The new president of Mexico says he’s full of shit.
Please, PLEASE other leaders; PLEASE publicly call out his lies and shit whenever he spews them.
Unfortunately, the MAGA nation will not hear about that. They just know that Trump has closed the border before he was even in office! Trump said so, it must be true.
Nevertheless, I hope his lying ass gets continually called out by the world.
Np, they do have a way to stop him, the same way it’s happened before, during the first term, which will now seem almost benign compared to Trump 2.0. They just have to point out that despite his stunning genius – or perhaps because of it, because of a brain so big that it can’t be bothered with little details – that his proposed actions would have devastating effects that would cause his acolytes to admire him less, so he could no longer bask in their adulation.
That was how they prevented him from literally having Hillary Clinton arrested, firing Tony Fauci, or sending nukes to obliterate “little rocket man Kim Jong-un” (before he became infatuated with his dictatorial power).
Trump is very much like the child in It’s a Good Life, if that child wanted to set off a stick of dynamite in Mommy and Daddy’s house because it would be fun, and has to be gently talked out of it.
He didn’t make any kind of a “deal”. She explained to him in small words that Mexico was already doing all the stuff he claimed he wanted done, so he just declared victory, as he always does.
This is what most likely happened.
Trump made similar noise (OK, not 25% tariffs, but he was screaming about bad trade deals with Canada and Mexico back in Trump 1.0) the first term. They placated him with the MCUSA deal, which was a minor tweak to NAFTA. He got to declare victory, and the reality of our situation with Canada and Mexico didn’t materially change.
That’s what I expect this time. He’s threatening 25% tariffs, which are of course ridiculous. Canada, Mexico, and US authorities will work out some minor tweaks to the existing trade deals, and border enforcement. He’ll get to pretend he did something big. Some small tariffs might remain in place, and I would expect a small retaliation from Mexico and Canada.
The issue that won’t go away is China. Trump was unable to deal with them effectively in Trump 1.0. And I expect more nonsense from him in Trump 2.0.
Biden’s administration has actually done some things to hurt China’s chip industry. It’s been very targeted. He’s also worked well with Mexico and Central America on the border, and he’s done some things with China to help with the fentanyl crisis. He’s handing Trump a better situation than what he inherited from Trump, but no one cares.
To our friends up North of the border, I apologize on behalf of the American voters. We not only let ourselves down, but we have put your country at risk, too. I did my best. I did what I could, but it wasn’t enough. The US is now a problem on the world stage. I pray that some of the worst predictions about world affairs don’t come true.
I hadn’t read it when I posted, but if you look at the link in this post:
I pretty much nailed it.
But Sheinbaum Pardo took to X to refute Trump’s claim. She insisted she explained to Trump Mexico’s “comprehensive strategy” to address illegal immigration while respecting human rights.
“We discussed Mexico’s strategy on the migration phenomenon and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico,” she wrote on X.
quote=“DWMarch, post:192, topic:1009774”]
The tariffs also appeal to Trump’s ego. He hasn’t done anything other than threaten to do it yet. But what has he already gotten in return? World leaders begging him for mercy.
[/quote]
Bingo! T**** doesn’t really care about foreign corporations doing business in the US, he only cares about T****. This Pope-like power he has given himself, to establish whatever tariffs he wants, on whomever he wants, gives him a tremendous ego boost, and the opportunity for grift on a breathtaking scale.
Because it isn’t just world political leaders who will be lining up to kiss the ring, it will be the heads of affected corporations, both US and foreign, asking him for special dispensations from the tariffs. Which he will grant, providing he can profit financially. We’re going to see more international monopolies and a stupefying increase in T****'s personal wealth.
How the hell did we ever let one man get this much power?
I think the truth on this one is in between.
EDIT: But, thinking about it more, Smapti is a little closer to the case.
The President of Mexico appears to be made of sterner stuff. Meanwhile…
The way you phrased that makes it sound like the president of Mexico is taking a hard line with Trump whereas Trudeau isn’t. She does appear to have been more confrontational but I’m not sure that’s the best approach.
Thanks for posting that article as I wasn’t aware there had been a meeting. It’s a bit of a non-story because there’s not much information about the outcome, undoubtedly because nothing was really settled. But keeping the lines of communication open is important. And, quite honestly, although the tariff threat was grossly irresponsible, most of the things Trump wants Canada to do are actually reasonable; it’s just that, being Trump, he approached it in a confrontational and ham-handed way.
Re Trudeau and Sheinbaum, Trump said she agreed to “effectively closing our Southern Border.” This was, according to Sheinbaum — and I believe her — not true,
Trump has AFAIK not made false claims about some alleged deal between Canada and the incoming U.S. administration. Because of this, Trudeau does not yet need to stand up to Trump in the way Sheinbaum did.
Trump has named Kash Patel as FBI Director.
“We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections – we’re going to come after you, Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out… We’re putting you all on notice.”
Kushner, the father, has been chosen to be the Ambassador to France.
If Patel has any evidence about the media ‘rigging elections’ and 'lying to the American people" I look forward to seeing it. This could be an entertaining sideshow for 4 years: FBI vs The Media. As the saying goes, don’t pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.
Evidence? Evidence? Pah… evidence is woke, for the lefties, etc.
Do you really think that in FBI vs media, the media wins? Maybe in the 70s, but I just don’t see today’s media standing up to threats or intimidation. Not when they can get clicks from “This common skin color is now illegal!” and “Trump says he will reform healthcare by curing cancer himself.”
As I said in the Pit thread about Trump’s ambassadors, Kushner won’t be very welcome in France, not that Trump cares about that in the slightest. Sure, they’ll accept his credentials and will go through the motions, but I bet he won’t be invited to any gala events unless protocol dictates that he must be.
Meanwhile, there’s Trump’s ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, about whom I said this:
Hoekstra is a far-right extremist who was a founding member of the Tea Party Caucus and a former fellow at the Heritage Foundation, the architects of “Project 2025”. He is opposed to gun control in all forms, opposed to abortion rights, gay rights, and basically opposed to everything that we consider to be liberal Canadian values. He should get along fine here.
So these two ambassadors represent Trump being true to form: an ex-convict and a far-right extremist, both of whom will be anathema to the values of the countries to which they are sent. It’s hard to tell if this just reflects Trump’s usual incompetence and obsession with personal loyalty, or if he takes particular pleasure in appointing assholes as ambassadors to liberal democracies.
It might be a fool’s hope, but I do. I think there is still such a thing as journalistic integrity, and that the media will fight back when faced with an existential threat. And they can afford lawyers.
For anyone in the thread who wasn’t already aware, a country is not obligated to accept the ambassador sent by another country. If Trump (or anyone) names an ambassador who is so egregiously awful that the intended country of assignment takes offense, that country can refuse to issue credentials. It doesn’t happen very often, and (per wolfpup’s earlier comment) it probably won’t happen here, but it can happen.