Summary
U.S. CEOs and business executives are alarmed as Donald Trump remains firm on imposing high tariffs on U.S. allies, despite warnings from economists about potential economic harm.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s late-night social media announcements have blindsided both his advisers and business leaders, leaving them scrambling to react.
While Trump consults some advisers, like Marco Rubio and Treasury pick Scott Bessent, his unilateral approach limits their influence.
The uncertainty has left business leaders struggling to find ways to alter his stance on trade policies.
How the actual fuck are people “blindsided” by this?
Maybe the leopards started with the eyes.
You ever talk to c-level execs? Many of them simply aren’t smart. They’re just very aggressive and confident which gives the appearance of intelligence.
A lot of times attractiveness plays a big role too. In modern corporate america being attractive will get you further than being smart.
Studies have shown that something as simple as being tall makes people be more likely to be looked towards as leaders.
You ever talk to c-level execs? Many of them simply aren’t smart
A large percentage of them are the embodiment of the Peter principle
A-Students work for B-Students in companies owned by C-Students, which are financed by D-Students, while the hedge funds owned by the sociopathic F-Students short sell the whole thing to make sure they have enough spare cash to buy a new library wing at Harvard, so their F-Student-kids get in.
CEOs aren’t the brightest.
Because folks do their 5 minute research by reading conservative mainstream news outlets and safe space enclaves that Tariffs are good.
Talking points to the contrary are not allowed, so they get to find out the hard way.
To be fair. The message they’re receiving is that tariffs will hurt the people that deserve it. And they’re absolutely right. But while they’re suffering, so will the rest of America.
Remember that Trump lies about everything, often in both directions. Everyone knows this, including his supporters. That gives his supporters the mental freedom to make up whateverthefuck policy positions they like and find proof that they are Trump’s real plan.
Donald Trump is the human version of a Bible. If you’re a Believer, god says he will implement your Desire. If you’re a Heretic, god says he will destroy the world. All with the same words.
Because they thought it would only happen to others and they’d be fine. Guess the leopard with a rooster hat is coming to roar and eat faces.
But… But… Genderless bathrooms! /s
He’s a Russian asset, what do they think he is going to do anything that’s in the US’s best interest? He’s here to burn it to the ground and line his pockets with what’s not ashes.
Honestly at this point I don’t know how anyone can’t see the obvious.
What can we do besides impotently complain about this on the internet?
With all the anger about the dead CEO lately and rightfully angry people in glee over the violence, I truly think we could accomplish more with a general strike. Crash the fake economy built on fraud. If wall street looses billions a day in their fictional numbers they throw around we would show them real power. This would accomplish more than any dead CEO ever could.
Saw a post where the Trump administration is eyeing pulling FDIC from our banks! They already plan on crashing the economy. Stealing all your money, and making the US in Russia’s image.
If we beat them to the punch we might still have our bank account money at least while their fictional money evaporates into thin air.
One thing the real rich people won’t stand for is their money vanishing. If we hold out long enough the real wealthy will likely turn on him, hell he might fall out a window!
It’s going to be hard to convince people to strike when so many of them are in massive debt and live paycheck-to-paycheck.
When you can barely feed your kids on what little you’re paid, you’re a lot less willing to strike. Especially if you aren’t in a union and can be fired for it. And the corpos know it and rely on it.
Luigi even said that in the manifesto- economic protest isn’t viable in this system. He’s basically right.
So the plan is to wait till more people choose violence and hope that does anything but solidify the ruling class behind armed forces and impenetrable walls of security and eventually anonymity. To me that seems like a waste of valuable time, resources and lives.
Violence should be the last resort. I truly believe that general strike is the best option.
“Best option” does not mean “realistic option”. I think you’re correct. I also think we’ve been (intentionally) pushed to a point where we can’t exercise that option.
Facts
I wholeheartedly agree it’s a hard sell. What other viable non violent means do we have left?
Do we wait for the ruling class to crash the economy? The people will be even more fucked than they are now.
People are going to have to be willing to put themselves at risk or there will be no reward, only serfdom and abject destitute for all.
That’s the thing. I don’t think there are any viable non violent means left. Unless some magical unicorn leader gains power in the US and other countries the elites are tied to fast that is willing to wrench power from their hands through legal means, and looking at global political movements as they stand right now I do not think that is going to happen any time soon.
I do not hold out hope for enough people who are willing to make altruistic sacrifices for it to work. I lost all optimism I might have had when it came to America on the first Wednesday in November.
Fair enough, I haven’t yet succumbed to apathy.
Understanding that violent means are the only realistic way to change things at this point is not apathy.
I never understood the whole “they won’t stand for losing money” tactic. What you’re asking them to do with a general strike is to relinquish their money to the masses and reduce the wealth gap significantly. They won’t do that. They will do literally anything, including forcing people back to work for them with violence from mercenary groups (or robot dogs, which is horrifying to me) before they submit to the will of the people. A general strike would be a good step, but if you think it will go over well for the working class without any bloodshed then you should learn about how the elites have treated striking in the past.
It wasn’t the poor oppressed peoples of Rome that undid Caesar, it was the disaffected members of the elite.
The best option for the least bloodshed it to force the hand of those in power to act in their own self interest. If their best option is getting rid of the source of their problems in an attempt to retain the money and power they have they will stab anyone in the back to get what they want.
We need to split their class solidarity.
Also people keep using Rome as if things aren’t drastically different this time around.
Much easier for them to do to us than vice versa. They know this.
Build connections in your local community. Organize and elect your candidates at the local level
It was said below but I really think that there needs to be more people that are willing to run for office with a more progressive message.
I know it’s not as sexy as revolution or CEO-cide but it really is a better way to make changes without fucking the country up completely.
So how the fuck do you run for office ? I don’t know but there are resources that can help. If you don’t want to run that’s fair but as you mentioned the time to just sit around and bitch online in an echo chamber is done. Progressives are going to have to find a way to make their voices heard and in a way that isn’t talking down to people.
Note: I get the anger and the desire to want to scare the fuck out of the ruling class. But murder isn’t the only thing that the ruling class is scared of, they also don’t want people to vote for their own self-interest. They don’t want the people to demand billionaires pay more in taxes. And a significant group of progressive politicians would scare the shit out of the established ruling class.
They thought they’d vote anti-tax first, then pushover trump on the tariffs when they had the time. Looks like they were wrong.
More faces being eaten.
If this was his first go-around I could see some rationale to that idea. But holy shit, has there been a case of collective amnesia among business ‘leaders’?!!
They knew exactly what they were getting. Because we’ve seen all this before. Usually this is the definition of madness. But in this case it should be the definition of stupidity.
This same surprised Pikachu shit is going to happen over and over and over again over the next 4+ years. Even right now, the media keep assuming what he says is what he will do. And I have no idea why. He demonstrated in his first term that at least half of what he promises he either backtracks on he doesn’t follow through on. Why they think things will be different this time is beyond me.
has there been a case of collective amnesia among business ‘leaders’?!!
Business leaders in the last decade or 2 have increasingly been laser focused on nothing beyond the next 6 months - AKA short term returns.
The long term survival of their business or what has happened in previous years are simply not part of their thought process when the next quarter’s profits are all that matters.
The one singular upside of Cheeto 2.0 is that I’ll get to enjoy some guilty schadenfreude as the face eating leopard starts eating the faces of the party-for-face-eating-leopards.
This guy has tanked all of his previous enterprises due to his poor decision making and lack of knowledge. What in their right minds made them think this would be any different?
Maybe your dumb asses should have been railing against this a long fucking time ago.
Right? I realized 20 years ago that trying to vote your way out of a system that’s democracy and media was controlled by the elites was a crock of shit.
Anyone else feel like the goal IS inflation?? I feel like they’re trying to contrstruct a Weimar Republic situation with this to push people further right. I hope I’m wrong, but this feels like they’re really trying to come up with an excuse to kill a lot of people.
My belief is that inflation benefits trump personally since it devalues the mortgage debt on his real estate holdings, while increasing the nominal value of those properties.
It’s all about that sweet sweet crypto.
And bankrupting the US.
The guy that put Vance in the white house, musks buddy, PayPal mafia alumn, dark-right libertarian tech bro, Peter Thiel, is betting on btc hitting 4 million (but the dollar needs to collapse - as planned)
Lots of movement from red states and R Congress critter toward btc these days, too. Surely coincidental.
I posted a lot of links to his own words, goals, and plans, and to reports about his doings.
https://lemmy.ca/comment/13364820
He’s probably the most powerful person most people have never heard of.
Oh, and another thing people don’t like to hear: the bilderberg are real, and he’s one of the guys who does the invitations and decides which topics are discussed.
https://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/background/steering-committee/steering-committee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Members_of_the_Steering_Committee_of_the_Bilderberg_Group
buys $20 BTC
Well, if it ain’t getting any better… Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
I’ve hedged some of my bets on evil.
A matter of survival if worse comes to worse comes to Armageddon.
When we get to Armageddon, no hedged bets are going to help you.
The German corporate elite thought they could control the last guy as well…
Didn’t he literally campaign on these tariffs?
Where were these titans of industry in October?
Yup. This is not a new thing. If these guys had lined up to say this at a microphone during the campaign it could have had an impact. But no, they thought they could just control him after the fact. After having seen how uncontrollable he was during his first term. This is what happens when you equate wealth with intelligence. You get dumbasses who think they’re playing 5d chess.
They thought they could control the guy who stared at the sun during an eclipse after he was told if he did, he might go blind.
You can’t control Caligula.
Looks like Americans are about to go through their version of brexit. Good luck, it’s going to be rough.
Those are nothing alike. The UK has become an empty shell of its former empire. It lacks the access to resources for a closed economy and the military strength to steal them elsewhere.
For the US it is possible to return to a closed economy. The way Trump would do it is stupid and it would fuck over most Americans, but the end goal of a closed economy is viable in principal. For the UK it was impossible to achieve anything out of Brexit.
The only way the US could return to a viable closed economy is if the world jumped into a time machine and went back to the 80s.
Over here in the UK, whilst Brexit is an absolute clusterfuck and was always going to be, it was never the plan of even the most Faragian of people to enact a closed economy.
I don’t think any Westernised economy could successfully run a completely enclosed economy anymore.
We probably could ramp up some production here to survive this. But for it to actually work the way it’s proposed the general population will need to give up certain luxuries that are only available via import. And I can’t see that ever happening. The average American isn’t going to sacrifice anything for the greater good.
That would be glorious! But I’m seriously scared for Ukraine and Europe while Amexit happens…!
Might be a bit of a contrarian take, but at this point I think Trump needs to have a gigantic fuck up to drive people to the streets in anger, South Korea style. One of those ‘we need our medicine before we can get better’ moments.
For some reason tens of millions of people buy his “'I’m the greatest - only I can save you - they’re evil and stupid” rhetoric.
So it’s going to take a truly epic fuck up that he can’t bullshit his way out of - and that the media can’t ignore - for people to finally see that him and his cronies are all gigantic pieces of shit.
He did have a gigantic fuck up. He fucked up the response to covid-19. Badly. And how much did his fuck up make the situation worse in the rest of the world?
74 million people still voted for him in 2020. During and immediately AFTER that fuck up.
Yeah, but the alternative was voting for a woman, so…
A half black, half Indian woman, though!
It’s going to take something monumental for the US to ever change- and even then I doubt it will. People seem 100% stupider than 15 years ago and some study just showed adult intelligence has dropped in multiple areas. I wonder if people infected with COVID literally got stupider on top of all the lead poisoning from pre-90’s.
There wasn’t a woman running in 2020.
January 6th has entered the chat…and quietly left unnoticed.
His entire first administration was a series of such fuckups. I am not hopeful that consequences (for him) are ever coming.
I don’t think that’s possible, unfortunately. I’m pretty sure he knows he can get away with anything, and his stupid fans will still gladly follow him. He will put the blame on someone else, every time, and they will believe him, every time.
South Korea wasn’t in a cult for that leader AND what he asked for was essentially what… Something that equated to the build up to January 6th, without even a January 6th style failed coup attempt to show for it.
No, they did what we should have. We failed.
South Korea values education. The Republican party has been destroying the public education system for decades.
So south Korea does not have as many braindead people as we have here
This is the whole issue. Republicans, a cult, can only exist in pretend political party form because they have convinced their base that literally–literally–anything that has a big ol REPUBLICAN label slapped on it is the highest moral good.
They see children getting murdered in cold blood in schools and take the side of the guns. I should probably repeat that four or five times with varying emphasis.
Trump could bomb an orphanage, brag about it, and within a week Fox Lies & Propaganda would be running stories about how the orphanage made a mistake on its taxes that was falsely flagged as fraud, and how orphans might become criminals.
It won’t undo the current disaster, but the real path back is probably more like talking to one person who’s trumpy but still somehow you kind of like anyway, with a tone of…come on now. Are we serious with this? You see this for what it is, right? You gotta put a stop to this, it can’t go on. Or just plain old Lakoff advice about getting your racist grandpa to tell you a story at thanksgiving of a time he helped somebody. This is one step in restoring his brain to its unpoisoned-by-conservatism state.
You gotta attack the foundation of fascism and conservatism, which science seems to think you do with empathy.
If this could have happened it would have happened during covid
Trump accelerationism, lesgo
I hope he ruins all of them. Every last one.
You had four whole years of Trump to realize he never jokes around, he doesn’t bluff, and he’s never going to pivot, change directions, or admit he made a mistake. He means what he says and there is no nuance or subtext.
He means what he says and there is no nuance or subtext.
Well, there is a sort of nuance here.
In that he’s also terrible at doing literally anything, and fails constantly at achieving promises.
He also has so many plots and schemes cooking at any given moment with so many other people and organizations that you absolutely cannot trust or predict any outcome. This is the real thing that nobody learned about Trump is that he is completely unpredictable because he can’t be honest about the color of the sky if asked.
There were also guardrails to stop his half baked schemes from being implemented, or people with integrity in career positions that had the hard option of saying no.
I’m just worried this time he will tell his head of the EPA to make the sky that color.
And the head of the EPA will.
My only solace is that Trump kills everything he touches and betrays everyone who is loyal to him.
In some regards, I hope so too. The old Fuck Around and Find Out bit. The fucking MAGAts will look like deer in headlights when the economic freight train derails and crashes.
I’m already stockpiling popcorn.
Did you only now notice that he only cares about himself?
And he’s mind-bogglingly stupid on top of that.
Americas leader and figurehead.
Truly a man of the people.
You let the fox in the henhouse. Why would he listen? He’s not planning to win over hearts and minds
Wait, what CEO is surprised that Trump won’t look at data and make decisions on that? Anyone this foolish should have their stock shorted.
“we thought we could control the face eating leopard.”
Honestly yeah they still see him as corrupt and able to be bought. He is except where he isn’t. He can be bribed like a 5 year old can, he’ll take the money and like you more because of it, but his whims will always come first
Trump doesn’t look at data. Ever.
Doesn’t surprise me, but I guess I’m not a US CEO.
I’m not even sure he can read
He has already shown them what he wants them to do.
Just donate $1 million to him and he will help your business
It was a billion.
See? The poor billionaires suffer inflation just like everyone else. /s
I was wondering this morning as I was scrambling my eggs just how many of the grossly unqualified billionaires that Trump is trying to nominate to cabinet positions paid for those positions?
Donate enough and you get a cabinet position.
Donate even more and he’ll create new fake departments for you.
