The Trump Card...

muttly

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Concur all you wish. It's what Trump true believers do.

As I said, there will always be some who always believe in Trump. I take comfort in the fact that the total number is declining.
I also concur some are still butthurt that Trump was duly elected as their president.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Trump and Soybean Farmers

Me asking Google Gemini:

Soybean farmers were in the news a few months ago complaining about China's soybean purchase halt. Trump promised relief and China said they would resume their soybean purchases. Did they ever get any money -- actual money -- from the US government or China?

Gemini:

Yes, they did. After a year of intense protests and record-breaking losses, U.S. soybean farmers are currently in the middle of receiving billions of dollars in "actual money" through a series of massive federal bailout programs.

While the money isn't coming directly from China as a check, China has finally resumed buying billions of dollars worth of soybeans, which is helping to stabilize the market prices that farmers receive.

Payments from the U.S. Government

In late 2025 and early 2026, the federal government authorized two massive "ad hoc" assistance packages specifically designed to offset the "trade war" losses and high input costs (like fertilizer and fuel).

Money from China (Trade Truce)

China did not pay "reparations" or direct aid, but in November 2025, they reached a "Busan Rapprochement" trade deal with the U.S. to stop the boycott of American soybeans.

Immediate Purchases: China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by the end of February 2026.
Long-term Commitment: They pledged to buy at least 25 million metric tons annually through 2028.

The Catch: Despite these massive buys, China has permanently shifted much of its business to Brazil, which is now the world's dominant producer. U.S. farmers are still making less than they did before the trade tensions began in 2018.

For China, the vast majority of the "deals" are currently just orders on paper with physical delivery scheduled for later this spring. The "actual cash received" is much less certain because "commitments" are not the same as "shipped cargo."

Me: Were these enough? Are the farmers happy? Were they made whole?

Gemini: Most agricultural economists say the answer is no. While a farmer with 1,000 acres might get a check for about $30,880 this February, their actual economic losses for 2025 were estimated at over $100 per acre. The government money is being called a "bridge" or a "band-aid" to keep them from going bankrupt, but it doesn't make them "whole."

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In other words, Trump's tariffs triggered a response that devastated US soybean farmers. To address the problem he caused and sooth the farmers' wounds, Trump spent billions of US taxpayer on a farmer handout. The handout was inadequate and the farmers are still in s***t shape; permanently so because China will forever use Brazil as its primary soybean supplier.

If you are a farmer, Trump's program is working out spectacularly for you, if you are farming land in Brazil.

If you are a US farmer, there is more to worry about because with Trump now disrupting the China/Venezuela trade relationship, the probability of China backing out of the soybean deal has increased.
 
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ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Epstein Files Update

In January 2026, the Department of Justice admitted in a letter to a federal judge that it has released less than 1% of the total documents required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. While the law mandated a full release by late December 2025, officials stated that more than 2 million documents are still undergoing review and redaction to protect the privacy of victims.

The Trump administration lawlessness continues with the Epstein files. With this ongoing lawless foot dragging, I'd like to see a judge order DOJ to turn everything over to a special master, instantly, and fully. The special master can form a team to review the files and thereby expedite their release.
 
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ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Ignorant post.
I'm sure you think so but an objective observer cannot help but note that you are comparing a future hope against real prices being reported by a real citizen this moment.

When looking at lower drug prices, you can do just that. Take a single product, cite the Trump-induced cost reduction and praise Trump for that. But don't manage their healthcare one drug at a time. And even if people did, all Americans do not participate equally in the Trump drug-specific reductions.

While a lot of Trump supporters are hailing reduced drug costs, they are misleadingly overgeneralizing from some drugs to all drugs and from some Americans to all Americans.

As a practical matter, no one manages their personal healthcare one drug at a time. And no one says they have or don't have a good healthcare plan in place (self-paid or insured), based on one expense alone. In the real world, people have a healthcare budget, or a healthcare expense total. They evaluate the Trump healthcare good or bad based on that.

Given the millions of people whose healthcare insurance has been priced beyond their reach under Trump, he's not going to fare well in the healthcare scores people give him based on their personal experience.

Now, this is where muttly responds with a poll or Grok snip -- out of context -- that presents a narrow fact and makes Trump look good. That's called intentional ignorance. It matters not at all what real Americans in real life are experiencing with their full healthcare situation. It is very convenient to argue devoid of real-world context.
 
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Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Now, this is where muttly responds with a poll or Grok snip -- out of context -- that presents a narrow fact and makes Trump look good. That's called intentional ignorance. It matters not at all what real Americans in real life are experiencing with their full healthcare situation. It is very convenient to argue devoid of real-world context.
I'm sure muttly is in reality a nice person, so I will forgive him for his ridiculous statements. He really cant help himself due to having a severe case of brainwashing.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I'm sure you think so but an objective observer cannot help but note that you are comparing a future hope against real prices being reported by a real citizen this moment.

When looking at lower drug prices, you can do just that. Take a single product, cite the Trump-induced cost reduction and praise Trump for that. But don't manage their healthcare one drug at a time. And even if people did, all Americans do not participate equally in the Trump drug-specific reductions.

While a lot of Trump supporters are hailing reduced drug costs, they are misleadingly overgeneralizing from some drugs to all drugs and from some Americans to all Americans.

As a practical matter, no one manages their personal healthcare one drug at a time. And no one says they have or don't have a good healthcare plan in place (self-paid or insured), based on one expense alone. In the real world, people have a healthcare budget, or a healthcare expense total. They evaluate the Trump healthcare good or bad based on that.

Given the millions of people whose healthcare insurance has been priced beyond their reach under Trump, he's not going to fare well in the healthcare scores people give him based on their personal experience.

Now, this is where muttly responds with a poll or Grok snip -- out of context -- that presents a narrow fact and makes Trump look good. That's called intentional ignorance. It matters not at all what real Americans in real life are experiencing with their full healthcare situation. It is very convenient to argue devoid of real-world context.
More ignorance. Especially from someone that posted about this topic previously. I’ll have more later to educate.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
More ignorance. Especially from someone that posted about this topic previously. I’ll have more later to educate.
When two people accuse each other of being ignorant, people tend to believe them both.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Two Trillion Dollars

Actually, $2.23 trillion. That's how much the US national debt has increased since Trump took office in January, 2025. (Source: U.S. Treasury’s Fiscal Data "Debt to the Penny" dataset and reports)

Contributing factors to this accelerating growth of the national debt include:
  • No political will expressed by any majority or minority entity to make debt-reduction a priority
  • Elevated debt service interest rates (different from the headline rate).
  • Higher outlays for Social Security and Medicare (more retirees, inflation-COLA increases, higher healthcare costs)
  • The budget impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (tax cuts greater than the amounts saved from cutting programs and agencies)
  • Tariff revenues insufficient to offset the debt acceleration
The latest $1 trillion jump to $38 trillion from $37 trillion took just 71 days.

For context, the budget for the entire Department of Defense (War) for the full year is just over $1 trillion.

In 2025, interest payments on the debt reached an annualized rate of $1 trillion for the first time. A substantial portion of new borrowing is now used simply to pay interest on existing debt, creating a compounding effect. We're borrowing money to pay interest on borrowed money!

This is a fiscal emergency and Trump is seemingly blind to it.

Yes, other presidents have been debt-blind too, but we're reaching a breaking point and Trump is the president now.

As a nation, we have been kicking the national-debt can down the road for many years, but those days are coming to an end.

This is why the price of gold is skyrocketing. This is why foreign central banks that held US Treasury bonds for years are selling down their holdings. These things have not happened before. But they're happening now and they are clear signals that Trump must not continue to ignore.

While Trump is currently pouring gasoline on the national debt fire, he needs to act differently to reduce the debt, and he needs to act now. If he doesn't it will be too late for the next president to save us from a global decline in US dollar confidence and an economic catastrophe for the American people.

If we continue on our current trajectory, the Fed will have no choice but to print money seemingly without end. That will increase inflation to rates that will make Biden's 8% inflation peak look like a picnic.
 
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ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
You Cannot Laugh the Debt Crisis Away

muttly, I see you responded to my debt-crisis post (Two Trillion Dollars) with a laughing emoji. Does the debt crisis not concern you? What is it about the national debt or my post that prompts you to laugh?
 
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