The current second Trump administration: a compendium of horrors

[wolfpup]

I’ll just mention in passing that this sorry orange excuse for a human being managed to insult President Macron of France no less than at least three times during Macron’s visit.

First, Trump didn’t bother to meet him when he arrived at the White House, as per normal protocol. Instead, Macron was met by a staffer. Second, in a conference call from the Oval Office to other leaders, he had Macron perched uncomfortably at a corner of the desk, while Donny Two-Scoops himself luxuriated majestically in his immense chair. Third, during a joint press conference he all but called Macron a liar. Trump was spouting his usual bullshit about all the free money the EU was giving to Ukraine, and Macron, with no patience for bullshit, interrupted him to point out that most of it was in the form of loans and loan guarantees. Trump didn’t reply to Macron, but told the reporters “if you want to believe that, it’s fine with me”.

The Orange Peril – spreading sweetness and light wherever he goes.

[Skywatcher]

I’m guessing he’s not aware of the far-right conspiracy theory regarding Brigitte, otherwise he would have said something about Macron’s wife really being a man. Which would have opened Trump to yet another lawsuit.

[PhillyGuy]

Mexico weighs tariffs on China in bid to strike deal with Trump

. . . the Trump administration told Mexican officials that they should put their own duties on Chinese imports as part of their efforts to avoid US tariffs, Bloomberg News reported. . . .

Mexico is weighing possible levies on Chinese imports as it pushes for a deal to avoid the 25% tariffs that President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on its goods before a deadline in early March.

A group of officials from Mexico’s economy and finance ministries is in Washington examining potential tariffs on goods from China, President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference Monday.

I’m not exactly sure this is a horror, but sounds quite bad.

Does anyone know if this is coming from Trump personally, or is it maybe a long-standing GOP plan I never heard of?

And how is Mexico tariffing Chinese imports supposed to help the United States? (I’m sure it won’;t actually help the U.S. – I’m just asking for the claimed advantage.)

And if I’m not asking too many questions, it is typical or common for a colonialist ruler to do this to their colony? If the answer is, as I suspect, yes, how is it supposed to help the ruling power?

[aurora_maire]

You must never believe that they can’t get any batshit crazier. Trump posted this video on Truth Social tonight. It’s all just a game, trolling the world. Presenting Trump Gaza.

Aaron Rupar: “Complete batshit lunacy on the president’s Truth Social account. Yes, he really posted this.” — Bluesky

[WOOKINPANUBv.2]

Anyone want to actually check Truth Social? Not doubting you, @aurora_maire ; it’s just so outrageously shite that I can’t make my brain accept that it’s real. You’d think I’d be used to it.

[aurora_maire]

Yes, unless they’ve been hacked, it’s on Truth Social. I made sure because like you said, it’s unbelievably outrageous. Trump posted it about an hour ago. I’m keeping an eye on it because someone is bound to notice that the belly dancers are men with beards (it’s a split-second image). Thanks AI. I wonder if he will take it down when they see that or if it’s really part of the video and just another joke to them. I’m not a member (shudder) so I can’t see the comments.

[ThelmaLou]

Trump orders ICE to tell migrant kids to appear in court or face deportation

President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to track down unaccompanied immigrant children and demand their appearance in court or deportation.

Unaccompanied minors are children who enter the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian, many fleeing unsafe conditions in their home countries.

The Trump administration outlined its policy change in an internal memo obtained by Reuters. The document says the goal of the initiative is to ensure children aren’t victims of human trafficking or exploitation.

But advocates say the administration has potentially put children in an impossible situation. They could be deported for missing their court dates, but they soon could be without attorneys to help them navigate the immigration complex system — including letting them know when to appear in court.

Last week, the federal government sent stop-work orders to unaccompanied minors’ attorneys, but canceled the directive three days later.
…

“It’s for their own safety!”

[Der_Trihs]

@ThelmaLou

“It’s for their own safety!”

They are brown foreign kids, as far as Trump supporters are concerned that means they are subhuman enemies.

The cruelty is the point; the suffering of these children isn’t a mistake, it’s entertainment for the Right. They glory in it.

[SunUp]

@PhillyGuy

And how is Mexico tariffing Chinese imports supposed to help the United States? (I’m sure it won’;t actually help the U.S. – I’m just asking for the claimed advantage.)

If you squint really hard at this, it can make some sense - though I’m not exactly trying to sanewash Trump’s action here.

I’ll reference a couple of posts on Paul Krugman’s substack for background:

Stagnation With Chinese Characteristics

China’s Very Bad, No Good Trillion-Dollar Trade Surplus

Krugman’s argument, in brief, is that China’s growth is downshifting due to its having “caught up” technologically to the West and its demographics, and further sustained growth needs to happen by pursuing internal demand rather than by investment and exports. But for political reasons (read: the biases of the guy in charge) that’s not likely to happen. Instead, China ran the world’s first ever trillion dollar trade surplus last year, largely by keeping the value of its currency down to keep exports competitive. This neomercantilist policy has negative effects on its trade partners, and there will be a protectionist backlash.

From the end of the second article:

And since China’s trade surplus is a global concern, we should be acting in concert with our allies, not alienating Europe, Canada and Mexico with tariffs on everyone.

(If you’ve gotten this far, you should read Krugman’s substack articles above; I’m no Nobel laureate, and he shows his work with graphs and argumentative detail I’m eliding here.)

So if you are anti-China and reasonably sane in the Trump administration, and you agree that we need a united front against China’s attempt to export away its economic issues, what do you do? You dangle carrots at the targets of Trump’s ire to try to create that united front, attempting to do through coercion what Trump is utterly incapable of doing by appealing to common interest. If that is the case, the idea might be coming from Bessent, Lutnick, or maybe even Mark O’Rubio.

But doing this kind of thing via coercion rather than appeal to common interests is eventually going to piss off your allies, and may push more marginal trading partners into a more wholehearted embrace of China. So I’m not trying to say this is the right way to do things, or that it represents some kind of n-dimensional chess on Trump’s part; it may just be people around him trying desperately to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

[crowmanyclouds]

@SunUp

Mark O’Rubio

The noted Irish-Cuban Secretary of State.

[Gyrate]

@SunUp

So if you are anti-China and reasonably sane in the Trump administration

No one in the Trump administration is “reasonably sane”. Not even O’Rubio.

@SunUp

But doing this kind of thing via coercion rather than appeal to common interests is eventually going to piss off your allies, and may push more marginal trading partners into a more wholehearted embrace of China.

And make China look elsewhere for future trading partners for the same materials, as they did during the first Trump administration.

[PhillyGuy]

Vaccine meeting to prepare for coming winter’s flu season canceled

The Food and Drug Administration notified members of its vaccine advisory committee Wednesday that a planned March 13 meeting was canceled, according to an email sent to members that was read to The Washington Post. No reason was provided.

The email warned members against forwarding the email.

Emphasis added by me.

If we ever get past peak MAGA, paying, or threatening, an American to give up their first amendment right of free speech needs to become a felony.

As for the facts here, I’m immunocompromised and so really need to get whatever vaccine those pointy-headed medical school professors were going to recommend.

P.S. If I have to guess, I’m thinking this cancellation will be rescinded – this year. But what about next year?

[crowmanyclouds]

@PhillyGuy

But what about next year?

Mandatory Flu . . . it’s the quickest way to get to herd immunity.
I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops.

[Johnny_L.A]

@crowmanyclouds

Mandatory Flu . . . it’s the quickest way to get to herd immunity.

I’ve heard of ‘chicken pox parties’ in the '60s.

[dasmoocher]

@crowmanyclouds

Mandatory Flu . . . it’s the quickest way to get to herd immunity.
I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops.

To paraphrase the generals discussing nuclear war with Nixon in Watchmen: “Not so bad…all things considered.”

[PhillyGuy]

Even if the March 13 meeting cancellation is rescinded, it will not have all the usual inputs due to the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization:

U.S. [virtually] joints WHO-led flu vaccine meeting

The CDC stopped contributing influenza data to two WHO-managed databases, FluNet and FluID, on Jan. 24, Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHO’s department of epidemic and pandemic threat management, said recently. Data from earlier in the flu season had already been shared, but in a process designed to predict what’s going to happen months from now, the viruses that are circulating now are more relevant than reports on what circulated months ago.

[scudsucker]

@Johnny_L.A

I’ve heard of ‘chicken pox parties’ in the '60s.

Quite far off topic, but my first case of both chicken pox (unusually, I got it twice) and my only case of mumps were directly caused by my mother sending me off to play with infected kids. (Early '80s)

She also fully vaccinated me, so I’m not sure why the middle ‘M’ in the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine did not kick in.

I wonder about RFK’s vaccination status. Pretty likely he has been vaccinated for MMR & Covid. Hypocrisy seems one of the defining characteristics of the trump administration.

[Darren_Garrison]

The reason the European Union was created was to screw the US.

EU was born to 'screw' U.S., Trump says

[dasmoocher]

@Darren_Garrison

The reason the European Union was created was to screw the US.

EU was born to 'screw' U.S., Trump says

From Putin’s lips to Trump’s ears.

[Skywatcher]

@Johnny_L.A

@crowmanyclouds

Mandatory Flu . . . it’s the quickest way to get to herd immunity.

I’ve heard of ‘chicken pox parties’ in the '60s.

They’re for measles nowadays.

Measles Outbreak: Why 'Measles Parties' Are A Bad Idea For Parents