Saturday, April 05, 2025

America the victim

President Trump's tariff revolution is rooted in a simple thesis: America has been humiliated and exploited by foreign nations for decades, and only he has the guts to make them pay. Why it matters: Trump's personal victim complex has powered much of its political career. Now it's going global -- with the entire world, not just Trump's domestic enemies, feeling the weight of retribution.

Posted by LampLighter at 02:14 PM | 7 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

More from the article...

... The big picture: Never mind that the U.S. boasts the world's largest economy, most powerful military, record household wealth, and historically low unemployment.

- - - Trump has been remarkably consistent in casting America as a global pushover, including in a 1988 interview with Oprah that resurfaced in the wake of this week's tariff announcement.

- - - "For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike," Trump declared in his "Liberation Day" speech Wednesday. "But now it's our turn to prosper."

Zoom in: From uninhabited islands to impoverished enclaves, no country is too small, too irrelevant, or too loyal to escape the wrath of a president who believes America has been cheated for decades. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-04-05 02:16 PM

America the victim, just like Israel the victim.

Always the aggressor, always the victim.

#2 | Posted by ExpectingReign at 2025-04-05 02:53 PM

The world is full of countries that alternate between being the aggressor and playing the victim. The Chinese and the Russians often see themselves as the victims of those foreign devils and use that to justify the aggressions of their own countries. In the minds of Trump and his supporters, it's fair game to "hold a mirror up" to that behavior rather than leading by example. They have a lot in common with the far left SJWs with chips on their shoulders in that respect.

#3 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-04-05 03:13 PM

@#3 ... In the minds of Trump and his supporters ...

Pres Trump and his supporters --- the perennial claimants of being the victim.

More from the article...

... Between the lines: Victimhood " real and imagined " has always been central to Trump's political identity.

- - - His 2024 presidential campaign was fueled by grievances, beginning with the lie that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

- - - He's cast every investigation and indictment as a "witch hunt," from Russia to Signalgate.

- - - He survived an assassination attempt, and used it to turbocharge the persecution narrative that underpins his brand.

"They always said nobody got treated worse than Lincoln," Trump publicly mused in 2020 and many times after.

- - - "I believe I am treated worse." ...



#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-04-05 03:25 PM

He's an idiot who has zero idea on how economics works.

#5 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-04-05 05:22 PM

@#6 ... He's an idiot who has zero idea on how economics works. ...

Yeah, that seems to be the case.

A businessperson who has had to declare bankruptcy six times.

A businessperson who seems to be great at selling his name, but poor at running a business.

I have concerns.


#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-04-05 10:05 PM

America didn't have concerns.

34 FELONY CONVICTIONS,Racist, Elitist, Stupid and unprincipled.

How can the Electorate Be So STUPID?

American Exceptionalism....

#7 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2025-04-05 10:22 PM

Drudge Retort Headlines

First American Pope (123 comments)

Missouri GOP Lawmakers Seek to Make Gold, Silver Legal Tender (65 comments)

Poll: Views in the 5 Years Since George Floyd's Killing (47 comments)

Bill Gates says Elon Musk Is 'Killing World's Poorest Children' (36 comments)

GOP to Pay for Trump Tax Cuts with Sales of Public Land (28 comments)

US-UK: What Trade Deal? (27 comments)

Trump Administration 'looking At' Suspending Habeas Corpus (23 comments)

Kash Patel Shows Up at Budget Hearing Without a Budget (20 comments)

Fed Holds Interest Rates Steady (20 comments)

House Passes GOP-led Bill to Rename Gulf of Mexico (18 comments)