Octopus Overlords

Blackhawk wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2024 8:19 pm If we start invading our neighbors for the hell of it, he's going to find that it's very, very difficult to get new recruits.

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and President-elect Donald Trump agreed in a phone call that their countries will have a “good relationship,” she said Thursday, and she dismissed his threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on Mexico’s exports if it didn’t stop the flow of migrants and fentanyl to the United States.

“There will not be a potential tariff war,” Sheinbaum told reporters in her daily news conference.

Sheinbaum and Trump have given dramatically different versions of the call Wednesday. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Sheinbaum had agreed to “stop Migration through Mexico,” which would mean “effectively closing our Southern Border” immediately.

That prompted a response late Wednesday from Sheinbaum: “Mexico’s stance is not to close borders but to build bridges.”
...
Gabriel Guerra, a former Mexican diplomat, said the change in tone from Monday indicated that Trump wasn’t seeking to impose tariffs but to score a political victory.

“He can now say his communiqué [on tariffs] was so strong and powerful, and the best communiqué in the history of the world, and he got Mexico to quickly comply,” said Guerra, a communications consultant.

But in reality, he said, Sheinbaum’s comments suggest she hadn’t committed to any dramatic change. “This is going to be tinkering with what we’re already doing,” he said.

Daehawk wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2024 9:19 pm Im not reading this thread and will probably step back more from this area of the forum now that Trump is in. But I saw this title and had to ask myself....does he even have any foreign policy other than withdrawing and quitting most everything or trying to tell others what to do?

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

Grifman wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2024 11:42 am What’s the U.S. going to do if the border fences or walls are blown up in multiple locations, or Border Patrol posts are hit, or half a dozen ranches go up in flames with families killed.

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2024 2:47 pm

Grifman wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2024 11:42 am What’s the U.S. going to do if the border fences or walls are blown up in multiple locations, or Border Patrol posts are hit, or half a dozen ranches go up in flames with families killed.

Declare a state of emergency, take emergency powers, deploy the US military on the southern border (and thus onto US soil, opening a can of worms Trump would love to have open), institute a draft, delay elections due to the 'extreme circumstances', the possibilities are limitless. Yeah, that's a slippery slope, but it's exactly the kind of slope that other oligarchs have pushed their nations down to establish and maintain power.

Grifman wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2024 3:02 pm The plan is to eliminate the cartels, and that’s just not going to work.

Grifman wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2024 11:42 am One problem - among many - with the proposed cartel plan is the asymmetrical options the cartels have. Theses guys aren’t a continent away, they are right next door. We raid their operations - they send ops teams, or even better, drones across the border, targeting US border infrastructure or civilians.

What’s the U.S. going to do if the border fences or walls are blown up in multiple locations, or Border Patrol posts are hit, or half a dozen ranches go up in flames with families killed. The cartels can always escalate in ways that will inflict a great deal of pain at minimal cost to them.

I hope you’re getting used to waking up to the stupidest news you’ve ever heard because the latest dispatch on Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration antics is really something. Last week, Trump reportedly suggested to Justin Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state.

That sounds like a joke, I know — and it probably is? But maybe not!

Apparently, Trump floated this idea during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, which the Canadian prime minister suggested after Trump tried to conduct serious trade negotiations via Truth Social. When Trudeau warned that Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Canada would have dire economic consequences, the president-elect suggested the U.S. could just annex the second largest country in the world, per Fox News. The remark was met with nervous laughter, but it’s unclear if Trump’s audience was laughing along with him or was simply stunned

Max Peck wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 5:53 pm Of course it's a joke. Canada would be two steps behind Puerto Rico on the road to statehood, post annexation. You clearly can't have a bunch of pissed-off former Canadians voting for Democrats, now, can you.

Trump (Jokingly?) Suggests Canada Become 51st State

I hope you’re getting used to waking up to the stupidest news you’ve ever heard because the latest dispatch on Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration antics is really something. Last week, Trump reportedly suggested to Justin Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state.

That sounds like a joke, I know — and it probably is? But maybe not!

Apparently, Trump floated this idea during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, which the Canadian prime minister suggested after Trump tried to conduct serious trade negotiations via Truth Social. When Trudeau warned that Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Canada would have dire economic consequences, the president-elect suggested the U.S. could just annex the second largest country in the world, per Fox News. The remark was met with nervous laughter, but it’s unclear if Trump’s audience was laughing along with him or was simply stunned

LordMortis wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:07 pm Wouldn't it be states 51 through 61? And then wouldn't that have too much potential to mess with GOP gerrymandering?

Max Peck wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:19 pm

LordMortis wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:07 pm Wouldn't it be states 51 through 61? And then wouldn't that have too much potential to mess with GOP gerrymandering?

You forgot about the 3 territories (literally) on top of the 10 provinces. But it wouldn't be any states, initially, just one big unincorporated territory with even less self-determination than Puerto Rico.

El Guapo wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:29 pm

Max Peck wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:19 pm

LordMortis wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:07 pm Wouldn't it be states 51 through 61? And then wouldn't that have too much potential to mess with GOP gerrymandering?

You forgot about the 3 territories (literally) on top of the 10 provinces. But it wouldn't be any states, initially, just one big unincorporated territory with even less self-determination than Puerto Rico.

Probably the conservative providences / areas would become states, and the rest would be one giant "Rest of Canada" state.