National Newspaper exposes Trump's Weakness on the World Stage

Trump blusters as China steals South China Sea

"China is rapidly eroding President Donald Trump‘s credibility as a strong leader capable of standing up to its aggression. China’s People’s Liberation Army is ramping up pressure against Taiwan, threatening a conquest of the island democracy that would profoundly damage the U.S. economy and America’s global influence."

"Unfortunately, the Trump administration is responding weakly. Following the nature reserve declaration, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement condemning Beijing did not refer to the joint U.S.-Philippines defense treaty. (The U.S.-Philippines defense treaty was signed in 1951, another example of Trump refusing to uphold long-standing agreements with other countries, exposing his weakness and lack of patriotism. My words.)

"Rubio’s caution reflects Trump’s dovish approach to China. In return for boosting imports of American agricultural products and exports of Chinese rare earth minerals, for example, Trump has suggested expanding export licenses for Nvidia’s sophisticated semiconductor chips and offering thousands more visas to Chinese students."

"It would be ridiculous for Trump to expel students for writing controversial essays on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while welcoming legions of Chinese spies. "

" The Trump administration likes to present itself as tough on China, but it is not very different from that of the Biden administration."

When Russia invaded Ukraine, a friend of mine asked my opinion, and my first thought was that if Russia got away with taking Ukraine, it would be an open invitation for China to take Taiwan. Of course, MAGA was unable to think that far out, and with their lying, biased right-wing news sources feeding them their marching orders, they rank-and-file dutifully parroted the party line. Completely unable to form an independent opinion.

This editorial also exposes the lying MAGA narrative that if Trump were President, none of this would have happened in the first place. We've seen how much disdain Putin and Jinping have for Trump and how they can easily play him like a fiddle.

The article refers to the Turd's "reputation as a strong leader," but when has that ever been in the slightest evidence? Bully, yes. Strong, hell, no.

It's difficult to gauge what the Official Turd Position is on China. Sometimes, it seems like he has an intense hard-on for them and wants to be their sworn enemy. Other times, he wants to "make deals."

I hope that when Trump pledged his asshole to Putin, both the Philippines and Taiwan realized, they were on their own. Neither country would be a cakewalk for China to conquer, though. Taiwan in particular is well prepared, and the geography and terrain greatly favor the defenders. China would eventually win, but at great cost.

Abandonment of Taiwan is apparently a Turd bargaining chip.

Taiwan just submitted two letters of intent to purchase "at least" $5.56 B in U.S. products, from 2026 to 2029, corn, corn products, and soybeans.  Good news for our farmers, in the midst of harvest right now. 

Candy

Well, not so good news for the farmers whose crops are rotting in the fields right now. Farming, at least at the sole proprietor level, is a pretty fragile endeavor. Crush the shit out of Farmer John this year, he may not be back next year.

I wonder what concessions the Turd wrung out of them to get this "deal"? It's interesting in that part of the world, because over the last ten years, the Turd has swung back and forth from China being the evil incarnate to their being vital trading partners to their being guilty of "unfair" trade.

So this move suggests that the Orange Shit is mad at China again.

Any farmer who replants soybeans for next year, hoping that Taiwan will buy them, is gambling on the Turd not having some kind of tantrum, killing the deal, and imposing an eleven thousand percent tariff on Taiwanese goods--maybe because of something Jon Stewart says?

Not quite that bleak, Kevin.   China has historically bought a lot of soybeans from us.  I'd read that China was looking to Taiwan to start farming their own soybeans to reduce dependence on the U.S.  But this was said to take years of developing from where they are now, so that bodes well for the U.S currently.

"These agreements reflect the strong and growing trade relationship between [our state] and Taiwan, with final terms to be negotiated directly between importers and U.S. suppliers."  

Our farmers, in the midst of harvest right now, have been waiting for commodity prices for crops to improve enough to make a profit this year, and for a "trade deal with China" to sell their soybeans specifically. 

Soybeans cannot be stored for as long as rice and corn; long term storage of grain allows farmers to wait for commodity prices to improve.   If the dry weather we have had continues this fall, farmers may be able to store their soybeans for a bit longer, closer to 2026 when the purchases from Taiwan will begin.  

Taiwan imported nearly $3.7 billion in U.S. agri goods in 2024.  Our state's total of that was $63.2 million.  Taiwan is currently the 5th largest agri trading partner for our state and the 8th largest for the U.S.

Reps from Taiwan visited us recently, toured a commodity distribution and transportation company and a farm, took part in discussions with stakeholders at the state dept of agri, and met with reps from our University's system Dept. of Agriculture.   So looking positive right now.

Hopefully, no one will so much as breathe a syllable of mild criticism of Trump, or he'll cancel the deal (lawfully or otherwise) and leave his loyal MAGA farmers hanging--yet again.

A major element of the current American economic downturn is that neither importers nor exporters know what the Turd is going to do. If I was a farmer, I wouldn't take the huge gamble that I'd be able to sell my harvest abroad. Of course, that fear will lead to too much crop specialization: huge surpluses of some and shortages of others.

BTW, that is exactly why 20 million Russians starved to death under Stalin. Central control of farming by bureaucrats who had no idea what they were doing, controlled by a murderous dictator. Not to draw any parallels with our present situation or anything.

I'll lay 10-1 that the Taiwan deal blows up before a single soybean is sold. Taiwan is just too close politically to Trump's love-hate-love-hate relationship with China.

I'll keep you posted on that, Kevin.

Kevin is the modern day Doubting Thomas.  He doesn't believe any positive reporting.  LOL.

Thanks for the good news Candy.  There is alot of it out there . Too bad so many want to focus on the negetive.  It would be nice to have a category for just good news and positive stories

Possibly because people fear that if they report anything negative, they'll be terminated? So, all rainbows and puppies, or goddamn else? Positive or be dragged off the stage?

I can't go into Dancing in the Street Mode when the Turd crushes our trade relationships with the entire planet and then Taiwan says "Yay soybeans!" Doubtless, a positive development for soybean farmers who now only have to figure out how to survive until this time next year.

Question: what can you DO with rotting soybeans? Will some farm animals eat them? Can you make something edible with them in a hurry? Perhaps thousands of gallons of soy sauce (which has never really caught on with the American plate, but I enjoy)?

It's good news if it actually comes to pass. Don't forget who's in charge.

These farmers may be staking their financial future on whether Trump's diaper starts itching at the wrong time. I almost feel sorry for them, except for the fact that they're getting what they voted for.