As a convicted criminal, apart from being a well-documented security risk, surely the Canadian border guards would be entitled to tell trump that he is denied entry?
Can US shipmates confirm that Trump is banning or making it much harder for citizens from a large amount of countries to enter the US. From what I have seen it could have a big impact on the US tourist industry.
I’ve read a few articles suggesting that Trump may be approaching a Liz Truss moment. It took her 10 days to reverse a stupid economic policy because of adverse market reaction.
Don’t see it myself. Trump doubles down habitually. I think Crœsos has a better prediction.
Can US shipmates confirm that Trump is banning or making it much harder for citizens from a large amount of countries to enter the US. From what I have seen it could have a big impact on the US tourist industry.
There are two kinds of things that Trump has done / is doing. One is increasing the amount of vetting required for visas. (This wouldn't affect anyone traveling under the visa waiver scheme.) The second is enforcing immigration law in an aggressive and capricious way, and it's the much publicized examples of the latter that might have a bigger effect. If you think there's a non-zero risk that you'll be grabbed off the street and shipped off to an ICE gulag for a few weeks because of some minor issue, you're more likely to choose to travel somewhere else.
Things like shipping gay makeup artists off to a prison in El Salvador, because he "had tattoos, so we assumed he was a gang member" is not a good look.
Can US shipmates confirm that Trump is banning or making it much harder for citizens from a large amount of countries to enter the US. From what I have seen it could have a big impact on the US tourist industry.
Talked with a Ugandan woman at church yesterday. She had hoped to have her father visit this month. Now it has been indefinitely delayed. She is still hoping it will happen eventually.
Can US shipmates confirm that Trump is banning or making it much harder for citizens from a large amount of countries to enter the US. From what I have seen it could have a big impact on the US tourist industry.
It's not just that, they're revoking the visas of people who are here legally and haven't done anything wrong.
Homeland Security revoked the student visas of some of the international kids at the University of Kentucky.
Now I'm proud to be a (transplanted) Kentuckian and UK is a terrific school, considering the poverty of our state, but usually Homeland Security doesn't bother with little underfunded public universities in red states. Normally they'd be sniffing around Columbia and Harvard and places like that. To me this makes it look like they're trying to purge anybody who even might be any kind of dissident or who might speak up against Israel's actions in Gaza.
To me this makes it look like they're trying to purge anybody who even might be any kind of dissident or who might speak up against Israel's actions in Gaza.
Plus it scares people out of speaking up if they haven't already.
I have a relation with a Green Card who is married to an American citizen. While I'd love to see them both move over here, that's not what they want. I may be overreacting, but I am concerned for both of them.
I think the rest of the world will negotiate, and will probably try to give him the opportunity to save face - but some of that will likely be tied to American military aid to the Ukraine and him ceasing to threaten invasion of Canada and Greenland (though such a condition might not be made public.)
Some of the rest of the world perhaps, but not all. China is what matters, and is the hill on which DJT will die.
Years ago Trump told a journalist that revenge should be pursued at every opportunity and he makes no secret of his loathing for China as a state and Xi personally. What he fails to understand is that in this game of chicken Xi won't blink unless it suits his long game.
Away from China, there is a two-part reaction to Trump - the official one around tariffs, and the increasing grass-roots boycotts of US products. Negotiation/grovelling might have some effect on the former, the latter is out of any government's control.
Away from China, there is a two-part reaction to Trump - the official one around tariffs, and the increasing grass-roots boycotts of US products. Negotiation/grovelling might have some effect on the former, the latter is out of any government's control.
Except, oddly, the US government.
I'm pretty sure - though it would be almost the definition of evil - that there are levers that could be pulled (trade, intelligence sharing, defence support, etc) that would punish any nation where the population didn't buck up and buy US produce.
I mean, like I say it wouldn't be pleasant, but it's only a couple of steps further down the road from what's happening anyway.
Even though it is called an open communist country China is still communist. The leadership still retains a strong hold on the finances. They can basically do anything they want to counter Trumps tariffs. They can manipulate their markets and their financial situation.
Not entirely sure that Xi is all that much worse than Hu or Jeng, nor that the difference justifies regime change with all the issues that fall from that.
Trade Wars, Episode V: The Empire Shoots Itself in the Foot. As the world financial markets fail to appreciate his genius, tariff-excreting president Donald Trump has explained it all away by stating that “sometimes you have to take medicine”. Why am I reminded of the bit in Covid where he appeared to suggest that disinfectant could helpfully be injected into the lungs? I guess that was just science, same as this tariffs plan is just economics.
Xi vs Trump - is it too much to hope they take each other out?
That reminds me of the scene in Lord of the Rings where someone expresses a wish that Saruman and Sauron were not separated by many hundreds of miles, and could fight it out between them whilst everyone else looks on. Gandalf remarks that the winner would emerge even stronger than before...
Xi vs Trump - is it too much to hope they take each other out?
That reminds me of the scene in Lord of the Rings where someone expresses a wish that Saruman and Sauron were not separated by many hundreds of miles, and could fight it out between them whilst everyone else looks on. Gandalf remarks that the winner would emerge even stronger than before...
Really? What's Xi done to the world economy recently?
So what is the parallel? Donald Trump is an American president who is being bad in very American ways, reaching for a Chinese parallel - just cos - strikes me as highly problematic.
Trump is apparently "confident" that China will negotiate - he really doesn't understand the country or Xi.
@Eirenist And there is now a petition for the visit to the UK to be delayed - I suspect we should read that as cancelled - and Le Pen is appealing against the conviction.
Technically Marine Lepen ought to be in prison. She was sentenced to two years inside, with the sentence effective during any appeal period.
But on account of being a famous political personality, she (like Sarko) gets off with an electronic tag. This is the same woman who likes to complain about how the French justice system is too lax.
ETA She's appealing because of course she is, but I have my doubts that she'll get anywhere. Once the fash got busted, it was every (wo)man for themselves, and they didn't make any attempt to help the little people in the party. Unfortunately for them, the accountant realised they were going to throw him to the wolves, and decided to cooperate with the authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence. This is the man who knows where ALL the bodies are buried.
So what is the parallel? Donald Trump is an American president who is being bad in very American ways, reaching for a Chinese parallel - just cos - strikes me as highly problematic.
It was @Dafyd who speculated on a Xi-Trump contest. I merely pointed out that it reminded me of a scene from Lord of the Rings. Make of that what you will - as I said, with the help of the emoji. I wasn't intending to draw a parallel.
Away from China, there is a two-part reaction to Trump - the official one around tariffs, and the increasing grass-roots boycotts of US products. Negotiation/grovelling might have some effect on the former, the latter is out of any government's control.
Except, oddly, the US government.
I'm pretty sure - though it would be almost the definition of evil - that there are levers that could be pulled (trade, intelligence sharing, defence support, etc) that would punish any nation where the population didn't buck up and buy US produce.
I mean, like I say it wouldn't be pleasant, but it's only a couple of steps further down the road from what's happening anyway.
I have thought similar @betjemaniac . In fact I have wondered whether that is Plan A rather than a "lever in reserve"
It struck me today that Trump's messing with tariff threats on a changing go / no-go basis, with no necessity for input from congress, gives him a fairly predictable lever with which to create market volatility. I wonder if in the motivation for all this there is a simple insider trading fraud.
Donald Trump is an American president who is being bad in very American ways ...
He's all the worst American stereotypes rolled into one.
We're traveling to France this summer. I'm refreshing my memory on all the things I need to be able to say in French to be polite. You know, "bonjour," "au revoir," "merci," and of course, "Je suis vraiment désolé. Je n'ai pas voté pour ce connard."*
And he blinked. Put the reciprocal tariffs off for another 90 days. Something about going off the cliff was a little too much. Ber he will do this once every three months for the rest of his term.
And he blinked. Put the reciprocal tariffs off for another 90 days. Something about going off the cliff was a little too much. Ber he will do this once every three months for the rest of his term.
At 9:34 AM, right after the start of trading, he posted on Truth Social: "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT". Less than four hours later, he announced the 90-day delay.
According to some media accounts(*), "DJT" is the stock ticker number for Trump Media & Technology Group, the company through which Trump owns Truth Social.
(*) Pretty sure I saw that reported by one of the big-three networks in an article, but the reference was later removed, with rather clunkerous disclaimers about a supposed lack of evidence added. I will observe that I have never known Trump to sign off with those initials.
Pretty sure I saw that reported by one of the big-three networks in an article, but the reference was later removed, with rather clunkerous disclaimers about a supposed lack of evidence added.
Sorry, I misremembered. It was one of the major newsmagazines that mentioned that detail, and they still have it in their article.
They say he "intermittently" does it. And it would seem to be pretty intermittent, because I did a google on "Trump Truth Social posts", and didn't see one with that sign-off, including ones written in his trademark style.
So, the guy announces policies widely viewed as crashing the market, then with the crash in full swing tells people to start buying and attaches his company's ticker sign, then a few hours later announces policies likely to reverse the crash.
Maybe it's just a series of random, unconnected acts, but it's so blatantly suggestive I'm not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Once again his ignorance is on display - poor fool thinks the stock market rally means all is well, so he's ignoring the bond market. Well Donald, the Japanese are selling - the biggest red flag possible. I suspect that China will follow suit fairly soon and, if we've got any sense, the UK will follow.
And the bond markets are starting to react. Ignoring shorts, on 10 year bonds the 1 year rate for the USA is down 25, the Japanese up 53, the UK up 55.
Donald Trump is an American president who is being bad in very American ways ...
He's all the worst American stereotypes rolled into one.
We're traveling to France this summer. I'm refreshing my memory on all the things I need to be able to say in French to be polite. You know, "bonjour," "au revoir," "merci," and of course, "Je suis vraiment désolé. Je n'ai pas voté pour ce connard."*
* "I'm so sorry. I didn't vote for that asshole"
Yes, you'll need that.
Mind you, I've known of French people being spectacularly rude to American tourists - and much more so to German visitors for obvious historical reasons.
That said, other than in Paris I've always found the French to be kind, polite and welcoming to any visitors, particularly when you get out into the countryside.
If their sympathetic responses to me over Brexit are anything to go by, you should receive the same over Trump.
Unless you run into a Marine le Pen supporter.
It depends where you are. France is a big place with lots of regional differences.
So, the guy announces policies widely viewed as crashing the market, then with the crash in full swing tells people to start buying and attaches his company's ticker sign, then a few hours later announces policies likely to reverse the crash.
Maybe it's just a series of random, unconnected acts, but it's so blatantly suggestive I'm not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
And because he controls the government with an iron hand and Congress refuses to perform its constitutional duty, there is nobody who will investigate or prosecute. The perfect scam.
France is a big place with lots of regional differences.
But you'll know all that if you've been before.
Actually, while we're planning, I've had to remind myself again and again that France is smaller than I think it is. My partner proposed driving from one place to another in Normandy and I exclaimed about how far it is, and he reminded me that France is about the size of Texas.
But sure, tell me all about living in a big place with lots of regional differences.
So, the guy announces policies widely viewed as crashing the market, then with the crash in full swing tells people to start buying and attaches his company's ticker sign, then a few hours later announces policies likely to reverse the crash.
Maybe it's just a series of random, unconnected acts, but it's so blatantly suggestive I'm not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
And because he controls the government with an iron hand and Congress refuses to perform its constitutional duty, there is nobody who will investigate or prosecute. The perfect scam.
If there's any political capital to be milked from this, it might be better if it DOESN'T get investigated. If congress investigates, the GOP majority will just declare everything copacetic, and it'll be tallied as a victory for Trump. But no investigation allows Democrats to claim it was obviously market-manipulation, with no official refutation from the Republicans.
Actually, while we're planning, I've had to remind myself again and again that France is smaller than I think it is. My partner proposed driving from one place to another in Normandy and I exclaimed about how far it is, and he reminded me that France is about the size of Texas.
On that note, I think it makes sense to measure distance in terms of driving time rather than actual distance. I don't think it changes your conclusions much, but 60 miles on narrow windy country lanes is not at all the same as 60 miles on a wide straight highway.
My main aim is to live long enough to see my grandchildren grow up - and maybe finally get my own runner beans to germinate, rather than having to admit defeat for the nth time and source seedlings.
stetson's post is apposite, he's just going to declare the whole thing a triumph. I suspect he doesn't care much as long as he continues to avoid the consequences of his actions and is surrounded by adoring crowds.
stetson's post is apposite, he's just going to declare the whole thing a triumph. I suspect he doesn't care much as long as he continues to avoid the consequences of his actions and is surrounded by adoring crowds.
Surely that can’t last that much longer. Even over here we are hearing murmurs of rebellion
stetson's post is apposite, he's just going to declare the whole thing a triumph. I suspect he doesn't care much as long as he continues to avoid the consequences of his actions and is surrounded by adoring crowds.
Surely that can’t last that much longer. Even over here we are hearing murmurs of rebellion
But what I've been noticing is the rebellion tends to go in thematic cycles. A few weeks back, everyone was pissed off about DOGE, Musk, and Tesla, but now that seems to have fallen by the wayside, I suspect because the damage from DOGE was diluted enough that the movement against it didn't accelerate.
How long the backlash against the tariffs and attendant market crashes will continue, and how much they'll expand, I don't know. Possibly not a good thing for Trump that, unlike the civil-service cuts, the tariffs majorly piss off corporations and their media mouthpieces.
Comments
Don’t see it myself. Trump doubles down habitually. I think Crœsos has a better prediction.
There are two kinds of things that Trump has done / is doing. One is increasing the amount of vetting required for visas. (This wouldn't affect anyone traveling under the visa waiver scheme.) The second is enforcing immigration law in an aggressive and capricious way, and it's the much publicized examples of the latter that might have a bigger effect. If you think there's a non-zero risk that you'll be grabbed off the street and shipped off to an ICE gulag for a few weeks because of some minor issue, you're more likely to choose to travel somewhere else.
Things like shipping gay makeup artists off to a prison in El Salvador, because he "had tattoos, so we assumed he was a gang member" is not a good look.
They're doing what they're calling "enhanced vetting" of people entering the US - same rules, more strictly applied.
Here's a gift link to a NY Times explainer: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/travel/us-travel-border-customs-visa-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.904.xHxG.czJXV-oPxDbM&smid=url-share
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/apr/07/so-you-want-to-go-to-the-usa-are-you-sure-heres-how-to-prepare-your-machines-for-trumpistan
It's not just that, they're revoking the visas of people who are here legally and haven't done anything wrong.
Homeland Security revoked the student visas of some of the international kids at the University of Kentucky.
Now I'm proud to be a (transplanted) Kentuckian and UK is a terrific school, considering the poverty of our state, but usually Homeland Security doesn't bother with little underfunded public universities in red states. Normally they'd be sniffing around Columbia and Harvard and places like that. To me this makes it look like they're trying to purge anybody who even might be any kind of dissident or who might speak up against Israel's actions in Gaza.
Plus it scares people out of speaking up if they haven't already.
I have a relation with a Green Card who is married to an American citizen. While I'd love to see them both move over here, that's not what they want. I may be overreacting, but I am concerned for both of them.
Some of the rest of the world perhaps, but not all. China is what matters, and is the hill on which DJT will die.
Years ago Trump told a journalist that revenge should be pursued at every opportunity and he makes no secret of his loathing for China as a state and Xi personally. What he fails to understand is that in this game of chicken Xi won't blink unless it suits his long game.
Away from China, there is a two-part reaction to Trump - the official one around tariffs, and the increasing grass-roots boycotts of US products. Negotiation/grovelling might have some effect on the former, the latter is out of any government's control.
Except, oddly, the US government.
I'm pretty sure - though it would be almost the definition of evil - that there are levers that could be pulled (trade, intelligence sharing, defence support, etc) that would punish any nation where the population didn't buck up and buy US produce.
I mean, like I say it wouldn't be pleasant, but it's only a couple of steps further down the road from what's happening anyway.
Every country does.
How? Pistols at dawn?
That reminds me of the scene in Lord of the Rings where someone expresses a wish that Saruman and Sauron were not separated by many hundreds of miles, and could fight it out between them whilst everyone else looks on. Gandalf remarks that the winner would emerge even stronger than before...
Really? What's Xi done to the world economy recently?
So what is the parallel? Donald Trump is an American president who is being bad in very American ways, reaching for a Chinese parallel - just cos - strikes me as highly problematic.
@Eirenist And there is now a petition for the visit to the UK to be delayed - I suspect we should read that as cancelled - and Le Pen is appealing against the conviction.
But on account of being a famous political personality, she (like Sarko) gets off with an electronic tag. This is the same woman who likes to complain about how the French justice system is too lax.
ETA She's appealing because of course she is, but I have my doubts that she'll get anywhere. Once the fash got busted, it was every (wo)man for themselves, and they didn't make any attempt to help the little people in the party. Unfortunately for them, the accountant realised they were going to throw him to the wolves, and decided to cooperate with the authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence. This is the man who knows where ALL the bodies are buried.
It was @Dafyd who speculated on a Xi-Trump contest. I merely pointed out that it reminded me of a scene from Lord of the Rings. Make of that what you will - as I said, with the help of the
I have thought similar @betjemaniac . In fact I have wondered whether that is Plan A rather than a "lever in reserve"
He's all the worst American stereotypes rolled into one.
We're traveling to France this summer. I'm refreshing my memory on all the things I need to be able to say in French to be polite. You know, "bonjour," "au revoir," "merci," and of course, "Je suis vraiment désolé. Je n'ai pas voté pour ce connard."*
* "I'm so sorry. I didn't vote for that asshole"
At 9:34 AM, right after the start of trading, he posted on Truth Social: "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT". Less than four hours later, he announced the 90-day delay.
According to some media accounts(*), "DJT" is the stock ticker number for Trump Media & Technology Group, the company through which Trump owns Truth Social.
(*) Pretty sure I saw that reported by one of the big-three networks in an article, but the reference was later removed, with rather clunkerous disclaimers about a supposed lack of evidence added. I will observe that I have never known Trump to sign off with those initials.
Sorry, I misremembered. It was one of the major newsmagazines that mentioned that detail, and they still have it in their article.
The Hill says he does that to show he's written the post himself.
https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-business/ap-trumps-buy-tip-on-social-media-before-his-tariffs-pause-made-money-for-investors-who-listened/
What fun he's having.
They say he "intermittently" does it. And it would seem to be pretty intermittent, because I did a google on "Trump Truth Social posts", and didn't see one with that sign-off, including ones written in his trademark style.
So, the guy announces policies widely viewed as crashing the market, then with the crash in full swing tells people to start buying and attaches his company's ticker sign, then a few hours later announces policies likely to reverse the crash.
Maybe it's just a series of random, unconnected acts, but it's so blatantly suggestive I'm not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Yes, you'll need that.
Mind you, I've known of French people being spectacularly rude to American tourists - and much more so to German visitors for obvious historical reasons.
That said, other than in Paris I've always found the French to be kind, polite and welcoming to any visitors, particularly when you get out into the countryside.
If their sympathetic responses to me over Brexit are anything to go by, you should receive the same over Trump.
Unless you run into a Marine le Pen supporter.
It depends where you are. France is a big place with lots of regional differences.
But you'll know all that if you've been before.
Actually, while we're planning, I've had to remind myself again and again that France is smaller than I think it is. My partner proposed driving from one place to another in Normandy and I exclaimed about how far it is, and he reminded me that France is about the size of Texas.
But sure, tell me all about living in a big place with lots of regional differences.
If there's any political capital to be milked from this, it might be better if it DOESN'T get investigated. If congress investigates, the GOP majority will just declare everything copacetic, and it'll be tallied as a victory for Trump. But no investigation allows Democrats to claim it was obviously market-manipulation, with no official refutation from the Republicans.
On that note, I think it makes sense to measure distance in terms of driving time rather than actual distance. I don't think it changes your conclusions much, but 60 miles on narrow windy country lanes is not at all the same as 60 miles on a wide straight highway.
Who knows?
My main aim is to live long enough to see my grandchildren grow up - and maybe finally get my own runner beans to germinate, rather than having to admit defeat for the nth time and source seedlings.
stetson's post is apposite, he's just going to declare the whole thing a triumph. I suspect he doesn't care much as long as he continues to avoid the consequences of his actions and is surrounded by adoring crowds.
Surely that can’t last that much longer. Even over here we are hearing murmurs of rebellion
But what I've been noticing is the rebellion tends to go in thematic cycles. A few weeks back, everyone was pissed off about DOGE, Musk, and Tesla, but now that seems to have fallen by the wayside, I suspect because the damage from DOGE was diluted enough that the movement against it didn't accelerate.
How long the backlash against the tariffs and attendant market crashes will continue, and how much they'll expand, I don't know. Possibly not a good thing for Trump that, unlike the civil-service cuts, the tariffs majorly piss off corporations and their media mouthpieces.