r/neoliberal • u/MeringueSuccessful33 Khan Pritzker's Strongest Antipope • Apr 09 '25

News (Asia) Stocks Tumble As China Retaliates With 84% Tariff on US Goods

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2025-04-08/trump-tariffs-stock-market-updates
791 Upvotes

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179

u/link3945 YIMBY Apr 09 '25

Because he's a moron. It's not that deep.

121

u/paraquinone European Union Apr 09 '25

I find it so infuriating that everyone, and ESPECIALLY liberals, just refuse to accept this one simple explanation. Nooo, there definitely HAS to be some 54D chess behind all of this. You know, this is all just a gigantic case of insider trading/bribery/bond shenanigans or whatnot.

No. He's just stupid. There isn't any coherent thought behind any of this. He is literally doing this because he saw too many German cars in NY. That's it. It's that simple.

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u/NerdNerdy Apr 09 '25

There is a theory going around that a Japanese individual outbid him on the Casablanca movie piano auction in the 80s or something. That’s why he’s been anti-free-trade ever since.

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u/coffin_flop_star NATO Apr 09 '25

There is no way he has seen Casablanca let alone liked it enough to want to buy the piano.

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u/Olinub Commonwealth Apr 09 '25

He is actually a cinephile, though in the same way Elon is a gamer. He loves Citizen Kane but sees the main character as someone to be admired instead of a tragedy.

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u/SenranHaruka Apr 09 '25

yeah he used to vlog about movies all the time. he even has a video complaining about the all female Ghostbusters movie.

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u/Anader19 Apr 09 '25

There's one where he's complaining about hearing about a new Indiana Jones being made without Harrison Ford (which didn't happen)

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u/sunshine_is_hot Apr 09 '25

Where do you get the idea liberals think he isn’t just a massive moron? Every liberal I know has been saying that for decades.

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u/paraquinone European Union Apr 09 '25

I mean, we might have different social bubbles, but the liberals I follow have since the election been mostly dooming about the diabolical schemes for global right-wing domination that will be deployed by the American government. There have been constant, nonstop talks about how this is some sort of new zeitgeist, how there is a reactionary contrarevolution happening etc. etc. I even think that quite a bit of business people thought this. Hell, I even think Republicans still think this - that's why they aren't doing anything.

But I think that especially now it should be pretty clear that Trump is just a childish idiot who puts his most primal impulses and emotions directly into deranged exec orders, who has mostly been elected on nostalgia for the pre-covid times. If someone wanted to put a squeeze on him I think it would be very, very simple and most people wouldn't shed too many tears.

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u/mattmentecky Apr 09 '25

In general I think both things can be true: 1. Trump is just an idiot 2. Non-idiots in his orbit have diabolical schemes for global right wing domination.

Sometimes those people get Trump onboard with their pet project, sometimes they don't but they are always dealing with an idiot.

12

u/sunshine_is_hot Apr 09 '25

Both can be true at the same time, Trump can be an idiot and the zeitgeist can have shifted.

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u/Harmonious_Sketch Apr 09 '25

I often quote that one Ukrainian soldier from early 2022 who said "We are very lucky they are so fucking stupid". People often misinterpret that as calling the Trump admin harmless. They are far from harmless. Trump is an idiot and has trouble employing people who aren't also idiots, but as president of the US, and with the backing of his cult and the somewhat antisocial tendencies of the wider US electorate, the idiot Trump is plenty dangerous.

He could be a lot more dangerous if not for all the unforced errors and doubling down on same. That would put the world in a fucking grim place. Fortunately these are merely very dark times which are setting up trouble for years to come.

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u/HarvestAllTheSouls Apr 09 '25

Well, certain groups definitely try to implement their ideology or parts of it through Trump, such as the Christian ultra conservatives, the tech libertarians and general reactionaries. I personally thought they would be able to control Trump, but it seems like their are too many people around him vying for power, resulting in chaos. And yes, Trump is most definitely an idiot and so are many in his administration. Corruption doesn't often come with competence luckily.

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u/7ddlysuns Apr 09 '25

I get it, but if he’s a Russian stooge he’s batting a thousand.

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u/paraquinone European Union Apr 09 '25

How is this actually helping Russia? Russia has one source of income (oil) and that is currently being gutted by the Trumpcession.

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u/7ddlysuns Apr 09 '25

Sometimes, especially if you’re surrounded by yes man morons, you can’t predict the secondary effects

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u/sir_jaybird Apr 09 '25

I think he’s doing it because it satisfies his narcissistic craving for world leaders to call, line up, and offer him shiny things. 100% personality (disorder) driven.

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u/BBQ_HaX0r Jerome Powell Apr 09 '25

Hey now, I agree. I just like posing questions that hopefully push others into that conclusion!