Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

When I was faster i was always behind.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

When we show up, we win.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Repub Influencers in Disarray

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Repub Influencers in Disarray

by | 100 Comments

This post is in: , ,

For some reason, BlueSky has — temporarily, I hope — disabled its drop-down embed function. This is annoying, not only because it makes my posts less vivid, but because I stockpile those snippets for future use.

Anybody got a work=around for a tech illiterate like me?
=====
Meanwhile, we can but hope this is a harbinger. Will Sommer, at the Bulwark — MAGA World Starts Turning on Trump’s Star Vote Getter:

EVERY RIGHT-WING INFLUENCER needs a shtick. Scott Presler’s is that he registers tons and tons of new Republican voters. Whenever there’s a crucial election coming up, there’s a good chance Presler will be in the area, registering scads of new voters for the GOP—and posting about it. A lot.

Often, Presler advertises how he targets unique demographic groups, like truck drivers or the Amish. This has made him into a heroic figure on the right and earned him more than 2 million followers on X. Every time the RNC chair seat is open, Presler’s fanbase demands that he be appointed to run the party. The president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump nearly did hire Presler to work for the RNC last year, until the resurfacing of an unsavory incident from Presler’s past in which he had sex in a Republican office, then posted the pictures on Craigslist. Presler is also gay, which made the incident a bit harder to land in GOP circles.

That colorful backstory hasn’t dimmed Presler’s star much, though. Last year, Elon Musk gave $1 million to Presler’s voter-registration PAC. Presler criss-crossed Wisconsin ahead of the state’s much-watched Supreme Court election in April, vowing that “the cavalry is on the way.”

But the cavalry failed to prevent a 10-point Republican defeat in that race. And since April, Presler has faced a growing chorus of Republican critics who say he is overstating the value of his voter-registration work, particularly in the battleground state of Pennsylvania…

Presler’s most prominent critic on the right has been Brandon Straka, a former friend of his who made his own name on the right as the head of the “WalkAway” movement, which encourages traditionally Democratic groups like LGBTQ people and racial minorities to “walk away” and become Republicans.

Presler and Straka have a lot in common. They’re both gay, they both have hairstyles that are unusually dramatic for operatives of the staid GOP, and they both claim to have brought new demographics into the Republican party…

They were also both in Washington on January 6th. But while Presler spent the day hugging his fans on the streets of D.C., according to his social media posts, Straka egged on the mob at the Capitol and was sentenced to three years of probation for it.1

Now the recipient of a presidential pardon, Straka has become an outspoken critic of Presler, claiming that he inflates his importance in a way that weakens Republican get-out-the-vote efforts. Straka calls it the “Scott Presler Early Vote Action delusion.”…

THE CLASH BETWEEN PRESLER AND HIS CRITICS is bigger than personalities. It’s about the fevered world of right-wing influencers seeking to position themselves as key to the party’s future—and whether anyone beyond Trump can take credit for GOP victories.

The 2024 election had seemed to quiet these debates. But they’ve revved back up with remarkable speed after Musk’s failed attempt to influence the Wisconsin Supreme Court race by flooding money into it. It raised the question of how valuable high-profile voter registration efforts actually are—or, more importantly, whether it’s election tactics or just Trump himself being on the ballot that is key for the GOP’s success…

Of course, the question of whether Don TACO’s unique apathetic-voter appeal has an ongoing legacy is not new. But I think this relatively niche bottom-feeder brouhaha might be an indicator that Elon Musk’s current public tantrums might be a leading indicator. To which I can only pray: As below, so above!

Reader Interactions

100Comments

  4. 4.

    Ohio Mom

    From one tech-illiterate person to another, can you copy what you want to save and paste it on a document?
    Maybe add a few notes so you can remember where and when the tweet (what are they called on BlueSky?) was published.

  8. 8.

    Hoodie

    Remember, Elon is nuts so his logic is a little warped and different than a lot of other conventional grifters.  He sees himself as the savior of humanity, namely through space exploration, EVs and other tech.  He cares about money to the extent it serves those goals, and in his mind those goals can only be fulfilled by Musk. To him Medicaid recipients are expendable – but I would bet that so are other billionaires. The BBB was a giant fuck you to him, showing who Trump really cares about.

  9. 9.

    JBWoodford

    @rikyrah: ​
     

    Yeah, no idea how much (if any) of this is kayfabe. If EM gets deported to the Sudan, though, that might convince me.

  10. 10.

    Old School

    ᶠᵃⁿ In-N-Out Burger
    @innoutburger_

    Friendships come and go, but In-N-Out will always be here for you.

  12. 12.

    Jeffro

    I don’t think too many Dems are overnight Elon stans…

    …we’re just thrilled at the MAGA infighting and wondering where we can get more popcorn!

  13. 13.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    Which Republican Party is referenced here:

    they both have hairstyles that are unusually dramatic for operatives of the staid GOP, and they both claim to have brought new demographics into the Republican party…

    Has this reporter seen this president?

  14. 14.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    I don’t think too many Dems are overnight Elon stans

     
    The number of people worrying about it seems to be through the roof, however.

  15. 15.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Hoodie: that certainly is the story publicists tell of Mr. Musk.  There is a tunnel under Vegas that is so stupid it belies most of that messaging.

    If this is real and not distraction from the cons concerns about the AI legislative limits (which concerns were surging before this new story broke), seems like being labeled an incontinent, drug addict likely hit Mr. Musk harder.

  17. 17.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @rikyrah: I had wondered if there weren’t a bunch of self-proclaimed “proud boy” insurrectionists running around under those gaiters.

  19. 19.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    MattY: Elon come back!

    Elon: I’m a Nazi.

    MattY: The left only wants to shrink the tent.

  22. 22.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    MattY: Elon come back!

    Elon: I’m a Nazi.

    MattY: The left only wants to shrink the tent.

    A tent large enough to include Nazis is too large. Call me crazy; but after hearing their social policies, I don’t give a fuck what their industrial policy is.

    And that’s probably shit, too, anyway.

  23. 23.

    Darkrose

    @HopefullyNotcassandra: Kayfabe assumes a higher level of both intelligence and forethought than either of these two numpties has. Deep Throat’s description of the Watergate burglars is still relevant here.

  24. 24.

    Jay

    Kim, my former flamboyant and proud DS, texted me this morning about the break up.

    He said it was the gayest break up he’s ever seen during Pride Month.

  25. 25.

    Geminid

    @Baud: This why I think the Donkey is a good mascot for the Democratic Party, and why I wish more Democrats would emulate them.

    When the predators attack, Donkeys don’t ask each other, “Who let those wolves attack us?” or “How come we keep having to fight coyotes every year?” or debate whether they need to switch out their leaders before they can fight properly, or if they should take some Llama’s advice on tactics and strategy.

    Donkeys just tear the wolves with their teeth and smash the coyotes’ bones with their hooves until they’ve sent them off. Donkeys don’t conquer fear; they channel fear into aggression and save the introspection for after the fight.

  27. 27.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Geminid: So, no long meetings, focus groups and consultants to decide “fight or flight?

    ( flight not even a consideration with a donkey )

  28. 28.

    Princess

    @rikyrah: I’m with Mystal. Maybe you need to be Gen X to see it. But the whole thing reeks of fake wrestling fights.

  38. 38.

    Jackie

    Skimming the evening online headlines, I’m seeing hints that Congress is rallying around FFOTUS against Muskrat. It makes me queasy thinking his big UGLY bill is getting a boost from those who otherwise have been opposing it – thanks to Muskrat.

    Tell me I’m misinterpreting!

  44. 44.

    Another Scott

    @Geminid: Not only that, they also dig wells that benefit themselves and other species.

    (repost) NewScientist.com (from April 2021):

    Feral horses and donkeys in the Sonoran desert in North America dig their own wells, inadvertently providing a water source for other animals and increasing biodiversity in the area.

    Erick Lundgren at Aarhus University in Denmark and his colleagues monitored four separate streams in part of the Sonoran desert in Arizona. The streams are usually supplied by groundwater but dry up in the summer. The team surveyed each stream every few weeks over the summers of 2015, 2016 and 2018, and found that horses and donkeys in the area dig wells there to access the groundwater.

    “It’s a very hot, dry desert and you’ll get these pretty magical spots where suddenly there is surface water,” says Lundgren.

    The horses and donkeys dig wells up to 2 metres in depth to access water. The team saw 59 other vertebrate species at the wells, 57 of which were recorded drinking from the wells. On average, species richness was 51 per cent higher at these wells than observed in nearby dry areas during the same time periods.

    “These resources are in fact used by all other animals – there was a cacophony of organisms,” says Lundgren. This included squirrels, mule deer, quails and even a black bear at one point, he says.

    […]

    Something something follow me if you want to live.

    Lots of lessons there…

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  49. 49.

    Bill Arnold

    @JBWoodford:

    Yeah, no idea how much (if any) of this is kayfabe.

    If the DOGE tech kids are fired and/or arrested, it’s definitely not kayfabe.
    The computer security social media communities are thinking out loud quite seriously along these lines; there is a broad presumption that backdoors and maybe kill switches were installed in many Federal computer systems.

  51. 51.

    Kirk

    @Bill Arnold: I think that’s going to be the key to watch – what happens to Musk’s people who are still in place?

     

    If it’s real, Trump’s loyalty fetish will force them out. If it’s kayfabe, they’ll stay.

  52. 52.

    Marc

    @trollhattan: He’s also the guy who played Big Head on Silicon Valley, a detail much less known.

    Sadness, I always thought that was a young Andrew Sullivan.

  55. 55.

    Marc

    @Bill Arnold: The computer security social media communities are thinking out loud quite seriously along these lines; there is a broad presumption that backdoors and maybe kill switches were installed in many Federal computer systems.

    I know I’ve probably overestimated the private education system here in the US, but at least some of these kids would likely be smart enough to realize that installing kill switches would put them in danger of eventual federal prosecution if the administration changes.  Backdoors, well, they would have to be a bit smarter to realize their own jeopardy. Or, then again, maybe they intentionally selected for the stupid kids who would follow orders.

  56. 56.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Tend to agree with Michael Hobbes here:

    Michael Hobbes‬ ‪@michaelhobbes.bsky.social‬ · 34m
    Oh noooo this messy internet drama is going to remind people that a billionaire tried to buy the current administration and is melting down because they won’t let him dictate policy. We must immediately pivot to a far more boring way of talking about the same thing

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    Whatever they once were, Israel has devolved to a nation of brats. With a military.

    Israel has carried out several air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, saying it was targeting Hezbollah’s drone production.
    The attack on Thursday night, the eve of Eid Al Adha, one of the most important celebrations in Islam, followed evacuation warnings for several buildings in the area, where Hezbollah is based in the capital.
    The Israeli Defence Forces said it had identified a Hezbollah unit producing “thousands” of drones underground, funded by “Iranian terrorists”.
    The attack occurred despite a ceasefire being in effect between Israel and the armed group for the past six months.
    Lebanon’s prime minister said he “strongly condemns” the strikes.

  63. 63.

    Bill Arnold

    This (bold mine) from Mr. Trump is an odd/interesting verbal construct:
    CNN transcript, 5 June 2025

    UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mr. President, you haven’t covered any evidence that anything specific was signed without President Biden’s knowledge, or by other people the administration acting illegally.
    TRUMP: Well, I don’t think Biden would know whether or not he signed it.
    UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I’m asking if you’ve uncovered any information.
    TRUMP: No. But I’ve uncovered, you know, the human mind. I was in a debate with the human mind, and I didn’t think he knew what the hell he was doing. So, you know, it’s just one of those things, one of those problems. We can’t — we can’t ever allow that to happen to our country, the danger our country was in.

  65. 65.

    Bill Arnold

    @Marc:
    Also, to be clearer, backdoors can also be a form of kill switch. Monetizable, even; they could sell access to Russian ransomware gangs.

  67. 67.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Jackie: My crystal by ball is in the shop, but I imagine there will be some changes. Not necessarily for the less bad.

  68. 68.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Baud: It’s a response to a post by Pramila Jaypal that implies this is a distraction from the real issue of the bill. Someone pointed out that what they’re fighting about IS the bill.

    I had to kinda dig to find that tho.

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    Apparently Aaron Rodgers will be joining our local sports franchise, and I get to enjoy another year of not giving a shit about sportsball!

  71. 71.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Darkrose: all of that is true.  I suppose the magas have infiltrated my brain with one of their brain worms (unfortunately again).

    Sometimes I wonder if people like this crew dream up such vicious little brain worms to infiltrate our brains with doubts, dismay and worries, precisely because they lost the ability to dream our American dreams of better tomorrows.   They certainly seem to hate witnessing plain, old happiness which is really quite odd.

  72. 72.

    columbusqueen

    The problem with thinking this is fake is the public Epstein accusation by Elon. Making a potentially libelious statement doesn’t strike me as a preplanned shot.

  74. 74.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Suzanne: ​
     

    Apparently Aaron Rodgers will be joining our local sports franchise, and I get to enjoy another year of not giving a shit about sportsball!

    I was wondering why a TV screen of the restaurant we were at tonight was showing football. That must be it.

    Terry Bradshaw would be spinning in his grave, but we’d have to bury him first.

  75. 75.

    MagdaInBlack

    Oh new fun theory I just heard: this is the PayPal Mafia’s takedown of trump, to make a President Vance happen.  Elon has all the goods on trump.

    Just tossin’ that out there.

  76. 76.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @MagdaInBlack: donkeys are stubborn.  Try dragging one any direction the donkey does not want to go.  I don’t think it can be done.  They can also be quite funny.  I saw one once put on the same metal bucket at least four times.  On his head he put the bucket and then walked about like he was newly knighted, peaking out of the bucket with the handle looped under his neck like a chin strap.  How?  I have zero clue.   Farmer removed the bucket and the donkey chewed grass innocently. Farmer left.  Donkey got the bucket and began his questing again.   Rinse repeat.  The donkey,I am nearly certain, was having a whee of a time and I know the farmer was tickled too.

  77. 77.

    MagdaInBlack

    @HopefullyNotcassandra: When I lived on 6 acres way out in the Illinois cornfields, our neighbor had mules and a donkey we let graze on a couple acres, during summer. I enjoyed having them around.

  78. 78.

    Suzanne

    @Jackie: I don’t care about football, anyway. Since I moved to PGH, I attempted briefly to care. I failed.

    I will occasionally “watch football games”, which means I will lie on the floor cuddling the dog and eating chips and dip. If I tell people I’m chilling, they will feel free to interrupt. If I tell the, I’m watching football, they assume I am busy for three hours.

  79. 79.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Another Scott: that is truly beautiful.  The donkey is not concerned that others will use the water.  The well the donkeys create is for every diverse creature, large, medium or small.  The wiel?

  80. 80.

    Jackie

    Ha! Nominated for rotating tag!

    “Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s alliance took off like one of SpaceX’s rockets. It was supercharged and soared high. And then it blew up.”

    — Associated Press

  81. 81.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Here is a good take on the Xi-Trump call, & the differing read outs:

    Neil Thomas 牛犇 @neilthomas123

    Donald Trump and Xi Jinping held their first call (that we know of) since January 17
    Positive readouts from both suggest it went well
    —New round of trade talks will happen soon
    —Trump could visit China; Xi could visit the USA
    —Still challenges for a deal
    —Lots more.. 1/

    Chinese readout said they “agreed their teams will continue to implement the Geneva consensus and hold a new round of talks as soon as possible”
    Trump said the US team will be led by Scott Bessent, Jamieson Greer & Howard Lutnick—who seems back in favor
    Location TBD 2/

    Xi said “The US should take a pragmatic view of the progress made and undo the negative moves taken against China.”
    Beijing could demand the US revoke recent curbs on exporting chip design software and other goods to China as a condition for further progress in talks 3/

    Trump: “There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earths product”
    This is the bottom line for the US
    Big test of Beijing’s good faith will be if rare earths start flowing again in supply chains (through China’s export licensing systems) 4/

    Xi: We “should promote exchanges in various fields such as diplomacy, trade, military, and law enforcement, so as to enhance consensus, reduce misunderstanding and strengthen cooperation.”
    Mention of military exchanges stuck out to me. Suggests that Beijing wants to make sure it has military channels with Washington to avoid potential escalation.
    This comes after years of canceling mil-mil dialogues and not picking up the phone, though I hardly see a renaissance on that front 5/

    Trump: “The conversation was focused almost entirely on TRADE. Nothing was discussed concerning Russia/Ukraine, or Iran.”
    Lots of worry in DC about a potential US-China “grand bargain” inc. Taiwan
    I don’t think either Trump or Xi want that. Likely be economy + fentanyl. 6/

    On Taiwan, Xi said: “The U.S. should handle the Taiwan issue cautiously to avoid an extremely small number of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists dragging China and the US into dangerous circumstances of conflict and confrontation.”
    Trying to pin blame for cross-strait tensions on Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te, but the language also seems less alarmed than in some Xi-Biden readouts
    No mention of Taiwan being a red line in US-China relations or the most important issue in US-China relations.
    Perhaps Xi is slightly less on edge? Of course, no reason to relax. Risks high enough that Washington should continue to enhance military deterrence in the region. 7/

    Biggest watchpoint for whether US-China relations remain stable and if a deal can be made is in-person meetings between Trump and Xi
    Both said Xi invited Trump to visit China. Trump said it’s something he would “look forward to doing”
    Maybe around APEC in Oct/Nov? But… 8/

    Only Trump’s post mentioned that he had invited Xi to visit the United States
    Suggests that Beijing remains wary of a Zelensky moment or Ramaphosa moment in the Oval Office
    Chinese pundits also say Trump should visit China first as Xi visited US first during first term 9/

    Chinese readout of what Trump said is revealing as it usually highlights the messages Beijing wants to hear
    “Trump expressed great respect for President Xi Jinping”—shows how vital it is domestically for Xi to appear an equal in negotiations
    “The US will continue to pursue the one-China policy”—basic reassurance on no change to basic Taiwan policy but Beijing will be relieved this happened
    “The economic and trade talks between the two countries in Geneva have been very successful and good agreements have been reached”—this negotiating framework is a key mechanism for Beijing to try and control the downside risk in US-China relations
    “The US welcomes Chinese students to study in the US”—Xi wants to avoid broad visa restrictions on Chinese students coming to the US 10/

    Lutnick being part of the US delegation to Beijing suggests that elements of the US export controls will be on the table, since they are implemented through the Commerce Department. Trump has already signaled in his presser w/ Merz that there will be no broad ban of Chinese students studying in the US, or revocation of the visas of those already in the States, cutting Rubio off at the knees, but that is just the US retreating from an obviously self-harming action.

    The PRC is not really interested in shutting down US manufacturing by turning off the supply of rare earth elements & rare earth magnets, but by keeping & refining its own export control regime it maintains leverage over the US to secure advantageous terms & help ensure the US mostly follows through on any agreement, by keeping that threat ever present. Easing the flow of REEs & REMs to US civilian manufacturing also eases the burden on the new end user verification apparatus the PRC is establishing to enforce its new export control regimes (substantial modeled after the US’). The bureaucratic overload has really slowed the approval of REE/REM exports to the EU, threatening to shut down plants there, too. Of course, the PRC government might find it useful as a reminder to the EU of its leverage here, as they speed up trade negotiations leading up to the Sino-EU summit at the end of Jul.

  82. 82.

    Eolirin

    @Jackie: The house bill cannot pass in the senate. It was always going to be the senate bill that became law. And we don’t know exactly what it’ll look like yet.

  83. 83.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Bill Arnold: ​Talk about interesting constructs, it was maybe yesterday, that the idiot posted something about Putin’s reaction to Operation Spider Web, in which he (the idiot) mentioned “docked airplanes.” Now this is not a construct a native English-speaker would use to refer to airplanes that are parked on/near an airstrip. But as chance would have it, it’s a perfectly cromulent construct in russian. Odd, no?

  84. 84.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Bill Arnold: do they report to Mr. Musk or Mr. Thiel or somebody else?  How can we know?  The honorable Beryl Howell, DC District Court, does not know and she has a case in front of her about this very issue

    The cons on-line truly disliked parts of this thing.  That is why maga congress critters were claiming they did not read that bit yada yada yada.

    Mr. Musk is unpopular with nearly everybody.  He has his techiestan bros, though, and they can be nasty niblets to be certain.  I think the maga fascists might be manipulating Mr. Musk to save the maga murder bill from rightwing outrage.

    I don’t know.

    This GOP has willfully set a massive waves in motion in the absurd belief that they can control tsunamis

    That is so gobsmackingly stupid, arrogant and obscene that anything is possible with them.  This GOP is also the party of fake wrestling, fake faces, fake hair, fake lips, fake beliefs, fake everything.

  85. 85.

    Jackie

    Finding humor where I can:

    A deputy U.S. marshal was mistakenly detained by immigration agents inside the federal building that houses Tucson’s immigration court, U.S. Marshals Service officials confirmed on Thursday.

    The wrongful detention was a case of mistaken identity and didn’t last long, according to the federal law enforcement agency, responding to the Arizona Daily Star’s inquiry about the incident.

    “A Deputy US Marshal who fit the general description of a subject being sought by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was briefly detained at a federal building in Tucson after entering the lobby of the building,” the U.S. Marshals Service statement said.

    They had brown colored skin?
    https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_2573f016-3596-4f32-93f7-7e99b6459675.html

  86. 86.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Marc: I thought they intentionally selected for the boys, too young to know any better, who felt the need to self-label with names like “BigBalz”.

  87. 87.

    jimmiraybob

    @Booger: HI-YO! From stage 1 at the Burbank Studios …

    Secretary of Education Linda McMahon ……

    Just for clarity.  :)

  90. 90.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @MagdaInBlack: I am a bit envious.  I only got to visit.  I never got to actually live on a farm.  Though if I had, the workload might have changed my rosy perspective.

  91. 91.

    Bill Arnold

    @Gin & Tonic:
    Yeah. I was trying out DeepSeek R1 (big chain of thought LLM) yesterday and gave it some of Mr. Trump’s “Truths”, including that one, to clean up. In its notes, DSR1 said that it changed “docked airplanes” to something like “parked airplanes”.
    It did not, however, say that it was a literal translation from Russian.
    Do Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin talk in English, without a translator?

  92. 92.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @MagdaInBlack: Oh new fun theory I just heard: this is the PayPal Mafia’s takedown of trump, to make a President Vance happen. Elon has all the goods on trump.

    Question is whether the choad reality check would be worth the fallout.

  94. 94.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Oh boy:

    Andy Sharp @sharp_writing

    TOKYO — The presence of three top U.S. negotiators with differing stances on trade is adding a layer of complexity to tariff talks with Japan.

    Open disagreements, competition and confusion among Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have made it hard for the Japanese side to judge the Trump administration’s intentions, according to sources close to the negotiations.

    “At one point, the three cabinet officials put the talks with the Japanese side on hold and began debating right in front of them,” said one source.

    Bessent, Lutnick and Greer keep Japan guessing in US tariff talks
    Differing views on trade by Trump’s negotiating team frustrate Tokyo
    CHIHIRO UCHIYAMA
    June 6, 2025 00:55 JST

    The same 3 will be heading to Beijing, & their interlocutors there will be far less forbearing of the clown act.

  95. 95.

    glc

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    Hadn’t seen that;

    “At one point, the three cabinet officials put the talks with the Japanese side on hold and began debating right in front of them,” said one source.

    Even by today’s standards, that seems noteworthy.

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