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Yay my favourite toys are exempted from trumps tax. I am now encouraged to purchase the 2026 macbook pro with a max chip & a 1tb iphone 17 pro max.
 
I look forward to the news monday that the tarriff is back on, unless you can pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time. Or someone else walks in the room and tells him Tom Apple called him a poo poo head...
 
I doubt it had anything to do with it.

If giving Trump $1m was in any way helpful, these exemptions would've been announced as the tariffs were announced on April 2nd, stopping hundreds of billions of dollars being wiped off the value of Apple in the first place.

If, on the other hand, you're right and the $1m is the reason Apple has these exemptions now, then you really do have to wonder why anyone would do business with Trump at all ever:

Cook: "Here's $1m for your inauguration fund, Donny."
Trumpet: "Thank you bigly."
...
Trumpet: "145% tariffs!"
Cook: "*****?! You just wiped $700bn off our value!"
Trumpet: "Oh, I guess you did give me $1m, here's an exemption."
Cook: "Bit late for that, don'tcha think?"
Of course that's not how it went, because that is an absurd narrative, but that's not how "pay to play" works. It's far more systemic.

It's all about access, and the motivations behind tariffs are far more than the publicly stated ones (which I have no doubt are the intent, but there are many more). One of those is very likely to create a domestic contingent of "winners" and "losers". And in that way, there is no such thing as "bit late", because "win" and "lose" is relative.

By purchasing access with exactly donations like this tcook got himself/aapl a seat/shot at the "winner's" circle where the deck is now stacked to give them some insulation (likely merely one such "donation" in Beltway access games, one in which lobbyists, development companies, PACs, Super PACs, etc transfer massive amounts of not just direct wealth but access, favor, and market-influence/making).

Think I am nuts? Look at how the exemptions are carved out. It's a very good market position for those who made it "in" and those that didn't.


It is 100% how Washington works, whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not.
 
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Most people believe Trump is the only one in his administration coming up with these tariff ideas, apparently since he's the only one who has the power to impose them. More coverage needs to be done on whether Trump is really the one who's been coming up with these "creative" international trade policies, and what the real goals are.
 
Most people believe Trump is the only one in his administration coming up with these tariff ideas, apparently since he's the only one who has the power to impose them. More coverage needs to be done on whether Trump is really the one who's been coming up with these "creative" international trade policies, and what the real goals are.
Given he has been publicly talking about this since the 1980s, yes.

Also, this exemption is a bad idea and should have a subset clause.
 
EVERYTHING I DO IS PART OF THE PLAN - even when I unplan what I planned, except when I do things which ARENT PART OF THE PLAN. But, the PLAN is mystersious, many people come to me with tears in their eyes and say SIR THIS IS THE MOST MYSTERIOUS PLAN WE HAVE EVER SEEN. The FAKE NEWS MEDIA is the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. - THEY HATE TRUMP. Nobody n the history of a MONKEYS UNLCE HAS DONE MORE FOR THE UNIVERSE. I'm even making deals now, many deals, THE MOAT BEAUTIFUL DEALS THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.

-@RealDonaldTrumo
 
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Honestly, who in their right mind would want to invest anything in a country where laws change radically nearly every hour ?
Trump and his enablers are closely following the Viktor Orban approach in Hungary, and adapting it for the US.
 
I bet you are taking more naps than president Trump.

He is Working just about every day - it's hard just to keep up with all the Whitehouse briefings and cabinet Youtube stuff. If you watch all of it you will have to be impressed. He is working hard! I mean he is also approaching ancient age!
You'd think with all that "busyness" that Trump and his enablers would be accomplishing good things. But they're carefully doing the opposite.
 
Most people believe Trump is the only one in his administration coming up with these tariff ideas, apparently since he's the only one who has the power to impose them. More coverage needs to be done on whether Trump is really the one who's been coming up with these "creative" international trade policies, and what the real goals are.

I think a lot has been said about his love for tariffs since 2016 and we have seen the tariffs from Trump 1.0. With Trump I don't think we need to overthink this.

But yea, the question is how does he get the power to unilaterally decide things like without going through due process. Rhetorical question anyway. The party lets him, congress, the senate and the courts didn't say no. Derelict of duty right there.
 
No, actually no. It feels and looks like one man show
It's actually far from a one man show but how that's so doesn't help. Trump has all sorts of people coming and going saying all sorts of things that are often contradictory. And I don't mean this in the sense of a good leader getting various opinions, but in a much more chaotic form where whomever has his ear last may win.
 
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