Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Xath]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/0...andum-00307251

This definitely isn't in the authoritarian playbook /s

[Breccia]

<chuckles softly>.

Okay, yes, I guess I meant that I expected things to get even uglier in a hurry and splash all over the news. Clearly we've already been there in some way for some time.

[Teriz]

That part I called if he got in power again I just didn't think the American population would be stupid enough to not just elect him but give him a fully controlled congress.

Him getting re-elected was a huge indictment on the general intelligence of the American people.

[tehdang]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/0...andum-00307251

This definitely isn't in the authoritarian playbook /s

You know those authoritarians, and their crackdowns on foreign spending in elections.

Dems are going to say that foreign donations to American political campaigns are the foundation to Democracy now, aren’t they.

https://nypost.com/2024/10/28/us-new...s-house-panel/
In the news for a while for failing to verify donor identity, and until recently, refusing to require CVV card info.

[NineSpine]

Wasn’t sure if the courts could actually try a say if he did and was sued for it.

Like “we are sending troops to position x for reason y” followed by “we are sending troops to position x for reason z” right afterwards.

The system relies on the good faith of the people running it, and that's kind of unavoidable to a certain extent. That's why the most important event in US history was the first transfer of power from one party to the other in 1801.

I think this is a distinction that a lot of people left of center really miss and it causes them to misunderstand the whole situation. Generally speaking, for people left of center, the US is systems and processes. It's an idea. For people right of center, the US is a specific group of entitled people. It's not an idea. The right's appeals to things like the Constitution and American history are the aesthetics they associate with the people, not some kind of ideals they hold to. This is one of the reasons right and left talk past each other so much.

You can see this in the deportation issue right now. The left sees the systems and processes being violated and takes umbrage with that. The right doesn't care, because they fundamentally see the people they classify as non-American as less deserving. They say rights are for Americans and by that they do not mean citizens. Citizenship is process. It's a system. That's not what they care about. They care about in-group and out-group.

[Breccia]

You know those authoritarians, and their crackdowns on foreign spending in elections.

=You mean like Russian money? I'm pretty sure you said nothing about it at the time, and we have actual arrests and convictions. Trump is targeting a specific activist group because they disagree with him. There's a world of difference, but since you just refused to answer another of my challenges, you're admitting that you think Harvard is more dangerous to democracy than the terrorists who stormed the Capitol, so this fits your known public words and beliefs.

I'll still give you a day to say "no, I don't hate brown people". I'd advise you to do that, because otherwise, I'll have to assume from your intentional public words and beliefs that you agree with Trump, hands tied.

[NineSpine]

You know those authoritarians, and their crackdowns on foreign spending in elections.

Dems are going to say that foreign donations to American political campaigns are the foundation to Democracy now, aren’t they.

https://nypost.com/2024/10/28/us-new...s-house-panel/
In the news for a while for failing to verify donor identity, and until recently, refusing to require CVV card info.

Concern trolling about foreign money in elections, while defending the guy that:

1. Openly asked Russia to illegally interfere in the election.
2. Demanded political favors from Zelensky in exchange for congressionally appropriated funds.
3. Made at least $7M from foreign governments during his last administration.
4. Appointed his son in law to be in charge of MidEast policy, who then received a billion dollar investment from Saudi Arabia.
5. Sent his daughter to negotiate with China while she was negotiating business deals with the Chinese government.

Spare us.

[Gorsameth]

Wasn’t sure if the courts could actually try a say if he did and was sued for it.

Like “we are sending troops to position x for reason y” followed by “we are sending troops to position x for reason z” right afterwards.

Look at Trump ignoring multiple court orders, including the SC, and tell me about the courts stopping the President from doing a thing.

[Edge-]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hegseth...lled-pentagon/

Hegseth orders makeup studio installed at Pentagon

Lights, Camera, FABULOUS!

Women in the military, especially leadership, is too woke. But installing a hair and makeup studio at the Pentagon? That's extremely masculine. I'm glad Secretary Alcoholic is continuing to focus on the most pressing issues for the US military - how good he looks on camera.

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I choose to think of this as a version of Marvel's mutant registry. We'd be in illustrious company. For a while anyway.

it's just wild how explicitly Nazi so much of the shit this administration is doing, innit?

[Breccia]

Concern trolling about foreign money in elections, while defending the guy that:

2. Demanded political favors from Zelensky in exchange for congressionally appropriated funds.

Oh, right, the first time he was impeached! Yeah, willing to bet that @tehdang said nothing, but even if he had, the Republican Party circled the wagons and allowed it. Therefore, since demanding foreign contributions at figurative gunpoint is fine, declaring them illegal when Democrats ask for donations would just be flat-out hypocrisy.

But then again, look who it is.

[Edge-]

$Trump coin is surging again on plans for a dinner with the president and the token's top holders

ok at this point i'm convinced the whole thing is legit just money laundering and nothing else. i don't think there's anything like this kind of "organic" interest even amongst cultists. this is bitcoin 2.0, but more obvious and dumber.

[Breccia]

Lights, Camera, FABULOUS!

I'm pretty sure the makeup room is for Trump. Hegseth knows Trump is, well, an old fat dying man. They need to slather him with orange pancake makeup so he doesn't look like the villain from Men in Black.

[Fugus]

Look at Trump ignoring multiple court orders, including the SC, and tell me about the courts stopping the President from doing a thing.

Wasn’t saying they would stop him, just that they would try to rule against him. We are already in constitutional crisis mode where they are trying to split hairs to claim they aren’t and avoiding doing something about it.

[Edge-]

Concern trolling about foreign money in elections, while defending the guy that:

1. Openly asked Russia to illegally interfere in the election.
2. Demanded political favors from Zelensky in exchange for congressionally appropriated funds.
3. Made at least $7M from foreign governments during his last administration.
4. Appointed his son in law to be in charge of MidEast policy, who then received a billion dollar investment from Saudi Arabia.
5. Sent his daughter to negotiate with China while she was negotiating business deals with the Chinese government.

Spare us.

it's very funny

because he posts some NYP article about dems being duped

meanwhile the donald administration gave credentials to tim pool to show up to the white house as press, a guy who was literally a paid russian propagandist who fits every aspect of the 'useful idiot' definition because apparently reasonable people don't question where the tens of thousands of dollars they're being paid to repeat russian propaganda is coming from.

it's very funny to see republicans always projecting with their accusations. because every time it ends up being them doing what they complain about. see: george soros complaints but elon is literally what conservatives have spent decades antisemetically attacking george soros for.

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I'm pretty sure the makeup room is for Trump. Hegseth knows Trump is, well, an old fat dying man. They need to slather him with orange pancake makeup so he doesn't look like the villain from Men in Black.

when was the last time donald got his fat ass shuttled over to the pentagon in a golf cart? i can't remember, i don't think it's for him. it seems to be for pete, who is used to things like having someone for hair and makeup and is upset at losing those creature comforts alongside his morning cocktails which is also hasn't given up

[gondrin]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/0...andum-00307251

This definitely isn't in the authoritarian playbook /s

However, how are they going to enforce it seeing as there is another EO that basically stops the enforcement of said things.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/president...onal-security/

[Breccia]

it's very funny to see republicans always projecting with their accusations.

Not just projecting, but desperately trying to "both sides" while equating a parking ticket with a school shooting. "It's okay that Trump has untracable TrumpCoin, because ActBlue is accused of not checking CVV once or twice".

[NineSpine]

Oh, right, the first time he was impeached! Yeah, willing to bet that @tehdang said nothing, but even if he had, the Republican Party circled the wagons and allowed it. Therefore, since demanding foreign contributions at figurative gunpoint is fine, declaring them illegal when Democrats ask for donations would just be flat-out hypocrisy.

But then again, look who it is.

It's a pretty tired playbook at this point:

1. Identify something that is a genuine problem.
2. Overstate how much it is a problem through fear mongering.
3. Propose a solution that conveniently only targets your political opponents.
4. The left complains.
5. Accuse the left of not caring about the genuine problem.

Look at voter ID for the template:

1. Identify something that is a genuine problem: Election security.
2. Overstate how much it is a problem through fear mongering: MILLIONS OF ILLEGALS ARE VOTING
3. Propose a solution that conveniently only targets your political opponents: So that's why we need voter ID, but we refuse to give the ID out for free, and we will only accept the IDs our supporters are likely to have, and coincidentally we are closing DMVs in minority areas too
4. The left complains
5. Accuse the left of not caring about the genuine problem: Why don't you support election security?

For another example, look at immigration:

1. Identify something that is a genuine problem: Immigration has become a mess
2. Overstate how much it is a problem through fear mongering: WE ARE BEING INVADED BY HORDES OF GANG MEMBERS
3. Propose a solution that conveniently only targets your political opponents: So that's why we need to target latino communities for scrutiny and scare them out of coming or staying here.
4. The left complains
5. Accuse the left of not caring about the genuine problem: Why don't you care about immigration issues?

At least with immigration the Democrats called their bluff by supporting an immigration bill to rectify a huge part of the problem, but Republicans opposed it, because solved problems can't be fear mongered on.

[gondrin]

You know those authoritarians, and their crackdowns on foreign spending in elections.

Dems are going to say that foreign donations to American political campaigns are the foundation to Democracy now, aren’t they.

https://nypost.com/2024/10/28/us-new...s-house-panel/
In the news for a while for failing to verify donor identity, and until recently, refusing to require CVV card info.

The problem isn't they are trying to stop foreign donations(which shouldn't be a thing anyway). It is they are specifically going to target a democrat or liberal leaning donation platform. Why not also go after republican or conservative donation platforms along with it? Because, otherwise, that is what lawfare actually looks like. The notion that one side is excused from it while the other side isn't. That is what a 2 tier justice system looks like.

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Wasn’t saying they would stop him, just that they would try to rule against him. We are already in constitutional crisis mode where they are trying to split hairs to claim they aren’t and avoiding doing something about it.

When it comes to the WPA, I believe the courts wouldn't be able to do much seeing as it would be following the act to the letter. It is up to Congress to prevent the abuse if it were to be used that way. It isn't like the States themselves would be able to sue to prevent going to war seeing as they cannot declare war themselves, only the Federal Government can. And the States would have to show standing and show harm done, which as far as I can tell, that would be near impossible.

So who would be able to sue to have the courts rule to have an injunction on it? Because the Courts themselves cannot bring up any suit as they are, for the most part, a neutral arbiter.

[Draco-Onis]

ok at this point i'm convinced the whole thing is legit just money laundering and nothing else. i don't think there's anything like this kind of "organic" interest even amongst cultists. this is bitcoin 2.0, but more obvious and dumber.

This is just another way to keep the liquidity high as the lockout period is expiring Trump and co can finally cash out.

Hegseth orders makeup studio installed at Pentagon

Holy shit this is real when I heard about it, I thought it was a onion article.

[Edge-]

The problem isn't they are trying to stop foreign donations(which shouldn't be a thing anyway). It is they are specifically going to target a democrat or liberal leaning donation platform. Why not also go after republican or conservative donation platforms along with it? Because, otherwise, that is what lawfare actually looks like. The notion that one side is excused from it while the other side isn't. That is what a 2 tier justice system looks like.

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When it comes to the WPA, I believe the courts wouldn't be able to do much seeing as it would be following the act to the letter. It is up to Congress to prevent the abuse if it were to be used that way. It isn't like the States themselves would be able to sue to prevent going to war seeing as they cannot declare war themselves, only the Federal Government can. And the States would have to show standing and show harm done, which as far as I can tell, that would be near impossible.

So who would be able to sue to have the courts rule to have an injunction on it? Because the Courts themselves cannot bring up any suit as they are, for the most part, a neutral arbiter.

because it is lawfare, the very thing republicans spent the past four years complaining democrats were doing because literally everything is always projection with republicans and it's fucking boring and pathetic

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"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!"

The art of the deal in action!

Why didn't Sleepy Joe Biden try the strategy of "begging Putin over social media to please end his war."? It's just so brilliant it won't work!