Donald Trump has garnered a reputation for being a fool that doesn’t understand politics. I think that opinion is accurate, as it pertained to his first term. He was too trusting and took people at their word. That doesn’t work in DC. Out politicians are simply not moral or ethical people- and I’m talking about BOTH parties here.
However, I think that has changed. He is giving people what they expect to see and is playing them for the self interested crooks that they are.
He wanted NATO to pay for their own defense. There was no way to get that to happen while being nice. For too long, the US has been buying quasi-friendship by throwing barrels of money around. This is how Europe could afford free heathcare and other social programs (well, that and gas costing more than $20 per gallon, thanks to taxation).
Instead of the status quo of, “Won’t you please stop taking our money?” he threatened to invade Greenland. He clearly never intended to do so, or it would have happened. Ask Venezuela how that works. Now, though, NATO is so worried about Trump’s invasion, they are once again providing for their own protection.
Case in point: the USA doesn’t use or need oil from the Persian Gulf. Now that Venezuela and the USA can work together to produce oil, the nations of the EU, China, and India can figure out how to secure their own oil without having to rely on using the USA as their worldwide police force and sugar daddy.
And it looks like that is exactly what is happening.
14 Comments
Honk Honk · March 29, 2026 at 9:33 am
Conmen gonna con, liars gonna lie, Yankees gonna Yankee.
4-D checkers all around.
Michael · March 29, 2026 at 10:51 am
SNIP The United States currently imports roughly 10% of its total oil from Middle Eastern countries.
In recent years, the U.S. has significantly reduced its reliance on Middle Eastern oil due to increased domestic production and a shift toward suppliers in the Western Hemisphere. Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait now account for only about 10% of U.S. oil imports, down from around 20% five years ago, marking the lowest share since the 1970s (TrendsMask).
trendsmask.com
Import Volumes and Sources
In 2024, the U.S. imported an average of 8.42 million barrels of petroleum per day, with Canada supplying over 4.7 million barrels per day, making it the largest foreign supplier (USImportData). Imports from OPEC nations, which include Middle Eastern countries, totaled approximately 1.3 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia alone supplied roughly 550,000 barrels per day (WorldPopulationReview).
So, were JUST cutting out 3.72 million barrels BUT, BUT, BUT What about Venezuela? Yeah, about that, we’ve got them UP to just about 500,000 barrels max production. Using old rickety poorly maintained equipment after decades of socialism.
Now WONDER what happens if Canada decides that China is a better oil customer and some odd food riots in Venezuela occur.
SNIP Domestic Production and Reserves
The U.S. has historically been a major helium producer, with the Federal Helium Reserve in Amarillo, Texas, supplying up to 30% of the country’s helium. Additional smaller facilities exist in states like Colorado and Wyoming, but domestic production alone is insufficient to meet total demand, especially for critical uses such as MRI machines, semiconductor manufacturing, and aerospace applications.
Global Supply Considerations
Globally, helium is produced as a byproduct of natural gas extraction. Qatar and Russia are among the largest producers, with Qatar historically supplying roughly one-third of the world’s helium. Geopolitical events, such as the Iran-Qatar conflict, have disrupted helium production and shipping, highlighting the U.S.’s reliance on foreign sources to maintain critical industrial and medical operations.
I do wish people would quit thinking were America of the 60″s that EXPORTED everything to the world instead of CURRENT America that exports some oil, a decent amount of food and DEBT in the form of T-bills.
Speaking of Food:
SNIP Yes, America imports fertilizer. The United States relies on fertilizers to boost crop yields and maintain soil fertility, importing significant amounts from countries like Canada, Russia, and China, which account for 30% of ammonia and 55% of phosphate rock imports. While the U.S. produces its own fertilizers through various methods, it also depends on global supply chains for certain types of fertilizers
I hear Russia AND China canceled fertilizer exports. Wonder if Canada is going to be selling the world fertilizer at “Market Prices” due to shortages?
My fertilizer order I placed last year was canceled due to “unforeseen circumstances”. I asked around locally and several farmers around here are also searching for more fertilizer.
I wonder what groceries are going to cost about mid summer-early fall when Expected crops are to replace last year’s crops currently in the food system.
Divemedic · March 29, 2026 at 11:41 am
Well then, by all means, we should continue being the world’s police force and continue sending our young men to die in the middle east.
Michael · March 29, 2026 at 2:49 pm
No, not the message damn it. Indeed, listening to all the Chest Thumping Mah AMERICA lets bust up Iran crowd WE don’t NEED the Middle East Oil (Trump’s WE Don’t NEED the Strait OPEN) and all that BS.
Facts are they are living in the fantasy military and economy of the mid 60’s or so.
It’s we’ve HOLLOWED out our country by shipping our industry overseas and closing fertilizer factories Because it “was MORE Profitable” to have China and Asia do it.
We closed mines and processing helium and such thing that are IMPORTANT because it was “too dirty” and American THINK, Asia SWEATS.
We replaced factories and Research and Development (aside from war machines for the most part) with the FIRE Economy because it was (ON PAPER) Such a Wealth Builder.
SNIP A FIRE economy is any economy based primarily on the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors. Homes became INVESTMENTS and look how the prices soared.
We EXPORT mostly oil, food and American DEBT (See FIRE) as the Petrodollar gave the whole freaking world a REAL Need to have a bunch of US Dollars to buy oil. The Middle East is a huge buyer of T-bills (look it up). Or at least before this war. We’ll see.
EVER WONDER why so many folks have despair and are not buying homes?
NO JOBS Worth having aside from Medicine and Gov.com employment.
America didn’t “WIN” the Cold War against the USSR with bombs.
We WON it with Coca Cola and our abundance of good life high quality consumer goods.
People WANTED to be LIKE Americans, have American type JOBS that allowed a man to have a family, a wife (mostly at home) 3-4 kids a nice Home in the Suburbs. You know the “American Dream”. Not just Freeloading OFF Americans.
Now a select few run computers and FIRE economy themselves rich. The rest of us aside from well skilled needful folks like Nursing struggle to have a decent life.
Our founding fathers said it clearly enough.
No Entangling foreign alliances as they knew Europe was always fighting about something and they wanted to stay out of it as much as possible.
No SEARCHING the world for Dragons to slay.
Our simplified history was the Barbary Pirates became a problem; we built a navy and sent the marines over there to stomp them. Hugely BS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_corsairs
SNIP The Barbary threat led directly to the United States founding the United States Navy in March 1794. While the United States did secure peace treaties with the Barbary states, it was obliged to pay tribute for protection from attack. The burden was substantial: from 1795, the annual tribute paid to the Regency of Algiers amounted to 20% of United States federal government’s annual expenditures.
Eventually after England no longer needed them as an ally a series of European Nations got together and “convinced” them to stop.
Interesting reading.
Our founding fathers didn’t try to impose Democracy on anybody. They defended themselves well enough that folks generally left us alone. No World Police BS.
All this to say we need to figure out a way out of this damn Tar Baby Scillian Expedition before we lose America. Our own country seems to be in the middle of a CIA Color Revolution and we’re burning up our countries Blood and Treasure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Expedition
Before Feb 28th 2026 trade in the middle east was normal. Iran wasn’t charging jizya taxes, but since Israel told Trump they were going for it with or without us (various mumbling excuses later) we ended up fighting a war that we didn’t need.
Now ONLY nations that declare themselves NON-Combatants in this Israel-American war AND PAY 2 million dollars Worth of Chinese Yuan are allowed safe passage.
And soon enough I suspect as Israel continues to be blasted by Iran that dear BIG BROTHER America is going to do something really stupid to “handle this” before Israels nukes start flying.
Please read what happened during the Scillian Expedition.
ghostsniper · March 29, 2026 at 4:59 pm
I can’t argue with anything you have written here except for the word “we”.
The politicians do not strive for the best interests of the citizens and are therefore not American’s and I am not part of that group nor am I responsible in any way for their behavior. In short, I am not a “we”.
Trumps front yard is grossly in disrepair but he’s more concerned with an obscure yard on the otherside of town. A crack upside the head is in order.
Jim · March 29, 2026 at 9:46 pm
Tell me something I don’t know! I am a strident believer in American exceptionalism, You mentioned only one thing that caught my eye. Food. Are you growing it for profit? I grow to nourish my body. Brother I’m fine. You guys are collectivists. I say I’m an individual. I don’t need you in my life.
ghostsniper · March 29, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Seems to be a snide remark to what was a well laid out comment.
In the 70’s I seen 3 years worth of zoll’s up close.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_guards_of_the_inner_German_border
They could have stopped sending troops over there any time they wanted.
But everybody knows the politicians have never been for what’s best for the country and that goes for now too.
HH475 · April 1, 2026 at 2:46 pm
The statement “The United States currently imports roughly 10% of its total oil from Middle Eastern countries.” is true, but the implication is misleading — that we don’t make enough oil for energy needs. The reason that we import that oil is because most US oil is light sweet crude, but some of our Gulf refineries are geared up for heavy crude, which was traditionally more common when we imported more of our oil.
It is profoundly expensive to retool a major refinery, so Importing and refining heavy crude leverages that infrastructure and maximizes profits. So, the US imports about 8.5 million barrels a day and exports 10.15 million barrels a day.
It’s incorrect to interpret a processing capability mismatch with a resources problem. The same thing is true for helium, etc. The US is thus a net importer of crude oil and a net exporter of refined products/total petroleum products. It may or may not be economically worthwhile to modify our refining and processing capabilities, but this is not, fundamentally, a question of whether or not we are energy independent.
Similarly, helium and fertilizer are issues of industrial capacity, not resources. We are burning off natural gas right now because we extract more than we can handle. The answer is not to pretend that we are doomed to be resource insufficient. The answer is to rectify the processing problems. And that’s the bit difference between MAGA folk and DNC folk. The Dems see our lack of self-reliance as a feature, not a bug, and the MAGA folk see it as a problem to be solved.
Mike_C · March 29, 2026 at 7:08 pm
Boy I sure hope you’re right about this 15-dimensional chess stuff. Not optimistic about it, but wouldn’t it be nice if….
Bear in Indy · March 30, 2026 at 12:07 am
Michael, you are so either full of BS, OR you are a troll. So. FO with your crap.i believe NOTHING you write.
Bear in Indy….
Vlad the non-Impaler · March 31, 2026 at 6:28 am
I don’t know Bear.
Michael’s comment, “America didn’t “WIN” the Cold War against the USSR with bombs. We WON it with Coca Cola and our abundance of good life high quality consumer goods”, seems to be accurate.
We out produced the commies and sent our goods worldwide. (Think Levi’s)
As such, a LOT of “goodwill” was sent far and wide and it did have influence worldwide.
(Even if the “influence” was relatively short lived due to making the stock holders happy)
It may have been fleeting decades of OUR production before getting outsourced to Asia or South America but it did spread the word that Made in the USA meant quality.
Those days seem to be sadly in the past.
Remember when a US made vehicle was a source of pride? I’ve driven a Toyota for over 20 yrs and will NEVER look back due to the utter reliability. (My was made in TX I think)
Now some American vehicles have good reviews but I am happy mine seem bullet proof.
Scot Irish · April 2, 2026 at 2:34 am
He’s a deep thinker. He should go by Jack Handy.
Michael · April 7, 2026 at 7:29 am
That the Secretary of Agriculture had to announce this is concerning:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rollins-says-80-of-us-farmers-will-be-unaffected-by-rise-in-fertilizer-prices/ar-AA20hRlN?ocid=BingNewsSerp
I hope everybody invests in a deep larder. The food on the shelves today was last years harvest.
lynn · March 30, 2026 at 2:45 pm
I wonder what Trump’s exit strategy is ? He and his family will be hounded by the dumbrocrats for the rest of their lives.
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