Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Gorsameth]

The US doesn't even recognise the ICC so that is double funny.

[Joszef Kiprich]

The US doesn't even recognise the ICC so that is double funny.

125 other countries do, would definitely mean less traveling.

[CastletonSnob]

Let's send a message to ICE and this administration by boycotting the Super Bowl and giving it the lowest ratings in Super Bowl history.

[Mayhem]

Or, watch the pre show, give Green Day the ratings and then turn off.

[Iphie]

125 other countries do, would definitely mean less traveling.

Yeah, but I think only the US has a law that explicitely states they'll invade the Hague to get any American out who is brought before the ICC. So, while trump definitely could be arrested and brought before the court, don't for a second believe that Hegseth will sit on his ass and do nothing.

[Breccia]

What?!

US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump

From Dec 10.

Trump's administration wants the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate the Republican president and his top officials, a Trump administration official said, threatening new U.S. sanctions on the court if it did not.

If the court does not act on this U.S. demand and two others - dropping investigations of Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and formally ending an earlier probe of U.S. troops over their actions in Afghanistan - Washington may penalize more ICC officials and could sanction the court itself, the official said.

"There is growing concern ... that in 2029 the ICC will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others, and pursue prosecutions against them," the Trump administration official said.

"That is unacceptable, and we will not allow it to happen."

Gee. Why would Trump and Trump officials be worried about the ICC coming after them, if they had done nothing wrong? And yes, 2029, meaning they think the ICC would wait until Trump was out of office and is no longer a head of state.

[Fugus]

Yeah, but I think only the US has a law that explicitely states they'll invade the Hague to get any American out who is brought before the ICC. So, while trump definitely could be arrested and brought before the court, don't for a second believe that Hegseth will sit on his ass and do nothing.

The fun part, how do you invade The Hague without going after NATO and all the consequences that come with it?

Or maybe Trump wanted the immunity because he hoped to flee the US on his way out and wouldn’t have the US to protect him and wanted to keep the ICC from coming after him too after the US is no longer his shield.

[Mayhem]

US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump

From Dec 10.



Gee. Why would Trump and Trump officials be worried about the ICC coming after them, if they had done nothing wrong? And yes, 2029, meaning they think the ICC would wait until Trump was out of office and is no longer a head of state.

But the US is not a signatory to the ICC so what nonsense is this?

Why care about prosecutions from a court the US doesn't acknowledge. Wait, maybe they don't know that. What answer does grok give if you ask it what the ICC is?

[Poopymonster]

But the US is not a signatory to the ICC so what nonsense is this?

Why care about prosecutions from a court the US doesn't acknowledge. Wait, maybe they don't know that. What answer does grok give if you ask it what the ICC is?

I'm not sure, but the picture it generated will definitely get you on a list.

[Breccia]

But the US is not a signatory to the ICC so what nonsense is this?

It's an admission by Trump that Trump, and his friend Netanyahu, are planning to commit war crimes. There is no reason to add "well double don't indict me" if you did nothing wrong.

[Mayhem]

It's an admission by Trump that Trump, and his friend Netanyahu, are planning to commit war crimes. There is no reason to add "well double don't indict me" if you did nothing wrong.

Everything they do is either projection or admission. I just find it funny that they kind of have to recognize the ICC for all of this when not even Bush was prosecuted and his government was responsible for way more shit than Trumps, at least for now. Uh oh.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

But the US is not a signatory to the ICC so what nonsense is this?

Why care about prosecutions from a court the US doesn't acknowledge. Wait, maybe they don't know that. What answer does grok give if you ask it what the ICC is?

He wants to be able to travel once his reign of terror is over in a few years.

[Fugus]

He wants to be able to travel once his reign of terror is over in a few years.

Or he plans to flee when he no longer has the presidency to protect him any more and doesn’t want the ICC coming for him for his international crimes as well. He likely figures he can pardon himself while president and have the courts gum up any accountability till he leaves with his money should this fail and he not be crowned king for life with his children set to inherit the throne in his honor.

[Flarelaine]

"What about all the European countries?"

I listed all of them.

"It's just Hungary."

Yep. Turns out, when you invite Putin, a lot of people choose not to attend.

A lot of us intend to undo our own invitation in 76 days.

[Jastall]

Do keep in mind that the Chinese raised the tariff on Canada's agriculture products (canola, peas, porks, and seafoods) because Canada backed the US during Meng Wanzhou extradition trial and by raising tariff on China's EVs following similar initiative by the US.

To be fair a lot of that happened either at the best of America or simply because we're in their sphere of influence.

Still, I agree that the Chinese aren't looking out for us or anything. That much is quite obvious; they just profit from Trump's stupidity to expand their own influence. We shouldn't get too close to them, it's no more a winning move than getting too dependant on an America that may or may not elect some erratic asshole every four years.

[Iphie]

But the US is not a signatory to the ICC so what nonsense is this?

Why care about prosecutions from a court the US doesn't acknowledge. Wait, maybe they don't know that. What answer does grok give if you ask it what the ICC is?

Possibly International Cricket Committee.

[En Sabah Nur]

At this point, even Trump's grave will just be a rant about how he won the 2020 election.

[Huehuecoyotl]

At this point, even Trump's grave will just be a rant about how he won the 2020 election.

Pretty sure he was talking about the 2024 election. But probably got it confused with the 2020 election in his head, in a "Greenland/Iceland" kind of way.

[Breccia]

At this point, even Trump's grave will just be a rant about how he won the 2020 election.

I can't wait to see the proof that the polls were "knowingly wrong" especially since he said all of them were wrong. What's the joke? If you look around the poker table and don't know who the sucker is, it's you?

- - - Updated - - -

A quick two-fer.

1) This NYTimes article is, once again, about Trump ruining farmers. That $12 billion hasn't happened yet, and farm bankruptcies are up 60%.

Jack Westerfield stood ankle deep atop 30 feet of unhusked rice, his gray T-shirt and jeans dusty with starchy powder. He sounded distressed.

“What am I supposed to do with 2.2 million pounds of rice?” he asked, raising his voice to be heard over the noisy industrial fans drying the rice on his farm in Merigold, Miss. “I’m serious. What am I supposed to do?”

It wasn’t a rhetorical question. Mr. Westerfield had even considered whether he should dump the grains onto a field to rot.

"I thought you shouldn't use personal anecdotes as evidence?"

If you say something like "a million farmers are going broke" you are allowed to cite one to humanize the situation.

Mr. Westerfield thought he was being pragmatic last spring, when he looked at $7-a-bushel rice and planted 1,000 acres more than planned on the 11,000 acres he farms with his brother-in-law and a friend.

Mr. Westerfield’s bet on rice proved ill timed. Rice prices took a dive, with futures declining about 30 percent in the last year. India, the world’s largest producer of rice, eased export restrictions in late 2024, flooding the world with rice. Customers in Latin America, where most U.S. rice is exported, increasingly prefer the taste of varieties grown in other countries.

The value of Mississippi’s row crops, including rice, fell 9 percent from 2024 to 2025, according to the Mississippi State University Extension Service, and farm bankruptcies, though still low, are on the rise.

Damn, who's buying all that American rice? Oh, right. Nobody.

But here's some more numbers:

But nobody thinks the bailout money will fundamentally change the hole farmers are in. Receiving $132 per acre of rice — the price the government has set for rice — matters little when you paid $1,000 per acre to grow it.

Now, the article does not say "this is all Trump's fault". For example:

Most of what is farmed in Mississippi and the rest of the country isn’t food that goes on Americans’ tables. It is soybeans grown for animal feed, corn grown for ethanol, rice grown to export to Central America and so on. The fruits and vegetables that Mississippians eat are probably grown in California or in other countries.

The wildlife fund calculates that if just 3 percent of Mississippi Delta agricultural land was converted from traditional row crops into fruits, vegetables and nuts, producers would earn an additional $3.2 billion in revenue because those crops receive higher prices. Mississippi’s total agricultural production was valued at $9.5 billion in 2025, though that includes livestock and forestry.

But it does spell out, as I've quoted already, that the bailout will not be enough.

2) I saw this headline and said "Didn't I already post this?" But NBC News wouldn't have posted this if it was information we already had, so, here you go.

Donald Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance attorney who brought two unsuccessful cases against two of the president's perceived enemies, is no longer a Justice Department employee, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Halligan, who lacked any prior prosecutorial experience, stepped down last week from her proclaimed role as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a position a judge found she unlawfully held. It was not entirely clear last week whether Halligan would assume a new role at the Justice Department, as Alina Habba did after federal appeals court judges upheld her disqualification as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey in December.

But two sources familiar with the matter said Halligan is no longer a Justice Department employee. It is unclear whether she has a new job outside the department.

Maybe she's leaving before things get worse?

U.S. District Judge David Novak, a 2019 Trump nominee, said he would allow Halligan to avoid disciplinary proceedings into whether she misrepresented herself to the court “in light of her inexperience.”

“The Court recognizes that Ms. Halligan lacks the prosecutorial experience that has long been the norm for those nominated to the position of United States Attorney in this District,” he wrote in an opinion last week. “Consequently, and in light of her inexperience, the Court grants Ms. Halligan the benefit of the doubt and refrains from referring her for further investigation and disciplinary action regarding her misrepresentations to this Court at this time.”

Yes, she's rich enough and white enough to escape the consequences of her actions, but I think you get a judge's warning once.

If you want to apply for the job position she left vacant, this dot-gov form is the application.

[fwc577]

At this point, even Trump's grave will just be a rant about how he won the 2020 election.

That'd be hilarious. I'd get to piss all over a Trump rant.