Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[D6130]

The current government shutdown is now 32 days, having gone over a month in length. It only needs to last another 4 days and it's the longest on record. It is already the longest full shutdown (double the length of the previous, which was the 2013 shutdown under Obama).

No pension or welfare payments for November? Cue civil disorder, riots and civil war?

 

[Tester]

A private donor is funding military pay, instead of the government

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Gloster]

No pension or welfare payments for November? Cue civil disorder, riots and civil war?

Cue Trump declaring a State of Emergency in Democratic cities and sending in the National Guard. When the cities complain he will impose direct rule by an appointee. He may not have the legal powers to do so, but that won’t stop him.

 

[najaB]

A private donor is funding military pay, instead of the government

Though, their funding only amounts to a little over $100 per serviceperson.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

We may be getting close to seeing the full consequences of the Supreme Court ruling that The President is safe from prosecution over things he does in his official role. Of course it doesn't give direct cover to anyone carrying out an unlawful order but Trump can just pardon them.

 

[Tester]

Though, their funding only amounts to a little over $100 per serviceperson.

Indeed so, but a highly dodgy principle nonetheless!

Everything is for sale.

 

[Welly]

Given that DJT has the IQ of a piece of mouldy toast, that's almost a given.

Hey! Don't insult mouldy toast pieces like that!

 

[brad465]

Today there have been some local US elections of interest: a couple of state Governors were up for election, along with a California referendum on redistricting to counter the redistricting being done in Texas. The one that is grabbing the most attention though is the New York Mayoral election, where the Democrat candidate, Zohran Mamdami, is a more left wing progressive candidate that is odds on favourite to win, but is facing challenge from former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is a Democrat who decided to run as an independent when he lost the primaries. Trump has been going on numerous tirades on Truth Social in the run-up to this election attacking Mamdami, which implies Trump thinks he's a genuine threat.

 

[Omnidekkalover]

Soooooooo looking forward to the inevitable torrent of rigged election claims (again) by Trump&Co in the following days.

 

[nlogax]

Mamdani has won the mayoral race by a decent margin. I look forward to the MAGA backbiting and coping that will now commence.

 

[sor]

Not just Mamdani but it's been virtually a clean sweep for the democrats. The most amusing case of reaping/sowing has to be the Virginia governor election. That state, through its proximity to Washington DC, has the highest concentration of federal government employees in the country. Turns out that they don't like the republicans telling them they're useless, should be fired, and won't be paid for an indefinite period.

 

[Gloster]

Even if Trump ‘allows the result to stand’ and doesn’t take direct control of New York, or at least do something to that effect, I can see the Republicans doing everything they can to frustrate anything that Mamdani does. At the same time they will be working full time on the ‘this is what you get with Marxists’ line and promoting Trumpism as the only alternative. (Those two sentences are, I admit, statements of the bleedin’ obvious.)

For the moment it looks as Trump has lost considerable popularity on the East Coast and California, but these were never his strongholds, so it isn’t quite as bad for him as it might look at first sight. I can see the situation being manipulated so that they can ’warn’ the Mid-West and South of the ‘dangers’ of going the same way and failing to give due allegiance to Trump.

 

[Annetts key]

Even if Trump ‘allows the result to stand’ and doesn’t take direct control of New York, or at least do something to that effect, I can see the Republicans doing everything they can to frustrate anything that Mamdani does. At the same time they will be working full time on the ‘this is what you get with Marxists’ line and promoting Trumpism as the only alternative. (Those two sentences are, I admit, statements of the bleedin’ obvious.)

For the moment it looks as Trump has lost considerable popularity on the East Coast and California, but these were never his strongholds, so it isn’t quite as bad for him as it might look at first sight. I can see the situation being manipulated so that they can ’warn’ the Mid-West and South of the ‘dangers’ of going the same way and failing to give due allegiance to Trump.

Trump Just ADMITS He Struggles to Pass DEMENTIA TEST​

President Trump is really not looking good, guys. I don't know what else to tell you. Some of the footage coming out of Japan is honestly pretty sad. Let's take a look and we're going to talk about why the president himself seems to just be kind of admitting that he really cognitively isn't there any more.

‘The smoking gun’ that points to Trump’s cognitive decline | Psychologist analyses Trump​

“We're in a hell of a lot of trouble. Us, America, but the world is in a lot of trouble because the most powerful man in the world is both evil and demented.” Psychologist Dr John Gartner lays out the signs and symptoms he sees of “dementia and malignant narcissism” in Donald Trump, and explains why he thinks the president won’t make it to the end of his term “compos mentis”. Dr John Gartner is founder of Duty To Warn and former assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Medical School.

I'll let you watch the videos and make your own mind up.

But IMHO, not only the USA, but the entire world are in trouble while Trump remains in power.

Although, the good news is, that as long as he and his administration are held back from interfering in elections, as more Americans see Trump for what he is, or suffer increasing economic problems or hardship under his administration, more will vote for the Democrat party. Which will cause panic in the GOP...

 

[martin butler]

At some point though, I do believe that Trump, or nearer to the truth, those whispering in his ear, will panic and do something that is a step too far for moderate Republicans, what happens after that will be interesting. As will be the mid-term elections, if the results last night are an indicator of how American's views are changing.

 

[dgl]

The footage from Japan looked like someone showing a resident back to their room in a care home.
He's the dictator that won't relinquish power and it's showing.

Also one thing that's not sensible to do is have an opulent Great Gatsby inspired party when a lot of your employees are not being paid, I just hope the female workers/dancers had adequate protection from the creeps that attended.

 

[brad465]

How long before Trump won't even remember the fact he's in charge of a country, or what country he's in charge of?

 

[najaB]

How long before Trump won't even remember the fact he's in charge of a country, or what country he's in charge of?

To an extent, it's already happening. He accused Biden of sending FBI plants into the mob at the January 6th insurrection, apparently forgetting that he was the US President on Jan 6th 2021.

 

[Gloster]

It shows just how crazy things have become when Marjorie Taylor Greene appears to be on the sane wing of the GOP. However, that’s still not particularly rational by normal (pre-Trump era) standards.

 

[martin butler]

The biggest issue, isn't as much about Trumps failing mental state, it's those shady operators, who are saying" just sign here, Mr President" after whispering in his ear, how great he is, and making him think he thought up something that has just been planted in his mind, It's the people like Steven Miller, and their own agendas, Authoritarian rule, undermining democratic values, etc, that are the danger.

 

[Annetts key]

The biggest issue, isn't as much about Trumps failing mental state, it's those shady operators, who are saying" just sign here, Mr President" after whispering in his ear, how great he is, and making him think he thought up something that has just been planted in his mind, It's the people like Steven Miller, and their own agendas, Authoritarian rule, undermining democratic values, etc, that are the danger.

I agree. However, they will only be able to get what they want for a while. As Trumps dementia gets worse, it's likely that he will get more and more frustrated and annoyed. That typically means he will snap at people. Then those trying to get him to do what they want may have a falling out and find themselves being removed from the administration.

The questions are, how bad is he. How quickly is his condition deteriorating. And when will anyone try to remove him from power? This last point is quite important, as many individuals with bad dementia don't like being told what to do. And as the president, how do you deal with him then? Logic and reason don't usually work on someone with bad dementia...

 

[brad465]

The current government shutdown is now 32 days, having gone over a month in length. It only needs to last another 4 days and it's the longest on record. It is already the longest full shutdown (double the length of the previous, which was the 2013 shutdown under Obama).

Update, it's now 37 days long, so is the longest shutdown in history, and no sign in the news of it ending anytime soon.

 

[najaB]

Update, it's now 37 days long, so is the longest shutdown in history, and no sign in the news of it ending anytime soon.

There may be the early stage of a TACO in progress. He was speaking at an event in Miami yesterday and hinted in his remarks that he wants to end the shutdown:

Speaking at the America Business Forum in Miami, Trump downplayed the shutdown’s impact.

“They don’t like it to be reopened because we’re setting records,” Trump said as he criticized Democrats who have refused to pass a clean short-term funding bill. “They think it’s actually I don’t think anything is going to hurt this.”

“We are so strong now that I’m not sure that anything is going to hurt, but it would be good to open it up, take care of the people with jobs that aren’t going to get paid and aren’t getting paid,” he added.

This kind of positioning statement is what usually precedes his 180° changes in policy.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-government-shutdown-election-11-05-25

 

[ainsworth74]

And as the president, how do you deal with him then?

Twenty fifth Amendment by Vance and a majority of the Cabinet making Vance Acting President. Then you hope that, when he inevitably says I am still fit to serve, Congress votes with 2/3rd majorities of both houses to remove him (if he didn't send such a message then his removal and Vance taking over as Acting President sticks without a Congressional vote).

 

[edwin_m]

Or he agrees to go quietly on condition Vance pardons him for everything.

 

[AlterEgo]

Or he agrees to go quietly on condition Vance pardons him for everything.

Trump will not go anywhere quietly.

 

[martin butler]

Most likely Trump will try to sack anyone who tells him, you are done, and if that does not work, he will try the insurrection trick, get his supporters to riot, overthrow the house and senate, to install him dictator, a lot will depend on the military and national guard units, if they side with the constitution, he will most likely flee the country.

 

[DarloRich]

Twenty fifth Amendment by Vance and a majority of the Cabinet making Vance Acting President. Then you hope that, when he inevitably says I am still fit to serve, Congress votes with 2/3rd majorities of both houses to remove him (if he didn't send such a message then his removal and Vance taking over as Acting President sticks without a Congressional vote).

The democrats should vote to keep him in post!

 

[brad465]

If a picture was a metaphor for Trump's second term so far:

This Wild Picture Of Donald Trump After Someone Collapsed In The Oval Office Is Going Viral

"I thought this was fake at first. It isn't."

www.yahoo.com

(Image of Trump standing at desk in the Oval Office while other staff attend to someone having a medical emergency on the floor)

 

[Gloster]

He looks like a marionette that just stands there dangling from the strings when there is no one to pull them. How apposite.

 

[Annetts key]

Twenty fifth Amendment by Vance and a majority of the Cabinet making Vance Acting President. Then you hope that, when he inevitably says I am still fit to serve, Congress votes with 2/3rd majorities of both houses to remove him (if he didn't send such a message then his removal and Vance taking over as Acting President sticks without a Congressional vote).

Or he agrees to go quietly on condition Vance pardons him for everything.

Trump, even without dementia, is not going to go quietly. But with dementia, it will be even worse. He won't accept that he has to leave. He won't accept that anything is wrong with him. He will say that he is being illegally removed and it may become violent.