(Soon to be) Former President Donald Trump

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

The BBC analyst nailed it.

His speech preached about putting America first to create jobs etc but his ire was aimed at 'Asia' and 'Mexico' when it should be aimed at robots that don't carry passports. Unless he has a time machine that can turn the clock back to the 1950s his job creation plans are pure fantasy.

Also is it just me or is Melania Trumps body language really strange. She's like a mannequin. You see the Obamas and they look genuinely close and intimate with each other. Mrs Trump looks like she's paid to be there.

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I doubt she is with him for his charm, wit and good looks... 😀

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Originally Posted by SouthsideHarp_Bhoy

I doubt she is with him for his charm, wit and good looks... 😀

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She does his hair apparently. She is his most prised asset :greengrin

The art of diplomacy is to not say the things you want to say, or to say the things you want to say in a way that makes it look like you're not saying them and to kiss the arse of people and regimes you despise, at least in public ...... Trump doesn't appear to have any of these attributes.

His America first credo has another name .... 'protectionism' .... decades ago that was a system that rarely worked, in today's global economy it has absolutely no chance of working. The big American manufacturers build cars and a million other products abroad so that they can import them to the US and sell them at a fraction of the cost of cars etc produced at home. If Trump gets his way and the car companies for example have to build in the US paying US wages and taxes that car that cost you $5,000 will cost you $8,000.

He can impose higher import duty on Japanese, Chinese and European products to make them more expensive, but that wont make American goods any cheaper at home, meaning that US employers will have to pay higher wages making producing at home even more expensive and that expense will have to be passed on to the consumer.

In this global economy does he really think that making it more expensive for the outside world to import to the US wont go by without retaliation ...... in the blink of an eye the Chinese, Japanese and Europeans will slap import tax on American goods that will make their eyes water ..... and with all these goods being produced in the US being more expensive due to them having to pay higher wages and then having massive import duties slapped on them by foreign governments, why would a European want to buy a Motorola mobile phone made in the good ol' USA when he can buy a Samsung phone made in China that is just as good but half the price?

Then there's the steel plants ...... yes perhaps the USA can revive its steel industry, but the only folk who would want to buy their steel produced at twice or three times the price of Chinese steel are the US car giants and construction industry, but once again that will push up the price of building cars and anything else using US steel and that means they either increase wages or have a whole domestic US economy where nobody can afford to buy anything.

President Trump has already made noises about NATO being obsolete and today in his inauguration speech he made a thinly veiled threat that his United States will no longer be willing to commit troops and resources to protect outside countries, which sounds to me like giving little or no support to the security of the countries bordering his new best buddy Vladimir Putin's Russia.
In which case all of the countries concerned like Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine and Turkey, not to mention Germany, France and the UK will be galvanised into producing their own weapons rather than relying on importing arms from the US which no doubt many of them do ...... If Trump goes down this line the first thing the UK should threaten to do is cancel Trident on the premise that we have no confidence in the USA's ability or willingness to supply the aftercare the system needs if we do buy it.

I'm beginning to think the Donald hasn't really thought this through.

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Originally Posted by NAE NOOKIE

The art of diplomacy is to not say the things you want to say, or to say the things you want to say in a way that makes it look like you're not saying them and to kiss the arse of people and regimes you despise, at least in public ...... Trump doesn't appear to have any of these attributes.

His America first credo has another name .... 'protectionism' .... decades ago that was a system that rarely worked, in today's global economy it has absolutely no chance of working. The big American manufacturers build cars and a million other products abroad so that they can import them to the US and sell them at a fraction of the cost of cars etc produced at home. If Trump gets his way and the car companies for example have to build in the US paying US wages and taxes that car that cost you $5,000 will cost you $8,000.

He can impose higher import duty on Japanese, Chinese and European products to make them more expensive, but that wont make American goods any cheaper at home, meaning that US employers will have to pay higher wages making producing at home even more expensive and that expense will have to be passed on to the consumer.

In this global economy does he really think that making it more expensive for the outside world to import to the US wont go by without retaliation ...... in the blink of an eye the Chinese, Japanese and Europeans will slap import tax on American goods that will make their eyes water ..... and with all these goods being produced in the US being more expensive due to them having to pay higher wages and then having massive import duties slapped on them by foreign governments, why would a European want to buy a Motorola mobile phone made in the good ol' USA when he can buy a Samsung phone made in China that is just as good but half the price?

Then there's the steel plants ...... yes perhaps the USA can revive its steel industry, but the only folk who would want to buy their steel produced at twice or three times the price of Chinese steel are the US car giants and construction industry, but once again that will push up the price of building cars and anything else using US steel and that means they either increase wages or have a whole domestic US economy where nobody can afford to buy anything.

President Trump has already made noises about NATO being obsolete and today in his inauguration speech he made a thinly veiled threat that his United States will no longer be willing to commit troops and resources to protect outside countries, which sounds to me like giving little or no support to the security of the countries bordering his new best buddy Vladimir Putin's Russia.
In which case all of the countries concerned like Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine and Turkey, not to mention Germany, France and the UK will be galvanised into producing their own weapons rather than relying on importing arms from the US which no doubt many of them do ...... If Trump goes down this line the first thing the UK should threaten to do is cancel Trident on the premise that we have no confidence in the USA's ability or willingness to supply the aftercare the system needs if we do buy it.

I'm beginning to think the Donald hasn't really thought this through.

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While I agree with almost all of that, there's a danger that we might have a bit of a dominoe effect of countries adopting similar policies to try and protect industry in their own countries. Of all the countries that adopt this policy the USA has the least to lose. We are already hearing very similar noises from our government after the brexit vote and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that other European countries might follow in our wake.
Right now the world is a broken place, where the rich get richer and the rest struggle, whether what trump has to offer will make things better or worse remains to be seen.

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Originally Posted by lord bunberry

While I agree with almost all of that, there's a danger that we might have a bit of a dominoe effect of countries adopting similar policies to try and protect industry in their own countries. Of all the countries that adopt this policy the USA has the least to lose. We are already hearing very similar noises from our government after the brexit vote and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that other European countries might follow in our wake.
Right now the world is a broken place, where the rich get richer and the rest struggle, whether what trump has to offer will make things better or worse remains to be seen.

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Exactly mate .... the domino effect in trade is another possible effect of all this, the end result could be that everything gets more expensive for everybody everywhere ... as usual it will be the little guy who loses and that includes the little American guy who Trump claims to be the champion of.

I've just watched it and fair enough I'm pretty jacked right now, bar the America first, America first, I've no clue what he was harping on about, proper radge

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Originally Posted by NAE NOOKIE

Exactly mate .... the domino effect in trade is another possible effect of all this, the end result could be that everything gets more expensive for everybody everywhere ... as usual it will be the little guy who loses and that includes the little American guy who Trump claims to be the champion of.

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:agree: 50 years ago we had nearly full employment, but almost everyone was poor and life expectancy was far lower than it is today. I always laugh when I hear politicians from UKIP talk about making Britain great again. Great for who?

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Originally Posted by lord bunberry

:agree: 50 years ago we had nearly full employment, but almost everyone was poor and life expectancy was far lower than it is today. I always laugh when I hear politicians from UKIP talk about making Britain great again. Great for who?

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Themselves!

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Originally Posted by HomeTeam

Themselves!

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And their wealthy friends

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Originally Posted by Golden Fleece

Advice to President Trump, avoid grassy knolls and book repositories, particularly in Dallas.

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And cigars. They can have mind of own

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Originally Posted by NAE NOOKIE

The art of diplomacy is to not say the things you want to say, or to say the things you want to say in a way that makes it look like you're not saying them and to kiss the arse of people and regimes you despise, at least in public ...... Trump doesn't appear to have any of these attributes.

His America first credo has another name .... 'protectionism' .... decades ago that was a system that rarely worked, in today's global economy it has absolutely no chance of working. The big American manufacturers build cars and a million other products abroad so that they can import them to the US and sell them at a fraction of the cost of cars etc produced at home. If Trump gets his way and the car companies for example have to build in the US paying US wages and taxes that car that cost you $5,000 will cost you $8,000.

He can impose higher import duty on Japanese, Chinese and European products to make them more expensive, but that wont make American goods any cheaper at home, meaning that US employers will have to pay higher wages making producing at home even more expensive and that expense will have to be passed on to the consumer.

In this global economy does he really think that making it more expensive for the outside world to import to the US wont go by without retaliation ...... in the blink of an eye the Chinese, Japanese and Europeans will slap import tax on American goods that will make their eyes water ..... and with all these goods being produced in the US being more expensive due to them having to pay higher wages and then having massive import duties slapped on them by foreign governments, why would a European want to buy a Motorola mobile phone made in the good ol' USA when he can buy a Samsung phone made in China that is just as good but half the price?

Then there's the steel plants ...... yes perhaps the USA can revive its steel industry, but the only folk who would want to buy their steel produced at twice or three times the price of Chinese steel are the US car giants and construction industry, but once again that will push up the price of building cars and anything else using US steel and that means they either increase wages or have a whole domestic US economy where nobody can afford to buy anything.

President Trump has already made noises about NATO being obsolete and today in his inauguration speech he made a thinly veiled threat that his United States will no longer be willing to commit troops and resources to protect outside countries, which sounds to me like giving little or no support to the security of the countries bordering his new best buddy Vladimir Putin's Russia.
In which case all of the countries concerned like Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine and Turkey, not to mention Germany, France and the UK will be galvanised into producing their own weapons rather than relying on importing arms from the US which no doubt many of them do ...... If Trump goes down this line the first thing the UK should threaten to do is cancel Trident on the premise that we have no confidence in the USA's ability or willingness to supply the aftercare the system needs if we do buy it.

I'm beginning to think the Donald hasn't really thought this through.

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Best invest in US stock. Inflation will push it quite high, I think. He will present that as success.

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Originally Posted by Mon Dieu4

I've just watched it and fair enough I'm pretty jacked right now, bar the America first, America first, I've no clue what he was harping on about, proper radge

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Its difficult to say what any of his retoric will actually mean.

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Originally Posted by Colr

Best invest in US stock. Inflation will push it quite high, I think. He will present that as success.

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Yes very possible and will boost his portfolios while looking indirect influence.

An Executive Order signed to dismantle Obama care. He didn't waste much time.

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Originally Posted by Betty Boop

An Executive Order signed to dismantle Obama care. He didn't waste much time.

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Keep an eye on Cuba over the next month. That'll tell us a lot about how he plans to balance isolationism vs expansionism.

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Originally Posted by Betty Boop

An Executive Order signed to dismantle Obama care. He didn't waste much time.

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He also removed all reference to LGBT rights, the history of the civil rights movement and climate change from the White House website.

Money and patriotism are the order of the day. Expect to see an unprecedented awakening in the Arts (all of it: film, music, literature etc.) and powerful works of fear, resistance and protest over the next four years (if he makes it that far).

the funny thing about yesterday for me was seeing protesters carrying placards about saying stand up to hate and fascism , setting fire to cars , smashing up shops and assaulting retirement age military veterans in the streets

these 'liberals' really are a confused bunch

only interested in democracy when the result goes their way , and are against hate and fascism until they feel the need to go on a hate fuelled violent rampage

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Originally Posted by The Green Goblin

He also removed all reference to LGBT rights, the history of the civil rights movement and climate change from the White House website.

Money and patriotism are the order of the day. Expect to see an unprecedented awakening in the Arts (all of it: film, music, literature etc.) and powerful works of fear, resistance and protest over the next four years (if he makes it that far).

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Its a good point .... nothing galvanises popular culture and the arts like having self serving right wing ********s in charge .... the late 70s and 80s being a prime example.

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Originally Posted by makaveli1875

the funny thing about yesterday for me was seeing protesters carrying placards about saying stand up to hate and fascism , setting fire to cars , smashing up shops and assaulting retirement age military veterans in the streets

these 'liberals' really are a confused bunch

only interested in democracy when the result goes their way , and are against hate and fascism until they feel the need to go on a hate fuelled violent rampage

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Totally agree ...... I'm always confused as to why folk protesting against what they see as despots or fascists think they will get their point over, or public support, by trashing shops and offices belonging to folk they claim to be wanting to help .... I cant think of anything more counter productive.

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Originally Posted by hibsbollah

Keep an eye on Cuba over the next month. That'll tell us a lot about how he plans to balance isolationism vs expansionism.

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I legally brought a bottle of Habana Club back from Panama and I will be gutted if Trump brings back a ban on Cuban rum.

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Originally Posted by makaveli1875

the funny thing about yesterday for me was seeing protesters carrying placards about saying stand up to hate and fascism , setting fire to cars , smashing up shops and assaulting retirement age military veterans in the streets

these 'liberals' really are a confused bunch

only interested in democracy when the result goes their way , and are against hate and fascism until they feel the need to go on a hate fuelled violent rampage

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Liberals? Really? The moment you start smashing up the place, you're not a liberal.

Lots of protests in the US and around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-38682569

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Originally Posted by theonlywayisup

Lots of protests in the US and around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-38682569

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And in Edinburgh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-fife-38704352

2,000 at the US consulate.

Huge turnout at demonstrations, being kettled in Washington and Chicago.

What are the protestors hoping to achieve? I have watched alot of coverage online and it's a motley crew who are out protesting with very cringe worthy chants.

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Originally Posted by HomeTeam

What are the protestors hoping to achieve? I have watched alot of coverage online and it's a motley crew who are out protesting with very cringe worthy chants.

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The same as any demonstration. Raising awareness, and making sure that those in power know they're there.

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by HomeTeam

What are the protestors hoping to achieve? I have watched alot of coverage online and it's a motley crew who are out protesting with very cringe worthy chants.

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For the answer to the bit in bold, see: civil rights movement, poll tax, anti-LGBT laws, Dakota pipeline, climate change, etc. etc.

They are reminding the incoming administration, with everything that means, that they will be held accountable and do not have a free hand to just do whatever they want.

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Originally Posted by The Green Goblin

For the answer to the bit in bold, see: civil rights movement, poll tax, anti-LGBT laws, Dakota pipeline, climate change, etc. etc.

They are reminding the incoming administration, with everything that means, that they will be held accountable and do not have a free hand to just do whatever they want.

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They're also reminding everyone of the kind of identity politics that they were voting against when they backed Trump. The kind that has little to no interest in ordinary working people - especially if they're working class and white. Labour needs to take note and stand up for more than minorities.

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Originally Posted by NAE NOOKIE

Totally agree ...... I'm always confused as to why folk protesting against what they see as despots or fascists think they will get their point over, or public support, by trashing shops and offices belonging to folk they claim to be wanting to help .... I cant think of anything more counter productive.

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Very broadly, How do you think you best get a dissenting point across if you are an objector who opposed to any govts approach on any topic...?

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Originally Posted by Colr

Best invest in US stock. Inflation will push it quite high, I think. He will present that as success.

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Not convinced there is any direct correlation.