Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Redwyrm]

Oh that's easy. With a Republican President they stop giving a fuck about the budget.

Only when it comes to tax cuts and the military (equipment, not servicemen). Social programs be damned

[Belize]

His health is astonishingly excellent, this must be some fake news.

Could live to 200 according to his doctor even

[postman1782]

So, once again, Trump's mouth might land him in some bother.

Yep, now they have enough to charge him with espionage. Because he KNOWINGLY took them, and disseminated them to people that didn't have security clearance. He fucking showed them to Kid Rock for fucks sake.

[Edge-]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...ud-1234745140/

DONALD TRUMP AND Ron DeSantis’ teams are fighting each other for donors, endorsements, and staff. But behind the scenes, the Republican rivals are competing on a different, unconventional playing field: the scramble to secure online influencers.

Trump has for years had an army of extremely online supporters only too happy to engage in meme wars on behalf of the former reality show host. But sources tell Rolling Stone that Team DeSantis has tried to peel off influencers from the MAGA camp, offering access and (in one case) a job to buttress the governor’s online army.

One of the bigger prizes in this social media contest between the Trump and DeSantis camps is The Babylon Bee, a satirical news site that positions itself as a conservative answer to The Onion. During his presidency, Trump had approvingly retweeted the site’s stories (at times appearing unaware they were fake) and the Bee reciprocated the affection with shots at the president’s enemies.

But in February, the relationship between Trumpworld and the Bee soured when anti-Muslim activist and far-right Trump backer Laura Loomer noticed a $21,500 payment from the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC to the Bee made during the governor’s race and tweeted that Seth Dillon — owner of The Babylon Bee — had claimed to her that the money was for “joke/speechwriting.” In text messages reviewed by Rolling Stone, Dillon claimed to Loomer that the payments were about helping DeSantis fight Democrats, not Trump.

“You could consider us speech writing consultants,” Dillon texted Loomer in one message. “We help him find funny angles on Democrats. We don’t attack Trump for him. That’s silly and false. They have never suggested that we write anything about Trump.”

Behind the scenes, the revelation prompted fury from Trump. A source familiar with the situation tells Rolling Stone that Loomer flagged the payments to Trump during a private dinner. Shortly after, Trump took to his Truth Social account to blast both DeSantis and the Babylon Bee.

Y'all, this is a perfect encapsulation of the two Republican frontrunners for their parties nomination.

Neither has anything substantive to say on the policy front - short of Trump promising to violate the Constitution and thinking a yearlong party is a policy position - but damn if they're not going to fight over a shitty, bargain barrel knockoff of The Onion that has like 3 jokes.

It's funny because there continues to be literally no analog for this level of petty, silly bullshit outside the Republican party yet galaxy brains out there really be like BoTH SiDeS THoUGH

- - - Updated - - -

So, once again, Trump's mouth might land him in some bother.

So I caught some of the reporting elsewhere (fuck CNN still)

The two witnesses he showed the documents to were biographers for Mark Meadows?

We were like, joking about this all being "Stupid Watergate" but holy shit it looks like it might actually basically be "Stupid Watergate".

[Breccia]

Trump fires head of election cybersecurity who debunked conspiracy theories

Christopher Krebs, who led the federal government's election cybersecurity efforts, has been fired by President Donald Trump via Twitter.

Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, has been the target of public criticism from Trump since the Nov. 3 election over his agency's Rumor Control blog, which rebuts a list of false claims about election fraud and hacking — many of which Trump or his lawyers have touted as real after he lost the election.

A source with knowledge of the firing said that Krebs found out about it via Twitter and that it was upsetting for him because he took the work seriously.

"I'm proud of the w--"

"Dude, that's from Nov 2020. Why are you posting that now? How could that pos...oh, shit."

Trump White House Aides Subpoenaed in Firing of Election Security Expert

We know Agent Smith has an ever-widening task. We also know that Trump knew full well he lost the election when he refused to concede and instead led a murderous terrorist insurrection. Smith has to do more than know, he has to prove. Trump staffers who say "Yes, Krebs told Trump the election was fair" would help.

Mr. Smith’s team is also seeking information about how White House officials, including in the Presidential Personnel Office, approached the Justice Department, which Mr. Trump turned to after his election loss as a way to try to stay in power, people familiar with the questions said.

The investigators appear focused on Mr. Trump’s state of mind around the firing of Mr. Krebs, as well as on establishing a timeline of events leading up to the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021. The latest subpoenas, issued roughly two weeks ago, went to officials in the personnel office, according to the two people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Krebs enraged Mr. Trump when his agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, released a statement nine days after the 2020 election attesting to the security of the results. The statement added a sharp rebuke — in boldface type — to the unfounded conspiracy theories that Mr. Trump and his allies were spreading about compromised voting machines.

“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised,” the statement from Mr. Krebs’s agency read.

Five days later, Mr. Trump tweeted that Mr. Krebs was “terminated” after releasing a “highly inaccurate” statement about the 2020 election.

"How did Trump know the report was inaccurate?"

He asked his own personally picked expert for a full agency report and threw it out. It is simply impossible Trump had information that disproves Krebs' full investigation, and never released it ever, even in the 60 court cases he lost.

Trump lost. He knew he lost. And he had proof he lost.

The timeline matches with Trump's purge of the disloyal. Which...isn't saying much, there wasn't much time between the election Trump lost and the insurrection he led to retain dictator power. Six weeks? Less? Krebs testified to exactly that later, under oath, to the House Committee.

It was far more than skepticism. Within the Presidential Personnel Office, a small group of Trump loyalists, led by Mr. Trump’s former personal aide, John McEntee, were on a mission to find and fire people perceived as disloyal to Mr. Trump within the federal bureaucracy. And they had fingered the outspoken Mr. Krebs, who had been appointed by Mr. Trump himself, as among the ranks of the disloyal.

Months before the 2020 election, Mr. McEntee, now the head of a dating app for conservatives

Hah.

and a deputy sought to overhaul the government’s hiring process. They developed what became known by some officials as “the loyalty test” — a new questionnaire for government hires that asked such questions as “What part of Candidate Trump’s campaign message most appealed to you and why?”

As a reminder, one of the many things Trump's time in the WH taught us all is "White House official governing business" and "campaign of current WH resident" are not the same. A political test for government workers is questionable at the best of times. Just before an insurrection, it looks like recruitment.

Which is exactly what Smith is looking for. Proof of Trump over throwing an election he knew and had proof he lost.

Do not expect Krebs to be the last name mentioned in this context.

By the time the election took place, Heidi Stirrup, a loyalist close to Mr. Trump’s policy adviser, Stephen Miller, had been installed as the White House liaison at the Justice Department. Mr. Smith’s office has asked questions about her role, one of the people briefed on the matter said.

Ms. Stirrup was banned from entering the Justice Department building a month after the 2020 election, after she tried to glean sensitive information from department officials about efforts to hunt for election fraud, according to officials with knowledge of the episode.

Barr resigned shortly after this. It might not have factored into his decision, but we knew Barr knew/had proof the election was fair, and he knew Trump refused to follow that. Stirrup's role did not help. Trump's actions only increased until it nearly led to a full-on DOJ revolt.

But we knew that, too.

For us, Krebs' testimony doesn't matter. We know about the report, we know Trump ignored it, we know Trump fired Krebs for it.

Smith needs proof. Krebs might have some.

[Edge-]

Speaking of CNN, they actually have Trump's lawyer on right now.

Side note: that can't be the guy's real name, right?

Betting at least 70% of Trump's decision to choose him was based on his last name. The other 30% being that he was willing to work for Trump and go on TV.

[Breccia]

Speaking of CNN, they actually have Trump's lawyer on right now.

Side note: that can't be the guy's real name, right?

Side answer: yes.

I see CNN is trying to bring in more Trump people and fact-checking them to their face. It's like being the security guard asking for overtime the week after the robbery. Better than nothing, but way worse than doing the right thing in the first place.

Not that Trusty has a choice other than to lie. His client is guilty.

[gondrin]

Betting at least 70% of Trump's decision to choose him was based on his last name. The other 30% being that he was willing to work for Trump and go on TV.

Possibly Trump: "If you cannot trust a guy named Trusty, who can you trust?"

[Edge-]

DURING A THURSDAY campaign event in Iowa, former President Donald Trump admitted what we all know: Republicans have no idea what “woke” actually means.

“I don’t like the term ‘woke,” Trump said while answering questions from the audience, “because I hear the term ‘woke woke woke’ — it’s just a term they use, half the people can’t define it, they don’t know what it is.”

The former president then rambled about transgender athletes and claimed that if he were the coach of a girl’s basketball team he “would have the greatest team. I’d say ‘Lebron [James], would you like to become a woman?’ And I would go to another four or five guys and say we will be undefeated for many, many years.’ I will go down as the greatest coach in history.”

“It is so crazy — and that is all woke,” Trump said. “I guess they define that as woke, but that’s all woke.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...ke-1234745571/

Trump, once again admitting that Republicans haven't the foggiest clue what "woke" actually means.

[Edge-]

Not only that but it's fucking hilarious that they think men purposefully change their gender just so they can win at sports. NO ONE DOES THIS.

Because Republicans continue to indicate they struggle to differentiate between fictional movies and reality, I'm still fairly convinced that a bunch of them recently saw the 2002 smash-hit comedy "Juwanna Mann" and also have never actually watched professional sports, specifically any professional women's sports.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2349667.html

A failed Republican candidate has been indicted on federal charges of organising a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of Democratic officials in New Mexico after losing his 2022 midterm election, according to a Department of Justice statement.

Solomon Peña, 40, allegedly hired four gunmen to carry out the shooting spree at the homes of two New Mexico lawmakers and two Bernalillo County commissioners after losing his bid for the state house’s 14th district, a newly unsealed grand jury indictment shows.

Prosecutors say Mr Peña went to the homes of three election officials urging them not to certify the results of the state house race, despite receiving just 26 per cent of the vote.

When they refused, he allegedly hired father and son Demetrio and Jose Trujillo and two others to carry out the shootings between 4 December 2022 and 3 January this year. One of the shootings was carried out with a machine gun, prosecutors say.

...

He claimed to have attended the January 6 Capitol riot in Washington DC, and called himself the “Maga king”.

Last bit is why I'm posting here. This is what MAGA brings, more extremism and violence.

[some guy]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...ke-1234745571/

Trump, once again admitting that Republicans haven't the foggiest clue what "woke" actually means.

I don't know if I need to read past the subheading. It pretty much sums up the "woke" perfectly.

[Breccia]

Trump attorneys seek recusal of judge in New York criminal case

"You already posted that."

I mean, I think this is new for this judge. Trump has accused everyone who isn't Trump of being biased against Trump.

It's another delay. It's another failure.

The motion is not yet public, but based on past public evidence, the asserted bias is most likely "Judge Merchan has already seen proof that Trump is a lying loser". It's possible the motion also mentions Merchan's daughter worked for an organization that worked for Biden's campaign once. By that logic, Trump's family does so much business with foreign countries that he should back out of the election.

But this information can't be new. Merchan didn't recuse himself last time, either. I don't see any reason he'd recuse himself this time, either, with the possible exception of "I'm done with this bullshit" which doesn't sound like it fits his past actions.

[Edge-]

More GOP leaders giving up the ballgame on trans stuff. This is from my governor...

https://twitter.com/kayiveyforgov/st...C29bXf5pYuAAAA

*Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation on Tuesday that will ban biological MEN from playing on FEMALE sports teams in college. #alpolitics

Protecting womens' sports, my ass.

I would ask about when the last time she went to a women's college sports game or watched it on TV, but I think we all know the answer is "never".

Really, we have major issues facing the nation, especially states like 'Bama, and this is where their legislative efforts are focused.

[Goat7]

Trump going to prison buhahahaha

maybe Hillary will send him soap on a rope

[Kaleredar]

Really, we have major issues facing the nation, especially states like 'Bama, and this is where their legislative efforts are focused.

That's because those things would require skill, aptitude, and effort to address.

Why do that when they can pull in a decently sized indecent voter base by complaining about minorities where the only bills they have to sign are telling certain groups of people how to live their lives?

[Benggaul]

Side note: that can't be the guy's real name, right?

Yes, and surprising nobody it appears it's not very apropos:

Trump's loose-lipped lawyers overheard spilling secrets in a restaurant: report

"But Trusty, who played a leading role in the special master litigation, was already frustrated with how things were going," reported Hugo Lowell for the newspaper. "Trusty’s private frame of mind emerged over dinner with Halligan and Corcoran at the five-star Breakers hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, hours after the special master court hearing.

"The conversation was overheard by this Guardian reporter who happened to be sitting at the table next to them."

Trusty was frustrated that Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn was making the attorneys run legal decisions through him, even though he didn't consider him to be a trial lawyer, and Trusty didn't like that Epshteyn seemed to focus more on Trump's public-relations problems than legal issues.

Lowell then overheard the attorney rip Epshteyn for trying to "troubleshoot" legal problems instead of letting him candidly brief his own client himself, which he compared to "'Game of Thrones' nonsense," and Trusty and Parlatore agreed several weeks later, after the Justice Department told them they believed Trump still had classified documents, that Epshteyn improperly inserted himself into their work.

"The pair chafed that when they spoke to Trump on the phone, Epshteyn was typically also on the line," Lowell reported. "At other times, they sniped that Epshteyn would give overly rosy outlooks to Trump and, in March, traveled to Mar-a-Lago to seek Trump’s permission to exclude him from future deliberations."

Clicking through to the original Guardian reporting on the matter...

In one instance, the clashes became so acute that some of the lawyers agreed to a so-called “murder-suicide” pact where if Parlatore got fired, others would resign in solidarity. And as some of the lawyers tried to exclude Epshteyn, they withheld information from co-counsel who they suspected might brief him.

The infighting eventually reached the point at which some of the lawyers started to believe the biggest impediment to defending Trump might just be the distrust and interpersonal conflict, rather than someone like Parlatore deciding to cooperate with prosecutors.

(Apologies if someone else had already posted this. I hadn't noticed it until now.)

[Edge-]

Yes, and surprising nobody it appears it's not very apropos:

Trump's loose-lipped lawyers overheard spilling secrets in a restaurant: report



Clicking through to the original Guardian reporting on the matter...



(Apologies if someone else had already posted this. I hadn't noticed it until now.)

I had to double check the date on this article because this is not the first time Trump lawyers have talked business in a public setting whilst reporters just happen to be around: http://www.usnews.com/news/national-...-at-restaurant

You get what you (don't?) pay for, I guess.

[Poopymonster]

Yes, and surprising nobody it appears it's not very apropos:

Trump's loose-lipped lawyers overheard spilling secrets in a restaurant: report



Clicking through to the original Guardian reporting on the matter...



(Apologies if someone else had already posted this. I hadn't noticed it until now.)

It's too little too late for Trump.
My view: Epstein, I mean Epshteyn is being used as a buffer. When things go totally pear shaped, Trump can go "Epstein? Good parties. Best parties. Cute kids. Party kids. Epshteyn? Covfefe boy. Didn't know him. Never met him." Boris might think he's Genco, but there is one huge difference.

Vito would never throw Genco under the bus. It would have been handled quietly.
and don't forget the cannoli.

[Edge-]

https://www.salon.com/2023/06/02/sea...-booed-anyway/

I didn't know Trump did a Fox town hall last night?

At another point during the event, Hannity moved to question Trump about his tendency to hurl insults at his political opposition and suggested he might tamp down the remarks to appeal to moderate voters.

"People ask me, 'Why does he have to fight so hard? Why doesn't he pick his fights a little more? Why does he have to call people names?' And the only reason I think this is an important question is because these… I think everyone here tonight is likely voting for you, right?" Hannity said, prompting cheers of agreement from the crowd.

Hannity continued, saying that the results of the 2024 election would likely rest in the hands of those who want Trump to "just tone it down a hair, stop a little of the name-calling."

Boos and shouts of "No!" erupted from the audience

"I said it's their question. Leave me alone," Hannity fired back before further pushing the suggestion to Trump. The presidential candidate dismissed it.

Yep, seems to have gone about as expected.

I don't think Van Jones can survive another four years of Trump if he doesn't at least have a dozen opportunities to say, "Finally, Trump has grown into the presidency." again.

[postman1782]

Remember that tape that was just revealed a few days ago about Trump bragging about having an attack plan that was going to be used on Iran?

Well, that document is missing still.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerro...h=400be5904ab0
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2350522.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/02/polit...ena/index.html

They can't find it anywhere where Trump had documents. So, everything keeps getting worse for Trump.