 7-0 in toss up states.


Everything the hate Trump clique posts is against Trump, while they seem to be in denial everything the democrats did during Biden's term.

[Tiny]

Trump said the United States can kick the Chinese's asses in a trade war, because we have a huge trade deficit with China. That puts us in the driver's seat! Well, how are we supposed to manufacture cars or drones or robots or missiles or spacecraft if China shuts us off completely from their rare earth metals and magnets? Did Trump think about that before he started the trade war? Did he make sure we'd have alternate supplies? Well, no. If we invade Canada and Greenland right now, how long is it going to take to replace Chinese supplies?

Exactly who's in the driver's seat Donald?


Excerpts from

China Halts Critical Exports as Trade War Intensifies

China has suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, threatening to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.

Shipments of the magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports while the Chinese government drafts a new regulatory system. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors.

The official crackdown is part of China’s retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs that started on April 2....

If factories in Detroit and elsewhere run out of powerful rare earth magnets, that could prevent them from assembling cars and other products with electric motors that require these magnets....

The so-called heavy rare earth metals covered by the export suspension are used in magnets essential for many kinds of electric motors. These motors are crucial components of electric cars, drones, robots, missiles and spacecraft. Gasoline-powered cars also use electric motors with rare earth magnets for critical tasks like steering.

The metals also go into the chemicals for manufacturing jet engines, lasers, car headlights and certain spark plugs. And these rare metals are vital ingredients in capacitors, which are electrical components of the computer chips that power artificial intelligence servers and smartphones....

In a potential complication, China’s Ministry of Commerce, which issued the new export restrictions jointly with the General Administration of Customs, has barred Chinese companies from having any dealings with an ever-lengthening list of American companies, particularly military contractors....

One American mining leader, James Litinsky, the executive chairman and chief executive of MP Materials, said that rare earth supplies for military contractors were of particular concern.

“Drones and robotics are widely considered the future of warfare, and based on everything we are seeing, the critical inputs for our future supply chain are shut down,” he said...

Rare earth magnets make up a tiny share of China’s overall exports to the United States and elsewhere. So halting shipments causes minimal economic pain in China while holding the potential for big effects in the United States and elsewhere....

Until 2023, China produced 99 percent of the world’s supply of heavy rare earth metals, with a trickle of production coming out of a refinery in Vietnam. But that refinery has been closed for the past year because of a tax dispute, leaving China with a monopoly.

China also produces 90 percent of the world’s nearly 200,000 tons a year of rare earth magnets, which are far more powerful than conventional iron magnets. Japan produces most of the rest and Germany produces a tiny quantity as well, but they depend on China for the raw materials.

China’s Ministry of Commerce did not reply to a request for comment.

The world’s richest deposits of heavy rare earths lie in a small, forested valley on the outskirts of Longnan in the red clay hills of Jiangxi Province in south-central China. And most of China’s refineries and magnet factories are in or near Longnan and Ganzhou, a town about 80 miles away. Mines in the valley ship ore to refineries in Longnan, which remove contaminants and send the rare earths to magnet factories in Ganzhou.

China’s most famous factory for these magnets is operated by the JL Mag Rare-Earth Company, whose headquarters are in Ganzhou.

The factory supplies the world’s top two electric car producers, Tesla and China’s BYD, with the magnets that power their cars, rare earth industry executives said. BYD has said that it buys some of the world’s latest, most powerful magnets from JL Mag, with 15 times the magnetic force per cubic inch of volume as a conventional iron magnet...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/b...s-exports.html

[Texas Contrarian]

In my view, one of the first things Donald needs to do is dial down all the confused messaging and get his cheerleading choir to start singing from the same hymnal, as well as establish some consistency concerning the vicissitudes displayed in his own day-to-day incoherent musings and pronouncements.

One day, Navarro is out there babbling about how we can raise $600-700B/year with all these "big, beautiful" tariffs, while at the same time pushing manufacturing back within US shores. If we do manage to get large swaths of global manufacturing back in the USA, how the hell does anyone think we're going to raise huge sums from taxes on imports? And who would disproportionately pay for all this, anyway? (Lower-income Americans, obviously.) This should be so obviously axiomatic as to not even need mentioning.

Equally ridiculous was Lutnick's recent claim that we could smoothly remove the income tax burden from all Americans earning less than $150K/year by replacing it with tariff revenue. (Sure, Howard!)

Originally Posted by Tiny

Trump said the United States can kick the Chinese's asses in a trade war, because we have a huge trade deficit with China. That puts us in the driver's seat! Well, how are we supposed to manufacture cars or drones or robots or missiles or spacecraft if China shuts us off completely from their rare earth metals and magnets? Did Trump think about that before he started the trade war? Did he make sure we'd have alternate supplies? Well, no. If we invade Canada and Greenland right now, how long is it going to take to replace Chinese supplies?

Exactly who's in the driver's seat Donald?

It's often said that we hold all the high cards here, as the trade imbalance is so large. Maybe, but I'm not so sure.

Consider the game theory study of what's referred to as "escalation dominance." Will Xi give in before Donald?

I'm not so sure. An old Chinese adage holds that it's virtuous to "eat bitterness" in furtherance of a larger goal. Xi doesn't mind subjecting the whole population to poverty and near-starvation, as he obviously demonstrated during his exceptionally severe covid shutdowns. He may paint this as a "war for survival" against the "evil Americans."

Perhaps a comparison to Ho Chi Minh's communist regime isn't totally inapt. Remember, he said that his enemies could kill ten of his men for every single one they lost, and they would give up first. (He had a point there, as is sadly obvious.)

Maybe the MAGA team just needs a new messenger. Lauren Boebert, judging from what I've read, is pretty much an all-in Trump girl. Maybe they could arrange to get some media appearances lined up for her.

After all, it's been reported that she's willing to take a direct, "hands-on" approach when a hard challenge comes her way!

[VitaMan]

Trump's tariff policy has truly become haphazard.


No matter what he does now, the uncertainty about what tariffs, when, how long, etc. etc. are causing
an economic decline.


It did not have to be this way.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Texas Contrarian

Maybe the MAGA team just needs a new messenger. Lauren Boebert, judging from what I've read, is pretty much an all-in Trump girl. Maybe they could arrange to get some media appearances lined up for her.

After all, it's been reported that she's willing to take a direct, "hands-on" approach when a hard challenge comes her way!

That's not a bad idea. Xi would undoubtedly be more receptive if approached by Lauren than Peter Navarro. Navarro's just too damn abrasive, and he probably doesn't give good head. Bessent would be more diplomatic, but who wants a hand job from a middle aged homo.

A friend in Hong Kong agrees with you btw. He notes that China is a proud nation, and suffered mightily under European colonial powers in the 19th century. Trump's approach is not wise. He believes it could actually encourage China to seize Taiwan.

[Texas Contrarian]

Originally Posted by Tiny

A friend in Hong Kong agrees with you btw. He notes that China is a proud nation, and suffered mightily under European colonial powers in the 19th century. Trump's approach is not wise. He believes it could actually encourage China to seize Taiwan.

According to what I've read in a few opinion pieces regarding this issue, I believe there is indeed a growing concern that American failure to expeditiously work out some reasonably favorable set of accommodations with China could greatly increase the risk that Xi might, sooner rather than later, consider the time ripe for a sacking of Taiwan.

This view centers around the notion that if the US alienates trading partners such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and a few others, Xi might cozy up to them with trade and other financial accords designed to help them push back against an aggressive American tariff regime while promising benefits that may push them toward acquiescence of Chinese military adventurism.

On the other hand, it certainly seems to me that deft handing of this issue by the Trump team would significantly ameliorate such risks.