Donald Trump's Thinking

The national conversation being what it is, it is unusually difficult to see the substance through the noise. Especially when it comes to President Donald Trump.

On the one hand we have Trump supporters who believe that he can do no wrong. On the other we have detractors who believe that he can do no right.

To see the method behind the Trump foreign policy we turn to Joel Kotkin, not a MAGA Republican, but a sane and rational commenter on the passing scene.

One may agree or disagree with the Trump policies, but they did not arise out of nothing. They are designed to address certain important issues. 

Obviously, if Trump wants to make America great again, this means that he believes it has been in decline. So says Kotkin:

He is a phenomenon borne of concern about American decline, ranging from failing education levels and massive debt to frayed national coherence and fading industrial, even military, supremacy. He is driven not by imperial ambitions (despite his absurd claims about acquiring Greenland and Canada), but rather in response to the consequences of recent imperial overreach.

There is more to American decline:

The US’s own population growth has also slowed, and recent economic trends have mostly benefitted the affluent and those working for the government. The top 10 per cent of all earners now account for half of all spending. This is well above the roughly one-third of three decades ago. Partially this comes as many of the companies historically tied to high wages – US Steel, General Motors, RCA, Xerox, Intel and Boeing – have either disappeared or markedly declined.

Evidently, Trump’s tariffs are designed to correct the imbalance, to return great companies to our shores. They might or might not work. Many seasoned commentators believe that they are an error, but they do address a real problem:

As American Prospect correctly points out, American investors are effectively funding China’s bid to displace the US as the world’s reigning superpower. America’s inability to build things – most notably commercial and military vessels – means that, even in terms of defence, its power is waning.

Trump’s policies suggest that we have been overly generous toward other nations and that we have been paying a price for it. Not because of free trade, but because other countries have been imposing tariffs on American goods.

According to one study, the growing trade deficit between the US and China cost us roughly 3.7million American jobs between 2001 and 2018. It was partially because of this abandonment of the working class by the global liberalised economy that Trump was able to win voters in once solidly Democratic industrial states, first in 2016 and then again last year.

America’s industrial base has been hollowed out:

Yet for now, the American economy – outside the dynamic fossil-fuel sector – is dominated by companies that deal primarily with digital consumerism, information and communications. Some of the world’s most valuable firms – especially Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta and Apple – do not produce their hardware in the US, if they produce any physical goods at all. Indeed, the only big emerging industrial innovators are Tesla and Space X, both controlled by the notorious Elon Musk.

As for Europe, it is clearly in decline. Between its welfare statism and its green policies, it has damaged itself, perhaps irretrievably.

Europe faces more fundamental problems than tech penis envy. The continent falls well behind the US in creating new significant growth companies in any field. In the past half-century, 250 companies worth more than $10 billion were created in the US, compared with just 14 in Europe. Europe needs far more than just a better industrial policy. It needs a cultural revolution. ‘In Europe, you have to get permission today for anything’, one German investor told me recently. ‘In America, you do what you want and hope not to be caught.’

Kotkin continues:

Unless Britain and Europe radically change course, the continent’s only future will be in providing luxury goods and historic tourism to the affluent from America, China and India. In the world of power politics, the former caput mundi has been relegated, as one German observer put it, ‘to the kids’ table of international diplomacy’.

Importantly, Trump seems to be bringing Saudi Arabia into an important role in international diplomacy.

Instead of appealing to America’s traditional European allies, Trump seems more keen on working with Saudi Arabia, which has prodigious oil and wealth. This reflects the Trumpian worldview that the real battle lies with China, especially when it comes to seeking to influence the developing world and emerging markets, where Chinese mercantilism and aggression are a growing concern.

Is he right or wrong? Time will tell. But, clearly there is a rationale behind the new policies. 

Under Trump, America will act more like a traditional Great Power, driven both by its sense of vulnerability and strict national interests. What comes next won’t be pretty. But mourning the passing of the old order will not bring it back to life.

Sunday Fundraising

With a warm welcome to new subscribers. And, a special thank-you to paid subscribers.

Being as today is Sunday, we take the day off from opining in order to request donations. They are the fuel that keeps this work going. 

Not to be overly obvious, but it takes time and effort to put up a new post daily. Very few others manage to do so. Thus, it’s a job, one that is worthy of compensation. 

If you would like to donate please make use of the Paypal link on this page. If you prefer, you can mail a check to 310 East 46th St. 24H. New York, NY 10017.

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Please accept this expression of my gratitude for those who will donate and for those who have done so already. Many thanks!

Saturday Miscellany

First, a few words from Jonah Platt, son of the producer of the mega-flop called Snow White, regarding the film’s star, Rachel Zegler:

Yeah, my Dad, the producer of an enormous piece of Disney IP with hundreds of millions on the line, had to leave his family to fly across the country to reprimand his twenty-year old employee for dragging her personal politics into the middle of promoting a movie for which she signed a multi-million contract to get paid and do publicity for…. And her actions clearly hurt the film’s box office…. Tens of thousands of people worked on that film and she hijacked the conversation for her own immature desires at the risk of all the colleagues and crew who depend on that movie to be successful. Narcissism is not something to be coddled or encouraged.

Second, the Daily Caller gives us the extent of the calamity of Snow White:

The modern-day remake of the 1937 animated classic opened to dismal box office sales, missed all financial forecasts and has failed to withstand widespread criticism. Ticket sales were reported at roughly $87 million globally in its opening weekend. That leaves a significant financial gap, considering Disney sunk something between $250 and $270 million into the production. 

The movie is bombing at the box office and has fallen behind “Dumbo” and “Cinderella” on Disney’s long list of live-films in recent years, raking in $43 million in U.S. theaters, according to Forbes. This is far from the fairytale ending that was predicted for this classic tale.

Third, with friends and co-religionists like Bernie Sanders, you do not need enemies.

Newsmax reports Bernie’s efforts to undermine Israel:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Thursday he will force up to eight Senate votes next week on joint resolutions of disapproval aimed at blocking $8.8 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel, citing concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Fourth, Elon Musk has been arguing for regulatory overhaul.

The burden of mountains of regulations is why the high speed rail can’t get down in California and the bridge that the ship hit still hasn’t been fixed.

A footnote offers a glimpse at a Jon Stewart interview with Ezra Klein. Stewart was shocked to discover the truth:

Jon Stewart finding out how the Biden Administration spent $42 Billion to expand broadband to more Americans, and connected ZERO (0) homes in 4 years.

Fifth, a few words from Scott Jennings, regarding military accountability:

I think Republicans aren’t interested in any lectures on accountability in the military after the Biden administration. I mean, the bar for getting rid of a Secretary of Defense is apparently pretty high. You can get 13 people killed and go AWOL and not tell the commander in chief, and that’s not a fireable offense.

But these lectures about accountability and national security after letting 10 million people into the country who raped and murdered and committed violent acts and no remorse or accountability.

Sixth, I have no way to cross-check this. It feels too good to be true, but that does not make it true.

According to Austen Allred the testosterone level of the men who work at NPR is dangerously low. Doctors like the level to range between 300 and 1000. At NPR, the highest level is 270.

Seventh, during her Congressional testimony NPR head honcho Katherine Maher was obliged to eat her words, a steaming pile of her words.

 

“Do you believe that America is addicted to white supremacy?” Rep. Brandon Gill asked her.

Maher grimaced as if she found that belief ridiculous, but at last admitted, “I tweeted that.”

“But as I’ve said,” she added, “much of my thinking has evolved over the last half decade.” 

That’s just five years — and Maher is no teenager, whose opinions change on a whim. She’s in her 40s and runs a media company with thousands of employees. 

Gill continued: “Do you believe that America believes in black plunder and white democracy?”

Maher, feigning confusion that anyone could hold such a bizarre position, responded “I . . . don’t . . . believe that, sir?”

Eighth, where have we heard this before? It’s not about the crime; it’s about the cover-up. Considering the brouhaha over Signalgate, it is worth recalling that Joe Biden, during the time of his presidency, was mentally deficient and cognitively impaired. His staff spent considerable time and effort covering up for him, and lying to the public.

Matt Margolis reports:

The Biden White House's desperate attempts to control Biden's public appearances were significant. They arranged carefully controlled interviews with friendly leftist radio hosts, demanding that only "approved" quotes be used.  

This isn't just about an aging president's decline; it's about a massive deception perpetrated on the American people. While Harris's team was drawing up contingency plans for scenarios ranging from pre-primary departure to death in office, the administration was gaslighting the public about Biden's capabilities. The same people who lecture us about "democracy" and "transparency" have orchestrated one of the most scandalous cover-ups in presidential history.

Ninth, what’s wrong with Europe? Certain people are offended that our vice president has been calling out Europe for its failure to uphold civilized values.

If you need evidence, yesterday serves up this from Ireland:

Irish teacher Enoch Burke was fired after refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns. In response, the court seized his €40,000 checking account and authorized the Attorney General to confiscate additional assets, including his home and car.

Not to be outdone, once-Great Britain has instituted a two-tiered justice system:

UK: Britain is now openly codifying a two-tier justice system—where white men face the full weight of legal retribution, while Muslim offenders are increasingly spared under the guise of cultural sensitivity. Judicial impartiality is being sacrificed on the altar of progressive orthodoxy, and white Britons are being made the scapegoats of a nation unraveling its own rule of law.

Tenth, the bottom story is that the president of Columbia University, one Katrina Armstrong has resigned her position. Someone might think that she was a diversity hire, but we will not go quite that far. She was evidently incompetent, in way over her head.

Finally, I now have some free consulting hours in my life coaching practice. If you are interested email me at StuartSchneiderman@gmail.com. 

Signalgate

You can feel the thrill going up and down their legs. Media titans and Democratic politicians are ecstatic about the leaked group chat about bombing Yemen.Now, everyone calls it Signalgate.

By including Jeffrey Goldberg on the chat, someone made a grievous mistake. For those who had believed that the Trump presidency was the second coming of the Antichrist, it affirmed all of their deepest and darkest suspicions.

As of now we only know that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for the error. We do not know whether it was a staff member or Waltz himself.

Surely, the American left is more than happy to have a story that obscures the fact that the Biden administration allowed the Yemeni Houthi regime to shut down ship traffic through the Red Sea. 

No one wants to consider the consequences of the Trump administration’s attack on the Houthi rebels, especially its effort to stop them from harassing ships that run by their coast. And no one wants to consider that by allowing the Houthis to take control of the Red Sea the Biden administration was doing the bidding of Iran.

To be fair and balanced, we are obliged to note that the attack on Yemen, still ongoing, has been successful. And it has seemingly damaged the Houthi ability to choke off the Red Sea. Not completely, but to some extent. Shouldn’t that be the standard against which we judge the policy, more even than the fact that the editor of the Atlantic was mistakenly included on the chat.

Clearly, CNN’s resident Republican, Scott Jennings got it right when he said:

We've been on the air for 12 minutes and 33 seconds, and I'm the first person to say the mission was a success.

Naturally, not one of the assembled politicians and media lights was up in arms about the failures of the Biden administration. That would include the botched Afghanistan withdrawal or the failure to close the border. And of course, let us not pass too quickly over the failed Biden policy toward the Houthis. And, we have not forgotten that many of the same journalists were vigorously hawking the Russian collusion hoax not very long ago. Finally, said media and Democratic politicians scrupulously ignored Joe Biden’s mental deficiencies.

For those of a more conspiratorial mind, consider the role of NPR Chair Katherine Maher in this affair. As you know, Maher is a leftist crackpot who hates Trump and all things conservative. Would you believe that she is on the board of Signal. Some say she is chair of the board.

Matt Margolis explains:

While I'm not ready to declare that there is any direct connection between Maher serving on the board of directors and the current Signal breach — I still believe a rogue staffer is the most likely culprit — at the very least these connections raise serious questions about how and why the Biden administration approved the app over other options.

The deeper this story goes, the more it looks less like a simple security breach and more like a symptom of a much larger problem: the incestuous relationship between Big Tech, liberal media, and government operations. It's time for Congress to start asking some tough questions.

Saving the Democrat Party

The Democratic Party is largely in disarray. Its public face ranges from AOC to Bernie Sanders to Jasmine Crockett. If it wants to win elections and cease to be a public embarrassment it needs to do a reckoning, and to discover new policies that will show it is capable of governing.

As President Trump sets out to govern, Democrats are making noise. As Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argue in their new book, Abundance, both Republicans and Democrats, but especially Democrats, have failed to build. 

We can read their argument on the book’s Amazon page:

To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don’t have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven’t built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget—if they are ever finished at all. The crisis that’s clicking into focus now has been building for decades—because we haven’t been building enough.

Abundance explains that our problems today are not the results of yesteryear’s villains. Rather, one generation’s solutions have become the next gener­ation’s problems. Rules and regulations designed to solve the problems of the 1970s often prevent urban-density and green-energy projects that would help solve the problems of the 2020s. Laws meant to ensure that government considers the consequences of its actions have made it too difficult for government to act consequentially. In the last few decades, our capacity to see problems has sharpened while our ability to solve them has diminished.

So, we have a president who got his start building things. He has enlisted the help of a man who has built cars and rockets and satellite systems. And the Democrat Party has been up on arms, fighting against them. It has refused to give Trump and Co. any credit for anything.

One appreciates the fact that Klein and Thompson are trying to present a political philosophy that comprises both Democrats and Republicans, but still, the failure to govern, the inability to get things done, seems most especially to be endemic to only one of the parties.

It is well enough known that America’s great cities are for the most part, deep blue. They are for the most part governed by Democrats. Finding Republicans in New York City or Boston or Chicago or San Francisco is like looking for a needle in a proverbial haystack.

In short, the authors are doing their best to relieve the Democratic Party of responsibility for its failure to govern. 

After all, aside from AOC and Bernie Sanders, neither of whom has ever built anything, the most conspicuous Democrat today is Rep. Jasmine Crockett. She is not notable for what she has built or for the problems she has solved, but for her offensive and stupid public statements.

Most recently Crockett insulted Texas governor Greg Abbott by calling him, “hot wheels,” an obvious reference to the fact that he is in a wheelchair. 

True, she tried to explain it away by saying that it was a reference to the governor’s policy about migrants, but, obviously, she was assuming that the rest of the country is as stupid as she is. She had used the epithet before there was a migrant crisis. 

Besides,, Gov. Abbott has led the nation in addressing the illegal migrant crisis. Doesn’t that count for something, beyond slander.

One understands the reasons why other Democratic politicians refuse to stand up and to denounce Crockett. One does not need to explain them.

Surely, her attitude and her ridiculous antics show a political party where people are not working to build anything, but are doing everything they can to tear down what others have built. 

Of course, using such slurs does not advance any activity, like building. Insulting and offending people does not produce cooperative enterprise. Effectively, it tells people that you do not want to get along with them and do not want to work together.

Biblically, the story of the Tower of Babel tells us that, in order to build something, all of the workers need to be speaking the same language. This means that multiculturalism is the enemy of building. It is deconstructive, not constructive.

If the best you can do is to insult and offend, you are not going to become part of any work group. You will, however, have a great deal to complain about.

Wednesday Potpourri

First, since no one has had very much to say about the downside of Obamacare, we are struck by the words of Dr. Dan Choi:

One of my biggest regrets was voting for President Obama in 2008 as a medical student & celebrating the passage of the ACA 

Little did I know the carnage it would wreck on the medical profession and my future patients. I had no idea then that the ACA was written to strip physicians of their autonomy, boost insurer profits & drive healthcare consolidation End result 15 years later is a more expensive healthcare system with less competition resulting in lower quality, less efficient care for patients. Coverage is not care!

Second, it looks like Disney is bombing at the box office. The ill-fated remake of Snow White has disappointed the company, and perhaps taught it a lesson about going woke. The film cost something like $250,000,000. 

Rick Moran summed it up:

The opening box office says it all. The movie made just $3.5 million in Thursday previews and is projected to earn $45 to $55 million during its opening weekend. This is far below the usual boffo $100 million openings for Disney films that are supposed to be hits.

The controversies over dwarfs ("magical creatures") and a lead actress who suffered from continuous hoof-in-mouth disease doomed this supposedly family film before it even hit the theaters. Families don't like controversy, and Rachel Zegler's outspoken views on Palestine and women's issues were better left unsaid. In fact, the overriding question of WWWD ("What Would Walt Disney Do") with a loudmouth actress who freely shared her political views isn't hard to imagine. Disney wanted the public image of Walt Disney characters to be squeaky clean and without a hint of controversy. Zegler would have been handed her walking papers at the first hint that she was going to offend someone.

Third, the word out of Argentina is still positive. The work of President Milei has been successful. The Chairman of Milei’s Council of Economic Advisors, Damian Reidel, attempts irony, but is still clear enough:

Have you heard about the so-called Argentinian economic miracle? I have news: there is no miracle. This is a lie. I am the chairman of President Milei’s council of advisors, and I want you to know that there is no miracle here at all. You read that correctly. No miracle whatsoever.

What you are witnessing is the most impressive turnaround in the country’s history. 

We slashed wasteful spending that once enriched the few at the expense of the many. 

We brought down inflation—a tax that disproportionately burdens the poor. As a result, we lowered poverty rates by more than 11% and lifted millions out of poverty.

We eliminated the thousands of pickets that made travel across the country a nightmare. Imagine the relief of breathing in fresh air after years of suffocating congestion. Welfare programs? The left’s favorite: they mostly served politicians. They even stole food from the poor. Yes. They stole food from the poor. Now, welfare flows directly to those who need it most. 

At the core of our strategy, we eradicated the source of the macroeconomic instability that had plagued our nation for so long: we eliminated the fiscal deficit. We now run a fiscal surplus, which has dramatically reduced our country risk—from the 3000s to the 700s. 

A miracle, some say? How dare they! This is not a miracle. This is hard work. This is putting the country first, not politicians. Why is the opposition protesting so fervently? Not because they care for the people or the nation, but because they fear the truth—that they have been the problem all along….

This is hard work. This is having a vision, formulating a plan, and executing it without fear. This is having the guts to do what is right. This is president @JMilei leadership. The jig is up for the left. They have nothing, and they never did. They do not love the poor. They love poverty. Now, tell me again that this is a miracle. We didn’t know it was impossible—so we did it. Viva la libertad, carajo!

Fourth, is the West trying to destroy itself? Germany has shut down its most advanced coal-powered plant. This, from an account called-- Amuse:

Over the last decade China has increased electricity production by 70% while production in Germany has declined by 10%.  Germany has taken all of its nuclear power plants offline and must import the bulk of its energy.

Fifth, Seattle had the brilliant idea to shut down its gifted and talented programs in the school system. The problem was clear: there were too many white and Asian students and not enough minority participants.

So, they shut down the program, and lo and behold, enrollment declined because white and Asian students are leaving Seattle public schools.

Sixth, it’s bad enough that the president of Columbia University is incompetent and weak. Apparently, she also lied to the Trump administration.

Newsmax reports:

Critics of antisemitic college campus protests have been skeptical of Columbia's concessions to restore its $400 million in federal grants, and now a new report suggested the interim president might not be dealing in good faith with the Trump administration.

Columbia interim President Katrina Armstrong reportedly told the Trump administration the school would enforce a mask ban on pro-Hamas protests on her campus, but The Wall Street Journal reported that she is telling faculty there will be no such ban.

Critics of mask protesters note that their speech, even if unpopular is free, but they should not be permitted to mask up to avoid discipline or accountability for rule-breaking amid their antisemitic protests.

Seventh, a feel-good story, for a change. I will not offer an explanation-- you can figure it out yourself-- but for the first time in memory Americans feel good about their future. They believe that the country is now heading in the right direction.

CNN reports, via Newsmax:

The share of Americans who say the United States is "on the right track" is soaring, according to CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten, despite the fact that President Donald Trump's net favorability rating has dipped into negative territory.

Citing polls from Marist and NBC News, Enten said Tuesday that the percentage of Americans who say the country is headed in the right direction is "through the roof."

"It's actually a very high percentage when you compare it to some historical numbers," Enten said in comments highlighted by Mediaite. "What are we talking about? According to Marist, 45% say that we're on the right track. That's the second highest that Marist has measured since 2009. How about NBC News? 44%? That's the highest since 2004."

Finally, I now have several free consulting hours for my life coaching practice. If you are interested, email me at StuartSchneiderman@gmail.com

The Democrats' Manliness Problem

Like nature, politics abhors a vacuum. To call it like it is, the party of preachy females has lost more and more young American males. To the point where its leaders are in a state resembling a panic.

Decades of war against men; decades of slander about toxic masculinity; decades of telling men to shut up and to step aside in favor of females-- and you get a major political realignment. It is now cool to be Republican, especially for young men.

So, Democrats are running rallies led by an octogenarian relic and a pathetic little twerp from the Bronx. Sanders and AOC-- it is not the ticket to draw young men back to the Republican Party.

The most recent Democratic president was enfeebled, senile and demented. No one called Joe Biden a manly man when he did not know where he was. And when he was tripping on his feet or sticking his nose in a little girl’s hair.

Of course, Democrats have to do better than Tampon Tim Walz. One recalls that Tesla stock was 225 when Tampon Tim declared that it was his favorite antidepressant. Now the stock is over 270-- so much for that manly man.

Besides, when a young boy goes to the school restroom and discovers a dispenser with tampons, what does this say about his access to adult manhood?

When they tried it in Oregon, the resourceful boys took the tampons and stuffed them down the toilets. The local authorities prescribed more education about the importance of tampons for menstruating boys.

So, the Democrats whine and complain. Republicans, as manifested by Trump and Musk, actually build things. They accomplish things. 

Young men who have been brought up in a matriarchy, who have had feminist thinking drilled into them from the time they begin school, have now discovered that their feminist teachers are not the best male role models.

Now, leftist men, smarting from the notion that no one thinks of them as paragons of manliness, have discovered a way to affirm their manliness-- by firebombing Teslas and by harassing anyone who owns one.

Manliness lies in competitive striving. It is about playing the game according to the rules. It is not about social justice or DEI. The latter rigs the game. It is unmanly to rig the game.

The Trumpian war against DEI improves the chances of young men to succeed. Merit accompanies manliness. Being given credentials you have not earned and jobs you cannot do does not.

Merit involves what you have earned, honestly, by your labor. 

Those who are suffering a manliness deficit, especially those who are of college age or in their twenties, have rallied to the Palestinian cause. They were inspired by the events of October 7 in Israel. To their warped minds, the terrorist massacre was manly. 

And yet, attacking innocent women and children does not count as a sign of martial virtue. Attacking women and children counts as a sign of cowardice. Those who perpetrated these attacks can do nothing better than whine and complain when faced with the superior power of the IDF. Now they want to be pitied.

And, of course, manliness involves protecting women and children. Certainly, it involves protecting female children.

Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has given up on defending girls, whether in sports or in locker rooms. The current transmania shows Democrats-- that means all Senate Democrats-- refusing to pass legislation to protect girls in sports and in locker rooms.

Allowing males to beat up females in sports, even to the point of receiving medals for their efforts, shows a culture that devalues masculinity and that is hemorrhaging young male voters.

And, Donald Trump seems to have cornered the market in patriotism. What could be more manly than patriotism. As you knowy, the word comes from the Latin “pater” which means father. And it is also found in the word that feminists love to hate-- that is, patriarchy.

Of course, the Democratic Party, appalled by the patriarchal slant of patriotism, has become a cult to the Great Mother Goddess. Call Her what you will-- the planet, the environment, nature itself.

When you tell men that they should worship at the altar of a Mother Goddess, they will run to the Republican Party.

Q.E.D.