Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Rasulis]

Was it one giant convoy of Trump supporters that failed, or a bunch of little convoys of Trump supporters that failed?

Not a single truck made it to DC. The malicious intent was real. Execution F-.

[Shadowferal]

John Bolton: Not accurate to say 'Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians'

During an interview with Bolton, Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said that "there is something to be said, though, about the simple fact that there was not aggression during the four years" Trump was in office, noting a list of actions that the Washington think tank Brookings Institution said the Trump administration took against Russia.

"I mean, he took a very tough stance against Russia. I'm surprised you don't think that he would have handled it better than Joe Biden," Schmitt told Bolton.

"He did not," Bolton replied. "We didn't sanction Nord Stream 2. We should have. We should have brought the project to an end. We did impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs and several others because of their sales of S-400 anti-aircraft systems to other countries. But in almost every case, the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard."

"The fact is that he barely knew where Ukraine was. He once asked John Kelly, his second chief of staff, if Finland were a part of Russia. It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians," Bolton said.

[Edge-]

"The fact is that he barely knew where Ukraine was. He once asked John Kelly, his second chief of staff, if Finland were a part of Russia. It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians," Bolton said.[/i]

Man, this is completely and totally unsurprising. Granted I likely only know where Finland is due to my love of metal and how many great bands come from Sweden/Finland but like...jesus christ.

Glad to see Bolton shitting on Trump on Newsmax though, fuck those losers.

[Breccia]

"He once asked John Kelly, his second chief of staff, if Finland were a part of Russia"

That's...beyond insulting.

[Shadowferal]

That's...beyond insulting.

I was just shaking my head back when Trump talked about it earlier. Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway...to me those were always representing the north to me.

[Rasulis]

John Bolton: Not accurate to say 'Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians'

During an interview with Bolton, Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said that "there is something to be said, though, about the simple fact that there was not aggression during the four years" Trump was in office, noting a list of actions that the Washington think tank Brookings Institution said the Trump administration took against Russia.

"I mean, he took a very tough stance against Russia. I'm surprised you don't think that he would have handled it better than Joe Biden," Schmitt told Bolton.

"He did not," Bolton replied. "We didn't sanction Nord Stream 2. We should have. We should have brought the project to an end. We did impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs and several others because of their sales of S-400 anti-aircraft systems to other countries. But in almost every case, the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard."

"The fact is that he barely knew where Ukraine was. He once asked John Kelly, his second chief of staff, if Finland were a part of Russia. It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians," Bolton said.

You could sense his disdain for Trump.

[Adam Jensen]

Disdain for Trump. Yeah. Funny how all these morons suddenly find their disdain for Trump *after* leaving office.

[Xyonai]

Disdain for Trump. Yeah. Funny how all these morons suddenly find their disdain for Trump *after* leaving office.

These losers only seem to get a spine when their cushy jobs aren't on the line. Fuck these people.

[PrimiOne]

Man, this is completely and totally unsurprising. Granted I likely only know where Finland is due to my love of metal and how many great bands come from Sweden/Finland but like...jesus christ.

Well I'm european so I perfectly know where Finland is but I would probably had problems pointing some of the less obvious US states like Luisiana or Tenessee or Nebraska but despite I think is quite reasonable asking the fucking POTUS for more geopolitical knowledge than two random posters on a videogame forum (or ...was quite reasonable,we live in strange times) it's extremely important to understand the context of the question.

The question is made in a NATO meeting in Brussels regarding the discussion of Finland adherence to the organization.

Jesus....
Fucking...
Christ...

Is there any chance that a fucking region of Russia enters NATO,Donald? I mean,we all know you are a ignorant retard but just use the most basic common sense to realize that if you are discussing that then Finland is not a part of Russia.

I would pay money to see Donnie making a basic knowledge quiz. I put money on the table he doesn't know when the French revolution started or who was Alexander the Great or how Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector or what is the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation....a lot of money.

[Gorsameth]

John Bolton: Not accurate to say 'Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians'

During an interview with Bolton, Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said that "there is something to be said, though, about the simple fact that there was not aggression during the four years" Trump was in office, noting a list of actions that the Washington think tank Brookings Institution said the Trump administration took against Russia.

"I mean, he took a very tough stance against Russia. I'm surprised you don't think that he would have handled it better than Joe Biden," Schmitt told Bolton.

"He did not," Bolton replied. "We didn't sanction Nord Stream 2. We should have. We should have brought the project to an end. We did impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs and several others because of their sales of S-400 anti-aircraft systems to other countries. But in almost every case, the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard."

"The fact is that he barely knew where Ukraine was. He once asked John Kelly, his second chief of staff, if Finland were a part of Russia. It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians," Bolton said.

To be fair I don't think the headline itself is entirely accurate.

What Trump did certainly did not deter Putin.
But I would argue that Trumps unpredictability might have been a deterrent. If the 'wrong' person talked to Trump at the 'wrong' time he could throw the US into a war with Russia before anyone knew what was happening.

[Gelannerai]

To be fair I don't think the headline itself is entirely accurate.

What Trump did certainly did not deter Putin.
But I would argue that Trumps unpredictability might have been a deterrent. If the 'wrong' person talked to Trump at the 'wrong' time he could throw the US into a war with Russia before anyone knew what was happening.

Nah, he would never. Trump’s behavior concerning Russia was actually always very predictable, in that he would fall all over himself defending/lavishing Putin with praise. Even now he’s trying to villainize NATO, the American government, and Justin Trudeau (lol) instead of denouncing anything that Putin is doing in Ukraine.

[Fugus]

To be fair I don't think the headline itself is entirely accurate.

What Trump did certainly did not deter Putin.
But I would argue that Trumps unpredictability might have been a deterrent. If the 'wrong' person talked to Trump at the 'wrong' time he could throw the US into a war with Russia before anyone knew what was happening.

Trump fell over himself to praise and help Putin while president and repeatedly held private meetings between them where he kicked out Americans and relied strictly on Russias translators and he was talking to them well before he became president.

Trump was his employee and actively worked to dismantle NATO, villainize Ukraine and help Russia. Putin was hoping he would still be president when he did this after laying all the groundwork in advance to run interference for him.

Trump didn’t stop anything and actually helped the groundwork for it.

[Breccia]

Once again, it's time for Guess the Speaker!

Well, you have to work out a deal. They have to stop killing these people. They're killing all of these people, and they have to stop it, and they have to stop it now.

But they don't respect the United States and the United States is like, I don't know, they’re not doing anything about it. This is a — this is a holocaust. This is a horrible thing that's happening. You're witnessing and you're seeing it on television every night.

"Let's see, he says 'make a deal', doesn't directly condemn Putin, claims the world doesn't respect the US, saw it on television, one more and we get a Trump Yahtzee."

Correct. Bonus points: where did he say this?

"No rallies recently, so, FOX News?"

Correct. Phone interview of course, Trump is so ridiculously fat he needs 3 days warning if he has to get out of bed.

Trump is, of course, lying. As has been made clear in other threads, Biden and the international community are doing quite a lot about it. Russia's economy is tanking due to sanctions by the US and of course plenty of others. Garland announced a DoJ team to enforce those Russian oligarch sanctions, so, if you're looking to pick up tacky NY or FL property cheap, give it a week.

Now, if any Trump supporters are going to try to defend that with "that DoJ thing hadn't happened yet" first, the sanctions had, so shut up. Second, Biden moved more troops towards NATO Feb 22, well before the interview, so shut the fuck up. Trump lied and you know it.

*cracks knuckles*

But.

Remember how I said Trump didn't directly condemn Putin? He didn't in the entire interview, by the way, I didn't cherry-pick because I didn't have to. But, he did use the term "holocaust". The quote I linked above seems incredibly vague, but from context -- at least by the way the FOX News host was setting this up -- Trump was likely suggesting Russian troops were committing this holocaust. I admit I'm not 100% convinced, it's possible he's also spewing the Russian "Ukrainians are Nazis" falsehood, but the host was crystal clear, so Trump would have to not just be a Russian puppet but also insane or deaf. I'm 95%+ sure that Trump was accusing Russian troops of committing this holocaust.

And still wouldn't condemn Putin. Hell, I don't even think he condemned Russia. He says the killing has to stop, but he says do it by making a deal. That's the opposite of what he says or does from any position of power. Remember "bomb the shit out of"? Remember "go after their families"? Now, suddenly, it's "let's talk this over".

How afraid is Trump of Putin? Is it a money thing? The peepee tapes? Is Trump worried Putin will kill him? He was thrown a softball on live TV and both tried to bunt and also missed.

Every Trump supporter is a Putin supporter unless they speak up otherwise.

Unrelated: while researching this post, I found this on FOX News of all places. Barr basically telling Trump to shut the fuck up about Hunter Biden's laptop.

In his upcoming book, "One Damn Thing After Another," Barr recalled that in October 2020, Trump called soon after a Newsmax segment on Hunter Biden's laptop. Reports about the computer revolved around emails that appeared to connect Joe Biden to his son's business dealings when the elder Biden was vice president.

"You know this stuff from Hunter Biden's laptop?" Trump asked Barr, according to the book.

"Mr. President, I can't talk about that, and I am not going to," Barr recalled replying "sharply."

As a reminder, by Sept 23 2020 we already knew there was nothing wrong. And we knew it again Nov 7 2020. Barr wasn't just telling Trump that he couldn't comment on an open investigation. There was nothing there. By the way, while the Senate GOP report linked above found no wrongdoing, they suggested it would interfere with Biden's Ukraine policy. Gosh. Didn't that turn out to be a fat orange falsehood?

[Edge-]

I would pay money to see Donnie making a basic knowledge quiz.

Considering he's still bragging about passing a basic cogitative test like it was a MENSA test or some shit, we've already seen this.

[Breccia]

I can't decide what's my favorite part of this article, but I'll highlite the options:

Trump is blowing the launch of his new social media company, via a series of unforced errors.

Man, it's always so obvious when the XXX guy at the paper is out sick and they have the sports guy cover for them.

The SPAC that agreed to take Truth Social public is valued at over $3.5 billion. At some point, investors will begin paying attention.

Truth Social spent much of February in private beta with invited users, saying its public unveil would be Feb. 21 (President's Day, natch).

The launch itself was buzzy, with Truth Social shooting to the top of Apple's App Store (there isn't yet an Android or web version).

But the vast majority of people downloading the app, me included, were given a waitlist number. (1) Nine days later, most of us remain on that waitlist, with our number unchanged and without a word of communication from the company. A waitlist "refresh" icon doesn't work.

As of this writing, (2) Truth Social has fallen to No. 57 in the App Store, just behind Tinder and Planet Fitness Workouts.

The former president is Truth Social's founder and chairman, so he obviously bears some responsibility for putting together the team that's so far fallen on its face. But, most importantly, he's not using the app.

(3) Trump hasn't posted a single time since the launch, despite an international crisis that has captivated the country. Instead, he's given his comments to radio and TV hosts — including one this morning with Dominion conspiracy theorist Maria Bartiromo — plus via his CPAC speech.

Had he limited, or at least prioritized, his reactions to Truth Social, it would have caused every media outlet to mention the app. Same would have applied to last night's State of the Union address.

This is beginning to remind me a bit of (4) Trump's 2013 foray into crowdfunding, via a site called FundAnything. At launch, Trump said that each week he'd contribute to new FundAnything campaigns and then promote those selections via his (then active) Twitter account. But he soon lost interest, and the site eventually folded.

The difference between Truth Social and FundAnything, however, are (5) those publicly traded SPAC securities.

And none of this even begins to address (6) the ongoing investigation into the SPAC by federal securities regulators, or that the SPAC won't identify the investors behind $1 billion in contingent PIPE financing. Or that the SPAC sponsor's only other merger effort was a failure.

The SPAC's investment thesis seems to be that a large percentage of Trump's 88 million Twitter followers will migrate over to Truth Social. But nearly two weeks after launch, (7) his dormant account has fewer than 80,000 followers. And Trump himself is largely to blame.

Wow. I didn't even know about (4), probably because Trump wasn't important in 2013. However, I did take a few minutes to do some research. Apparently, SPACs are not just poorly regulated (6) but also tend to get killed by hype. If, for example, you spend $3.5 billion on something worth $3.5 million, becasuse it was talked up by a failed used car salesman that smells of BK fries and sweat-soaked Chinese suits, you lose 99.9% of your investment.

So here's where else it gets funny: SPACs might be less regulated than mask mandates in Alabama, but there are still some rules. One is, once formed, they have two years to buy the thing they're meant to buy, or return everyone's money. For the life of me, I can't find proof this SPAC has put down the money yet. I can find loads of "Digital World Acquisition Corp has plans to buy" but no "here is the check". As of seven days ago I still am not sure if the SPAC owns Trump's social media platform or not. I don't think so.

If they do, the investors can't possibly be happy. But too bad, they know what they signed up for and the money is spent. Whoever these shadow backers are (Chinese, apparently) will just lose a bunch of money and have only themselves to blame. Of course, Team Trump will have gotten a big pile of money from Chinese shadow backers, possibly even legally.

If they haven't...their stock price is doing fine, which is odd considering how poorly the app debuted, but they haven't bought anything and therefore there's no risk yet. And there's a finite time limit, which Trump appears to be ignoring. The investors will be fine, but Trump won't get that cash and will somehow have to pay the people making...what was it called, again?

Donald Trump’s Social Media App Slammed as ‘Parler Trick’ After Stalling on Launch

No, it was something here...

I like the "glitch hunt" tag on it.

Yeah, that works. Anyhow Trump will have to pay them, or get sued for not paying them, while everyone else is suing him as well.

Trump's social media platform is so bad, neither Trump nor Melania are using it. I wonder how long until it's shit or get off the pot, I think Digital World started like six months ago...

[Edge-]

Apropos of the two idiots chanting "BUILD THE WALL" last night, let's take a look at how effective "THE WALL" actually is!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...wall-breached/

Mexican smuggling gangs have sawed through new segments of border wall 3,272 times over the past three years, according to unpublished U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintenance records obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

The government spent $2.6 million to repair the breaches during the 2019 to 2021 fiscal years, the CBP records show. While the agency has acknowledged that smugglers are able to hack through the new barriers built by the Trump administration, the maintenance records show damage has been more widespread than previously known, pointing to the structure’s limitations as an impediment to illegal crossings.

As a reminder -

Trump promised Mexico would pay for the structure, but his administration spent roughly $11 billion in taxpayer funds, most of which he diverted from Defense Department accounts. At rallies, Trump likened his wall to a “Rolls-Royce,” but he stopped claiming the barrier was “impenetrable” in 2019 after The Post reported smugglers had learned to saw through it with conventional power tools.

[Breccia]

"his administration spent roughly $11 billion in taxpayer funds"

Huh, that number sounds familiar. Oh, right, waffle irons. As a reminder, Trump's said he could do it for $4 billion then changed his mind and said $10-12 billion. For the whole thing. Which we don't have.

[Edge-]

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/poli...r-into-runoff/

The party of FAMILY VALUES is still at it.

Rep. Van Taylor, Republican from Texas, apologized for having an affair with a woman dubbed the "ISIS bride" by tabloids, and dropped his bid for a third term.

What the fuck is up with Republicans constantly cheating on their spouses? Also, fringe right wingers are thrilled over this since apparently Van Taylor was one of the four TX Republicans that voted to certify the election. His stellar marks from the NRA and conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation? Not good enough, he needs to submit his ultimate fealty to Trump.

[Poopymonster]

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/poli...r-into-runoff/

The party of FAMILY VALUES is still at it.

Rep. Van Taylor, Republican from Texas, apologized for having an affair with a woman dubbed the "ISIS bride" by tabloids, and dropped his bid for a third term.

What the fuck is up with Republicans constantly cheating on their spouses? Also, fringe right wingers are thrilled over this since apparently Van Taylor was one of the four TX Republicans that voted to certify the election. His stellar marks from the NRA and conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation? Not good enough, he needs to submit his ultimate fealty to Trump.

He cheated on his spouse. That's following some of the foot waddles of their Lawd and Saviur.

[Edge-]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...ution-1315534/

Eyo, we gotta worry about kompromat on Gosar and Massie? Or are they just slobbering Putin's nob for free?

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/0...stice-00013440

The Jan. 6 select committee says its evidence has shown that then-President Donald Trump and his campaign tried to illegally obstruct Congress’ counting of electoral votes and “engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

In a major release of its findings, filed in federal court late Wednesday, the committee suggested its evidence supported findings that Trump himself violated multiple laws by attempting to prevent Congress from certifying his defeat.

“The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the committee wrote in a filing submitted in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

In a major release of the panel’s findings, including excerpts of nearly a dozen depositions from top aides to Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, the committee described a president who had been informed repeatedly that he lost the election and that his claims of fraud were unfounded — only to reject them and continue to mislead the American public.

He then pushed top advisers to continue strategizing ways to overturn the election results.

As Congress regrouped after a violent mob assaulted the Capitol, Attorney John Eastman, a key driver of Trump’s strategy to subvert the 2020 election, urged Pence to break federal law in order to stop counting of Electoral College votes, according to evidence released Wednesday evening by the Jan. 6 select committee.

Well this was a surprise, I didn't know they were this far along.