Discussion: Closed-Door Meeting Leaves GOP, WH Far Apart On Tariffs As Deadline Looms

[mondfledermaus]

@steviedee111

I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again. Trump is going to announce some sort of bullshit progress being made, a reduction in migrants crossing the border.

@brooklyndweller

This is entirely possible. However, how do we know whether Rump will wake up at 3:36 am some morning, completely disoriented, jump on Twitter and announce tariffs on Mexico again??

The sad part is that they are both correct, that is exactly whats going to happen.

[ljb860]

@steviedee111

Some government monitoring agency somewhere in the bowels of DC will cough up statistics backing his assertion Mexico has done as he’s asked

There was a story already this morning that Mexico is doing exactly that.

Migrants brave the 'Beast' as Mexico cracks down under US pressure

[gusfabriani]

The GOP leadership still doesn’t seem to get the fact that there’s nothing Drumpf can do that will hurt him politically. Nothing. Drumpf’s lawless, clueless, uneducated, angry, racist, white-supremacist, xenophobic base doesn’t care a bit about his crimes or his idiotic foreign policy. The GOP leaders are only concerned with how Drumpf’s stupid ideas effect the DONOR class and corporate masters. The base doesn’t matter to the GOP leadership, but the big money donors do.

[Akimbo]

As others have said trump is Joffrey running around the throne screaming “off with their head” and killing people for fun.

The idiots that put him there knew he was a sadistic, broken a-hole, but he was their sadistic, broken a-hole and they thought they could control him.

Powell is doing the same thing as McConnell. It was only a matter of time before he would come for their heads.

[ronbyers]

Trump will probably declare victory before the tariffs take effect but there is always the chance that he wont. That is what is so frustrating about Trump. There is just no way to know when he is going to take the world over a cliff. It could happen any given morning for any stupid reason.

[haddockbranzini]

@steviedee111

I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again. Trump is going to announce some sort of bullshit progress being made, a reduction in migrants crossing the border. Some government monitoring agency somewhere in the bowels of DC will cough up statistics backing his assertion Mexico has done as he’s asked, and the tariffs will be suspended until further notice.

The Ann Coulter types won’t go along with that - and he is terrified of push-back from his right.

[rascal_crone]

@jayhawk67

“Trouble In Paradise”? An “Uprising in Purgatory” might be more accurate, or perhaps “The Glow Is Off The Shotgun Marriage”.

1,000 likes

[rascal_crone]

well done, thanks for posting

[bankerpup]

Mitch wwill promise Donnie a cut of the Chao ffamily profits. Crisis averted.

[arc_of_the_universe]

@steviedee111

Trump is going to announce some sort of bullshit progress being made … and the tariffs will be suspended until further notice.

Yes. But Trump won’t reverse the tariff because Mitch No-Connell and the Do-Nothing Senate are any kind of threat. The clutching-pearls-over-tariffs caucus won’t do anything, and actually are a useful foil for him.

He’ll reverse them because he has to have some kind of exit ramp. Even he can tell at this point that 25 percent tariffs on Mexico would destroy the U.S. economy.

[steviedee111]

@gusfabriani

The GOP leadership still doesn’t seem to get the fact that there’s nothing Drumpf can do that will hurt him politically.

I generally agree. But more and more I catch interviews with farmers across several states and agricultural sectors. The reason for the story usually touches on their current plight. Grain piling up with no market to buy it. Or some other aspect of their business Trump’s meddling has nosediving. They’ll be put on the spot by a local interviewer, “Would you vote for Trump again?” coming up. More than a few hesitate, look downward, think hard, and reply “No…I just don’t think so.” And if that farmer is saying that so is his wife, his grown kids, some of his suppliers, and many of the people in industries that depend on him, support him, or otherwise make money off of him making money. I think a true, incremental erosion of support is starting to happen in pockets of the nation.

[atldrew]

@steviedee111

I think a true, incremental erosion of support is starting to happen in pockets of the nation.

77,000 votes across 3 states; we don’t need a tidal wave (I’d take it though), just a few percent changing sides, and I sense it’s happening. Joni Ernst is wobbling as is handwringer Susan Collins. Shit be stirring.

[moonmac]

“Trump’s people spoke in ambiguities”…i think you can use this as a blanket statement for anything involving his ‘people’…

[brooklyndweller]

Grain piling up with no market to buy it. Or some other aspect of their business Trump’s meddling has nosediving.

And I think that part is essential to focus on. If you have a business that’s being affected by the tariffs, then you’ve got a real problem with them, something that’s tangible. But there’s a certain amount of Rump’s base that’s STILL on board with them because they’re not directly impacted by them. Those are the ones still chewing on the mantra “Tariffs are easy.” Those are the one who really believe that the US is taking in billions of dollars from countries who’ve taken advantage of us and MAGA.

Now, if prices spike across the board (manufacturing, agriculture, etc.), across the country then everyone will notice something’s wrong. They’ll blame someone/thing else except for Rump but they’ll notice.

[faydout]

@gusfabriani

DONOR class

Way OT: Would rebranding them as GOP shareholders work? It’s seems pretty accurate anymore. Just a fun idea I’ve been chewing on for a few days, and the phrasing in your post reminded me.

[benthere]

The phrase “President Donald Trump’s people spoke in ambiguities” says it all.

[noonm]

@atldrew

77,000 votes across 3 states; we don’t need a tidal wave (I’d take it though), just a few percent changing sides, and I sense it’s happening. Joni Ernst is wobbling as is handwringer Susan Collins. Shit be stirring.

This^

People forget that we don’t need a massive tidal wave to beat Trump in 2020. A better distribution in a few states in 2016 and we would have had President Clinton. Trump is actually the one who has to significantly improve on his 2016 performance if he wants to get reelected in 2020.

[khyber900]

Honestly, if the GOP Senate doesn’t stop these tariffs Mitch McConnell will not be the Senate Majority Leader in 2021.

Chuck Schumer is no profile in courage, but he can be a good troller. When he said he didn’t think Trump would follow through on tariffs, it was to goad him to do just that so that the GOP would get into a conflict with him. That’s where we are.

[faydout]

@atldrew

we don’t need a tidal wave

I think that for the collective mental health of the country (or, most of the world tbf), that a landslide of near historic proportions, would be a great kick start to undoing some of this fuckery.

[steviedee111]

@brooklyndweller

But there’s a certain amount of Rump’s base that’s STILL on board with them because they’re not directly impacted by them.

There’s 25-30% of the populace that’s in a cult level of devotion to the man. I think if Dems properly prioritize their efforts of persuasion these people can be written off as unreachable. The expenditure of time and money required to flip an appreciable number of them to the other side probably isn’t justified after doing a cost benefit analysis. They’re lost. We need to talk to whatever number there are that aren’t in the cult, the ones that voted for Trump for what they perceived to be rational reasons, not ones based on celebrity and personality.