Let's be clear that this thing Trump just said about having no trade deficits with any country would be far more radical, more disruptive, and more expensive, than every single leftist dream you have ever heard put together, including Medicare for All, Guaranteed Housing, and Universal Basic Income. - ThreadSky

maxkennerly.bsky.social • 4 days ago

Let's be clear that this thing Trump just said about having no trade deficits with any country would be far more radical, more disruptive, and more expensive, than every single leftist dream you have ever heard put together, including Medicare for All, Guaranteed Housing, and Universal Basic Income.

Comments

devgruppo.bsky.social•4 days ago

It’s impossible. What he proposes is financially impossible. Which may be the point? Tough to tell because he’s a fucking moron

elchopo99.bsky.social•4 days ago

im sure this trade imbalance can be resolved in a few weeks, given that the last time we had a surplus was....1975.

ireland is on notice

bendav.bsky.social•3 days ago

We don't grow soybeans, and even if we did, do we have the ships and ports ?
But some of the less bulky things that Ireland produces, for example medicines and medical devices seem to also be the high value goods that China imports from the US.
There's a problem for Ireland, but also an opportunity.

coffinshaker.bsky.social•4 days ago

And what they fail to understand is that rarely do we trade direct to consumer. All those imports get slapped with upcharges or are components to something larger.

queenofnoirs.bsky.social•4 days ago

we could have had nice things. But dammit, egg prices were too high and Kamala wouldn't excoriate Biden in public.
We get what trump voting idiots deserve.

jeffr23.bsky.social•4 days ago

In most cases literally the only possible ways to get to no trade deficits are complete embargo or annexation.

frangsbo.bsky.social•4 days ago

I thought you were going to include a dictatorship of the proletariat in there. Because you'd still be right.

scottsantens.com•4 days ago

The frustrating thing too is that those 3 policies would actually save a shit ton of money. UBI would save trillions that we spend on poverty. M4A would save hundreds of billions in admin costs, and we'd spend less on M4A because of UBI. And housing the unhoused is so much cheaper than homelessness.

carlailara.bsky.social•4 days ago

The ability to understand this requires the ability to extrapolate and to think critically. It also requires the desire to actually want to improve ppls’ lives.

sraars.comrades.social•4 days ago

I don’t think he knows words.

rowyourbot.bsky.social•4 days ago

Isn’t it WILD…we could have given the cadillac plan of all cadillac healthcare plans for every American plus free college. And the economic position of the country would still be intact (likely more prosperous in the longer term)

whalerswift.bsky.social•4 days ago

so he just doesn't know what a trade deficit is, right?

zethxm.bsky.social•4 days ago

he wants to make us so poor we can't buy anything

seandiego.bsky.social•4 days ago

He’s just openly admitting he has no idea what a trade deficit is.

chrisnielsen.bsky.social•4 days ago

I’m positive he has been told many times but he thinks he’s the smartest person in the room and just ignores them

j-lastcoolletter.bsky.social•4 days ago

Guaranteed. For those of us who have seen the CEO phenomenon first hand it's breathtaking. They will touch that stove bc they know they're right.

Never thought it would happen at this level.

bugeric.bsky.social•4 days ago

This clearly means he is intentionally fueling a market sell-off.

daniakablink.bsky.social•4 days ago

We don’t make Swiss watches. We aren’t Madagascar and won’t be selling vanilla. His entire theory makes no sense! He’s punishing people for buying things. He has no understanding of economics & has no intellectual curiosity. He’s a psychopathic moron.

drklassen.bsky.social•4 days ago

So I apparently have a trade deficit with Trader Joe's...

tiggersdad.bsky.social•4 days ago

It’s also incredibly stupid.

88corbs.bsky.social•4 days ago

For DECADES Right wingers have bashed Environmentalists for criticizing the environmental cost of the global economy.

“Slowing down free trade with carbon taxes would destroy the economy you stupid bitch. No
President could ever do that and keep his job” is what they said.

boyishman.bsky.social•4 days ago

Harping on trade deficits is the southern strategy on a global scale

mikeshea.bsky.social•4 days ago

If you can get past the paywall, this piece explains why Trump's entire plan is delusional. It's all based on a feeling and not a reality.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/wall-street-trump-tariffs/682304/#main-content

kilroi.bsky.social•4 days ago

This gift link should work for a bit! https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/wall-street-trump-tariffs/682304/?gift=9VWregw8g4VzX2ArMprISTPAeKYDKYXPELpNrpUdFbk&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

ghostofpartiespast.bsky.social•4 days ago

It’s almost like going woke didn’t make us go broke.

casonband.bsky.social•4 days ago

He is the dumbest fucking person alive.

menotti.bsky.social•4 days ago

He is breathtakingly, agonizingly dumb and we are here because a few dozen other assholes have convinced themselves that it's worth it to kiss his feet if it ups their chance to keep their seat by a few points

wehrhardt.bsky.social•4 days ago

Why is all the social media, internet and computer from the US? Not only in the EU but worldwide! Compare those services to the goods and the deficits will be everywhere but in the US!

kingteenmusic.bsky.social•4 days ago

Life expectancy is going to plummet as millions die of preventable disease, poisoning and injury, all because one man doesn't understand things that are easily understood by a reasonably sharp second grader.

spaghootighost.bsky.social•4 days ago

And also more pointless! If he somehow made this happen (he won't) it would not help anyone in any way.

fraying.bsky.social•4 days ago

Also literally impossible.

gnomicheresy.bsky.social•4 days ago

"to me, a deficit is a loss"

"to me, vaccines are premature surrender to enemy germs"

"to me, facts are your opinion"

"to me, laws are suggestions"

All the same nonsense from the crowd that derides their foes for not being asleep

winifrieda.bsky.social•4 days ago

So he thinks average American consumers have all this income to continue to buy this stuff at inflated prices so the government gets the tariffs to spend on??? Look I’m no economist

angrykem.bsky.social•4 days ago

It's no wonder he's so fascinated by the word "groceries." He doesn't actually understand how buying things works.

koenig-jakob.bsky.social•4 days ago

Since he grew up rich, has Trump ever gone grocery shopping?

angrykem.bsky.social•3 days ago

I suspect he's spent his whole life assuming that food just appears when you want it.

dreagz.bsky.social•4 days ago

Underrated comment

realitybites66.bsky.social•4 days ago

OMG, and what he said about Europe not buying American automobiles just makes my brain hurt. 22% European auto imports come from America! 30-second fact check.

He has no guardrails, and he knows it. He refuses to answer questions from news organizations, silencing the 4th Estate. We are so screwed

mechanicaleye.bsky.social•4 days ago

And now, no one wants to buy anything from the USA anymore. What hurts more, a small tariff on US cars, or zero demand of US cars?

"Made in the U.S.A" has become toxic beyond Trump's wildest dreams.

koenig-jakob.bsky.social•4 days ago

Also if the United States had no trade deficits, where is all the tariff income the mad emperor wants to replace income tax with going to come from?

thoang1971.bsky.social•4 days ago

The “genius” had so many countries listed and tariff numbers all over the place so that when a few non consequential countries negotiate with him, he can take a W and when everyone looks at the details, it’ll be meaningless other than causing the markets to lose trillions

publica.bsky.social•4 days ago

Medicare for All doesn't cost any money FWIW. It literally saves billions in aggregate health care spending.

reggiemoto.bsky.social•4 days ago

old-granny-2.bsky.social•4 days ago

Capisce?

ricdesi.dpad.fm•4 days ago

Can you tell this rank piece of shit used to be a landlord?

chetnyc.bsky.social•4 days ago

We are being held hostage by the dumbest fucking asshole on the planet.

chadfarrenburg.bsky.social•4 days ago

And he’s surrounded by dumb fucking assholes there’s no adults in the room.

matunos.bsky.social•4 days ago

At some point I'd like to see where that Deep State is that I remembering hearing so much about

coffinshaker.bsky.social•4 days ago

Pretty sure that's now the heritage foundation

auntali.bsky.social•4 days ago

Yup!

maaaatttt.bsky.social•4 days ago

The only way for the largest economy on earth to not have trade deficits with any other country is to become the smallest economy on earth, it’s not even economics, it’s just simple math, FUCK

tygator.bsky.social•4 days ago

Good God did he reread Peter Navarros book on Tariffs again. Cause he keeps doing dumb shit.

caltrask.bsky.social•4 days ago

He fundamentally at his core believes international trade is bad, and inherently loss producing.

This a far, far more radical position than anyone is discussing right now, and it’s worth being clear about.

gregrmurphy.bsky.social•4 days ago

He wants us to jump out of the plane and believe that he'll give us a parachute on the way down

joewood.me•4 days ago

I'm pretty sure he's conflating trade deficits and budget deficits. We end up with a policy that's aligned to de-dollarization.

mattkavanagh.bsky.social•4 days ago

Khmer Rouge hat

worldofcardboard.bsky.social•4 days ago

They finally did it. They elected an average Republican voter with the same understanding of economics that Republican voters have had for decades.

probon.bsky.social•4 days ago

Well, more BS from Trump. If it was REALLY his goal to "fully eliminate bilateral deficits", he would NOT have put a 10% tariff on the UK; the US has a $10B surplus of trade with them. It's always been a smokescreen to tax Americans.
Same for Australia - penguins are not to blame!

drosejr.bsky.social•4 days ago

Must have failed Macro 101 at Wharton. Comparative Advantage has been a basic economic principle since 1776, when Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations.

jooday2.bsky.social•4 days ago

Trump SAYS a lot of shit. Still waiting for the day one of those things is true. He just says whatever comes to his mind to divert everyone long enough for him to say the next line of bullshit.

mmaatman.bsky.social•4 days ago

By his reckoning, parents for whom I long ago babysat for $1/ hour were getting ripped off by me because I never hired or paid them for anything.

spartacussin.bsky.social•4 days ago

Literally yes, that's how he thinks of the world. It's so deeply stupid.

starchick68.bsky.social•4 days ago

It has to be win/lose in his favor, all the time ...

letchaosraine.bsky.social•4 days ago

Yacht salesman goes down to his mom and pop grocer and asks why he’s been giving them thousands every year and they never once bought a yacht

Long story short he starves to death

lowrhoufo.bsky.social•4 days ago

jeanchimera.bsky.social•4 days ago

People are saying... they effed up the formula they used to calculate what tariff to apply to each country.

https://www.axios.com/2025/04/06/trump-tariffs-error-aei

lithosaurusrex.bsky.social•4 days ago

He didn't f**kup the formula... he thinks trade imbalances equate "being cheated."

jeanchimera.bsky.social•4 days ago

Trump himself has been obsessed with tariffs since the late 80s when Japan flooded the US market with cars and Detroit, well, didn't do so well. (Wow, so many of his obsessions date to the late 80s!) The calculations by Navarro are effed.
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/06/trump-tariffs-error-aei

veganspacemanspiff.bsky.social•4 days ago

Who'da thought a lazy, psychopathic, nonreading, imbecilic, narcissistic, buffoonish, Russian asset would ruin the USA??
Oh, that's right, EVERYONE!
Congratulations, America!!

scoutprime.bsky.social•4 days ago

His goal is autarchy

thallermo.bsky.social•4 days ago

Oligarchy

scoutprime.bsky.social•4 days ago

And autarky

siamesecats.bsky.social•4 days ago

Oh yeah, that'll really calm down the market when it opens. https://bsky.app/profile/bloomberg.com/post/3lm6orwcgtk2d

graez.bsky.social•4 days ago

"Your smaller countries with smaller markets and lower incomes must buy more from us than our [formerly] strongest-in-the-world economy buys from you. I am a smart person!"

emtpche.bsky.social•4 days ago

This fool is doing this on purpose. The man lies just breathing.

mst3kharris.bsky.social•4 days ago

If I remember right, there was a brief historical period during which the US did have a balanced budget and it was so bad they deliberately ran up a deficit again.

dani-sin-danger.bsky.social•4 days ago

“To me, a deficit is a loss”

I blame this on right wing media making “deficit” one of their rage-trigger words

danlb.bsky.social•4 days ago

Trump thinks he going to make a deal, and his non-negotiable demands are completely irrational. The "Art of the Deal" is really one of the most socially damaging works of fiction since anything by Ayn Rand.

thatmillie.bsky.social•3 days ago

Okay but a trade deficit is totally different from, like, the deficit in his cognitive abilities. There’s still an even exchange of goods for money, unlike in his brain where stuff is just gone.

snabbkassa.bsky.social•4 days ago

And that's why I think these tariffs are just the start. He'll put tariffs up to 300% if that's what it takes to eradicate a trade deficit

skiplank-165.bsky.social•4 days ago

Death to him and his regime. Nazi’s die

spiderandme.bsky.social•4 days ago

and you'll have less for your money

bobertonbluesky.bsky.social•4 days ago

He is absolutely off his rocker. "To me a deficit is a loss." ... For whom? We buy and consume those things? So we just stop buying those things, every link in that supply chain disappears, and most of us are poorer for it? WINNING.

lithosaurusrex.bsky.social•4 days ago

In addition, those other countries feel betrayed and stop wanting to buy American products or see their money invested into American companies (FAFO)... just ask a Canadian how they feel.

barredowlfriend.bsky.social•4 days ago

Apocalyptic.

starchick68.bsky.social•4 days ago

... it makes it so consumers have to pay more. It will affect GDP as consumers don't have disposable income because of high housing/rents, higher taxes, high healthcare costs, but trump will make sure 1% pays less in taxes.

starchick68.bsky.social•4 days ago

@alt-text.bsky.social

alt-text.bsky.social•4 days ago

Alt text retrieved

ogdavisxmachina.bsky.social•4 days ago

Reagan: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

Trump: "I've signed just signed an executive order ending countries having comparative advantages."

rogermccarthy.bsky.social•4 days ago

'On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.'
H.L. Mencken

barredowlfriend.bsky.social•4 days ago

I'll take the every single leftist dream instead please.

giantsigh.bsky.social•4 days ago

Now this from 9pm tonite 4/6
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/business/stocks-trump-tariffs.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

cromulentdoh.bsky.social•4 days ago

He literally thinks it means we’re losing money. He’s that dumb

electricchimp.bsky.social•4 days ago

america will pay out the nose for fascism in order to not pay anywhere near as much for socialism

sparkcj.bsky.social•4 days ago

The money that just turned to ash largely chose him as their savior from taxes via the "woke mob". Y'know taxes to pay for nice things and to pay down the debt.

Instead that money just let the clown do open heart surgery on the money's corpus. The infantile clown with a hacksaw and narcolepsy.

sparkcj.bsky.social•4 days ago

He literally decided lighting all of the money on fire was better than taxing one fifth of it.

chadfarrenburg.bsky.social•4 days ago

So we are going to intentionally torpedo our own trade surpluses?

margiem.bsky.social•4 days ago

Don’t stand in fear. Get loud, show up and every day call your reps and
Mike Johnson (202) 225-2777
John Thune (202) 224-2321
Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542
Hakeem Jefferies (202) 225-5936

Call for impeachment or treason charges. Use 5calls.org if you need help.

mjr1.bsky.social•4 days ago

He's a fucking idiot, so are his advisors, and the press is still pretending this is some sort of reasonable "strategy" rather than the buffoonery of a bunch of nitwits.

freudobaggage.bsky.social•4 days ago

“Yes, I pulled the trigger on that gun, but I didn’t intend for the bullets to go anywhere.”

suedeer.bsky.social•4 days ago

📌

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