Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. Panama’s president balks at the suggestion
Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. Panama’s president balks at the suggestion
Donald Trump is suggesting that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal.
He's not even back in office yet and I'm already so. Fucking. Exhausted.
143Strap in. This ride down the drain hasn't even started.
29Can someone please set up an AI to track everything he does and says, parse out the important bits, and give us the rundown? Then he can yell into the void all he wants and we can keep our sanity while staying informed.
7Already done, though it's a real person, not an AI
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/
Sign up to his email list, and get a summary in your inbox a couple of times a week
14
Get off of social media?
If anything, these elections should teach us that we shouldn't be putting our faith in the political process. This generation is learning from experience why previous generations didn't care to discuss politics; it's all crapshoot and we are better off focusing on things we can have substantial impact on.
-9
Yo what?
Defending the Borders of allies like Ukraine: Nope
Randomly taking other country's land: Yes
Wtf?
Is he even taking it for the US? Or is he gonna sell it to russia?
83He's throwing everything he can into the wind so that it distracts the American people from all the heinous shit his compatriots are doing. He has always been good at exactly one thing: distracting bluster. And he's a master at it.
47He's just an entitled, stupid, obnoxious rich white man like there are hundreds of thousands in America. He's treating the presidency like a tv show and the country like something he owns. He sees his power as a way to get richer, so he'll bully other countries if they have something he wants. Strategy and geopolitics don't mean anything to him.
31He's just an entitled, stupid, obnoxious rich white man like there are hundreds of thousands in America.
Not just in America. In the world. Except for being rich and white part in many cases.
Here's a recent thread from an Indian tech forum that I used to lurk at occasionally:
https://techenclave.com/threads/how-will-trumps-threat-on-100-tariff-on-brics-pan-out.223705/
See if you can spot Indian MAGA.
5
He’s not going to do anything. But we’re now talking about this instead of something else. Mission accomplished.
23
Ignore him. He is only trying to distract from his latest failures. Expect more distractions as the failures mount up.
20So he has foolish ideas about ending existing wars and plans to start a few new ones.
He really can't wait to go full Hitler.
27The point is to water down the idea of imperialism, which serves Russia and China.
The same way they tried with impeachment over everything, the same way they're watering down the concept of the pardon, the same way they watered down the term "coup".
10What even brought this up? Who in Trump's orbit is so concerned about the Panama Canal?
18Wouldn't be the first time the U.S. ignored a treaty with a land full of indigenous people...
26This is our actual national pastime. Baseball is just a fad
17The rules to baseball seem to line up even:
- Someone tosses you a gift (Baseball)
- You smack the shit out of in a way that forces everyone to go looking for/chasing it as a distraction.
- Invade their bases, stealing whatever you can.
- Return home with your stolen bases without the other side being able to touch you in any way.
- Hailed as a hero.
Which part of sportsball am I missing here.
13
Not only Panama, the orange shit stain wants Greenland too!
13He's trying to buy Greenland at least, while annexing the Panama canal.
3
Wildcard, Bitches!
14He wants isolationism in Ukraine and extreme interventionism in Panama... The thing they have in common? Imperialism. Imperialists help other imperialists, then go on to do a little imperialising of their own.
12Come-on now, imperialists were all about helping Ukraine too. Proxy wars with client states to deplete your enemies is pretty much imperial 101.
0Who is invading whom, again? Russia are the imperialists here. They could leave at any time. Everything that is happening to Russia, they are doing to themselves. Nobody in Europe or the US gives a shit about taking control of Russia or its land. They just want Russia to stay the fuck on its side of the border.
1
Has anyone told him that you first have to have a big dick before you start trying to swing it around?
17Yeah.
Arnold Palmer.
8
This is it folks, this is his "making us respected on the world's stage again." He's going to piss off absolutely everyone and balkanize the US.
I'd say it's been a good run, but it hasn't been.
33This time you don't get the 'we didn't see it coming' excuse
4
Still, Trump said, that, once his second term is underway, “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question.”
“I’m not going to stand for it,” Trump said. “So to the officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly.”
Trump then took to his social media site to offer in response, “We’ll see about that!” He also posted a picture of a U.S. flag planted in the canal zone under the phrase, “Welcome to the United States Canal!”
Yo what the fuck. So he said it on truth aocial, then said all of the above during a speech today, and then went back to his social network for a follow up.
This entire thing is so fucked up.
31Interesting how Latin American leaders are pushing back firmly against Trump's trash talk, whereas Canada and Europe have been almost totally spineless.
24The US has fucked up Central America for a century now. They know what it means to let us do what we like to enrich our corporations at their expense.
Canada and Europe are still in denial at just how evil the US can be when we're led by a corporate stooge and populist "fuck the world" attitudes.
18Canadian here .... most of Canada is pretty decent and this is coming from an indigenous Canadian.
We have the same problem as the US where a small group of wealthy people and corporations basically own and control the country against the wishes of the people. We're in the same situation as the Americans, ours just looks nicer but with less money.
15
I'm sure the 25th Infantry Division is thrilled to know they'll be required to fight a jungle insurgency for an obsolete canal.
/s
22Honestly, I'd prolly die day 1, but as a Honduran, I'd probably consider volunteering to go to Panama and fight you guys if you do end up sending armed forces to take the Canal. Fuck you guys....I mean, not you specifically, or anyone here for that matter, but..... you know what I mean...
5Yeah the US rep in South America isn't great...
2
Is 'obsolete' part of the /s or is it actually not as useful now?
5It will be not even remotely useful then. It is a easy task for defending force/Guerilla force to disable the canal in a way that it can not be used for years,maybe even decades. Besides,none, absolutely none would insure ships going through it (ask the Egyptians during their various Suez crisis episodes).
So it will be absolutely useless then.
6It is actually not as useful. Panamax ships were getting made 1985. But then they figured out they could actually ship more with larger designs even going around the "long way". So the route is longer but ships are faster and larger enough that the "bandwidth" is higher than going through the canal.
The canal is also running out of water. It's supplied by a lake at the highest point and every time they run the locks they lose water. They put some pumps in to bring water back up but it's not enough to offset the loss.
3
Didn't the US take Panama already?
I mean they took Panama, but it's still Panama, hint, hint nudge nudge.
8From Columbia, yes, the United States took the Central American portion of Columbia and made Panama. Then built the Canal and leased it from Panama for 100 years.
Edit: there is a lot more to it but that's the gist of it.
8
From a Risk/HoI4 point of view it makes sense, take all territory down to Panama so you can place all your army stacks there so the front is real small.
But this would go as well as when Russia tried to invade it's neighbor: not good at all.
12Don't anyone panic! There are still 3 death row inmates to do something about and a whole constitution to scramble.
4As they should. Chump is fucking insane.
2
