3 ms·

I hate to assign him so much agency. The man seems a complete buffoon who lacks the ability to plan anything beyond real estate fraud. Instead, I look to all of

I hate to assign him so much agency. The man seems a complete buffoon who lacks the ability to plan anything beyond real estate fraud. Instead, I look to all of the people in his orbit who can orchestrate long term goals. Sure, he will self sabotage many schemes, but will directionally go where the handlers want. Vance, Miller, Heritage Foundation, etc are the ones guiding most policy decisions. That tariffs have been so absolutely scattershot, says Trump actually is the one calling the shots there.

moogly 9mo ago
His orbiters/handlers are totally throwing all kinds of stuff at him to see what sticks to his cooked brain. It's clear he's barely aware what's happening anymore. The only coherent things he can focus on are things from the 80s and 90s heydays and old and recent grudges.
datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
It’s clear that he’s very easily persuaded on many topics that he already has a slight bias towards, but that he also has his pet projects that his handlers don’t want to mess with because that would jeopardize their political capital (ball room). Quick heuristic I have is: vanity project = Trump; neocon pet project = Heritage Foundation; anything related to racial purity = Stephen Miller; quackery = RFK and other grifters. The tariffs are partially his bias, but also Navarro who lost his mind somewhere around 2015 and became an economics pariah.
- AnimalMuppet 9mo ago
  I'm not sure that the tariffs are just bias plus bad economic theory. I think it's that Trump sees tariffs as a source of revenue under his personal control - that is, not subject to the congressional budgeting process. It remains to be seen whether the courts will agree with that. Last I saw, they didn't, but it wasn't a final decision.
  - mrguyorama 9mo ago
    More directly, Tariffs are something he can threaten and then ignore with the right "fees" paid. It's just grift.

moogly 9mo ago

His orbiters/handlers are totally throwing all kinds of stuff at him to see what sticks to his cooked brain. It's clear he's barely aware what's happening anymore. The only coherent things he can focus on are things from the 80s and 90s heydays and old and recent grudges.

datsci_est_2015 9mo ago

It’s clear that he’s very easily persuaded on many topics that he already has a slight bias towards, but that he also has his pet projects that his handlers don’t want to mess with because that would jeopardize their political capital (ball room). Quick heuristic I have is: vanity project = Trump; neocon pet project = Heritage Foundation; anything related to racial purity = Stephen Miller; quackery = RFK and other grifters. The tariffs are partially his bias, but also Navarro who lost his mind somewhere around 2015 and became an economics pariah.

AnimalMuppet 9mo ago
I'm not sure that the tariffs are just bias plus bad economic theory. I think it's that Trump sees tariffs as a source of revenue under his personal control - that is, not subject to the congressional budgeting process. It remains to be seen whether the courts will agree with that. Last I saw, they didn't, but it wasn't a final decision.
- mrguyorama 9mo ago
  More directly, Tariffs are something he can threaten and then ignore with the right "fees" paid. It's just grift.