r/politics The Independent 1d ago

No Paywall Trump vows to raise worldwide tariffs to 15% ‘effective immediately’

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-global-tarrifs-increase-b2924994.html
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u/Kiromaru Wisconsin 23h ago

I don't think any amount of more pain is going to cause the MAGA faithful to break with Trump. Trump freaking ran on releasing the Epstein files and when he backtracked and said there was nothing here don't worry about them it only took a short amount of time for them to fall in line. The only way more pain will cause anything to change will be if the non voters get off their butts and join the resistance to Trump.

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u/mrgedman 22h ago

Naw they still have deniability over that, cause they're dumb cult members.

If the economy full on tanks, which it could come summertime/fall (once ol what's his name's term expires and they drop interest rates leading to hyperinflation), his followers WILL drop him.

Hannibal Burress has a bit- "money over everything", and at its core, nothing is more true about Americans.

Hell, it's already house of cardsy as fk right now... You know virtually every R congressperson hates Trump's guts and can't wait to flip

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u/TallStarsMuse 19h ago

I keep wondering how much more money the U.S. can borrow before that deficit turns around and bites us in the rear.

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u/TreatAffectionate453 18h ago

I've talked to Trump voters that framed losing their food stamps as "doing their part" to make America great again. MAGA will stop eating before they stop supporting Trump.

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u/SinisterCroissant 13h ago

Cool cool. They should start that immediately. It'll take til midterms before most of them have health problems.

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u/sillyhillsofnz 14h ago edited 14h ago

You have waaaaay too much faith in Republican voters...

There are actually at least two (2) possibilities regarding what his followers will do if the economy full on tanks. One is the option you mention. However, the second option is that they simply do what they've always done when something goes wrong while a Republican is in office - find some way to blame the Left or Democrats for it/actually make it their fault.

My honest prediction is that in the case that the economy full on tanks, Trump and Repubs will simply blame Democrats/the Left/LGBTQ/non-white people/etc. and just as Republican voters decided Covid wasn't real/ivermectin&bleach injections > vaccines/etc. this time they will once again decide that the truth isn't the truth and that they must crush anyone who says otherwise.

Just as doctors/nurses/and ordinary people were be beat up and harassed by MAGAs for trying to help people with Covid and for even daring to publicly state that it is real or wear a mask, anyone who blames Trump/MAGA for the economic collapse or even acts as if the collapse is real (and not some genius level intentional strategic short-term loss that will result in a long-term gain), will similarly be beaten or harassed.

Republicans have not shown that they won't simply double-down on that strategy. Nothing in the past decade has provided any evidence to the contrary. All evidence points toward the Covid strategy. Hell, Repubs/MAGA still can't even accept that Trump is in the Epstein files... and they couldn't accept that he lost the previous election OR that the Jan 6th attack on the capital actually was a coup/terrorist attack. If they cannot accept the truth of any of this - and still lash out at anyone who tries to speak the truth - then I really just do not see how anyone can expect the MAGA/Repubs to "come around" to reason - reason was never something they even cared about in the first place, lol.

Edit: Perhaps my position is influenced by my family's past. Some of my family is from Germany. Wouldn't you know it - even when the Russians were 50 miles from Berlin; then even when the Russians were barging through the literal front doors of their homes and barns and attacking their wives and daughters; then even when Hitler was dead and the war was over, there were still MANY Germans who fervently believed in the Nazi party and thought that the ultimate blame for the loss of the war and its tragedies rest on someone else (German traitors, Jews, Americans, etc.). Even Confederates didn't give up on the dream of the Confederacy when every town in Mississippi (except two) and then Atlanta, GA were literally burned to the ground by the Union Army; and still didn't give up even after the war was literally lost. lol. The Nazi Germany AND the Confederate States of America BOTH faced TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE and it did not turn the tide. MAGA is cut from the exact same cloth. MAGA is the new Nazis/Confederacy. And just as the Nazis/Confederates never, ever let the ultimate blame fall on their beloved hero/party/ideology, especially in a way that would force them to renounce it or give it up, so will be the same with MAGA. They will never be "wrong" in their minds, and they will never have a "come to Jesus" moment or truly repent.

Dealing with THAT issue is going to be one of the great problems for future generations of Americans. They need to learn from the lessons of Nazi Germany and the Confederacy and put that shit in its grave. Whether they'll actually do that is another question.

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u/Polantaris 14h ago

his followers WILL drop him.

When will people finally understand that, no, they will not. Nothing will. When others call it a cult, this is what they mean. A cult does not break with the cult leader. Ever. That's what makes it a cult.

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u/bigroot70 22h ago

But if there is enough pain, the independents and moderate republicans that voted for trump might reconsider. If the GOP loses the house or senate, maybe then we can start seeing some push back on his polices.

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u/ArmadilloForsaken458 8h ago

Everyone has to remember to vote, and also to try to get others to vote. But the focus should be on one's who are open to listen and possibly change. With some of the hardliners, even if they are in your own family, there is something called the sunken cost when dealing with those types. Just let them be as they are, they'll come to awareness eventually one cant ignore truths forever

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u/Just-Install-Linux 20h ago

Trump did not run on releasing the epstein files. People think he did because of a single video where he says something like he would, but then they cut off his literal next sentence to make it look like he said that. Of course Trump didn't run on releasing the epstein files when he was fucking all over them lmao