At this point I say bring the pain. I am already a serf and a wage slave to our corporate overlords, my life can't get any worse. I just want these degenerate assholes to suffer half as much as I will being forced to watch this monster destroy the country and all semblance of rule of law in this country. A person who believes American citizen children deserve to be arrested, dehumanized, and deported cause their parents are illegal immigrants but that the rich robbing billions from the people is the natural order and not a moral catastrophe has no moral fiber at all. The entire nation is now being run by literal psychopaths. I hope Trump triggers a global depression so severe the MAGAs actually wake up to the fact the rich are their enemy too. If they don't, the nation is doomed forever.
"my life can't get any worse"?!? Speaking as a man in his 70s who grew up with no polio vaccine in my childhood, abortion being illegal, outright racism and Jim Crow enshrined in the laws, corruption rampant in banking (look up the banking practice of redlining), etc, etc, etc, I'd say you won't believe how much worse your life can get! Resist!
Thank you. I am mid 70's and continue to be astonished by the desire on the part of many younger Americans for a return to what they believe were the "good old days." The images of life in the 50's as portrayed in "Leave it to Beaver," or "Father Knows Best" may have described how some Americans lived, but not most. For too many Americans the "good" manufacturing jobs still represented a minority of employment, were often dangerous. Women had limited access to employment, education, property ownership, and credit. Only half of Americans had any form of health insurance in 1950, only 55% were able to afford to own a home and just 25% had any form of retirement benefit other than Social Security. If some would like to return to these days, please leave me behind.
Trump supporters cared more about a Chinese weather balloon under Biden than the bioweapon China unleashed upon America in March 2020!?! The right wing echo chamber successfully blames everything on Democrats and so Democrats need to get better at politics and stop wishful thinking that Republicans will become reasonable.
Trump supporters believe Covid was a lab created bioweapon. The closest we came to a nuclear was around the 2020 election when China believed Trump would attack them with a nuclear weapon. Trump supporters still care more about the Chinese weather balloon and the fact helping Ukraine has brought us closer to nuclear war than events much much worse that happened under Trump. That’s called Biden Derangement Syndrome!!
Andy: Seriously? You hope Trump triggers a GLOBAL depression? You want foreign peoples to be punished for the wrongdoings of American voters?
I would invite you to think this through. Especially, having that attitude, what exactly would make you better than those "degenerate assholes" you profess to despise?
The US economy is about to tank to teach the voters a lesson about empowering fascist morons who despise them, and when it does we will drag the rest of the world down with us whether you like it or not cause everything is connected. What I want is irrelevent, the reality is thats whats going to happen and we all need to be prepared for it. God help us all.
Or we can implement many of the ideas that have been around for decades but the USA essentially vetoed - like taking world trade off the American $ and instead having a basket of currencies. We are going to go through a transition anyways - so lets go around the USA - and set up international arrangements that omit the USA and are more equitablexand sustainable. We were going to be forced to do this anyways with climate chaos, huge plastic islands in the oceans, depletion of Esrth's resources. Leave the USA to Trump and his techno bros - with huge walls totally encircling the continental USA with a cover ontop.
Good for you. As an American, all I can do is greive the potential nation we could have been if selfishness and hate had not corrupted the soul of the country from the inside.
"With a cover on top." The cloche from Jon Stewart's Daily Show? 😂 His humor and Substack writers like Prof Krugman are the only forces keeping me sane right now.
anarchy is not the solution. Martin Luther King taught us love is the answer. A depression will starve women and children. I want to believe that if he does not mess up, hey we were wrong. Imagine that! But if we are right, hopefully the damage is small this time. ONE MILLION people died the last time Stupid was in charge and that left a lot of us grieving. Here's hoping it only takes a little pain for the white working class to let go of the dream of a stupid racist dictator who will give welfare to whites only.
I can see where you're coming from. But what everyone needs to do is look down the road just a little, say ten years. Climate change is going to erase all these grievances because it will introduce so much instability that politics, and probably financial systems, will become moot. Paul is accurately demonstrating that healthy trade (and economic potential) depends upon predictable conditions, especially trade agreements. Now imagine a world where the insurance industry has failed because catastrophic weather events have made actuarial tables meaningless. Or the the value of lives and businesses that have been set back by climate induced disasters. The costs of rebuilding or relocating massive amounts of infrastructure. Where food supplies have a new bargaining power. Where those who want power and resources see the opportunity to take them by force. Where children grow up with no sense of social order.
In a way trump is just a preview. We are perhaps starting to see what chaos is possible, and trying to deal with putting out fires. I don't see that most people have a chance of breaking free of their need for "normal", but that ability is what the future will require.
Andy being from Canada and we don’t have a say in your shithole, i’m actually hoping a civil war breaks out and you guys can get to killing each other. That will be the best solution for the world. If Americans thought the world disliked you before well now we all actually hate you and wish the worse upon you. If you’re busy with your own problems you might not have the time to make our lives miserable.
Given Trump and his tech bros seem to think the world is somehow beholden to them - I would like to see a number of trade/defence agreements reached that simply leaves out the USA. Trump et al basically gave the finger to the world. So - lets leave them to their own devices - as Trump says - they havectheirvown trees, gas, oil - whatever - so if companies want to sell in the USA - they need to manufacture in the USA. OK - let just leave them out. Do a work/trade around - and the USA can be isolationist. However - that means nothing manufactured in the USA gets to be sold outside the continental USA and nothing from outside it can go in. As for Trump defending Canada and Mexico - dont think so. Against whom is the USA defending them? So again - USA has over 200 military bases around the world. The country with the next highest number is Russia with 9. So - while the USA is being isolationists - they can back up their military and surveillance toys and take them home as well. The world will survive delinkingvfrom the USA. A huge opportunity to define a totally new world order without USA domination.
The world should delink from the US? Have a totally new world order? Either you're a Putin plant or incredibly naive. Power will step into the vacuum of US withdrawal of its forces and presence in the world stage. That means Putin, Xi, and every other one existing and soon to come fascist dictator, including the radical Islamists. Good luck with your new world order.
How about DeepSeek AI causing US tech stocks to plummet and it supposedly utilizes open-source code so that anyone anywhere can improve it? I'm not a big fan of AI, however a decade+ ago, a young man employed at Goldman-Sachs went to jail for downloading an algorithmic technique he and others had developed through open-source code on a USB stick to go work with some other Russian ex-pat, who offered him a better financial arrangement than Goldman-Sachs. These US companies like exploitable labor that they can control, such as through sponsoring H1-b visa holders whose education was financed elsewhere. The US may start a war with China, because in our system, capital likes to be in control. Actually, labor will just be a pawn in both systems if one considers that rulers like to be in control, regardless of economic or political ideology.
Those are strictly not Americans. That's why they're being deported.
Also you're upset at being a "wage slave?" Illegal immigrants why they can get away with treating you that way: they already have an under class of slaves, why should they pay you more? That's basic economics.
Finally, MAGA is already the result of us "waking up." I was a moderate libertarian until Biden. DEI and the vaccine mandates created serious problems for most normal people and this is a reaction to that.
How exactly did DEI hurt you so much that you’d vote for an incompetent corrupt felon? Is giving everyone an equal chance so abhorrent to you?
Let’s face it, you were either already a Trumpist or you’re just a gullible rube who was easily conned about DEI and doesn’t understand how science works.
And you are not by any stretch of the imagination normal if you voted for that felon.
You are repeating a common misconception about voting. No, Trump did not win more than half the country. He won 49.8% of the vote which translated to 77 million, barely 2 million more than Kamala Harris at 75 million. The US Population is 341 million. So no, you are not part of some imaginary normal part of half the country. Besides, anybody voting for Trump because of a once in a century pandemic (inject bleach, ivermectin, it'll go away in April, I take no responsibility etc.) has already proven they don't have the slightest idea of how science works. Everyone's a genius in hindsight, but at the time people make the best decisions they can to save lives. Monday Morning Quarterbacks demonizing people for making the best choices they could are either grifters or just plain old stupid.
(A) As we've already established, that portion thate voted for him isn't anywhere close to half the population
(B) People voted for segregationists, Hitler etc. By definition that wasn't normal and those people are being judged by History. Just like how people who voted for Trump will be judged by History.
I think if everyone just stopped the knee jerk reactions to Trump - we have a huge opportunity here to define a new world order that is both much more sustainable and equitable while isolating the continental USA.
Totally understand. Just bothers me why would he want to hurt his own Country and ours. Prices will go up as well as inflation. Also forgot about 30, thousand plus Canadians volunteered for The Vietnam War.
Trump probably has orders to destroy the country from the inside from his master Putin. Also, he's a demented moron who believes he's the smartest man on earth, so he can do a ton of damage as his ego will never allow him to admit he was wrong about anything ever. Terrible quality to have in a leader.
If you do an internet search, the now-ruling former KGB class believe Trump will be the US Gorbachev. They hated him because I believe they think he sold out to western investors. No wonder they're in such glee. Schadenfreude.
He doesn't understand that he would hurt the US. He's decided that tariffs are money and income from the country the tariffs are imposed on, paid to the US. He gets ideas in his head, and because he's so sure he's the smartest man on earth, nothing, and certainly not facts or reasoning, will change his mind. That it hurts other countries is a big plus in his worldview, because hurting others is the way he thinks he shows the world how tough and strong he is. And I think there's a streak of sadism in there. Certainly there's hate if somebody's skin is other than lily white.
Could be medication. Saw a movie on him. (The Apprentice). Mentions it once in the movie. Not sure how true it is. Was a 99 cent rental not long ago on Apple.
1/2 of US does not treat us, Canadian, as friend. We have to be careful about our own democracy too. Pierre Poilievre, some called him mini-Trump, is leading in the poll. "National Post", "Globe and Mail", and many local papers act like WaPo and NYT. I have Evangelicals (I will not call them friends any more) came up to me and recited the MAGA propaganda to me. Everything gone wrong in the US is the fault of Biden and immigrant criminals. (One reason was that Trump is a good Christian because he held up the Bible. My Gosh). Trust me they are not blue collars and supposed to be educated. In the upcoming election, make the right choice. Listen to their messages and examine their platforms. US with Trump is a good example what Canada can become if we do not pick our leader correctly.
I hope I am wrong too. Maybe living in Alberta with Danielle Smith as the premier and BC lost to the Conservatives make me pessimistic. The rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric does not give me any comfort.
Please stop already. This is NOT a "slap in the face". It's much worse: an irredeemable declaration of insanity and an act of willful collective sabotage.
Canadians and other US allies should in fact be used to hubris and "slaps in the face" from Republican administrations and politicians. I'm old enough to remember Dubya's criminal march to war with Iraq and how allies who rightfully opposed this catastrophic move were relentlessly mocked as "weasels". It's one thing to deal with American hubris as an ally, but quite another to know that, going forward, the terms of all our alliances with this country are no longer binding.
Anne, half my country hates trump just as much as you do, and is outraged at what the other half has unleashed on us and the world (including Canada). It’s all over every reasonable news source.
Well, I gave up on X, so I’m posting on Threads now. There is a strong community of resistance connecting there. Also, The Bulwark and Lincoln Project and The Contrarian and Matt Stoller are all writing great articles here.
I think this Paul Krugman piece speaks to that issue. But I will say that if Trump is constantly threatening tariffs and other measures against other countries America will have no friends. I honestly can’t explain to you why he was re-elected. It is so disappointing and discouraging to me and millions of others. We’re doing what we can whether you can see it or not. Don’t give up on us just yet.
He was, in part, re-elected because some male Americans cannot abide a woman in power. That one cuts across ethnic groups more than the surveys might bore out. He also appealed to the current bro culture, and its obsession with crypto. Remember Trump gave a big speech at Bitcoin 2024 saying he would build a U.S. reserve of bitcoin (doubtful--another empty promise.) And of course "the economy"--which was distorted by Trump's lies, repeated often, across multiple platforms. The Dems did not use all the various forms of media effectively, and Biden wasn't very pushy about displaying the reforms he made. We should have had many more Presidential Addresses explaining what he passed and why it was significant for bolstering the economy. There should have been Presidential Talks about how unemployment was the lowest in 55 years. There also should have been Presidential Talks aimed at explaining our Capitalist system and how companies set prices, not the President--and why. There seem to be many people who don't know the basics of our Capitalist economy and for some reason think the President is omnipotent with regard to the various markets that feed into our grocery stores..
However, we cannot ignore that even while Biden was doing some really great things, Trump and the potential spectacle of his various court trials, were often the lead stories on many news channels and programs. Trump sucks the air right out of a room, whether that be a network room or the one you're standing in with him. Les
Moonves, the former head of CBS, said Trump was "good for ratings" and the news channels never forgot that one.
Who’s to say the election was fair? I don’t like going down this road but we currently have GOP trying to steal North Carolina Supreme Court seat and we all know trump tried to steal the last election.
They should be thankful that our politicians have a level head. If it as up to me and many other Canadians we’d have shut of the oil and electricity last week. He could have his inauguration in the bloody dark and cold. Make no mistake it will come.
They should be thankful that our politicians have a level head. If it was up to me and many other Canadians we’d have shut off the oil and electricity last week. He could have his inauguration in the bloody dark and cold. Make no mistake it will come.
Those surrounding him fancy themselves modern day robber barons like Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc. They may also be behind his idea of taking Greenland from Denmark for it's mining resources. Note that most of them attended Stanford & probably greatly admire another former president & Stanford graduate, Hoover. Hoover tariffs led to Hoovervilles, but the glamorous life of the roaring 20's that some of the inaugural attendees were excited to be seeing again never ended for the Great Gatsby set (Daisy, etc). Those celebrating outside of the billionaire inaugural parties are probably going to be left out in the cold in more ways than one in our future increasing Hoovervilles society--as if there isn't a high homeless population now.
In his first term he called out Jackson multiple times, placing his picture in the White House and hailing him as an example for "law and order". So far in this one he has cited McKinley multiple times. So you don't have to read his mind, just hear his words.
Like NAFTA, the USMCA is a ratified treaty among the three nations. Per our Constitution, all international treaties have the same force domestically as do our laws - treaties are the law of the land. Trump does not have the legal authority to violate the terms of that treaty; far from it, the Constitution says that the President will "...see that the laws are faithfully executed...". In order for him to legally violate any of the terms of the treaty, the US would first have to formally withdraw from the treaty, effectively repealing it, requiring both House and Senate approval and a Presidential signature.
None of that has happened, so applying the tariffs he's proposed would only expand his criminal record. Of course, many of his torrent of EOs since taking office are in violation of the Constitution, current law, or both, so it's not likely that matters much to him - all of this activity is part of his attempt to expand his powers far beyond those enumerated by the Constitution, with the goal being ultimate dictatorship. And if the government and the congress let it happen, it may well mark the end of our democracy.
This is Important. As in Really Important. Somebody has to stop all of his bullcrap, every bit of it, and not let any of it be implemented, or else what we lose by that will be incalculable.
“And if the government and the congress let it happen, it may well mark the end of our democracy.”
Sorry, but the Republican run Congress won’t step up and SCOTUS created a monarch with its immunity ruling last year. Our democratic republic died that day.
the last time he imposed tariffs like this, he alleged a 'national emergency' to justify going against treaties. I am not sure NAFTA/USMEXCAN has an emergency exception. And I don't recall if the US courts will review a declaration of emergency. I know that Truman tried it in the early 50s and I think the court stopped him. Of course there was not a court two-thirds full of spineless toadies in those days.
Congress ceded power to the president to impose a broad range of tariffs. This was done at a time when no one thought anyone as dumb as trump would ever be elected.
"what’s the point of negotiating with the United States? What’s an agreement worth if a U.S. president can decide to ignore the agreement whenever he feels like it?" If the United States is no longer the united states because $rump is quickly dismantling it, then not much point at all. At this point I'm not quite sure what will be left after $rump.
a lot of countries had that reaction when Trump canned the nuclear weapon deal with Iran, too. The difference now is that HE negotiated (or his people did) the US/Mex/Can deal and called it the best trade agreement ever, when it was completed. But that was several years ago, and Trump has trouble remembering the start of his sentences by the time he finishes them.
of course Canada is NOT a source of serious illegal immigration into the US, or a serious source of fentanyl. So that 'threat' is made up, as is most of what Trump says (which is not to say that he does not end up believing himself, alas.)
a _stopped_ clock is correct twice a day. a clock with an unreliable motor that changes speed at random intervals may _never_ be correct. so it is with Trump.
Finally! I have been reading widely to find this argument expressed at all, and here is it set out so eloquently.
"you have to ask, what’s the point of negotiating with the United States? What’s an agreement worth if a U.S. president can decide to ignore the agreement whenever he feels like it?"
Despicably, Trump put his own name on the latest revision and signed it, so can't even blame it on Biden.
Canada agreed to enter into long-term economic integration with the US in 1989 assuming that it would last, and paid a huge cost to do so.
No country will ever trust US promises again.
The impact is already huge.
Thank you Paul Krugman for putting your finger on core of the damage.
There's an (important) corollary to this argument. That is, why would foreign companies want to invest in the US if they know that the primary motivation to do so is a tariff, which will likely be removed once Trump is out of office? In other words, the threat of a high tariff is only valid as a threat if it continues to be a threat throughout successive presidencies.
I think this caught them off guard, so now they're busy calculating which end of Dumpy they're going to have to kiss, and how to funnel money to him since the Inauguation is no longer there to donate to.
I really don’t think Trump can do anything that will turn the country against him. Those that love him will accept anything he says; he’ll make money for the rich. The rest of us will continue as spectators.
One would assume that the invisible billionaires controlling Republican politicians would understand as well as Professor Krugman the hazards of Trump’s economic “policies”. After all, those billionaires are the major stockholders and thus have the most to lose from the market chaos Trump brings with him.
Or do they believe they can survive more or less intact and rebuild from the wreckage to their own design?
I think their philosophy is if you can't beat him, pretend to him join him, because he has an enemies list and no one can change his mind - so it is better to be in the boat than walking the gang plank and ending up in the water - just a guess.
According to Meidas+, the tech bros lost a trillion (with a t) dollars today after DeepSeek came out with its publicly accessible AI program. Maybe all the big businesses are trying to recalculate now that so much of their work and investments are worthless.
What I don't understand is why Canada's retaliation only consists tariffs of their own, which will cost Canadians too. Why not something positive sum, like ignoring US copyright? Free movies and TV shows will surely be popular too.
This comment might seem off the mark, but reports suggest that Russia wants to negotiate a new nuclear arms treaty with the Trump administration. We should all greatly fear that Putin will take Trump for a ride and negotiate a treaty that greatly favors Russia to the detriment of the US and Trump will call it a "victory" for the U.S. so that he can keep in the hunt for his Nobel peace prize (after all, Obama has one, so Trump needs one, too).
At this point I say bring the pain. I am already a serf and a wage slave to our corporate overlords, my life can't get any worse. I just want these degenerate assholes to suffer half as much as I will being forced to watch this monster destroy the country and all semblance of rule of law in this country. A person who believes American citizen children deserve to be arrested, dehumanized, and deported cause their parents are illegal immigrants but that the rich robbing billions from the people is the natural order and not a moral catastrophe has no moral fiber at all. The entire nation is now being run by literal psychopaths. I hope Trump triggers a global depression so severe the MAGAs actually wake up to the fact the rich are their enemy too. If they don't, the nation is doomed forever.
"my life can't get any worse"?!? Speaking as a man in his 70s who grew up with no polio vaccine in my childhood, abortion being illegal, outright racism and Jim Crow enshrined in the laws, corruption rampant in banking (look up the banking practice of redlining), etc, etc, etc, I'd say you won't believe how much worse your life can get! Resist!
Thank you. I am mid 70's and continue to be astonished by the desire on the part of many younger Americans for a return to what they believe were the "good old days." The images of life in the 50's as portrayed in "Leave it to Beaver," or "Father Knows Best" may have described how some Americans lived, but not most. For too many Americans the "good" manufacturing jobs still represented a minority of employment, were often dangerous. Women had limited access to employment, education, property ownership, and credit. Only half of Americans had any form of health insurance in 1950, only 55% were able to afford to own a home and just 25% had any form of retirement benefit other than Social Security. If some would like to return to these days, please leave me behind.
Scott and Morris,
What you're describing is exactly what trump wants to get back to.
Trump supporters cared more about a Chinese weather balloon under Biden than the bioweapon China unleashed upon America in March 2020!?! The right wing echo chamber successfully blames everything on Democrats and so Democrats need to get better at politics and stop wishful thinking that Republicans will become reasonable.
What bioweapon did China unleash in 2020?
And why would they release a bioweapon in the middle of their own country? The "COVID as a bioweapon" line makes no sense.
It never has.
Why would America sacrifice 7000 of our best and brightest to slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims??
I think he is talking about Covid, but I’m not sure. Doesn’t make sense.
Trump supporters believe Covid was a lab created bioweapon. The closest we came to a nuclear was around the 2020 election when China believed Trump would attack them with a nuclear weapon. Trump supporters still care more about the Chinese weather balloon and the fact helping Ukraine has brought us closer to nuclear war than events much much worse that happened under Trump. That’s called Biden Derangement Syndrome!!
Andy: Seriously? You hope Trump triggers a GLOBAL depression? You want foreign peoples to be punished for the wrongdoings of American voters?
I would invite you to think this through. Especially, having that attitude, what exactly would make you better than those "degenerate assholes" you profess to despise?
The US economy is about to tank to teach the voters a lesson about empowering fascist morons who despise them, and when it does we will drag the rest of the world down with us whether you like it or not cause everything is connected. What I want is irrelevent, the reality is thats whats going to happen and we all need to be prepared for it. God help us all.
Or we can implement many of the ideas that have been around for decades but the USA essentially vetoed - like taking world trade off the American $ and instead having a basket of currencies. We are going to go through a transition anyways - so lets go around the USA - and set up international arrangements that omit the USA and are more equitablexand sustainable. We were going to be forced to do this anyways with climate chaos, huge plastic islands in the oceans, depletion of Esrth's resources. Leave the USA to Trump and his techno bros - with huge walls totally encircling the continental USA with a cover ontop.
Good for you. As an American, all I can do is greive the potential nation we could have been if selfishness and hate had not corrupted the soul of the country from the inside.
"With a cover on top." The cloche from Jon Stewart's Daily Show? 😂 His humor and Substack writers like Prof Krugman are the only forces keeping me sane right now.
anarchy is not the solution. Martin Luther King taught us love is the answer. A depression will starve women and children. I want to believe that if he does not mess up, hey we were wrong. Imagine that! But if we are right, hopefully the damage is small this time. ONE MILLION people died the last time Stupid was in charge and that left a lot of us grieving. Here's hoping it only takes a little pain for the white working class to let go of the dream of a stupid racist dictator who will give welfare to whites only.
wild ranting is easy; thinking harder.
I can see where you're coming from. But what everyone needs to do is look down the road just a little, say ten years. Climate change is going to erase all these grievances because it will introduce so much instability that politics, and probably financial systems, will become moot. Paul is accurately demonstrating that healthy trade (and economic potential) depends upon predictable conditions, especially trade agreements. Now imagine a world where the insurance industry has failed because catastrophic weather events have made actuarial tables meaningless. Or the the value of lives and businesses that have been set back by climate induced disasters. The costs of rebuilding or relocating massive amounts of infrastructure. Where food supplies have a new bargaining power. Where those who want power and resources see the opportunity to take them by force. Where children grow up with no sense of social order.
In a way trump is just a preview. We are perhaps starting to see what chaos is possible, and trying to deal with putting out fires. I don't see that most people have a chance of breaking free of their need for "normal", but that ability is what the future will require.
Andy being from Canada and we don’t have a say in your shithole, i’m actually hoping a civil war breaks out and you guys can get to killing each other. That will be the best solution for the world. If Americans thought the world disliked you before well now we all actually hate you and wish the worse upon you. If you’re busy with your own problems you might not have the time to make our lives miserable.
Given Trump and his tech bros seem to think the world is somehow beholden to them - I would like to see a number of trade/defence agreements reached that simply leaves out the USA. Trump et al basically gave the finger to the world. So - lets leave them to their own devices - as Trump says - they havectheirvown trees, gas, oil - whatever - so if companies want to sell in the USA - they need to manufacture in the USA. OK - let just leave them out. Do a work/trade around - and the USA can be isolationist. However - that means nothing manufactured in the USA gets to be sold outside the continental USA and nothing from outside it can go in. As for Trump defending Canada and Mexico - dont think so. Against whom is the USA defending them? So again - USA has over 200 military bases around the world. The country with the next highest number is Russia with 9. So - while the USA is being isolationists - they can back up their military and surveillance toys and take them home as well. The world will survive delinkingvfrom the USA. A huge opportunity to define a totally new world order without USA domination.
The world should delink from the US? Have a totally new world order? Either you're a Putin plant or incredibly naive. Power will step into the vacuum of US withdrawal of its forces and presence in the world stage. That means Putin, Xi, and every other one existing and soon to come fascist dictator, including the radical Islamists. Good luck with your new world order.
I think BRICS is just that.
How about DeepSeek AI causing US tech stocks to plummet and it supposedly utilizes open-source code so that anyone anywhere can improve it? I'm not a big fan of AI, however a decade+ ago, a young man employed at Goldman-Sachs went to jail for downloading an algorithmic technique he and others had developed through open-source code on a USB stick to go work with some other Russian ex-pat, who offered him a better financial arrangement than Goldman-Sachs. These US companies like exploitable labor that they can control, such as through sponsoring H1-b visa holders whose education was financed elsewhere. The US may start a war with China, because in our system, capital likes to be in control. Actually, labor will just be a pawn in both systems if one considers that rulers like to be in control, regardless of economic or political ideology.
Clearly put Andy.
Those are strictly not Americans. That's why they're being deported.
Also you're upset at being a "wage slave?" Illegal immigrants why they can get away with treating you that way: they already have an under class of slaves, why should they pay you more? That's basic economics.
Finally, MAGA is already the result of us "waking up." I was a moderate libertarian until Biden. DEI and the vaccine mandates created serious problems for most normal people and this is a reaction to that.
How exactly did DEI hurt you so much that you’d vote for an incompetent corrupt felon? Is giving everyone an equal chance so abhorrent to you?
Let’s face it, you were either already a Trumpist or you’re just a gullible rube who was easily conned about DEI and doesn’t understand how science works.
And you are not by any stretch of the imagination normal if you voted for that felon.
He won the popular vote. So you’re saying more than half the country “is not by any stretch of the imagination normal.”
I think you should probably reconsider how you’re thinking about the political situation here.
You are repeating a common misconception about voting. No, Trump did not win more than half the country. He won 49.8% of the vote which translated to 77 million, barely 2 million more than Kamala Harris at 75 million. The US Population is 341 million. So no, you are not part of some imaginary normal part of half the country. Besides, anybody voting for Trump because of a once in a century pandemic (inject bleach, ivermectin, it'll go away in April, I take no responsibility etc.) has already proven they don't have the slightest idea of how science works. Everyone's a genius in hindsight, but at the time people make the best decisions they can to save lives. Monday Morning Quarterbacks demonizing people for making the best choices they could are either grifters or just plain old stupid.
Regardless it's a huge portion of the population, almost half. Calling them "not by any stretch of the imagination normal" is incorrect by definition.
(A) As we've already established, that portion thate voted for him isn't anywhere close to half the population
(B) People voted for segregationists, Hitler etc. By definition that wasn't normal and those people are being judged by History. Just like how people who voted for Trump will be judged by History.
Watch and See.
I think if everyone just stopped the knee jerk reactions to Trump - we have a huge opportunity here to define a new world order that is both much more sustainable and equitable while isolating the continental USA.
Seems like a Slap in the face for Canadians. That is the thanks we get for helping in Afghanistan The Iran Hostage Crisis Korea, WW1 and WW 11
Also we helped when planes landed in Canada. Housed and fed the passengers.
Thanks!!!!!!!!
Please understand how sorry millions of us are.
We tried to prevent this fascist felon from gaining office.
We will try to resurrect our democracy as soon as possible.
Totally understand. Just bothers me why would he want to hurt his own Country and ours. Prices will go up as well as inflation. Also forgot about 30, thousand plus Canadians volunteered for The Vietnam War.
Canadians just helped LA put out wild fires not that trump cares
I honestly believe Donald Trump cares about one person, himself. Likes to use people for his own advantage.
Trump probably has orders to destroy the country from the inside from his master Putin. Also, he's a demented moron who believes he's the smartest man on earth, so he can do a ton of damage as his ego will never allow him to admit he was wrong about anything ever. Terrible quality to have in a leader.
If you do an internet search, the now-ruling former KGB class believe Trump will be the US Gorbachev. They hated him because I believe they think he sold out to western investors. No wonder they're in such glee. Schadenfreude.
Having to live with the smoke coming off fires to the west, I thank you and your fellow citizens for helping LA and other western US fires.
He doesn't understand that he would hurt the US. He's decided that tariffs are money and income from the country the tariffs are imposed on, paid to the US. He gets ideas in his head, and because he's so sure he's the smartest man on earth, nothing, and certainly not facts or reasoning, will change his mind. That it hurts other countries is a big plus in his worldview, because hurting others is the way he thinks he shows the world how tough and strong he is. And I think there's a streak of sadism in there. Certainly there's hate if somebody's skin is other than lily white.
Which makes me wonder why he paints his face orange or is it pretend tan?
Could be medication. Saw a movie on him. (The Apprentice). Mentions it once in the movie. Not sure how true it is. Was a 99 cent rental not long ago on Apple.
Because Donald Trump is a spoiled shit of a five year old brat in an almost 80 year old creaking body. He is, and always has been, a vindictive prick.
If Canada is looking for new provinces...like New York...I think there may be some people very interested here.
1/2 of US does not treat us, Canadian, as friend. We have to be careful about our own democracy too. Pierre Poilievre, some called him mini-Trump, is leading in the poll. "National Post", "Globe and Mail", and many local papers act like WaPo and NYT. I have Evangelicals (I will not call them friends any more) came up to me and recited the MAGA propaganda to me. Everything gone wrong in the US is the fault of Biden and immigrant criminals. (One reason was that Trump is a good Christian because he held up the Bible. My Gosh). Trust me they are not blue collars and supposed to be educated. In the upcoming election, make the right choice. Listen to their messages and examine their platforms. US with Trump is a good example what Canada can become if we do not pick our leader correctly.
I hope you are wrong. Do not take that the wrong way.
Just thinking; We Canadians separate church from state.
The US has slowly overtime been embracing it.
And Donald Trump has been using it to his own advantage.
I hope I am wrong too. Maybe living in Alberta with Danielle Smith as the premier and BC lost to the Conservatives make me pessimistic. The rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric does not give me any comfort.
I wish the Pipelines did get approved for the east and west. With strict guidelines for safety. Actually much safer then rail in my opinion.
Sad part is the United States is getting oil from Alberta at a discount, and Donald Trump does not care.
Please stop already. This is NOT a "slap in the face". It's much worse: an irredeemable declaration of insanity and an act of willful collective sabotage.
Canadians and other US allies should in fact be used to hubris and "slaps in the face" from Republican administrations and politicians. I'm old enough to remember Dubya's criminal march to war with Iraq and how allies who rightfully opposed this catastrophic move were relentlessly mocked as "weasels". It's one thing to deal with American hubris as an ally, but quite another to know that, going forward, the terms of all our alliances with this country are no longer binding.
K Keep writing for us - it helps moderate my accelerating blood pressure.
Current thinking in Canada is FU
Don't travel to US, don't buy from US.
He's an idiot but don't see anyone speaking out.
Anne, half my country hates trump just as much as you do, and is outraged at what the other half has unleashed on us and the world (including Canada). It’s all over every reasonable news source.
Plenty of people are speaking out.
Where? Lots of complaints re prices. Very few re the principle of having friends.
Well, I gave up on X, so I’m posting on Threads now. There is a strong community of resistance connecting there. Also, The Bulwark and Lincoln Project and The Contrarian and Matt Stoller are all writing great articles here.
All about prices. Very, very few about not screwing your friends Or having friends.
I think this Paul Krugman piece speaks to that issue. But I will say that if Trump is constantly threatening tariffs and other measures against other countries America will have no friends. I honestly can’t explain to you why he was re-elected. It is so disappointing and discouraging to me and millions of others. We’re doing what we can whether you can see it or not. Don’t give up on us just yet.
He was, in part, re-elected because some male Americans cannot abide a woman in power. That one cuts across ethnic groups more than the surveys might bore out. He also appealed to the current bro culture, and its obsession with crypto. Remember Trump gave a big speech at Bitcoin 2024 saying he would build a U.S. reserve of bitcoin (doubtful--another empty promise.) And of course "the economy"--which was distorted by Trump's lies, repeated often, across multiple platforms. The Dems did not use all the various forms of media effectively, and Biden wasn't very pushy about displaying the reforms he made. We should have had many more Presidential Addresses explaining what he passed and why it was significant for bolstering the economy. There should have been Presidential Talks about how unemployment was the lowest in 55 years. There also should have been Presidential Talks aimed at explaining our Capitalist system and how companies set prices, not the President--and why. There seem to be many people who don't know the basics of our Capitalist economy and for some reason think the President is omnipotent with regard to the various markets that feed into our grocery stores..
However, we cannot ignore that even while Biden was doing some really great things, Trump and the potential spectacle of his various court trials, were often the lead stories on many news channels and programs. Trump sucks the air right out of a room, whether that be a network room or the one you're standing in with him. Les
Moonves, the former head of CBS, said Trump was "good for ratings" and the news channels never forgot that one.
Who’s to say the election was fair? I don’t like going down this road but we currently have GOP trying to steal North Carolina Supreme Court seat and we all know trump tried to steal the last election.
A day late and a pound short.
They should be thankful that our politicians have a level head. If it as up to me and many other Canadians we’d have shut of the oil and electricity last week. He could have his inauguration in the bloody dark and cold. Make no mistake it will come.
If I were in your shoes, regardless of country, I would avoid spending any money that would benefit the US. Especially the farmers.
They should be thankful that our politicians have a level head. If it was up to me and many other Canadians we’d have shut off the oil and electricity last week. He could have his inauguration in the bloody dark and cold. Make no mistake it will come.
trump 1.0 wanted to be Andrew Jackson. trump 2.0 wants to be William McKinley. trump doesn't know how that ended for McKinley.
Those surrounding him fancy themselves modern day robber barons like Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc. They may also be behind his idea of taking Greenland from Denmark for it's mining resources. Note that most of them attended Stanford & probably greatly admire another former president & Stanford graduate, Hoover. Hoover tariffs led to Hoovervilles, but the glamorous life of the roaring 20's that some of the inaugural attendees were excited to be seeing again never ended for the Great Gatsby set (Daisy, etc). Those celebrating outside of the billionaire inaugural parties are probably going to be left out in the cold in more ways than one in our future increasing Hoovervilles society--as if there isn't a high homeless population now.
In his first term he called out Jackson multiple times, placing his picture in the White House and hailing him as an example for "law and order". So far in this one he has cited McKinley multiple times. So you don't have to read his mind, just hear his words.
Trump has the intelligence of a child. His mind is a coloring book written by Jeffrey Dahmer, age 6.
better than a banal shark. they'll bore you with platitudes, then eat you
Go away.
The troll is back. Must have been seeking mental health treatment yesterday that clearly didn’t work. Ignore and don’t engage.
The troll is back. Must have been seeking mental health treatment yesterday that clearly didn’t work. Ignore and don’t engage.
Like NAFTA, the USMCA is a ratified treaty among the three nations. Per our Constitution, all international treaties have the same force domestically as do our laws - treaties are the law of the land. Trump does not have the legal authority to violate the terms of that treaty; far from it, the Constitution says that the President will "...see that the laws are faithfully executed...". In order for him to legally violate any of the terms of the treaty, the US would first have to formally withdraw from the treaty, effectively repealing it, requiring both House and Senate approval and a Presidential signature.
None of that has happened, so applying the tariffs he's proposed would only expand his criminal record. Of course, many of his torrent of EOs since taking office are in violation of the Constitution, current law, or both, so it's not likely that matters much to him - all of this activity is part of his attempt to expand his powers far beyond those enumerated by the Constitution, with the goal being ultimate dictatorship. And if the government and the congress let it happen, it may well mark the end of our democracy.
This is Important. As in Really Important. Somebody has to stop all of his bullcrap, every bit of it, and not let any of it be implemented, or else what we lose by that will be incalculable.
“And if the government and the congress let it happen, it may well mark the end of our democracy.”
Sorry, but the Republican run Congress won’t step up and SCOTUS created a monarch with its immunity ruling last year. Our democratic republic died that day.
the last time he imposed tariffs like this, he alleged a 'national emergency' to justify going against treaties. I am not sure NAFTA/USMEXCAN has an emergency exception. And I don't recall if the US courts will review a declaration of emergency. I know that Truman tried it in the early 50s and I think the court stopped him. Of course there was not a court two-thirds full of spineless toadies in those days.
Congress ceded power to the president to impose a broad range of tariffs. This was done at a time when no one thought anyone as dumb as trump would ever be elected.
"what’s the point of negotiating with the United States? What’s an agreement worth if a U.S. president can decide to ignore the agreement whenever he feels like it?" If the United States is no longer the united states because $rump is quickly dismantling it, then not much point at all. At this point I'm not quite sure what will be left after $rump.
a lot of countries had that reaction when Trump canned the nuclear weapon deal with Iran, too. The difference now is that HE negotiated (or his people did) the US/Mex/Can deal and called it the best trade agreement ever, when it was completed. But that was several years ago, and Trump has trouble remembering the start of his sentences by the time he finishes them.
of course Canada is NOT a source of serious illegal immigration into the US, or a serious source of fentanyl. So that 'threat' is made up, as is most of what Trump says (which is not to say that he does not end up believing himself, alas.)
A very FU economy for one and likely a civil war or death camps.
Paul Krugman is writing wonderful stuff on economics and geopolitical issues for FREE on substack.
His latest post is on Trump's tariff threats.
They say a broken clock is right twice a day. I think Trump is going to come under that average.
a _stopped_ clock is correct twice a day. a clock with an unreliable motor that changes speed at random intervals may _never_ be correct. so it is with Trump.
Finally! I have been reading widely to find this argument expressed at all, and here is it set out so eloquently.
"you have to ask, what’s the point of negotiating with the United States? What’s an agreement worth if a U.S. president can decide to ignore the agreement whenever he feels like it?"
Despicably, Trump put his own name on the latest revision and signed it, so can't even blame it on Biden.
Canada agreed to enter into long-term economic integration with the US in 1989 assuming that it would last, and paid a huge cost to do so.
No country will ever trust US promises again.
The impact is already huge.
Thank you Paul Krugman for putting your finger on core of the damage.
There's an (important) corollary to this argument. That is, why would foreign companies want to invest in the US if they know that the primary motivation to do so is a tariff, which will likely be removed once Trump is out of office? In other words, the threat of a high tariff is only valid as a threat if it continues to be a threat throughout successive presidencies.
Also, those supply chains take time to develop. Add to that the unstable environment, getting this all up and running faces headwinds.
You'd think the American car companies would be screaming, wouldn't you?
I think this caught them off guard, so now they're busy calculating which end of Dumpy they're going to have to kiss, and how to funnel money to him since the Inauguation is no longer there to donate to.
I really don’t think Trump can do anything that will turn the country against him. Those that love him will accept anything he says; he’ll make money for the rich. The rest of us will continue as spectators.
No. Victims.
Apparently happy to lemming our way off the cliff, too.
“Marat/Sade” as sung by Judy Collins would also have been an appropriate choice of music.
One would assume that the invisible billionaires controlling Republican politicians would understand as well as Professor Krugman the hazards of Trump’s economic “policies”. After all, those billionaires are the major stockholders and thus have the most to lose from the market chaos Trump brings with him.
Or do they believe they can survive more or less intact and rebuild from the wreckage to their own design?
They are not so invisible anymore.
I think their philosophy is if you can't beat him, pretend to him join him, because he has an enemies list and no one can change his mind - so it is better to be in the boat than walking the gang plank and ending up in the water - just a guess.
According to Meidas+, the tech bros lost a trillion (with a t) dollars today after DeepSeek came out with its publicly accessible AI program. Maybe all the big businesses are trying to recalculate now that so much of their work and investments are worthless.
What I don't understand is why Canada's retaliation only consists tariffs of their own, which will cost Canadians too. Why not something positive sum, like ignoring US copyright? Free movies and TV shows will surely be popular too.
Maybe it could join the EU ? I'm only half joking.
SWEENY TODD WHAT? I love you Dr K!!!!!!!!!
This comment might seem off the mark, but reports suggest that Russia wants to negotiate a new nuclear arms treaty with the Trump administration. We should all greatly fear that Putin will take Trump for a ride and negotiate a treaty that greatly favors Russia to the detriment of the US and Trump will call it a "victory" for the U.S. so that he can keep in the hunt for his Nobel peace prize (after all, Obama has one, so Trump needs one, too).
Luckily MBS is already funneling billions to Trump and so Putin has already been replaced!