Donald Trump Inaugeration

[aphrodite]

Will anyone be watching later today?

[cyprusgrump]

Will anyone be watching later today?

Not me.

But I'll get the gist of it from the interwebz later...

[Houdinibun]

unlikely but will be keeping up online...

[Rita Sherry]

Either today or later on catch up.

Rita

[PhotoLady]

Some - but the whole thing has already driven me to distraction already..... I can't stand to look at him.

[Ramone]

I bet the secret service are just loving protecting him as you know its just a matter of time before someone is going to take a pot shot at him.

[Rita Sherry]

Well - follow that speech. Did watch it live.

Rita

[smudger]

I watched most of it (in between doing Georgi's French homework), enjoyed most of it, exceptions were the speech and the singer murdering the American National Anthem. Thought the Obamas and the Clintons were the essence of solid and polite American Society

Edit - Dominic, I did use a couple of emojis, they were the usual enornous ones, so deleted. I'm on subsilver2

[Wallace]

Thought his Speech was quite damming on previous administrations.
He also confirmed that globalisation will be on the wane, with home protection being more important.
Sort of suggests that maybe he will support the UK, who are now trying to recreate a national identity, like he is in the US.
PS. I am still concerned re brexit, but maybe Trump wil be the saviour of the UK

[Conoflex]

Hate to re iterate the obvious about Blair, but it was he who signed over British sovereignty to Brussels via the Lisbon Treaty and he who allowed unlimited immigration into the UK by failing to get a transitional agreement about movement of people after the Eastern Europe countries joined the EU

The two biggest factors in the exit vote were national sovereignty and immigration and the blame for problems arising from those lie squarely with Blair.

The very real current and future effects of these combined factors are indeed what led to the Leave vote - that's as plain as the nose on your face. He chose to promote the EU's idealistic agenda and supra national ambitions over the national interest of his own country and countrymen, and people were never going to forget that in a hurry

When Trump says he will put America first he simply means he will cut deals aimed at promoting the American people's interests above all else (which means he would not have done "the deal" Blair did )

[Firefly]

No way, can't stand the man, and to add insult to injury the BBC put Antiques Road Trip on earlier than normal, so that they could show the blooming ceremony, so I missed it.

Jackie

[Wallace]

Good luck to Teressa May with her mtg next week with Trump!

[Wallace]

I agree

I remember a time pre EU paying 80 Cyprus pounds duty on goods from the UK worth 200 pounds sterling, don't want to go back to these days again.
Also remember having to pay a customs officer overtime to inspect my shipping container!

[cyprusgrump]

We'll just have to see what deal can be agreed with the EU. I expect it to be much more positive than the doom laden scenarios of some of the remainers.

I too remember paying a customs officer overtime to inspect our container (he slept in his car all the way through the unloading)...

But we have to remember that the EU is not a 'single market' nor a 'free market' it is a protectionist customs union. While it may have been beneficial in yesteryear to remove tariffs for trade between 'Common Market' members it now out of place in a world that is moving towards free trade. Imposing tariffs on cheap imports to protect inefficient French farmers and other businesses will eventually end in tears...

Oh, and my understanding is that under FTA rules the UK could choose to impose zero tariffs on goods that it wants to continue to purchase from the EU...

[Conoflex]

There are of course obvious limitations and dangers involved in any free trade deal with the US - the agreement that many in the EU were desperately keen to sign with Obama (TTIP) had the potential to be devastating for much of Europe, was a massive assault on European democracy and was hushed up to the most extraordinary degree by the institutions of the EU

If that is now off the table there will be an ever greater incentive for Europe to maintain ties with the UK- the European economies simply cannot stand the hit

[Conoflex]

I happened to hear Trump’s speech and it must be said he didn’t pull any punches.

First of all when Trump says he is going to put “America first”, that is not a “threat”, that is a basic business philosophy and a simple metaphor (for America read ordinary American voter) The most basic job of any government is to protect their own people. Hopefully Trump won’t be embarking on futile campaigns with no real objective and exit policy such as Iraq- an utter disaster from the start under Bush to it’s finish under Obama

All good deals benefit both sides- what Trump has quite rightly pointed out that many of the US’ current dealings have benefited foreign powers and global corporations to the detriment of the American people. The political classes have been very much in cahoots with the global corporations and given them free rein under the auspices of American protection to export jobs and boost their balance sheets whilst giving very little in return.

They have all done very well whilst American debt continues to soar and living standards for ordinary Americans continue to fall. At the same time various undesirable aspects of society seem to be proliferating further, diminishing the quality of life of these ordinary Americans, and the powers that be are simply ignoring these problems.

That is why Trump was elected. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for free trade based on comparative advantage, but America hasn’t done a very good job of protecting it’s interests recently

Look at cars for example- US built cars face at least a 10% import duty into the EU (I know most American cars are crap, but that’s not the point )

BMW are building cars in Mexico that arrive duty free in the US via NAFTA. Trump is rightly asking why these cars cannot be built in the US (I imagine robots do much of the building, but there must be jobs associated with it was well) If the US stations 60,000 troops in Europe for their protection, why don't the Europeans let Americans build their cars in the US ?

If he cuts taxes to incentivise companies to stay, and introduces import taxes to make them keep their base in the US that will be a start

I don’t think Trump wants to quit NATO, but he is perfectly entitled to expect the other states to pull their weight with the costs. I also expect that if American money and American lives are to be sacrificed defending their NATO allies he expects them to behave sensibly

So when he sees the EU not only failing to spend the expected levels on their own defense, but deliberately provoking Putin by supporting an overthrow of a democratic government in Ukraine as part of their economic expansion policy it’s no surprise him saying they might find themselves on their own if it kicks off big time.

Similarly with China- the trade deficit between the two is huge and vastly in China’s favour.

China does this by setting artificial currency levels and employing ludicrously cheap labour that destroys US jobs. Granted China will always have cheaper labour costs, but the trade arrangement is being skewed ever more in favour of China, and trade imbalances are not a healthy thing- this is what Trump is objecting to

I think Trump will play ball and support those countries that honour their commitments and play fair with the US because that is in everyone’s best interests, but I don’t think the US will be “playing patsy” for much longer because strong leaders don’t allow that to happen to their fellow countrymen.

Friends of the US will be treated favorably, enemies of the US confronted, but the battle lines are increasingly blurred.

I suspect that many Americans might see a German dominated EU with an expansionist economic policy into the former Soviet Union territories being as much a threat to its interests and world stability as the old Soviet Union was 30 years ago.

Trying to turn the economic screw on someone like Putin isn’t the wisest of policies and the EU really does need to seriously think through it’s position on such matters. Hopefully Trump can start sorting much of that out.

One thing is for sure, if the EU pees off Trump and the EU pees off the UK, Putin could go through the Baltic States like sh#t through a goose. All these luvvies slagging Trump off really ought to bear that in mind

[Firefly]

Can't wait to see what Mrs May makes of him, and vice versa. At least he's put Churchill's bust back, that Obama had removed !

Jackie

[Conoflex]

I think you'll find my assessment of the luvvies was based on what Russia might do to Eastern Europe if they cannot keep America militarily committed to European security and my assessment of the trade deals are exactly as Trump and many Americans see it

I didn't really cover any EU /Brexit/US new trade relationship whatsoever other than mention that TTIP would have seen Europe walking into a environmental, democratic and social disaster Trump might just have saved us from that (I'm sure Clinton would have tried to conclude the deal Obama was striving for which would have seen corporations suing governments that tried to increase their taxes or introduced legislation that might effect their profits, along with a host of other dubious measures)

Whether you like Trump or not the fact of the matter is he is the duly elected Present of the United States with a different agenda from pretty much anything else we've seen in a long time and get used to he fact that he is determined to do things his way- regardless of what anyone in the Sunday Times says

Maybe the previous expert might try to outline to you the benefits of mutual trade and how much the British market means to the EU, rather than state the bleedin' obvious about developing new markets. Whether or not Trump does a cozy deal with Britain is irrelevant. The US stance has the potential to damage both Britain and the EU (the EU in particular) which is why it becomes even more imperative the EU reaches a deal with us over single market access surely ?

[Conoflex]

Interesting, but entirely predictable -for all these things that involve Britain "losing out" the EU is exactly the same. You have to be able to look at it from both sides, not just the Remainer aspect

You seem to think the EU holds all the cards- you are mistaken. There are equally as many newspaper articles that state exactly the opposite of the attached one

You are only capable of seeing things in the way you want them to pan out and not the way circumstances and events are leading them.

Britain and the EU both need to expand their outlooks and change their policies- but the EU has more problems than Britain has and many of Britain's problem are a direct result of EU policies. You are incapable of acknowledging any of the EU's many failings .

The very fact Britain is leaving the EU is a failure of the EU, and a huge problem for the EU- you however simply cannot see that .You are simply hoping Britain will also fail without bringing the EU down with it in some bizarre Schadenfreude reaction to what is actually happening

I would wager that if "Businessman" Trump came to Cyprus and said he was going to spend billions building a bridge between Paphos and Greece that would increase everybody's property price by 500% you would have been so far up his backside the proctologist with the world's longest index finger would not have been able to tickle your feet.

"President" Trump comes along and says he’s going to do something about problem trade balances and you think he’s an idiot

You’re sitting there like some Frenchman on the Maginot line, whilst fast moving events you could never conceive of are actually happening, gathering pace and about to overwhelm you. Rather than wish for a sensible solution all round you would rather see a catastrophe develop because you can't even begin to contemplate how you and the EU got it so wrong

ps for the record I have seen Trump the businessman's dealings up close, saw through it for what it was and I think he is a bullying asshole. That however might just be exactly the stuff a good President is made of

[cyprusgrump]

One thing which struck me tonight watching him on TV surrounded by his coterie was that they all appeared totally cowed by his presence...and I wonder how many will over time be prepared to take a stand against any bad decisions they think he is about to make.

Really???

You haven't noticed this for any other POTUS?

Every other POTUS before him was surrounded by staff pointing and jeering and saying he was wrong on everything...?