General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI negotiated for a living. What Trump is doing is not negotiating
The sane washing of Trump's maniacal public displays are being normalized as a negotiating tactic. Canada, Mexico, Panama and Denmark. Trump is publicly humiliating America's friendly neighbors and the MSM acts like it is some sort of brilliant negotiating tactic.
I was a union officer in Boston and negotiated nearly 100 union collective bargaining agreements (CBA) for electricians, plumbers, H-Vac and other maintenance workers who worked at hospitals, sports facilities, museums, pharmaceutical facilities, hospitals and colleges in the Greater Boston Area. And let me tell you, publicly insulting, out of the clear blue sky and for no reason, is no way to open negotiations.
The United States has the upper hand with all our neighbors. If we needed to place a military base in Greenland, it would have been easy to accomplish by sharing the operation with our NATO brother in Denmark. There is no need to pick a fight with Mexico. They know they need America as a trading partner. And Canada? Can we have a more secure border than our neighbors to the North. How hard could it be to reach a favorable agreement with them without all this caustic rhetoric. Also, Panama. How hard could it be to assert our dominance at a negotiating table with them to secure the canal?
Look, sometimes you need to go public as negotiations reach impasse. But it's not your opening salvo, especially with a friendly opponent on the other side of the table. Trump is not exercising negotiating skills. He's falling back on what he's most comfortable being. A bully.
no_hypocrisy
(49,287 posts)What he really meant was "We're doing it MY way."
rampartd
(955 posts)"yes dear."
COL Mustard
(7,010 posts)And I have my wifes permission to say so.
DoBW
(2,119 posts)3catwoman3
(25,731 posts)
I dont need Google. My wife knows everything.
He uses it regularly - smart man.
calimary
(84,674 posts)The best part is, hed get a kick out of it!
3catwoman3
(25,731 posts)and there are several vendors who carry various versions of the mug.
True Blue American
(18,215 posts)And he would agree with everything you say. He sat in on those Union egotiations, refused to run for President because he could not stand the lies from the Corporations Lawyers.
Said he was an Engineer and that is what he wanted to do. He also had no patience for the slackers who turned around and voted Republican.
Trump is a bragging bully. Does not know the first thing about negotiating. His business record shows that. Witout his fathers money, lying, cheating all his life he would be nothing. Ivanka helped a great deal for any success he had.
Roy Rolling
(7,209 posts)Extortion is a crime, not negotiating. Trump is a reality-TV branding poster boy. Nothing special, just criminal enough to break the rules others follow.
tetedur
(1,101 posts)It was called Thule Air Force Base and now is called Pituffik Space Base.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,374 posts)OrangeJoe
(436 posts)Im waiting for Greenland/Denmark to either cancel or renegotiate the base agreement thanks to TFGs bullying.
yardwork
(64,804 posts)Why do we have a base in Greenland? It dates from the Cold War. Putin doesn't need the U.S. to have missiles aimed at him.
NoMoreRepugs
(10,665 posts)relied on their daddies to constantly bail them out and NEVER truly became a man.
Nasruddin
(875 posts)After the Butler attempted assassination, something changed.
He seems to have taken that fist in the air picture to heart and thinks he's heroic. His fans think he is.
I have always had him in the no-war, peace camp (and personally, cowardly). But don't think that's operative anymore.
True Blue American
(18,215 posts)At the bar who starts a fight then slips out the door.
He is also the guy who heads for the restroom when it is his turn to buy a round.
Maeve
(43,057 posts)declared victory, no matter what the final deal. And he got away with it because the only ones who could tell the truth worked for him and knew better than to disagree with the boss.
Dan
(4,168 posts)boonecreek
(255 posts)who heard that in Sam Elliot's voice?
True Blue American
(18,215 posts)NotHardly
(1,402 posts)yardwork
(64,804 posts)Putin's goal is to create chaos among western democracies so that he can either colonize or absorb us, one by one.
NJCher
(38,316 posts)Last edited Fri Dec 27, 2024, 02:05 PM - Edit history (2)
Greenland has extensive oil and gas reserves; also rare earth minerals.
He said that since there is a relationship between Greenland and Denmark, the intent is to rattle Denmark.
Having gained autonomy in 79, Greenland is self-governing. The island still relies heavily on Denmark for financial support, plus management of defense and foreign relations, not to mention its monetary policy.
Greenland has extensive oil and gas reserves; also rare earth minerals.
Bernardo de La Paz
(51,357 posts)... to divert attention away from Project 2025 machinations and preparations for:
* wholesale deportations
* wholesale removal or suppression of rights from non-white males
* wholesale gutting of health, safety, and mental well-being regulations
Tom Homan let the cat out of the bag Thursday, going full fascist and lying:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3362491
BidenRocks
(962 posts)He makes them look good.
Never mess with family!
lonely bird
(1,977 posts)I am more concerned for those left behind because of gun-masturbating assholes.
spapeggy
(76 posts)Whats that like maybe 3 people?
patphil
(7,152 posts)Trump admires Putin, and want's to create his own version of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
So, he is setting his sights on owning all of North America plus Greenland.
He thinks he's just going to take these nations. Not a chance.
Bernardo de La Paz
(51,357 posts)55 EC votes: never tRump
10 provinces: one state? Nah, 7 states or 10 states: 14 or 20 Senators, almost all blue. Bye-bye Maga Party. Hello new Liberal Democratic Party (merger of US Democratic Party, Canadian Liberal Party and Canadian New Democratic Party.
Yes, tRump is that stupid, but he knows his followers just swallow any of his fantasies and regurgitate them without thinking.
MLWR
(25 posts)What trump is doing is called "extortion." He's not a negotiator; he's a bully.
mn9driver
(4,601 posts)Enemies on our borders: Good!
Friendly and neighborly allies: Bad!
Non-white pet eating invaders: Good!
Refugees who need a hand: Bad!
A stolen election: Good!
A crushing total overwhelming victory: Good!
A 50-50 close race: Bad! Terrible!
Expect daily doses of this bullshit for the foreseeable future.
struggle4progress
(120,556 posts)Mblaze
(428 posts)the value of "soft power" and, with BRICS, is gathering friendly responses from nations in need by fulfilling some of their needs without Trumpean quid pro quo demands. Trump needs to learn that poking nations in the eye is a losing strategy.
Pototan
(2,150 posts)and runs from those who have strength.
Beck23
(271 posts)said, for Trump, everything is win-lose so there is no compromise.
Does Trump even know that GM has a plant in Mexico, or that Canadian lumber is critical to the American construction industry? Yea, go ahead and put a tariff of 25% on Canadian lumber, and while you're at it deport the immigrants doing the construction work.
I was a balancer for Locac17Boston SMW
THANK FOR for your diligence and dedication to the union cause .
In the trades we called people like him bullies and full of shit he didn't do anything last time and won't this time
I'm more worried about him messing with Davis Baken act or turning the whole country into a right to work for less country
moondust
(20,531 posts)Sudetenland? Nah, the big guy don't want that.
But Greenland wouldn't be too bad.
Poland? Nah, not that either.
But Mexico would be kinda nice.
And France? Don't think so.
But Canada would be something to brag about and it's BIG.
LetMyPeopleVote
(155,746 posts)Bluethroughu
(6,061 posts)Putin said after his election, it was time for trump to pay up. Trump is going to turn our country into the failed state that Russia became after the fall of the Soviet Union.
We are getting the worst of the worst with this asset and his traitor supporters. They hate this country, and they will break it, if given the chance.
spanone
(137,683 posts)What utter horseshit.
One is fucking insane and the other is the opposite.
IbogaProject
(3,822 posts)Here is a rare negative editorial about him from 2016. It still blows my mind that anyone from the Delaware Valley, especially contractors support him.
Trump's Atlantic City windfall left others broke | Editorial
There is still a lingering misperception that Donald Trump is some kind of business wizard, but it's actually easy to identify one of his key strategies for success: He excels at ripping people off.
The Associated Press pulled back the curtain on his ruined casino empire in Atlantic City last week and exposed a gold-plated scam, in which survivors from the Taj Mahal disaster - a long parade of naive artisans who still have Trump's skid marks on their backs - all told similar stories, cautionary tales that make you wonder how anyone would consider him trustworthy enough to hold elected office.
Their consensus: Trump is a master grifter, who uses bullying and arrogance as negotiating methods, before ending the relationship by withholding payments and making contractors settle for far less by threatening them with litigation - knowing the cost of litigation would eat up most of the money in the dispute.
And frequently, these exploited contractors were left ruined after the Taj went bankrupt in 1991, the AP found.
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2016/07/trumps_ac_windfall_left_others_broke_editorial.html
MineralMan
(148,066 posts)Trump wants to be a dictator and a tyrant. He's off to a good start, it seems. The job of Democrats appears to be to deny him the power he demands. I hope we can do that, but am not confident that we can.
Ping Tung
(1,463 posts)The wanna-be Godfather is not following the script.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(116,690 posts)Ping Tung
(1,463 posts)mahina
(19,096 posts)Aloha Pototan
Ohioboy
(3,507 posts)POS needs to wait till he's actually president.
Evolve Dammit
(19,161 posts)Or sickness, which I have always believed is more accurate. I have seen workplace examples so am aware of these manifestations of those in power. Mary Trump is a national treasure for chronicling the family, and explaining the behaviors in layman's terminology.
Thanks for your experiences and I agree. He is incapable and a sociopathic "bully." Fred must be proud.
yliza
(107 posts)MAGA wants Poilievre to become prime minister. We had that anti-lockdown occupation of Ottawa a few years ago if you recall, and Poilievre was hanging out with the ringleaders. Ive heard other conservative MPs parrot culture war rhetoric. The Canadian Conservative Party has a MAGA friendly wing that tried to declare MAGA policies are mainstream after the US election. They keep trying to overthrow Trudeaus government with no confidence votes even though most Canadians dont want an early election.
Due to high inflation and general anti-incumbent sentiment Trudeaus popularity is tanking and the conservatives are taking full advantage. Trudeau was mocked for flying to Mar-A-Lago, with Poilievre declaring he wouldve stood up to Trump (which Im sure is a lie, based on his record). I fear what might happen in the next election. The only thing that gives me hope is that we have a year to see how destructive Trump policies are before we vote again (which is probably why they keep trying to force an early election).
Orrex
(64,359 posts)rasputin1952
(83,252 posts)He'd burst into flames, much to my delight.
AZ8theist
(6,578 posts)...being A STUPID, IGNORANT, SMOOTH BRAINED RACIST TREASONOUS IMBECILIC INCOMPETENT DOUCHBAG ASSHOLE.
Grokenstein
(5,864 posts)pansypoo53219
(21,808 posts)leftyladyfrommo
(19,438 posts)I keep thinking he will bully the wrong bully.
rasputin1952
(83,252 posts)In Washington State.
I agree wholeheartedly. I was in Contract negotiations, and I sat back listening to the "Union Busting" lawyer from Chicago and his team.
At the end of this ridiculous speil, we'd caucus, and when asked why I hadn't said anything yet, I replied, "It's not time yet."
On the third day of negotiations, just before a lunch break, I ticked off seven things that the lawyer was erroneous about. I did not raise my voice, I only used facts to back me up. Negotiations were ended by 2:30, about an hour after the lunch break. We had won.
At a Union Dinner about a week later, I was presented with "The Bean Counter" award. We all laughed and had a grand time.