Summary
U.S. CEOs and business executives are alarmed as Donald Trump remains firm on imposing high tariffs on U.S. allies, despite warnings from economists about potential economic harm.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s late-night social media announcements have blindsided both his advisers and business leaders, leaving them scrambling to react.
While Trump consults some advisers, like Marco Rubio and Treasury pick Scott Bessent, his unilateral approach limits their influence.
The uncertainty has left business leaders struggling to find ways to alter his stance on trade policies.
Might be a bit of a contrarian take, but at this point I think Trump needs to have a gigantic fuck up to drive people to the streets in anger, South Korea style. One of those ‘we need our medicine before we can get better’ moments.
For some reason tens of millions of people buy his “'I’m the greatest - only I can save you - they’re evil and stupid” rhetoric.
So it’s going to take a truly epic fuck up that he can’t bullshit his way out of - and that the media can’t ignore - for people to finally see that him and his cronies are all gigantic pieces of shit.
South Korea wasn’t in a cult for that leader AND what he asked for was essentially what… Something that equated to the build up to January 6th, without even a January 6th style failed coup attempt to show for it.
No, they did what we should have. We failed.
South Korea values education. The Republican party has been destroying the public education system for decades.
So south Korea does not have as many braindead people as we have here
He did have a gigantic fuck up. He fucked up the response to covid-19. Badly. And how much did his fuck up make the situation worse in the rest of the world?
74 million people still voted for him in 2020. During and immediately AFTER that fuck up.
Yeah, but the alternative was voting for a woman, so…
A half black, half Indian woman, though!
It’s going to take something monumental for the US to ever change- and even then I doubt it will. People seem 100% stupider than 15 years ago and some study just showed adult intelligence has dropped in multiple areas. I wonder if people infected with COVID literally got stupider on top of all the lead poisoning from pre-90’s.
There wasn’t a woman running in 2020.
I don’t think that’s possible, unfortunately. I’m pretty sure he knows he can get away with anything, and his stupid fans will still gladly follow him. He will put the blame on someone else, every time, and they will believe him, every time.
If this could have happened it would have happened during covid
This is the whole issue. Republicans, a cult, can only exist in pretend political party form because they have convinced their base that literally–literally–anything that has a big ol REPUBLICAN label slapped on it is the highest moral good.
They see children getting murdered in cold blood in schools and take the side of the guns. I should probably repeat that four or five times with varying emphasis.
Trump could bomb an orphanage, brag about it, and within a week Fox Lies & Propaganda would be running stories about how the orphanage made a mistake on its taxes that was falsely flagged as fraud, and how orphans might become criminals.
It won’t undo the current disaster, but the real path back is probably more like talking to one person who’s trumpy but still somehow you kind of like anyway, with a tone of…come on now. Are we serious with this? You see this for what it is, right? You gotta put a stop to this, it can’t go on. Or just plain old Lakoff advice about getting your racist grandpa to tell you a story at thanksgiving of a time he helped somebody. This is one step in restoring his brain to its unpoisoned-by-conservatism state.
You gotta attack the foundation of fascism and conservatism, which science seems to think you do with empathy.
January 6th has entered the chat…and quietly left unnoticed.
His entire first administration was a series of such fuckups. I am not hopeful that consequences (for him) are ever coming.
He’s a Russian asset, what do they think he is going to do anything that’s in the US’s best interest? He’s here to burn it to the ground and line his pockets with what’s not ashes.
Honestly at this point I don’t know how anyone can’t see the obvious.
What can we do besides impotently complain about this on the internet?
Build connections in your local community. Organize and elect your candidates at the local level
With all the anger about the dead CEO lately and rightfully angry people in glee over the violence, I truly think we could accomplish more with a general strike. Crash the fake economy built on fraud. If wall street looses billions a day in their fictional numbers they throw around we would show them real power. This would accomplish more than any dead CEO ever could.
Saw a post where the Trump administration is eyeing pulling FDIC from our banks! They already plan on crashing the economy. Stealing all your money, and making the US in Russia’s image.
If we beat them to the punch we might still have our bank account money at least while their fictional money evaporates into thin air.
One thing the real rich people won’t stand for is their money vanishing. If we hold out long enough the real wealthy will likely turn on him, hell he might fall out a window!
It’s going to be hard to convince people to strike when so many of them are in massive debt and live paycheck-to-paycheck.
When you can barely feed your kids on what little you’re paid, you’re a lot less willing to strike. Especially if you aren’t in a union and can be fired for it. And the corpos know it and rely on it.
I wholeheartedly agree it’s a hard sell. What other viable non violent means do we have left?
Do we wait for the ruling class to crash the economy? The people will be even more fucked than they are now.
People are going to have to be willing to put themselves at risk or there will be no reward, only serfdom and abject destitute for all.
I do not hold out hope for enough people who are willing to make altruistic sacrifices for it to work. I lost all optimism I might have had when it came to America on the first Wednesday in November.
Fair enough, I haven’t yet succumbed to apathy.
That’s the thing. I don’t think there are any viable non violent means left. Unless some magical unicorn leader gains power in the US and other countries the elites are tied to fast that is willing to wrench power from their hands through legal means, and looking at global political movements as they stand right now I do not think that is going to happen any time soon.
Luigi even said that in the manifesto- economic protest isn’t viable in this system. He’s basically right.
So the plan is to wait till more people choose violence and hope that does anything but solidify the ruling class behind armed forces and impenetrable walls of security and eventually anonymity. To me that seems like a waste of valuable time, resources and lives.
Violence should be the last resort. I truly believe that general strike is the best option.
“Best option” does not mean “realistic option”. I think you’re correct. I also think we’ve been (intentionally) pushed to a point where we can’t exercise that option.
Facts
I never understood the whole “they won’t stand for losing money” tactic. What you’re asking them to do with a general strike is to relinquish their money to the masses and reduce the wealth gap significantly. They won’t do that. They will do literally anything, including forcing people back to work for them with violence from mercenary groups (or robot dogs, which is horrifying to me) before they submit to the will of the people. A general strike would be a good step, but if you think it will go over well for the working class without any bloodshed then you should learn about how the elites have treated striking in the past.
It wasn’t the poor oppressed peoples of Rome that undid Caesar, it was the disaffected members of the elite.
The best option for the least bloodshed it to force the hand of those in power to act in their own self interest. If their best option is getting rid of the source of their problems in an attempt to retain the money and power they have they will stab anyone in the back to get what they want.
We need to split their class solidarity.
It was said below but I really think that there needs to be more people that are willing to run for office with a more progressive message.
I know it’s not as sexy as revolution or CEO-cide but it really is a better way to make changes without fucking the country up completely.
So how the fuck do you run for office ? I don’t know but there are resources that can help. If you don’t want to run that’s fair but as you mentioned the time to just sit around and bitch online in an echo chamber is done. Progressives are going to have to find a way to make their voices heard and in a way that isn’t talking down to people.
Note: I get the anger and the desire to want to scare the fuck out of the ruling class. But murder isn’t the only thing that the ruling class is scared of, they also don’t want people to vote for their own self-interest. They don’t want the people to demand billionaires pay more in taxes. And a significant group of progressive politicians would scare the shit out of the established ruling class.
You let the fox in the henhouse. Why would he listen? He’s not planning to win over hearts and minds
How the actual fuck are people “blindsided” by this?
Because they thought it would only happen to others and they’d be fine. Guess the leopard with a rooster hat is coming to roar and eat faces.
CEOs aren’t the brightest.
You ever talk to c-level execs? Many of them simply aren’t smart. They’re just very aggressive and confident which gives the appearance of intelligence.
A lot of times attractiveness plays a big role too. In modern corporate america being attractive will get you further than being smart.
Studies have shown that something as simple as being tall makes people be more likely to be looked towards as leaders.
You ever talk to c-level execs? Many of them simply aren’t smart
A large percentage of them are the embodiment of the Peter principle
A-Students work for B-Students in companies owned by C-Students, which are financed by D-Students, while the hedge funds owned by the sociopathic F-Students short sell the whole thing to make sure they have enough spare cash to buy a new library wing at Harvard, so their F-Student-kids get in.
Maybe the leopards started with the eyes.
Because folks do their 5 minute research by reading conservative mainstream news outlets and safe space enclaves that Tariffs are good.
Talking points to the contrary are not allowed, so they get to find out the hard way.
To be fair. The message they’re receiving is that tariffs will hurt the people that deserve it. And they’re absolutely right. But while they’re suffering, so will the rest of America.
Remember that Trump lies about everything, often in both directions. Everyone knows this, including his supporters. That gives his supporters the mental freedom to make up whateverthefuck policy positions they like and find proof that they are Trump’s real plan.
Donald Trump is the human version of a Bible. If you’re a Believer, god says he will implement your Desire. If you’re a Heretic, god says he will destroy the world. All with the same words.
But… But… Genderless bathrooms! /s
Well shit. I hoped it was just bluster, but if he’s serious it makes a lot of sense.
The 0.1% gain wealth whenever economies crash. He is obviously going to try to crash the world economy so fat cats can buy assets for pennies on the dollar, including entire developing nations. Then the fed prints a gazillion dollars and bails it all out.
Greedy pigs get fatter, the rest of us get leaner.
Nobody in the US is going to be making money when everyone else calls Trump’s bluff and slaps a 200 percent exit tariff on goods to the US.
So a 1,000 dollar item will be 3,000 dollars when it hits US Customs and jump to 6,000 there because of Trump’s import tariffs. They can support that all day long because they just hand the money straight back to their domestic company. As far as they’re concerned they made a 3,000 dollar sale.
You might think we could just do without and use domestic manufacturing. But not only have we fucked domestic manufacturing in so many ways, this will apply to our food imports as well. So it’s not like we can just refuse to pay.
As much as the farm subsidies have been criticized, literally starving isn’t something we should have to worry much about.
Food we can do domestically just fine, as long as you don’t care about coffee and tea. Even those I just expect we’re going to make existing grounds/leaves stretch a whole lot farther.
I don’t think it’ll be as bad as some of Russia’s hard times, but goddamn is that a long, long way to fall.
I’m more concerned about world politics. We’re going to cede a hell of a lot of control of the world to Russia and China. It’s likely that China claims an entire vertical slice of the Earth, standing in the way of a good chunk of world trade.
Nobody in the US is going to be making money when everyone else calls Trump’s bluff
Categorically false.
Manufacturers will not make money. Importers will not make money.
Owners WILL make money. Mark my words.
The owners of what? Everything in the US is going to skyrocket in price. If they’re a domestic company then their inputs are going to kill them.
The Peter Theils, the Blackrocks, various equity firms.
Just like wall street doesn’t mirror main street, crashing economies can be quite profitable if you’re in the right industry.
I see you’re talking about them buying everything they can. That’s going to be kind of hard when the stock market crashes though. While it can remain irrational, it cannot ignore companies collapsing.
John Pauson, Pauson & Co.
Made billions during '07-08
I hoped it was just bluster
You understand he was president before, right? And that he did this before? Like, he’s a totally known quantity, and he’s going back to where he was in 2019.
No, I had no idea he was president before. Thank you.
this dude killed 300,000 americans and people are somehow surprised that he’s unbothered by the prospect of killing untold vast swaths of people now that it’s been demonstrated that he will never be held accountable for his actions
Are these CEOs too stupid to realize they forgot to donate $1 million dollars to Trump’s inaugural fund? Total amateurs. 🙄
Maybe your dumb asses should have been railing against this a long fucking time ago.
Right? I realized 20 years ago that trying to vote your way out of a system that’s democracy and media was controlled by the elites was a crock of shit.
Have they tried calling the CEO crises hotline?
Ceo will save themselves, if they are normal, they will have assets in different countries and just move.
Poor people on the other hands would not be able to move to another city.
Did you only now notice that he only cares about himself?
And he’s mind-bogglingly stupid on top of that.
Americas leader and figurehead.
Truly a man of the people.
Wait, what CEO is surprised that Trump won’t look at data and make decisions on that? Anyone this foolish should have their stock shorted.
Trump doesn’t look at data. Ever.
I’m not even sure he can read
Doesn’t surprise me, but I guess I’m not a US CEO.
“we thought we could control the face eating leopard.”
Honestly yeah they still see him as corrupt and able to be bought. He is except where he isn’t. He can be bribed like a 5 year old can, he’ll take the money and like you more because of it, but his whims will always come first
Good, destroy eachother.
I’m just going to point out that the ultimate victims of this idiocy are the working class.
The wealthy will still be wealthy regardless
They get to buy the dip.
I’m just going to point out that the working class had the chance to vote against this and didn’t.
The average age of an empire is 250 years, the US is 249 years old. The only solution to this might require a “significant restructuring”…
No they didn’t.
The working class had the option to vote for keeping things the way they are, or dramatic change and hope for the best.
They voted for dramatic change, because the way things are isn’t working.
Most people are politically tuned out, and just want to pay their bills and have some fun on the weekend. They see bills are getting harder to pay and what they can do on the weekend is getting more expensive. Like it or not, the Republicans did a good job spreading the message that a vote for them will make things cheaper somehow.
We know it isn’t true, but we’re both chronically online, somewhat informed, and statistically are likely to have an above average intelligence. We do not form a good cross section of the voting public. We voted against the tyrant.
But we’re also both smart enough to know that we weren’t voting for somebody that would actually fix any of those problems. We were voting against a dollar store tyrant and hoping for the best.
And, even if everything I said is wrong, nearly half of the working class did vote against it.
Hoping that everybody suffers because of the ignorant, short sighted decision of half of them is fucked up my guy.
Voting for dramatic change has a positive ring to it, which makes some implications falsehoods.
Voting for dramatic change that we have been plainly shown and openly promised will take everything that’s bad about the system and make it dramatically worse, now that’s something that’s idiotic, and that’s what happened.
No they didn’t.
Yes, they did, Trump was clear about his plan for tariffs. Being completely fucking ignorant about your country’s political situation does not mean the information was not available or that the option to vote against it didn’t exist.
nearly half of the working class did vote against it.
Less than a third voted against him. A third voted in favour of this shit, and the last third didn’t bother to show up.
Hoping that everybody suffers because of the ignorant, short sighted decision of half of them is fucked up my guy.
I’m not hoping people suffer, but when 66% of the population either supported this or was indifferent to it I am not going to be emotionally invested when it comes to the consequences of their actions.
I am one person, 77 million people said they wanted this, and another 90 million said “this is fine”. Who am I to argue with them? Let them have what they wanted.
I’m going to laugh so hard if Trump has an “apparent suicide” and at least one cop says it’s not suspicious, if they can do it to whistleblowers who risk their profits, surely this qualifies?
Not saying it’s likely, just that I absolutely will laugh, probably for days.
All part of Putin’s plan. He probably gave him the advice on tariffs.
“If you burn America to the ground, I will let you rule this ashes.”
I wonder if in a Freudian slip the translator said “Self Sanctions” when discussing tariffs
hell for all we know, that was part of his concession for putin helping him get elected.
Prepare for Russian Oil Imports.
Either Putin paid him more than the Corpos, or he owes Putin too much to turn around on it.
