Hi Jim....
Nice to see you on the thread.
I agree with your assessment of President Trump and his way of getting things done in the first term.
My knowledge of how your government works isn’t anywhere close to what you and other Americans have, but lack of knowledge has never stopped me from throwing in my two cents worth before lol....even though it should have.
A couple of points that come to mind in defense of President Trump.....
- under ordinary circumstances, Trump likely could have proceeded according to how thing are supposed to get done. He was up against outright sabotage, enemies all around, so perhaps that’s why he needed to slam things through, and was hopefully going to have the conditions in Congress to get it backed up legally at a later date, but the election was stolen from him. He had to go in, stop the bleeding, and get the ship turned around as quickly as he could.
- I was always perplexed by his flowing flowing words for the brutal dictator, Xi. So I then wondered how he should be handled. China produces so much of what America (and Canada) consumes. Our manufacturing has been decimated, intentionally, while China has taken over. I considered this as the reason he tread carefully with Xi. Can you imagine what Trump would have faced if he had gone scorched earth on Xi and Xi retaliated by cutting off many goods on which we are dependent? Can you imagine them cutting off just the pharmaceuticals? It’s difficult to say what is right when the whole country is in such a vulnerable position to a brutal dictator. It would be a nightmare.
Now, if by a gift from God, President Trump is back in the White House in 2024, and has a Congress who is behind him and determined to promote the MAGA agenda, I think you’ll see a more forceful President Trump. As the nation gets its manufacturing back into the country (starting with energy and pharmaceuticals) then, hopefully, we’ll see him being a little more hardline to the world’s dictators.
I have no explanation regarding North Korea, other than a nervousness regarding nukes in the hands of a crazy man.
“under ordinary circumstances, Trump likely could have proceeded according to how thing are supposed to get done.”
I agree, I don’t think things had gone normally before or during or after trump. I don’t know for how long before, but I’m pretty sure elections have been stolen in the past. So I don’t think he was given a congress that he could actually work with.
“I have no explanation regarding North Korea, other than a nervousness regarding nukes in the hands of a crazy man”
The source for how he treats dictators might come from the Art of the Deal. He was friendly but firm. I don’t suppose you can negotiate well if you start off being hostile. He was the first sitting president to enter N Korea, and had a long chat. But the moniker “Rocket Man” and him insisting sanctions will not be lifted until there is complete denuclearization show him not giving an inch. It doesn’t cost anything in negotiations to be friendly and personable. And it might help. I believe Reagan had a similar demeanor with Gorbachev?