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> Settles Columbia $400M funding freeze for $221M university payment > Settles for 15% EU tariff after threatening 30% in July 12 letter Many of these seem li

by bko 6mo ago

> Settles Columbia $400M funding freeze for $221M university payment > Settles for 15% EU tariff after threatening 30% in July 12 letter Many of these seem like pretty basic negotiations. > Posts himself as Jesus healing the sick, deletes it, claims it was a doctor What did he chicken out of? I guess posting a meme? I'm not a fan of a lot of the things going on at the federal level but I feel like many critics just lost the plot.

tonyedgecombe 6mo ago
>I'm not a fan of a lot of the things going on at the federal level but I feel like many critics just lost the plot. As a rule of thumb you can ignore everything people say before the "but".
- bko 6mo ago
  Okay I guess his critics just lost the plot. What's your point?
  - criticisehim 6mo ago
    [dead]
pavlov 6mo ago
You’re sanewashing Trump’s absolutely bonkers behavior by focusing on the critics. The man can barely form a sentence and posts on social media on the mental and writing level of a ten-year-old. Americans are choosing to accept this from their leader. He is 80 years old and obviously very unwell. Terminal-stage Soviet Union had more competent leadership.
- palmotea 6mo ago
  > You’re sanewashing Trump’s absolutely bonkers behavior by focusing on the critics. I think it's legitimate to focus on his critics, because they've been oddly ineffective. His 2024 victory should never have happened, but it did thanks to the incompetence of his opponents and critics. Their "losing the plot" may be an important part of that: he says crazy things, but that goads his critics into also saying crazy/wrong things, which probably helps neutralize whatever advantage they'd have. Sure, partisans wouldn't be affected because hate him, but they don't really matter, because they hate him. > The man can barely form a sentence and posts on social media on the mental and writing level of a ten-year-old. Americans are choosing to accept this from their leader. He is 80 years old and obviously very unwell. Terminal-stage Soviet Union had more competent leadership. I don't think that line of attack works. It may be true, but many of his opponents hate him and would say that regardless of if it were true or not.
anonu 6mo ago
Well the problem is the rabid left wing nuts all have TDS. So anything Trump does can only be viewed through one lens. To be fair this is sort of par for the course when you're in a position of power. You can never please everyone. Now on the opposite extreme, the MAGA sycophants, Trump can do nothing wrong, and every misstep is positioned as some sort of 4D chess move we are all too dumb to understand. If there weren't real lives at stake it would be funny. The real issue here is we have a divisive person in power who revels in the chaos and the fighting.
- Arodex 6mo ago
  Stop trying to "both sides" this. Especially when one side is "rabid" "nuts" and the other side is just "sycophants". You are not the neutral reasonable centrist you pretend to be.
  - dzhiurgis 6mo ago
    People don't have to perfectly neutral central position either. Far more problematic when you are trying to stop them from having one.
Swenrekcah 6mo ago
Do you usually start negotiations by publicly deriding your counterparty and state absurd demands?
- Arodex 6mo ago
  "An idiot's idea of an intelligent person"
  - analognoise 6mo ago
    A sheep’s idea of a wolf.
- bko 6mo ago
  I dont know. I guess that's one strategy. Im also not a billionaire and leader of the free world. So I can only assume there is some merit in this particular negotiation style if it landed him where he is.
  - piva00 6mo ago
    That's a bit of an appeal to authority, no? It might have given results but it wasn't without cost, is it net-positive overall? This style doesn't build bridges, it's purely adversarial, diplomacy requires building bridges for long-term sustainability of relations.
    - bko 6mo ago
      How is it an appeal to authority? He wasn't appointed to his position in life through bloodline or familial connections. He made insane wealth through business dealings, much of it through negotiations with sharks. Then he convinced half of the country to vote for him with no political experience against a dynasty. Sure it's not my style and I don't quite understand how its effective, but to dismiss it outright as ineffective is naive.
      - mcphage 6mo ago
cosmicgadget 6mo ago
Tbf the tariff thing was tagged 'medium' and only has a single vote. The Jesus taco is pretty clearly him caving to evangelicals being offended by his meme. Yes, this site takes some very consistent negotiation failures and broadens the criticism to anything that resembles backing down. That's not representative of his critics, this is just someone's slop project.

by bko 6mo ago

tonyedgecombe 6mo ago

>I'm not a fan of a lot of the things going on at the federal level but I feel like many critics just lost the plot. As a rule of thumb you can ignore everything people say before the "but".

bko 6mo ago
Okay I guess his critics just lost the plot. What's your point?
- criticisehim 6mo ago
  [dead]

pavlov 6mo ago

You’re sanewashing Trump’s absolutely bonkers behavior by focusing on the critics. The man can barely form a sentence and posts on social media on the mental and writing level of a ten-year-old. Americans are choosing to accept this from their leader. He is 80 years old and obviously very unwell. Terminal-stage Soviet Union had more competent leadership.

palmotea 6mo ago
> You’re sanewashing Trump’s absolutely bonkers behavior by focusing on the critics. I think it's legitimate to focus on his critics, because they've been oddly ineffective. His 2024 victory should never have happened, but it did thanks to the incompetence of his opponents and critics. Their "losing the plot" may be an important part of that: he says crazy things, but that goads his critics into also saying crazy/wrong things, which probably helps neutralize whatever advantage they'd have. Sure, partisans wouldn't be affected because hate him, but they don't really matter, because they hate him. > The man can barely form a sentence and posts on social media on the mental and writing level of a ten-year-old. Americans are choosing to accept this from their leader. He is 80 years old and obviously very unwell. Terminal-stage Soviet Union had more competent leadership. I don't think that line of attack works. It may be true, but many of his opponents hate him and would say that regardless of if it were true or not.

anonu 6mo ago

Well the problem is the rabid left wing nuts all have TDS. So anything Trump does can only be viewed through one lens. To be fair this is sort of par for the course when you're in a position of power. You can never please everyone. Now on the opposite extreme, the MAGA sycophants, Trump can do nothing wrong, and every misstep is positioned as some sort of 4D chess move we are all too dumb to understand. If there weren't real lives at stake it would be funny. The real issue here is we have a divisive person in power who revels in the chaos and the fighting.

Arodex 6mo ago
Stop trying to "both sides" this. Especially when one side is "rabid" "nuts" and the other side is just "sycophants". You are not the neutral reasonable centrist you pretend to be.
- dzhiurgis 6mo ago
  People don't have to perfectly neutral central position either. Far more problematic when you are trying to stop them from having one.

Swenrekcah 6mo ago

Do you usually start negotiations by publicly deriding your counterparty and state absurd demands?

Arodex 6mo ago
"An idiot's idea of an intelligent person"
- analognoise 6mo ago
  A sheep’s idea of a wolf.
bko 6mo ago
I dont know. I guess that's one strategy. Im also not a billionaire and leader of the free world. So I can only assume there is some merit in this particular negotiation style if it landed him where he is.
- piva00 6mo ago
  That's a bit of an appeal to authority, no? It might have given results but it wasn't without cost, is it net-positive overall? This style doesn't build bridges, it's purely adversarial, diplomacy requires building bridges for long-term sustainability of relations.
  - bko 6mo ago
    How is it an appeal to authority? He wasn't appointed to his position in life through bloodline or familial connections. He made insane wealth through business dealings, much of it through negotiations with sharks. Then he convinced half of the country to vote for him with no political experience against a dynasty. Sure it's not my style and I don't quite understand how its effective, but to dismiss it outright as ineffective is naive.
    - mcphage 6mo ago

cosmicgadget 6mo ago

Tbf the tariff thing was tagged 'medium' and only has a single vote. The Jesus taco is pretty clearly him caving to evangelicals being offended by his meme. Yes, this site takes some very consistent negotiation failures and broadens the criticism to anything that resembles backing down. That's not representative of his critics, this is just someone's slop project.