Are We Feeling Liberated Yet? - Trump thread #141

[Spandauer]

King Donald has bigly new tariffs, First Lady Elmo turns out to be ballot box poison and 'Pick Me Girl' Vance is a meanie to the EU.

(But at least the penguins on the Heard and McDonald Islands are wearing suits)

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5297058-trumpmusk-the-doge-and-pony-show-continues-trump-thread-140

Forcing Chevrolets onto the people of Munich. That's definitely the threat of an entirely sane person. And adding that bit about illegal immigrants just confirms it.

They say they want freedom, but only their kind. They say they want free trade, but only for people to buy their stuff.

Dear Trumpy, want us to buy your cars? Make them better. Right now even the ones that aren't gas guzzling monstrosities are shit.

I can't listen to his shit any more. He's actually just said that Zelenskyy started the war. Again.

About American cars: I see lots of Teslas and Fords where I live. Also Jeeps, and even the occasional Dodge and Chevrolet. Whether they're built in the US is another matter but it's brands that matter to Trump.

(and incidentally plenty of Range Rovers and Minis, and a smattering of Jaguar SUVs. And lots and lots of MGs but they're Chinese)

Lots of Fords here in the UK too. I own one. But the kicker is that the car of the same name in the US is a completely different vehicle. Definitely not built in the US either.

Trump either doesn't understand the international car market, or he doesn't want to.

If Trump wants Europe to buy more American cars he needs to get the manufacturers to make cars that Europeans want to buy. Clearly the manufacturers aren’t that bothered about the European market or they’d all do what Ford do.

Just found this (though a bit out of date maybe)
https://www.drivencarguide.co.nz/news/feature-where-nzs-cars-are-actually-built/

Thailand was our biggest supplier in 2016. "The top-selling Ford Ranger along with popular Toyota Hilux, Holden Colorado, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50 and Isuzu D-Max models all come from Thailand."

"Passenger models including the Ford Fiesta and Focus, Honda Civic and CR-V, Mitsubishi Mirage, Mazda2 and CX-3, Toyota Corolla sedan and the Nissan Pulsar also contribute to the fast-rising made-in-Thailand total"

"For all the talk of emerging auto industries in China and India it’s the US which has become a fast-growing source for new vehicles sold in New Zealand. Only 934 US-built vehicles were sold in 2006 but this year the total is set to reach about 5500 units.
Models such as the Nissan Pathfinder, the BMW X3, X5 and X6 and larger Mercedes-Benz SUVs are all US-built while Dodge Journey and Jeep models also add to the US tally."

So, Fords, Toyotas, Nissans built in Thailand and Nissans and Mercedes built in the US!! China would have come up hugely since then though. Most of the EVs are new Chinese brands plus MG.

NB: NZ and Australia drive on the left.

Anecdotally, the car market looks like this here.

• If you want value for money and reliability you have an east Asian car.
• If you want something swankier and don't mind so much about reliability you have a European car.
• If you're into rugby, fishing and beer you have a Ford or a Holden.
• If you're a wannabe maga you have an American car other than a Ford or a Tesla. I am seeing more of these.

Old news. America propped up regimes that literally did this (and then adopted out their children to right-wing dictatorship supporters) in Central America. If you can think of it, America probably did it. The only thing that’s really changed is that he’s threatening white countries with it.

Last time we rented a car in teh US we specified that it HAD to be a Toyota
because the US brands for the US market are so badly made.

UK Jeeps are not the same as US Jeeps etc

That is indeed worth repeating many times!

I once drove a not-particularly-old Toyota in South Africa and it was an absolute bag of bones - and it made me wonder whether different markets get different build qualities.

Wrecking ball

https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/14/nasa_science_budget/

Yep. We've had Toyota for over 20 years, apart from a short, regrettable try out of a Mazda and 2 of those cars account for most of that time between them. I'm sure the mechanics would have kept on for much longer but in the NE of England where it's damp much of the time and there is grit on the roads for up to half of the year, the chassis and bodywork cops it first.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/04/14/harvard-rejects-trump-administration-demands/ - good to see some push back!

Are you ok there @MrsTerryPratchett?

Not sure I’d fancy driving some humongous gas guzzler here. The amount of time you’d spend reversing to find the one passing spot that will allow two large vehicles to pass every time you meet a bus or tractor doesn’t appeal.

Didn’t DOGE fire a load of NASA scientists anyway? As part of the war on science.

Keeps happening!!!

I did notice it on another thread the other day. 😂

He has no shame at all. How can this terrible behaviour be stopped? He’s actually happily “disappearing” people in full view and without restraint. It’s disgraceful.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04/14/us/trump-news-tariffs?unlocked_article_code=1._04.g8f8.x3HLcQ8AU1Nb&smid=url-share

And further down that article it's about associated press being banned from the press pool despite a federal judge's order to stop barring them

So, how far are we don the fascist route now....a long way I feel

My nephew used to work for Tesla. He advised that anyone ordering a Tesla specify a non US built one as they were coming in with misaligned panels, leaking headlights etc. He recommended Chinese built ones.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c175r8z8e1lt?post=asset%3A2e0f8d0d-e6e2-4952-80d6-4b9bd404a27f#post

I'm absolutely dreading what their demands to the UK are likely to be and it worries me how much Kier is willing to bend over to placate the egotistical tangerine..

I understand that Kier can't just tell him to piss off but any deal struck with them, even one that seems in our favour, isn't worth the paper it's written on. Also hate having to pander to such awful people.

Can you imagine the outcry if other Presidents had defied a Supreme Court ruling?

Regardless of people's politics, I thought that US Constituency 101 is that Supreme Court rulings must be followed.