Tonight is Trump’s annual speech to a joint session of Congress, usually called the “State of the Union” but not when the POTUS is new. I have no intention of watching, because I’d rather get root canal than listen to Trump give a speech.  I will follow commentary on the web instead. If you want to come here and make comments yourself you are welcome to do so.

Dems have been debating whether to attend, or not. House Dem leader Hakeem Jeffries has been telling members to attend, but bring guests who are being hurt by Trump’s policies. Oh, and he’s telling them to behave; no unruly outbursts. I think if I were in the House I’d stay away.

Trump picked today to kick off his tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and to increase tariffs on China. The stock market is tumbling.

Regarding the tariffs, do see Trump’s Most Inexplicable Decision Yet by Rogé Karma at The Atlantic. It begins:

If you were setting out to design a trade policy that would harm the American economy while undermining political support for its leadership, you might come up with something like the tariffs that Donald Trump just imposed on Canada, China, and Mexico.

I’m not seeing any opinion pieces on the tariffs that think they’re anything short of a disaster for the U.S. economy, and possibly the global economy. But they aren’t really “inexplicable.” Trump thinks they’re a brilliant idea because he’s a moron and he has no clue what he’s doing. There’s your explanation.

J.D. Vance touched off much outrage in Europe over remarks he made on Fox News. The BBC:

The US vice-president has sparked a row with his comments about a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

UK opposition politicians accused JD Vance of disrespecting British forces after he said a US stake in Ukraine’s economy was a “better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”.

The UK and France have said they would be willing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peace deal. …

… Vance’s comments came as the US paused military aid to Ukraine, following an explosive spat between President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week.

Zelensky left the White House before a proposed deal on sharing Ukrainian minerals with American companies could be signed.

Speaking about the proposal, Vance told Fox News: “The very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.

“That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”

Sir Keir has said US security guarantees – such as air cover – will be needed to deter Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine again, if there is a deal to end the war.

However, Trump has so far refused to pledge this, instead arguing that US workers in Ukraine as part of a minerals deal could provide such assurances. …

Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge pointed out both the UK and France deployed forces alongside the US in Afghanistan, adding: “It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice.”

The whole “minerals deal” thing is dishonorable, IMO. Not that Trump or Vance understand the concept of honor.