Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[We are covfefe]

These tariffs are all trump's doing, at least to this extent.

[alach]

Pretty sure they are. Project 2025 seems to be hell bent on destroying everything.

Naw, I don't think so. Tariffs are uniquely trump, he's been talking them up for ages, long before anything like project 2025 was an idea.

[Xyonai]

Sadly the rest of the GOP is far too chickenshit to make a move on him being mentally and physically unsound. And even if they were or if trump croaks, the same vultures he appointed to every level of government he could that are trying to extract wealth while waging a moronic culture war would still be in charge.

While Trump's alive, he's more useful to them in office; attempts at making him step down or retire would cause unnecessary friction that I don't even think their spin machine could even patch over with the same morons who're suddenly okay that Trump's hiding the Epstein files. And Trump's such a self interested ass I think anyone who might broach the subject of having him name a successor risks being (politically) destroyed.

They're stuck with him until he croaks, because I don't think it'll be as difficult as people think it is to get the base lined up behind Vance; it'll just be moderates put off by him being a whiny little asshole they need to worry about.

[Kaleredar]

While Trump's alive, he's more useful to them in office; attempts at making him step down or retire would cause unnecessary friction that I don't even think their spin machine could even patch over with the same morons who're suddenly okay that Trump's hiding the Epstein files. And Trump's such a self interested ass I think anyone who might broach the subject of having him name a successor risks being (politically) destroyed.

They're stuck with him until he croaks, because I don't think it'll be as difficult as people think it is to get the base lined up behind Vance; it'll just be moderates put off by him being a whiny little asshole they need to worry about.

I’m sure the base will line up behind Vance but I don’t know how long he’ll be able to keep them engaged. Trump’s base like him because he makes them “right.” It doesn’t matter what he does or says, they place their wildest desires onto him and he, by matter of being president, makes them “correct.” He makes liberals “angry” because he’s a malicious idiot, but his supporters mistake that for jealousy. They revel in the fact that he never takes account for anything and never feels the need to answer, because they themselves don’t like having to back up their views. He absolves them of truth and logic. I don’t think Vance can carry that off. And if he can’t then he’s just another Republican ghoul, an utterly unlikable cog in a shambling, destructive machine.

Vance will be left with the crumbling state of the US trump leaves behind and the lack of ability to doublesepak every statement he makes to the satisfaction of the maga base. And the other latchers-on desperate for power will recognize the power vacuum and struggle against him for it.

[Xyonai]

I’m sure the base will line up behind Vance but I don’t know how long he’ll be able to keep them engaged. Trump’s base like him because he makes them “right.” It doesn’t matter what he does or says, they place their wildest desires onto him and he, by matter of being president, makes them “correct.” He makes liberals “angry” because he’s a malicious idiot, but his supporters mistake that for jealousy. They revel in the fact that he never takes account for anything and never feels the need to answer, because they themselves don’t like having to back up their views. He absolves them of truth and logic. I don’t think Vance can carry that off. And if he can’t then he’s just another Republican ghoul, an utterly unlikable cog in a shambling, destructive machine.

Vance will be left with the crumbling state of the US trump leaves behind and the lack of ability to doublesepak every statement he makes to the satisfaction of the maga base. And the other latchers-on desperate for power will recognize the power vacuum and struggle against him for it.

I think you're more or less correct; Vance lacks the force of personality to hold a coalition like Trump does. Or, to put it another way: He lacks the force of personality that 2016 Trump did to hold a coalition, since it's 2016 Trump's monstrous momentum that's carried him along as he's begun to very obviously decline and lose a lot of that edge.

Vance is a tech bro, he's not a stranger to whining loud enough to get what he wants from people and is a thin skinned little baby in ways not quite dissimilar to Trump. But he's also a nobody, a single term senator from a swing state whose made zero effort to actually start fostering a following all his own. As stated above, he probably feels completely entitled to Trump's base without actually needing to put in any effort for it.

And, to an extent, I don't blame him. The conservative media sphere is apparently very, very good at just making their hapless watchers/listeners just abandon their principals and agree with whatever the marching orders are, it'll take distressingly little effort to get them to fall behind Vance. But this doesn't account to what non Trump voters want; and if things continue as they are without any grand deviations in getting much worse or much better, he's absolutely doomed as a presidential candidate.

[fwc577]

Vance lacks the force of personality to hold a coalition like Trump does.

While that may be true. I've heard he does not lack the force of penetration to fuck a couch.

[Belize]

Will Republicans want to investigate this health coverup or is it diffe(R)ent

"Dear-Leader fought the Grim Reaper with his hands and WON and is now guaranteed to last until 40,000 years old, albeit strapped to his golden toilet"

[prwraith]

So how realistic of a chance does trump have to ban mail in voting and continue voter suppression? It was my understanding that it was up to states as to how to manage their own elections full stop

[Breccia]

So how realistic of a chance does trump have to ban mail in voting and continue voter suppression? It was my understanding that it was up to states as to how to manage their own elections full stop

You could pick a scholar at random and they would all agree.

John Yang: Says he's going to issue an executive order to end mail in ballots. Is that within his powers?

Rick Hasen: So, no. First of all, an executive order is an order to the executive branch as to how to carry out the laws. It's not a royal edict. He can't just decree that we don't have mail-in balloting anymore. The Constitution says that each state gets to set its own rules for running elections.

And in Article 1, Section 4, it lets Congress override those rules as to congressional elections. Congress also sometimes acts under its powers, for example, to enforce the 15th Amendment to bar race discrimination in voting.

The President's job is to take care that the laws passed by Congress are faithfully executed. So, he's got a lot of powers in terms of how the federal government might interact with states, but it's primarily states that are running elections. And he has no direct authority over how elections are going to be conducted, whether it's for federal elections or for state and local elections.

John Yang: Well, that counters what he said on Truth Social. He said the states are merely an agent for the federal government in counting and tabulating the votes they must do with the federal government as represented by the President of the United States tells them.

Rick Hasen: That's just a fiction. That's not how things work. The Constitution does say that Congress can override. So if Congress passed a law tomorrow that either outlawed or mandated mail-in balloting, that law would probably be upheld as applied to congressional elections. Couldn't be applied to state or local elections, because the power only extends to congressional elections.

But the President doesn't have the power. States are more than agents. States and this goes back to the founding. States were the primary actors that administered elections. There wasn't agreement to have National Election Administration the way it is in most other countries today.

And that diversity of how elections are run, it makes for some confusion sometimes, but it can be a strength against an executive that's trying to impose its will, as we see the president trying to do here.

Then the article goes into fraud, but we know the answer to that - there isn't anywhere close to what Trump says there is, which even Trump knows, because Trump went looking and found nothing.

At best, Trump could be demanding Congress pass a law that does some of what he asks. Republicans are losing more and more of their old voters. I legit think they don't want to. Voter ID has already been blocked, including March of this year. And April. And June.

The Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections

- literally any of the judges in any of the cases could have said that, but it was U.S. District Judge Denise Casper

So Trump either knows what he's doing is wrong and is doing it anyway, or he's too senile and too retarded to remember six months ago.

Executive Orders are not what Trump keeps claiming they are. He could not sign an E.O. to have Taylor Swift executed. He could not sign an E.O. to trade New York for Iceland. He could not sign an E.O. to make his poll numbers go up. They dictate how the Executive Branch operates, and that does not include elections.

Now, some states might take this as their marching orders, which could affect local and Rep elections. But honestly, Trump would have had better results going full dictator, signing this E.O. just before the 2026 midterms and sending a bunch of National Guard troops the red states just happened to ask for just conveniently at the same time. That would have been full Hitler, but it would at least have gotten results. This? This is just Trump showing his fetish for being spanked by the courts.

[Kaleredar]

So how realistic of a chance does trump have to ban mail in voting and continue voter suppression? It was my understanding that it was up to states as to how to manage their own elections full stop

Defunding the post office to render them physically unable to deliver the mail might be the best he can hope for doing directly.

[Iphie]

Defunding the post office to render them physically unable to deliver the mail might be the best he can hope for doing directly.

Wouldn't that bring other issues? Such as, you know, regular mail delivery??

[Kaleredar]

Wouldn't that bring other issues? Such as, you know, regular mail delivery??

And trump would care about this… why?

[Breccia]

Wouldn't that bring other issues? Such as, you know, regular mail delivery??

Yes, including people who need their meds mailed to them having to pay more.

I believe @Edge- would say "the cruelty is the point".

[Iphie]

And trump would care about this… why?

Enough people might get annoyed with it to make him care?

[Kaleredar]

Enough people might get annoyed with it to make him care?

That’s never really been the case in the past.

His followers will believe that he’s doing it “for the right reasons.” He’s been hacking and slashing all kinds of public services and republicans haven’t majorly turned on him in any way.

[En Sabah Nur]

So is today just going to be a little proof of life thing? Shows that he's at least up and able to talk a bit. Hope that keeps everyone quiet? Probably also attack "the media" over anything that might have been speculated.

[Breccia]

Probably also attack "the media" over anything that might have been speculated.

Almost certainly. Looking forward to "Trump" claiming his rage tweets are proof of life, the ones sent by an unknown hand behind locked doors and no cameras.

John Henry Eden might be a more convincing President at this point.

[Paetolus]

So is today just going to be a little proof of life thing? Shows that he's at least up and able to talk a bit. Hope that keeps everyone quiet? Probably also attack "the media" over anything that might have been speculated.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's officially announcing and signing that Executive Order banning mail-in voting and requiring voter ID. Which, of course, doesn't fall within the powers of the executive branch, but that's never stopped him from shitting on the Constitution.

Could be a million things at this point though, maybe Russia-Ukraine related since his original arbitrary deadline was today. A complete nothingburger wouldn't surprise me either though.

[Breccia]

Judge rules Trump’s use of US military in LA illegal

Just so we're clear: soldiers are not required to follow illegal orders, and officers are permitted to challenge them. There can be some confusion as military lawyers determine if the order is illegal or not, but with this splashed across the headlines, there's a clear answer they can choose to use.

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that National Guard troops ran afoul of the law in Los Angeles when President Trump deployed them in June after immigration protests that turned violent.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled their actions violated an 1878 law that generally bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement.

“This was intentional—Defendants instigated a months-long deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles for the purpose of establishing a military presence there and enforcing federal law. Such conduct is a serious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer wrote.

The ruling is appealed already, I'm sure. But once again, SCOTUS will have to find a reason to specifically allow Trump and only Trump to order the military to use force on American civilians on American soil. Considering Team Trump had to reach back to 1878, that implies they don't have a ton to work with.

[Paetolus]

Trump will announce Space Command is moving from Colorado to Alabama

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration will announce on Tuesday that U.S. Space Command will be located in Alabama, reversing a Biden-era decision to keep it at its temporary headquarters in Colorado, according to two people familiar with the announcement.

Trump is expected to speak Tuesday afternoon, and he will give the new location, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to confirm the plans ahead of the official announcement. A Pentagon website set up to livestream the remarks describes the event as a “U.S. Space Command HQ Announcement.”

Here's what that address later today is likely about. This was expected for a while from what I understand.