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Putting hyperbole aside, what would a Trump presidency really be like?

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taoofjord

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I'm looking for some informed predictions to calm some fears and maintain sanity in case of a Trump win this election season. The amount of anxiety and stress I'm currently under due to the election is absolutely not healthy. So without further ado:

Trump comes across as a fascist but would he ever really be anything more than a President?

Say what you want about America being a bully, but Trump seems to really want to reinforce that notion. How far might he actually get? How irreversible might the damage be?

He's racist and would likely try to put policies into place that continue to oppress minorities. What kinds of policies might he try to pass? Do you think most of them would pass? How much would the country regress?

He doesn't believe in global warming and would try to undo some of the progress we've made there (which by all accounts isn't that much anyway). How likely is it that these policies would pass?

Finally, if he were to win. As a liberal, how will you cope?
 
Non-functional. He wouldn't be able to staff anything in a way that works and also shut down lots of different departments because he can't get anyone in there
 
I think it would be impossible to describe a Trump presidency without using words or phrases that would be deemed hyperbole. Trump is hyperbole on 2 legs.
 
It won't be as scary as some people think. He'll lower taxes like you would expect a GOP president but the building of the wall, the ban on all muslims, and a lot of his campaign rhetoric would die in congress.
 
Honestly?

We have no idea. I don't think he'll be able to enact any of the bullshit he's spouting every day, so probably not that much different.

But, he does have his small finger on the red button. That's enough to scare most.

BronsonLee said:
It either wouldn't last very long at all or other more qualified people would pick up the slack in secret
Click to expand...

It's no secret- We already know how much power Trump would give his cabinet... His son basically told Kasich that if he were to accept the VP nom, that he would be responsible for both foreign and domestic policy.
 
Massive civil unrest, way more than now.

A drop in the value of the USD, and USD-made goods.

US debt holders would blackball trade, and major trade disruption would take place.

With the US shamed on the world stage, you'd see other players scramble for the position that the US held as a safe harbor for finances for generations.

Or, a JFK-type event, likely from a foreign source.
 
I agree he'd probably be actually non-functional as a president. I'm more worried about the rest of the world's reaction to how dumb it would be to elect him and stuff like the stock market and gas prices.
 
From a policy standpoint Trump would gut any climate change regulation and pass a massive tax cut. Those are two policies of his that Republicans support 100%. The senate would block anything super-racist like a bill to deport Muslims or something.

The problem is that in foreign policy Congress can't do much to stop him. Its pretty clear that Trump would try to renegotiate NAFTA and maybe the US's entry into the WTO. That's going to completely screw up international trade and will likely cause a big recession. Look at how the UK economy is responding to the Brexit vote. This would likely be much worse.
 
Hard to say, given that Trump pretty much says whatever the electorate wants to hear without being too specific.

Regardless, the system is bigger than any one person to fuck up. Remember all those people who said that Clinton would destroy America? Remember all those people who said that Bush is the worst president ever and a modern day Hitler? Remember all those people who said Obama would usher in 1000 years of darkness? Yeah, I'm sensing a pattern.
 
Forgetting the bigorty, racism, and other social topics, I think he's completely fuck the economy and destabilize the middle-east even more. His policies would increase terrorism and ruin a lot of trade and diplomatic relations. He'd leave the entire world a much worse place. If people think white people will be fine or it will just be minorities effected then you're kidding yourself.
 
Is it true that if he actually acts on some of the stuff he's said about NATO it would be seen as treason?
 
If you're male, middle-class (or better), and white, you can basically ignore politics in general as it doesn't really effect you. For everyone else though......
 
We'd likely end up with the most conservative supreme court in the history of this country. As a result Citizen's United would have no chance of ever being removed, and money in politics just becomes the norm for the United States. Abortion and Gay Marriage would be in serious peril, if not outright gone within a few years, potentially even after Trump was out of office.

All those bills we've been laughing at for 6 years as "lol GOP" that Obama just vetoes will come to pass. Stuff like Net Neutrality would be gone, voter ID laws, Obamacare repeal, privatized Social Security, stuff like that.

White nationalists would be empowered and violence against minority groups will increase significantly.

We'd be the laughing stock of the world, our foreign relations would deteriorate. NATO would be weakened and Europe would be at a greater risk from Russia.

Uncertainly would tank the dollar, and long term the economy would suffer.

I really struggle to think of a single positive.
 
The only thing we know for sure is that he will appoint republican justices and push republican agenda. When it comes to gun control, lgbt rights and marriage, immigration, etc, things will be set in motion to push the republican approach.

When it comes to war he will not suddenly transform the American government into a dictatorship and do whatever he wants. He will push the limits of executive orders, but I don't know how different that is for any potential president honestly.

When it comes to establishing unity, if his campaign is anything to go by he will further continue to push the divide between various groups. He is not a unifier. He is one that finds strength in emphasizing division
 
The Supreme Court would be crazy.

I would hope most of the insane plans would not make it through Congress but who knows?

Foreign Policy would be a mess that would take decades to recover from.

Racists and Bigots will come out of the woodwork and feel more empowered than ever.
 
Like those pictures of dogs with the caption "I have no idea what I'm doing".

He'd probably have his cronies do the heavy lifting.
 
Judicial appointments down the board, some asshole as Solicitor General, etc.

Republicans in the mold of Robert Gates simply don't exist on the national stage anymore.
 
Really Trump would likely not do much of anything; though his mouth alone could instigate trouble with other countries.

I'd expect him to just leave Pence to handle most matters, which is terrifying in its own right.
 
Non Functional, certainly. It's hard to know where he stands on a lot of issues because he's back and forth so who knows, but the GOP will push measures through the house and senate that he probably won't even think twice on blocking which is scary.

Certainly conservative Supreme Court judges will be put in so future cases are going to swing that way. Civil Liberties in particular would take a hit there.

Other countries won't give him the time of day because nobody takes him seriously, nor should they. I hope a lot of countries just turn their back. As much as I feel we'd need their help in these times, if the US is dumb enough to elect Trump then I can't blame them.

And a whole lot of embarrassment. I can't imagine what kind of speech he would give after some tragedy. "Let me tell you about that fire, it was 'uge. Most spectacular fire I've ever seen. Yeah, lost some houses. Some people died, but the US has the most amazing beautiful natural disasters in the world."
 
Foreign policy is screwed, as he turns a blind eye to Russian aggression and his cowboy up attitude toward ISIS just causes more issues in the region.

Domestic economics takes a nosedive as he walks away from various trade agreements and pisses off other nations during negotiations.

Racial divisions escalate as he scapegoats various races and faiths, leading to increased domestic violence. Not to mention strife between us and nations he blames for this or that.

Freedom of the press suffers as he go in hard against any outlet who dares print items critical of him.

Torture becomes a common tool of police work as he uses it against anyone suspected of 'terrorism' with no judicial recourse, similar to bush.

Ultra-conservative supreme court rolls back many civil rights, and pushes more pro-corperate and pro-evangelical positions. Damage would take decades to undo, if ever.
 
I mean, a large part of it would depend on how much Trump is actually able to pull off what he says he wants to do.

However, given that, it's hard to overstate the damage the country would feel if we were to suddenly withdraw from NATO and the WTO, two things Trump has expressed interest in. It's difficult for me to say it without sounding hyperbolic, because leaving these organizations is literally a historically stupid decision. The kind of decision that historians would point to in their books "What Happened to America?"
 
SC would be stacked with garbage worse than Scalia for decades to come, white supremacists all over the country will feel emboldened, at least 1 or 2 major foreign policy blunders will have been made, and the world will have been made a much worse place when all is said and done.
 
The Supreme Court is gonna turn back the clock decades. Scary.

Awful time for all minorities.

Also, might be a minor thing, but internet companies are probbaly fuck us harder than ever.
That deregulation!
 
The scariest thing is that people don't realize that collectively, the GOP agrees with him on most of the things he says, despite them feigning resistance.

He won't be alone in pushing his agenda. That is what makes him so dangerous.
 
It would be whatever a Mike Pence presidency would be like except with the added embarrassment of having a clown as a figurehead.

Basically conservative Christian theocracy. Gay people, non-Christians and ethnic minorities would be significantly marginalized. The deficit would likely skyrocket as the White House pushes massive tax breaks to people with enough disposable income to buy an island. Essential services would be pulled away from the most disadvantaged Americans because of bootstraps. American diplomacy would be in shambles and the lack of cooperation our Clownmander-in-Chief would receive from foreign governments would end up with our dear leader making more threats of war than the Kim family.
 
People have blown him up to be Mega Hitler and Satan combined. He's not. He's just some dude who isn't qualified for the job and says stupid shit.

He wouldn't be able to get a wall built or have muslims banned from entering the country or anything.
 
It'd probably be as bad as Andrew Jackson's presidency. Except that Jackson did not have access to this size military or nuclear weapons. And the US did not play any role in protecting other democracies at that time.
 
At the bar minimum? Every single terrible law that Obama has vetoed will be in place.

That's terrifying in of itself without having to add in the crazy scary stuff Trump wants on top of that.
 
wopr3.jpg


Probably nothing that bad domestic policywise, his worst shit will probably not get anywhere or get struck down by SCOTUS, but the shitstorm from them not passing will cause serious unrest. The economy will faulter, his foreign policy will be a joke, his entire administration will be a joke, and he'll ruin the supreme court for my lifetime.
 
taoofjord said:
Trump comes across as a fascist but would he ever really be anything more than a President?
Click to expand...

We're not gonna see him rise up like a dictator or anything but he has the ability to start wars and do all other kinds of crazy shit w/out approval of pretty much anyone but himself.

taoofjord said:
Say what you want about America being a bully, but Trump seems to really want to reinforce that notion. How far might he actually get? How irreversible might the damage be?
Click to expand...

For starters, he doesn't believe in following treaties (NATO, NAFTA) so that's a pretty huge deal that would have amazing consequences. A bedrock of signing treaties with the United States is that we believe in them and follow them, so if he starts ignoring them it could affect our ability to negotiate with other countries and really fuck us. He'll appoint at least 2 supreme court justices which will shape the court for another 20 years. He'll probably gut social services and be able to pass huge tax breaks that will further erode the American safety net (which is barebones as is).

taoofjord said:
He's racist and would likely try to put policies into place that continue to oppress minorities. What kinds of policies might he try to pass? Do you think most of them would pass? How much would the country regress?
Click to expand...

He'll start w/ the muslim ban and basically end our relationship with Mexico.

taoofjord said:
He doesn't believe in global warming and would try to undo some of the progress we've made there (which by all accounts isn't that much anyway). How likely is it that these policies would pass?
Click to expand...

Pretty likely with a republican congress, though to be honest w/ him as president, global warming is the least of our worries.

taoofjord said:
Finally, if he were to win. As a liberal, how will you cope?
Click to expand...

I'll just have to start living ignorantly. I won't have it in me to follow current events, I'll just insulate myself w/ my family, my job and my hobbies. Following the news and current evens on a daily basis will drive me mad.

One area I won't be able to ignore is that I work at non-profit that receives federal funding so I'll have the added stress of wondering how his presidency could affect my job. Should be fun if it comes to pass.
 
Considering there are already stories of him offering to differ to his VP for basically all matters. Without the hyperbole it would likely just be a lot of rubber stamping.
 
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