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I know this is a hot-button political issue, but I do think there were a lot of major hints from Trump's 1st term about how this would go. Tariffs were very mu

I know this is a hot-button political issue, but I do think there were a lot of major hints from Trump's 1st term about how this would go. Tariffs were very much not a bluff during his first term. They were very real. And they started pushing prices upwards in 2019 - then COVID hit and we forgot all about that. Secondly, the USMCA (NAFTA's successor) was fairly unremarkable from the US perspective beyond some concessions made by Canada around agriculture (specifically its Dairy industry). The US dairy industry is only $110B, roughly 1/30th the size of Apple. It mostly just modernized NAFTA. I mention this because I do not think the Trump administration has much acumen for cutting deals.

jameskilton 1y ago
Donald Trump is one of, if not the, most known and understood candidate for POTUS in a long time. Nothing that he's doing is surprising, first of all because we have his first term and second of all he told us what he would do! It is truly astounding how many people voted for the man and now sit back dumbfounded as Trump does exactly what he said he would do.
- layer8 1y ago
  He said he would stop the war in a single day.
  - AnimalMuppet 1y ago
    Yeah, this. He said a lot of stuff. Some of what he said, he's doing. Some of what he said, he's not doing. Some of what he said he wasn't going to do (Project 2025), he's actually doing anyway.
    - mingus88 1y ago
      Project 2025 wasn’t even his. That’s his evangelical base’s run book. Trump is too lazy to actually want to do anything so ambitious. This time around he ceeded power to those who have that ambition, mostly to keep himself out of prison. Sadly, it worked
- mingus88 1y ago
  What he is doing now was telegraphed, certainly. However, he is at his core a salesman (conman if you wish) and he has said so many other things that he never intended or even had the capability to do. For example, lock her up. Did he even try? He rung that bell so loudly to get all the votes of those who hated Clinton. Then once in office, nothing. Just bluster to get attention. Part of his success is that he just says what people want to hear. You need to have a deeper understanding of him than most voters care to learn to figure out what he is actually planning.
- amalcon 1y ago
  Trump makes two kinds of statements about what he will do: that he will take an action, and that he will achieve an objective. He mostly takes the actions, but mostly does not achieve the objectives. Some exceptions of course, but mostly. The things people seem upset about are mostly objectives that he has not achieved. Which, duh, his promised actions had zero chance of achieving those. But that's what I'm seeing.

jameskilton 1y ago

Donald Trump is one of, if not the, most known and understood candidate for POTUS in a long time. Nothing that he's doing is surprising, first of all because we have his first term and second of all he told us what he would do! It is truly astounding how many people voted for the man and now sit back dumbfounded as Trump does exactly what he said he would do.

layer8 1y ago
He said he would stop the war in a single day.
- AnimalMuppet 1y ago
  Yeah, this. He said a lot of stuff. Some of what he said, he's doing. Some of what he said, he's not doing. Some of what he said he wasn't going to do (Project 2025), he's actually doing anyway.
  - mingus88 1y ago
    Project 2025 wasn’t even his. That’s his evangelical base’s run book. Trump is too lazy to actually want to do anything so ambitious. This time around he ceeded power to those who have that ambition, mostly to keep himself out of prison. Sadly, it worked
mingus88 1y ago
What he is doing now was telegraphed, certainly. However, he is at his core a salesman (conman if you wish) and he has said so many other things that he never intended or even had the capability to do. For example, lock her up. Did he even try? He rung that bell so loudly to get all the votes of those who hated Clinton. Then once in office, nothing. Just bluster to get attention. Part of his success is that he just says what people want to hear. You need to have a deeper understanding of him than most voters care to learn to figure out what he is actually planning.
amalcon 1y ago
Trump makes two kinds of statements about what he will do: that he will take an action, and that he will achieve an objective. He mostly takes the actions, but mostly does not achieve the objectives. Some exceptions of course, but mostly. The things people seem upset about are mostly objectives that he has not achieved. Which, duh, his promised actions had zero chance of achieving those. But that's what I'm seeing.