Trump Job Approval
| Pollsters wrong in 2024: | 42.0 / 55.1 | -13.0 |
| Pollsters right in 2024: | 46.2 / 51.0 | -4.8 |
 | GOP | DEM |
| Democrats +3 | 216 | 219 |
Trump Job Approval
| Pollsters wrong in 2024: | 42.0 / 55.1 | -13.0 |
| Pollsters right in 2024: | 46.2 / 51.0 | -4.8 |
| GOP | DEM |
| Democrats +3 | 216 | 219 |
The Hedgehog Report - Phoenix Edition 
68 responses to “The old thread is dead. Long live the new thread.”
It wasn’t Chicon that killed the last thread. It was those unenlightened, racist and mean spirited comments about soccer. Redeem yourselves and turn on the Arsenal/ Everton game coming up now at 7:30 AM. Go Gunners!
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Hating soccer is racist? Zzzzzzz
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everything is racist in todays woke world Bitter. Arsenal finally takes the lead.
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Long live soccer!
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I am an Everton fan.
GFYs.
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This translates to “I got caught all-in on the stock market”.
Jason doesn’t give a crap about the average Joe; it’s all about Ja-Ja…..”
Poor Chicon tees up and whiffs again, not a surprise.
Actually, this is good for my consulting business because the more issues/problems there are with international trade the more hours I can bill.
However, it is bad for the millions of people who have their pension funds tied to the market and people who depend on withdrawals from their 401ks to survive in retirement.
And of course wealth created by the market translates into consumption, investments and job creation. Trump talks about “trillions coming in” but guess what, trillions in wealth were wiped out by the stock market losses. (about $ 9.6 trillion since Jan 17)
So GFY.
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Bill Ackman is not a slobbering MAGA sycophant so I will post his rather positive assessment of Trump’s strategy. I hope he is right.
Where I disagree with him is that it is “patriotic” to support stupid tariffs and trade wars. It isn’t.
“The market’s response is due to the fear that if this strategy fails and the tariffs stay in place, they will plunge our economy into a recession. And we don’t need to wait for failure as it doesn’t take long for a high degree of uncertainty to cause economic activity to slow. Press reports today have said that all deals are now on hold. This is not surprising. Capitalism is a confidence game. Uncertainty is the enemy of business confidence. The good news is that a number of countries have already approached the negotiating table to make tariff deals, which suggests that Trump’s strategy is beginning to work. Whether this is enough to settle markets next week is unknowable, but we will find out soon. The idea that Wall Street and investors are opposed to the President’s efforts to bring back our industrial base by leveling the tariff playing field is false. Our trading partners have taken advantage of us for decades after tariffs were no longer needed to help them rebuild their economies after WWII. The market is simply responding to Trump’s shock and awe negotiating strategy and factoring in some probability that it will fail or otherwise lead to an extended period of uncertainty that will sink us into a recession. The market decline has been compounded by losses incurred at so-called pod shops and other highly levered market participants that have been forced to liquidate positions as markets have declined. Stocks of even the best companies are now trading at the cheapest valuations we have seen since Covid. If the President makes continued progress on tariff deals, uncertainty will be reduced, and the market will begin to recover. As more countries come to the table, those that have held out or have reciprocated with higher tariffs will have growing concerns about being left behind. This should cause more countries to negotiate deals until we reach a tipping point where it is clear that the strategy will succeed. When this occurs, stocks will soar. Trump’s strategy is not without risk, but I wouldn’t bet against him. The more that markets support the President and his strategy, the higher the probability that he succeeds, so a stable hand on the trading wheel is a patriotic one. An important characteristic of a great leader is a willingness to change course when the facts change or when the initial strategy is not working. We have seen Trump do this before. Two days in, however, it is much too early to form a view about his tariff strategy. Trump cares enormously about our economy and the stock market as a measure of his performance. If the current strategy works, he will continue to execute on it. If it needs to be tweaked or changed, I expect he will make the necessary changes. Based on the early read, his strategy appears to be working. Let’s help him succeed. It’s the least we can do.”
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Alonso homered in first Citi field at bat after getting new contact in the off-season
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Jason wrote – I am an Everton fan.
———-
Everton is a far better team than their record reflects. Just too inconsistent. Arsenal, with all of their injuries, has a better record than their current team reflects. A 1-1 tie probably was appropriate.
the patriotic duty argument aside, I tend to agree with Ackman’s take. I hope and pray it’s right. Time will tell.
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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/former-dhs-secretary-alejandro-mayorkas-left-speechless-as/
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For those interested in what Ackman’s take, here is the full post of Ackman’s comment, which was a response to a VDH video –
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Click on the “show more” to read the whole thing
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An important characteristic of a great leader is a willingness to change course when the facts change or when the initial strategy is not working. We have seen Trump do this before. Two days in, however, it is much too early to form a view about his tariff strategy.
The above excerpt is taken from Ackman’s response to Trump and his tariff strategy. I think it has merit on all counts, with the major headwinds currently being the catastrophic rhetoric being broadcasted by the hateful media bent on taking Trump down. No where, though, has this deceitful chorus of anchor people ever done any honest investigative reporting on how Biden/Obama contributed to our fiscally unsustainable economy. All they do is wring their hands and point fingers at someone who has been in office less than 80 days.
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Interesting commentary here the last couple of days, while trillions are being lost by almost everyone in the country. The $5 trillion market value loss equates to about $15,000 per capita – and although some of you think you are not exposed to the markets, you probable are.
If DJT’s intention is to return the US back to the Fordney-McCumber days, the loss to US GDP will be profound. So let’s give him some credit and assume that these announcements are just a threat to get other countries to the table.
In order for a threat to be even the least bit credible, he has to act as though he is willing to impose these tariffs for the long term. That would involve building customs houses at all US ports, in order to segregate those goods for which duty has been paid from those that have not yet been taxed. That would involve expanding the entire tariff handling process, probably requiring hundreds or thousands of new hires at CBP. Does anyone see evidence that these activities have started?
If not, we must conclude that ‘Liberation Day’ is just a gigantic arm-twisting exercise, so that Trump can show off his vaunted ‘negotiating prowess’. I would call that playground bullying, but I am sure each of you has a name for it. That suggests that other countries will not consider this a credible threat in the medium to long term. The flurry of activity since Wednesday is an attempt to obtain exemptions or carve-outs, which the first Trump administration gave away like candy.
My expectation is that the major global trading players, like the EU, China, and OPEC, will not take this seriously. They will consider this a non-credible threat and will give away little, if anything. Six months from now, we will be back to status quo, except that Donald Trump will have lost a great deal of credibiltiy.
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Apparently,trump strong armed (using the medias term) opec (Saudis) to increase supply. Oil prices have plunged as a result.
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Breaking news…..
According to Elizabeth MacDonald of Fox Business the following countries are “now talking tariff and trade deals with the Trump White House….Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Israel, Argentina, India, Thailand”
Is this the “Art of the Deal” in real action?
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Vietnam, Cambodia, and Argentina want 0 tariffs or very low (5-10%j
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Free passers crushed. Trump at 53% approval. His approval has risen post Muh tariffs.
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1908539052145410457?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
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Here is an article on the pole:
https://conservativebrief.com/trump-amid-3-90611/?utm_source=CB&utm_medium=ProTrumpNews
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Muh payments court decision yesterday (I linked to the actual decision yesterday).
https://wltreport.com/2025/04/04/breaking-supreme-court-hands-president-trump-huge-victory/?utm_source=PTN&utm_medium=mixed&utm_campaign=PTN
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It is no big secret that trump put the tariffs out there to negotiate reductions and eliminations of tariffs.
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Tina – Exactly! He is just throwing his weight around, forcing dozens of country leaders to come and see him – and build up his monumental ego.
Then, he will back off, like he did in 2018 and in the end, he will have accomplished nothing.
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Let’s say Trump gets his dream and everything is made in the U.S. Tnis will require paying American workers much more to work in the factories. Fine. This will also drive up the prices of everything made in the U.S. so the increase in wages will largely be eaten up. The alternative is more automation so fewer workers and where do they go. Also, American goods would be much more expensive so which countries will be buying them. Discuss.
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Bitter – I don’t think that is Trump’s plan. That is what he tells the union members, the union bosses, and the public. But, I believe it is a lie.
He is just pretending that is what he wants in order to make his threats more credible. Once he has forced a couple of countries to cave, he will remove or drastically lower the tariffs, thus selling the workers and companies down the river.
If he really wants China to change its behavior, he could work with Congress to rescind MFN trading status. He could also embargo Chinese goods completely (although that is usually considered an act of war).
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Actually, he doesn’t need to resort to an embargo. A 100% or 200% prohibitive tariff might work as well.
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I think what Ackman wrote speaks for itself and generally captures President Trump’s plan. Getting our trading partners to lower their tariffs is good for American companies and their employees. However, after Covid it became abundantly clear that offshoring strategic industries, like pharmaceutical production, shipbuilding and other key production, is unacceptable. The cost of this is not measured in merely the price to customers but our national security. For those industries, deciding to accept domestic production costs is a necessary evil that many of us formerly free trader/open market adherents now recognize (again, COVID was a major wakup call).
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Tina, that is quite a shock to the Dems and ever Trump crowd, particularly after the two day market beating. Here is how the daily mail characterized it –
“President Donald Trump is more popular now than before he sent the global markets into a frenzy by enacting sweeping new tariffs.
An exclusive DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners survey of over 1,000 registered voters found that the Republican remains largely popular in the U.S.
The poll found that Trump’s approval rating rose to 53 percent, a 4-point increase over last week when it was 49 percent.
Trump’s rising approval rating is surprising given the flak the White House has received over the tariff order signed Wednesday.
It is up by 13 points since March 7 among those aged 18 to 29.
Trump also saw a six-point increase in favorability among Democrats and independents, according to the survey.”…..
“Voters’ support for sweeping tariffs on China and the European Union has gone up since last month.
They also broadly support tariffs that impact specific sectors like aircraft, plastics, precious metals, iron and steel.”
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Argentina becomes first zero tariff nation with USA.
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https://tuckercarlson.com/tucker-show-scott-bessent?utm_campaign=20250404_apr4dailybriefsubs&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iterable&utm_content=scottbessent
Scott Bessent had an informative interview with Tucker going over Trump’s tariff plans. He started off saying Trump had consistently expressed concerns, for 40 years, over the unfair trading practices between our country and many others. The thinking behind the current tariff policies is also not as loose as some here make it out to be.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/04/the_price_of_reciprocity_why_president_trump_s_tariffs_make_strategic_sense.html
”The distinction between “free trade” and “fair trade” is substantive. Free trade theory presumes a baseline of equity among participants. Fair trade acknowledges the need for enforceable rules and equitable practices. Trump’s critics assume that America will benefit from leading by example. His administration rejects this assumption, treating trade as a site of competition rather than consensus. Tariffs, in this logic, are not deviations but necessary countermeasures.
The moral case follows from this strategic one. American workers have borne the costs of global integration without compensation. Industrial communities were dismantled, replaced not by revitalization but by low-wage service employment and dependency. Previous promises of retraining and adaptation have proven hollow. In contrast, the current policy framework privileges productive capacity and national interest over theoretical efficiency. It seeks to reverse decades of decline in the manufacturing base..”
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Trump had consistently expressed concerns, for 40 years, over the unfair trading practices between our country and many others.
Well, Trump was a Democrat for most of those years. Why would he stop supporting union trade policies now that he is a RINO?
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Bitter, times and politics have changed. Trump has altered the political paradigm – as a dem he supported the working class, people the current dems do not, except for lip service. Today, under affiliation with the R party he remains an advocate of the working class.
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Nixon and Reagan supported unions (private sector not gubmental). They won working class majorities.
The party of every child,left behind, spying on Americans, tax cuts for grifters, and endless wars is over.
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Trump nearly matches Clintunes record on gubmental job cuts.
https://conservativebrief.com/trump-for-9-90609/?utm_source=CB&utm_medium=ProTrumpNews
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Bitter, did you get a chance to watch the video interview with Bessent that Jan posted? You should watch it. Maybe if the old Republican leadership had paid more attention to those unfair trading practices, which destroyed our manufacturing base, displaced millions of workers, and offshored our key industries, you wouldn’t have this new Republican coalition Bessent is referencing. Sorry to break it to you but President Trump is addressing the exact issues he ran on, which were what got him in office.Review the poll that Tina posted. His views are the majority and remain popular.
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Tina, right you are even if some people here choose to ignore it. Here is a commercial sponsored by the Reagan administration’s commerce department in 1985. Reagan personally asked Sammy and Bob hope to do it. Very Trumpian of Reagan to focus on protecting American jobs and industry –
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The free passers miss the fact that Reagan placed tariffs and quotas on Japanese cars as well as the entire electronics industry.
NAFTA and Bush 2 lost us critical manufacturing jobs.
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He remains an advocate of union leadership. Even union members are not that loyal to their leaders.
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Yes, Bitter, Reagan was an advocate of the unions that endorsed him, as evidenced by the advertisement he promoted above. Oh, but of course you meant Trump, LOL!
from Wikipedia – Ronald Reagan received significant union endorsements during his 1980 presidential campaign. The Teamsters union, one of the largest in the nation, endorsed Reagan in 1980. Additionally, numerous other manufacturing and trade unions also endorsed Reagan during the same election, despite having previously backed Democratic candidates. The endorsement by these unions was seen as a strategic move, reflecting dissatisfaction with the labor relations under the Carter administration and Reagan’s support for better conditions for union members
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Hmmm, sounds like Trump above. very Trumpian of Reagan
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Today is the Resistant’s Hands off Day calling all Trump and Musk haters to gather and rejoice in their toxic messaging. It’s an event being staged around the country and talked about on Facebook and other social media platforms. From the photos posted crowds have been satisfyingly large for them. The hypocrisy, however, is overwhelming in how this same crowd just sat on their hands while the Biden Administration crushed free speech, our very sovereignty by it’s open, unvetted borders without a whimper of resistance.l
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Fla2025, if you haven’t noticed, both Bitter and Jason refuse to see the many stances, policies, even biography similarities Reagan and Trump share. I think if they did so it would taint their idolized image of Reagan.
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Possibly Jan. Or in Bitters case it’s denial and amnesia. Here’s a little reminder for him –
President Ronald Reagan implemented significant tariffs and quotas on Japanese cars during his presidency. Reagan’s actions were primarily focused on the automotive sector, where he persuaded Japan to adopt significant “voluntary” automobile import restraints to limit the number of cars exported to the U.S. market.
These measures were part of a broader trade policy aimed at protecting American manufacturers and workers from what was perceived as unfair competition from Japanese carmakers. The quotas were intended to force Japanese automakers to invest in U.S.-based manufacturing capacity, which they did over the following decade
Additionally, President Ronald Reagan took several trade measures against the Japanese electronics industry during his presidency, particularly in response to perceived unfair trade practices. In 1987, Reagan imposed a 100% tariff on Japanese electronic products, including semiconductors, due to Japan’s failure to enforce a trade agreement on these devices. This action was seen as the first trade sanctions against Japan since World War II and was met with strong reactions from Japanese officials and business leaders, who called it provocative and warned of potential inflationary effects and retaliatory measures that could lead to a global trade war.
Additionally, in 1985, Reagan’s trade “strike force,” which included key cabinet members, recommended that he initiate unfair trade complaints against Japan for selling semiconductors below their fair value. This recommendation was part of a broader effort to be more aggressive against unfair trade practices. The strike force also recommended accelerating other dumping cases brought by American chip companies, which accused Japanese companies of selling 256-kilobit random access memory (RAM) chips, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) chips, and 64-kilobit RAM chips at below-market prices.
In 1986, the U.S. and Japan reached an agreement on semiconductors. This agreement aimed to increase U.S. chip sales in Japan and other countries by addressing predatory pricing practices by Japanese companies. The agreement was seen as a significant victory for the Reagan administration’s trade policy, which was under pressure due to concerns about record trade deficits. However, there were concerns that Japan might not fully comply with the agreement, and the U.S. reserved the right to reinstate trade complaints if necessary.
Reagan’s actions were part of a broader strategy to address unfair trade practices and protect American industries. He often emphasized that while he was generally opposed to trade barriers, they were sometimes necessary to ensure fair competition
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Zzzzzzz. So can Trump can make a mistake because Reagan made a mistake. Got it.
Save your lectures. I lived through Reagan’s excellent Presidency.
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Trump will NEVER be as successful or as decent as a person as Reagan.
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LOl! According to Bitter, Reagan’s primary trade policies to protect American manufacturing were a “Mistake”. OOOkay!
We lived through Reagan as well Bitter and his first 2 years were bumpy as heck with horrible economic conditions and 2 recessions. We got pummeled in the midterms but eventually his policies worked out, inflation was tamed and he had a great 2nd term election. Trump has 3 and 3/4 years left. The jury is way out at this time just like Reagan. We’ll see if he’s as successful with his economic policies. As a good Republican I know you are pulling for him. He’s the leader of your party after all, LOL! Deal with it.
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No one was using success as a measurement of Reagan’s and Trump’s similarity. What has been posted is the similarity of their opinions and direction of their policies. How successful Trump becomes in his second term has yet to be proven. Unfortunately, however, there are numerous crystal ball readers, all seeing nothing but negativity in the future of Trump’s policies. Sad…to not at least give the man a short runway of a chance.
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That’s the funny thing Jan. The same naysayers and republicans backsliders were there in Reagan’s first 2 years. As the article above noted, business leaders were complaining about the same things in connection with Reagan’s tariffs . All of which never happened and to the contrary, things worked out great. It’s quite ironic.
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What are the similarities in the biographies of Reagan and Trump? Reagan grew up middle class with an alcoholic dad. Trump was given money growing up by his dad, went to private schools and was started in business by his dad. Reagan’s wife divorced him. Trump cheated on his wives and destroyed his marriages. Reagan was a 2 term Governor and conservative for decades. Trump only became a Republican to run in 2015 because Hillary was getting the Dem nomination.
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Cheap attorney tactic. Set up a false argument and knock it down. No one said they had personal similarities , although some are there. There protect American manufacturing and worker policies with tariffs, trade barriers and heavy handed coercion/negotiation were similar as can be seen from the above articles. But you know that already.
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Cheap attorney tactic. Set up a false argument and knock it down.
Like Tina’s free passer lies about things nobody has ever said at HHR.
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Man, she really knows how to get under your skin. LOl! Are you sure you’re not downing any beers while watching this Auburn Florida game? Gotta go with the Auburn MAGA coach on this one.
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I last drank 2 beers in Montreal in 2015. Never wanted to again and have never missed it.
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Funny, but I’m not surprised, and I promise not to hold that against you.
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Why are you not surprised I don’t drink?
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Bitter, I need to head down to Miami for an engagement. Tell you what. Next time Tina posts a joke and you once again respond to it in an uptight and humorless manner , I’ll explain it to you. Got to run. Have a good night!
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I don’t need alcohol to be fun in responding to Tina’s lies. The rest of my family drank enough for me. You think people need to drink to be fun? I don’t. I don’t care if people drink or not but you judge me for it.
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Fla – Your lectures are tiresome.
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Fla2025, if you haven’t noticed, both Bitter and Jason refuse to see the many stances, policies, even biography similarities Reagan and Trump share. – Jan
No one said they had personal similarities , although some are there. – Fla2025.
But I read at HHR that nobody was comparing Reagan and Trump’s personal lives.
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Trump got my vote 3 times to beat Hillary, Biden, and Harris. Won 2 of 3. Any other successes were a bonus. After beating Harris, I have no expectations of Trump since defeating her was what I asked of him.
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https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/just-in-trump-announces-major-breakthrough-in-trade-deal-negotiations-with-the-u-k-cmc/#google_vignette
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US produces 10% or semiconductors in the world but not the most advanced. I guess Reagan trade war on that was not a long lasting result.
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even biography similarities Reagan and Trump share. – Jan
They both were married multiple times (Reagan twice, Trump three times). They both remained friendly with ex-wives. They both came from entertainment backgrounds.
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Damn. Duke choked that game away. If I lost a game like that in girls’ Rec baketball, I wouldn’t sleep for days.
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I guess Jan will be naming more pets after Trump. Maybe a cat named MAGA or a dog named Tariff.
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Good night bitter. Hope your leg is better as time goes on.
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TNT
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