Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[arandomuser]

its not far fetched
to think that trump in october will
try to use the russia vaccine at this rate
"the deep state wont approve a vaccine so my great friend vlad is giving me his great one"
and im telling you all of those vaccine truthers will suddenly worship the putin vaccine thats unproven and unsafe

[Breccia]

So let's talk about Trump's campaign promises about the economy.

They're fucked.

Axios summarized and, well, every single one basically ends "and then the recession started". For the sake of giving Trump every inch of credit he's not due, I will only discuss matters as if it was Dec 31, 2019.

1) 4% GDP growth
Yeah, we've mentioned this, oh, "once or twice" haven't we? Trump's highest year was 2.9% and it was already slipping into the 2-point-zero range even before 2019 ended.

Trump never saw three percent for more than a quarter.

2) Reduce/eliminate the national debt
He broke records to the size of the national debt. And no, there will be no "But Congress!" here. Trump promised it, it didn't happen. He either should be blamed for promising something he could not possibly provide, or he should be blamed for something he wanted to happen that was within his power not happening. Doesn't matter. Failure.
2a) Reduce spending by 1% each year
HAHAHHAHA no.

3) Leave TPP.
He did. Whether or not that's a good idea is up for debate, cough cough soybean quota, but he did leave it.

4) Re-negotiate NAFTA
Technicalities count. The changes were minor and even they were a slog to implement. Considering my name is literally counted in the "contributing editors" for fixing a few lines in one chapter of one book, I have to give him this one, but they're not the sweeping changes he's going to claim they are.

5) Decrease the trade deficit
Nope. Got bigger.
5a) Okay smart ass, decrease the trade deficit with China.
The trade deficit with China shrank, because both imports and exports shrank, because of the ongoing trade war which hasn't ended yet. I'm not giving Trump this one. If he forbade all trade to China, he does not get credit for wiping out the trade deficit, for the same reason a police officer doesn't get credit for ending all crime by murdering everyone.

I guess you could say "but Phase One!" and try to dig out some numbers so far, but (a) good luck with that and (b) if you do, I get to say "but COVID-19" and turn this entire list pretty much into 100% Fat Fucking Failures.

6) Make a new trade deal with China
Phase One isn't being followed and Phase Two doesn't exist. Failure.

7) Br...oh wait.

6) I said ending at 2019, didn't I? Well, there was no Phase One then either. Double failure.

7) Bring back manufacturing jobs
Manufacturing jobs grew about four percent over three years. That's slightly over the rise in the population, and yes, Obama did better.

8) Manufacturing?
Contracting.

9) Clean, Beautiful Coal
Nope.

10) US Steel
While the plants Trump said would appear out of thin air...didn't, the US steel industry did see significant growth. Gotta give him that one.

11) The Tax Cut For The Rich
Trump promised a lot of things, such as "Massive tax relief to all working people" and "$4,000 to every family". As we've discussed, most people didn't see a significant rise in their paycheck and most people saw a smaller refund. Individual benefits end in 2025. The $4,000 was a blatant lie. Taxes went up for some people. And of course, it came nowhere near paying for itself, which is why it ends in 2025. Well, for working people, anyhow. For corporations it goes on forever.

12) Cut Corporate Taxes to 15%
I mean, I'll give him this one, because I'm too lazy to find the effective tax rate. The nominal tax rate did not drop to 15%.

13) End the Death Tax
Well, he got this one t...oh, snap, no, he didn't! He just upped the threshhold and that expires in 2026. Failure.

14) Child care expenses won't be taxed
Instead, he expanded the child care tax credit. It's better than nothing, but not what he promised. Incidentally, I can be happy it was expanded and still point out Trump failed his promise.

15) Companies would bring back trillions in overseas wealth
Did not happen.

16) End job-killing regulations
These mostly seemed focused on coal. Also a lot of these times he got sued, and lost. Trump didn't specify how many he was going to end, but I'm not giving him credit for this one -- they had virtually no effect.

So even if we pretend 2020 never happened, Trump is still failing far more than he succeeded. Anyone interested in citations need only follow this thread, or maybe more usefully, that Axios list.

- - - Updated - - -

"the deep state wont approve a vaccine so my great friend vlad is giving me his great one"

As much as I want to see the 180 turns from people saying "BILL GATES MICROCHIP VACCINE oh thank's Comrade" I think even Trump will be hard-pressed to get the Russian vaccine into the US when there's so many American companies with lobbyists.

[downnola]

Epstein victim alleges the financier showed her off to Trump at Mar-a-Lago when she was 14, lawsuit says

Yikes.

[cubby]

its not far fetched
to think that trump in october will
try to use the russia vaccine at this rate
"the deep state wont approve a vaccine so my great friend vlad is giving me his great one"
and im telling you all of those vaccine truthers will suddenly worship the putin vaccine thats unproven and unsafe

If Trump does that we will be in whole new ring of hell. Dante couldn't even imagine....

[Bodakane]

If Trump does that we will be in whole new ring of hell. Dante couldn't even imagine....

Orrrrrrrrrrrrr, it will be natural selection.

[Breccia]

DA's agree to put the subpoena for Trump's taxes on hold --

"WHAT?"

-- until the latest challenge, Sept 1, when Trump tries yet again to declare absolute herd immunity or whatever. This appears to be done purely to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Yes, the DA could charge in right now. Yes, that'd be a massive clusterfuck if Trump turns out to have a legit legal defense.

I don't know why Trump would reserve his "this time it'll work for sure!" best chance until his third strike. Or, maybe this is an appeal of one of the first two, and I'm reading it wrong. Either way, this isn't a victory. This is the other side playing by the rules.

- - - Updated - - -

Conway officially announces departure.

For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama.

When we first started, "leaving to spend time with my family" was a joke. It sitll is, but it's a different kind of joke. The one where people fleeing Trump's administration never work again.

- - - Updated - - -

Breaking: New York’s attorney general has filed a new lawsuit against the Trump Organization and several other defendants

That's all I have for now. And maybe this is years of being lied to, but, I'm suspicious they intentionally slow-rolled that lawsuit until the RNC started. Comedy gold, but bad law enforcement.

[Dontrike]

Breaking: New York’s attorney general has filed a new lawsuit against the Trump Organization and several other defendants

That's all I have for now. And maybe this is years of being lied to, but, I'm suspicious they intentionally slow-rolled that lawsuit until the RNC started. Comedy gold, but bad law enforcement.

I hate to be that person that hopes her family gets destroyed still, but she sort of asked for it when she decided to kneel to president wyrmtongue. How she didn't see this happening is beyond me, the last few years were easily a strain on just the marriage let alone how it affected the children.

[Breccia]

she sort of asked for it

LIAR.

She 100% asked for it. Scrape that "sort of" off the post.

(EDIT: yeah that was meant as a joke, on second read, that was too harsh)

Anything until "alternative facts" was standard-issue bullshit, but once she uttered that phrase she was fully on-board. Look at what it did to her -- I'm not shaming her appearance, I'm honestly suggesting this job murdered her health. And her family. She's a charicature, a joke, and a failure. Fleeing won't help any of that. And every single person saw it coming -- including her.

- - - Updated - - -

Falwell admits he was being blackmailed over his wife's affair.

While we tried to distance ourselves from him over time, he unfortunately became increasingly angry and aggressive. Eventually, he began threatening to publicly reveal this secret relationship with Becki and to deliberately embarrass my wife, family, and Liberty University unless we agreed to pay him substantial monies

Let me start off by saying blackmail is a crime (and not a Susan B Anthony crime of protest), it's fraud/intimidation/extortion, and I denounce the act and others like it.

Okay, we clear? Good.

1) Your wife shouldn't have cheated on you.

2) Once you knew, you should have dumped her. Now you're complicit, and lose your moral standing.

3) It's a baller move to say "fuck it, I'll just tell everyone and end the blackmailer's leverage" so props are due, but um....it's a little late, you lost your job, dude.

4) This also feels like a move designed to get sympathy after he posted those pics himself and got fired for it. If a thief flees the scene and gets hit by a car, especially in this case a car being driven illegally, I'll probably say "Oh, damn man, someone call an ambulance!" but he doesn't get off the hook for theft.

5) Yet another Trump supporter cheating on their spouse. I know Trump supporters don't have the copyright on adultery, but they sure are advertising it like they do.

[Thekri]

If Trump does that we will be in whole new ring of hell. Dante couldn't even imagine....

Oh Dante could definitely imagine. The primary purpose of "Inferno" was so he could explicit list all his political enemies that were in hell, and how horribly they were being treated. The whole thing is full of Italian guys that Dante hated (And Greeks, because Dante didn't like them either).

[Edge-]

Falwell admits he was being blackmailed over his wife's affair.

About that...

https://www.reuters.com/investigates...-relationship/

In a claim likely to intensify the controversy surrounding one of the most influential figures in the American Christian conservative movement, a business partner of Jerry Falwell Jr has come forward to say he had a years-long sexual relationship involving Falwell’s wife and the evangelical leader.

Giancarlo Granda says he was 20 when he met Jerry and Becki Falwell while working as a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel in March 2012. Starting that month and continuing into 2018, Granda told Reuters that the relationship involved him having sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell looked on.

Granda showed Reuters emails, text messages and other evidence that he says demonstrate the sexual nature of his relationship with the couple, who have been married since 1987. “Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room,” Granda said in an interview. Now 29, he described the liaisons as frequent – “multiple times per year” – and said the encounters took place at hotels in Miami and New York, and at the Falwells’ home in Virginia.

His friendship with the Falwells eventually soured, Granda told Reuters, in part because he wanted to dissolve his ties with the couple and fell into a business dispute with them.

Jerry Falwell Jr. is a literal cuck, apparently. That doesn't seem terribly Christian to me.

Now I'm not one to kink shame, if it's with consenting adults (and this appeared to be until Granda wanted to end it) then whatever floats their boat.

But I will take particular joy in one of Trump's biggest boosters, and a many who has long been championed as a man of faith, being the literal insult that Trump supporters have levied against anyone they don't like for years.

[PhaelixWW]

Falwell admits he was being blackmailed over his wife's affair.

...

2) Once you knew, you should have dumped her. Now you're complicit, and lose your moral standing.

Heh. Hahaha. Teehee. "Moral standing"... Jerry Fallwell, Jr.... BwahaHAHAHAHA!

*wipes tear*

*ahem*

Good one!

[Milchshake]

Heh. Hahaha. Teehee. "Moral standing"... Jerry Fallwell, Jr.... BwahaHAHAHAHA!
*wipes tear*
*ahem*
Good one!

Anyone know the name of Falwell's yacht? The one where he meets his comare.

My first guess would be Appalachian Trail. In the same way that MArk Sanford uses it.

[Ivanstone]

It's funny, because I've literally been arguing that the GoP is primarily a cult of personality right now.

Guess they're not even gonna bother pretending to be a legitimate political party anymore.

This is incorrect. The GOP's platform is and will continue to be:
"Government cheese for me, not for thee."

Everything else is a distraction. That includes Trump.

[Breccia]

About that...

"Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room"

Sometimes from a chair and sometimes from a closet, almost always while dressed as Superman?

- - - Updated - - -

Apparently, Zuckerberg talked to Trump, Cotton and others about how dangerously close TikTok was to China, just before Trump moved to ban TikTok. Who is suing him.

"Well, they are, aren't they?"

Good point. So, why didn't Trump move on them before the meeting? Why did he have to hear about it on FB?

- - - Updated - - -

Yet more breaking news, as in "that thing with the UAE and Israel just broke"

UAE calls off meeting coincidentally right after Netanyahu voiced opposition to selilng F-35's to the UAE. Hmm. What a fascinating coincidence. It seems that Trump is so unlucky, to have such coincidences, suddenly appear and break his bragging trophies.

[DarkTZeratul]

About that...

https://www.reuters.com/investigates...-relationship/



Jerry Falwell Jr. is a literal cuck, apparently. That doesn't seem terribly Christian to me.

Now I'm not one to kink shame, if it's with consenting adults (and this appeared to be until Granda wanted to end it) then whatever floats their boat.

But I will take particular joy in one of Trump's biggest boosters, and a many who has long been championed as a man of faith, being the literal insult that Trump supporters have levied against anyone they don't like for years.

"The charge against me is in connection with one James Reynolds, for purposes of improper speculation. My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife for a considerable time with his knowing consent."

[Breccia]

"My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife for a considerable time with his knowing consent."

Man, I'm wondering if I can blackmail Lindsey Graham at this point.

On topic: after listing Trump's economic results, this Reuters article lays out Trump's diplomatic legacy. Spoiler alert: it's spoiled.

I'll hit the highlights.

Here is a look at some of the key policy priorities of the Trump administration and potential challenges for Biden:

CHINA
A central theme in Trump’s 2016 campaign was to accuse China of “ripping off” the United States while vowing to seal a fair trade deal with Beijing that would help American businesses and create U.S. jobs.

After almost two years of tit-for-tat trade war with the world’s second largest economy, Trump has so far managed a stalled first phase of such an agreement.

IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
In 2018, the Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, saying he could strike a better one. He also launched a “maximum pressure” campaign to choke off Tehran’s sources of income.

Despite almost two years of sanctions on everything from oil revenue to minerals and Iran’s central bank, Washington has yet to force a change of behavior by Tehran and bring it back to the negotiating table. Instead, escalating tensions have carried the two nations to the brink of war.

NATO & TRANSATLANTIC TIES
Trump has repeatedly complained about the failure of many NATO partners to meet defense spending targets. He has also questioned the continued relevance of the organization created in 1949 at the start of the Cold War with Russia.

This year, Trump vowed to cut the number of U.S. troops in Germany, accusing Berlin of taking advantage of the United States while not meeting its NATO obligations.

BRINGING TROOPS HOME
Trump promised in his 2016 campaign to stay out of foreign wars and bring home U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan, America’s longest war, which is now in its nineteenth year.

Washington has begun cutting troop numbers in Afghanistan after striking a deal with the Taliban in February that envisaged the withdrawal of all U.S. troops. This depends, however, on talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, which have stalled.

PARIS CLIMATE DEAL

Yeah...

MIDDLE EAST
Trump delivered on his 2016 campaign promise to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to divided Jerusalem. The move was slammed by most of the Arab world but won praise from the Israeli government and its supporters, as well as evangelical Christians.

His wider Middle East Peace plan was rejected by Palestinians as it allowed Israel to maintain control of long-contested West Bank settlements, but received some encouraging reviews from several Arab states.

NORTH KOREA

Yeah...

I find it hard to think of any relations with any countries that are improved, save those run by dictators.

[Benggaul]

Yet more breaking news, as in "that thing with the UAE and Israel just broke"

UAE calls off meeting coincidentally right after Netanyahu voiced opposition to selilng F-35's to the UAE. Hmm. What a fascinating coincidence. It seems that Trump is so unlucky, to have such coincidences, suddenly appear and break his bragging trophies.

I await the apology of those forum posters who said I was being pessimistic in my skepticism over the deal.

[Breccia]

More than 200 Auburn students have already tested positive. Auburn is offering online courses, but not everyone is taking them.

[Edge-]

https://www.wfaa.com/video/news/nati...3-72d0804e755b

Uh...12 more years? I guess Trump think he can serve four consecutive terms? And so do his supporters?

Man, I wish when they at least pretended they gave a shit about the Constitution and the Amendments, the 22nd of which sets out term limits for POTUS.

[Breccia]

Yet more bad news for Trump. The latest poll puts his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak at 31%. Yes, that's the lowest it's been.

His overall performance is 35%. That's bad.

His overall performance from Republicans...sorry, "Party of Trump" the RNC changed it...is 79%. That's Nixon-level bad.

538 still has him at 41%, He had 45% HARDEE HAR HAR when elected. Trump never broke 50% in a pull he didn't pull out of his Rasmussen.