How is this going to end?

Politics & Elections
1

For barely a couple of weeks 45/47 has been disrupting with intent any & all spheres of influence within grasp. Glorifying in it.

Conventions, institutions, allies.
Internal, external, ideological.
Pretty much as he campaigned.

Out of 244.7mil eligible American voters, just 30.6% voted to not give 45 his 47.
Which is, mildly, disconcerting because a fair bloc of those 75mil active dissenters would have voted DEM if the Archangel Gabriel was the GOP candidate. A lot of hearts and minds turned Trumpist over the price of eggs.

It would be fair to say those Better Angels copped a severe mugging and are currently hooked up to a defibrillator in the Emergency Ward.
It would also be fair to say he didn’t actually get much of a mandate, though that’s not the sound bite.

And you know, barring extreme health outcomes, that he’s there for four years dishing out the same disruption. And spite. And pain. And aggravation. And disadvantage. Capriciously. Unrepentant, indeed flourishing on the attention and grift.

Yes, there may be opportunity for the locals for some degree of redress at the mid-terms, assuming you still hold pesky things like elections. And if there are 2028 elections and the 22nd Amendment holds then there will be some other white Christian fundamentalist MAGA on the ballot and they might even lose.
That would be good.

But what do we get?
For the rest of us amongst “The West”, what is a proportionate response to these unwarranted, unappreciated, unpropitious actions delivered with malicious forethought on high rotation?

When the next USA Administration’s representatives and carpetbaggers come knocking:
With “Hahaha, just kidding. Gotcha a beauty.”
Or “Yeah, Sorry about that. Can we just forgive, forget and reset?”

What’s our quid pro quo?
What might represent a suitably symbolic retribution? What might constitute a sovereign time out on the geopolitical naughty step? Some reduced mark of status, some cash restitution, something to laugh at, maybe?

  • Not invite the US to G20 summits for a decade?
  • Rescind the USA veto power in the UN Security Council?
  • Replace the USD as global reserve currency?
  • Fly the US flag at half-mast when US dignitaries visit on diplomatic occasions?
  • Replacing the playing of The Star Spangled Banner with Yakety Sax?

I wonder.

2

Tempted to say keep contacts to official business only, but it might be better to blind with bling and flimflam while not giving away anything substantive

Can’t be done. Could try the Korean War/General Assembly manoeuvre, but how to enforce it nowadays? We’re about to find out what the withdrawal of US funding will do to a whole range of UN and other international functions - and if there’s a new version of Italy/Ethiopia, who knows?

I don’t know how that might play out. Other countries might not welcome being expected to take that function on (in the end, it became a real pain for sterling in the Bretton Woods era).

Satisfyingly teasing, but diplomatically pointless.

3

Recognize that America has become hostis humani generis. Kick out the US from all diplomatic alliances, treaties and military alliances, and reform as a unified power bloc opposing the US. Possibly allying with China, as part of the new America versus the world Cold War we appear to be entering. Arm every nation willing to accept them with nuclear weapons pointed at the US. Emplace nuclear mines in resource areas the US may be tempted to invade to steal.

It won’t stop the US from destroying civilization as its madness plays out, but at least it’ll be put off a while and the world will take us with it.

4

Is there any benefit to consumer boycotts? During the apartheid era a lot of people refused to buy South African produce. I’m not sure if it had much of an effect on the regime, but it certainly made people feel like they were actually doing something.

5

It had a huge effect. Government- and international-level sanctions had a much greater effect in the end, but they only came about through the efforts of orgs that originated in the purely civilian consumer boycott effort, like the UK Anti-Apartheid Movement.

As for the OP, all I can say is “In Fire!”

6

Hasten America’s collapse. Work with America’s enemies to form a coalition just like the Allies did to stop Hitler. Unlike Hitler, I hope this time they start the process sooner.

I think Trudeau had the right idea by targeting tariffs to hurt red states; the more America’s opponents can exploit the internal tensions in the US, the better.

7

I’ve tried, but have been unable to come up with any rationale for the actions of Chump’s team other than to “break/tear down” the federal bureaucracy. That MIGHT be a laudable goal if:
-there was some obvious prevalent deficiency that could not be repaired; an/or
-you had plausible alternative to replace it with.
I’m not seeing either.
The implications are going to be significant both domestic and international.

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.

8

I hope Trump and his allies only get two years to shut down the federal government before midterms provide the congressional majority to impeach. If JD Vance tries to continue Trump’s legacy, then he needs to be impeached also.This is what Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution was created for. If for some reason it doesn’t happen in two years, the American people deserve whatever happens after that. Nobody took these guys seriously, and we’re all going to pay the price.

9

I have a feeling they won’t do much; they all are VERY aware that they’ve either undergone this in the past, or have averted it to a greater or lesser degree in the recent past. They’re mostly all aware of how precarious democracies can be.

I think that depending on how far things go internationally, they may put more guardrails in place for international organizations like NATO, and may start putting more of their own money into things like international security, foreign aid, etc…

In short, the US will suffer reputational damage, but likely not to the point where it’ll be anything too damaging or long lasting. We just won’t be good, old, reliable Uncle Sam; we’ll be bipolar Uncle Sam, who alternates between being internationally cooperative and a good partner, and a hostile, angry acquaintance. But they’ll still trade with us, they’ll still ally with us, etc… just knowing that crazy manic Uncle Sam could pop out at any moment.

10

Best case scenario is the Executive Branch is rendered completely ineffectual through clusterfuckedness. Your opinion on how good that is depends on

  1. How strongly you feel about federalism.
  2. How well Congress & President 2029 can rebuild the government.
11

It could end in economic collapse for the US. Fucking with Canada and Mexico is one thing, but taking on China is a really bad idea. They’re the masters of the long game and have likely been preparing for something like this for decades. Even if Trump backs off, China may decide they’ve had enough of America and decide to go for broke. There is, of course, the possibility of Trump initiating global war rather than admitting defeat.

12

I’m curious if we will ever see a break point where Americans will stop complaining and go outside to try and do something about it.

Protests today for the 50 protests. 50 states, one day seem like they did not have significant attendance. Thousands attend when you’re going to need hundreds of thousands or millions to make impact. A general nationwide strike might draw the billionaire’s attention.

American’s liberty is actually at stake and so far most seem content to just sound off on social media about it.

13

I’m not sure about the House in '28 but the GOP are almost certain to increase the number of seats they have in the Senate. Either way, there is no way there will ever be enough votes in the Senate to convict and remove DJT if the House impeaches.

Polls show that while a majority of voters don’t like Trump personally they approve of the actions he has/is taking so far. The end result of all of this will likely be the collapse of the USA.

14

If that’s the case, then we deserve what we voted for. Nobody would expect anything different.

15

I used to fear it might end in a civil war, but it’s looking more like it’ll be a revolution.

16

My prediction?
We haven’t hit bottom.
We can’t even see bottom.

17

There is a good chance the Dems can retake the House in 26, and last I read that election is better for the Dems in the Senate. If the Dems just retake the House, that will put some brakes on trump. If they retake both- good things.

I didnt vote for trump.

18

That’s two years from now. I presume the Democrats will win. But let’s look at the past: from 2017–2021, Trump tried to break things. Mostly ineffectually, but he did some damage. Biden spent four years repairing that damage, so we entered 2025 not far behind where we were in 2017, in terms of useful and functional government.

He’s breaking things much faster and much more flagrantly now. Assuming we have a Democratic Congress (both houses) in 2027, but a still President Trump or President Vance and the Supreme Court as is or worse, can that two years’ worth of damage be repaired in the next two?

19

Mass death.

I mean, that’s how the last one ended. I remember predicting in 2016 that Trump’s election was so bad that the life expectancy would drop by 2 years… then telling myself that I was being hyperbolic.

Imgur

… but not really.

Oh, also, a depression. There’s that to look forward to as well.

20

Probably not. But it can slow more damage. Even having the current House with the GOp razor thing majority means most of the stuff he does have to be with Executive Orders- and they can and have been challenged. I expect, for example- his Ex order to end birthright citizenship to be rejected by the courts all the way up. (My prediction is that SCOTUS simply says than a Ex order cant do it, leaving open the possibility of a congressional bill- which likely wont pass)