I'm scared and worried

Well said 

As an English expat living in the US, I vacillate between fear, rage and despair. Not just at him but at the millions of fellow American citizens who can look at him and think he's their guy. They actually chose him over Kamala Harris who, while not perfect, is leagues ahead in just about every metric. 

Donald Trump is driven by simple self-interest and nothing more. That's it. There is nothing else to him. He has no real political convictions. He has no ideology or ethos. He ran for a second term for two reasons: to stay out of prison and to make money. Everything else is showmanship and misdirection. He doesn't give a toss about Greenland, or Panama, or trans people, or immigration. None of it. But he knows that generating outrage with one hand allows him to grift with the other while no one is looking. The trick is to pay attention to what he does and not what he says.

He is almost certainly a Russian asset. He has a relationship with Putin that goes back decades, back when he was running the Miss Universe competition and rigged it so Putin's favorite would win. He was angling for a Trump tower in Moscow and still is. Now, with his new cryptocurrency scam, he can take bribes from anyone and they would be untraceable. 

There really is no silver lining to his presidency other than this one thing: he is still better than the long line of extreme 'true believers' around him. His self-interest is still a better option than, say, J.D. Vance or Mike Johnson and their brand of fundamentalist Christian insanity. He is surrounded by people who would be even worse than he is. Hard as that may be to believe. 

As MLK said, 'We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.'

This too shall pass and hopefully we can rebuild.

Try not to panic - He's already lost a case at Court, challenging his Executive Order around automatic citizenship birthrights!! ... His 'Truth Social' comments about the Bishop were appalling, but none the less, they do validate your opinion of him, and your right to be concerned.

But, just like the panic that when the year 2000 came planes would fall out of the sky ... I too felt similar anxiety with his last presidency, and we all survived without Armageddon 

SpikeyMark said:

I thought he was trying to buy them.

Neither are for sale and when Greenland said "no way mate!" then Trump upped his retoric and has threatened using military force to take Greenland by invasion:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg9gvg3452o

With Panama, Trump has stated that it should never have been given independence (from the US) and has vowed to "take it back", implying using force again:

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/20/americas/panama-canal-trump-threat-intervention-intl-latam/index.html

He is a bit like a mean kid with a big stick, threatening to beat anyone he thinks isn't giving him what he wants, but when that stick is the military and it is likely to result in deaths, loss of freedom and violating numerous international laws then he relies on his size to threaten them to shut up.

These started out as rather absurdly unrealistic attempts to buy them for peanuts when they were not for sale and he is pretty much saying he will take them and the international community be damned.

There’s a UK-led military alliance called the Joint Expeditionary Force which includes all the Scandinavian and Baltic states. It would be bound to defend Greenland.

I think Denmark has quite considerable defence capabilities and it goes back again to an earlier thread I made, what happens if one NATO country attacks another? I think other Scandinavian countries would certainly join Denmark in defence of Greenland and it would give Russia and China a chance to look like the good guys.

I agree with you about much of the worlds democracies and the illusion of choice, in many ways I'd like to see no political parties in parliaments, or at the very least more co-operation. In this country we're far to short sighted, our supposed leaders are far more interested in ripping chunks out of each other than acting in the national interest and for the good of the country. I wonder if part of the answer is making manifesto's legally binding in some way, obviously a government would have to have some leaway for things outside it's control, like Russia invading Ukraine and our energy prices going mental. But I think having some sort of legal mechanism would make them less likely to over promise and I can't many judges letting them get away with the sorts of obfuscation and changing the meanings of things, I think understandable by the common person, or man on the Clapham Omnibus as the phrase used to be would be a good yard stick.

Deleted User said:

Have you seen the video with Musk in the top frame doing his salute and footage of Hitler doing the identical salute in the bottom frame?

I haven't - I must seek it out.

Have you seen the video with Musk in the top frame doing his salute and footage of Hitler doing the identical salute in the bottom frame?

It removed any doubt I had that Musk wasn’t knowingly and deliberately doing a Nazi salute (twice).

Great image I just saw online:

Yes. His only concern is himself and he doesn’t care about anyone else, including Musk. You don’t have to actively kill someone to be responsible for the deaths of people you don’t like. His tweets and posts on social media incite hatred. Malicious narratives have caused many a death. Words have consequences. By the way, I wonder what Musk thinks about the grants for electric vehicles being stopped. Presumably, some people drive Teslas in the US?

Note that while he’s terrifying close allies (you should see the Danish press) he’s only now starting to talk about Ukraine.

Also he’s threatened Denmark and Canada with punitive tariffs. “Give us your territory or we’ll destroy your economy”.

Nobody should be talking about trump as anything other than a criminal and a fascist.

I thought he was trying to buy them.

It always seems like the "Wrong" people are in charge.

Some countries openly have dictatorships that have taken power by force.

Democratic countries are the same, however in those countries, those people that "took power" have since implemented a system that gives the illusion of choice.

I agree with that!

SpikeyMark said:

He doesn't seem to be a warmonger from the evidence so far.

Do you think threats of invading Greenland and Panama are not warmongering?

Admittedly neither has and defence capability worth mentioning but such arrogance and colonialism if far from peaceful.

I'm with you on most of this.

He doesn't seem to be a warmonger from the evidence so far. Though I wouldn't put it past him to start a war because someone personally insulted him.

I think things like Johnsons wall paper and redecoration of 10 Downing St was legitimate interest, but not what he, or anyone else does to their private house. Keir Starmers clothing paid for by a rich donor is public interest, but not ordinarily.

I think being an MP should be seen as a job, unless they need to work so many hours a year to keep professional qualifications up to date, like doctors for example, then I don't think they should have paid work outside parliament or only a limited amount. They should be working for us, I also think the laws around what jobs they can take after leaving office should be better legislated for too.

Yes, there is an agenda and the newspapers, news programmes, and unfortunately Trump are profiting from our fears. I think we do need to strengthen our privacy laws, but I’m concerned that in the past, some elected leaders have failed to declare holidays and furnishings that were gifts from people who exert political pressure. I do not wish to see any more vast payments being made in return for a politician asking a question in parliament. Politicians are meant to be servants to all people, not just those with money. There is so much corruption within parliament circles and elsewhere, that strengthening our privacy laws could make it easy for people to carry out all sorts of illicit practices without consequences. I’m glad that I’m not the one having to make big decisions that could affect the whole country and potentially the world. I don’t think I’d get any sleep at night. 

Deleted User said:

I work for a large American company and it’s likely this will ripple down to us. Some of my colleagues are fearful for their jobs.

I suspect it will also mean the end of our nascent neurodiversity groups at work

A good example of how pervasive his 'ideology' is.

I remember diversity training when I worked for 2 large US companies.

It's about understanding, tolerance and respect (amongst other things) - 3 qualities that T doesn't have in abundance.

I hope that your groups are able to continue.

I hope that does not happen A and you are able to continue your work and new group.