Donald Trump on Monday, January 19 threatened 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne over France’s intentions to decline the US leader’s invitation to join his “board of peace.” The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.
“I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes. And he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join,” Trump said, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron. A source close to Macron told AFP on Monday that France “does not intend to answer favorably” to the invitation.
The board’s charter “goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza,” the source close to the French president said.
“I only want people I like to join. If you say no I will punish you.”
What a big baby.
Exactly. He is just a spoiled brat that throws a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. What an embarrassment.
Luckily the Americans have their own great champagne made in California by Paul Mason:
It’s not the point
I know “It’s not the point”. Da fuck do You think MY point was? “Americans don’t need to worry because they have a cheap wine from the 70s”? Do You think, that a comment including a video of a drunken Orson Wells, was meant to be taken seriously?
With the current state of the US, even the most ridiculous comment has to be taken seriously.
I think the people that downvoted you just read the comment without looking at the video.
Thank you for that video. Peak Orson.
Firstly that’s sparkling wine that’s been branded as champagne, and secondly the Paul Masson brand no longer makes their own wines.
Not that that’s the point.
I know that’s not the point, You fucking mouth breather. But please enlighten me, what’s the difference between Champagne and sparkling wine? Other than where it’s made of course. Just because we are making fun of Trump over here, doesn’t mean the French get a pass.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted, your post is hilarious, and true.
Probably the unwarranted hostility.
It’s called Protected Desigination of Origin and there a quite a lot of products covered by it.
That’s always something that I’ve found interesting. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, but it’s one perceived imaginary line over from where other ducks are…. It can’t be called a duck?
Oh it can be called a duck, but not a “Mallard”, “wood duck” or something specific like that unless it is from that species
All tequilas are agave distillates, but not all agave distillates are tequilas.
Tequila is an agave distillate, but unless it is from the specific region using an specific type of agave it can’t be called tequila
I’m thinking more of you’re using the exact same berry, use the same exact processs, but you just happened to be less than 60 miles north in Belgium, an imaginary line says you can’t call it Champaign. It’s just weird.
It’s basically the same as trademark law. Anyone can make interlocking plastic bricks, but only Lego can make Lego.
That’s actually a route I never thought of. We’ve closely conflated the name with the type that I don’t think about it that way. So really rather than a specific section for “champagne”, it should actually be a section for “sparkling wines” of which champagne would be in there.
Though that being said, usually a trademark is given to a single company. In this case it’s multiple companies using it, which is where it gets rocky. (Bourbon is another one too)
Protection of origin is different than trademarks. Its meant to represent the origin and the cultural value of product and product carrying the name must be made in a way and with the ingrediends that reflect the original.
Like anybody can make salad cheese, but its only feta when its made in Creese using lamb and goat milk.
Beside your generic trademark point is moot.
“Whether or not a mark is popularly identified as genericized, the owner of the mark may still be able to enforce the proprietary rights that attach to the use or registration of the mark, as long as the mark continues to exclusively identify the owner as the commercial origin of the applicable products or services.”
Also there are generaly very specific requirements on how things are made for them to fall under a Protected Origin, so for example in the age when pretty much all industrially made smoked meats are filled with nitrites and other preservatives, Parma Ham is literally still only made with pork meat and salt, nothing else (so the quality is far greater than the modern version of similar products which do not have that Protected Origin, many of which even have chemicals added to them to “accelerate the cure” so that they can be made faster).
Another example: Manchego Cheese isn’t just cheese made in specific area of Spain, it’s actually has to be made in a certain way using the milk of a specific breed of sheep called Manchega (hence the name of the cheese).
What’s the difference between a Mona Lisa and a cheap knock-off of Mona Lisa? Other than the fact the one of them is not Mona Lisa? You are right in the sense that if you’re an uncultured hick there’s no difference. You have to be cultured to understand the difference because it’s a cultural thing.
Simply location alone makes a great difference in the taste profile. And there’s plenty of other reasons.
It’s like saying all dogs are Chihuahuas because they all have a nose, a tail and ears.
USA is so finished, Americans allowing this shitshow to continue is as ridiculous as the shitshow itself.
The checks and balances were never designed to manage a psychotic criminal administration. And that is still what Americans are relying on!Yep.
America didn’t get invaded by martians. This is the leadership that they chose and it appears to remain the leadership that they want.
Yeah, all Americans, eh? We’re all your enemy? We all chose this?
You’re fighting a war against your own people if you’re working class and your spouting ignorance like this.
Russian and Chinese propaganda mills love this sort of thing, though. Paint an entire people with the brush of the tyrant ruling them. Well done, Comrad.
You put a hell of a lot of emphasis on the word “all” inferring that the commenter you replied to said it.
They didn’t, you did.
Pipe down american
I see. So Russia didn’t invade Ukraine and Israel isn’t exterminating Palestinians. Its just some of the people in those countries doing it. No one is responsible for what their country does.
I’m sorry, but where does the responsibility actually end for you? Let’s discuss this and fully lay things out…
Are American prisoners on your list of people responsible? Would you capture our children like ICE frequently does and hold them to a trial if you could? What about the adults that voted against this regime three times, who work multiple, grueling jobs to support their families and though struggling, just barely keeping food on the table, and the medical debt to a tolerable level?
Would you blame the immigrants picking fruit in the fields, and constructing houses, all while avoiding being disappeared by the ICE gestapo? What about those Americans that have been deported - are they to blame? How about Renee Good - did she deserve what she got because she was American? MAGA certainly thinks so.
At what point, exactly, does your twisted and cruel logic start to bare moral fruit? Or are you, perhaps, just another person angry at the same people we (the sane Americans) are? Perhaps… just perhaps, we should all focus our energy on them, rather than infighting. If Trump could read this thread, he would be elated at comments like yours. He’d start new narratives about how even the left should hate our allies in and friends in Europe because they paint us all with the same brush.
A divided enemy is a weak enemy. Your argument here is fraught with fear - it’s a lashing out at everything and anything because the real enemy is far from reach. Welcome to how every sane American has felt for years now. If you read all of this, then now you might understand us a little, tiny bit better. I hope you find your way, my friend.
Together we can end this - all of this, not just what’s happening in America. The billionaires must come down, and the people must find their voice. But to do this, we must first agree to not fight one another, and to focus on the people who truly are destroying this Earth.
So close.
It frequently is just some of the people in those countries doing it.
This doesn’t mean that no one is responsible, but that not everyone is responsible to the same degree. Trump and his enablers? Totally responsible. Everyone else? Lesser responsibility depending on what they did to enable in the past and what they’re doing now to reaist.
I’m not allowing it. It just doesn’t do any good.
The American people as a whole is allowing it.
Yes some resist, but in total Trump and his administration is allowed to break the law over and over again. Sometimes even legalized by the supreme court.USA as a country is finished compared to what it once was, it has descended into complete sociopathy and disregard for the law and human rights, and any decency is long gone, where even legal immigrants and citizens are thrown out the country while illegal immigrants like Elon Musk and Melania Trump get a pass because they are rich. And USA as a country behaves decidedly like a mafia towards other countries and their leaders, even including long time allies.
Like it or not, if you are American you are fucking part of that, and if you aren’t actively resisting, you are contributing to the madness. And it is way way far from half the population of USA that is actively resisting. So for sure the majority of the American population is STILL enabling this shit show.
There’s a reason Americans are unpopular, not just Trump and the administration.
There are good Americans, but they are such a small minority, when a malignant narcissist which is just about the worst personality disorder that exist can be elected President with half the votes, and about 40% of the population not bothering to vote.
2 thirds of the American population either wanted Trump, or didn’t mind enough to vote against him.
That is a very clear indication that USA as a society has gone insane and has become sociopathic.
I don’t get why all these billionaires are behind this. Aren’t their billions tied to their businesses and stocks and thus are the ones who have to lose the most from the impending economic disaster?
The stock market is booming. Every working person in America is suffering to some degree right now… some are being forced out of their homes, and others closer to the top (but still a million miles from the true wealthy people) are holding off on new purchases.
In short, they control the markets completely. They have nothing to fear because this is only harming those of us on the bottom of society (numerous though we may be).
Sounds like you’re well into tariff territory. What do you export? I will make you change that opinion.
Sure it was. They just didn’t know that all three branches would be filled with psychotic criminals at the same time.
One had already been filled with psychotic criminals for a few years by 2024, and Americans voted to fill the other two that November.
Yes, that’s kind of true. The problem is not only an insane President, but also that the checks and balances are also to a large degree corrupt and insane.
Especially the supreme court.
I’m not sure who you are speaking to. Which Americans - all Americans?
Tell me… For those of us who can barely afford rent, who may die if they get sick and the bill is too high, who voted against this man and march against him and ICE. What more exactly do you want from us?
Shall we expedite the process and throw ourselves on the guns of our oppressor? Because that is literally happening. People are being maimed and killed in the streets.
Some of you idiots think we’re all a short walk from a castle we can overthrow. It’s not the middle ages any longer, though… You can’t simply stop the President of America as a citizen. Especially not when you’re under attack literally (ICE) and socioeconomically.
The Idiocy and audacity of those who do not understand our situation blanketing blame on an entire people is deafening sometimes. Do better. Support the people fighting tyranny, rather than cut them down.
Say their names, you cowards. Trump. Vance. The Republicans. The GOP. This is our enemy.
Trump was voted in by a majority of voters. After the shitshow of the first administration. It’s mind blowing how dumb one must be to believe the criminal will help you.
Americans consistently vote against Universal Healthcare. Americans consistently vote against taxing the rich, or higher minimum wage. Americans consistently vote against a quality education system for everyone. The protests are tiny and ineffective, everyone having the same excuses. There hasn’t been even talks of strikes.
I’m sure the democrats will win in the midterms and in 2028, but they will do nothing in the name of “healing” and “bipartisanship” and a new republican clown will promise chocolate streets and Americans will vote for it in 2032.
As an ally, America is done. Americans are too dumb to be trusted.
USA as a country is our enemy now, not just the GOP. So in that way it is actually all Americans. All Americans that contribute to the sick society USA has become. But obviously Americans that oppose the system are not the real enemies, how much of a dimwit do you have to be to have to have that pointed out?
You know who else was into collective punishment?
False equivalency.
The argument is that Americans seem to be either happy with or passively accepting what their country has become. If they were truly against Trump and MAGA they would all be in the streets participating in a general strike already.
From the outside, it seems that there is very little resistance.
Are your fucking kidding me? We are all passive? Go tell that to Renee Good’s wife and kids. Go tell it to the guy that lost an eye to ICE last week.
Wake the fuck up. And stop fighting Trump and Putin battles for them.
It’s really not a false equivalency. Fascists and people on the wrong side of history very famously and frequently equate governments with the entire people they govern.
You do you, though.
I think it’s really awful that you’re telling Americans to either get themselves killed by the tyrant or be treated as supporters of the tyrant. Just awful.
Some people are so nationalistic that they cannot fathom the concept of some of us not wanting to die for a country we were born into.
Ironic in this situation, but not when you realize these people are either sewing or repeating propaganda designed to divide those of us that oppose what Trump, Putin and other fascists are attempting to accomplish.
If you’re so opposed to Trump what are you personally doing to oppose him? I mean other than whinging on social media about him that is.
You Americans act all morally superior towards other people who are stuck living under oppressive dictatorships and expect them to rise up, yet when you’re in the same position you get offended when told you need to do the same.
Right. And it’s not like I’m doing nothing about it. I’m not a fighter, I’m a healer. I’m staying in school, enduring a shitty situation in a shitty country so that when the survivors turn up traumatized, I will be there to help them recover. Meanwhile I do what I can to arm my fellow Americans with knowledge of psychological theory - the biases and weaknesses of the human mind, how corporations and governments exploit this knowledge to empower themselves against us, and how we can strengthen our minds to resist them. That’s what I’m about, and I’m not going to let a diaper-shitting pedophile and his plans for world domination turn me into something I’m not.
There is no voting your way out of fascism. The tyrant will have you killed even if you do nothing because he plans on starting a war with everyone else. You might as well go down fighting back.
What an obtuse way to see the situation in the United States. As if you’re using logic derived exclusively from Hollywood movies.
You’re either very ignorant about how things work here, or you’re deliberately trying to encite anger amongst people who should be allied and united against evil.
Either way, I hope you do better in the future. We are all better than diatribe like this.
Where do I write I’m into collective punishment?
Right here: “USA as a country is our enemy now, not just the GOP. So in that way it is actually all Americans.”
Backpedaling later in your comment doesn’t fix this awful take.
It’s awful yes, but it’s a fact.
USA as a country is an enemy, and technically that means all Americans.
If the sane Americans can change things back to normal in USA, this would end.
But as it is, when USA as a country is an enemy, the population of that country becomes an enemy too. Because it’s the population that allow the government to function as it does.I hope you understand that this take puts you in the company of tyrants and fascists, including the Nazis. Your hate is no better than their hate.
Oh, honey… Go touch grass. We aren’t your enemy.
Do you have any semblance of an idea of what it is like to be against Trump and live in the United States right now?
Go ask Renee good’s family, you condescending ignoranus.
Go ask Renee good’s family
You are among those that allowed it to come to this. All Americans are responsible for failing to do more, as it is the entirety of American society. Although everybody is not equally responsible of course.
Countries have the governments they deserve
Especially when it’s a democracy, although USA always was a dysfunctional democracy, the people did have the power to prevent Trump.
“we are not your enemy. But if my government attacks you I won’t do anything because Washington is very far away and I have to work tomorrow”
Where. Are. The. Democrats?
The “opposition party” says nothing about the insane plans on Greenland. What kind of allies does Europe really have in the US?
It’s hard to tell how much of the houses are Democrat In Name Only. There are precious few that are actually willing to stand against what’s going on; it’s not clear how many of the remainder are either on the take or just hiding until it’s safe enough to show up.
I agree 100%. Our government has failed to uphold the standards desired by the people. The Democrats are weak and cowardly, and the Republicans are patently insane.
This said, the grand majority of the American people are against this. 75% as of the last poll I saw.
I have a family member that’s never said a single negative word against Trump in over a decade… Earlier this week they wrote to their representative to tell them they oppose action against Greenland, and told me they think Trump is crazy. I’ve not been that taken aback in years… A full MAGA nut-job turning on Trump.
As for Europe, they should absolutely not trust the United States anytime soon. This country is in open turmoil, and the government emphatically no longer reflects the will of the people.
Maybe some day a relationship can be salvaged, but this is absolutely a sign for Europe to find independence from our fascist leadership.
This! 👆
He basically is allowed to do whatever he wants. And people thinking that it is a distraction from the Epstein files, don’t realize that he’d be able to walk away from anything they hold too. The problem is not Trump it’s the enablers who won’t stop him
Trump is a symptom of a larger completely corrupt government afraid to challenge the status quo because they are still cashing in.
The problem is not Trump it’s the enablers who won’t stop him
Exactly, and there are way to few that are willing to risk anything to try to stop him.
I just saw a video by an analyst (Anders Puck Nielsen) that dismissed the idea that Trump would invade Greenland, because he claimed Trump wouldn’t be allowed to do it.
This is a channel I very much respect for usually having very good analysis of the current situation.
But in this case, it was just so far off I was shocked. Because obviously Trump wouldn’t ask permission, and the people in the administration actually want him to do it.
And we’ve seen evidence the military is already preparing, forming the Arctic force under.
Trump has all the support he needs to do it, believing someone would stop him is ridiculous.It’s normalcy bias. Career analysts, people that have made their living predicting the next major geopolitical shift, are more vulnerable to it than your average Joe. The world has operated one way for their entire lives, and it’s very difficult for most people to see that the rules of play have completely and irrevocably shifted.
They assume that the US won’t do something this patently self-destructive because the US has (mostly) operated on a logical set of self-interested principles dressed up in the language of “Democracy” and “Freedom”. The idea that it would blow its own kneecaps off while overtly and clearly talking the language of imperialism and might makes right is so outside their experience that it’s unthinkable until the spell of normalcy bias is broken.
The mystery for me is that, how does the regime being transparent on imperialism and might makes right doesn’t wake up those people from the spell of normalcy bias?
Different people have different thresholds. I can say that in my personal experience, the majority of people in Romania have been able to rationalize everything until this point as Trump just running his mouth, but the “real powers” (Romanians in general are very conspiracy-minded) would never let him actually upset the apple cart.
Some people had the spell broken months ago, during the first round of universal tariffs. Some people saw the stories of Europeans being abducted for weeks at the border for no reason and that woke them up. Some explained all that away as a few unfortunate mistakes, not a real pattern. Then the next round of negotiations with the EU, widely considered a capitulation to the US around here put some people back to sleep (we gave him what he wanted, maybe he’ll leave us alone now).
The higher tensions get around an actual military engagement, the more worried people are getting, the more people are snapping out of it.
LBC radio host James O’Brien has been shouting from the rooftops about the worst case scenario for months, and unfortunately he’s being proven right.
All the smiles behind him in his inauguration are still smiling.
I have high hopes for the US population to slapping back at the midterms. Minneapolis has shown the world that ordinary people can stand up to power.
Having said that, the mayor in jaws was still the mayor in jaws 2.
I’ll make sure to buy french wine from now on <3
I’m more of a beer guy but I think I would prefer French wines from now on.
North and East of France also has beer, similar culture as the neighboring Belgium and Germany.
try to get some of the stuff from the Jura region, the vin jaune is pretty good. also, they have something called “oxidative wine”, which fucking slaps, imo.
Never heard of this. Had to search.
Oxidative wine is intentionally exposed to oxygen during the winemaking process, which enhances its complexity and develops unique flavors such as nutty, caramel, and umami notes
As a wine fan, I’m super curious. I’d like to try. Though I’m not sure I want umami flavored wine.
honestly, to me it was really delicious. the one i enjoyed the most had a nutty taste to it.
It came to me guys. I was wondering why he was so obsessed with peace because it’s not really something you’d expect from someone like him. Then I remembered all the beauty pageants. All those girls on stage babbling something about world peace.
It’s burned into his dementia ridden brain by a bunch of exploited minors regurgitating the same bullshit lines over and over again.
Ah ya mean the one’s he also raped
He’s also dying and knows it. He has spoken in the recent past about using peace to ve able to get into heaven. He actually thinks he can barter his way into heaven. The man has no concept, none at all, of human decency for the sake of human decency. He is the worst of the worst of our species and the USians chose to elect him not once, but twice. It says a lot about USian culture, and not in a good way.
And that’s why the EU made sure there is now the Mercosur deal with South America, Canada free trade deal, deal with Australia, the deal with Indonesia and probably some I forgot. We all knew this moment would come.
It’s quickly reaching the point where all the US will be able to export will be movies and television.
Until Trump turns on Hollywood because they won’t give him an honorary oscar, that is.
The share of USA movies and television is slowly getting smaller in the rest of the world. It’s still big but competition is rising.
Games. Computer and console games are as big as Hollywood now
Americans don’t realizer they are a minority
Yes, they were a rich minority, and the rich part that is most interesting for trade is shrinking.
This is also what China is doing and the only loser will be the USA.
More wine and more champagne for us is always a good news. Let’s make a 200% taxes on GAFAM.
I’d imagine if you dug deep enough the “Board of Peace” will be licensed to Trump Enterprises and he’ll leave with billions (assuming some countries will pay that level of protection money).
scheme depends on greedy, power mad people. like you get in the leadership class of most countries. detached from day-to-day struggle of most people. congress, scotus, etc. etc. no empathy. only greed. and brown-noser fuks i try to sabotage when able. one boss called me an iconoclast. label i liked after looking it up.
I agree. Our values should be peace and harmony, not a yacht.
Actually, it appears to be worse. It’s sorta pitched as an “alternate” to the UN:
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/20/trump-davos-greenland-tariff-threats
That’s what I gathered as well, except with Trump as chairman (or president of the world, if you like).
That’s all he knows about France.
I’m sure he knows French fries too.
Those are from Belgium, not France.
Pretty sure they’re from McDonald’s…
You must think of freedom fries but indeed he does. During his stunt at a fast food restaurant last campain, he was really impressed to learn that workers don’t actually handle the freedom potatoes with their bare hands. Believe it or not they actually use some sort of spoon to put them in the basket. Crazy huh?
At mcdonalds? Well…I AM old, but when I worked there as a teenager, we just ripped open an unmarked brown paper bag, and poured them straight into a metal basket.
Then we dropped the basket in oil, pressed a button, and 3 minutes later DING FRIES ARE DONE!
…what’s the spoon for?
What the fuck is a french fry? You mean Freedom Fries?
You’d think he’d heard of croissants given the size of him
Doubt it.
They’re not actually handy to put a grilled beef patty inside, since they size is all wrong and they get soaked and mushy with the juices.
He actually prefers to leave the bun off his burgers anyway. I’m not kidding.
But does he know they’re French too?
Unless McDonalds do croissants, he wouldn’t
Not in the US though, Their menu changes regionally
US Burger King has a Croissan’wich, it’s about as unappealing as you’d imagine.
What’s the thick yellow thing? Pure cholesterol??
Pretty close, it’s a cube of scrambled egg. Somewhere around 2.5 large eggs.
You’ll get him with the fromage.
You reckon he often eats cheese that isn’t square, rubbery, bright yellow, and hidden in a burger?
The best wine comes in cans anyway, like Bobby’s Bookay.
My friend, may that dark period of time end soon in your country, and I will gladly show you what proper wine is. And it is not from France.
The USA is a classic bully. Now it is obvious, Trump, does nothing different from Clinton, Bush (both), Obama, Reagan, Carter, … with blackmail and threats he makes money for himself and those around him. The only difference is that Trump does not hide behind cynical “diplomatic” statements. So nothing new for us non-Americans.
This is so disingenuous. And no, I’m not defending prior administrations at all. It’s fucking absurd to claim this is business as usual.
The only difference is that Trump does not hide behind cynical “diplomatic” statements.
100%
Well, 98%. There are a handful of good things those evil bastards did.
There was USAID, and the US helped its enemies rebuild their countries after WWII, and the US was (generally) a good ally via NATO. But did we cozy up to every two-bit dictator willing to let our corporations plunder their country? You betcha we did.
And the ones who wouldn’t we just murdered and did it anyway, often letting the death squads our country funded devastate and pillage along with us.
People forget so quickly that USAID is an acronym and AID doesn’t mean “aid” it means “development”. USAID was a tool of soft power and international manipulation towards exploitation.
Soft power isn’t implicitly evil and if it helps to prevent outright acts of aggression and related acts that lead to world wars, they’re a welcome tactic. Money and resources from one of the richest countries going to help some of the poorest countries is generally a good thing. I’d argue that the alternative is worse, even if it may seem less insidious to you.
Oh sure, it’s a fine tactic, it’s just the end goals of the people exercising the power and the amount of it they have that I take issue with.
Extortion and racketeering, diplomacy edition…
More for us Canadians then.
Friendly reminder from your neighbor who is clinging to the railing of the sinking ship…
You are also in a ship held afloat by the whims of capital. Make sure what’s happening to us doesn’t happen to you. Get involved with your community, make sure the wealthy are kept in check, keep your media free.
It’s a lost cause, this infection will spread as long as money exists, but you can slow it down long enough that a new generation of leadership may come into power who have more experience and knowledge how to protect us from the Kayfabe future of manufactured drama meant to drive prices.
Gonna be the saddest shit ever if the EU placates this dementia-ridden chucklefuck. I’m hoping they can figure out a long-term viable economic plan that cuts out the US but I’m not all that hopeful they won’t just appease him to maintain the status quo.
They really, really need to prioritize separating themselves from dependence on American tech companies and payment processors. That has to be accomplished to shield themselves.
Then they can and should embargo us and seize American assets until we get in line. After which they can resume trade, but keep the assets of the American oligarchs who have refused to defy the fascists.
The problem is that the union is politically weak due to the absence of central executive power able to enforce decisions on country governments. So countries are going to keep looking for their own interest in negotiating their little exceptions or flying under Trump radar to avoid his tantrums.
EU owns twice as many treasuries as anyone else in the world…it’s be mutual suicide, but their economy would die in a fire.
