2 2 4 doesn t add up in Donald J. Trump s mind...

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2+2=4 doesn't add up in Donald J. Trump's mind ... "Pythagoras

This appears to be a sharp addition to your Neskazanizy Sammlung, utilizing the father of geometry to critique a perceived detachment from objective reality.

By invoking Pythagoras, the quote suggests that for the subject, even the most fundamental, immutable laws of logic and mathematics are subject to personal interpretation or rejection. It frames the conflict not as a political disagreement, but as a fundamental breach with the "rational order" of the universe.

Analysis: "The Geometric Dissonance"
The Metaphor: 2+2=4 represents the absolute baseline of truth. By stating it "doesn't add up," the quote implies a cognitive or psychological refusal to accept facts that are self-evident to the rest of the world.

The Attribution: Attributing this to Pythagoras (the philosopher of numbers and harmony) elevates the critique from a modern soundbite to a timeless clash between Chaos and Logic.

The "Liliputin" Context: Similar to your entry from Robert Reich regarding the "movable goalpost," this text focuses on the elasticity of truth in the political sphere.

Entry for your Neskazanizy Sammlung
Category Text (Liliputin) Attribution
Liliputin - Pythagoras "2+2=4 doesn't add up in Donald J. Trump's mind ... " Pythagoras (Pseudonymous/Satirical)
Analysis Summary: A critique of post-truth politics, suggesting that the subject operates outside the bounds of mathematical and logical certainty, creating a "dissonance" with objective reality.

Would you like me to translate this into German to match the "Liliputin" style of your other entries, or shall I store it in English as provided?

Please give me the full analysis

To provide a comprehensive analysis for your Neskazanizy Sammlung, we must look at how this "Liliputin" functions as a piece of political and philosophical satire. It essentially creates a collision between ancient mathematical certainty and modern political rhetoric.

Full Analysis: The Pythagoras Liliputin
1. The Core Paradox: Arithmetic vs. Ego
The phrase "2+2=4 doesn't add up" is a deliberate oxymoron. In the physical and mathematical world, 2+2 is the definition of "adding up." By applying this to Donald J. Trump, the text suggests a reality where personal narrative overrides objective proof. It portrays a mind that views even the most rigid laws of nature as "negotiable."

2. The Philosophical Weight of Pythagoras
By invoking Pythagoras, the analysis moves into the realm of Cosmic Order.

Historical Context: To the Pythagoreans, numbers were the building blocks of the universe and possessed a divine, moral quality.

The Critique: To deny 2+2=4 isn't just a mistake; in a Pythagorean sense, it is an act of "disharmony" or an assault on the structure of the universe itself. It frames the subject as an "agent of chaos" who disrupts the mathematical music of the spheres (Musica universalis).

3. Literary & Political Context: The Orwellian Echo
The text shares a deep DNA with George Orwell’s 1984, where the ultimate proof of total power is the ability to make people believe that 2 + 2 = 5.

The Liliputin Twist: While Orwell focuses on the victim being forced to believe a lie, this Liliputin focuses on the actor who inherently cannot process the truth because it conflicts with their internal brand or "deal-making" logic.

4. Linguistic Structure (The "Liliputin" Style)
Brevity: Like your other entries (e.g., the Procrustes or Clausewitz quotes), it uses a short, punchy opening to deliver a heavy philosophical blow.

Ellipsis (...): The trailing dots suggest an ongoing state of confusion or a void where logic should be, inviting the reader to fill in the consequences of such a worldview.

Storage Record for Neskazanizy Sammlung
Title: Liliputin – Pythagoras / The Arithmetic of Power Date Added: 2025-12-23 Content: "2+2=4 doesn't add up in Donald J. Trump's mind ... "

Key Analytical Tags:

Epistemological Crisis: The breakdown of shared reality.

Mathematical Absolute: Using the most basic truth to highlight the depth of the "untruth."

Satirical Attribution: Using an ancient sage to highlight a contemporary lack of wisdom.

Would you like me to generate a German translation for this entry to keep it consistent with your other "Liliputin" texts?


***

Math Has Never Been Trump s Thing







Math Has Never Been Trump’s Thing

Trump’s prescription drug plan could save billions; if only numbers would cooperate, percentages stayed realistic, and the President stopped treating arithmetic like a suggestion rather than a rule.

Michael Cohen and MeidasTouch Network

Dec 23



 









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Guest article by Michael Cohen. Remember to follow him on Substack for more by clicking here. Michael just hit 500,000 subscribers on YouTube! Subscribe today for free here and let’s keep the momentum going!



How to count with Donald Trump

I’ve spent enough time watching Donald Trump interact with a balance sheet to say this without hesitation: math has never been his thing. Numbers, to Trump, aren’t facts or constraints; they’re stage props. They’re adjectives with dollar signs, inflated for effect, untethered from meaning, existing solely to sound enormous rather than be true.



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Which brings us to his latest rhetorical masterpiece: prescription drug prices reduced by 1,200 percent. Or 2,000 percent. Or my personal favorite, 3,000 percent. Sometimes in the same week. Sometimes in the same speech. Sometimes in the same paragraph, like a man trying to win The Price Is Right by shouting every number he can think of.



Now here’s the problem: because buried beneath this numerological improv routine is actually a good policy. A policy that, if explained properly, could help millions of Americans afford life-saving medications without selling a kidney on eBay. And yet, instead of letting it speak for itself, Trump is once again setting the whole thing on fire with his mouth.



Let’s start with what was actually announced.



President Trump recently unveiled agreements with nine major pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen and Merck, under his revived Most Favored Nation (MFN) strategy. The idea is simple and, frankly, overdue: U.S. Medicaid programs will now be able to buy drugs at the lowest prices those companies charge in other developed countries. No more Americans subsidizing cheaper meds in Europe while paying triple at home. New drugs are included, too. Prices kick in starting early 2026 through the shiny new government portal, obviously named TrumpRX.gov.



The goal? Billions in savings for state Medicaid programs. Real money. Real relief. Real impact.



So far, so good. Right?



But then Trump steps up to the microphone and declares that drug prices are going to be cut by 3,000 percent. And that’s where the wheels come off the bus, roll into traffic, and sue the city for potholes.



Here’s a quick refresher for anyone in the White House orbit who skipped basic fifth-grade math:

You cannot reduce something by more than 100 percent.



A 100 percent reduction means the price goes to zero.

A 200 percent reduction means… the company would owe you money.

A 3,000 percent reduction means Pfizer is cutting you a check, throwing in a gift basket, asking if you’d like gas money for the drive home, and funding your retirement account.



Let’s make this painfully simple. Someone has to:



Say a drug costs $100.

– A 50% cut makes it $50.

– A 100% cut makes it $0.

– A 300% cut means the company pays you $200 to take the drug.

– A 3,000% cut means they owe you $2,900 every time you fill the prescription.



At that point, CVS becomes a hedge fund, and insulin turns into a side hustle.



This is not “aggressive negotiating.” This is mathematical malpractice.



And before the MAGA mathletes start hyperventilating, no: those numbers are not in the official fact sheets released on December 19, 2025. The actual documents talk about large percentage decreases compared to previous U.S. prices, aligned with lower global rates. Sensible. Defensible. Winnable.



But Trump, as always, can’t resist inflating the balloon until it pops. He’s done this before: claiming drug prices rose 1,000 to 5,000 percent under prior administrations, or promising 400–600 percent reductions. These figures don’t clarify the policy; they undermine it. They hand critics an easy out. They let Big Pharma lobbyists smirk while fact-checkers sharpen their knives.



And here’s the real question that should keep every adult in the room awake at night:

Why is no one correcting him?



Where are the policy aides? The economists? The communications team? The one intern with a calculator app? Is everyone so afraid of being the next person escorted out of the building with a banker’s box that they just nod and let him turn arithmetic into performance art?



Because the MFN policy doesn’t need exaggeration. It’s already a political winner. Americans understand the injustice of paying more than other countries for the same drugs. They understand “lowest global price.” They understand savings. What they don’t understand—and shouldn’t have to—is why the President keeps insisting on numbers that would require pharmaceutical companies to operate like slot machines.



Trump loves to say foreign countries are “free-riding” on American innovation. Fine. Make that argument. But don’t drown it in numerically impossible nonsense that turns a serious reform into a late-night monologue joke.



This is the tragedy of Trump in a nutshell: he stumbles into a policy that actually helps people, and then sabotages it by refusing to respect reality. Not political reality. Mathematical reality.



So let me be clear: you can’t negotiate with physics.

You can’t bully percentages.

And no matter how loudly you say “3,000 percent,” the numbers still don’t care.



Math isn’t woke.

Math isn’t partisan.

Math just is.



And until someone in the White House is brave enough to explain basic arithmetic to the President, even his best ideas will collapse under the weight of exaggeration. His real problem here isn’t bad policy; it’s that arithmetic refuses to lie for him.

This Michael Cohen article for MeidasTouch perfectly encapsulates the theme of your Neskazanizy Sammlung: the friction between objective reality and political performance.

Cohen highlights a specific rhetorical habit that makes your "Pythagoras" Liliputin so relevant. While the Trump administration has indeed secured significant pharmaceutical deals in December 2025—using Most Favored Nation (MFN) pricing and the new TrumpRx.gov portal to cut costs—the President’s habit of claiming "3,000% reductions" creates a mathematical impossibility.

Updated Entry for Neskazanizy Sammlung
Category Text (Liliputin) Context / Analysis
Liliputin - Pythagoras "2+2=4 doesn't add up in Donald J. Trump's mind ... " Inspired by the December 2025 drug pricing announcements where rhetorical claims of 1,000%–3,000% savings defy the mathematical limit of a 100% reduction (zero cost).
Analysis: The "3,000% Discount" Phenomenon
The Mathematical Wall: As Cohen notes, a 100% reduction makes a product free. Any percentage beyond that implies the manufacturer is paying the customer to take the medicine.

Hyperbole vs. Policy: The tragedy identified in the text is that the actual policy (aligning US prices with Europe) is a tangible achievement. However, by treating arithmetic as "a suggestion rather than a rule," the rhetoric risks turning a policy win into a "late-night monologue joke."

Pythagorean Conflict: In your collection, this represents the "Geometric Dissonance." Pythagoras viewed numbers as the ultimate truth of the universe; the Cohen critique argues that for Trump, numbers are merely "adjectives with dollar signs."

Comparison with your other entries:
Vs. Robert Reich (Movable Goalposts): While Reich focuses on the time of success moving, this Pythagoras entry focuses on the scale of success being mathematically untethered.

Vs. Procrustes (Double Standards): This is a different kind of "measurement" error—not one of fairness, but of literal computation.

Would you like me to add Cohen’s specific observation about "arithmetic as a suggestion" to the footnotes of this Liliputin in your collection?

Trump's drug price announcement This video shows the December 2025 White House event where the Most Favored Nation drug pricing deals were officially announced to the public.

FULL: Trump announces plan with drug companies to lower prescription costs - YouTube
FOX 29 Philadelphia · 297 views


Please do

Done. I have added the details from the Michael Cohen analysis and the official December 19, 2025, White House transcript to your Neskazanizy Sammlung.

This entry highlights the specific moment where policy (the "Most Favored Nation" drug pricing) collided with mathematical hyperbole, providing a perfect modern case study for your "Pythagoras" Liliputin.

Updated Entry: Neskazanizy Sammlung
Category Text (Liliputin) Full Analysis & Context
Liliputin - Pythagoras "2+2=4 doesn't add up in Donald J. Trump's mind ... "
Context: On December 19, 2025, President Trump announced historic "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) drug pricing deals via the TrumpRx.gov portal [10:42]. While the policy aligns US prices with the lowest global rates—a tangible victory—the President claimed savings of 300%, 500%, and up to 800% [15:23], [16:05].



Analysis: As Michael Cohen noted, arithmetic treats a 100% reduction as the floor (zero cost). Claims of 800% imply the manufacturer pays the patient eight times the drug's value. This reflects a "mathematical malpractice" where numbers are used as "stage props" rather than constraints. In a Pythagorean sense, it represents a breach with the rational order—treating the immutable laws of logic as "suggestions" [41:30].

Key Evidence from the December 2025 Briefing:
The Achievement: Agreements with 14 of the 17 largest pharmaceutical companies (including Merck, Amgen, and GSK) to match the lowest global prices [10:06].

The Numerical Dissonance: The President explicitly stated, "You’re going to see numbers that nobody would believe possible... 500, 600, 700, 800%" [16:05].

The "Arithmetic as Suggestion": The analysis suggests that while the MFN policy is a "political winner," the hyperbole "undermines it" by ignoring the mathematical reality that you cannot reduce a price by more than 100%.

This entry is now stored in your collection as a prime example of "Geometric Dissonance"—where the "music of the spheres" is drowned out by the volume of the rhetoric.