manqiangrexue
Brigadier
LOL When the highest office of a country is rage-typing in all caps what a school bully/cult leader would be expected to yell, there is little doubt that things are going a little bit shit to say the least.
Trump 2.0 official thread
- Thread starter siegecrossbow
- Start date
Not exactly. Trump is principally doing what he is doing to purge domestic enemies, or at least what he considers to be the federal infrastructure enabling and empowering them, for now.
Trump blames hostile elements from within the American national security establishment, including various elites and their underlings from the CIA, FBI, DoJ, USAID, NED, etc., for an assortment of misfortunes and troubles that have befallen him and those close to him since 2016.
The sitting US President is convinced that these domestic enemies defamed him during his successful campaign for the presidency in 2016; sabotaged his first term and therefore his first round of well intended efforts to Make America Great Again™; stole the 2020 election from him; maliciously prosecuted him thereafter in both civil and criminal court; and viciously, if not violently impeded his return to the Oval Office in 2024.
At a minimum, Trump's enemies from within the US government definitely tried to lock him up:
There are other reasons as to why Trump would hate some of these federal agencies and elements thereof, as well as adjacent elites and entities, but I imagine I've made my point.
Just how much substance there is to Trump's many allegations of victimhood is beyond the scope of this post. However, I will acknowledge that large swaths of the cleared federal workforce — especially those outside of the DoD and certain law enforcement agencies like ICE and CBP — tend to absolutely despise Trump.
I don't personally think Trump deserves all the hate he gets. I actually like certain things about him, despite my fondness for snark while commenting!
However, at this point I've learned to appreciate the surreal lawlz and enjoy the comical absurdities of the Trump administration's many dumpster fires and train wrecks while savoring my popcorn . . .
Regardless, Trump knows there's value to agencies like State, NED and USAID, but from his perspective: when some of your attack dogs keep on biting you and your kids, there's no choice but to put 'em down.
On top of that, Republicans have historically or at least nominally favored small(er) government, never mind the not so insignificant desire and many public calls for reining in the federal deficit and ever growing national debt. The push for a more balanced federal budget won't get anywhere given the agenda and populist tendencies of the Trump administration, but they do provide convenient pretext for all sorts of downsizing, cuts and layoffs regardless of their actual purpose.
Nope, Trump and company will keep on opposing China in all realms "within reason," or at least keep on trying and failing.
Some of Trump's subordinates of subordinates at the deputy ministerial level — Bridge Colby being perhaps the most publicly visible example and downstream — got coherent, comprehensive and relatively or even arguably viable(-ish) plans for countering the rise of Pax Sinica, at least on paper.
However, with everything else going on, both domestically and internationally: there ain't enough political capital or sufficient material resources for the US to systematically or otherwise meaningfully implement an impactful, coherent and comprehensive containment strategy against the Middle Kingdom.
Looking at the ongoing conflicts with Israel-Iran and thereabouts, as well as with Ukraine-Russia, it's pretty obvious that the DoD lacks the requisite magazine depths for challenging the PLA in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, especially without significant and direct military contributions from Japan and Australia, if not also South Korea and other (potential) military partners. However, none of these countries are exactly pleased with Trump, or feeling particularly optimistic about the US at the current juncture.
Not to say the challenges that the US face in credibly confronting China are technically insurmountable, but any sort of "serious solution" will necessitate and inflict visible, if not severe economic pains that both the donor class generally speaking and the hoi polloi broadly speaking don't and won't want to bear, unless forced upon them by a hot war.
However, "managed decline" or even a "grand bargain" is not politically palatable either, at least not yet, especially with Congress and the nationalistic, but generally uninformed MAGA base. As a result, the Trump administration will keep on throwing half-assed and at times obnoxious punches against China — yet achieve little to nothing, if not do more harm than good — due to an inability to focus their attention and prioritize finite resources against the Celestial Empire, never mind the American public's utter intolerance for the painful economic tradeoffs needed for actually, seriously contesting the rise of Pax Sinica.
When it comes to China, and arguably more broadly speaking in terms of foreign policy, Trump is akin to a smart kid with ADHD: smart enough to have some "good" or at least "novel" ideas, but too disorganized, unsteady and distracted to actually achieve anything.
What is the original source for this?
Do you know if this fellow has any written articles that might be perused? Am curious about these 'viable' plans. Haven't seen one yet from the Americans.
And then what? How much money does one really need to study XJP Thought in a tree-planting labor camp?
Globalists have no loyalty to their land. They can rob the country, then retire some other country. Or maybe they are old enough that they don't think it matters. By the time it ends they would be dead.
Their family will pay for it.