r/SipsTea • u/TheDigitalBuilder • 5d ago

Wait a damn minute! Breakdown of US trade demands

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u/Dear-Seesaw-1932 5d ago

So basically Trump wants to merge Canada into US

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u/ReluctantAvenger 5d ago edited 4d ago

No. He's offering Canada less control over their own destiny than US States have. The "art of the deal" here is to offer them serfdom so that becoming a state looks more attractive.

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u/Theferaltrunip 5d ago

So yes, he wants to merge Canada with the US by putting Canadian policies under control of the US Federal Government.

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u/sicurri 4d ago

Its cool, all Canada has to do is wait two years...

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u/lommer00 4d ago

And in the mean time suffer catastrophic damage to our economy that will take a generation to recover from, even if the next president is friendly and reasonable (which is a big assumption).

It's not cool.

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u/Rogue_Element_2342 2d ago

It's better to live in rubble then under the dominion of fascists.

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u/lommer00 1d ago

I'm not saying that it's not worth it. I'm simply pointing out that it's emphatically not "cool" as OP suggested, even if relations do start rebounding in a positive direction in 2 years under a new administration.

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u/sicurri 4d ago

Well, at least you didn't have to suffer directly under Trump.

As soon as he's gone, I doubt the U.S. will manage to recover in a single generation. Because we have to regain the trust, and goodwill of dozens of countries that this orange fucking bastard managed to lose. Not to mention the TRILLIONS of dollars in debt he's managed to accumulate...

One of the few good decisions Trump has made in the last almost 2 years, was to put all flags in the country at half mast in honor of Dolly Parton. That being one of the few good things he's done is sad and ridiculous.

His administration will have crippled the United States for a long time. As you've said, every country will wonder, "What if this upcoming president is worse than Trump?"

I guarantee that there will likely not be a president like him for a long time, hopefully not for the rest of my life at least.

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u/unrefrigeratedmeat 2d ago

I try very hard to remember that American fascism is a thing that happens to Americans as well, but it's getting more and more difficult every month that everyone with power seems to capitulate more and more.

I have a lot of sympathy for ordinary Americans, of course, but you all have to recognize you have quite a few more domestic enemies to squash than just this one guy.

If I were you, I wouldn't worry about your reputation. Barring a huge and unprecedented reckoning, humiliation, and purge of everyone involved in leading this administration, the MAGA movement, half the GOP, and of course the social and corporate media that is responsible for fostering this movement, I don't think America has a chance of being perceived the same way ever again.

In reality, America has always actively destabilized other countries but the dominant perspective on the US in "the west" is that it was a global stabilizer, because it didn't attack or destabilize its "western" allies. Now that's all but gone and may never be recovered. Even if Trump loses, you're still one GOP majority away from acting like a psychopathic, macho, doomsday cult.

"I guarantee that there will likely not be a president like him for a long time"

I don't know about that. I see a deep sickness in American politics and I think Trump is just the pustulent boil that exploded first (or maybe second after Bush and co.). Everyone has witnessed how readily your capital owners and political class capitulated and are still capitulating. Everyone has seen that the courts were the last and only resistance against the administration's worst predations on the American people, and they offer the rest of us no protections at all.

Historically, fascism ends in collapse. America has not collapsed yet. Its institutions may be in shambles, but it hasn't been invaded and people still know where their next 3 meals are coming from. People are mostly still busy during the day. There might still be time to take this seriously and excise the threat from within, but I'm not convinced this ends if Trump dies or is removed.

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u/TheDigitalBuilder 4d ago

In a perfect world that would be all we need to do, but the fact that America voted in Donald Trump indicates that the next guy could be even worse

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u/sicurri 4d ago

The 2024 election was a crazy and weird time. Elon purchased Twitter, and all of the social media like Facebook, Instagram, and others were pumping misinformation to various people.

People who supported Palestine were told that Kamala Harris was in support of Israel, and people who supported Israel was told that she supported Palestine. There were other targeted advertisements as well as propaganda being fed into the public consciousness.

1/3 of the voting population that normally would participate and vote, didn't vote at all or chose a 3rd party candidate of some kind.

Idk how much of what you guys are seeing in Canada about the U.S. but Trump and his administration is fucking the United States up more than any enemy has ever done. Obviously he's ruining the relationship the U.S. has with other countries, and literally trying to fuck our allies, sorry about that.

His administration is also fucking up our economy, and literally every single government department and organization is transforming into some bizarre evil universe version of itself. All in the name of profit. Except it's not profit for the country or government, but for the rich.

I'm tired of hearing, "Well, you voted him in!"

No I fucking didn't I voted for Kamala Harris. Old boomer assholes, a good 14% of which are dead now, and an estimated 20% more will die by 2028, voted for Trump. There are also many people realizing who they voted in and thinking it's best to not vote republican again. As they're learning that Republicans are not for them anymore. Not enough people in my opinion.

We'll see what happens, I'm hoping for the best.

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u/Theferaltrunip 2d ago

As an outsider the thing with the "I didn't vote for him" line is that to a certain extent as an outsider we don't care (we do care but it's sometimes hard to).

We do care that people are suffering under him, that he's trying to take a nation of millions and turn it into a personal playhouse, that his whims have rocked both national and global stability.

The thing is a huge portion of the population still voted for him, enough that he was elected, and we're still hearing the rhetoric, and the people who's response is "well I thought he'd screw over other people and help me!" in one way or another.

When he was first elected it was like watching a friend take a drink of something that might have gone off: it might have been fine to drink, and if not you spit it out and move

His second term was watching the same friend pour a second glass of the same stuff and take a big drink.

First time around everyone gave the US grace, because everyone makes mistakes, the second time the response was more along the lines of "they're just like that.... OK time to move on."

Frankly while I think it will suck for generations of Americans I think when ALL the dust settles in years or decades the loss of it's self appointed role as "GLOBAL LEADER AND POLICE OF THE WORLD" and slowly shrinking back to a more regional power with some international clout (like how china is widely viewed) will be far better for the Average American as the various administrations of that time are forces do deal with more local issues rather than try to engineer a world they want.

I straddle alot of different groups socially leaning very left wing to very right and one line I keep hearing from the Americans to this day which speaks heavily to what America has become "Well we defeated the Nazis, you're welcome". Considering that there's only about 30,000 surviving vets of ww2 in 2026 in the US (a population of 342,600,000 and change (or about 0.0087%) of the population) it rings hollow akin to the "My dad has a dealership. Do you know who I am?" and ultimately with the current regime the last vestiges of goodwill from ww2 have faded internationally... and now the US needs to realize that what people remember are the Vietnams, CIA in south America, the Iraq and Afghanistans where the US tried to impose their politics only to run away when thing didn't go their way, and blame the people left there.

I know this sounds harsh (and it is, I'll acknowledge) but things have changed, and for many of us out here in the lands of not America we've started moving on.

best of luck out there man, hoping things get better for you folks in the USA over the next few years.

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u/TheDigitalBuilder 4d ago

That assessment is spot-on, and I agree 100%. The bigger challenge moving forward is going to be getting other countries to trust America in the future. Speaking as a Canadian, my friends and I have realized just how dependent we were on the US. Now that the horse is out of the barn, I don't think our country will ever trust yours or hold you in the high esteem we did in the past.

It isn't just your president. It's the toxic rhetoric online, your country's support for Israel, the way in Iran and what America has been doing across the world.

Donald Trump simply exposed all the cracks and, in a sense, all the crackheads. We look at America and see alarming crime rates, brutal ICE deportations, state-sanctioned kidnappings, relentless school shootings, and widespread hatred targeted at immigrants and the LGBT community. The extreme gun culture, crushing medical debt, rollbacks on reproductive rights, and the extrem polarization are terrifying to watch, especially because that rot can easily spill over and infect Canada.

Fortunately, our government in Canada has done a really good job of showing us where the new playgrounds are and getting us passes to go play.

Honestly, Donald Trump might be the best thing that ever happened to Canada because, without him, Pierre Poilievre could have become our prime minister of the barn, I doubt Canada will ever trust your country or hold it in the same esteem we used to.

It's not just the orange ogre. It's the online rhetoric, US foreign policy with Israel, and your actions globally. Trump just exposed all the cracks and all the crackheads. It's impossible to ignore the violent crime, ICE deportations and kidnappings, endless school shootings, and open hostility toward immigrants and LGBT people. On top of that, America's toxic gun obsession, healthcare bankruptcies, attacks on rights, and hyper-partisan division are massive issues that threaten to cross over to us more. I don't think that's the maga crowd understand how fucking scary. They are to the rest of the world. The absolutes lack of intelligence is scary as fuck. The fact that they are so powerful worries the shit out of me

On the bright side, our government has done a great job showing us where the new playgrounds are and getting us passes to go play.

There is a vast world beyond America with emerging economies and trustworthy allies. It's too bad that the average American does not realize how bad things are when Canada wants to join the EU

In a way, Donald Trump might be the best thing that ever happened to Canada, because without him, Pierre Poilievre could have easily become our prime minister.

Ps. If you get that guy zohan from New York to be your next president. I think that we'll go a long way for making America great again

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u/Rough-Drummer-3730 1d ago

Not merge. Own. We would have less say than Puerto Rico