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Who would have thought that actively antagonizing one of our biggest trading partners while also hitting them with a bunch of tariffs to use as some leverage to

Who would have thought that actively antagonizing one of our biggest trading partners while also hitting them with a bunch of tariffs to use as some leverage to try get them to join the US would make them unlikely to want to visit the US? It's almost like nearly everyone on earth thought it was really dumb except Donald Trump.

MegaButts 2y ago
If you look at this from the perspective of Trump wanting to destabilize the USA geopolitically and internally (for whatever reason), it seems he's been incredibly successful. I'm not saying Trump is smart but if you look at this from another angle he's incredibly effective.
- tombert 2y ago
  I mean, that's the most positive spin for it I've ever heard. Maybe he's shorted every major company in the US that would be affected by these stupid tariffs.
  - MegaButts 2y ago
    There are many people who think Trump is a Russian asset. If you look at it that way, he's been pretty great for Putin.
    - tombert 2y ago
      I have no idea if that's true. Regardless if it's because of secret intelligence on Putin's end or incompetence on Trump's end, it really doesn't change anything on my end, the effect is pretty much the same. We still have effectively actively antagonized one of our largest trading partners for no obvious reasons and reneged on our own trading agreements.
      - MegaButts 2y ago
        If you view Trump as your enemy, understanding him matters if you intend to fight him. To be clear, I'm not saying Trump is a Russian asset. I was just changing the perspective because I think it's interesting all the things he's doing make perfect sense for helping Russia. In which case he'd be effective instead of incompetent.
        tombert 2y ago
        I mean, I don't know that I am "fighting" him. I vote in every election that I can, but I have no plans on running for political office, I'm probably not going to go out and protest, and I'm not going to file lawsuits against the administration. And I certainly don't think complaining on Hacker News counts as "doing something".

MegaButts 2y ago

If you look at this from the perspective of Trump wanting to destabilize the USA geopolitically and internally (for whatever reason), it seems he's been incredibly successful. I'm not saying Trump is smart but if you look at this from another angle he's incredibly effective.

tombert 2y ago
I mean, that's the most positive spin for it I've ever heard. Maybe he's shorted every major company in the US that would be affected by these stupid tariffs.
- MegaButts 2y ago
  There are many people who think Trump is a Russian asset. If you look at it that way, he's been pretty great for Putin.
  - tombert 2y ago
    I have no idea if that's true. Regardless if it's because of secret intelligence on Putin's end or incompetence on Trump's end, it really doesn't change anything on my end, the effect is pretty much the same. We still have effectively actively antagonized one of our largest trading partners for no obvious reasons and reneged on our own trading agreements.
    - MegaButts 2y ago
      If you view Trump as your enemy, understanding him matters if you intend to fight him. To be clear, I'm not saying Trump is a Russian asset. I was just changing the perspective because I think it's interesting all the things he's doing make perfect sense for helping Russia. In which case he'd be effective instead of incompetent.
      - tombert 2y ago
        I mean, I don't know that I am "fighting" him. I vote in every election that I can, but I have no plans on running for political office, I'm probably not going to go out and protest, and I'm not going to file lawsuits against the administration. And I certainly don't think complaining on Hacker News counts as "doing something".