While experiencing another wonderful evening with my Fasnacht group, the topic of Trump came up. A few of them felt Trump is needed in the US to shake things up. I looked at them and said he was terrible. We quickly realized a debate in politics was not conducive in our plight to have a fun evening so the we moved on quickly to something else.
Now most Swiss are not exclusive party loyalists and will vote according to their own views. But it did get me wondering what the SVP thinks of Trump. Are they pro-Trump? It would make sense.
“Personally, I’m leaning more towards Trump” Albert Rösti (Bundesrat!) at an official appearance at the Freies Gymnasium Basel (school, young people).
“Trump is the only president who has not led America into war for four years,” says Albert Rösti.
Good question. I have wondered about this strange party often.
Large parts of their voters are “trumpy”, I think. Especially in SZ. There is a lot of contempt, bordering hate, for anything green or left and the elites in the cities. The state is generally considered to be overreaching. It is a combo of libertarianism (pretended often as many of them are farmers on the tit of everyone else) and conservatism. It is also clearly populist and has had spectacular growth at the expense of traditional Christian-conservative parties like the CVP.
What makes this overall less obvious and frankly also less problematic is general Swiss civility and the system of government. Both the Konkordanz principle and direct democracy are designed to prevent excesses.
Rösti might want to change his views as Trump has now pushed us closer to World War Three with his current executive orders and global diplomacy. In fact, Switzerland will now have to invest considerably in their military to bring it up to date as Europe is beginning to realize that the US is no longer a trusted ally.
Not really. It’s a bit like the maga supporters. They are very patriotic with Christian values that don’t want Switzerland to change unless it suits them financially.
One of our village farmers, a self-proclaimed UDC supporter, was bragging at the last town council meeting that he pays next to nothing for his crop damage insurance but often claims the slightest damage, which pays him more than selling the crop. He also is dead opposed to refugee cheats that are stealing his taxes.
Idiot. The locals will be talking behind his back but to his face they will support him. Unfortunately, these kinds of attitudes are found in every country.
New alliances are being formed right now in parts of the world caused by Trump’s lack of aid (especially in third world countries), his lack of trust as a global partner in peacekeeping, and his empowering billionaires through corruption and governmental power.
Trump’s abuse of power is changing America, and consequently, the implications are enormous. No one wants war… unless certain governmental officials can profit it from it.
I am not saying Trump is starting WW3 but he is certainly making the world a less safer place.
Looks like a parasocial relationship where some SVP people fawn over Trump, but the Prez couldn’t care less about their existence.
I’ve seen people getting kick out of other people telling the same things as them. I don’t have the collectivist chip in my mind, so I cannot relate to this.
ohhh, my bad memory. I have completely forgotten the 36 Lockheed Martin F-35 jets bought by the Swiss Army.
Some doubts arise because contractual terms for the jets, specially the fixed price:
Will Trump stick to the fixed price?
Other parliamentarians raise doubts as to whether [Washington will actually adhere to the negotiated agreements Werner Salzmann, member of the SVP Council of States, told the “Tages-Anzeiger” that he was concerned about the price: “We were always assured by the Department of Defense and Viola Amherd that Switzerland would be able to buy the F-35 at a fixed price. But there are obviously uncertainties.”
This is because the fixed price enabled Switzerland to sign an advantageous contract to purchase the fighter jets: if the production costs were to rise, according to the contract, the US would have to bear the additional costs and not Switzerland. And the US armed forces expect production costs to rise in the future - by up to 20 percent by 2029. The parliamentarian’s concern: Trump could not accept the treaty, which is advantageous for Switzerland, and try to pass on the additional costs to Switzerland despite the agreement.
And that’s the moment where a knight in shinning armor…errrr, a SVP politican jumps to defend the honor of Prez Trump, specially how he respects contracts such as the USMCA:
Mauro Tuena (SVP) is less pessimistic, as he tells 20 Minuten: “We negotiated the contract for the F-35 intensively with the USA.” The contract will be honored, “even by Trump, I’m sure of that.” Furthermore, the F-35 was not a “gut decision”, but the clear winner of an intensive evaluation.
Is this pro-Trump or just someone who wishes Trump to respect a contract for political survival?