Trump is testing the waters for "Lebensraum".

[Cattledog]

The media is going along for the ride.

[carpetbagger]

1. You're mistaking Trump for Hitler.

Trump isn't thinking about American power, he's more of the grifter-tyrant type.

[Cattledog]

2. You mean the guy with a copy of AH speeches on his nightstand?

[wnylib]

3. What about the billionaire oligarchs who are part

of the orange fascist's inner circle?

I can easily see the muskrat pushing for annexation of other nations.

[sop]

4. Hitler was in it for the money, too.

"Most historians agree Hitler was the wealthiest man in Europe by the time he died."

"To summarize:"

"Book royalties - he forced the German state to buy miillions and millions of copies of his book, to distribute to citizens, allowing him to make obscene royalties from the sales. Conservative estimates are that Hitler forced the state to purchase at least 10 million copies of his book, which made him royalties of $300 million. He was a very corrupt man."

"Tax - he stopped paying tax around 1929. Then when in power, he wrote off his massive tax bill (millions), and changed the law so he never had to pay tax again. So he was paying zero tax on his massive, massive income. Again, more corruption."

"Nazi Party Money - Hitler paid himself a huge Nazi Party salary every year. The equivalent of $15 million dollars a year."

"State salary - Hitler also paid himself a huge taxpayer salary every year. Again, the modern day equivalent of millions of dollars a year."

"Stolen money - Hitler had huge amounts of assets when he dies. Mostly property, gold, silver and artwork. The modern day value of his assets is thought to be about $2 billion. He had almost $1 billion in gold bullion alone."

"Shakedown/protection money - The Nazis, were in reality, a criminal organization. Hitler received bribes (maffia style tributes) from all German companies. Business owners were put out of business, or in worst case scenarios, killed if they didn’t pay money to the Senior Nazi Party members. It’s assumed Hitler made millions of dollars every year just in kick-backs and bribes."

"To sum up, adjusted for inflation, his personal wealth and assets were thought to be around $6–7 billion. Although many argue he had even more hidden in foreign countries."

"And his personal income was thought to be at least $150 million a year."

Like Trump, Adolf knew hate pays really well.

[Happy Hoosier]

5. Not sure I agree...

It's about his ego, I think. He admires Putin, and he wants to out-Putin Putin by expanding the American Empire. He somehow thinks it will secure him a glorious spot in American History. But I'm sure he wants some kick-backs by auctioning off lucrative contracts or mineral rights.

[carpetbagger]

7. That's a lot of strategic thinking...

....for a guy who couldn't replicate a Russian military parade the first time. I'm not saying he won't invade places, but he'll do it for the ratings, not for rational (such as it might be called) strategic reasons.

[Happy Hoosier]

8. Oh.... he can't pull it off. This shit all popped up while...

... shooting the shit with sychophants at Merde-Loggo. No way ANY of this BS actually gets out of the gate.

Maybe that's good. If he is wasting time on shit like this, it'll hamper him from fucking up other stuff.

[carpetbagger]

6. I'm not arguing that he doesn't like Hitler.

I'm not arguing that he's not a fascist dictator.

I'm saying that his diplomatic and military persona seems not to be a reflection of a Greater American Empire dream like the Axis dictators, it looks more like his usual m.o., which is to treat the presidency like a reality show reminiscent of pro wrestling, choosing the next step of the adventure based on feedback from his country club and Fox News. He might get us in a new war. But I doubt it would be part of a coherent expansionist policy, not like Hitler, not even like Jackson, Polk, or McKinley.

So far, we saw Congress buckle on Chinese tech restrictions upon Musk's insistence (with Trump's support). Everything else for the next 12 days are words

[Firestorm49]

9. OK, you win. I went and looked up wtf lebensraum meant.