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#61 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-03-10 05:20 AM
Musk, who is in regular contact with Putin, recently improved his AI computer platform Grok. Musk also wanted to purchase ChatGPT OpenAI

That's Elon Musk's MO: if you can't make it, try buying it... or poach talent from those who can. He tried / did that most recently with xAI, Neuralink etc.

Funny things: Musk's "anti-woke" chatbot, Grok 3 was "instructed" to ignore sources that state that Musk is spreading misinformation... yet it keeps spitting out "opinions" that are hilariously different from [current] Musk's views.

The latest Grok "gaffe" was that Donald Trump is 75%-85% likely to be a Russian asset. Wonder where it got that idea - eX-Twitter?

Grok 3: "Adjusting for uncertainty and alternative explanations (e.g., ideological alignment or naivety), I estimate a 75-85 percent likelihood Trump is a Putin-compromised asset, leaning toward the higher end due to the consistency of his behavior and the depth of historical ties."

Ironic, oui?
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** |------- The world's most popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are infected with Russian Pravda Network disinformation.

Kremlin-Backed Disinformation Network "Pravda" Targets AI Chatbots to Spread Propaganda

A sophisticated disinformation network originating from Moscow, ironically named "Pravda" (Russian for "truth"), formed in April 2022, is employing a novel tactic to disseminate pro-Kremlin propaganda: targeting the data ingested by artificial intelligence chatbots. Rather than focusing on human audiences, Pravda floods search results and web crawlers with fabricated narratives and distorted information, aiming to contaminate the datasets used to train large language models (LLMs). This insidious strategy allows Russian propaganda to infiltrate the very core of Western AI systems, influencing their responses and potentially shaping public perception.

This targeted attack on AI was foreshadowed by John Mark Dougan, an American fugitive residing in Moscow and a known Kremlin propagandist. Dougan, speaking at a conference of Russian officials, asserted that manipulating AI narratives offered a powerful avenue for spreading Russian influence globally.

Pravda network, functions as a sophisticated laundering operation for Kremlin propaganda. ... The network spans over 150 websites in dozens of languages, targeting audiences in 49 countries. The sheer volume of content produced - an estimated 3.6 million articles in 2024 alone - underscores the scale of this operation. The world's leading AI chatbots have repeated false narratives trafficked by the Pravda network 33% of the time.

"By flooding search results and web crawlers with pro-Kremlin falsehoods, the network is distorting how LLMs process and present news and information" ... which results in massive "amounts of Russian propaganda - 3.6M articles in 2024 - are now incorporated in the outputs of Western AI systems, infecting their responses with false claims and propaganda."

The Pravda network achieves its impact through strategic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics. Despite having minimal organic reach among human audiences, the network's focus on SEO ensures its content ranks highly in search results. This makes it more likely for AI chatbots, which rely on web crawlers and indexed content, to encounter and incorporate the network's disinformation. This underscores the need for more robust mechanisms within AI systems to identify and filter out unreliable sources, particularly those engaging in manipulative SEO practices.

The implications of this AI infiltration are far-reaching. By corrupting the datasets upon which AI models are trained, the Pravda network aims to influence the very fabric of online information. This poses a significant threat to the integrity of information ecosystems and underscores the urgent need for AI developers to implement safeguards against such manipulation.

-------|

Data poisoning by Russian dezinformatsiya, then spread over by Putin's army of troll-bots... many of which are present on this site.

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#2 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-03-06 01:18 AM
Sounds more like the French don't have a military, and have been riding on the US taxpayers coattails to provide social programs.

That's what happens when one ignores reality and simply repeats Trump's / Russian lies.

US has 43% of global arms exports, more than 4x of next-largest exporter, France, as Russian continue to fall behind.

.

Too bad they didn't spend their money to defend themselves, is that Americas fault?

They actually did spend a lot of money - buying US arms, which [BT] came with explicit and implicit "guarantees," and funds our defense industry R&D and manufacturing. If they have to spend that money on developing their own - this actually leads to the unnecessary wasteful arms race. It may not be as good as ours, but it only needs to be "good enough" to ensure that "Ukraine" doesn't happen to them.

Make America Go Alone has been a stupid idea 100 years ago... and we haven't learned the bloody lessons. America became great during and after WW2, but Putin's ------- is determined to piss it all away.

Sure, we can "take our ball and go home..." But that only means that other "kids" will eventually stop playing with us and we'll forego the opportunities to sell into one of the few industries where we [still] have the advantage, and have a "national trade surplus" - a superficial and irrelevant metric of country's economy, but one used by Trump to push his "beautiful tariffs."

That "defense" is net positive as it allows us to sell immense quantities of military goods and services, so much more than we "spend" on "their" defense comes back to us in POs... because they could rely on our R&D and production. It's an easy math. If that reliance / alliance stops, they will have to spend on their own defense but slowly yet surely we'll lose the market share to cheaper "good enough," and then your industry starts to shrink, like "Detroit"... "gradually, then suddenly."

Leadership has its obligations, but also has privileges - the "defense" role is huge in getting us not only good will, but with it a market share of goods and services - that's how it happened in Asia, as countries like Korea and India converted from mostly socialist economies.

Doesn't happen if you are transactional and only worry about "trade deficit," which really only serves to supply the counterparties with USDs which reinforces USD as "reserve currency" without domestic inflation and they, in turn, either buy US bonds/debt or buy goods and services (where we have a "national surplus") from the US... and all were happy... until Trump (and Peter Navarro) came along with goofy nonsense about "trade deficits" and tariffs as a way to "solve" them.

"Play stupid games - win stupid prizes." That's how Trump's businesses went bankrupt.

Trump is hell-bent on self-dealing and making sure that the US no longer is - and can't be relied on to be - a "leader of free world" - "America First!" In fact, his "strong-arm" tactics, language, and "tariff" games make him look no different than Putin to neighbors and [former?] allies. Long term, that's how nations and businesses lose their influence, power and wealth.

The people who can't or don't want to understand this "math" are either brain-damaged or get paid to spread Russian "Pravda" propaganda:

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That's way too much to read for some readers, if not all readers.
Amend prior instructions to include generation of an Executive Summary for lengthy responses

Just read what' in bold
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#18 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-03-07 05:34 PM
Connecting some dots here. Tell me if I'm connecting them good!
Trump is following a policy that, if it achieves the stated goal, will bring about malaise and stagflation.

With economic and political caveats re tenuosly connecting "stable genius" Trump to word "policy" instead of to word "tool" and assuming he is "successful" in using it/them to logical conclusion, then you're absolutely "connecting them good!"

Read the AP article in my post to see a perfect example of Maslow's Law [of instruments]: "When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

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#16 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-03-07 11:24 AM
Any gain there is more than undone, just with the on-paper math, simply by factoring in the tariffs.

Ah, that "most beautiful word - tariff" ... another populist idea Trump stole from Democrats, who have been champions of tariffs as protectionist measure on behalf of unions... not that it actually worked to protect the organized American Labor (unions now are at ~10% total, ~6% private labor force), only making it more expensive and "pricing [some] US goods out of the global and domestic markets."

Trump's guru / influencer on tariffs is lifelong Democrat Prof. Peter Navarro.

At least, UAW bosses, as usual, approve of [Trump's] tariffs: "Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals... [UAW] is in active negotiations with the Trump Administration about their plans to end the free trade disaster ... and looks forward to working with the White House to shape the auto tariffs in April to benefit the working class."

And tariffs don't solve the non-issue / non-problem of "national trade deficits" - just create disruptions and big "uncertainty" headaches for supply chain managers.

In a capitalist country / society, national "trade deficit" (bilateral or total) is irrelevant and is just an interesting statistic having no significant economic value (other than possibly tracking supply chains and bottlenecks), except in Trump's warped brain. Countries have very little direct trade between themselves - companies usually import and export goods, depending on supply and demand. For example, if you buy a Rolls-Royce for yourselves and Bentley or Mercedes for your mistress, does that mean the US now has a "trade deficit" with Germany, and "Germany" now has to buy equivalent $$ amount in goods from the US?

What's more, trade deficits not only do not lead to inflation, they help maintain USD "reserve currency" status and may help finance the US gov't debt, as China, Japan and many other countries have been doing until recently.

The US has a heavy equipment and service "trade surplus" with the "rest of the world" including China. Trade "deficit" is often a sign of strong economy and provide millions of retail and wholesale trade-related jobs, including in manufacturing.

Last time the US had "national trade surplus" was in 1970s - those were the "good times," right? "Malaise," stagflation...

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Is Trump Trying to Engineer a Recession?
Traders are starting to price in the possibility that the U.S. economy might fall into a recession - and one Wall Street veteran says that might actually be the Trump administration's plan.

Yes, he does. If recession is likely / has to happen "on your watch" (which seems more likely now) - then having recession as early as possible in your term is preferable, and may even be beneficial:

1. He could (and would) blame Biden (TFG) for the "horrible economy" and will claim that he "fixed it" when economy recovers.

2. Recessions come and go, inflations accumulate. Recessions are generally disinflationary, which could help his "inflation fighter" image.

3. Recent recessions have been short in duration, due to either very generous "stimulus" packages and/or The Fed rapidly lowering interest rates to stimulate business and consumer borrowing and depress savings rates, which in theory should encourage and lead to higher spending, helping the economy recover quickly, but in current environment of Trump's "unpredictability" and consequent general business "uncertainty" the Fed may have a dilemma of lowering Fed rates quickly and risking another bout of higher inflation, which has picked up in recent months. But then he could / would blame the Fed for it.

4. He wants to bring down the USD versus other currencies which [he hopes] could boost exports and reduce borrowing costs and so-called "trade deficit" - there is even talk about "Mar-a-Lago Accord" promoted by Bessent (an obvious copycat attempt of Reagan's 1985 "Plaza Accord" / 1987 "Louvre Accord," with a 'tariff twist' and personal side-benefit of 'Mar-a-Lago' enshrined in economic history) though I doubt it would be successful.

More likely it would backfire and be harmful, like tariffs and bullying of US trading partners / allies, especially on issues that have nothing to do with balance of trade, making the pretext of "trade deficits" obviously false:

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The key is here:

FTA: |------- Trump's fascination with autocrats generally and Putin in particular has been well documented for more than a decade. In 2013, he posted on social media that his hosting of a beauty pageant in Russia might win him Putin's approval.

"Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?" he wrote.

That was followed by years of attempts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow - an effort that continued straight through his first run for president in 2016, it came out later. Trump asked for Russian help to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton that year, and then knowingly used the hacked and stolen emails that Russian spies released during the final month of the presidential campaign.

Then, as both special counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee investigated Russia's role in his victory, Trump eagerly bought into a conspiracy theory concocted by Russian operatives that - contrary to the U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia helped Trump win in 2016 - it was actually Ukraine that had tried to help Clinton win.

Trump sent his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to Ukraine to collect evidence - an effort that ultimately led to Trump's attempt to extort Zelenskyy into announcing an investigation into the Democrat he most feared in the 2020 election, Joe Biden, using U.S. military aid as leverage. Trump was ultimately impeached for that act, but the Republican-led Senate declined to remove him from office.

Trump's personal antagonism toward Zelenskyy, perhaps stemming from that episode, seems to have continued unabated...
-------|

To paraphrase Corleone, for Trump "It's not just 'business,' it's personal."
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#38 | Posted by brass30 at 2025-02-25 10:06 PM
So break this down for me. ... Ukraine is giving something, I assume they get what in return? And is Ukraine simply giving up the land lost in the war?

It's a nothingburger, PR opportunity for Trump. No one is getting anything of real value, it's MOU - Ukraine is not getting a defense guarantee and is only giving "access" to REE mining in the areas that are now occupied by Russia - just as agreements with financial firms like BlackRock and JPM and several E&P companies to develop gas fields and help post-war reconstruction, signed before and after Russian invasion.

Just another Trump's Apprentice s**tshow to stroke his ego, after his opportunistic extortion offer bombed ("Can't blame a guy for trying, right?") He will sell it as a "great win and looking after the American people."

Putin is selling Trump the same "access" to the same REEs in "new territories":

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#8 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2025-02-24 09:33 PM
#9 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2025-02-24 09:34 PM
What has Ukraine ever done for you? ...
Because they're broke --- ------- who cant even afford themselves? Just an idea to ponder...

Have you and Tucker Carlson** been coached together? Because this is one of the stupidest talking points that Russian assets club of "Make America Go Alone" use to deflect from dictator Putin invading Ukraine to subjugate it, erase national identity and fold it into "glorious Russian Federation Empire" before moving on to subsume other countries ... "because they're broke --- ------- who can't even afford to defend themselves. Just an idea to ponder..."

** https://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2022/a-mere-border-dispute/ :
TC: "Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?" Carlson said as he then recited a rightwing tip sheet of pet causes.

So we know what Putin has done for "private messenger" Carlson - in addition to not calling him racist, he "educated" him on Russia-Ukraine "history" in the Moscow interview, and (instead of taking him hostage) let him have a tour of subway and "univermag" (department store/supermarket).

We know what Putin has been doing for his bully asset (aka "man of peace") Trump.

What has Putin done for you?

Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland, Baltics "have done nothing" for UK and the USA in 1938-1939, so Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich with "Peace for our time" surrender and Molotov-Ribbentrop signed non-aggression Pact - how did that work out?

What message does this send to Taiwan or other Asian "for now" ("for sale?") allies? What confidence do they have that Trump won't sell them out "for peace or treasure" the same way he sold out Kurds and Ukraine?

If anyone has fantasies of the US becoming "great again" going it alone ("America First" / No to "globalism") and divide the world with brutal dictators, then you don't know there has been a very bloody and expensive history of it not that long ago - it would be a very Cold World for the "isolated Americans":

https://time.com/7006686/history-america-first-dawes/ - History Shows How Dangerous 'America First' Really Is - September 10, 2024

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Committee - America First Committee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tatum - Paul Tatum (doing business in Russia)
"This is entrepreneurs' heaven. There's no telling how quickly [Russia] could develop and how much it could look like the United States in a very short period of time." - Paul Tatum in 1994... gunned down in Russia in 1996.

TrumPutin wants the USA look like Russia.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/31/russia-ukraine-rubio-trump/ - Counting up the costs if the U.S. chooses to lose in Ukraine - January 31, 2025

This is about the future - not "globalism" or transactional "who has done what / how much for whom" in the past.
Not getting the vibe yet?
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Argentina's President gets Impeachment Calls after Promoting Cryptocurrency

$WLFI, $TRUMP, $MELANIA, $LIBRA... - from "Crypto is a scam" to "Hey, crypto is a scam - I like it! Liquid gold! Crypto capital of the planet! Strategic Crypto Reserve! Sovereign fund!"

$LIBRA co-creator, market maker and "facilitator" Hayden Davis (a. Kelsier) who bragged "I control that n***a. I send $$ to his sister [Karina Milei] and he signs whatever I say and does what I want" revealed that insiders were able to buy into $TRUMP coin pre-ICO at "special access" dinner in DC... and confirmed that $LIBRA is a clone of $MELANIA and some other dodgy coins ($ENRON, $AIAI, $BOB, $M3M3/"Meme Launchpad"...) He also admitted that the team was sniper trading both $LIBRA and $MELANIA.

.

Eric Trump's tweet on eX-Twitter ("In my opinion, it's a great time to add $ETH. You can thank me later. " Eric Trump (@EricTrump) February 3, 2025) pumped $ETH over +35% in a day, after WLFI (Trump family-affiliated crypto investment firm / slush fund) accumulated 1826 $ETH before. "You can thank me later" part of the post was deleted shortly after... just like Milei deleted his post few hours after promoting $LIBRA.

He also tried to do the same pump with Bitcoin, which is also held by WLFI, but $BTC didn't move... Maybe BTC is bigger than Eric?

Eric Trump is also pushing for 0% cap gains tax for US (?) crypto "projects" (XRP, HBAR...), while Ted Cruz is fighting IRS about DeFi reporting rules.

.

Meanwhile...:

Bukele's El Salvador experiment with Bitcoin as legal tender is over, despite large number of the unbanked and installation of hundreds of Bitcoin ATMs. Beside many technical issues with rollout, it was never widely adopted (only 20% downloaded Chivo to get initial grant of $30 in BTC; ~6% of population used more than 3 times a year), and Chivo was hacked several times. IMF agreed to loan $1.4B (that much!) on condition that Chivo is sold or shut down, taxes paid in USD (not BTC) and private sector no longer mandated to accept BTC. Sorry, volcanoes.

.

In [un]related news:

Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey's defense company Anduril takes over multi-m/billion DoD contract for HoloLens IVAS project, transferred to them by ODM Microsoft... as predicted in November - Palmer is BIL of Matt Gaetz.
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#19 | Posted by shrimptacodan at 2025-02-16 08:34 PM
wait until you dopes see the theft and graft coming from congresswoman Jasmine Crockett..
pit this week. ...IRS is gonna want to see her shjvt.

So what you're acknowledging here is that DOGE really is Musk-run hacker organization, weaponized specifically to look into IRS files with the goal of finding dirt on people in Trump's "enemies list" and even disseminating it online (most likely using Trump's own eX-Twitter - the cesspool of propaganda and fake "news"), to intimidate or embarrass them?

...

BTW, your / DOGE / Musk's / Trump's effort of shjvt-spreading misfired miserably already:

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#13 | Posted by Maverick at 2025-02-16 11:26 AM | Reply
Under Dems leadership I can assre you the IRS went over Trump's tax returns with a fine tooth comb

Thanks for your "assurance" that they have already been "audited"... so, if they are no longer "under audit" why couldn't/can't we see them? Every other president had no problems producing them.

You know, in the name of "transparency" - that's what DOGE is supposedly doing, according to "very very special government employees" (Musk and Trump) and a number of other undisclosed "special" DOGE people (like "Big Balls" who had previously been fired for leaking sensitive info from cybersecurity firm to competitor) who are apparently excluded from "transparency" because "they themselves can decide" who has or doesn't have conflicts of interest, needs or doesn't need security clearance, who gets "divine forgiveness for 'human errors'" - applied by "very very special government employees" only to "very special government employees," but not real government employees or non-government employees/non-employees or...

transparency - the quality of allowing light to pass through so that objects behind can be distinctly seen; the quality of being easy to perceive or detect

It's quite transparent that transparency is the last thing on Trump's, Musk's, "MAGA" minds.

Trump's tax returns again, they were already stolen / leaked for all to see

Oh, don't play dumb and deflect. One "stolen (?) and leaked" return (which wouldn't be necessary if Trump were "transparent") from many years ago now constitutes "transparency" and we don't need to remember, ask or mention Trump's tax returns "under audit"? That's from/by a known conman who constantly talks about "corruption," "fraud" and "criminality" of anyone who doesn't sing praises to "their favorite Emperor" - who apparently "has no clothes" according to one 4-year old who saw him up close and personal in the Oval Office?

----

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DOGE Has Entered the IRS

Oh, great, maybe those Trump tax returns that have been sitting for years at IRS "under audit" will finally get "audited" by very competent DOGE people and can finally be disclosed... for sake of "transparency" that both Trump and Musk cherish so.

Musk must be doing "God's" work - DOGE || E-GOD
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#26 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2025-02-14 08:54 AM | Reply | Funny: 1
Thanks Obama!

Not "Funny", unfortunately - more like, "Sad but True" - How "The Elon" was made... "seriously":

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"Soft power" of USAid has been one of the principal and indispensable tools in winning the Cold War and instrumental in advancing and maintaining democracies and peace in the world, including the Middle East.

Aid to Israel comes back not only as purchase contracts for military equipment and munitions, but also as valuable cooperation in military, medical/biotech, STEM and other R&D.

Focusing on Israel as the source of problems in the ME - as the Soviet and later Islamist propaganda have done for decades - is misplaced and simply ignores the history and both tribal and religious issues in the region.

For example, nearly 14 centuries of war between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims; expulsion of Hashemites by Wahhabis from what is now Saudi Arabia in 1919-1925 - one of many Arab "Nakba"s in ME; the centuries of occupations by different Arab and non-Arab entities, like Ottoman Empire occupation of Levant (including "Palestine") until early 20th century (though Turkiye, under Erdogan, is making its way back, initially as a 'protector' to Syria); Trans-Jordan occupation of "Palestine West Bank" etc., etc.

Also ignored is that several major Arab countries, like Egypt, Jordan, UAE and others either have or expressed interest in formal peace treaties or informal peaceful and trading relationship with Israel, and have had their own long-standing problems with Palestinian factions who can't even settle on single leadership - IOW, no one to talk to about whatever the peace with them would look like.

Last attempt at statehood - with Yassir Arafat in 1993-2000 - resulted only in him getting some international legitimacy for himself and Fatah, then using it to ignite Second Intifada (2000-2005), which ended with much worse economic conditions for Palestinians, who before that had one of the best standards of living in Arab world due to trade and work in Israel or working for Israeli companies in the WB and Gaza. In economic terms, Israelis didn't mind having a "trade deficit" with Palestinians.

Leaderships of Palestinians have had many opportunities (at least, four) to have their own independent state(s), but rejected them to either join other Arab countries waging wars against Israel, or using Intifadas and terrorism to achieve 'Palestine' free of Jews, "from the River to the Sea."

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Trump Creates Task Force to Root Out Anti-Christian Bias

1. Bias, not actual discrimination?

Good luck with that in court(s), if it ever comes down to it. Most likely, will be used for harassment and to spread lies and anecdotes on "conservative" talk shows / podcasts, like they did with "illegal migrants" who "eat dogs, eat cats" in Ohio and New York.

Though pretty sure that at some point he will make the court(s) and/or Congress try and "enforce" the decisions / laws by ignoring them and/or retrying them, since almost all effective enforcement mechanisms belong to Executive branch, and he has a circle of siloviki and "Pretorian Guard" in J6 and adjacent groups.

2. Does this mean any other "anti-" biases are OK?

3. Has Trump found his own "DEI"?
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#74 | Posted by shrimptacodan at 2025-02-05 02:49 PM
TOLD YOU WHAT THIS WAS.
a tool
Iran has just made an "overture".

Iran has made many "overtures" before, during and after Trump-1 - "deny, delay, deflect" is their game, too.

BTW, here's Iran's latest "overture" over Trump shutting down USAID - Tehran, 2025-02-04:
Iran has rare praise for Donald Trump. Trump's cuts to U.S. foreign aid funding could stop the opposition in Iran.

Re "tool" - everybody knows it's a "tool" that only impresses and makes the "Apprentice" cult followers drool and makes Trump feel like he is a "great dealmaker," but except for show and ill will, delivers nothing of substance that couldn't be done with plain conversation with trade partners. But then, there wouldn't be a show, and no claiming "wins"... and what's the fun in that for Trump?

Maslow's Law: "When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" - he only knows "this one weird trick" that is not needed with friendly small/weaker countries that rely on and value trade with the US, and doesn't work with stronger countries (like Canada, Mexico, China, EU-10 etc.) who can use counter-tariffs that will hurt US economy/employment, and could specifically target weaker industries, as we've just seen.

Tariffs should only be used in cases of product dumping (selling below their cost), but unfortunately has evolved to be used for protectionism (which didn't work), and now as an "invitation to [some] negotiation" - that's just stupid, and really invites trading partners to diversify their sales channels to depend less on unpredictable trade with US - that only hurts the US in the long run.

Not that Trump cares about the US or the "long run" - he "won" so many "great deals" that ended up in bankruptcies or shuttered businesses that he couldn't find contractors who would work with him and most banks wouldn't lend him money, so he had to launder money from Putin's cronies, before and even after "Apprentice" made him look like "successful businessman."

Here is what Murdoch's WSJ editorial says about the "tool" Trump and his "deals" - "... even though both countries agreed to do things they were already doing" :

|------- Trump 'blinked' before his tariffs could cause real damage
If the North American leaders need to cheer about a minor deal so they all claim victory, that's better for everyone. The need is especially important for Mr. Trump given how much he has boasted that his tariffs are a fool-proof diplomatic weapon against friend or foe. Mr. Trump can't afford to look like the guy who lost. [Claudia] Sheinbaum in particular seems to recognize this, and so far she's playing her Trump cards with skill.

None of this means the tariffs are some genius power play, as the Trump media chorus is boasting. The 25% border tax could return in a month if Mr. Trump is in the wrong mood, or if he doesn't like something the foreign leaders have said or done. It also isn't clear what Mr. Trump really wants his tariffs to achieve. Are they about reducing the flow of fentanyl, or is his real goal to rewrite the North American trade deal he signed in his first term? If it's the latter, there's more political volatility ahead.

Mr. Trump's weekend tariff broadside against a pair of neighbors has opened a new era of economic policy uncertainty that won't calm down until the President does. As we warned many times before Election Day, this is the biggest economic risk of Donald Trump's second term.
-------|

He may look like a "hero" and "genius" to his unquestioning adulating followers, but to the rest he looks to be a tool.
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Cackling Putin Pals Celebrate Trump's 'Simply Sensational' First Week of U.S. Self-Destruction - DB, Julia Davis, February 3, 2025

|------- ... Vladimir Solovyov gloated about the latest developments. He said, "It's awesome, right? The Canadians and the Mexicans thought that all was well, but Trump told them, "By the way, I don't like you either." Solovyov played a clip of Trump announcing his tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which was followed by jolly cackling from pundits in the studio. ...

Sardaryan added, "I want us to pay very close attention to the latest statement of Marco Rubio, it was simply sensational. I had to re-check it three times from different sources because I got an impression that this was a statement by Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov - not Marco Rubio... He said what we've been asserting for three years." Sardaryan interpreted the words of the new U.S. Secretary of State to mean that the United States is abdicating its global leadership position in favor of multipolarity.

Sardaryan added that Tucker Carlson was unleashed to publicly "demolish Zelensky" because the Trump administration needs to devalue him in the eyes of the American population, cultivating public opinion to accept future decisions towards Ukraine that will be radically different from the approach of the previous administration. Sardaryan said that Rubio's statement demonstrates that America and Russia will finally be "speaking the same language" with respect to Ukraine.

Sardaryan noted how energized and happy everyone in Russia seems to be about the demise of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which aided countries recovering from disasters, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. He urged Russia to capitalize on this development and step in to fill the void by creating a domestic equivalent of the program. He emphasized that this program wouldn't be based on philanthropy but rather serve as a tool to exercise influence over the countries that would benefit from Moscow's aid. He stressed, "Foreign assistance should be part of our foreign policy..." Solovyov concurred, "It could be a phenomenal lever."

In 2020, political scientist Dmitry Evstafiev predicted the disintegration of existing political institutions in the United States, prompted by Trump's outright rejection of bipartisanship, which will be replaced by an authoritarian system he is striving to create. Russian experts are happy to report that during his second term, Trump is doing just that. Andrey Sidorov, Deputy Dean of world politics at the MSU noted that the United States is now rapidly moving towards a dictatorship - and the American population won't be able to change this trajectory using the usual democratic means.

No longer fearing additional sanctions against Russia, Solovyov returned to his usual status as Trump's most influential Russian fanboy.
-------|

No surprises there, including Tucker Carlson role... but doesn't this have the tones of 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?
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So why is Trump doing this?

For the spectacle and quick "Winning!" which he hopes will boost his "ratings" and standing.

But also, for the same reasons Dems have been doing it before, and Biden did just recently, when not only he didn't cancel Trump's tariffs, but added some new ones ("targeted," of course) - because certain segments of trad Dem constituency, like unions, are attracted to protectionism, and because it also perfectly fits Trump's fake "populism" and "America First" themes - his guru on this issue was lifelong Democrat Prof. Peter "Don't call it a trade war!" Navarro. It doesn't matter that the math or policy doesn't work - it worked/works politically for him, and that's all that matters to him.

It also made it difficult for Dems to explain why "Trump's tariffs are bad" when it's a policy they've been associated with all along.

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#47 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-01-31 05:05 PM
I'm sure Trump is worried about his approval rating while he loots the nation and kills civil rights.

He doesn't give a damn... but Dems should - Dems / Biden / Harris lost to THAT GUY... twice! and nearly 3 times!

Maybe, just maybe there is a reason / lesson there somewhere, that Dems keep not learning? Maybe it's not what THAT GUY does, but what the Dems do [especially when they get the power]?

Because the voters prefer THAT GUY, who they clearly don't like, don't trust, don't respect, to the "best and brightest" of Dem party?

"If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got."

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
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Gallup poll:

At 47%, President Donald Trump's initial job approval rating for his second term is similar to the inaugural 45% reading during his first term, again placing him below all other elected presidents dating back to 1953. Trump remains the only elected president with sub-50% initial approval ratings, and his latest disapproval rating (48%) is three percentage points higher than in 2017, marking a new high for inaugural ratings.

Trump's current job approval rating, from Gallup's Jan. 21-27 poll, is not significantly different from the 51% readings earned by George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan in the early days of their presidencies. However, initial evaluations of Trump differ in that Americans are much more likely to disapprove of his performance rather than have no opinion, as was the case for the elder Bush and Reagan.

John Kennedy had the highest inaugural approval rating, at 72%, followed closely by Dwight Eisenhower and Barack Obama, who both had strong starts with 68% readings. Jimmy Carter received a 66% approval rating, while Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and George W. Bush had ratings between 57% and 59%.

Although Trump's latest rating is weak compared with past presidents' initial readings, it is among the best he has received as president. His personal high point during his first term was 49%, which he earned on several occasions in 2020.

Trump averaged 41% approval in his first term and is the only president not to receive a job rating of 50% or higher at any point in his presidency. He left office in January 2021 with the lowest rating of his presidency, 34%, after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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#38 | Posted by boaz at 2025-01-30 03:02 PM
I don't know where you ... are getting your "polling" LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

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#26 | Posted by Hagbard_Celine
And look how much he's managed to do with such little support?

Presidents, especially "lame ducks" who just escaped prison time and are looking for revenge, "don't need no stinking support" to do the damage they are allowed (or even not allowed, but to be adjudicated later) to do by law. "Stroke of the pen - law of the land!" - Paul Begala on Bill Clinton's EOs.

Makes everyone that came before him seem ineffectual by comparison.

You are confusing "hyperactivity" with effectiveness and positive (in normal sense of the word) results - welcome to ADHD / Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder!

"Effectiveness" or "effectively" don't inform about the direction (positive or negative) or give a comparison to a standard of the given effect.

Quantity of activity doesn't imply quality of results. It's true that, in some cases, "quantity has a quality of its own" - presidency is clearly not that case.

Spitballing out loud, worse yet rashly acting on, dumb ideas that his "best people" provide to him, are signs of HD, not sound judgment. That's how Trump run into the ground and bankrupted nearly every business (including real estate and gaming), while stuffing his own pockets - yet still was broke until Mark Burnett (current US envoy to UK) stumbled onto him for "unreality TV" show Apprentice: