• Please read the Announcement concerning missing posts from 10/8/25-10/15/25.
  • This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Proof that our leader is a moron about trade

SonOfDaedalus

DP Veteran
Joined
Jul 13, 2017
Messages
14,629
Reaction score
9,970
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Slightly Liberal
Trump is always talking about the trade deficit. But most experts will explain that it's a meaningless number.

If I buy lemons from my neighbor and make lemonade to sell at my lemonade stand, I'll have a trade deficit with my neighbor. But it would be insane for me to angrily accuse him of not buying my lemonade in exchange for me buying his lemons. So, trade deficits with one party are meaningless.

We have a trade deficit with China in terms of imports/exports but we also have a lot of American companies in China selling directly.

U.S. China Sales: $343 Billion. That's almost as big as our trade deficit with China.

Our leader is a moron. The trade deficit with China is meaningless.

 

Both you and that talking potato head make the same mistake...thinking deficits are the only thing Trump cares about, even though he has constantly told the both of you what his goals are.

You see, Trump cares as much about American jobs as he does about the trade deficit.

That talking potato head thinks it's okay for American companies to move jobs to other countries so they can make more money. Trump doesn't. That's why, besides negotiating trade deals to reduce the deficit Trump has been...and is...working to bring both American companies and foreign companies to the US. This is good for American workers and it is good for the trade deficit.

So no, SonOfDaedalus, Trump isn't the moron. The moron is the person who ignores all of Trump's goals and only focuses on one of the things Trump does.
 

It's pretty moronic to put tariffs on raw materials and make them more expensive. Not a good formula for making American companys more competitive and not a good incentive to keep production at home.
 

You do realize we have Trump on the record complaining about trade deficits with China, right? Government forcing companies to manufacture in the United States is a completely different topic. Those are our companies. We can tax them and punish them for manufacturing overseas if we wish. But Trump has consistently for decades complained about the U.S. China trade deficit but it's a totally meaningless deficit.


I love how Trump defenders try to change what our president says to make it seem less moronic. But he said what he said and you can't spin that away.
 

sigh...

Again...the moron is the person who only focuses on one individual part of the issue. That's not Trump. Here is what he said during his presidential campaign about US-China Trade reform: U.S.-China Trade Reform | Donald J Trump for President

His trade reform goals deal with the trade deficit, but that's not all. It also deals with American manufacturing, jobs and national security...among other issues.

Now...you can trot out a video of someone asking him about the trade deficit. Cool. But that doesn't mean the deficit is the ONLY thing Trump is concerned with. It just means the deficit is what they were talking about in that video.

Seriously, don't be like that talking potato head in your first video. Be better. Look at the big picture. That's what Trump is doing.
 

I always like listening to Liesman as his analyses are usually spot on - as this one was.

Yes Trump is a moron about trade, among other things. Nobody with half a brain believed a real estate developer had any practical knowledge of trade and how it works. That's why smart Americans rejected this fraud named Trump.
 

Trump cares about American jobs? Where are all the coal mining jobs he promised? He lied, as he always does, to get votes.
Kentucky has fewer coal jobs than when Trump took office | Lexington Herald Leader
 

So...talking points with zero details?

Tariffs will not significantly affect any of these things, only in the short term.
 

Believing that the millions of manufacturing jobs that have gone south or overseas are going to come back is just wishful thinking. There is no incentive for Corporate America to move those jobs back here where they will have to pay workers several times as much as they pay now.

I agree with Mr. Potato Head, Trump is ignorant about how trade works, and since his big tax break for the rich did not include any type of mandate for corporations to employ more American workers , don't expect any of those jobs to come back.
 
Airyaman said:
So...talking points with zero details?

Tariffs will not significantly affect any of these things, only in the short term.
Click to expand...

sigh...

I'm really getting tired of people...like you...who deny what is right before your eyes.

That link I provided presents Trump's goals. Everything he has done has been focused on accomplishing those goals. Those goals are NOT "talking points".

And even though Trump has told us over and over why he is imposing tariffs, you continue to pretend you don't know it. His purpose for the tariffs isn't to solve any issues. The tariffs are an inducement to get others to negotiate to solve the issues.

So, Airyaman, get up to speed. Stop pretending.

Or risk being dismissed.
 

That was a very snooty reply, Mycroft. Even if you were right, which you aren't, that was snooty.
 
Idiometer said:
It's mind-boggling how Trumpsters truly believe he keeps his promises.
Click to expand...

They are evidently incapable of saying 'how is he going to achieve this?'. Instead they simply react, unthinking, like Pavlov's dogs to a ringing bell. Even a cursory glance of his woeful record should be ample evidence that this is a person not to be trusted.
 
Last edited:

And yet, American manufacturing has increased by leaps and bounds in the past two years...as well as American jobs.

Trump doesn't need to go the "big government" route. He doesn't need to "mandate" anything. He simply needs change the business and trade environment to make it more advantageous for both American and foreign manufacturing in the US.

And yes...some businesses won't come back to the US. But thanks to Trump's actions, they won't be staying in China, either. They'll move to other countries who have negotiated favorable trade deals with Trump. That doesn't hurt the US. It hurts China and is another inducement for China to quit farting around and complete negotiations with Trump.
 
Idiometer said:
That was a very snooty reply, Mycroft. Even if you were right, which you aren't, that was snooty.
Click to expand...

shrug...

If you don't want snooty, then don't act like Airyaman. Don't pretend you don't know the facts that have been there for years.
 

Goals without a discernible basis for achieving them are indeed just talking points.

Oh and dismissed by you? Not a threat with much teeth.
 
Airyaman said:
Goals without a discernible basis for achieving them are indeed just talking points.

Oh and dismissed by you? Not a threat with much teeth.
Click to expand...

LOL!!

You don't think Trump has a "discernible basis" for achieving his goals? Perhaps the problem is in your ability to discern his basis...or perhaps you are just pretending not to know things?

For example, one of Trump's goals was to renegotiate NAFTA. Are you actually able to discern what actions he took to achieve that goal? And make no mistake, he DID achieve that goal, so by your logic renegotiating NAFTA was not just a talking point.
 

So he made NAFTA 2.0, which hasn't even been looked at by Congress? LOL.
 

Yes, but we can use that "how is he going to achieve this" for all but a few of the Dem candidates so far. All hat, no cattle.
 

I was just about to say that.

The tax cuts were all carrot and no stick. No "hire Americans to get you tax cut" elements.

All we got were bunny farts.
 

Loss of manufacturing jobs was not just about outsourcing, it was about technology, something in which we still lead the world. But if Trump gets old jobs back, it would have to be at the expense of innovation.

Chart: US factory jobs as a share of US payrolls have been in steady decline for 75 years starting in 1943, and it's not because of trade - AEI
 
Mycroft said:
shrug...

If you don't want snooty, then don't act like Airyaman. Don't pretend you don't know the facts that have been there for years.
Click to expand...

That seems to work for you. Note that the snarkiness isn't coming back at you, regardless of how incorrect your premises are.

Seriously, please try to be civil.
 
Airyaman said:
So he made NAFTA 2.0, which hasn't even been looked at by Congress? LOL.
Click to expand...

LOL!!

(Dude...you keep spouting stuff that makes me laugh.)

Yes. Trump DID renegotiate NAFTA. He accomplished his goal. Now his goal is to get Congress to ratify the USMCA. Are you hoping and praying he doesn't succeed?

(be careful what you pray for...the alternative could be much worse)
 

I haven't heard a peep about NAFTA 2.0 in quite some time. DOA?
 
Idiometer said:
That seems to work for you. Note that the snarkiness isn't coming back at you, regardless of how incorrect your premises are.

Seriously, please try to be civil.
Click to expand...

Snarkiness? Make up your mind. Snarky or snooty.

But hey...instead of talking about whether I'm snarky or snooty, how about talking about my premise?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…