webdiplomacy.net

Now things in American politics are getting REALLY crazy.

In the past 24 hours on "X" (formerly known as Twitter), increasingly demented Space Karen, and key advisor to Donald Trump, Elon Musk*, posted that the US should invade the United Kingdom to depose its "tyrannical" government.

Is this guy absolutely bonkers or what.

*full name Elongated Muskrat

I really wonder how Trump apologists square this.

Isn't it extremely unusual for a chief advisor to a US President to be calling for the leader of an allied nation to be deposed? What productive purpose could this serve?

Esquire Bertissimmo wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:32 pm

I really wonder how Trump apologists square this.

Isn't it extremely unusual for a chief advisor to a US President to be calling for the leader of an allied nation to be deposed? What productive purpose could this serve?

I'd say it's very unusual. The British Prime Minister had to issue quite a stern rebuke today (not that Musk will pay much attention).

Musk is an entitled crybaby nutcase who has lost any sense of perspective and thinks he can still just rant on the Internet with no consequences. His shift towards ever more whacky far right conspiracists and attention seekers in the last couple of years, coupled with this behaviour, makes me wonder if he's having some kind of mental breakdown.

It's really quite bizarre to watch.

Is Elon trying to out troll Trump?

We'd at least prove once and for all whether our nukes require US codes to be used. I think leveling Washington again will give our nation the motivational pick me up we've been looking for

As you can probably guess I'm not in the least concerned

Octavious wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:11 pm

We'd at least prove once and for all whether our nukes require US codes to be used. I think leveling Washington again will give our nation the motivational pick me up we've been looking for

As you can probably guess I'm not in the least concerned

You shouldn't be concerned about an imminent US invasion, agreed.

People around Elon Musk should be concerned about his mental state, I think.

It will be interesting to see what happens between Musk and Trump in the coming months. I don't expect they'll be able to coexist in the long term. It will be like the thing with Steve Bannon when they fell out.... except Musk is so phenomenally rich he thinks he can do anything.

Octavious wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:11 pm

As you can probably guess I'm not in the least concerned

I'm genuinely concerned that President Trump’s apparent right-hand man might be an unhinged moron. This isn’t to dismiss Musk’s impressive achievements—there are plenty—but rather a straightforward reading of his public persona over the past year or two.

I worry about what it means for NATO and the G7 when the highest levels of the U.S. government treat allies with such open hostility and disdain.

I’m also concerned that episodes like this are reflective of how serious the Republicans take governing and how deeply they think about geopolitical strategy.

The whole thing is obviously absurd. But this level of absurdity at such a high level doesn’t feel normal—it seems like a troubling development.

Esquire Bertissimmo wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 9:11 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:11 pm

As you can probably guess I'm not in the least concerned

I’m also concerned that episodes like this are reflective of how serious the Republicans take governing and how deeply they think about geopolitical strategy.

Yeah, other than Trump's foreign policy I've been disappointed with how most Republicans seem to think that geopolitics work. Really most politicians in general, but I criticize Republicans more because they're my party... "my" being used in the loosest of terms lol.

CaptainFritz28 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 10:11 pm

Esquire Bertissimmo wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 9:11 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:11 pm

As you can probably guess I'm not in the least concerned

I’m also concerned that episodes like this are reflective of how serious the Republicans take governing and how deeply they think about geopolitical strategy.

Yeah, other than Trump's foreign policy I've been disappointed with how most Republicans seem to think that geopolitics work. Really most politicians in general, but I criticize Republicans more because they're my party... "my" being used in the loosest of terms lol.

Relatedly, Trump continues to suggest that the US takeover Canada in the wake of Trudeau's resignation.

If it's a joke I don't get it and it's getting old. But, like, is it a joke? This seems to be the core pillar of his strategy for engaging Canada at this point. The old "he's doing it to gain leverage" canard cannot apply here - adding insult to injury (tariffs) will make Canadians less willing to capitulate to US demands.

I guffawed when I saw Trump on X saying that taking over Canada would reduce the US trade deficit. It betrays a childlike understanding of trade and the economy. This appears to be the actual policy position of the incoming government.

My suspicion is that Musk is just having fun. He has a new toy in the shape of the US government and he's pulling a few levers to see what happens. As a physicist by training you'd see this kind of almost childish behaviour quite a lot amongst otherwise very serious, very intelligent scientists. Eventually you just kind of get used to it. Musk will settle down a bit once the novelty of being a prominent politician wears off

There's also a little bit of petty revenge going on. A lot of the Labour elite made a business of publicly insulting the likes of Trump and Musk for their own political gain. Our foreign secretary described Trump as a deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath. Elephants, it turns out, do indeed have long memories.

And from a boring realpolitik perspective it can be seen as sending out a strong political message. Essentially "we consider you so weak and unimportant that we don't even have to pretend to respect you". It's a power play, like Trump's comedy handshakes

Octavious wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 12:43 am

Our foreign secretary described Trump as a deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath.

Seems accurate on all counts, though?

Octavious wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 12:43 am

Essentially "we consider you so weak and unimportant that we don't even have to pretend to respect you".

To be fair, the U.S. does pull the big weights when it comes to defense, even in Europe, so one would somewhat expect a personality like Trump's to take notice of that fact and use it in such manner.

I agree with Octavious.
It's part of the provocative circus act by Trumptoad and thee Muskrat
They're competing with each other as well as throwing insults in revenge at other politicians and leaders of other nations.

Trumptoad has two years to US "mid term" elections for Congress & Senate.
The Republicans have slim majorities in the Congress & Senate

A few "non aquiescent" Republican members of Congress or Senate can cause big problems for Trumptoad getting legislation passed

It would be reasonable to assume that if Trumptoad's Tarrifs and other economic policies cause a recession in the us economy and social unrest gets worse, the Republicans will lose those majorities

I still hold the opinion that Trumptoad will "die in office" and Vice President J D Vance will become POTUS

The US Mid term elections might set the timing of the Martyrdom of Trumptoad?

The Martyrdom of Trumptoad about two or three weeks before those Mid term elections would give the Republicans a fantastic chance if not losing their slim majorities and actually increasing them if the Martyrdom of Trumptoad is done well and timed well?

Uh oh... MM is starting to sound like those who were really upset when Biden got elected and predicted that he'd be dead by the end of the first hundred days.

Looking past the conspiracy thinking and general weirdness in MM's posts, he makes at least a couple good point about the fragility of Trump's presidency.

While Trump won the election decisively, his plans for immigration, trade, etc., will probably have a negative impact on the US economy. The pain will be felt unevenly. It will be interesting to see whether Republican lawmakers whose key constituents are harmed by these policies remain loyal to the President.

Biden really warped expectations about how old is too old. Trump is too old. He's likely to survive his term in office, but if he didn't it would not be totally shocking. He will almost certainly suffer at least some degree Biden-esque mental and physical decline. This really could cede the top job to VP Vance at some point.