Trump attacks the world economy

 it would be good to be writing about other things. In the near future, I will be writing about other things. But how can you not write about Donald Trump in these times?

I’ve been an observer  of Donald Trump since the 1980s. If you lived in New York In the 80s or 90s, you couldn’t get away from him. He was on the front page of the New York Post seemingly every day. The good looking man about town, the guy who got things done.

To use a baseball metaphor, he was always one who swung for the fences. 

In the early 1980s, New York City was in bad financial straits, at a time when Manny thought that cities were over, that everyone wanted to move to the suburbs. Trump made two brilliant decisions In this era- He built the beautiful Trump tower in 1983, And he was a major partner in the rebuilding of the old Commodore hotel,  next to Grand Central terminal. Trump made an awful lot of money with these two Ventures, Which were very positive For New York City.

But no great batter swings  for the fences every time. Trump did.

In the 1980s, Atlantic City arose as a center for legalize gambling. A number of gambling hotels were doing well there. In 1990, Trump, who already owned two casinos in Atlantic City, Swung for the fences and built Trump Taj Mahal, With an astonishing 2248  rooms, at a cost of $1 billion, financed by junk bonds. Many at the time thought that this hotel was way too big for Atlantic City. It was – Trump Taj Mahal went bankrupt. Then, after the creditors got screwed, Trump made it go of it again. It went bankrupt for a second time. The bondholder got four cents on the dollar. Trump’s fellow investors got less than that if anything.

Trump‘s swing for the fences led to many other bad decisions, including an airline that went out of business pretty quick, and his ill-fated purchase of the plaza hotel, which he sold at a loss. There were other bankruptcies. Trump somehow always did better off than the people who invested with him.

Now, the guy who swings for the fences every time is the president of the United States.

He’s done  one very good thing – he has broken the back of the illegal alien trade on the Mexican border. unauthorized crossings are down well over 90%.

But he has also ruined our friendly relationship with Canada and with Western Europe. it was under Trump that trade  deals with Canada and Mexico were struck in 2018; now Trump says that those 2018 Trump  deals are no good. 

Trump‘s mocking of Canada‘s Right to exist  is even worse than his reneging on his trade deal with them. Many Canadians will never trust the US again. Canadians  used to travel in huge numbers to New York City and Florida every year – not anymore. 

Trump has long Said that our treaty allies don’t pay enough for their own defense. He’s been correct in that. Obama and Biden said the same thing. Some progress was made in this direction By some of the European countries, especially after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump deserves some of the credit for that Increased defense spending.

I think that NATO has been a huge American asset, and that it was always a huge Extension of American power, even when the Europeans were unwisely Skimping on their own defense costs. 

Trump has repeatedly hinted at taking America out of NATO, or not defending NATO allies who didn’t spend enough. These comments have weakened American credibility.

The Imposition of huge tariffs by the US , against friend and foe,after a Bewildering, couple of months of threats, Are likely to damage  not just the US economy, but the world economy. Many Average Americans own stock, either outright or via 401(k) pension plans - The value of these have gone down since Trump took office,  They are likely to go down much further today.

The US has legitimate complaints against some of his trading partners,  But I don’t see the EU or UK as particularly bad actors, and I don’t see Canada as being a bad actor at all.

The late Charlie Munger, who worked  closely with Warren Buffett for many years at Berkshire Hathaway, Is regarded as one of the more astute and thoughtful investors in modern history. In 2011, before  Trump ran for office the first time, Munger  said that Trump was temperamentally unsuited for the office of the presidency. 

The guy whose Taj Bondholders got four cents on the dollar is now driving the world economy into the rocks. He doesn’t know what he is doing.

hi guys

 i’m having some minor technical problems, I will sort it out and will be posting again before too long

Man of the Year - Volodmyr Zelensky

 I will soon be off to Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan. It is an old pub and restaurant, where George Washington said farewell to his troops. 

While I visit a place made famous by our  greatest president, it is impossible to tune out the noise coming from the worst. Every five minutes he or the Bearded Poodle is insulting one of America’s friends, or is acting to sell them out. 

Leadership is always in short supply. We can all agree that the brave President Zelenskyy is the most admirable leader that the world has today. He has led his people against a savage invader for more than three years now. He has certainly made his mistakes, he remains outgunned, But there is no quit in this guy, or in his nation. 

Trump and Vance Gang up on an Ally

In my last post, I wrote that American power, and our alliances, were being dismantled before our very eyes. This is what we saw, today, on live television.

President Trump, and VP Vance, met with Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, to do a photo op in advance of the parties, signing a deal, giving the US mineral rights in Ukraine, and exchange for our aid to that country. That’s fine.

Zelensky Spoke in front of The president About his need for security, guarantees, etc., which were comments best made behind closed doors. 

But what happened after that was astonishing. Trump, Who today didn’t know when the Ukraine war started, and Also, did not know how much aid we had given Ukraine, treated Zelensky with great disrespect in a series of comments. 

The bearded sneak JD Vance, then sucker punched Zelensky Questioning his gratitude for the aid already given by the US. ( Zaleski has publicly thanked the US countless times for aid given, including before both sessions of the US Congress ) 

A few interrelated things are  clear now.

One, For the first time in American history, We have a president who does not believe in our military alliances.

Two, We have a president who has no respect for our allies ( Canada, Ukraine, The NATO countries ) But who Has respect for dictators 

Three,  Our allies cannot count on the United States anymore. At this point, if Russian forces crossed into Estonia, To “liberate “the Russian speakers of Varna, do you think that Trump would do anything about it?

Friedrich  Merz, Who will likely soon become the new head of the German government, Said this week that Europe must become independent of the USA, Because, under Trump, the US is “ Largely indifferent to the fate of Europe “. 

You can’t really count Any checks and balances to come in to play here within the US system, Because the US Congress is controlled by the Republicans, And almost every Republican congressman and senator is either a Trump supporter or is it afraid of the Trumper  mob. Witness how Lindsey Graham turned against Zalensky  today.

Trump isn’t wrong on everything, but he is dead wrong on this important thing. He is a danger to the security of the United States, and to that of our friends. God knows what we will see in the next days and weeks.

Trump - The Art of the Sellout

 In his first term in office, President Trump, via the  Doha agreement, agreed to surrender Afghanistan to the Taliban. The agreement was between the US and the Taliban – the ( US ally  ) Afghan government was never permitted to take part in the negotiations.

This week, President Trump commenced negotiations with Russia to end the Ukraine war. The Ukraine government was not permitted to take part in these  negotiations. 

The Ukraine negotiation is a surrender agreement on the part of the US  every  bit as much the Afghan negotiation was. Trump has already conceded everything that was important before the negotiations even began- that Russia would not have to give back Ukrainian territory, that Ukraine would not be allowed to enter NATO.

The NATO nations have given significant support to Ukraine, But, like Ukraine, they’re not part of the negotiations, either. The NATO allies weren’t even notified beforehand about  the talks.

Trump has been exceptionally disrespectful towards the Ukrainian leadership, and is proposing that Ukraine repay the US on onerous terms, terms even more severe than were imposed on Germany after the first World War. This, while he has  been exceptionally deferential towards Putin and Russia. The Russians can’t believe their good fortune. 

It’s pretty easy to reach a deal when you give the adversary  everything that he wants. Trump did just that in Afghanistan, and he’s doing it now in Ukraine. 

Our  alliances, and our power are being dismantled before our very eyes.

Bad president abuses Canada

 I’ve been fond of Canada since forever. I’ve been there six times- twice to Quebec, twice to Toronto, twice to Vancouver.

Most Americans don’t follow the news in Canada, but I do. I look at the headlines at both the Montreal Gazette, and the Toronto global mail every day, via Apple News+.

President Trump has been a wild lunatic on a number of international matters since he was sworn in this year, but Let’s focus on Canada here.

Trump has claimed that Canada has not properly secured its border with the US, allowing ( non Canadian ) illegals to sneak in to the US. He has also claimed that Canada is allowing fentanyl to be produced in Canada, and smuggled into the US over the northern border.

Both issues are fair to raise but Trump grossly exaggerates the extent of the problem as respects Canada. 

Trump was about to impose a 25% tariff on most Canadian goods coming into the US, because Canada  was supposedly doing nothing to stop the drugs and the illegals- but then, at the last minute he paused Tariff implementation, because PM  Trudeau agreed to devote more security at their side of the border. 

What Trump did not tell us That Trudeau had -already- reached The same deal with President Biden In December 2024.  The screaming and roaring on the US side was about nothing. 

Canada has been a good neighbor and ally of the US for as long as our two nations have been around. Trump has seriously harmed that relationship. Not only by his inept  “ negotiating “, but by his disrespectful Comments about the Canadian nation, his comments about making Canada the 51st state, all The asinine comments that no real president would ever make.

It has long been the tradition that The anthems of both the USA and Canada are played before NHL hockey games involving teams from the two countries. Recently, we have seen Canadian fans boo the US anthem, and In return we have seen US fans in some cities booing the Canadian anthem.

I expect the trade  and security issues between the nations to be resolved shortly. But damage has been done. 

 Americans will forget this affair shortly, Canadians won’t.

Je me souviens. 

ATW Roll Call!

 A Tangled Web was an interesting place. I believe that it lasted for most of two decades.

It was the site of much verbal fisticuffs, also the place where some good conversation was had.

ATW went away, and I was sad when it did. 

I would  like to Invite all participants of the old ATW to add a comment here. Just a few words to say how you are getting along these days, more if you wish.

I hesitate to invite anybody by name, because I will forget people, But here goes – this invite applies to David Vance, Troll, mahons, Patty, Daphne, Frank, Noel, Petr, Peter, Andrew, Charles in Texas. Colm, Alison, Aileen,  Allan from Aberdeen, the  guy from rural Canada, whose name I forgot. 

Also, if it is possible, I would like to hear what’s going on with Chris Gaskin, who used to run a couple of websites of his own, and to the folks from United, Ireland, Irish Eagle, And another Irish website called El Blogador. 

I don’t have contact information of a number of these people, if anyone could reach out To the long lost, I would appreciate that.