Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Does that mean we get to continue bird-themed fighter jet names with Albatross?

Considering his affiliation with Putin, I think we'd go with the Swallow.

She was a hero protesting a fraudulent election that was murdered in cold blood.

I'm sure if she was setting Tesla vehicles on fire like the real terrorists you would change your mind about her.

Goodness me, I seem to have missed replying to this very serious poster with this very serious comment about how the election was fraudulent, a completely fair topic to talk about on these forums, apparently. How is it that I just happened to miss this reply until just this very morning? You know, I think this completely genuine poster and completely genuine post deserves genuine discussion. Anyone want to jump in?

[Flarelaine]

Update on Mahmoud Khalil:

https://x.com/camiloreports/status/1904187896271130911 (CBS)
He's being accused of fraud on the Permanent Resident registration/status change form. Failing to disclose UNRWA for past employment, failure to disclose ongoing employment for the UK embassy in Beirut, and failure to disclose current membership in CUAD. A fraudulent application for a green card is a reason to lose it. It also helps to explain how he became a green card holder.

Useless trivia, but did you guys know Gerard Depardieu won a Golden Globe for playing a guy who enters a marriage of convenience for a green card in the movie titled (le gasp!) Green Card?

[Iliena]

Donald Trump has labelled people accused of vandalising the Trump Turnberry golf resort as "terrorists"

Grafitti was sprayed on the clubhouse in red paint and the course was dug up and daubed with the words "Gaza is not for sale"

The US president said those who caused damage at the Ayrshire resort on 8 March should be "treated harshly" by authorities.

Kieran Robson, 33, appeared at Ayr Sheriff Court on Monday on a single charge of malicious mischief in connection with the incident. He made no plea and was released on bail.

The case was committed for further examination, with Mr Robson, of Galashiels, set to appear again at a later date.

Another man, aged 75, and a 66-year-old woman were previously arrested and released pending further inquiries.

In an earlier post on his Truth Social platform, after a conversation with Sir Keir Starmer, Trump incorrectly claimed that "three people were in prison" over the incident.

https://www.bbc.co.uk

I'm sorry Donnie but we don't have our own Guantanamo to send these "terrorists" too.

[PhaelixWW]

Does that mean we get to continue bird-themed fighter jet names with Albatross?

Except an albatross was generally seen as a sign of good luck.

[Breccia]

The US president said those who caused damage at the Ayrshire resort on 8 March should be "treated harshly" by authorities.

Too bad it's not federal property. Oh well, Trump has no jurisdiction. Best he can do is sue for millions and millions, which I'm just going to guess the vandal doesn't have.

[Al Gorefiend]

Update on Mahmoud Khalil:

https://x.com/camiloreports/status/1904187896271130911 (CBS)
He's being accused of fraud on the Permanent Resident registration/status change form. Failing to disclose UNRWA for past employment, failure to disclose ongoing employment for the UK embassy in Beirut, and failure to disclose current membership in CUAD. A fraudulent application for a green card is a reason to lose it. It also helps to explain how he became a green card holder.

Why does the left and right always give us the worst fucking people to rally behind. It's either some shitter like this or some career criminal like Floyd killed by cops, or some insane psychopath like Kyle Rittenhouse on the other side.

[Rasulis]

Remember when US search and rescue teams would be the first on the ground whenever a major disaster occurred. Not anymore.

As Trump guts foreign aid, China and others lead Myanmar earthquake response
A U.S. team has yet to arrive in Myanmar after last week’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake, while China has already rescued six people and committed $14 million in humanitarian aid.

Chinese rescuers have freed six people from the rubble of an earthquake in Myanmar, including a child and a pregnant woman, Chinese state media reported Monday, placing Beijing at the forefront of an international rescue effort from which the United States has been largely absent.

Rescue teams from India, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand and other countries have already arrived in Myanmar, where the military-led government says the death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake Friday has surpassed 1,700, a figure that is expected to rise.

But a U.S. team has yet to appear at the scene of the quake in the Southeast Asian nation, which occurred the same day the State Department informed thousands of employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which administers civilian foreign aid, that nearly all of their roles were being eliminated.

Critics have warned that President Donald Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid, which had previously accounted for less than 1% of the annual federal budget, could create an opening for authoritarian governments such as China and Russia that are trying to increase their global influence.

The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries, said Sunday in a post on X that the U.S. would provide up to $2 million in aid through Myanmar-based humanitarian assistance organizations.

The embassy also said that a USAID emergency response team was “deploying to Myanmar to identify the people’s most pressing needs, including emergency shelter, food, medical needs, and access to water.”

It was not immediately clear when the U.S. team would arrive in Myanmar, even as the country Monday marked the end of the crucial 72 hours since the quake after which the survival rate of people trapped in the rubble sharply decreases.

The State Department said last week that cuts to foreign aid had not affected the U.S. government’s ability to respond to the earthquake.

But the U.S. absence is being felt on the ground in Myanmar, a country of 54 million people that, in addition to the earthquake, has been embroiled in a civil war for four years.

“We’ve seen a broad cut in humanitarian aid, that’s undeniable,” Trevor Clark, UNICEF’s regional chief of emergency, told NBC News in Bangkok on Monday. “What we’re focused on right now is just the immediate stuff. We’ve been able to mobilize some internal resources, and we’re confident that other sort of partners will step up.”

China has announced $14 million in assistance for Myanmar, including 1,200 tents, 8,000 blankets and 40,000 first aid kits. A team of 118 Chinese rescuers arrived in the country Sunday along with six rescue dogs and two vehicles, according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, in addition to 82 who arrived Saturday.

Video from the state-run broadcaster CCTV showed two Chinese rescuers pulling a 5-year-old girl from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building early Monday in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, which was near the epicenter of the quake.

The girl was carried down in the claw of an excavator, while a pregnant woman rescued from the same building was carried out on a gurney hooked to a zipline, video from Xinhua showed.

Russia, meanwhile, has sent 20 rescuers, including dog handlers and drone operators, according to the Russian state news agency Tass, as well as three planes including an airmobile hospital.

[Edge-]

Why does the left and right always give us the worst fucking people to rally behind. It's either some shitter like this or some career criminal like Floyd killed by cops, or some insane psychopath like Kyle Rittenhouse on the other side.

because finding a whole bunch of stuff to justify arresting someone after their deeply questionable arrest that sure seemed unlawful (they didn't even know his proper immigration status, being a key example) doesn't somehow mean people defending the questionable and problematic nature of the arrest wrong for their past defense of what is still a concerning and troubling arrest.

[Breccia]

Speaking of conspiracy theories:

Katherine Maher, the leftist NPR CEO, is currently the Chair of the Board of Signal!

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

-- post intentionally reTweeted by Trump

Some random Trump supporter broadcasting a conspiracy theory is nothing new. We see it on these very forums, where they're completely genuine completely honest posts adding substantially to the conversation, apparently. But for Trump to press it along is now the WH's official position. Trump is now saying the CEO of Signal, a messaging system his own people used on purpose, is not only trying to damage him, but somehow knew about the invite to a journalist and personally allowed it to happen real-time.

That's how desperate Trump and his supporters are.

[Rasulis]

Tax collection projections are down. Refunds are up.

I guess when you crash the stock market, your quarterly tax payments go down also.

That’s a potentially worrying sign for bond market watchers and the broader economy if the trend continues. Most estimates show the US running out of funds to cover all of its obligations on time in the late summer or early fall, but some forecasters have also warned weak revenue intake could mean a breach as soon as late May or June.

The US Treasury’s cash balance dropped to $281 billion on Thursday, according to the latest data from the department. Beyond that stockpile, it had, as of March 26, only $207 billion of so-called extraordinary measures left to continue to fulfill its financial obligations.

Tumult in Washington — cuts in the ranks of Internal Revenue Service agents spurred by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, along with a tariff campaign that’s damaging consumer and business sentiment — could be contributing to lower-than-predicted tax collections, experts said.

The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday warned about the potential for an earlier-than-anticipated debt ceiling breach, saying its baseline X-date estimate is for August or September, but noted that, if the government’s borrowing needs are significantly greater than projected, the Treasury’s resources could run out as early as late May.

So far this year, IRS receipts are coming in slower than projected. Filing season statistics show that the number of returns the agency has received is down 1.1%, compared with a similar time frame for 2024. Tax payments tend to spike in the final weeks before April 15 as filers who owe wait as long as possible to send in their money. As for refunds, however, the total is 4.6% higher than last year.

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of conspiracy theories:


-- post intentionally reTweeted by Trump

Some random Trump supporter broadcasting a conspiracy theory is nothing new. We see it on these very forums, where they're completely genuine completely honest posts adding substantially to the conversation, apparently. But for Trump to press it along is now the WH's official position. Trump is now saying the CEO of Signal, a messaging system his own people used on purpose, is not only trying to damage him, but somehow knew about the invite to a journalist and personally allowed it to happen real-time.

That's how desperate Trump and his supporters are.

NPR never try to hide the fact. Every time they talked about the Signal story, they always disclose that Katherine Maher is on the board.

[Edge-]

NPR never try to hide the fact. Every time they talked about the Signal story, they always disclose that Katherine Maher is on the board.

You see, they tried to hide it because conservatives don't listen to NPR so how are they supposed to know her position on the board was disclosed whenever NPR reported on it?

[tehdang]

Useless trivia, but did you guys know Gerard Depardieu won a Golden Globe for playing a guy who enters a marriage of convenience for a green card in the movie titled (le gasp!) Green Card?

Cool trivia!

Why does the left and right always give us the worst fucking people to rally behind. It's either some shitter like this or some career criminal like Floyd killed by cops, or some insane psychopath like Kyle Rittenhouse on the other side.

The edge cases, or perception of them, always generate the most controversy. The right to march, but Nazis in Skokie challenge how firm you believe in it. Second amendment and self defense, but some questionable decisions. Speech and protest and, but a terrorist-supporting shitbag and maybe some property destruction and violent threats against fellow students. Due process of citizens vs green card holders and the relaxed removal criteria. It sucks but the easier cases don’t generate as much controversy.

[Rasulis]

China, Japan, South Korea will jointly respond to US tariffs, Chinese state media says

That's not good. Only Trump, the Uniter, could make those three countries work together and put up a united economic front against the US.

[Edge-]

China, Japan, South Korea will jointly respond to US tariffs, Chinese state media says

That's not good. Only Trump, the Uniter, could make those three countries work together and put up a united economic front against the US.

he is the uniter

uniting the free world against the us, functionally

it's funny how republicans frequently accidentally accomplish their goals, but in the reverse. like those republican politicians loudly arguing to prosecute pedophiles that get arrested for trying to have sex with a child

[DarkTZeratul]

I would happily wager that if we pumped our own gas, it would not come with a price reduction. All that would happen is the owner of the station has less overhead they need to pay, and will pocket the extra cash.

All you have to do is look at the Trump tax cuts. Every single Republican insisted up and down that cutting taxes would mean businesses could lower prices and raise wages. Instead they pocketed the difference and did a ton of stock buybacks to raise their share prices and enrich their investors.

[Breccia]

Trump Recession Odds Have Doubled: Moody's Chief Economist

The likelihood that the U.S. economy will plunge into a recession in 2025 has risen to 40 percent, from an initial 15 percent estimated by Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi at the start of the year.

"But he hasn't even announced tariffs!"

Correct. That's how bad of an idea this is. Just yelling the word "Tariff!" in about to cause a recession. Simply put, Trump is not just doing something counterproductive, he's doing so without a plan of any kind. He's already flip-flopped on tariffs multiple times. Nobody can set up their business based on Trump's fickle whims.

In a post published on social media platform X on Sunday, Zandi wrote: "I'm raising my odds that a recession will begin sometime this year to 40 percent, up from 15 percent at the start of the year."

According to him, last week's economic data "were disconcerting, including the slide in consumer confidence, punk consumer spending, and persistently high inflation."

The "intensifying trade war and DOGE cuts are behind all this," Zandi said, adding that Trump's imposition of a 25 percent tariff on all cars and certain car parts imported to the U.S, and likely retaliatory tariffs threatened by the U.S. trade partners, "are sure" to make things worse.

While Zandi thinks that a recession is now much more likely than it was in January, before Trump's return to the White House, he believes that a recession this year "remains less likely than not only because layoffs remain low and job and income growth positive."

"Aren't the Q1 GDP growth and job numbers coming out in a matter of days?"

Yes.

"So he could dramatically change his mind, based on actual objective evidence, and not wild conspiracy theories?"

Yes.

The new jobs report for March set to be released on Friday will give experts a better sense of whether these dynamics will continue, propping up the U.S. economy and preventing it from sliding into a recession.

"It is premature to expect much fallout from the trade war and DOGE cuts in the jobs data, suggesting a monthly payroll job gain of close to 150,000," Zandi said.

"Anything south of 100k would be worrisome, and anything north of 200k would be welcome. But whatever the job number, as long as the tariffs and DOGE cuts continue to mount, so too will the odds of recession."

"Well, at least it's just that one guy."

Yes, "that one guy" who happens to be a leading expert. Oh, and Goldman Sachs.

On Sunday, Goldman Sachs raised its tariffs assumptions for the second time in less than a month, saying it now expects the average U.S. tariff to rise 15pp in 2025, reflecting a more aggressive scenario including reciprocal tariffs from the country's trade partners.

Higher tariffs, Goldman Sachs said, are likely to bring consumer prices up, with researchers estimating year-end 2025 core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation of 3.5 percent year-over-year, up 0.5pp from previous forecasts.

As a result, Goldman Sachs now expects a 35 percent possibility of the U.S. entering a recession in the next 12 months, up from its previous 20 percent.

The article then lists a bunch of experts that more or less agree that either inflation or stagflation is assured, when Trump unilaterally raises prices. Trump has explained nothing, other than his usual "wait and see, it's shitty policy but gives better ratings!" but April 2 will either be what he said, causing markets to drop and consumer dread to continue, or Trump will salvage the markets by not doing what he promised to do.

- - - Updated - - -

This case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned

--official word of the WH

[Edge-]

so arguably the biggest opsec failure in US history, at least this millennium, and republicans want to pretend it's a nothingberder and ignore it without any consequences for mike waltz or anyone else using a civilian app on civilian devices to discuss classified materials/war plans and was dumb enough to add a journalist or not notice that they'd been added to a group chat

i continue to say if there's another democratic administration, pardons for folks like these people should be summarily ignored.

[Draco-Onis]

so arguably the biggest opsec failure in US history, at least this millennium, and republicans want to pretend it's a nothingberder and ignore it without any consequences for mike waltz or anyone else using a civilian app on civilian devices to discuss classified materials/war plans and was dumb enough to add a journalist or not notice that they'd been added to a group chat

i continue to say if there's another democratic administration, pardons for folks like these people should be summarily ignored.

I think Mike Waltz will be thrown under the bus not for the security failure but because he clearly had that journalist in his contacts making him a traitor to the dear leader. Trump and co will not look kindly to someone leaking information to journalists, everyone else is probably safe from any consequence.

- - - Updated - - -

Why does the left and right always give us the worst fucking people to rally behind. It's either some shitter like this or some career criminal like Floyd killed by cops, or some insane psychopath like Kyle Rittenhouse on the other side.

If your stance depends on who is in the cross hairs then you don't have morals you just have opinions. If you believe in free speech you shouldn't have any trouble with Neo Nazis expressing it, if you believe in freedom of religion you should have no problem with Muslims.

[Edge-]

I think Mike Waltz will be thrown under the bus not for the security failure but because he clearly had that journalist in his contacts making him a traitor to the dear leader.

did you miss the memo? elon, the genius, is going to look into how it happened because mike waltz isn't a colossal fucking idiot who was using a personal device with personal contacts on it when using the civilian app to discuss war plans

elon will find the superhacker

Trump and co will not look kindly to someone leaking information to journalists, everyone else is probably safe from any consequence.

so-called journalists*

gotta remember the talking points, fam

[Breccia]

so arguably the biggest opsec failure in US history, at least this millennium, and republicans want to pretend it's a nothingberder and ignore it without any consequences for mike waltz or anyone else using a civilian app on civilian devices to discuss classified materials/war plans and was dumb enough to add a journalist or not notice that they'd been added to a group chat

The cultists are too far gone, but it must be harder and harder to attempt to be a classic conservative siding with Trump, and see time and again Team Trump do everything they accused the Democrats of doing, except Team Trump doing worse. Remember all those "paid Soros activist" things? Now Musk is just handing out million dollar checks, or claiming to, for people to vote the way he tells them.