Is President Trump an Idiot? Or does he think we are?

[DEAR_JOHN]

Originally Posted by winn dixie

Is President Trump an Idiot? Or does he think we are?

Trumpf is an idiot!

Crank up the Molotov cocktails, time to burn. On topic sarcasm.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

"Is President Trump an Idiot? Or does he think we are?"

The first step in the 12 step program should be:
1) Stop proving he's right

[69in2it69]

Originally Posted by Schwarzer Ritter

Ever hear of the Ford Focus? The diesel powered one? They are in Europe where they are produced but we can't import them here. Some environmental regulation passed under Clinton about diesel cars. Never mind it gets about 60 mpg and is quite a nice looking vehicle. Care to explain?

Car & Driver, 2015

2015? I wonder who was Presidunce for the four following years that could have changed the import status. If you want a diesel Ford Focus do ask him. Oh wait, he'll steer you to buy a swasticar instead.:laughbo unce2:

[Schwarzer Ritter]

A swasticar? You mean a volkswagon?


I elected a president not a god. That's the problem with the left, they elected someone who doesn't know what day it is but expect a republican to know about every falling sparrow.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by 69in2it69

2015? I wonder who was Presidunce for the four following years..

2020? We wonder the same.

[winn dixie]

It's well established trumpfler is am idiot

[DEAR_JOHN]

Originally Posted by winn dixie

It's well established trumpfler is am idiot

"am idiot".


Just a quick bit of advice, if you want to make someone look like a fool, make sure your ducks are in a row before posting. Thanks for the laugh and the irony of wanting to make President Trump look like an idiot and it backfires on you.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Schwarzer Ritter

Ever hear of the Ford Focus? The diesel powered one? They are in Europe where they are produced but we can't import them here. Some environmental regulation passed under Clinton about diesel cars. Never mind it gets about 60 mpg and is quite a nice looking vehicle. Care to explain?

Car & Driver, 2015

I think I know what you're getting at. In a thread you started, about what the left believes in, Winn Dixie gave a good reply. He mentioned clean air and clean water. We all agree that's something we want. However, I'd argue the left has gone too far, and so yes, now it's difficult to buy an imported diesel vehicle in the USA. You would often have to make modifications to the vehicle's emission system to do it. This is an example of excessive regulation IMO.

Two of the things Winn Dixie didn't mention on his list, that the left believes in, were more regulation of business and higher taxes on corporations and businesses in general.

And those were two of Trump's biggest successes in his first term, lowering the corporate tax rate and deregulation. These made the USA more competitive. Before our corporations had to pay at an average of a 40% state + federal corporate income tax rate. How were they supposed to compete with, say, Germany, which has a 15% tax rate?

And excessive regulation and requirements for union labor run up the cost of infrastructure and factories and the like. We may spend 2X or 3X what the Europeans pay to build a mile of freeway or subway. It's nuts.

Unfortunately, Trump appears intent on undoing the good he did, by imposing tariffs. Tariffs make us less competitive, run up costs for consumers, and mostly benefit the crony capitalists by shielding them from competition. This is the opposite of what Trump should be doing. Fareed Zakaria explained this on Sunday,

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/23/polit...-based-economy

Zakaria, who's left of center himself, doesn't appreciate the role that taxes and regulation play in our ability to compete, but he's spot on about the tariffs.

[Precious_b]

Originally Posted by Schwarzer Ritter

A swasticar? You mean a volkswagon?


I elected a president not a god. That's the problem with the left, they elected someone who doesn't know what day it is but expect a republican to know about every falling sparrow.

African or european?

[Texas Contrarian]

Originally Posted by Salty Again

... Really now, T.C.?

Canada and Mexico are not starting to swerve?

Really now, Salty! It doesn't look as though Canada and Mexico will need to swerve, at least not very far, as Donald has already (at least partially) swerved.

Bessent and a few others in or closely connected to the Trump administration have amped-up suggestions that the initial tariff stance was "maximalist" and would be significantly watered down pursuant to diplomatic discussions. And it's been clear during recent days that the market's loud "hell no!" was not going unnoticed by the ultimate decision-makers. The fact that the US markets popped back a bit yesterday was almost certainly, in most observers' view, due to the dial-back of aggressive tariff threats.

Originally Posted by Schwarzer Ritter

Ever hear of the Ford Focus? The diesel powered one? They are in Europe where they are produced but we can't import them here. Some environmental regulation passed under Clinton about diesel cars. Never mind it gets about 60 mpg and is quite a nice looking vehicle. Care to explain?

Car & Driver, 2015

That's an easy one. Potential buyers' interest, both in Europe and stateside, tanked after the diesel Ford Focus badly flunked Euro 6 particulate emissions tests. At the same time, VW was going through what was referred to as the "dieselgate" or "emissionsgate" scandal. This has nothing to do with the specter of tariffs (or with Clinton-era regulations, for that matter.)

Announcements such as this abounded at the time:

https://www.emissions.co.uk/manufacturers/ford/

Originally Posted by Tiny

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/23/polit...-based-economy

Zakaria, who's left of center himself, doesn't appreciate the role that taxes and regulation play in our ability to compete, but he's spot on about the tariffs.

Zakaria hit the nail squarely on the head, as he so often does.

Here is a short piece pointing up some of the challenges we face if policymakers are actually serious about tackling the trade deficit rather than just pushing gimmicky measures that don't really work and may do more harm than good.

https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-...cit-blame-game

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

If I might make a book review recommendation: The ART of the Deal, available in paperback and Kindle even.

Side note: Good to see ya out there pitching again! Though not in the Michelle Obama with Barry the Catcher sort of way .

Originally Posted by Texas Contrarian

...It doesn't look as though Canada and Mexico will need to swerve, at least not very far, as Donald has already (at least partially) swerved.

Bessent and a few others in or closely connected to the Trump administration have amped-up suggestions that the initial tariff stance was "maximalist" and would be significantly watered down pursuant to diplomatic discussions. And it's been clear during recent days that the market's loud "hell no!" was not going unnoticed by the ultimate decision-makers. The fact that the US markets popped back a bit yesterday was almost certainly, in most observers' view, due to the dial-back of aggressive tariff threats...

[Tiny]

Trump has announced tariffs on auto imports. Here's the markets reaction at this moment,

USA (After hours trading):
Ford -4.37%
General Motors -6.36%

Foreign
Toyota -3.9%
Honda -3.1%
Hyundai -2.7%
Kia -2.1%

Would someone care to kindly explain why Ford and GM are down sharply when tariffs are supposed to help U.S. automakers? Or why the Asian automakers, which purportedly will pay the tariffs, are down less than Ford and GM?

[Yssup Rider]

The answer to the question so brilliantly posed in this laser focused thread is YES.

Both answers are correct.

Every day he says or does something utterly idiotic. And every day the MAGAs try to make the lunacy seem normal. And every day we let them.

We are ALL idiots, n’cest pas?

[HDGristle]

Originally Posted by Tiny

Trump has announced tariffs on auto imports. Here's the markets reaction at this moment,

USA (After hours trading):
Ford -4.37%
General Motors -6.36%

Foreign
Toyota -3.9%
Honda -3.1%
Hyundai -2.7%
Kia -2.1%

Would someone care to kindly explain why Ford and GM are down sharply when tariffs are supposed to help U.S. automakers? Or why the Asian automakers, which purportedly will pay the tariffs, are down less than Ford and GM?

Don't forget. They're going to make us rich... with our own money. Unless we do start shifting manufacturing to the U.s. and then we can't collect tariff money and have to shift to other forms of taxation where we become rich off our own money

[VitaMan]

Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

If I might make a book review recommendation: The ART of the Deal, available in paperback and Kindle even.

Widely panned and even the author regrets issuing this book.


Virtually everything Trump does has a shady side to it. Casino bankruptcies, meme coins, selling Bibles, sending his daughter and son in law to China, calling banks predatory lenders when he doesn't repay bank loans, on and on and on.


And that is just what we see.