Gets away with it? For him maybe; for America and the rest of the world, No. It’s not the malice or the cruelty, it’s the stupidity of this that is staggering. One example (this from China vs the U.S.): China retaliated against Trump’s extortion by levying 25pc tariffs on U.S. beef, effectively shutting it out. Australia, Uruguay and Brazil - all hit with U.S. tariffs too - simply switched exports to China. Result: the U.S. beef producer has lost China probably forever (why would China ever trust America again?) while the others benefit despite the tariffs. Same result applies to soybeans: Australian and Brazilian farmers make a killing; US farmers lose out. All probably die-hard Republicans as are the cattle ranchers. Will we hear a peep?
It seems to me that this twisted thug is the ultimate grifter to whom money is everything and the only thing that matters to him. It’s my opinion he announces new tariffs to drive the.market down at which time he buys stocks. Then he announces temporary pauses at which time the market goes up and he can sell at huge gains. Notice the temporary nature of h the pauses so he can repeat the whole process. Just one man’s opinion.
In my opinion we’re being cynically played by Trump once again. Now all we’re talking about — again — is tariffs! Meanwhile, The regime is quickly putting together a 40,000-man gestapo police force! Come on, Paul, don’t be fooled again.
Apparently he can walk and chew gum at the same time dude. Just because he's assembling a gestapo state in full view does not mean that this moron we have elected to lead this nation full of ignorance isn't also busy wrecking our/"Biden's" economy. The most paranoid and petty among us are at the wheel and the cliff looms.
Well stated, David Greenberg. Thank you. All Trump wants is money and Papa Putin’s approval, of which he may be tiring. Let US hope that Poland will just send on to Ukraine the US weapons shipment that Hegseth stopped.
Another aspect of this is if at this point if Trump ever does feel like he has lost some of his pile because of his actions he just finds someone like Paramount from whom he can extort a bribe.
While I can’t disagree with your comment and his low life approach to just about everything, I do believe he has an evil shrewdness about him that enables corruption on every level.
He is trying to bankrupt the country and devalue the dollar so you WILL SUBMIT...hungry works BEST. He is invested in gold and bit coin and thinks he will control the world...overreach to put it mildly ! Quite astounding tho to think they would even try..........
Farmers used and use a lot of illegal labor because the H-2A visa necessitates a labor certification, an I-129 petition, etc. - al costing time and money. The petition can be denied (happens 1-in-5.) The H-2A visa brings the worker in for one year, which can be extended twice. If the worker is needed for a longer period the whole process has to start over. Employers must provide the worker with housing & transportation.
The H-2A can bring his wife - if she is willing to suffer the misery especially created for H-4 visa holders. (The husband is working legally, but the wife will probably work illegally.) So better the worker comes alone.
That all said, the number of requests have gone upward and so have the approved petitions. Last year almost 400,000 H-2A visas were issued.
Currently about half the AG workers have legal status.
If you need a worker to do a job here, give him/her a Green Card!
I think you're right on soybeans but I'm not sure if, say, Australian beef exports, in the medium to long run, can be sustained without export subsidies from the Australian government. Farmers generally, as in the US, rely on all manner of subsidies to keep the farms running, and export subsidies are part of the same equation but an add-on, and this wouldn't help the budget bottom-lines much, I don't think. Opportunity costs, see: you'd have to cut expenditure elsewhere in the economy to fund the subsidies. And then there's another problem: beef producers may be tempted to flood, say, the Chinese market with cheap beef. And they are 30-50% less in price, as I understand it, than US beef used to be sold in China. The third problem is we don't know just how much Chinese domestic demand is for imported beef. If demand ramps up because of cheap beef prices, these prices will rise. But, meanwhile, the Chinese economy is still staggering, its GDP far lower than it became accustomed to in the previous few decades. Real wages in China haven't really gone up by much at all. I am much more cautious about the deviation of items like beef to countries like China. They also don't want to hurt their own producers. Bringing in cheaper beef will hurt Chinese beef producers down the line, and sooner than later. All this could turn out to be a far uglier mess and of course we have a moron as president of the United States who can't tell his ass from his elbow. Or his goons like Scott Bessent and others for that matter.
Already happening. Fully kitted National Guard troops yesterday assaulted LA's MacArthur Park in search of brown folks be they immigrants or citizens alike. According to the astute David Frum of The Atlantic, this is all practice. For what? The inevitable invocation of martial law and interference, if not outright cancelation, of the 2026 and beyond elections. Trump, MAGA, MAGA/GOP Congress are not fooling around. They are playing for keeps. And permanent control of the former US of A. Bet on it. It's a lock.
Heather Cox Richardson reported that “ Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass arrived and spoke with Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.
Later, Bovino told Bill Melugin of the Fox News Channel, “I don’t work for Karen Bass. Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.”
Frum is nearly always correct about Trump Inc., e.g., on the eve of Trump I's first inauguration, Frum presciently predicted the paramount goal of Trump's administration was enrichment of the Trump family, i.e., Trump Inc. So it went. So it now goes. Frum is not wrong about inevitability of military enforcement of the regime's edicts. Whisky Pete will jump when beckoned. He's raring to go.
PS FOX had the privilege of being imbedded with the assault force. [Revealing who gave this permission would be golden.] As in real reporting in a real war [as this now is], although FOX's unique privilege was not reporting.
Invading forces are at a huge disadvantage. They don't belong and the hostile population, even when severely outgunned can be devastating. We had overwhelming force in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam.
I hope it never gets to that.
The people of the occupied areas need to remind the invaders that they are Americans not the Nazi Gestapo, this isn't the American way. There are probably some ICE and National Guard who are relishing their bullying roles, but I bet most of them are uncomfortable with what's happening. The people in the occupied areas should attempt to appeal to the invaders sense of decency. If possible, talk to them politely, give them water bottles...etc. Don't allow MAGA to separate Americans.
The city/state officials need to make clear demands to the public. 1. No masked, anonymous actions. If the forces are carrying out the will of the people let them do it in the open with pride. 2. Video coverage of all actions of the US forces and the protesters. Protestors should be held accountable for their actions and none of it should cross the line into assault.
Democrats need to make a clear public case that this is a waste of money. Compare ICE expenditures to SNAP and Medicaid cuts.
Democrats need to make a clear public case that the deportations which were sold as getting rid of foreign criminals was a lie, the deportations are of working people with families many who've been in the country for decades.
Media needs to start lists of detained and deported who are family people, workers who pay taxes and SS. Put faces and bios to the numbers.
Don't have the protests mid-week when working people can't go.
Trump doesn't actually care about saving money and cutting waste. He just floated it to distract his base and the rest of us with his "shock and awe" employee cuts. If he and the GOP actually cared about the debt, they would not have passed the Big UGLY bill that harms the most vulnerable.
And then there is Gaza. Unlikely US troops. Instead Trump is using Israel's Defence Forces for that, as in the clearing of the Strip. Trump has implied/surreptitiously demanded (?) that Gaza be cleared and opened to outside [Trump Inc.] investment. Cleared of you know whom. And it does appear that Netanyahu is in process of expulsions. For as we know, there are hotels, pools, nightclubs, and cabanas to build. Again, by Trump Inc.
I would rather believe that any development in Gaza or elsewhere in the Middle East carrying the Trump logo or ownership would be prime targets for every jihadi group from Mali and Niger to Somalia and eastward to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Right, he's using tariffs to see what these countries will offer him personally. It has nothing to do with what will help the US. He tells this to his followers everyday and they continue to choose to ignore it and make excuses for his behavior like he is something he is not nor has ever been, a leader.
Meaning it’s all about creating attention, headlines, conflict. He doesn’t have goals other than getting headlines and (in his delusional mind) feeling dominant and in control. So good luck trying to make sense of it from an economic standpoint. Also, malignant narcissists are masters at emotional manipulation, making some people bask in the fake ‘charm’ that some people describe when they interact with this sick man. When you look at trump’s behaviour through this lens you can see he will never stop the Tariff Scam. If everyone in the world refused to talk to, negotiate with or wrote about this stuff he would have to find something else. Probably an actual military war. The man is demented and it’s only going to get worse.
He can apply tariffs without even consulting other countries if he’s demented enough. The importing company pays the tariff if they want to pick up their goods at the dock. It’s a revenue raising scheme.
The other country might take action but he has threatened them with huge tariffs if they do.
He is not a negotiator because he can't conceive of a "win-win" situation. He has to win, to dominate. Trade negotiations are all about details and making concessions and compromising. Trump cannot do any of that.
Trump is no more a businessman, than a would be mafia boss. Unfortunately, he portrays himself as King, in a kingless land. In business, you can act as an autocrat with family but not with most employees. In closing, a businessman doesn't file for bankruptcy 13 times, nor skip paying banks and his contractors. Trump is no more a businessman than an uneducated small time crook.
It’s worth listening to what Japanese opposition lawmaker Shinji Oguma said earlier about Trump’s tariffs. He said it was like a “delinquent kid extorting somebody” and "If you get mugged and put money in their hands, they will come back to mug us."
Because he cannot think strategically beyond the moment and lacks any common sense, he is incapable of being a master negotiator- his way of negotiating will always involve a bribe, extortion and/or a threat.
When one grew up in a fantasy land, continued to live in one till today, it should be no surprise that he ‘likes’ his own little world the the minion vying for his grace of ‘attention.’ Of course the woeful 2025 world, the JD and the Gnomes, and DeStephen, ‘I’m completely nits!’ Miller, the Wormtongue to our Theoden are in charge…”please master, you deserve (we need) you to get in a second round of golf today.”
Like sharks and enriching boats, like tariffs and immigrant gangs, the tight little world of Donny-John’s Sewer cuckoos.
The worst is that they are intentionally eating the seed corn, the children that would be our next hero’s.
Us old farts need these creative, youthful, immigrants and all, to rebuild our country when we regain control…tow major thoughts, the Supreme Court has been at the center of this take-over, from money as free speech to reducing our freedoms, to letting him have a ‘get out of jail free card’, their ruling are insane! We need Congress to write laws, and need a few amendments to our constitution.
One clear need is a bill of responsibilities to complement the Bill of Rights…community, service, voting, volunteering, working hard, children and the future! The founders assumed adults would know and do these things because they were amazingly mature thirty year olds…we need both guardrails, Bill of Rights, and Responsibilities—service, education, healthcare, media…
Paramount/CBS settled Trump's 60 Minutes extortion claim for $16 million, but hey no apology for being extorted! Is the $16M settlement bribery or extortion? Both sides are corrupt, the public is victimized but there is no accountability.
Mr. Trump enjoys hurting anyone he can hurt using his power. The list starts with the undocumented immigrants, Medicaid and Obama Care recepients, and foreigners who live on producing goods for US consumers, and let's not forget those African childres who have benefited from USAID. He has been consistent on this mission.
Undocumented migrants have been deported regularly over the last 30 years. This country does not want (more) immigrants. Especially not if they come to work here.
Answer: Because he wants the immigrants to work, he just wants them too scared to make any noise if they are abused or worse.
In other words: Trump is an immoral monster who hurts and uses others to boost his fragile ego. Trump is a psychopath, there is no other human being in the world that should have been giving the title of POTUS once, much less twice.
No one has gone after big employers in the last 30 years, except in a few cases. Rep as well as Dem politicians receive monies from big AG, developers, etc. to be re-elected.
The employers will point out that the H-2A visa system is cumbersome and does not allow them to keep the experienced/skilled workers they need. The politicians do not have the guts to give the immigration system the good do-over it needs. They will tinker with the alphabet-soup of visas, but that is it. Their indecision made possible for the cartels to take over part of the immigration system.
Of course Prez Trump wants legal immigrants to work, he has never said anything against it. Like all non-immigrants, the H-2As and H-1As know that by keeping their mouth shut, they are keeping their job.
I doubt he even knows about the earlier trade agreements. Or he might be vaguely aware of them but just not care. He needs to raise revenue to pay for his big tax cuts. So, back to tariffs.
I saw another article in which he’s threatening pharmaceutical companies. They must move manufacturing to the US. Or they get 200% tariffs.
Agree. The entire head & neck of a red headed woodpecker is red - as if he’s wearing a ski mask. A pileated woodpecker has only some red & looks like Woody the Woodpecker (because he was based on a pileated woodpecker.)
I was thinking sort of the same thing! I felt a little relieved that I knew something (that it’s a pileated woodpecker) that PK did not know because most of the time I am humbled by his knowledge.
I’m curious. If dear leader is mandating the tariff “policy,” where does the money paid by the importer end up? It seems like dear leader can just as surely direct that money to be deposited into a separate receiver fund, such the America First PAC, Trump crypto or some other opaque money scheme in order to allow dear leader to benefit directly without interference of, say, the Treasury Department. Do we have any idea where the money is going??? It is seems like a perfect grift vehicle with no possible oversight
I believe it's supposed to go the the Treasury, but good question. Yet more insidious is the graft made possible when Trump has the ability to excuse persons and corporations from tariffs that affect their competition.
Win-Win. The Grifter keeps the ‘protection’ fees err… tariffs and the consumers pay higher prices set by the vendor to recover the extra cost(s) of doing business with the Grifter.
Hurray for the snag! (It's a standing dead or dying tree. These trees play a vital role in the ecosystem, providing habitat and food for a wide range of wildlife. Woodpeckers excavate cavities in snags for nesting and also feed on insects within the decaying wood.)
That would be huge!! You (and fellow Birders for Krugman, a new substack(?)) my friends will be beyond thrilled to hear that we have *multiple* whippoorwills calling in the woods near my home in NW Connecticut. First time in 30 years!
We have many red-bellied woodpecker here in central MA.. red head on top. The red-headed woodpecker is not here- looks like he had his whole head dipped in red paint.
So I agree this pecker looks like the pileated -- rare here.
Yep, Mike, I agree. I have one in my woods here in Central NC When I moved here 50 years ago, they were thought to be nearly extinct in NC, but they've made a comeback. Not due to anything the locals have done, mind you. These folks have never seen a tree that didn't need cutting down!
A Voice from Europe – Watching with Growing Concern
Once again, we’re witnessing Donald Trump unilaterally upending international trade norms — this time with sweeping tariffs against long-standing allies like Japan and South Korea. But one question keeps nagging at me: Why is a single individual still allowed to make such consequential decisions on global trade?
Isn’t the authority to impose tariffs supposed to rest with Congress? Hasn't the U.S. repeatedly celebrated its system of checks and balances as a cornerstone of democracy? So where are those checks now?
To an outside observer, this looks like a deep constitutional failure. The President seems able to break international agreements, ignore ratified treaties like KORUS, and undermine global trade law — all without consequence. Maybe it’s time to stop pretending that the U.S. Constitution is sacrosanct and ask: Does it need a serious update for the 21st century?
And here’s another sobering thought: if even allies no longer take U.S. agreements seriously, why should adversaries? Why should anyone enter into any deal with a country whose executive leadership treats commitments like campaign slogans — temporary and disposable?
It’s almost as if the rest of the world has adapted. They’ve started treating U.S. policy pronouncements like Trump’s Truth Social posts: noisy, erratic, and best ignored. Diplomacy replaced by posturing. Institutions replaced by individuals. Order replaced by improvisation.
Call it what you want — but from here, it looks dangerously close to anarchy in a suit and tie.
"But one question keeps nagging at me: Why is a single individual still allowed to make such consequential decisions on global trade?"
Eight years ago when Trump first took power, Republicans quickly found out that almost everything they wanted to do was unconstitutional, and the few things that weren't, like the ACA repeal, were so hideously unpopular that they were a real danger to elected officials.
The hack they've found around it is that if they allow Trump to do all the wrecking for them, and they, instead of supporting him, simply don't do anything to stop him, hopefully he'll be able to do everything they want without any of it sticking to them.
And it’s not just those in federal office. Gov. Abbott of Texas has refused to call a special election for the Congressional Office of the late Sylvester Turner who died in March. That is a very blue district, and keeping the office vacant meant one less Democratic Congressman to vote against the recent big awful bill.
I wish that were widely known, Ada. Americans don’t approve of cheating. Well, at least some Americans don’t like it, especially if the cheating does not advantage them.
It's more than the cheating. It is the utter disrespect for the significant portion of your constituents who have different interests or different solutions to political problems than yours. Abbott's willingness to just erase his constituents from the political equation is callous beyond measure. I hope his disenfranchised voters can take an appropriate sanction against his indifference to their participation in "we the people."
Is there no requirement to call an election? If a Canadian member of Parliament died in office or resigned, there must be a by-election (as we call them).
Astute observation. Congress (the Rs, including Collins) has allowed itself to be absorbed by the executive branch, which set off alarms at many bucolic cemeteries across the US where the Founding Fathers are variously interred: the spin cycles at each gravesite are unprecedented.
The United States has been hijacked by right wing extremists. These extremists over decades have infiltrated every decision making branch of government: the presidency, Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives), the Supreme Court, the Pentagon (military), the Secret Service (the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and now, ICE), the top echelons of many, if not most, of the major corporations and tech companies. In short, more than half of America was blind-sided by a runaway train of corrupt, extremely wealthy bureaucrats, co-conspirators, and enablers who now occupy all of the decision-making apparatuses throughout the country. And, as in Nazi Germany, these usurpers started this phase of their war with a contemporary blitzkrieg that Americans are so stunned by that we've been unable to effectively counter it. It's not one man, Voice from Europe. Donald tRump is just the face of a large group of neo-nazis who are hell bent on death, destruction, and the dismantling of the current world order. If we can't stop this train, what you're seeing in the U.S. will spread to all of Europe, Africa, S. America, Asia. They will not stop at America, Canada, Greenland, Ukraine, the Gaza Strip. This is a global coup, a holocaust of epic proportions. The only positive thing I can throw at you is this: We're not all asleep or stunned into silence. We are, however, overwhelmed and incredibly unprepared to meet a challenge of this magnitude. We truly are a David facing off against an army of Goliaths.
At least anarchists believe in social and political equality, mutual aid, and horizontally structured societal relationship. Trump's mentality is that of an organised crime boss.
Not only does he not have the tariff authority he's using (so two courts have found, stayed on appeal), he isn't eligible to be President under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, as a Colorado District Court found, upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled they didn't have the power to disqualify him, even though Article II of the US Constitution gives control over presidential elections to the states alone.
So the constitutional failure is even more profound than you rightly suspected. Not only law, but Constitution, have been overriden by Trump's political power. They won't be enforced until that power has sufficiently diminished.
"Why is a single individual still allowed to make such consequential decisions on global trade?"
The US congress is loaded with woefully ignorant Americans who are easily swayed by charismatic personalities. Currently, that personality is a malignant narcissist who tells very convincing lies that appeal to these elected officials who in turn repeat these lies to their woefully ignorant constituents who then vote them into office. Forget about the average American (including elected representatives) understanding global trade or even what a tariff is. Trump and his supporters are just a reflection of the American people as a whole, or at least those that vote in an election subject to the idiotic electoral college system. That's my "in a nutshell" answer to your excellent observation.
You're not wrong. Its important to remember - with abject horror, I might add - that, under our system, Trump and his party won the most consequential election in our lifetime, certainly more consequential than the last one! 77,000,000 Americans voted for this.Elections have damaging consequences - of which much of this damage will be irreversible, forba generation at least.
She was a milquetoast of a candidate. Biden denied the party a competitive primary, which would have almost certainly nominated someone else. It may be finally time for a Progressive candidate. The party leadership has been fighting against that for decades.
The U.S. Constitution became null and void on December 12, 2000, when the Supreme Court overrode the black-and-white letter of the Constitution (states control elections) to appoint GW Bush President. After that it's been child's play to say that S3 of the 14th Amend and many other parts no longer exist.
As an American, I wish we could sanely change our constitution to reflect today’s realities. But that won’t happen, as its own provisions make sanely responding to today’s realities impossible.
Constitutional failure cemented by the SCOTUS decision on July 1, 2024 that the US President is above the law. Oral arguments before the court highlighted the potential for anarchy (i.e. assassinating a political rival), but the Roberts court went there anyway.
It is a failure to be laid at the feet of the GOP controlled House and Senate. They should be impeaching Trump for many reasons including violating the emoluments clause, usurping their tariff authority, violating ratified treaties (which are US law as well as international law), and impoundment of previously appropriated funds for the administration of lawful programs enacted by Congress. Of course, even though they can see he's wrecking the rule law, the nation and its government, these spineless politicians will not commit political suicide by voting to impeach and remove the mad king. They would rather hold onto power now, even if they may be voted out in a few years, once the damage trickles down to harm the health and personal economy of the typical "MAGA" voter, when the backlash begins to Trumpist nonsense. By then it will be too late, and we may be in the 21st century repeat of the Great Depression, an undeveloping nation its crumbling infrastructure and degraded engines of economic opportunity for all.
Yes. The rest of the world must adapt. Please adapt.
"Maybe it’s time to stop pretending that the U.S. Constitution is sacrosanct and ask: Does it need a serious update for the 21st century?"
Yes. The constitution needs a serious update. But even if it is updated, that wouldn't stop someone like Trump. Much of what he's doing is brazenly illegal. He's building his own special forces which can be used at his discretion domestically. He has the levers of enforcement and the legislature is a rubber stamp.
The biggest problem lies with our misinformed, ignorant electorate. MAGA is destroying their strongest supporters. Farmers 80% for Trump. Rural poor voters 70 to 80% for Trump...he's devastating their jobs and social safety net. Right-wing media has successfully spread lies about immigration and beat the drum on "woke" excesses of the left. They'll do anything to stick their finger in the eye of "woke"
Please adapt. Consider US a sudden strainer of logs and debris in the river. Navigate around us. Hopefully at some point we can sort out our mess.
Best direct your question to John Roberts and the 5 SCOTUS Awfuls who made this possible. As well as every Republican who has flopped as an elected representative of the people sworn to uphold the laws of the USA.
Not only but also Hans. The noisy, erratic, dangerous one has a huge stockpile of weapons that he alone can deploy without any consultation or review. Constitution-schmonsitution.
With an imbecilic Mob Boss. I noticed yesterday that Peter Navarro is still a thing in tRumplandia... still out in public touting supply-side economics(Trickle-Down). You know he still has tRump's ear. Rethuglican economics is a set of crackpot ideas held with quasi-religious reverence and are just about as easily shed.
Navarro and basically the entire cabinet are always a reminder of what a shitastic human one has to be to nominate and employ people like him, Vance, Kegseth, Miller, et al. A pariah devoid of decency will bring on the same - experience or qualifications an afterthought.
The administration is not organized, and the Supreme Court (what an oxymoron) ruled that it's not criminal. Kind of a pathetic way for the world's wealthiest country to collapse, but that's where it stands.
I have a subscription to the WSJ. Same corporation as FOX. Their news reporting is pretty good, opinion section not so good, but it's worthwhile to listen to opposition.
I honestly believe that the whole sad saga of 45 and 47 is that for 13 years a large percentage of low information voters watched him on TV way too much, and were convinced that he really was a genius NOT. Now FOX has the same voters who never turn off what a family friend called the IB, the Idiot Box. He was a Republican BTW.
Yes. Democracy is incompatible with propaganda. And we not only allowed it, we play it 24/7 on military facilities. Sounds like some intentional planning is at work.
Initially, no, I'm sure he's unaware that they exist. And when he's informed that they do exist, he assumes they must be bad deals because he didn't make them. So rather than trying to understand them and determine their effectiveness on their merits, he just dismisses them as ineffective
or even if he did make them, like the Mexico-US-Canada deal of 2018, about which he could not say enough good at the time (though it was a pretty minor modification of the NAFTA from 1992.)
Ignorance of the law is not supposed to be a valid excuse for violating said law. When the US Congress ratifies a treaty, the agreement becomes US law as well as international law. Unfortunately, the SCOTUS created a new power for the President not found in the US Constitution; the ability to violate the law if he is presumed to violate the law as part of his official duties - which of course makes no sense because the President has a duty to uphold the law and the Constitution.
"… But a senior Trump admin official told Politico that the “trade negotiations” are all fake and Trump is doing all this for drama and theater since he gets off on the attention and panic it creates in the markets and other countries: “Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation. It’s all fake. There’s no deadline. It’s a self-imposed landmark in this theatrical show, and that’s where we are.”"
The first time it was his border wall. This time it's tariffs, invading Greenland, invading Panama, sabotaging clean energy, and who know what else he'll come up with.
Nobody is left to tell him otherwise. And those that are there are completely immune financially, or are actively working to instil their Theil/Yarvin inspired Christo-fascist eugemics fantasy of destroying democracy (or in some cases, like Vance, both).
And Trump's pleasure at forcing others to grovel is why they should turn their back on him. I don't notice a long line of Prime Ministers trooping to the White House for a dressing down anymore.
No more talk of the Royal get together. Maybe the warm welcome every other European leader got ahead of Trump put a damper on it. Maybe Britain doesn't want the spectacle of Trump dressing down King Charles about windmills that disturb the viewshed of his golf course.
You should retitle this "The Tariff Beatings Will Continue Until Trump's Crypto Cache Improves". This is two bit mafia style leaning on people to pony up more money in crypto or other untraceable channels. It is all about the grift, always about the grift.
If Rump is never going to make these deals, isn't going to honor them if he does, and there isn't a deal to make, then WHAT PURPOSE DOES THIS SERVE in the first place?
I know you're too responsible to speculate, but given Rump's track record, this is obviously a distraction. From what? Probably the hub bub in the right wing about the Epstein files. He makes irresponsible statements about tariffs, the market tanks, he short sells and makes money, the media goes nuts, Rump backs down, and the Epstein files are quickly forgotten.
There is some potential fallout...
About a decade ago, my marriage dissolved in a spectacular and horrible way. At one point, my soon-to-be-ex confessed that he had lied about something (that had really hurt me at the time) and had done it on purpose (in order to hurt me).
Like Laura Loomer, I went very quickly from "if he was lying then..." to "is he lying now?" But there was a next step beyond that, which took a bit of time to hit... and when it did, it was catastrophic: "what ELSE is he lying about?" And when I started to look closely at everything he said and did it matched what had actually occurred, and the my whole world fell in, just collapsed... "OMFG, HE WAS LYING ABOUT EVERYTHING!"
Now, we who live in reality knows Rump lies about basically everything anyway, but MAGA does not. One can only hope their "whole world falls in" before the actual world falls in.
I relate so much of trump’s insane administration to my messy, disastrous divorce as well. I think the reason is that trump is abusive to the American people in the same way as an abusive spouse—gaslighting, lies, manipulation, malice, emotional vomit, and just plain stupidity.
Are you not missing the point that the “tariffs negotiations” not about other countries reducing their tariffs. They are about coercing them to invest in manufacturing facilities in the US. The traditional tariff analysis doesn’t apply.
The only question is how much Trump can extort from the other side in order to lift his tariffs. It could be manufacturing facilities, bitcoin investment, luxury jets or investment in Trump Organization developments.
Companies and countries don't invest in markets that are unstable. Rump lives by instability. He's unstable. He creates chaos, destroys things, makes bad decisions.
So they either bribe men who can be bribed, or they take their toys and go play elsewhere. There is a whole world of "elsewhere." They don't have to play Rump's game.
Trump is a TV actor familiar with TV effects. Everyone is conditioned to believe TV without thought. Trump knows he will be believed regardless of what he says or does.
Professor Krugman: that bird that you caught on film is a pileated woodpecker -- the largest surviving woodpecker in North America (the other, larger, species went extinct less than 100 years ago, thanks to theft of their habitat by greedy humans.)
That letter sent to the President of South Korea reads like Willy Wonka's third grade publicity agent wrote it, especially parts like this: "Therefore, we invite you to participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States, The Number One Market in the World by far."
Where did agent orange learn how to write? Did he learn how to write from the moron's school of random runaway capital letters? And how does he choose which letters to capitalize? Is there some rational reason for this or is it just accident? And probably the most important question: who is editing this rubbish and allowing it to pass by, thereby further embarrassing this idiot further on the world stage?
I keep thinking the same thing. How can diplomacy and trade policy be conducted by tweet! and written so poorly it sounds like a joke. No wonder the world is laughing at us.
That's all part of the show. Trump's handlers have pretty well mastered his persona and, sadly to say, are using it to good effect—look at how many of us are railing against it here in the comments.
The most believable one was a short video of one in the air, complete with sound. Several experts were convinced by the bird's calls that it was an Ivory Bill. The same situation exists in Cuba (calls were heard in 1998), where a subspecies lived at one time. Cuba is more promising, however, since about 80% of the forested areas are still wild and have not been searched.
My husband's a Penn alumni. He's talked about their great freshman writing program. When I teased him about Trump's 5th grade skills his response was, 'did anyone ever see him in class?'
I'm assuming he doesn't write those letters himself: his staff is required to mimic his voice. (Although it's possible that he dictates the first draft.)
Theoretically being forced to communicate this humiliating way with the leaders of the free world would would be intolerable enough that some of his staff, regardless of their agreement with his policies, would eventually get tired of it, leak for awhile, and then quit.
He likes the reaction (attention, fear, anger, increased news coverage, people scurrying around, meetings, "hateful" social media posts, etc.) his threats of tariffs (and other things) make. When everything you do is theatre (a show), truth, facts and reality are unimportant. Lies are not lies - they're part of the show. (Good example: the "raid" in LA's MacArthur Park.) I'm not saying by any means that the impact is not important but maybe we need to start criticizing the "tawdry" show, rather than/in addition to the substance.
The sooner everyone realizes, including other countries, that it’s all about the drama the sooner it will end. He is playing the role of a dumb mob boss, and loving it. It’s all made for TV. It’s long past time for the legacy media to stop taking him seriously, but the clicks make the cash register ring. The show must go on.
Rather, you shouldn’t deal with someone who dishonors deals. Anyone in the business world who has dealt with tRump has learned this, like all the banks he stiffed, and no longer will have any involvement with him. If we lived in a more rational world, which we don’t, he would have been impeached, tried, and removed from office long ago.
The thing that strikes me about this letter, apart from the remarkably juvenile tone, is that it's virtually indistinguishable from one of his insane tweets. Many words' are Arbitrarily Capitalized, others the usual ALL CAPS. I guess if you're one of his typists all you really have to know how to do is cut and paste.
If I were His Excellency the President of Korea, or any other head of state receiving one of these screeds, I'd simply wad it up and toss is in the round file - right after I finished shaking my head and laughing.
Speaking of insane, it is long past time for the media to start harping on his mental capacity like they did Joe Biden's age. He's always been dim but now he really seems to be FUBAR.
The media harped on Joe Biden's age precisely so they wouldn't have to harp on Trump's mental capacity, which was blatantly going off the rails already last year.
There really was a presidential candidate who was so far gone his brains were practically dribbling out his ears, it just wasn't the one we heard about.
Based on other things I’m reading, Trump doesn’t have the constitutional authority to impose tariffs at all. Shouldn’t that be the number one point pundits make before discussing the idiocy of the tariffs? And that letter! Did that really come from the Office of the President?
The President doesn't have that authority. Except in national emergencies. So DonnyJon has simply declared that national emergencies exist. The steel and aluminum tariffs were originally put in place to defend the US against hostile nations. Like Canada.
Presidential emergency powers must be curtailed and confined to real emergencies. I was appalled when Trump got his wall funding with emergency powers. But Biden did the same with student loan forgiveness...with no press pushback what so ever.
DJT is not a negotiator. He's an extortionist. And sometimes, shockingly, he still gets away with it.
Gets away with it? For him maybe; for America and the rest of the world, No. It’s not the malice or the cruelty, it’s the stupidity of this that is staggering. One example (this from China vs the U.S.): China retaliated against Trump’s extortion by levying 25pc tariffs on U.S. beef, effectively shutting it out. Australia, Uruguay and Brazil - all hit with U.S. tariffs too - simply switched exports to China. Result: the U.S. beef producer has lost China probably forever (why would China ever trust America again?) while the others benefit despite the tariffs. Same result applies to soybeans: Australian and Brazilian farmers make a killing; US farmers lose out. All probably die-hard Republicans as are the cattle ranchers. Will we hear a peep?
It seems to me that this twisted thug is the ultimate grifter to whom money is everything and the only thing that matters to him. It’s my opinion he announces new tariffs to drive the.market down at which time he buys stocks. Then he announces temporary pauses at which time the market goes up and he can sell at huge gains. Notice the temporary nature of h the pauses so he can repeat the whole process. Just one man’s opinion.
In my opinion we’re being cynically played by Trump once again. Now all we’re talking about — again — is tariffs! Meanwhile, The regime is quickly putting together a 40,000-man gestapo police force! Come on, Paul, don’t be fooled again.
Apparently he can walk and chew gum at the same time dude. Just because he's assembling a gestapo state in full view does not mean that this moron we have elected to lead this nation full of ignorance isn't also busy wrecking our/"Biden's" economy. The most paranoid and petty among us are at the wheel and the cliff looms.
Well stated, David Greenberg. Thank you. All Trump wants is money and Papa Putin’s approval, of which he may be tiring. Let US hope that Poland will just send on to Ukraine the US weapons shipment that Hegseth stopped.
Another aspect of this is if at this point if Trump ever does feel like he has lost some of his pile because of his actions he just finds someone like Paramount from whom he can extort a bribe.
I doubt it is stocks. He will just go for direct bribery.
While I can’t disagree with your comment and his low life approach to just about everything, I do believe he has an evil shrewdness about him that enables corruption on every level.
He is trying to bankrupt the country and devalue the dollar so you WILL SUBMIT...hungry works BEST. He is invested in gold and bit coin and thinks he will control the world...overreach to put it mildly ! Quite astounding tho to think they would even try..........
Farmers are beginning to peep.
Farmers used and use a lot of illegal labor because the H-2A visa necessitates a labor certification, an I-129 petition, etc. - al costing time and money. The petition can be denied (happens 1-in-5.) The H-2A visa brings the worker in for one year, which can be extended twice. If the worker is needed for a longer period the whole process has to start over. Employers must provide the worker with housing & transportation.
The H-2A can bring his wife - if she is willing to suffer the misery especially created for H-4 visa holders. (The husband is working legally, but the wife will probably work illegally.) So better the worker comes alone.
That all said, the number of requests have gone upward and so have the approved petitions. Last year almost 400,000 H-2A visas were issued.
Currently about half the AG workers have legal status.
If you need a worker to do a job here, give him/her a Green Card!
Too late.
China did the same thing with pork, only they switched to farming and butchering the pigs themselves.
A Chinese pork solution that was sweet and sour?
I think you're right on soybeans but I'm not sure if, say, Australian beef exports, in the medium to long run, can be sustained without export subsidies from the Australian government. Farmers generally, as in the US, rely on all manner of subsidies to keep the farms running, and export subsidies are part of the same equation but an add-on, and this wouldn't help the budget bottom-lines much, I don't think. Opportunity costs, see: you'd have to cut expenditure elsewhere in the economy to fund the subsidies. And then there's another problem: beef producers may be tempted to flood, say, the Chinese market with cheap beef. And they are 30-50% less in price, as I understand it, than US beef used to be sold in China. The third problem is we don't know just how much Chinese domestic demand is for imported beef. If demand ramps up because of cheap beef prices, these prices will rise. But, meanwhile, the Chinese economy is still staggering, its GDP far lower than it became accustomed to in the previous few decades. Real wages in China haven't really gone up by much at all. I am much more cautious about the deviation of items like beef to countries like China. They also don't want to hurt their own producers. Bringing in cheaper beef will hurt Chinese beef producers down the line, and sooner than later. All this could turn out to be a far uglier mess and of course we have a moron as president of the United States who can't tell his ass from his elbow. Or his goons like Scott Bessent and others for that matter.
He has the Supreme Court to back him up on his extortion. Along with the MAGA Congress
My worry is, when will he decide to use the military to back him up as well?
Already happening. Fully kitted National Guard troops yesterday assaulted LA's MacArthur Park in search of brown folks be they immigrants or citizens alike. According to the astute David Frum of The Atlantic, this is all practice. For what? The inevitable invocation of martial law and interference, if not outright cancelation, of the 2026 and beyond elections. Trump, MAGA, MAGA/GOP Congress are not fooling around. They are playing for keeps. And permanent control of the former US of A. Bet on it. It's a lock.
Heather Cox Richardson reported that “ Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass arrived and spoke with Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.
Later, Bovino told Bill Melugin of the Fox News Channel, “I don’t work for Karen Bass. Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.”
Bingo. It has begun.
Frum is nearly always correct about Trump Inc., e.g., on the eve of Trump I's first inauguration, Frum presciently predicted the paramount goal of Trump's administration was enrichment of the Trump family, i.e., Trump Inc. So it went. So it now goes. Frum is not wrong about inevitability of military enforcement of the regime's edicts. Whisky Pete will jump when beckoned. He's raring to go.
PS FOX had the privilege of being imbedded with the assault force. [Revealing who gave this permission would be golden.] As in real reporting in a real war [as this now is], although FOX's unique privilege was not reporting.
It was propaganda.
Invading forces are at a huge disadvantage. They don't belong and the hostile population, even when severely outgunned can be devastating. We had overwhelming force in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam.
I hope it never gets to that.
The people of the occupied areas need to remind the invaders that they are Americans not the Nazi Gestapo, this isn't the American way. There are probably some ICE and National Guard who are relishing their bullying roles, but I bet most of them are uncomfortable with what's happening. The people in the occupied areas should attempt to appeal to the invaders sense of decency. If possible, talk to them politely, give them water bottles...etc. Don't allow MAGA to separate Americans.
The city/state officials need to make clear demands to the public. 1. No masked, anonymous actions. If the forces are carrying out the will of the people let them do it in the open with pride. 2. Video coverage of all actions of the US forces and the protesters. Protestors should be held accountable for their actions and none of it should cross the line into assault.
Democrats need to make a clear public case that this is a waste of money. Compare ICE expenditures to SNAP and Medicaid cuts.
Democrats need to make a clear public case that the deportations which were sold as getting rid of foreign criminals was a lie, the deportations are of working people with families many who've been in the country for decades.
Media needs to start lists of detained and deported who are family people, workers who pay taxes and SS. Put faces and bios to the numbers.
Don't have the protests mid-week when working people can't go.
Trump doesn't actually care about saving money and cutting waste. He just floated it to distract his base and the rest of us with his "shock and awe" employee cuts. If he and the GOP actually cared about the debt, they would not have passed the Big UGLY bill that harms the most vulnerable.
Except that they promptly left the park and made no arrests! Thank you, Karen Bass--one tough Mayor!
I meant internationally. The enforcement of his demands at gunpoint.
e.g., Greenland. Possibly/likely (?) Mexico.
And then there is Gaza. Unlikely US troops. Instead Trump is using Israel's Defence Forces for that, as in the clearing of the Strip. Trump has implied/surreptitiously demanded (?) that Gaza be cleared and opened to outside [Trump Inc.] investment. Cleared of you know whom. And it does appear that Netanyahu is in process of expulsions. For as we know, there are hotels, pools, nightclubs, and cabanas to build. Again, by Trump Inc.
I would rather believe that any development in Gaza or elsewhere in the Middle East carrying the Trump logo or ownership would be prime targets for every jihadi group from Mali and Niger to Somalia and eastward to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Uhhhh…
Jan, 2025 , wasn’t it? Let me check.
Yep. Using military domestically since Jan, 2025.
Sure he Will. He already did it in LA.
See: the Marines sitting around in LA.
Right, he's using tariffs to see what these countries will offer him personally. It has nothing to do with what will help the US. He tells this to his followers everyday and they continue to choose to ignore it and make excuses for his behavior like he is something he is not nor has ever been, a leader.
It's called extortion.
Yes, blackmail is such an ugly word. Magas probably think extortion is something completely different.
Sooooo true
I’d actually propose that he’s not an extortionist, but rather a terrorist. An extortionist has an objective and is consistent.
I have a different diagnosis: Trump is a malignant narcissist in terminal decline. We are in real danger here.
Meaning it’s all about creating attention, headlines, conflict. He doesn’t have goals other than getting headlines and (in his delusional mind) feeling dominant and in control. So good luck trying to make sense of it from an economic standpoint. Also, malignant narcissists are masters at emotional manipulation, making some people bask in the fake ‘charm’ that some people describe when they interact with this sick man. When you look at trump’s behaviour through this lens you can see he will never stop the Tariff Scam. If everyone in the world refused to talk to, negotiate with or wrote about this stuff he would have to find something else. Probably an actual military war. The man is demented and it’s only going to get worse.
He can apply tariffs without even consulting other countries if he’s demented enough. The importing company pays the tariff if they want to pick up their goods at the dock. It’s a revenue raising scheme.
The other country might take action but he has threatened them with huge tariffs if they do.
It doesn't matter what we call him. We are watching him destroy our country and harm the entire world. THAT'S what matters.
He is not a negotiator because he can't conceive of a "win-win" situation. He has to win, to dominate. Trade negotiations are all about details and making concessions and compromising. Trump cannot do any of that.
Trump is no more a businessman, than a would be mafia boss.
Trump is no more a businessman, than a would be mafia boss. Unfortunately, he portrays himself as King, in a kingless land. In business, you can act as an autocrat with family but not with most employees. In closing, a businessman doesn't file for bankruptcy 13 times, nor skip paying banks and his contractors. Trump is no more a businessman than an uneducated small time crook.
It’s worth listening to what Japanese opposition lawmaker Shinji Oguma said earlier about Trump’s tariffs. He said it was like a “delinquent kid extorting somebody” and "If you get mugged and put money in their hands, they will come back to mug us."
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-tariffs-delinquent-kid-extorting-somebody-japanese-lawmaker-2061460
Because he cannot think strategically beyond the moment and lacks any common sense, he is incapable of being a master negotiator- his way of negotiating will always involve a bribe, extortion and/or a threat.
Japan had already removed many tariffs under the previous trade agreement.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/100096004.pdf
Trump's tariff's are the functional equivalent of mafia "protection" rackets.
Nice economy you got there. It's a real shame a bunch of tariffs got slapped on it. But let's "negotiate," and maybe I can help you out.
By the way, did you know I own a bitcoin company? So convenient, no?
Tariffs are a great distraction from Plan 2025’s dismantling of the U.S. constitution.
See, even you are writing about it.
Who doesn’t love a manly chest thumping distraction.
And
Look at all this money I can get!
What Red Govenor doesn’t want a giant regressive sales tax!
Proportionality hurting lower earners compared to higher earners!
Win. Win. Winning
When one grew up in a fantasy land, continued to live in one till today, it should be no surprise that he ‘likes’ his own little world the the minion vying for his grace of ‘attention.’ Of course the woeful 2025 world, the JD and the Gnomes, and DeStephen, ‘I’m completely nits!’ Miller, the Wormtongue to our Theoden are in charge…”please master, you deserve (we need) you to get in a second round of golf today.”
Like sharks and enriching boats, like tariffs and immigrant gangs, the tight little world of Donny-John’s Sewer cuckoos.
The worst is that they are intentionally eating the seed corn, the children that would be our next hero’s.
Us old farts need these creative, youthful, immigrants and all, to rebuild our country when we regain control…tow major thoughts, the Supreme Court has been at the center of this take-over, from money as free speech to reducing our freedoms, to letting him have a ‘get out of jail free card’, their ruling are insane! We need Congress to write laws, and need a few amendments to our constitution.
One clear need is a bill of responsibilities to complement the Bill of Rights…community, service, voting, volunteering, working hard, children and the future! The founders assumed adults would know and do these things because they were amazingly mature thirty year olds…we need both guardrails, Bill of Rights, and Responsibilities—service, education, healthcare, media…
Paramount/CBS settled Trump's 60 Minutes extortion claim for $16 million, but hey no apology for being extorted! Is the $16M settlement bribery or extortion? Both sides are corrupt, the public is victimized but there is no accountability.
Mr. Trump enjoys hurting anyone he can hurt using his power. The list starts with the undocumented immigrants, Medicaid and Obama Care recepients, and foreigners who live on producing goods for US consumers, and let's not forget those African childres who have benefited from USAID. He has been consistent on this mission.
Undocumented migrants have been deported regularly over the last 30 years. This country does not want (more) immigrants. Especially not if they come to work here.
Then why doesn't Trump go after the employers?
Answer: Because he wants the immigrants to work, he just wants them too scared to make any noise if they are abused or worse.
In other words: Trump is an immoral monster who hurts and uses others to boost his fragile ego. Trump is a psychopath, there is no other human being in the world that should have been giving the title of POTUS once, much less twice.
No one has gone after big employers in the last 30 years, except in a few cases. Rep as well as Dem politicians receive monies from big AG, developers, etc. to be re-elected.
The employers will point out that the H-2A visa system is cumbersome and does not allow them to keep the experienced/skilled workers they need. The politicians do not have the guts to give the immigration system the good do-over it needs. They will tinker with the alphabet-soup of visas, but that is it. Their indecision made possible for the cartels to take over part of the immigration system.
Of course Prez Trump wants legal immigrants to work, he has never said anything against it. Like all non-immigrants, the H-2As and H-1As know that by keeping their mouth shut, they are keeping their job.
I doubt he even knows about the earlier trade agreements. Or he might be vaguely aware of them but just not care. He needs to raise revenue to pay for his big tax cuts. So, back to tariffs.
I saw another article in which he’s threatening pharmaceutical companies. They must move manufacturing to the US. Or they get 200% tariffs.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/08/trump-tariffs-trade-war-confusion
Pileated woodpecker, I believe. Different species than red headed woodpecker. Common (and awesome) in northern lower MI.
Agree. The entire head & neck of a red headed woodpecker is red - as if he’s wearing a ski mask. A pileated woodpecker has only some red & looks like Woody the Woodpecker (because he was based on a pileated woodpecker.)
It's the crest on top that is the giveaway, plus the sheer size of the beast. Love those creatures every time they visit!
I agree as well. Probably a female Pileated.
Good thing Dr. K is a better economist than taxonomist!
I was thinking sort of the same thing! I felt a little relieved that I knew something (that it’s a pileated woodpecker) that PK did not know because most of the time I am humbled by his knowledge.
Not to mention the size. That's one big beautiful bird.
Sorry, I definitely have T.D.S..
You’re right, Mike. But a Pileated Woodpecker is red-headed.
I'd say "has red on the head" - as does red-bellied wp and so many others. as opposed to the solid red head that the red-headed wp sports.
Krugman says it's a "red-headed woodpecker"
It literally is a red headed woodpecker - though it’s a Pileated woodpecker.
Yes. Very impressive birds. We have them in the pine trees of the South. Flying they look like dinosaurs.
A stand in for the Ivory Billed down South.
The jackhammer of North American woodpeckers.
I’m curious. If dear leader is mandating the tariff “policy,” where does the money paid by the importer end up? It seems like dear leader can just as surely direct that money to be deposited into a separate receiver fund, such the America First PAC, Trump crypto or some other opaque money scheme in order to allow dear leader to benefit directly without interference of, say, the Treasury Department. Do we have any idea where the money is going??? It is seems like a perfect grift vehicle with no possible oversight
I believe it's supposed to go the the Treasury, but good question. Yet more insidious is the graft made possible when Trump has the ability to excuse persons and corporations from tariffs that affect their competition.
Win-Win. The Grifter keeps the ‘protection’ fees err… tariffs and the consumers pay higher prices set by the vendor to recover the extra cost(s) of doing business with the Grifter.
I've read (forget where) that Trump can spend the money as he likes.
Agree! That was a pileated woodpecker … and almost all North American woodpeckers have a little bit of red on their heads.
Hurray for the snag! (It's a standing dead or dying tree. These trees play a vital role in the ecosystem, providing habitat and food for a wide range of wildlife. Woodpeckers excavate cavities in snags for nesting and also feed on insects within the decaying wood.)
Now, let us know if you see one of his cousins, an Ivory Billed.
That would be huge!! You (and fellow Birders for Krugman, a new substack(?)) my friends will be beyond thrilled to hear that we have *multiple* whippoorwills calling in the woods near my home in NW Connecticut. First time in 30 years!
Wow, love them, used to have them on the farm in Tennessee, they would sing me to sleep. Wish I had them here to help my (lack of) sleep!
I loved hearing them call at night, as a child in the 60's in rural Maine.
Wow! The last time I heard a whippoorwill was in the mid-1950s. Think "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson.
I used to annoy my co-workers with an Ivory Billed call announcing emails. Wanted to memorize it in case I ever heard it while visiting the SE.
We have many red-bellied woodpecker here in central MA.. red head on top. The red-headed woodpecker is not here- looks like he had his whole head dipped in red paint.
So I agree this pecker looks like the pileated -- rare here.
We used to call the red-headed woodpecker "velvet head."
Yup, that's a pileated, just like Woody Woodpecker.
Yep, Mike, I agree. I have one in my woods here in Central NC When I moved here 50 years ago, they were thought to be nearly extinct in NC, but they've made a comeback. Not due to anything the locals have done, mind you. These folks have never seen a tree that didn't need cutting down!
Up here in NH I hear these guys frequently, but seldom see them, let alone get a video. Congratulations, Mr. K.
Correct. Woody was modeled after the Pileated
You are correct! Fellow Michigander who happens to love these fascinating birds.
Me too. The Downys are so polite.
A Voice from Europe – Watching with Growing Concern
Once again, we’re witnessing Donald Trump unilaterally upending international trade norms — this time with sweeping tariffs against long-standing allies like Japan and South Korea. But one question keeps nagging at me: Why is a single individual still allowed to make such consequential decisions on global trade?
Isn’t the authority to impose tariffs supposed to rest with Congress? Hasn't the U.S. repeatedly celebrated its system of checks and balances as a cornerstone of democracy? So where are those checks now?
To an outside observer, this looks like a deep constitutional failure. The President seems able to break international agreements, ignore ratified treaties like KORUS, and undermine global trade law — all without consequence. Maybe it’s time to stop pretending that the U.S. Constitution is sacrosanct and ask: Does it need a serious update for the 21st century?
And here’s another sobering thought: if even allies no longer take U.S. agreements seriously, why should adversaries? Why should anyone enter into any deal with a country whose executive leadership treats commitments like campaign slogans — temporary and disposable?
It’s almost as if the rest of the world has adapted. They’ve started treating U.S. policy pronouncements like Trump’s Truth Social posts: noisy, erratic, and best ignored. Diplomacy replaced by posturing. Institutions replaced by individuals. Order replaced by improvisation.
Call it what you want — but from here, it looks dangerously close to anarchy in a suit and tie.
"But one question keeps nagging at me: Why is a single individual still allowed to make such consequential decisions on global trade?"
Eight years ago when Trump first took power, Republicans quickly found out that almost everything they wanted to do was unconstitutional, and the few things that weren't, like the ACA repeal, were so hideously unpopular that they were a real danger to elected officials.
The hack they've found around it is that if they allow Trump to do all the wrecking for them, and they, instead of supporting him, simply don't do anything to stop him, hopefully he'll be able to do everything they want without any of it sticking to them.
And it’s not just those in federal office. Gov. Abbott of Texas has refused to call a special election for the Congressional Office of the late Sylvester Turner who died in March. That is a very blue district, and keeping the office vacant meant one less Democratic Congressman to vote against the recent big awful bill.
I wish that were widely known, Ada. Americans don’t approve of cheating. Well, at least some Americans don’t like it, especially if the cheating does not advantage them.
It's more than the cheating. It is the utter disrespect for the significant portion of your constituents who have different interests or different solutions to political problems than yours. Abbott's willingness to just erase his constituents from the political equation is callous beyond measure. I hope his disenfranchised voters can take an appropriate sanction against his indifference to their participation in "we the people."
Is there no requirement to call an election? If a Canadian member of Parliament died in office or resigned, there must be a by-election (as we call them).
Astute observation. Congress (the Rs, including Collins) has allowed itself to be absorbed by the executive branch, which set off alarms at many bucolic cemeteries across the US where the Founding Fathers are variously interred: the spin cycles at each gravesite are unprecedented.
We'll see in the mid-terms, if Trump doesn't repress the democratic vote with ICE and MAGA thugs in areas where the vote is expected to be close.
The United States has been hijacked by right wing extremists. These extremists over decades have infiltrated every decision making branch of government: the presidency, Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives), the Supreme Court, the Pentagon (military), the Secret Service (the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and now, ICE), the top echelons of many, if not most, of the major corporations and tech companies. In short, more than half of America was blind-sided by a runaway train of corrupt, extremely wealthy bureaucrats, co-conspirators, and enablers who now occupy all of the decision-making apparatuses throughout the country. And, as in Nazi Germany, these usurpers started this phase of their war with a contemporary blitzkrieg that Americans are so stunned by that we've been unable to effectively counter it. It's not one man, Voice from Europe. Donald tRump is just the face of a large group of neo-nazis who are hell bent on death, destruction, and the dismantling of the current world order. If we can't stop this train, what you're seeing in the U.S. will spread to all of Europe, Africa, S. America, Asia. They will not stop at America, Canada, Greenland, Ukraine, the Gaza Strip. This is a global coup, a holocaust of epic proportions. The only positive thing I can throw at you is this: We're not all asleep or stunned into silence. We are, however, overwhelmed and incredibly unprepared to meet a challenge of this magnitude. We truly are a David facing off against an army of Goliaths.
You are not wrong. Sadly.
At least anarchists believe in social and political equality, mutual aid, and horizontally structured societal relationship. Trump's mentality is that of an organised crime boss.
Not only does he not have the tariff authority he's using (so two courts have found, stayed on appeal), he isn't eligible to be President under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, as a Colorado District Court found, upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled they didn't have the power to disqualify him, even though Article II of the US Constitution gives control over presidential elections to the states alone.
So the constitutional failure is even more profound than you rightly suspected. Not only law, but Constitution, have been overriden by Trump's political power. They won't be enforced until that power has sufficiently diminished.
A really badly fitting cheap suit and a too-long cheap tie.
Expensive suit and tie.
"Why is a single individual still allowed to make such consequential decisions on global trade?"
The US congress is loaded with woefully ignorant Americans who are easily swayed by charismatic personalities. Currently, that personality is a malignant narcissist who tells very convincing lies that appeal to these elected officials who in turn repeat these lies to their woefully ignorant constituents who then vote them into office. Forget about the average American (including elected representatives) understanding global trade or even what a tariff is. Trump and his supporters are just a reflection of the American people as a whole, or at least those that vote in an election subject to the idiotic electoral college system. That's my "in a nutshell" answer to your excellent observation.
They aren't convinced. They are afraid of being primaried by an even more right wing opponent.
I’m sure you’re correct. Fear of losing their sweet job takes priority over doing what is right.
Trump threatened to primary any R who voted against the big ugly bill.
You're not wrong. Its important to remember - with abject horror, I might add - that, under our system, Trump and his party won the most consequential election in our lifetime, certainly more consequential than the last one! 77,000,000 Americans voted for this.Elections have damaging consequences - of which much of this damage will be irreversible, forba generation at least.
and more millions stayed home rather than vote for a woman of color.
She was a milquetoast of a candidate. Biden denied the party a competitive primary, which would have almost certainly nominated someone else. It may be finally time for a Progressive candidate. The party leadership has been fighting against that for decades.
"Leadership"?
Where's that?
There's The Machine. The Great Rustpile.
Servicing the Modern Times Rustpile, Charlie Chaplin...
with a sandbucket.
If anything of the Democratic Party survives it will be thanks to a very few exemplary politicians -- nothing to do with the party machinery.
And forget any idea of a return to the status quo before Trump. Either build a new world, a new country... or you'll have none.
The U.S. Constitution became null and void on December 12, 2000, when the Supreme Court overrode the black-and-white letter of the Constitution (states control elections) to appoint GW Bush President. After that it's been child's play to say that S3 of the 14th Amend and many other parts no longer exist.
As an American, I wish we could sanely change our constitution to reflect today’s realities. But that won’t happen, as its own provisions make sanely responding to today’s realities impossible.
Constitutional failure cemented by the SCOTUS decision on July 1, 2024 that the US President is above the law. Oral arguments before the court highlighted the potential for anarchy (i.e. assassinating a political rival), but the Roberts court went there anyway.
It is a failure to be laid at the feet of the GOP controlled House and Senate. They should be impeaching Trump for many reasons including violating the emoluments clause, usurping their tariff authority, violating ratified treaties (which are US law as well as international law), and impoundment of previously appropriated funds for the administration of lawful programs enacted by Congress. Of course, even though they can see he's wrecking the rule law, the nation and its government, these spineless politicians will not commit political suicide by voting to impeach and remove the mad king. They would rather hold onto power now, even if they may be voted out in a few years, once the damage trickles down to harm the health and personal economy of the typical "MAGA" voter, when the backlash begins to Trumpist nonsense. By then it will be too late, and we may be in the 21st century repeat of the Great Depression, an undeveloping nation its crumbling infrastructure and degraded engines of economic opportunity for all.
Yes. The rest of the world must adapt. Please adapt.
"Maybe it’s time to stop pretending that the U.S. Constitution is sacrosanct and ask: Does it need a serious update for the 21st century?"
Yes. The constitution needs a serious update. But even if it is updated, that wouldn't stop someone like Trump. Much of what he's doing is brazenly illegal. He's building his own special forces which can be used at his discretion domestically. He has the levers of enforcement and the legislature is a rubber stamp.
The biggest problem lies with our misinformed, ignorant electorate. MAGA is destroying their strongest supporters. Farmers 80% for Trump. Rural poor voters 70 to 80% for Trump...he's devastating their jobs and social safety net. Right-wing media has successfully spread lies about immigration and beat the drum on "woke" excesses of the left. They'll do anything to stick their finger in the eye of "woke"
Please adapt. Consider US a sudden strainer of logs and debris in the river. Navigate around us. Hopefully at some point we can sort out our mess.
House and Senate Republicans are violating their oath of office and taken on the stature of potted plants.
Best direct your question to John Roberts and the 5 SCOTUS Awfuls who made this possible. As well as every Republican who has flopped as an elected representative of the people sworn to uphold the laws of the USA.
Not only but also Hans. The noisy, erratic, dangerous one has a huge stockpile of weapons that he alone can deploy without any consultation or review. Constitution-schmonsitution.
This administration resembles an organised crime syndicate more and more each day.
With an imbecilic Mob Boss. I noticed yesterday that Peter Navarro is still a thing in tRumplandia... still out in public touting supply-side economics(Trickle-Down). You know he still has tRump's ear. Rethuglican economics is a set of crackpot ideas held with quasi-religious reverence and are just about as easily shed.
Navarro and basically the entire cabinet are always a reminder of what a shitastic human one has to be to nominate and employ people like him, Vance, Kegseth, Miller, et al. A pariah devoid of decency will bring on the same - experience or qualifications an afterthought.
Navarro also has tRump’s rear to kiss.
I heard that Trump has been seen wandering around the White House in the middle of the day in his pajamas and slippers and mumbling to himself.
A crime syndicate funded with your tax dollars and with a military.
The administration is not organized, and the Supreme Court (what an oxymoron) ruled that it's not criminal. Kind of a pathetic way for the world's wealthiest country to collapse, but that's where it stands.
This what happens when half of your population listens to fox news
Bingo! Fox news watchers will never learn about the trade agreement the US already has with South Korea.
I have a subscription to the WSJ. Same corporation as FOX. Their news reporting is pretty good, opinion section not so good, but it's worthwhile to listen to opposition.
Agree about the WSJ. Even the editorial section doesn’t approve of tariffs though.
I honestly believe that the whole sad saga of 45 and 47 is that for 13 years a large percentage of low information voters watched him on TV way too much, and were convinced that he really was a genius NOT. Now FOX has the same voters who never turn off what a family friend called the IB, the Idiot Box. He was a Republican BTW.
One of Heinlein's characters called it the "lobotomy box."
😂😂😂😂
True with soap operas and even more so with so-called "Reality TV".
See this article, describes the whole thing.
https://newrepublic.com/post/188197/trump-media-information-landscape-fox
Yes. Democracy is incompatible with propaganda. And we not only allowed it, we play it 24/7 on military facilities. Sounds like some intentional planning is at work.
I would take a bet that Trump is unaware that any of these trade agreements exist.
Initially, no, I'm sure he's unaware that they exist. And when he's informed that they do exist, he assumes they must be bad deals because he didn't make them. So rather than trying to understand them and determine their effectiveness on their merits, he just dismisses them as ineffective
or even if he did make them, like the Mexico-US-Canada deal of 2018, about which he could not say enough good at the time (though it was a pretty minor modification of the NAFTA from 1992.)
Ignorance of the law is not supposed to be a valid excuse for violating said law. When the US Congress ratifies a treaty, the agreement becomes US law as well as international law. Unfortunately, the SCOTUS created a new power for the President not found in the US Constitution; the ability to violate the law if he is presumed to violate the law as part of his official duties - which of course makes no sense because the President has a duty to uphold the law and the Constitution.
I will give you one simple reason Trump isn't going to stop with these tarrifs.
He FEELS that tarrifs give him power and leverage over other countries to extort and blackmail them at will.
He feels like this will make countries grovel to him.
I agree.
"… But a senior Trump admin official told Politico that the “trade negotiations” are all fake and Trump is doing all this for drama and theater since he gets off on the attention and panic it creates in the markets and other countries: “Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation. It’s all fake. There’s no deadline. It’s a self-imposed landmark in this theatrical show, and that’s where we are.”"
This senior Trump administration official (safely anonymous, I hope) sounds entirely believable. Just based on what we can observe of Trump in public.
The first time it was his border wall. This time it's tariffs, invading Greenland, invading Panama, sabotaging clean energy, and who know what else he'll come up with.
He hasn’t spoken of invading anywhere lately. I’m sure that won’t last.
Nobody is left to tell him otherwise. And those that are there are completely immune financially, or are actively working to instil their Theil/Yarvin inspired Christo-fascist eugemics fantasy of destroying democracy (or in some cases, like Vance, both).
His terror tactics have worked his entire life. So why not think he can go global with them.
Sad but true.
And Trump's pleasure at forcing others to grovel is why they should turn their back on him. I don't notice a long line of Prime Ministers trooping to the White House for a dressing down anymore.
No more talk of the Royal get together. Maybe the warm welcome every other European leader got ahead of Trump put a damper on it. Maybe Britain doesn't want the spectacle of Trump dressing down King Charles about windmills that disturb the viewshed of his golf course.
They also bring in much needed revenue. Some people think that’s his whole rationale. Got to pay for those tax cuts somehow.
I’m sure he likes the feeling of power too, of course.
You should retitle this "The Tariff Beatings Will Continue Until Trump's Crypto Cache Improves". This is two bit mafia style leaning on people to pony up more money in crypto or other untraceable channels. It is all about the grift, always about the grift.
Paul, I think you're missing some context here.
If Rump is never going to make these deals, isn't going to honor them if he does, and there isn't a deal to make, then WHAT PURPOSE DOES THIS SERVE in the first place?
I know you're too responsible to speculate, but given Rump's track record, this is obviously a distraction. From what? Probably the hub bub in the right wing about the Epstein files. He makes irresponsible statements about tariffs, the market tanks, he short sells and makes money, the media goes nuts, Rump backs down, and the Epstein files are quickly forgotten.
There is some potential fallout...
About a decade ago, my marriage dissolved in a spectacular and horrible way. At one point, my soon-to-be-ex confessed that he had lied about something (that had really hurt me at the time) and had done it on purpose (in order to hurt me).
Like Laura Loomer, I went very quickly from "if he was lying then..." to "is he lying now?" But there was a next step beyond that, which took a bit of time to hit... and when it did, it was catastrophic: "what ELSE is he lying about?" And when I started to look closely at everything he said and did it matched what had actually occurred, and the my whole world fell in, just collapsed... "OMFG, HE WAS LYING ABOUT EVERYTHING!"
Now, we who live in reality knows Rump lies about basically everything anyway, but MAGA does not. One can only hope their "whole world falls in" before the actual world falls in.
I relate so much of trump’s insane administration to my messy, disastrous divorce as well. I think the reason is that trump is abusive to the American people in the same way as an abusive spouse—gaslighting, lies, manipulation, malice, emotional vomit, and just plain stupidity.
Well, he certainly didn't treat his first two wives very well. And Melania has put up with a lot.
Astute observation LM. Personal pathology projected on a global scale.
Unfortunately, MAGA is a cult, & they will never believe that their dear leader would lie to them. They will have to learn the hard way.
If the Tea Party is any indication, MAGA will still be a damaging force for years after DonnyJon is dead.
They don’t learn. Just like tRump.
Are you not missing the point that the “tariffs negotiations” not about other countries reducing their tariffs. They are about coercing them to invest in manufacturing facilities in the US. The traditional tariff analysis doesn’t apply.
The only question is how much Trump can extort from the other side in order to lift his tariffs. It could be manufacturing facilities, bitcoin investment, luxury jets or investment in Trump Organization developments.
Oh we "get it," we just know it's utter BS.
Companies and countries don't invest in markets that are unstable. Rump lives by instability. He's unstable. He creates chaos, destroys things, makes bad decisions.
So they either bribe men who can be bribed, or they take their toys and go play elsewhere. There is a whole world of "elsewhere." They don't have to play Rump's game.
He’s threatening pharmaceutical companies now. From today:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps-tariffs/article/trump-says-pharmaceutical-tariffs-could-reach-200/
But that's the funny thing about abusive relationships. You're blind. You're deaf. You're shouting, "LALALALALALALALALALALA."
Then you aren't. You stumble out of the fog and see and hear what everyone else has been seeing and hearing all along.
It takes a lot. The world has to basically fall in on you.
I wish you well Dejah and am glad you made it through to a better place.
Trump is a TV actor familiar with TV effects. Everyone is conditioned to believe TV without thought. Trump knows he will be believed regardless of what he says or does.
We are the playthings of a sociopath because the US govt is now a prize for various billionaires’ vanity.
Exactly 👍
Professor Krugman: that bird that you caught on film is a pileated woodpecker -- the largest surviving woodpecker in North America (the other, larger, species went extinct less than 100 years ago, thanks to theft of their habitat by greedy humans.)
That letter sent to the President of South Korea reads like Willy Wonka's third grade publicity agent wrote it, especially parts like this: "Therefore, we invite you to participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States, The Number One Market in the World by far."
Where did agent orange learn how to write? Did he learn how to write from the moron's school of random runaway capital letters? And how does he choose which letters to capitalize? Is there some rational reason for this or is it just accident? And probably the most important question: who is editing this rubbish and allowing it to pass by, thereby further embarrassing this idiot further on the world stage?
Wharton must be so proud.
Wharton is saying "I knew we should've charged old man Trump more."
I keep thinking the same thing. How can diplomacy and trade policy be conducted by tweet! and written so poorly it sounds like a joke. No wonder the world is laughing at us.
That's all part of the show. Trump's handlers have pretty well mastered his persona and, sadly to say, are using it to good effect—look at how many of us are railing against it here in the comments.
The letter has the cadence of his speech. That leads me to believe he has a very good editor or he authored it.
There have been rumors of Ivory Billed woodpecker sightings. I haven't looked into it but do have wishful thinking about them.
The most believable one was a short video of one in the air, complete with sound. Several experts were convinced by the bird's calls that it was an Ivory Bill. The same situation exists in Cuba (calls were heard in 1998), where a subspecies lived at one time. Cuba is more promising, however, since about 80% of the forested areas are still wild and have not been searched.
My husband's a Penn alumni. He's talked about their great freshman writing program. When I teased him about Trump's 5th grade skills his response was, 'did anyone ever see him in class?'
I'm assuming he doesn't write those letters himself: his staff is required to mimic his voice. (Although it's possible that he dictates the first draft.)
Theoretically being forced to communicate this humiliating way with the leaders of the free world would would be intolerable enough that some of his staff, regardless of their agreement with his policies, would eventually get tired of it, leak for awhile, and then quit.
He likes the reaction (attention, fear, anger, increased news coverage, people scurrying around, meetings, "hateful" social media posts, etc.) his threats of tariffs (and other things) make. When everything you do is theatre (a show), truth, facts and reality are unimportant. Lies are not lies - they're part of the show. (Good example: the "raid" in LA's MacArthur Park.) I'm not saying by any means that the impact is not important but maybe we need to start criticizing the "tawdry" show, rather than/in addition to the substance.
The sooner everyone realizes, including other countries, that it’s all about the drama the sooner it will end. He is playing the role of a dumb mob boss, and loving it. It’s all made for TV. It’s long past time for the legacy media to stop taking him seriously, but the clicks make the cash register ring. The show must go on.
You just don't deal with someone who dishonours deals
Rather, you shouldn’t deal with someone who dishonors deals. Anyone in the business world who has dealt with tRump has learned this, like all the banks he stiffed, and no longer will have any involvement with him. If we lived in a more rational world, which we don’t, he would have been impeached, tried, and removed from office long ago.
Mitch McConnell can take full credit for that irrational failure to act.
He would've been jailed decades ago.
The thing that strikes me about this letter, apart from the remarkably juvenile tone, is that it's virtually indistinguishable from one of his insane tweets. Many words' are Arbitrarily Capitalized, others the usual ALL CAPS. I guess if you're one of his typists all you really have to know how to do is cut and paste.
If I were His Excellency the President of Korea, or any other head of state receiving one of these screeds, I'd simply wad it up and toss is in the round file - right after I finished shaking my head and laughing.
Speaking of insane, it is long past time for the media to start harping on his mental capacity like they did Joe Biden's age. He's always been dim but now he really seems to be FUBAR.
The media harped on Joe Biden's age precisely so they wouldn't have to harp on Trump's mental capacity, which was blatantly going off the rails already last year.
There really was a presidential candidate who was so far gone his brains were practically dribbling out his ears, it just wasn't the one we heard about.
👆🎯
Based on other things I’m reading, Trump doesn’t have the constitutional authority to impose tariffs at all. Shouldn’t that be the number one point pundits make before discussing the idiocy of the tariffs? And that letter! Did that really come from the Office of the President?
The President doesn't have that authority. Except in national emergencies. So DonnyJon has simply declared that national emergencies exist. The steel and aluminum tariffs were originally put in place to defend the US against hostile nations. Like Canada.
Presidential emergency powers must be curtailed and confined to real emergencies. I was appalled when Trump got his wall funding with emergency powers. But Biden did the same with student loan forgiveness...with no press pushback what so ever.
But the courts blocked Biden and give DonnyJon the checkered flag.
Congress let him get away with the tariff stuff.