Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Edge-]

'They really don't know why yet' because it's an institution tracking and sorting through the financials of two-hundred million Americans you fucking idiots, it -needs- a comparably large and well trained staff.

Jesus christ these people have the reasoning skills of children.

but you see it should operate like a bank! because these people are terrifyingly stupid and don't realize that the IRS is not a bank and does not perform the duties or functions of a bank.

every time they open their mouths they reinforce how these are all dangerously unqualified idiots operating without oversight or accountability

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...their-body-art

Like many Venezuelans of his generation, Franco José Caraballo Tiapa is a man of many tattoos.

There is one of a rose, one of a lion, and another – on the left side of the 26-year-old’s neck – of a razor blade that represents his work as a barber.

Two other tattoos pay tribute to Caraballo’s eldest daughter, Shalome: a pocket watch featuring the time of her birth and some black lettering on his chest that spells out the four-year-old’s name.

“He’s just a normal kid … he likes tattoos – that’s it,” said Martin Rosenow, a Florida-based attorney who represents the Venezuelan asylum seeker – one of scores shipped to El Salvador by the Trump administration last weekend as part of his hard-line immigration crackdown.

Caraballo’s fondness for body art may have been his undoing. For when the father of two was detained by US immigration officials in Dallas last month, they appear to have taken those tattoos as proof that he was a member of Venezuela’s most notorious gang, Tren de Aragua.

An official Department of Homeland Security document issued in early February and reviewed by the Guardian states: “[The] subject [Caraballo] has been identified as a Member/Active of Tren de Aragua” although it does not explain how agents reached that conclusion. The same document notes that Caraballo – who it calls a “Deportable/Excludable Alien” – has several tattoos and no known criminal history “at this time”.

Rosenow rejected the idea that the images inked on to his client’s skin indicated gang membership. “It’s specious – there’s no basis [for this conclusion],” he said. “Experts in Venezuela who study the gang have all stated that there are no tattoos that associate gang members. It’s not like the Central American MS-13 gang where tattoos are relevant in their organization.”

“Tren de Agua has no [specific] tattoos,” Rosenow continued. “If you see pictures [of actual Tren de Aragua members arrested in the US], they’re shirtless and many of them don’t even have tattoos.

“I’m nauseated by it all. I’m distressed for these individuals. I’m sad for what this means. As an American, for me it’s disgraceful that we would violate human rights so flagrantly on an international level.”

Caraballo, who hails from the Venezuelan state of Bolívar and entered the US over its southern border in October 2023, is one of several Venezuelans whom immigration officials appear to have identified as gang members based on little more than their nationality and their tattoos.

Just one story of how DHS is picking up any brown person they can find with tattoos to send them to concentration camps abroad.

There are more stories in the link. But this is the Nazi shit we keep talking about.

There is no finely tuned machine identifying dangerous gang members and prioritizing them for deportation, just gaspacho rounding up any brown person they can.

[Bwgmon]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/0...iance-00243290

how are the geniuses at doge doing?



oh damn, doge really doesn't know what they're doing at all, huh.

Gonna take a wild guess that difference in staff sizes is, in some part, due to midsize banks serving a smaller pool of people than "the entire country."

[Edge-]

Gonna take a wild guess that difference in staff sizes is, in some part, due to midsize banks serving a smaller pool of people than "the entire country."

hey now, how dare you use your brain.

this administration doesn't like that and wouldn't allow that in the west wing.

[PfeffermintShake]

LOL WHY Trump is pulling Stefanik's nomination for UN ambassador? WronG answers please!

• GOP Senators are worried the next nimcompoop, might be the *one* that brings it all down?
• GOP just finished an internal poll showing worse than expected collapse of support. Expecting to lose all upcomiong special elections. Flipping Stefanik's seat would likely mean *speaker Jefferies*. Ensuing congressional investigations would also bring it all down.

[Breccia]

Shortly after being sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin accused the previous administration of stashing $20 billion worth of “gold bars” in a Citibank account and vowed to claw the money back to the Treasury.

The new environment chief has frequently touted a theory, spurred by a video from right-wing activist group Project Veritas, that the Biden administration unlawfully awarded $20 billion to progressive ventures. In that video, a Biden-era EPA employee compared the rush to get Congress’s climate law funding out the door before Trump took office to tossing gold bars off the Titanic.

“It’s a clear-cut case of waste and abuse,” Zeldin told Fox News *ding* in February. “The entire scheme, in my opinion, is criminal. We found the gold bars; we want them back.”

"The EPA had actual gold bars?"

No, you idiot. But they didn't find fraud or waste, either.

In reality, the “gold bars” are congressionally appropriated funds from a 2022 climate law, meant to be distributed to small, nonprofit lenders that focus on energy efficiency and clean energy projects — several of which are in Republican-led states.

The EPA froze and subsequently terminated the $20 billion program soon after President Donald Trump took office, leaving dozens of projects in limbo. They include some that intended to set up solar power for churches, and others to help small independent grocery stores upgrade their aging refrigeration systems — cost savings for the business itself and the customers it serves.

"Well if it was a completely fair and legal allocation of funds, why is Team Trump making such a big deal about it?"

Because they haven't found fraud or waste nearly at the level they suggested. So they've resorted to outright lies, such as "this is illegal" when it's not.

Zeldin’s allegations of criminal activity have risen to the level of Trump’s Department of Justice and the FBI, prompting the resignation of a top DC prosecutor who refused to open a grand jury investigation in the matter in part because she didn’t believe there was enough evidence to do so, CNN previously reported.

As the government continues to spend time and taxpayer money on the investigation, the funding remains frozen. A federal judge recently ruled the Trump administration has not yet provided enough evidence to justify the freeze and took improper steps to cancel the funding.

[Edge-]

"The EPA had actual gold bars?"

No, you idiot. But they didn't find fraud or waste, either.



"Well if it was a completely fair and legal allocation of funds, why is Team Trump making such a big deal about it?"

Because they haven't found fraud or waste nearly at the level they suggested. So they've resorted to outright lies, such as "this is illegal" when it's not.

these are the most fucking retarded people around and the republican party is elevating them to the top positions in the government

[For_The_Horde]

but you see it should operate like a bank! because these people are terrifyingly stupid and don't realize that the IRS is not a bank and does not perform the duties or functions of a bank.

every time they open their mouths they reinforce how these are all dangerously unqualified idiots operating without oversight or accountability

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...their-body-art



Just one story of how DHS is picking up any brown person they can find with tattoos to send them to concentration camps abroad.

There are more stories in the link. But this is the Nazi shit we keep talking about.

There is no finely tuned machine identifying dangerous gang members and prioritizing them for deportation, just gaspacho rounding up any brown person they can.

Pretty soon they'll just start adding tattoos to them for easier identification. Which is horrifying to even consider as the next logical step but you can't honestly say they'll never do it. We're probably years away from the bottom of the abyss they'll sink to in this administration's quest for ultimate power and control.

[Edge-]

So what is Donald's administration doing for working Americans this week?

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/...food-bank.html

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank faces a crisis that could leave thousands of Northeast Ohioans hungry as early as this week, bringing harsh criticism of the Donald Trump administration from “Today in Ohio” podcast hosts Chris Quinn and Lisa Garvin.

“The food bank is facing cancellation of 20 semi trucks full of food, and that could happen as early as this week,” explained Garvin. “This food is coming from the Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program. Each truck holds 100,000 pounds of food. So that’s $2 million worth of food.”

Garvin noted the truckloads represent about “a week’s worth of food for Northeast Ohio.” The cancellations appear to be part of broader federal spending cuts, but the hosts questioned whether this decision was deliberate policy or simply incompetence.

“I’ve got to think that Trump himself doesn’t know about this because this is too stupid for words,” Quinn said bluntly. “Nothing drives you more than hunger.”

The podcast highlighted how the cancellations would impact not just recipients but also local farmers. The food bank expects to lose “a million pounds of food from local... Food for Purchase Assistance,” which provides fresh food from area farmers to food banks. Garvin explained that “losing this program means that they can’t meet the demand for fresh food or protein, which is really expensive to replace and really hard to get donated to the food bank.”

Right, cancelling funding for desperately needed food aid for working, hungry Americans.

But hey, they're making sure billionaires are protected and they're the only people that actually matter!

Another example of this Republican administrations wide ranging, sustained war on working Americans.

[Breccia]

WHY Trump is pulling Stefanik's nomination for UN ambassador?

(sighs)

Yeah...we're stuck with that vapid whore for another few years. 2026 should be interesting, I can personally attest that federal services/aid are fairly high around here. Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will hurt.

[fwc577]

(sighs)

Yeah...we're stuck with that vapid whore for another few years. 2026 should be interesting, I can personally attest that federal services/aid are fairly high around here. Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will hurt.

It's hilarious they're pulling her nomination now and not even waiting on the special election. Must have some terrible internal polling.

Could be one of those cases where they weren't trusting their internal numbers and then add onto that the loss of a Republican seat to a Democrat in an R+15 seat has them spooked.

[Captain N]

(sighs)

Yeah...we're stuck with that vapid whore for another few years. 2026 should be interesting, I can personally attest that federal services/aid are fairly high around here. Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will hurt.

Let's not forget our most recent cuts -- $11 billion to addiction and mental healthcare. Demonstrating that the bit about fentanyl being a major problem, and that mental health problems need to be addressed to end school shootings is just typical Republican bluster.

https://tinyurl.com/5dtyv223

(Used a TinyUrl Link because the NPR one was way too long)

[Breccia]

(Used a TinyUrl Link because the NPR one was way too long)

Just "Go Advanced" and use the "Link" tool.

[Poopymonster]

It's hilarious they're pulling her nomination now and not even waiting on the special election. Must have some terrible internal polling.

Could be one of those cases where they weren't trusting their internal numbers and then add onto that the loss of a Republican seat to a Democrat in an R+15 seat has them spooked.

The confirmation was set to be after 2 special elections if I recall.
On purpose. If they lost em, they'd pull her.
This looks like they are preemptively saying "We're gonna lose em."

[Edge-]

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...g-20242812.php

Orange County, one of California’s wealthiest coastal regions, is missing out on millions in previously promised federal funds this year, part of a complex cost-cutting measure enacted by national lawmakers to avert a government shutdown. The new shortfall amounts to millions of dollars lost for local (and in some cases vital) projects that had previously been given the go-ahead by a bitterly divided Congress. In two specific Southern California cases, needed funds were earmarked to help shore up ongoing coastal erosion and landslide issues — and now, that money has disappeared.

More on "why nobody should trust Republicans because they lie and will go back on their word", and how Republicans clawing back billions that won't really matter in the overall deficit/debt is fucking over local communities that were expecting those approved, signed off funds.

And it's not surprise that "liberal" areas like CA are being disproportionately targeted by the looks of things, either. Republicans had better hope Democrats don't carry grudges, but I sure hope they do.

[PfeffermintShake]

I like the image of Orange County Republicans drifting out on the tide, in their hotdog suits saying, "we're all looking for the politicians that did this! They making California unlivable!".


Maybe shitty Voltron can build a liferaft out of property-tax exemptions?

[Edge-]

I like the image of Orange County Republicans drifting out on the tide, in their hotdog suits saying, "we're all looking for the politicians that did this! They making California unlivable!".


Maybe shitty Voltron can build a liferaft out of property-tax exemptions?

i'm looking forward to how they try to tell their constituents that this is actually in their interests

assuming they ever hold a town hall to speak with them or something

but anyways, wild how donald and republicans are establishing a precedent of weaponizing the federal government to yank contracts and money already agreed upon in ways that disproportionately impact democratic areas

because if they cry about it when democrats do the same we can just point back to the precedent established by republicans and donald trump and all their comments how having an established precedent makes it all fine and dandy and they shouldn't cry about it

[fwc577]

The confirmation was set to be after 2 special elections if I recall.
On purpose. If they lost em, they'd pull her.
This looks like they are preemptively saying "We're gonna lose em."

Gives me hope that the internals aren't looking good for the upcoming WI election. I just saw Fuckface Von Musk is pulling that bullshit $1 million dollar winners here in Wisconsin as it relates to voters for the upcoming SC election here.

I really hope that when we get through Trump and re-take control of things, that we get a DOJ that goes ham on investigations and throws Musk in fucking jail. I'd prefer Guantanamo or that prison in El Salvador, we can throw him and the dog killer in there together.

[Xath]

Gives me hope that the internals aren't looking good for the upcoming WI election. I just saw Fuckface Von Musk is pulling that bullshit $1 million dollar winners here in Wisconsin as it relates to voters for the upcoming SC election here.

I really hope that when we get through Trump and re-take control of things, that we get a DOJ that goes ham on investigations and throws Musk in fucking jail. I'd prefer Guantanamo or that prison in El Salvador, we can throw him and the dog killer in there together.

I feel like the dems are legit going to sweep all the specials except the Supreme Court race and that's unfortunately the most important one if they do have a way to push their weight somewhere it will go there.

[Breccia]

assuming they ever hold a town hall to speak with them or something

I do love how much the Trumpers keep shrilling about how much of a mandate Trump has, while their members continue to hide from their town halls and constituents. You'd think they'd be basking in the glow of their adoring fans, right?

DOW dropped again today, btw.

[Sunseeker]

I do love how much the Trumpers keep shrilling about how much of a mandate Trump has, while their members continue to hide from their town halls and constituents. You'd think they'd be basking in the glow of their adoring fans, right?

DOW dropped again today, btw.

Has anyone else devloped a morbid fascination with watching it drop, with a little bit of glee each time it does?

I mean, its still gotta fall another 2000+ points for the hurt to really kick in, but still.