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Welp, turns out more Epstein files are finally getting released!
Apparently there will be a vote coming out to release even more, but the docs released so far have been negative for Trump's claims to be innocent of the whole matter.
This, combined with the ruckus over Trump arguing we need foreign talent, has caused a massive cratering amongst online confidence in MAGA. From my perspective, confidence in MAGA at least online is the lowest it has ever been. Many feel betrayed by Trump when it comes to his America First promises.
Add in the storm over Fuentes and Israel, and I feel I'm seeing the conservative coalition fall apart in real time, extremely quickly.
Is this inevitable, the narcissism of small differences? Or is it just Trump not being a very principled man?
I've slowly come over to the view that it's a good thing Trump was restricting immigration of the best and brightest so they instead went elsewhere. As they say: Democracy is the belief that voters know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. We've seen the humiliating climbdowns against China and if this policy of being unwelcoming to high end immigrants continue I suspect we'll see plenty of self-flagellation from the US 10 years down the line when it's trying to rebuild up its attractiveness for such people.
The best and brightest aren't getting kicked out by a 100k charge. As lovers of subcontinental culture we should be thankful that the happy medium tier remains and is given opportunities to affect systemic reward. It would be a tragedy and an utter betrayal of one's fellow man to abscond to go play zero sum games in the West
Not per se, no. But it will reduce the relative attractiveness of the US as an immigration destination.
Also, the fee is only the tip of the iceberg. It is clear that the Trump administration -- and the people who voted for him -- really get off on kicking foreigners out of the country. Sure, he is unlikely to send random knowledge workers to some El Salvador megaprison without any due process, but most people would prefer not to go to countries which do not want them, all things being equal.
I think a lot depends on the specific migrant and their relative prospects in different places. There are very likely fields where someone who could become a world class researcher in the US can only hope for a meager career outside the states, and Trump can squeeze these people's balls as hard as he wants and all they will say is thank you. In other fields, things are different, and the impact of Trump plus visa costs are enough to make Cambridge more attractive than Harvard. The fact that the universities are generally on Trump's shit list will not help matters, here.
For companies, the calculation is rather similar. The answer to "do we open another research campus in the US or elsewhere?" might be different under Obama and Trump.
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