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Politics

Any Americans on here? What is the feeling in America regarding trump?

394 replies

FedUpWithDilemmas · 17/01/2026 17:46

I've only seen one person talking out against him regarding Greenland. I know this can't be representative to reality. But I wonder what the media is controlling

What's going on in America?

OP posts:
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10
Hanginging · 18/01/2026 18:49

A few of these have happened. The one in my brother’s state made the news because she’s well-known. she was waiting at a bus stop and just pulled over and started to question her. In the interview, she said that he had his hand on his weapon while doing so. She was telling them that she was Native American and could show them her tribal ID. This was after they smashed the window of a car in the town to drag somebody out. They had no reason to stop her, they just noticed the colour of her skin.

Hanginging · 18/01/2026 18:42

MigratingSwans · 18/01/2026 09:51

How comfortable do you think Trump supporters would feel expressing their support in your community?

Oh haha, well, they’re not known for their shyness… Often they have Trump signs in their gardens along with something along the lines that will let you know they have guns and are happy to use them. I don’t have flags or signs outside my house 😊

They have stickers and US flags on their cars. Some of them like to wear a MAGA hat. They comment underneath any social media post about anything. It can be a completely unrelated post by our local government or the state governor and they take the chance to use the laughing emoji and something derogatory below.

I mean, it’s almost quite funny that you’re worried about them feeling too shy to speak up. Their president is in power and using his own forces against citizens.

I’ve just thought though, they used to go on a lot about their guns and their right to bear arms and their constitutional rights - often underneath a post about the latest school shooting. They don’t seem to be talking about constitutional rights so much now, I suppose Trump is riding roughshod over those so maybe they feel like it’s better not to mention it right now.

Hanginging · 18/01/2026 18:30

oscalo · 18/01/2026 17:59

On a very simplistic level, Reds are always going to be Red, and Blues going to be Blue. So unless Reds cool the jets, or Dems cool their enthusiasm for things that are not no 1 importance to people, and focus on the practicals, then will anything change?

The Dems are just a few years out from the next Presidential election. I haven't seen or heard anyone push any likely candidates yet. Have you? Maybe it's more prominent on the ground in the US, I don't know.

So unfortunately (or fortunately) depending on your stance, will there really be a swing big enough to move to a Democratic Presidency? What will that look like anyway, will it be all liberal and transy or will it focus on the people instead of ideology? I don't know. Reds kind of know what they vote for, like it or not, Dems seem to be all over the place.

But I do hope the Dems get the next shot in the White House, and stay there for a few terms too! It is needed for cleansing I think. But it could end up being as much a disaster as the Trump Administration. Depends on the candidate and how s/he fires up the nation with peaceful, fair, and attainable policies

So unfortunately (or fortunately) depending on your stance, will there really be a swing big enough to move to a Democratic Presidency? What will that look like anyway, will it be all liberal and transy or will it focus on the people instead of ideology? I don't know. Reds kind of know what they vote for, like it or not, Dems seem to be all over the place.

I agree that the Democrats need to get it together with credible candidates. If only the Republicans would as well. But on the ‘liberal and transy’ thing - I’m gender critical, but not to the point of voting for a rapist madman hellbent on violently annexing other countries. And I think most Democrats at the moment are more concerned with people being violently assaulted on the streets and the country careening towards war than being ‘liberal and transy.’

Hanginging · 18/01/2026 18:27

I think that can happen. I noticed that Facebook started showing me things that were definitely the opposite to my political views. Not just the opposite, but really repugnant stuff. I worked out that I was slowing scrolling when I would see something like that and I think they’ve actually adjusted the algorithms to notice when you’re looking at something. Which is horrific. It’s the equivalent of turning your head when you see a car crash on the other side of the road before realising what you’re looking at.

The scary thing is, I would actually like to keep reasonable stuff in my feed that are the alternative views, I don’t want to be in an echo chamber. But the other side is so horrific at the moment, with zero intelligent discussion that it’s just horrendous to look at.

WhatIsTheCharge · 18/01/2026 18:16

GameofPhones · 18/01/2026 16:52

I read that even indigenous American Indians are being hauled off by ICE. Anyone who looks 'different' in other words. Sounds like Germany under Nazism.

Yeah there was a case in either Arizona or New Mexico (can’t remember which!) sometime last year where a group of children who were all Tribal ID-carrying members of the Navajo Nation were on a school trip, and they all got stopped and temporarily detained by ICE until it was established that they were in fact Native American.
No one can say they weren’t stopped because of what they look like. That’s the only reason.

oscalo · 18/01/2026 17:59

On a very simplistic level, Reds are always going to be Red, and Blues going to be Blue. So unless Reds cool the jets, or Dems cool their enthusiasm for things that are not no 1 importance to people, and focus on the practicals, then will anything change?

The Dems are just a few years out from the next Presidential election. I haven't seen or heard anyone push any likely candidates yet. Have you? Maybe it's more prominent on the ground in the US, I don't know.

So unfortunately (or fortunately) depending on your stance, will there really be a swing big enough to move to a Democratic Presidency? What will that look like anyway, will it be all liberal and transy or will it focus on the people instead of ideology? I don't know. Reds kind of know what they vote for, like it or not, Dems seem to be all over the place.

But I do hope the Dems get the next shot in the White House, and stay there for a few terms too! It is needed for cleansing I think. But it could end up being as much a disaster as the Trump Administration. Depends on the candidate and how s/he fires up the nation with peaceful, fair, and attainable policies

nylon2026 · 18/01/2026 17:42

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 17:07

Ah, a study by Mitchell Langbert. The same one who joked [...]

This feels like an antibody response: repel the objectionable view by showing that the person offering it is bad (or stupid is the other one). Not a truth-focused response of: to what extent is the claim true?

Plenty of others studies, e.g. Gross & Simmons, Langbert, Abrams, Kaufman & Yancey, finding strong skews.

While there is a liberal bias in academia

I'm glad we agree. I think it's at a level that, were the parties reversed, would be seen by most democrats as indicative of an information bubble.

...it was not stifled at the institutions I went to....

I can't comment on your personal experience, but I think any fair reading would acknowledge plenty of examples of speech being suppressed at US universities, for what are ultimately political reasons.

Has Penn managed to get around to firing that law professor...

Thanks for providing an example so swiftly. Suspended, reprimanded, had her chairship removed for making politically unpalatable claims.

Prof Glenn Loury (a black man) on why the punishing of her is for ideological, not academic, reasons.

https://glennloury.substack.com/p/amy-wax-the-real-reason-penn-is-punishing

Her view is, essentially, one that gives credence to a hereditarian explanation of tested IQ differences at population level. The other main explanation is the environmental one, and it's a highly contested and sensitive area of enquiry.

Can you give me an example of an academic, from anywhere across US academia, suspended for giving credence to the environmental explanation?

Edited

I don't have time for a long reply as we have friends arriving for dinner, and I understand the academic freedom article, but you've greatly understated Amy Wax's problematic statements and behaviour.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/us/upenn-law-professor-racism-freedom-speech.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FVA.nhSR.jP_-A8wuYJ-r&smid=url-share

The University of Pennsylvania law school has been roiled by the statements of a law professor.

UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired? (Published 2023)

Amy Wax and free speech groups say the university is trampling on her academic freedom. Students ask whether her speech deserves to be protected.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/us/upenn-law-professor-racism-freedom-speech.html?smid=url-share&unlocked_article_code=1.FVA.nhSR.jP_-A8wuYJ-r

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 17:13

nylon2026 · 18/01/2026 16:52

I mean, it is an explanation of a decent percentage of a percentage.

I think it's hard to have a real discussion about whether certain views are underrepresented on elite campuses without talking about how and why that's being weaponised by an administration with as little interest as humanly possible in a free and fair airing of opinions. I mean, the welding of the anti-semitism weapon by an administration literally using Nazi slogans is a bit ironic, surely?

But the truth is that other than the JD Vance/project 2025 people, an awful lot of the conservatives in the circles you're talking about no longer identify as Republicans. If you look at the Frums/David Frenchs/Bill Kristols of the world, they've mostly abandoned ship. Despite still holding some beliefs that would be broadly aligned with past conservative/Republican views.

Did you read this piece? Very interesting take. Share link provided

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/opinion/harvards-campus-speech-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FVA.GHxD.2MLIXjOD5xww&smid=url-share

Thanks. I haven't had a chance yet but look forward to reading.

I am fully against Trump's anti-free-speech drive, as much as the progressive version that preceded it.

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 17:07

nylon2026 · 18/01/2026 16:43

Ah, a study by Mitchell Langbert. The same one who 'joked' that sexual assault was a rite of passage during the Kavanaugh hearings? Did he hold onto his job in the end?

I'm not fully au fait with that survey, but a quick google shows some, at least questionable methodology. While there is a liberal bias in academia, I suspect it more closely mirrors that of PhD holders in general. I think something like 25% identify as conservative?

I can assure you, on a practical level, conservative, even reactionary, speech may have been met with objections, but it was not stifled at the institutions I went to. There was, however, a lot of whining when it was met with pushback.

Has Penn managed to get around to firing that law professor who openly asserted that black people were less intelligent?

Shall we talk about TPUSA?

Ah, a study by Mitchell Langbert. The same one who joked [...]

This feels like an antibody response: repel the objectionable view by showing that the person offering it is bad (or stupid is the other one). Not a truth-focused response of: to what extent is the claim true?

Plenty of others studies, e.g. Gross & Simmons, Langbert, Abrams, Kaufman & Yancey, finding strong skews.

While there is a liberal bias in academia

I'm glad we agree. I think it's at a level that, were the parties reversed, would be seen by most democrats as indicative of an information bubble.

...it was not stifled at the institutions I went to....

I can't comment on your personal experience, but I think any fair reading would acknowledge plenty of examples of speech being suppressed at US universities, for what are ultimately political reasons.

Has Penn managed to get around to firing that law professor...

Thanks for providing an example so swiftly. Suspended, reprimanded, had her chairship removed for making politically unpalatable claims.

Prof Glenn Loury (a black man) on why the punishing of her is for ideological, not academic, reasons.

https://glennloury.substack.com/p/amy-wax-the-real-reason-penn-is-punishing

Her view is, essentially, one that gives credence to a hereditarian explanation of tested IQ differences at population level. The other main explanation is the environmental one, and it's a highly contested and sensitive area of enquiry.

Can you give me an example of an academic, from anywhere across US academia, suspended for giving credence to the environmental explanation?

GameofPhones · 18/01/2026 16:52

WhatIsTheCharge · 18/01/2026 15:42

Nail on the head.

Up until our very recent return to the U.K., I was living in a state that’s been predominately red forever, with a couple of liberal cities scattered - I lived in the suburbs of one of those liberal cities.
I feel exactly the same as you. I’m not an American citizen (my DH is), I’m a green card holder, and even in my liberal city, seeing the ICE presence increase over the past few months drastically changed the vibe. My DCs attended a school that was predominately black and Hispanic students. It’s a Title 1 school, and it’s safe to say that a small proportion of the students have undocumented parents. I was terrified every single day that ICE would show up at or near the school - because let’s be honest, at this point it doesn’t really matter if you’re documented or undocumented. If you’re not white, or you speak with an accent that’s not obviously an American accent, you are a target. I sat my kids down and told them that if anybody you don’t recognise as teachers or admin staff at school try to talk to you or ask questions about you or any of your friends? Then you don’t know nothing about nothing. The only thing out of your mouth will be: “I want my parents here”.
It reached a point where attendance (particularly of the Hispanic students) noticeably dropped. There were less and less parents attending award assemblies and sports events etc
Its not supposed to be like this 😔

I read that even indigenous American Indians are being hauled off by ICE. Anyone who looks 'different' in other words. Sounds like Germany under Nazism.

nylon2026 · 18/01/2026 16:52

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 16:37

I don't really disagree with what you've written. But my point was not that republicans don't do this, it's that: i) democrats do it a lot also (because they are human too) without seeming to really notice it, and ii) the tendency to see only the other side's politics as resulting from stupidity/ignorance/selfishness is really damaging and hinders the search for truth / actual good policy.

Also, in educated circles of the type we probably both move in, I have barely ever heard a conservative or republican say in serious discussion that the reason their political opponents differ from them is because they are stupid or immoral (it must have happened at some point, but I literally cannot remember an instance of it). Whereas it's fairly common to hear that in real life from democrats / progressives, in serious discussion. Obviously, sometimes ignorance / stupidity does play a part, but it's not a one-sided issue. Amongst serious people, democrats often do seem to think it's all the explanation that is needed for why others differ, in a way that I haven't experienced from republicans / conservatives.

(I know there are millions of republicans calling democrats libtards on X. I'm not a republican, and not here to defend that, but it seems to me to be a different thing. 'They are all idiots' from those posters is an insult. From quite a few democrats I know, it seems to be their actual explaination of the political world).

Edited

I mean, it is an explanation of a decent percentage of a percentage.

I think it's hard to have a real discussion about whether certain views are underrepresented on elite campuses without talking about how and why that's being weaponised by an administration with as little interest as humanly possible in a free and fair airing of opinions. I mean, the welding of the anti-semitism weapon by an administration literally using Nazi slogans is a bit ironic, surely?

But the truth is that other than the JD Vance/project 2025 people, an awful lot of the conservatives in the circles you're talking about no longer identify as Republicans. If you look at the Frums/David Frenchs/Bill Kristols of the world, they've mostly abandoned ship. Despite still holding some beliefs that would be broadly aligned with past conservative/Republican views.

Did you read this piece? Very interesting take. Share link provided

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/opinion/harvards-campus-speech-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FVA.GHxD.2MLIXjOD5xww&smid=url-share

Opinion | At Harvard and Elsewhere, the New Campus Orthodoxy Is Even More Stifling

Wasn’t this supposed to be the golden era of free expression on college campuses?

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/opinion/harvards-campus-speech-trump.html?smid=url-share&unlocked_article_code=1.FVA.GHxD.2MLIXjOD5xww

nylon2026 · 18/01/2026 16:43

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 16:22

Blue = dem faculty, Red = repub faculty.

Ah, a study by Mitchell Langbert. The same one who 'joked' that sexual assault was a rite of passage during the Kavanaugh hearings? Did he hold onto his job in the end?

I'm not fully au fait with that survey, but a quick google shows some, at least questionable methodology. While there is a liberal bias in academia, I suspect it more closely mirrors that of PhD holders in general. I think something like 25% identify as conservative?

I can assure you, on a practical level, conservative, even reactionary, speech may have been met with objections, but it was not stifled at the institutions I went to. There was, however, a lot of whining when it was met with pushback.

Has Penn managed to get around to firing that law professor who openly asserted that black people were less intelligent?

Shall we talk about TPUSA?

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 16:37

Goldwren1923 · 18/01/2026 16:02

If you really want to know my academic record, I obviously have a bachelor’s degree (on scholarship), but also qualified as a lawyer in two different countries and have a masters in finance.

what you are saying about the democrats - you think the right/republicans don’t shut out and drive out those who don’t conform to their views? lol.
i have personally been taught in a state schools that evolution is just a theory 😂 they teach creationism on par with evolution in non-religious schools. You think there is no ostracism for different views on gay marriage, abortion and women’s rights? Come on. Do you know how much work republicans did in red states to disenfranchise the democratic leaning voters?

and yes they have been wrong economically in some ways but so have been republicans. I just don’t understand this line of argument.

however Trump isn’t really a republican either. He’s a populist, he says WHATEVER, and then does the opposite Eg he campaigned on not getting involved in foreign lands and what did he just do with Venezuela and threatens to do in Iran? That’s completely against his own campaign promises. Do you recall him campaigning on starting a war with Denmark and NATO to take over Greenland?

I don't really disagree with what you've written. But my point was not that republicans don't do this, it's that: i) democrats do it a lot also (because they are human too) without seeming to really notice it, and ii) the tendency to see only the other side's politics as resulting from stupidity/ignorance/selfishness is really damaging and hinders the search for truth / actual good policy.

Also, in educated circles of the type we probably both move in, I have barely ever heard a conservative or republican say in serious discussion that the reason their political opponents differ from them is because they are stupid or immoral (it must have happened at some point, but I literally cannot remember an instance of it). Whereas it's fairly common to hear that in real life from democrats / progressives, in serious discussion. Obviously, sometimes ignorance / stupidity does play a part, but it's not a one-sided issue. Amongst serious people, democrats often do seem to think it's all the explanation that is needed for why others differ, in a way that I haven't experienced from republicans / conservatives.

(I know there are millions of republicans calling democrats libtards on X. I'm not a republican, and not here to defend that, but it seems to me to be a different thing. 'They are all idiots' from those posters is an insult. From quite a few democrats I know, it seems to be their actual explaination of the political world).

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 18/01/2026 16:33

hahagogomomo · 18/01/2026 08:24

I have an American friend actively trying to leave by only dating Canadians (lives near the border) and another moving to France in March (she’s a dual National via her mum) she’s 71 and can’t stand it any more, her dc already live in 3 different European countries one left during the first Trump innings and the other 2 in the past year, but not every American has options like this

Perhaps we'll have to start offering them asylum soon?

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 16:22

Blue = dem faculty, Red = repub faculty.

Any Americans on here? What is the feeling in America regarding trump?
GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 16:19

@nylon2026 I’d have voted Kamala, I’ve traditionally considered myself a dem in US politics (centre right in UK politics). When I lived in the US I had a portrait of a dem president on display. I think Trump is a calamitous president.

What would have been the point of me writing a list of Republican examples of stupidity to Goldwren when she is already convinced of that?

My point is to comment on info bubbles, and you rejecting them all out of hand as isn’t really persuading me that there’s no issue. You think all my examples are false?

On info-bubbles in higher ed, here is how faculty skews at elite schools. Does this look like a model of intellectual and political diversity to you? [image to follow]. It’s not an age-old phenomenon either. This has happened in recent decades.

Goldwren1923 · 18/01/2026 16:18

Also a businessman is doing deal with those who want to do deals. Threatening a war to make someone sell Greenland to you is not what a businessman would do. There are certainly examples of leaders who did that, for example Hitler 😂

Goldwren1923 · 18/01/2026 16:07

ElaineBurdock · 18/01/2026 16:00

Since you asked; Trump is doing what's best for American interests.

The world media has always been against him, so anything he does gets an extremely negative spin.

His deportations compared to Obama's for example.
Obama deported more than 3 million illegal immigrants between 2009 and 2016. Most removals were completed without a hearing before an immigration judge. No fuss was made back then.

Our illegal immigration problem is worse than ever before because Biden and Harris allowed our southern border to be wide open for years. Millions of people from all over the world, poured in, so Trump has got his work cut out for him to undo this damage. Big fuss made.

Billions of U.S. taxpayers $$$$ is being send to Somalia.

Greenland; there has been land buying or taking land by force for many years by many countries. Well known examples of places bought by the U.S, Alaska from Russia, Virgin Islands from Denmark, the Louisiana purchase from France.

A Dutchman bought Manhattan from the native Americans for 24 bucks.

Many countries control locations to ensure their national security and facilitate global trade. Greenland is a strategic location for the U.S. to protect itself and Europe.

Other strategic locations which are controlled by various countries are;
Strait of Gibraltar, Turkish Straits, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Panama Canal, Suez Canal.

UK wanted to control Crimea to stop Russia expansion which threatened British interests.

I believe Trump sees the current crop of European leaders as unreliable and weak. (Example, they allowing boats to bring many thousands of undocumented young men into their countries, and then $$$$$$$ supporting them they get there). He doesn't trust the European leaders to keep Greenland secure.

Trump is a business man, not a politician, and he's making deals that are in America's best interests and doesn't care if he hurts feelings. He's already hated.

I'm a worn-out woman in her 70's, who's the mum to a nonverbal 3 year old whom I've been raising since he was 2 months old. He's waking up right now (I'm Pacific time) so I can't stick around to argue the points I made. I also try to keep out of politics on mums net.

That’s a prime example of non-informed 70 year old who never understood that post WWII all the countries agreed not to take land by force from each other and set out some principles of international law and UN to try to sort this out. So all examples of countries taking over territories by force or purchasing them were before and are completely irrelevant now (not to mention that say sale of Alaska was absolutely voluntary and US wasn’t even keen on buying it - there were debates that they overpaid!).

etc etc

Goldwren1923 · 18/01/2026 16:02

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 14:54

majority of people are dumb, btw, and that’s the way it always was.

Before we proceed, could you first just tell me your academic record so I know whether your views are worth engaging with.

(I don't actually want that of course, but if you bristled at that question then you see the problem with your framing).

Yes, people are more and less intelligent. But the real reason why people "vote differently for dumb reasons" is (I think) information bubbles.

The democrats are just as guilty of this as the republicans, if not more so. Look at the US higher education system: it has systematically shut out non-left staff and perspectives. If the right did that it would (rightly) be seen as a travesty. It has massive downstream effects. Look at speech codes, safe spaces, "words are literal violence". Look at old Twitter, look at Bluesky. Recall the innumeracy and the pretzel logic of de-fund the police (led to an excess 3,000 murders at least), the idiot double standards of decrying republican protesters during covid as granny-killers then blessing the BLM protesters during the same period. Look at dem denials of Biden's increasingly obvious frailty, how that led them to fumble the election, and how their turn inwards has left them on the sidelines of what they claim is an epoch-defining challenge. Look at their "follow the science" and their sex science denialism, rejecting all alternative perspectives as heresy as they celebrate paedriatric gender surgery, increasingly isolated in the world. Consider the billions California pours into homelessness and drug programmes that fail to improve the situation and probably make it worse, because in that policy bubble other approaches are not known about or cannot be raised.

Take rent control. If you ask almost all economists on left or right they will tell you that rent control reduces supply and reduces housing quality, harming many of those who it is meant to help, but where dem voters continue to vote for such laws. In my view the "economic or political explanations of their vote are STUPID." But we shouldn't write them off.

Not meant as an assassination of the dems here. Republicans are capable of plenty of the same.

The smug certainty that it's only the other lot whose vote is driven by stupidity/ignorance, and therefore we don't need to examine our own views or side, other than with the circle who already agrees with us, is what leads us here.

Edited

If you really want to know my academic record, I obviously have a bachelor’s degree (on scholarship), but also qualified as a lawyer in two different countries and have a masters in finance.

what you are saying about the democrats - you think the right/republicans don’t shut out and drive out those who don’t conform to their views? lol.
i have personally been taught in a state schools that evolution is just a theory 😂 they teach creationism on par with evolution in non-religious schools. You think there is no ostracism for different views on gay marriage, abortion and women’s rights? Come on. Do you know how much work republicans did in red states to disenfranchise the democratic leaning voters?

and yes they have been wrong economically in some ways but so have been republicans. I just don’t understand this line of argument.

however Trump isn’t really a republican either. He’s a populist, he says WHATEVER, and then does the opposite Eg he campaigned on not getting involved in foreign lands and what did he just do with Venezuela and threatens to do in Iran? That’s completely against his own campaign promises. Do you recall him campaigning on starting a war with Denmark and NATO to take over Greenland?

ElaineBurdock · 18/01/2026 16:00

Since you asked; Trump is doing what's best for American interests.

The world media has always been against him, so anything he does gets an extremely negative spin.

His deportations compared to Obama's for example.
Obama deported more than 3 million illegal immigrants between 2009 and 2016. Most removals were completed without a hearing before an immigration judge. No fuss was made back then.

Our illegal immigration problem is worse than ever before because Biden and Harris allowed our southern border to be wide open for years. Millions of people from all over the world, poured in, so Trump has got his work cut out for him to undo this damage. Big fuss made.

Billions of U.S. taxpayers $$$$ is being send to Somalia.

Greenland; there has been land buying or taking land by force for many years by many countries. Well known examples of places bought by the U.S, Alaska from Russia, Virgin Islands from Denmark, the Louisiana purchase from France.

A Dutchman bought Manhattan from the native Americans for 24 bucks.

Many countries control locations to ensure their national security and facilitate global trade. Greenland is a strategic location for the U.S. to protect itself and Europe.

Other strategic locations which are controlled by various countries are;
Strait of Gibraltar, Turkish Straits, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Panama Canal, Suez Canal.

UK wanted to control Crimea to stop Russia expansion which threatened British interests.

I believe Trump sees the current crop of European leaders as unreliable and weak. (Example, they allowing boats to bring many thousands of undocumented young men into their countries, and then $$$$$$$ supporting them they get there). He doesn't trust the European leaders to keep Greenland secure.

Trump is a business man, not a politician, and he's making deals that are in America's best interests and doesn't care if he hurts feelings. He's already hated.

I'm a worn-out woman in her 70's, who's the mum to a nonverbal 3 year old whom I've been raising since he was 2 months old. He's waking up right now (I'm Pacific time) so I can't stick around to argue the points I made. I also try to keep out of politics on mums net.

Livelovebehappy · 18/01/2026 15:59

I think if you look at the situation rationally though. America obviously has intel that China and Russia are both planning to take over Greenland, which is also close to American shores. Although Trump may have gone about it in gang-ho fashion, with a lack of diplomacy, it’s right that he should try to pre-empt that situation, as it would be a dangerous scenario for Greenland to be under China and Russia rule. With the immigration situation in Minneapolis, Trump is only doing what he said he would do when fighting to win the election, ie, sort out illegal immigration. He is therefore just carrying out what he promised to do. The opposition, Democrats, might not like that, but the Republican voters voted him in on the back of that.

WhatIsTheCharge · 18/01/2026 15:42

Pallisers · 18/01/2026 14:17

Irish living in US for past 30 years and an american citizen. I am horrified at what is happening. Horrified that the Republican party has handed itself over to Trump, horrified the Supreme Court is a partisan arm of government not, horrified at the corruption and grift, horrified at ICE, horrified at the US simply accepting that women will die because of the ban on abortions, the Greenland thing is surreal. My friends are mainly american - not Irish american. Vast majority feel the same as I do. I do live in a very blue state.

History will look back at this moment and see it as the moment world super power was handed to China by the US.

I have gone to protests (another one on Tuesday), donated to candidates, expressed my views to politicians. I vote in every election. Not sure what else I can do - will do whatever I can. We are waiting for the mid terms to see if now is the moment we leave the US. I have a lovely life here and so do my children so don't want to leave but ...

Nail on the head.

Up until our very recent return to the U.K., I was living in a state that’s been predominately red forever, with a couple of liberal cities scattered - I lived in the suburbs of one of those liberal cities.
I feel exactly the same as you. I’m not an American citizen (my DH is), I’m a green card holder, and even in my liberal city, seeing the ICE presence increase over the past few months drastically changed the vibe. My DCs attended a school that was predominately black and Hispanic students. It’s a Title 1 school, and it’s safe to say that a small proportion of the students have undocumented parents. I was terrified every single day that ICE would show up at or near the school - because let’s be honest, at this point it doesn’t really matter if you’re documented or undocumented. If you’re not white, or you speak with an accent that’s not obviously an American accent, you are a target. I sat my kids down and told them that if anybody you don’t recognise as teachers or admin staff at school try to talk to you or ask questions about you or any of your friends? Then you don’t know nothing about nothing. The only thing out of your mouth will be: “I want my parents here”.
It reached a point where attendance (particularly of the Hispanic students) noticeably dropped. There were less and less parents attending award assemblies and sports events etc
Its not supposed to be like this 😔

nylon2026 · 18/01/2026 15:40

GeneralPeter · 18/01/2026 14:54

majority of people are dumb, btw, and that’s the way it always was.

Before we proceed, could you first just tell me your academic record so I know whether your views are worth engaging with.

(I don't actually want that of course, but if you bristled at that question then you see the problem with your framing).

Yes, people are more and less intelligent. But the real reason why people "vote differently for dumb reasons" is (I think) information bubbles.

The democrats are just as guilty of this as the republicans, if not more so. Look at the US higher education system: it has systematically shut out non-left staff and perspectives. If the right did that it would (rightly) be seen as a travesty. It has massive downstream effects. Look at speech codes, safe spaces, "words are literal violence". Look at old Twitter, look at Bluesky. Recall the innumeracy and the pretzel logic of de-fund the police (led to an excess 3,000 murders at least), the idiot double standards of decrying republican protesters during covid as granny-killers then blessing the BLM protesters during the same period. Look at dem denials of Biden's increasingly obvious frailty, how that led them to fumble the election, and how their turn inwards has left them on the sidelines of what they claim is an epoch-defining challenge. Look at their "follow the science" and their sex science denialism, rejecting all alternative perspectives as heresy as they celebrate paedriatric gender surgery, increasingly isolated in the world. Consider the billions California pours into homelessness and drug programmes that fail to improve the situation and probably make it worse, because in that policy bubble other approaches are not known about or cannot be raised.

Take rent control. If you ask almost all economists on left or right they will tell you that rent control reduces supply and reduces housing quality, harming many of those who it is meant to help, but where dem voters continue to vote for such laws. In my view the "economic or political explanations of their vote are STUPID." But we shouldn't write them off.

Not meant as an assassination of the dems here. Republicans are capable of plenty of the same.

The smug certainty that it's only the other lot whose vote is driven by stupidity/ignorance, and therefore we don't need to examine our own views or side, other than with the circle who already agrees with us, is what leads us here.

Edited

Not meant as an assassination of the dems here.

Yeah, it pretty much was. Couching your recycled Trump administration talking points in 'just showing both sides'ism doesn't change that.

Academic record, by the way, is undergrad and then law school at two of the institutions awash with (literal) Nazi-worshipping young Republicans and famous for churning out Federalist Society puppets and bright lights of the project 2025 ilk. I can assure you, non-left perspectives were not in any way shut out.

logicisall · 18/01/2026 15:30

YourGoldSquid · 18/01/2026 08:44

You know the Brits supported this UN resolution right?

Taking out Maduro has been the policy of many western governments for a very long time. To say Trump acted crazily here just isn't true. He enforced UN policy. And again, weakened Russia.

This is a great example of the press simply lying. The Maduro policy has been the world position for years. So to suggest Trump is somehow an autocrat in this specific situation just isn't true. He's actually enforcing NATO and UN policy.

@YourGoldSquid can you provide links to the UN resolution and NATO and UN policies that favour "taking out Maduro"?

My online searchs seem to be unable to locate them. TIA.

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