Let's talk about the Trump administration still not getting it, and the EU moving ahead.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about the Trump administration still not getting it and the EU is moving ahead

Treasury Secretary and former soybean man Scott Bessent blew off the Denmark pension fund dumping US treasuries, saying it was irrelevant and saying that they've been selling US treasuries for years. That's true since Trump's first term. Their holdings had been growing dramatically until then. He said, "I'm not concerned at all."

Yeah, that's kind of the problem. Normalcy bias has absolutely become ingrained in the US. We have allied leaders talking about forging a new geopolitical order without the US at the helm. We have a major power, the EU, freezing a trade deal with us and they have a meeting scheduled about invoking their anti-coercion instrument and so on. These are what some would call indicators.

Normalcy bias is a cognitive bias that leads people to disregard indicators even when they're obvious. Even in the face of our allies saying that they're moving ahead without us, people expect a return to what they perceive as normal. As Bessent blows off European allies, Trump chose not to ignore Canadian Prime Minister Carney's speech, but rather decided to try to insult and intimidate.

Trump said, "Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements." Trump then said Carney wasn't so grateful. Grateful for what exactly? The threats of annexation, the breaking of treaties, the threats of attacking their allies, the tariffs.

In his speech, Carney specifically reaffirmed Canadian commitment to Article 5 of NATO. Maybe Trump didn't get the subtext of that?

The Trump administration is currently running around acting like they're going to revitalize the Monroe Doctrine. They're acting like they're going to rule what they're calling our hemisphere. They're posting edited images with American flags over various countries. However, here in the real world, the EU leadership could be posting images of the actual trade deals they've got in this hemisphere, not just fake maps and promises of concepts of a trade deal.

The Trump administration wants us to believe they can exert control over non-aligned nations because of their memes. But here in the real world, they've lost influence with our actual allies and are ignoring the very obvious signs that they're ending America's superpower status.

Trump appears to have caved on his Greenland push completely and is simply trying to frame it as a win for his base at home. The problem here is that the rest of the world watched him refuse to take military force against a NATO ally off the table. There is no closer alliance. If Trump is willing to break that alliance simply because he doesn't understand the nature of agreements already in place, the rest of the world will operate as if the word of the United States is worth nothing.

Trump and his allies may see it as maximal negotiating, but this is why you don't run the country like a business. When your credit is ruined, you can't just file bankruptcy and try again. Trump's trying desperately to claim a win. The reality is that the loss is so big, we'll still be suffering losses from it long after he's out of office. This was way more important than people are acknowledging. Trump's antics really hurt the US this week.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.