Summary
U.S. CEOs and business executives are alarmed as Donald Trump remains firm on imposing high tariffs on U.S. allies, despite warnings from economists about potential economic harm.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s late-night social media announcements have blindsided both his advisers and business leaders, leaving them scrambling to react.
While Trump consults some advisers, like Marco Rubio and Treasury pick Scott Bessent, his unilateral approach limits their influence.
The uncertainty has left business leaders struggling to find ways to alter his stance on trade policies.
Have they tried calling the CEO crises hotline?
I hope he ruins all of them. Every last one.
You had four whole years of Trump to realize he never jokes around, he doesn’t bluff, and he’s never going to pivot, change directions, or admit he made a mistake. He means what he says and there is no nuance or subtext.
He means what he says and there is no nuance or subtext.
Well, there is a sort of nuance here.
In that he’s also terrible at doing literally anything, and fails constantly at achieving promises.
He also has so many plots and schemes cooking at any given moment with so many other people and organizations that you absolutely cannot trust or predict any outcome. This is the real thing that nobody learned about Trump is that he is completely unpredictable because he can’t be honest about the color of the sky if asked.
There were also guardrails to stop his half baked schemes from being implemented, or people with integrity in career positions that had the hard option of saying no.
I’m just worried this time he will tell his head of the EPA to make the sky that color.
And the head of the EPA will.
My only solace is that Trump kills everything he touches and betrays everyone who is loyal to him.
In some regards, I hope so too. The old Fuck Around and Find Out bit. The fucking MAGAts will look like deer in headlights when the economic freight train derails and crashes.
I’m already stockpiling popcorn.
“Stupid CEOs are left dumbfounded when a greedy selfish narcissist who only listens to those who pay him the most is a greedy selfist narcissist.”
I know CEOs are never the smartest people, but Jesus Christ. Milk spoiling in the summer heat is less obvious.
Are these CEOs too stupid to realize they forgot to donate $1 million dollars to Trump’s inaugural fund? Total amateurs. 🙄
They probably did, but didn’t account that he’s long past when his brain was capable of reason.
Can someone explain why no one takes Trump at his word?
From what I understand, is that his supporters know he lies, but they believe he is telling the truth about X, which is whatever his supporters think is the most important.
He is the embodiment of all of thier wishes they hear whatever they want when he speaks.
How the actual fuck are people “blindsided” by this?
Maybe the leopards started with the eyes.
You ever talk to c-level execs? Many of them simply aren’t smart. They’re just very aggressive and confident which gives the appearance of intelligence.
A lot of times attractiveness plays a big role too. In modern corporate america being attractive will get you further than being smart.
Studies have shown that something as simple as being tall makes people be more likely to be looked towards as leaders.
You ever talk to c-level execs? Many of them simply aren’t smart
A large percentage of them are the embodiment of the Peter principle
A-Students work for B-Students in companies owned by C-Students, which are financed by D-Students, while the hedge funds owned by the sociopathic F-Students short sell the whole thing to make sure they have enough spare cash to buy a new library wing at Harvard, so their F-Student-kids get in.
CEOs aren’t the brightest.
Because folks do their 5 minute research by reading conservative mainstream news outlets and safe space enclaves that Tariffs are good.
Talking points to the contrary are not allowed, so they get to find out the hard way.
To be fair. The message they’re receiving is that tariffs will hurt the people that deserve it. And they’re absolutely right. But while they’re suffering, so will the rest of America.
Remember that Trump lies about everything, often in both directions. Everyone knows this, including his supporters. That gives his supporters the mental freedom to make up whateverthefuck policy positions they like and find proof that they are Trump’s real plan.
Donald Trump is the human version of a Bible. If you’re a Believer, god says he will implement your Desire. If you’re a Heretic, god says he will destroy the world. All with the same words.
Because they thought it would only happen to others and they’d be fine. Guess the leopard with a rooster hat is coming to roar and eat faces.
But… But… Genderless bathrooms! /s
Wait, what CEO is surprised that Trump won’t look at data and make decisions on that? Anyone this foolish should have their stock shorted.
“we thought we could control the face eating leopard.”
Honestly yeah they still see him as corrupt and able to be bought. He is except where he isn’t. He can be bribed like a 5 year old can, he’ll take the money and like you more because of it, but his whims will always come first
Trump doesn’t look at data. Ever.
Doesn’t surprise me, but I guess I’m not a US CEO.
I’m not even sure he can read
Trump’s late-night social media announcements have blindsided both his advisers and business leaders, leaving them scrambling to react.
He said he was going to do this long ago, dipshits. “Seriously, but not literally?”
Might be a bit of a contrarian take, but at this point I think Trump needs to have a gigantic fuck up to drive people to the streets in anger, South Korea style. One of those ‘we need our medicine before we can get better’ moments.
For some reason tens of millions of people buy his “'I’m the greatest - only I can save you - they’re evil and stupid” rhetoric.
So it’s going to take a truly epic fuck up that he can’t bullshit his way out of - and that the media can’t ignore - for people to finally see that him and his cronies are all gigantic pieces of shit.
He did have a gigantic fuck up. He fucked up the response to covid-19. Badly. And how much did his fuck up make the situation worse in the rest of the world?
74 million people still voted for him in 2020. During and immediately AFTER that fuck up.
Yeah, but the alternative was voting for a woman, so…
A half black, half Indian woman, though!
It’s going to take something monumental for the US to ever change- and even then I doubt it will. People seem 100% stupider than 15 years ago and some study just showed adult intelligence has dropped in multiple areas. I wonder if people infected with COVID literally got stupider on top of all the lead poisoning from pre-90’s.
There wasn’t a woman running in 2020.
January 6th has entered the chat…and quietly left unnoticed.
His entire first administration was a series of such fuckups. I am not hopeful that consequences (for him) are ever coming.
I don’t think that’s possible, unfortunately. I’m pretty sure he knows he can get away with anything, and his stupid fans will still gladly follow him. He will put the blame on someone else, every time, and they will believe him, every time.
South Korea wasn’t in a cult for that leader AND what he asked for was essentially what… Something that equated to the build up to January 6th, without even a January 6th style failed coup attempt to show for it.
No, they did what we should have. We failed.
South Korea values education. The Republican party has been destroying the public education system for decades.
So south Korea does not have as many braindead people as we have here
This is the whole issue. Republicans, a cult, can only exist in pretend political party form because they have convinced their base that literally–literally–anything that has a big ol REPUBLICAN label slapped on it is the highest moral good.
They see children getting murdered in cold blood in schools and take the side of the guns. I should probably repeat that four or five times with varying emphasis.
Trump could bomb an orphanage, brag about it, and within a week Fox Lies & Propaganda would be running stories about how the orphanage made a mistake on its taxes that was falsely flagged as fraud, and how orphans might become criminals.
It won’t undo the current disaster, but the real path back is probably more like talking to one person who’s trumpy but still somehow you kind of like anyway, with a tone of…come on now. Are we serious with this? You see this for what it is, right? You gotta put a stop to this, it can’t go on. Or just plain old Lakoff advice about getting your racist grandpa to tell you a story at thanksgiving of a time he helped somebody. This is one step in restoring his brain to its unpoisoned-by-conservatism state.
You gotta attack the foundation of fascism and conservatism, which science seems to think you do with empathy.
If this could have happened it would have happened during covid
Trump accelerationism, lesgo
unilateral
authoritarian*
FTFY
What are they expecting, exactly? Even Musk was saying a day before the election that Trump was going to tank the economy. I’m sure Trump will just say “things are going to get worse before they get better, but believe you me when they get better, you’re all going to be filthy rich!” The typical Trump supporter will assume he’s talking to them, but he’ll only be talking to those who are already filthy rich.
Just increase taxes on the wealthy…
All tariffs will do is put the additional costs onto the working class.
I’d be happy paying higher taxes if they went towards things that benefit the community, like universal health care, improving quality of public education, etc.
Working as intended.
You’ve got my vote. (I’m not actually allowed to vote in the US election)
He’s a Russian asset, what do they think he is going to do anything that’s in the US’s best interest? He’s here to burn it to the ground and line his pockets with what’s not ashes.
Honestly at this point I don’t know how anyone can’t see the obvious.
What can we do besides impotently complain about this on the internet?
With all the anger about the dead CEO lately and rightfully angry people in glee over the violence, I truly think we could accomplish more with a general strike. Crash the fake economy built on fraud. If wall street looses billions a day in their fictional numbers they throw around we would show them real power. This would accomplish more than any dead CEO ever could.
Saw a post where the Trump administration is eyeing pulling FDIC from our banks! They already plan on crashing the economy. Stealing all your money, and making the US in Russia’s image.
If we beat them to the punch we might still have our bank account money at least while their fictional money evaporates into thin air.
One thing the real rich people won’t stand for is their money vanishing. If we hold out long enough the real wealthy will likely turn on him, hell he might fall out a window!
It’s going to be hard to convince people to strike when so many of them are in massive debt and live paycheck-to-paycheck.
When you can barely feed your kids on what little you’re paid, you’re a lot less willing to strike. Especially if you aren’t in a union and can be fired for it. And the corpos know it and rely on it.
Luigi even said that in the manifesto- economic protest isn’t viable in this system. He’s basically right.
So the plan is to wait till more people choose violence and hope that does anything but solidify the ruling class behind armed forces and impenetrable walls of security and eventually anonymity. To me that seems like a waste of valuable time, resources and lives.
Violence should be the last resort. I truly believe that general strike is the best option.
“Best option” does not mean “realistic option”. I think you’re correct. I also think we’ve been (intentionally) pushed to a point where we can’t exercise that option.
Facts
I wholeheartedly agree it’s a hard sell. What other viable non violent means do we have left?
Do we wait for the ruling class to crash the economy? The people will be even more fucked than they are now.
People are going to have to be willing to put themselves at risk or there will be no reward, only serfdom and abject destitute for all.
That’s the thing. I don’t think there are any viable non violent means left. Unless some magical unicorn leader gains power in the US and other countries the elites are tied to fast that is willing to wrench power from their hands through legal means, and looking at global political movements as they stand right now I do not think that is going to happen any time soon.
I do not hold out hope for enough people who are willing to make altruistic sacrifices for it to work. I lost all optimism I might have had when it came to America on the first Wednesday in November.
Fair enough, I haven’t yet succumbed to apathy.
Understanding that violent means are the only realistic way to change things at this point is not apathy.
I never understood the whole “they won’t stand for losing money” tactic. What you’re asking them to do with a general strike is to relinquish their money to the masses and reduce the wealth gap significantly. They won’t do that. They will do literally anything, including forcing people back to work for them with violence from mercenary groups (or robot dogs, which is horrifying to me) before they submit to the will of the people. A general strike would be a good step, but if you think it will go over well for the working class without any bloodshed then you should learn about how the elites have treated striking in the past.
It wasn’t the poor oppressed peoples of Rome that undid Caesar, it was the disaffected members of the elite.
The best option for the least bloodshed it to force the hand of those in power to act in their own self interest. If their best option is getting rid of the source of their problems in an attempt to retain the money and power they have they will stab anyone in the back to get what they want.
We need to split their class solidarity.
Also people keep using Rome as if things aren’t drastically different this time around.
Much easier for them to do to us than vice versa. They know this.
Build connections in your local community. Organize and elect your candidates at the local level
It was said below but I really think that there needs to be more people that are willing to run for office with a more progressive message.
I know it’s not as sexy as revolution or CEO-cide but it really is a better way to make changes without fucking the country up completely.
So how the fuck do you run for office ? I don’t know but there are resources that can help. If you don’t want to run that’s fair but as you mentioned the time to just sit around and bitch online in an echo chamber is done. Progressives are going to have to find a way to make their voices heard and in a way that isn’t talking down to people.
Note: I get the anger and the desire to want to scare the fuck out of the ruling class. But murder isn’t the only thing that the ruling class is scared of, they also don’t want people to vote for their own self-interest. They don’t want the people to demand billionaires pay more in taxes. And a significant group of progressive politicians would scare the shit out of the established ruling class.
Leopards, faces, etc.
They thought they’d vote anti-tax first, then pushover trump on the tariffs when they had the time. Looks like they were wrong.
More faces being eaten.
If this was his first go-around I could see some rationale to that idea. But holy shit, has there been a case of collective amnesia among business ‘leaders’?!!
They knew exactly what they were getting. Because we’ve seen all this before. Usually this is the definition of madness. But in this case it should be the definition of stupidity.
This same surprised Pikachu shit is going to happen over and over and over again over the next 4+ years. Even right now, the media keep assuming what he says is what he will do. And I have no idea why. He demonstrated in his first term that at least half of what he promises he either backtracks on he doesn’t follow through on. Why they think things will be different this time is beyond me.
has there been a case of collective amnesia among business ‘leaders’?!!
Business leaders in the last decade or 2 have increasingly been laser focused on nothing beyond the next 6 months - AKA short term returns.
The long term survival of their business or what has happened in previous years are simply not part of their thought process when the next quarter’s profits are all that matters.
The one singular upside of Cheeto 2.0 is that I’ll get to enjoy some guilty schadenfreude as the face eating leopard starts eating the faces of the party-for-face-eating-leopards.
