Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[bloodkin]

So it turns out a Trump property is connected with organized crime --

"We already knew that."

No. This is a new one. Namely, Panama.




"In case you were wondering, he didn't use the Groucho Marx glasses during his sales pitches."



The Reuters article is older, but the link is still valid. Thing is, NBC interviewed the guy.



This is a pretty stupid thing to say, considering his name is on a bunch of Panamanian forms. But here's more, read on.



See? Told you it was stupid.


"I do not know anything about this person I am taking a picture with, despite inviting him to Mar-a-Lago for getting me hundreds of millions of dollars"

"You look so much more handsome without the Groucho Marx glasses."
"I only wear those when I've fled bail."



And in case you didn't think selling all that property to the Russian mafia wasn't bad enough...



So, Team Trump, led by Ivanka personally, were completely fine with a real estate deal in which drug dealers and Russian mafia bought condos they would never use, in what expert officials say is a clear money laundering template, refused to ask questions even after three of the people involved have fled and are living under new names. And, they knew this guy, and worked with him personally, but have suddenly forgotten all about it. Just because they didn't develop it doesn't excuse anything.

I really hope Mueller can make use of this. I'd really like to see trumps face when Mueller walks in and arrests Ivanka.

[Paranoid Android]

HOLY BLEEP!

Trump says 'big game trophy decision on hold' after lifting of elephant trophy ban

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/u...rophy-ban.html

Lost page but here is from source.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...ephant-n822041

[Breccia]

HOLY BLEEP!

Order put on hold. Turns out, Trump didn't know what he was talking about. Again. So when..um...everyone pointed out how stupid of an idea this was, he decided to announce he didn't know what the ban was, and put the order on hold until he reads, as he put it, well just read it.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!

Years of study. Yeah, he's going to read that. No really.

- - - Updated - - -

So I posted about Wilbur Ross, one of Trump's friends, blatantly lying about his wealth. Like, not even close.

Well...he has company.

And guess who it fucking is.

TRUMP’S NET WORTH IS FAR LESS THAN HE CLAIMS, TRUMP ORGANIZATION REVENUE SUGGESTS

The Trump Organization claimed it made $9.5 billion in revenue last year. Granted, he never released his taxes and he once claimed in court under oath that his worth is based on his feelings, but that's what the Trump Organization claimed. Now, take a guess how much he was off by.

No really, guess.

I said guess dammit!

Almost all of it.

public filings by President Donald Trump suggest that the company actually earned between $600 and $700 million in 2016. Crain's, a leading New York business publication, claimed that the Trump foundation had been reporting an inflated revenue since at least 2010. The publication moved the company from the number 3 spot on the list to number 40.

“It was obviously very important to Donald to have his company on the top of the list...but the numbers that he presented are just flagrantly untrue,” Crain’s senior reporter Aaron Elstein told NPR.

Let's pause for a second while you choke back how wrong you were. Even those of you who knew Trump lies all the time about goddam everything still guessed high, didn't you?

$700 million compared to $9.5 billion is not even eight percent. Trump overinflated his revenue by a literal fucking order of magnitude. And he did it when many of his properties are dropping in value and he drops nearly 100 places on Forbes' list, having lost hundreds of millions of dollars personally two years in a row.

“It was obviously very important to Donald to have his company on the top of the list...but the numbers that he presented are just flagrantly untrue,” Crain’s senior reporter Aaron Elstein told NPR.

Rhona Graff, the Trump's longtime personal assistant, typically sends the organization's revenue on behalf of the president to Crain’s, which relies on companies to self-report. Crain’s said that “last year’s $9.5 billion in revenue reported by the organization looks preposterous in light of federal filings made by the president in the past year.”

The Trump Organization has had a rough year. The average price per square foot for an apartment at Trump Tower has fallen by 23 percent since 2015, while prices at other midtown developments have remained steady. At Trump’s International Hotel and Tower on Central Park, the average price per square foot is down 24 percent.

[Dontrike]

Order put on hold. Turns out, Trump didn't know what he was talking about. Again. So when..um...everyone pointed out how stupid of an idea this was, he decided to announce he didn't know what the ban was, and put the order on hold until he reads, as he put it, well just read it.



Years of study. Yeah, he's going to read that. No really.

- - - Updated - - -

So I posted about Wilbur Ross, one of Trump's friends, blatantly lying about his wealth. Like, not even close.

Well...he has company.

And guess who it fucking is.

TRUMP’S NET WORTH IS FAR LESS THAN HE CLAIMS, TRUMP ORGANIZATION REVENUE SUGGESTS

The Trump Organization claimed it made $9.5 billion in revenue last year. Granted, he never released his taxes and he once claimed in court under oath that his worth is based on his feelings, but that's what the Trump Organization claimed. Now, take a guess how much he was off by.

No really, guess.

I said guess dammit!

Almost all of it.



Let's pause for a second while you choke back how wrong you were. Even those of you who knew Trump lies all the time about goddam everything still guessed high, didn't you?

$700 million compared to $9.5 billion is not even eight percent. Trump overinflated his revenue by a literal fucking order of magnitude. And he did it when many of his properties are dropping in value and he drops nearly 100 places on Forbes' list, having lost hundreds of millions of dollars personally two years in a row.

But I thought he was the best at making deals and that he never loses money?

[Breccia]

Hey remember how China released those 3 UCLA students who were allegedly caught stealing and Trump took credit for it and nobody noticed?

Well, guess what.

Trump: I should have left UCLA basketball players in jail

player who downplayed Trump’s importance in getting his son released from shoplifting charges in China.

“Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!” Trump tweeted.

The players faced potential jail sentences for the charge, but Trump reportedly spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about resolving the situation. The players were released, and landed in the United States last week.

Trump took credit for their release, and questioned in a tweet whether the players would thank him.

The players subsequently held a press conference last week and apologized for the incident and thanked Trump.

ESPN on Friday asked LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of LiAngelo and Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, about Trump’s role in bringing his son back to the United States.

"Who?" Ball responded. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."

That's right: even though all three players personally thanked Trump at a press conference, Trump decided that the father of one of them, mouthing off, was enough to change his mind about all three of them.

- - - Updated - - -

Palestinians say they won’t enter peace talks if US shutters DC office

Wait a minute...this sounds familiar...oh right, there was this the day before.

Trump threatens to shutter Palestinian office pending peace talks: report

So taken in chronological order,
1) Trump threatens to close the Palestinian DC office if they don't move forward with peace talks
2) And the PLO responds by threatening not to go to the peace talks if Trump closes the DC office

...didn't we use to have diplomats?

[Ripster42]

...didn't we use to have diplomats?

They're "reorganizing."

[Thepersona]

They're "reorganizing."

You know, WW1 started (among other reasons) because of a series of diplomatic fuck ups, following the death of Franz Ferdinand.

[Breccia]

They're "reorganizing."

I know that's sarcasm, but for those of you who didn't catch it earlier: not only has the State Department engaged in record-breaking staff cuts, they're not also bribing their remaining members with early retirement benefits.

They're not "reorganizing" they're intentionally attacking diplomacy.

[Ripster42]

You know, WW1 started (among other reasons) because of a series of diplomatic fuck ups, following the death of Franz Ferdinand.

They didn't have twitter. It's soooo much better now!

[PACOX]

Im not sure how Trump weasled his way into the basketball thing but he should have known that werent going to let him act like it was all his doing. This is the man who slammed the Central Park 5 after they were let go thanks to DNA evidence. He said cops should beat up suspects, and that even taking a knee during the anthem should carry a punishment...every knows he didnt give a damn about those players.

Trump was in China when they were arrested, didnt even acknowledge the situation. The most he probably did was called the embassy to expedite a ride home.

[Breccia]

Trump was in China when they were arrested, didnt even acknowledge the situation. The most he probably did was called the embassy to expedite a ride home.

He may or may not have said something to Xi, we'll never know. Xi may or may not have listened, we'll never know. Trump did take credit for it, and they thanked him, and he could have stolen some good PR if he'd just shut the fuck up about it.

But no.

[Vankrys]

I really hope Mueller can make use of this. I'd really like to see trumps face when Mueller walks in and arrests Ivanka.

Trump may have the power to pardon his own daughter.

[DarkTZeratul]

Trump may have the power to pardon his own daughter.

Only for federal crimes. He can do nothing about state crimes.

[Paranoid Android]

I love Donny Orange Turd needs attention when he does anything as POTUS

[Ripster42]

Only for federal crimes. He can do nothing about state crimes.

And again, having the power to do so does not make it legal in all circumstances. For instance, when you do it so your daughter doesn't testify against you.

[Breccia]

Let's talk opioids.

We all know that the Trump campaign made opioid addiction and abuse sound like a big problem -- probably because it is a big problem. Candidate Trump vowed to do something about it, in an October 2016 speech. Wanna watch the video?

Most of the things promised in that speech were, let's say, tangentally related. Someone as sarcastic as I am could easily make the point that Trump thought we could cut down on the opioid epidemic by making a clear wall so we could see brown people throwing drugs directly into sanctuary cities. Incidentally, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the NIH, the CDC, and others seems to strongly disagree that, for example, drugs being mailed by China are the problem, when prescription opioid overdoses outnumber heroin overdoses 5 to 3 and 80% plus of all opioid prescriptions are signed by US doctors. Buuuuuut moving on.

One of the things Trump did was form a special commission, which started two months late, missed two deadlines, then -- you should remember this part, Trump, using language just shy of "Just Say No" (“There is nothing admirable, positive, or socially desirable about it. There is nothing desirable about drugs. They’re bad.”) declared the opioid epidemic a national health emergency.

But what he didn't say was important: funding.

Not only did Trump's proposed budget cut a variety of things that would be considered treatment or help, other than a 3.8% increase to the DEA -- so, yeah, more arrests, less treatment -- there is only $57,000 in the Public Health Emergency funds and there's been no move as of yet to address that.

And that's where this comes in.

Trump's administration, using a new set of rules, calculates that opioid abuse costs $500 billion per year. If you're wondering why that number is so high, it's again because Trump's CEA -- not the aforementioned opioid commission -- has changed the standards about what qualifies as a related cost and/or death. Now, the changing of the rules, that's not the problem, I just want people to read that number in the proper context. Opioid abuse is, quite likely, the single issue I actually agree with Trump about. But it's hard for your own administration to say "if opioid abuse was a company, it would sell more than Wal-Mart" and then expect it to be patched up by the amount of money equal to my take-home pay.

Trump's commission on opioids faces many challenges, besides their own apparent inaction. Taking money from various health care sources is definitely one, but having no funding at all to work with is a bigger one. And, well, we see how the tax plan is working out with the current "no room to spare" line in the sand. Adjusting the budget now to include what Trump's own commission asked for, hundreds of billions of dollars, has a zero percent chance of happening.

Trump's going to have to blow another campaign promise. Shame -- it's one just about all Americans actually agree on, and it's being shoved aside for things Americans provably don't want.

[Edge-]

Not Trump, but Hannity is close enough -

https://www.salon.com/2017/11/19/sea...ising-boycott/

I can't tell which I find more humorous - his broken capslock key or the fact that he's using the "liberal" insult of calling everyone racist/bigot/etc.

Did Hannity turn into a triggered SJW cuck or something?

Man, Twitter is great for watching grown adults throw temper tantrums like children.

[Dontrike]

Not Trump, but Hannity is close enough -

https://www.salon.com/2017/11/19/sea...ising-boycott/

I can't tell which I find more humorous - his broken capslock key or the fact that he's using the "liberal" insult of calling everyone racist/bigot/etc.

Did Hannity turn into a triggered SJW cuck or something?

Man, Twitter is great for watching grown adults throw temper tantrums like children.

That was plain painful, sad, and pitiful for Hannity to do that. Love how he calls a gay man a homophobe though.

[Breccia]

That was plain painful, sad, and pitiful for Hannity to do that.

The funniest part what Hannity accusing someone else of victim-shaming, after this happened:

Sean Hannity wanted to bring one of Roy Moore's accusers on his show and he got flat out rejected.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...ushpmg00000313

[Adam Jensen]

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...he-white-house

So a fun fact: Kushner still doesn't actually have security clearance. At least not proper/permanent clearance. He's had a temporary clearance for the past 10 months.

And under it, he's done plenty that would have gotten *my* clearance revoked . . . along with probably a courts martial . . .