Trump is the exemplar of a toxic partner

Peter Paul Reubens. Saturn Devouring His Son. 1636.
In time Trump will devour the US Democracy.
Do not let him take down the world with it.

Break up with Trump now. He is toxic. Trump is the worst partner you've ever had. He lies. He cheats. He can never be trusted. He will take and take. He will manipulate everything to his will. Trump is a self serving, attention seeking egomaniac and you must walk out and never look back.  

Trump is the epitome of a bad relationship partner. He's the one everyone warned you about. He's the guy with the supposed clout and friends at the party or so it seems. But get the low down and he and his friends are the ones who date rape, lie about their family money, and brag endlessly, stealing credit from others and creating stories whole cloth. He is a douche frat boy.

He's the con artist. He's the cheater with the card up his sleeve. He's the one running the shell game at the park. He is playing with three partial decks and has declared Jokers Wild while wearing bells on his cap. He doesn't play by the rules. He has no rules but always wants to be the dealer, the bank. He takes the ball and leaves when he can't win.

Trump is the worst person you ever met. He scams your grandma over the phone saying send money now or your grandkid goes to jail. He's the preacher in the pulpit with empty promises of pearly gates, streets of gold, and threats of hell fire and damnation. He's the guy in the robes lighting the fires and hanging the man from the tree. He is a horrible, horrible human being.

He is definitely, without a doubt, a two face liar who doesn't honor deals, changes the terms, and lies about his role in anything, anything at all, no matter how small or large.

Do not think you can cajole this bastard into better terms on tariffs. Do not ever rely on him to bring the US to back your play even if you offer him everything, on his terms. He will renege. Trump will always let you down.

Dear World, Walk Away. Leave US behind. The US is no longer a reliable trade partner. The US is no longer an advocate for Democracy. The US will not send assistance, whether food or military or emergency, or meet treaty obligations. Walk Away. Trump is Toxic and he has bet the US reputation and the global economy on you bending the knee, stroking his ego, and subjecting yourself to his abuse. Walk away. He only wins when you lose. No middle ground. It's either/or. Compromise is not in his vocabulary. And you must lose for him to win. Walk Away.

Any inequities in fact were part of a larger balance of power. We asserted more influence economically and politically on the global stage than any perceived, alleged trade deficit. We held the cards. You catered to our whims and we kept the imbalances in play because it suited our governance strategy. The proverbial bread to maintain the DC circus was provided to sate our populace. It's all bread and circuses and you are witnessing The Fall of the Empire.

Our uber wealthy bought Swiss made luxury goods which created the unequal trade balance.* But it kept the aspiring middle and upper classes thinking that if they had access to these luxe items they could play the game and wear the bling too. But the value was based on lies, the falsehood that if it costs more, it must be better and I'll be better too.

The poor classes flocked to Dollar stores for cheap Chinese crap, sub par, sub standard. And we got all the merch others populated their homes with, even if the homes were just rentals, even when the junk broke in a year or less. Cheap crap meant more, more, more to decorate our lives and distract from our internal economic inequalities. 

The lower middle class bought the IKEA furniture. The aspirants wanted to own the Nike wear. Those who could get mortgages bought shoddily built homes on tiny plots in cookie cutter neighborhoods. Everyone had knock off jewelry and fast fashion, something new for every day of the month, all provided from cheap labor everywhere but here. It was the bread so the circus of clowns in DC could keep us in our caste. All the while the lotto was the only hope anyone really had at becoming the next American millionaire.

Now Trump has toppled this delicate balance and if you step away and let it play out, the American consumers will feel the pinch. They won't be able to meet their need for Instagram's hottest trend. Their closets will be less over filled. They will want what they can no longer afford because we've been living off credit for so long, there is no more credit to be had. Jesus won't answer their prayers for new phones, new cars, new stuff. White middle class Republican mega church goers will ask their leaders why their prosperity gospel god no longer shows his blessings. 

Eventually the Republicans will take Trump's tariffs off the board. It will take time but it's already starting as the remaining Koch brother and Mega MAGA Catholic L. Leo, SCOTUS and Project 2025 whisperer, sue to stop their investments from dwindling, demanding tariffs halted. It's starting to break the Republican ranks with senior Republicans critical of tariffs speaking out. Titan Trump is beginning to eat his own, declaring Trump Derangement Syndrome amongst his own party's nay-sayers, while his derangement grows amidst growing Republican estrangement. 

You, dear world, need to let US clean up this mess. We are toxic. We are bad for you. We have cost you too much for too long and you need to walk away from this bad relationship. You can do it. You have each other. You have other friends, real friends, real partners. You have what it takes to go on without US. Save yourself.

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*On an even more absurd note, Lesotho, with its major export of Diamonds is too poor to reciprocate, sees a 50% tariff for its imports. Will the Trump jewel encrusted donors stand for this or will it really matter to the ultra-wealthy? It may mean fewer and fewer of the lower classes and younger people will opt for a diamond. But this is the generation criticized for leaving behind golf and fabric softener too. Lest we forget many of these also find themselves unable to buy a home at the current rates. When Trump can not and will not address the problems at home, his response has been to deflect and distract and in this, the nonsensical trade war, has seen its only measure of success. 

Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary, said of tariff rates without using actual tariff data: “This is to economics what creationism is to biology, astrology is to astronomy, or RFK thought is to vaccine science.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that Europeans "hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak.” Nellie Bowles of The Free Press wrote, “They hate our beef because of how beautiful our beef is. Our beef, which grazes on shredded Teflon and plastic shower curtains to create a marbling of microplastics. They’re jealous.”