Nobody can see or hear you for tin foil.

:joker:

[Trump announces 25% tariffs on car imports to the USA]



[US President Donald Trump has announced
new import taxes of 25% on cars and car parts
coming into the US in a move that threatens
to widen the global trade war.

Trump said the latest tariffs would come
into effect on 2 April, with charges on
businesses importing vehicles starting
the next day.
Charges on parts are set to start
in May or later.
The president claimed the measure would
lead to "tremendous growth" for
the car industry,
promising it would spur jobs and
investment in the US.

But analysts have said the move
is likely to lead to the temporary
shutdown of significant car production
in the US, increase prices, and strain
relations with allies.
The US imported roughly eight million cars
last year, accounting for about $240bn (£186bn)
in trade and roughly half of overall sales.]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly341xr45vo

Pump your non-US car stocks tomorrow morning they'll be up again by Monday.

BBC News Text:
[Sir Keir Starmer's reaction to
Trump's 25% tariffs on imported cars,
steel and aluminium.
The prime minister has warned Trump not
to start a trade war, the paper says
(writing before the two leaders' phone call on Sunday).]



https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standar...1c360.jpg.webp

Professional culture has really declined in the US, so it's easier for me to believe it is incompetence... like people don't care that they're being lazy or "not abiding by the rules"... we take so much of the structure and ideals we've been gifted for granted now.

Edit: There's also an increasing attitude of dragging the top of one's field down to the lower levels of the "masses". I see it in my own field. The "incompetent" folk are the ones able to adjust quicker to changing norms and so they're forcing the market to play to their rules now... the "true" professional is squeezed out and replaced by AI and templates.

I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing. (Exempt from this thought are security breaches :spin:) It's good old systems are being broken down, because there were too many arbitrary standards that have no place in modern work. And now, there's also the increasing piece of the pie who are seeing the value in "professional" standards, especially on those working the field. They realize time is money and why certain standards have appeared and remain so resistant... some things need weeding out... but yeah, Americans hate elitism atm and are currently directly at war with that class of thought.

…we knew this is what he would aim for, didn’t we…

Trump says he is not joking about third presidential term…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was not joking about seeking a third presidential term, which is barred by the U.S. Constitution, but that it was too early to think about doing so.

Trump, who took office on January 20 for his second, non-consecutive White House term, has made allusions to seeking a third one but addressed it directly in a telephone interview with NBC News.

"No, I'm not joking. I’m not joking," Trump said, but "it is far too early to think about it."

"There are methods which you could do it, as you know," he said, declining to elaborate on specific methods.

U.S. presidents are limited to two four-year terms, consecutive or not, according to the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

A proposal to overturn a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by the legislatures of three-fourths of the 50 U.S. states.

Some Trump allies have floated the idea of keeping Trump in the White House beyond 2028, and the president has also brought up the idea on a number of occasions in a manner that seemed to poke at his political opponents.

Trump, who at 78 was the oldest U.S. president at the time of his inauguration, would be 82 if he took on another four-year term following the November 2028 election.

George Washington in 1796 set the precedent for a two-term presidency, a self-imposed limit that was observed by most U.S. presidents for more than 140 years until Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.

Roosevelt, a Democrat who was president during the Great Depression and World War 2, broke tradition and served a third term, then died months into his fourth term in 1945. This paved the way for the amendment on term limits in 1951.

Longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon said in a March 19 interview with NewsNation that he believes Trump will run again in 2028. Bannon said he and others are looking into ways to make that happen, including examining the definition of a term limit.

"We're working on it," Bannon said.

The man really believes he's immortal I guess. If he does somehow start a 3rd term my bet is that he won't finish it; the human body goes downhill RAPIDLY at 80+.

I imagine if Trump died in office, they would take the same approach as Russia did in the past. With AI it should be quite easy to fake it for a while.

The other thing is that dictators have a habit of living long past their sell by date

[Republican President Donald Trump
said on Sunday he was not joking
about seeking a third presidential term,
which is barred by the U.S. Constitution]


Of course
it is a plan running for may months now

One way is to Let
JD Vance run
With Trump as his number 2.

Then once (if) in Power
JD stands down
Trump would then take over

by the time the next election is due, democracy will be gone in the USA

The tinfoil in me suspects that it already is, whether it's direct manipulation of the process (perhaps more tinfoil) or simply social manipulation, the fact that entire news platforms and social media trends are now dictated by private individuals and $$$$$$ means that any democratic concept is quite meaningless.

i think it's already gone too and the really disappointing thing is there is zero effective opposition to it from within the USA. Bernie and AOC have been wheeled out on a tour, but they are not the people to lead a defense, they have even less credibility nationwide than Harris. Opposition will have to come from non politicians at grass roots level if they are to gain any traction

The reality of the US is just that it's not that progressive at its core; certainly not yet, maybe not ever, it could go either way as age demographics shift but I don't think it's ever going to be "massively" non-conservative... thus, the only effective opposition to all of this trash, is a more reasonable, professional, at least half-decent group that tends more the the "right hand side" of the Dems and the at-least-grownups side of the Republicans. Less of a "whoohoo revolution!" and more of a "let's get strict and serious". They want to be parented, they LOVE "Daddy Trump".

…if JD Vance got to be US President I don’t think there would be a chance in heck of standing down from his power chair…

It could be a
mental issue

I agree with that, if anything I think Vance is "playing along" with the current Trump/Musk political environment with his own slightly different (but ultimately not better) embitions in mind. I think he's 100% in it genuinely for the politics unlike Trump and especially Musk who have other motivations (primarily economic) but I don't for a second imagine they're "good" politics.

But yeah... if he gets into a position of real power he'll not give it back. He'd turn on Trump on the head of a pin.

More importantly though it's increasingly clear that Trump isn't the driving force behind anything that's happening; his "cult of personality" is a tool that they're using, and maybe a very important one, but he's not running the show... so if they can find a popular replacement and win with them, the "can he have a 3rd term" question becomes moot. It'll be a 3rd term of someone "Trump-like".

There is serious talk that Trump will turn it into a family dynasty, in which case Vance could be out on his ass in favour of a family member

Dynasty: A White House Saga

starring

Donald J Trump

Donald Trump Junior

Eric Trump

Ivanka Trump

Tiffany Trump

Barron Trump


:joker:

Could be in line for a very young president then - Barron is the only one with the popularity to win (legitimately, Elon and his bot-farms might tweak it of course). I hear people talking about Ivanka but I just don't see it... the red hat MAGA core and Musk-aligned incel crowd will go with almost anything, but they're not going to vote for a woman as their president.

Of course it'd be fair to say, that wouldn't even be in any way odd for the US, their politics has always been full of family dynasties.

I don't think that has been suggested but it'd be really funny if they tried. We are not politically setup to be anyway near an Constitutional Amendment era.

They should try actually, if they are that insistent. For one, people should see why we have guardrails in the first place. When they don't their way, maybe tearing down the system isn't always the first solution that should be provided.

As arista said, I can see him considering himself as a running mate lol. But seriously, can his ego handle his successor taking his credit? Vance genuinely has charisma and doesn't necessarily need anyone as a running mate, imo.