I’ve made it

[Bayleaf]

Meanwhile Captain Chaos continus his whirlwind of, I don't even know what to call it all anymore. Truly frightening is what it is!

When are classified war plans not classified war plans? When inept idiots "accidentally leak" the chat to a journalist and decide they need to cover their asses by full face lying! Incompetence off the scale!

[Lori]

These people would sell their own mother if it earned them anything. Or shoot her in the head. Lying is a prerequisite to working in the Trump administration. Some are better liars than others. And, when caught out, they deny it ever happened - and/or - in this case, claim the classified information was/is not classified.

[Blaze]

This is worth listening to : Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg who was invited to the chat.
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cp8v36vejlgo

[exile]

Wait until they realise their new demigod is a close buddy of Putin. When I was a kid in US we were always told that the Russians were the bad guys and never to let our guard down. Now Orange man seems to be doing Putin's bidding and getting nothing in return.

I have to admit there is a lot of misinformation online these days and it is very difficult to get at the truth. I spent a rainy day a while back following accusations about just how close Trump is to Putin. All the way to various claims that he has been played by the Russians since the 80s. Very hard to believe but not impossible given his recent actions. So glad I escaped many years ago.

That may be so. Trump may be the American numbskull equivalent of a certain B Johnson former UK PM.

Alternatively he may be playing the ultimate Machiavellian game. Economically ( and that's where DT sees much of the world), the US has two main competitors - China and Europe - probably the EU but I think he sees things wider than that so include the UK, Switzerland and Norway among others.
China, he has imposed his tariffs, is persuading US companies to retrench to the US and ultimately is able to control supply of some vital raw materials.
Europe, he also has tariffs but the home market is also potentially strong enough to continue support to impacted industries. So what he has done in addition is to raise the fear that NATO will not be the promised the support as believed/promised. European nations are stepping up defence spending - which means higher taxes or borrowing and both erode the strength of the European countries economies.
Russia, He does not regard as an economic danger. It is however a country with a now weakened economy but with a wealth of raw materials that can be exploited by a friendly US - so strengthening the US position.

Conspiracy theory? I wish J were around to give a view.

[Hotrodder]

I'm not up to speed with what valuable raw materials Russia might have apart from natural gas but your suggestion might have legs. If raw materials are what Trumpski wants, it explains why he wants to take over Greenland. He still threatens Canada but fortunately M. Carney is having none of it and is strongly supported by the Canadian people. China is "the elephant in the room". Someone needs to make the Orange Plague understand why US is in such a pickle. American businesses outsourcing production to take advantage of cheap labour causing loss of jobs at home and now he is forced to play "catch up" panic building of chip manufacturing plants in the US having realised how important they are in defense technology.

[exile]

Raw materials

World rankings of pre-conflict exports
First: Diamonds industrial and diamonds gem quality, Palladium
Second: Vanadium, Platinum, Rhodium, Cobalt, Germanium, Gallium
Third: Gold, Sulphur and Nickel, potash, antimony and coking coal
Fourth: Arsenic, Silver, Copper, Tellurium, phosphate rock
Fifth: Selenium and Magnesite

and so on.

The items in blue are considered as critical supplies

Then add on wheat, fertilisers (based on cheap energy from oil and gas), oil, gas, mustard, aluminium (again cheap energy) and so on.

[Hotrodder]

Thanks for the info.

[exile]

I have to admit that while I was aware that Russia was a major exporter of quite a number of these, I was surprised by how high the rankings were.

[widge]

I have to admit that while I was aware that Russia was a major exporter of quite a number of these, I was surprised by how high the rankings were.

I don't think that it is really that suprising, if you consider Russia is the largest country in the world, being 1.7 times the size of America.

[Hotrodder]

They say size isn't everything.