Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[SuspectUsual]

Is it possible to defame a non-existent reputation? *




* assuming she meant a positive reputation

 

[The Ham]

A large group of evangelicals would not recognise the Catholic Church as being truly "Christian" (the meaning of which term only they apparently have authority to define). The various abuse scandals won't have done anything to counter this delusion (never mind the fact that their own house isn't exactly in order).

Indeed, there's a book series called Left Behind (was quite popular for a time) in which the main thread is what could happen when ask the Christians get taken up to heaven before the tribulation.

In it the anti Christ is strongly linked to the Catholic Church (not surprising given the fairly anti Catholic stance of many Protestants in America - whilst there can be similar views in the UK, they tend to be fast less pronounced, generally the relationship between churches tends to be less of an issue and it's not uncommon for other churches to work well and have good relationships with the local Catholic Churches).

As such, those who are "Christian" and support Trump are actually more likely to think that his behaviour is what God wants. Unlike, probably the vast majority of Christians in the UK, even those who have stronger views about the Catholic Church are unlikely to see Trump threatening the Pope in a good light - especially given the former Arch Bishop of Canterbury war critical of Trump's first term and I doubt the new one would be any less critical of his second (probably had far more to be critical about - although Trump's base are also less likely to be positive towards her or anything she says).

Also, one thing to note, there's a difference between the (Roman) Catholic Church and the catholic church. The former is the church headed by the Pope, the latter is all Christian gatherings throughout time and space which could be defined as being church, even if it doesn't meet in a church building (let alone a stone building with an organ and bells), singing hymns and have an ordained person preaching (in fact that's probably the exception of what many encounter as they do church).

 

[martin butler]

I liken Trump's behaviour to that of a dripping tap, you hear it, but ignore it, until it gets so obvious that you have to get it fixed, often when you realise the cost of it,

So It's the same with the USA, they see, and hear it, but don't do anything, until their own bills and costs start to skyrocket, and they can't ignore it any longer,

By the time Trump and his fellow extortionists are thrown out, and hopefully into jail, how much would they have stolen, from the country? and what state will the country be in,?

I can see it being almost bankrupted, with a few extremely rich people, and the vast majority living hand to mouth, with no functioning welfare and a growing resentment from those struggling towards those who caused it.

 

[The Ham]

I liken Trump's behaviour to that of a dripping tap, you hear it, but ignore it, until it gets so obvious that you have to get it fixed, often when you realise the cost of it,

So It's the same with the USA, they see, and hear it, but don't do anything, until their own bills and costs start to skyrocket, and they can't ignore it any longer,

By the time Trump and his fellow extortionists are thrown out, and hopefully into jail, how much would they have stolen, from the country? and what state will the country be in,?

I can see it being almost bankrupted, with a few extremely rich people, and the vast majority living hand to mouth, with no functioning welfare and a growing resentment from those struggling towards those who caused it.

Although often a great and glorious leader will have their name and image on so many things that people can't imagine a life without the great and glorious leader and so don't do anything about it.

 

[nw1]

I think they have decided that going ahead is the lesser of two evils. Cancellation on top of not supporting Trump's war would put us on the list for spiteful countermeasures. King Charles will be prepared for bullying - it's an obvious risk. He's a wily old bird and whatever he says will be polite and diplomatic but in the end he has to stand up for the country and can't just roll over - that's his fundamental job and I think he will do it somehow.

Mind you I would say good relations with the current US Government is a liability, not an asset, now.

I would say cancelling the visit and generally snubbing the US Government puts us less at risk from reprisals from Iran, and thus we should snub them. We want to keep our oil imports from the area flowing, the best way of doing this is to not be on the "wrong" list should Iran decide to selectively block ships in the future.

 

[Gloster]

My feeling is that some in the Trump administration are beginning to get rattled, although Trump himself is probably not fully aware that things have taken a definite turn for the worse. They have realised that the Iran War is a major misjudgement and the chances of it ending in a way that will be seen as either a major embarrassment or an outright defeat are very high. Sending Melania out to publicly deny something that has not been particularly high profile in the media smacks of a rather desperate distraction manoeuvre. Or maybe she is doing it as she has no alternative but to stand by her man. It‘s not over yet, but the thin lady has already sung.

 

[The exile]

My feeling is that some in the Trump administration are beginning to get rattled, although Trump himself is probably not fully aware that things have taken a definite turn for the worse. They have realised that the Iran War is a major misjudgement and the chances of it ending in a way that will be seen as either a major embarrassment or an outright defeat are very high. Sending Melania out to publicly deny something that has not been particularly high profile in the media smacks of a rather desperate distraction manoeuvre. Or maybe she is doing it as she has no alternative but to stand by her man. It‘s not over yet, but the thin lady has already sung.

Sounds to me as if she is aware that something big brown and smelly is rapidly approaching the ventilation and she needs to do anything she can to get out while the going's good. Another sign of movement from the rodents aboard the Titanic?

 

[edwin_m]

In other news Melania Trump has given a press conference about supposed relations with Epstein that was not on anyone's bingo card:

Melania Trump denies ties to Jeffrey Epstein and urges hearing for survivors

She called rumours that Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump "mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation".

www.bbc.co.uk

Sending Melania out to publicly deny something that has not been particularly high profile in the media smacks of a rather desperate distraction manoeuvre. Or maybe she is doing it as she has no alternative but to stand by her man. It‘s not over yet, but the thin lady has already sung.

Either this is intentional and someone has decided that they need to talk about Epstein as a distraction from Iran...

Or perhaps she's just defeated the objective of distracting from Epstein, which has been talked about much less since the attacks began. If so Donald won't be happy.

Can't help thinking the "Christian" fundamentalists in the USA have a lot in common with the "Muslim" fundamentalists in Iran.

 

[BuhSnarf]

Crazy that talking about Epstein would be used as a distraction from Iran, when Iran was a distraction from Epstein in the first place!

This statement from Melania makes me thinking she's getting ahead of something about to break, or coming out to stop something breaking.

 

[nw1]

Can't help thinking the "Christian" fundamentalists in the USA have a lot in common with the "Muslim" fundamentalists in Iran.

Indeed, they're basically both on the same side.

Warmongering, violent authoritarians, the lot of them.

It's funny how so many wars seem to be between two groups of people basically on the same side. I'd be quite happy to see a war crimes trial and life imprisonment for all politicians involved, whether from the US, Iran or Israel.

 

[edwin_m]

Indeed, they're basically both on the same side.

Warmongering, violent authoritarians, the lot of them.

It's funny how so many wars seem to be between two groups of people basically on the same side. I'd be quite happy to see a war crimes trial and life imprisonment for all politicians involved, whether from the US, Iran or Israel.

They're only on the same side in the sense that they would both say "We have God on our side, therefore we must always be right and everyone else must be wrong."

 

[Bantamzen]

Every day I wake up, almost the first thing I do is check the news feed to see what crazy the U S of A is up to for the coming 24 hours. And they usually don't disappoint. Be it mad trade tariffs sold as making other countries paying the US to be allowed to sell their goods, threatening to invade other allies, waging wars on the Middle East without actually deciding why, and even seemingly starting a war with one of the biggest religions on the planet.

And yet the Republican party despite coming under immense pressure from within and around their support base, still blunder on trying to make excuses for it all. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Crazy that talking about Epstein would be used as a distraction from Iran, when Iran was a distraction from Epstein in the first place!

This statement from Melania makes me thinking she's getting ahead of something about to break, or coming out to stop something breaking.

There have been lots of fairly overt insinuations recently about how Melania got to the US in the first place and about how she got her Green Card. The modelling agent who got her to the US originally was very closely linked to Epstein.

Indeed, they're basically both on the same side.

Warmongering, violent authoritarians, the lot of them.

KnowYourMeme describes the above cartoon by Tom Gauld as follows:

The cartoon depicts two nearly identical kingdoms, with one kingdom labeled "Our Blessed Homeland" and the other "Their Barbarous Wastes." The cartoon illustrates how one country feels patriotic about its attributes while denigrating the same attributes of the opposing country.

 

[martin butler]

I agree that there must be something nasty about to surface from the sewer that is the current US administration, and it's to do with her past, and how she got into the country,

Epstein is like that thing that just won't flush away, no matter how many times you try, you pretend its not there, but it is, and the longer it goes on for so the stronger the smell becomes,

 

[BuhSnarf]

I thought it was already fairly well documented in the files that were already released that she got here via Epstein? In fact Epstein mentions in his notes that Melania and Trump met on board the Epstein plane and where they 'first got to know each other'?

 

[ainsworth74]

What's that old saying? "When Fascism comes to America it'll be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"? Seems to be more and more accurate as the weeks go by...

 

[DarloRich]

I assume the first lady is trying to get ahead of something by making her Epstein statement. It all seems very odd. Surely you cant double dead cat in that you cant use a distraction to distract from a distraction!

This 4/5d strategic chess is just beyond me - unlike the stable genius that is Donald J Trump!

 

[brad465]

I assume the first lady is trying to get ahead of something by making her Epstein statement. It all seems very odd. Surely you cant double dead cat in that you cant use a distraction to distract from a distraction!

This 4/5d strategic chess is just beyond me - unlike the stable genius that is Donald J Trump!

During Covid Boris Johnson was double and triple dead-catting all the time.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Either this is intentional and someone has decided that they need to talk about Epstein as a distraction from Iran...

Or perhaps she's just defeated the objective of distracting from Epstein, which has been talked about much less since the attacks began. If so Donald won't be happy.

Can't help thinking the "Christian" fundamentalists in the USA have a lot in common with the "Muslim" fundamentalists in Iran.

Stepping reluctantly into religion as an atheist - but I've noticed this war seems to be between religious fundamentalists, you could also include Netenyahu.
Not the first religious war, but I can't remember any wars involving atheist fundamentalists...

 

[Annetts key]

Either this is intentional and someone has decided that they need to talk about Epstein as a distraction from Iran...

Or perhaps she's just defeated the objective of distracting from Epstein, which has been talked about much less since the attacks began. If so Donald won't be happy.

Can't help thinking the "Christian" fundamentalists in the USA have a lot in common with the "Muslim" fundamentalists in Iran.

As an atheist, my personal view is that "Christian" fundamentalists are far worse than the "Muslim" fundamentalists in Iran or elsewhere around the world.

The U.S.A. likes to brag about itself but in many ways, it is more backwards than the U.K. or many other European countries.

 

[ainsworth74]

you could also include Netenyahu

Nah, the likes of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir (two truly nasty pieces of work) are definitely in it for the religious fundamentalism but Netanyahu? He's a much classical right-wing thug who is in it for power (and increasingly to stay out of prison). He'll use religion as a tool of power where it benefits him, but no-way is he a real believer unlike the first two I mentioned. Similar dynamic to the US. Trump is not a religious person but he has no qualms using it to his benefit where needed and now is increasingly surrounded by people who actually are true believers.

The thing that always stuns me is that these religious people (at least at the rank and file level) don't seem to realise that fact. How on earth can these Evangelicals in the US think that a philandering, porn star shagging, sweary, gluttonous, person is somehow pious and divine?

 

[Harpo]

During Covid Boris Johnson was double and triple dead-catting all the time.

Just during Covid?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Apr 2026 ==

As an atheist, my personal view is that "Christian" fundamentalists are far worse than the "Muslim" fundamentalists in Iran or elsewhere around the world.

Quite. E.g. The most sustained campaign of terrorism in the UK in my lifetime.

 

[brad465]

Stepping reluctantly into religion as an atheist - but I've noticed this war seems to be between religious fundamentalists, you could also include Netenyahu.
Not the first religious war, but I can't remember any wars involving atheist fundamentalists...

For the thousandth time (though accept maybe you haven't seen this before), neither this war nor any other war supposedly fought in the name of a religion is about the religion(s) involved.

As with every war, it's about greed. That greed takes the form of wanting more land, more resources, wanting more power or at least to just cling onto power.

But if those waging these wars were truly honest, almost nobody would go along with them, so they have to makeup some justified cause to con the masses into backing it. Saying "we're doing this in the name of our God/religion" is a prime case of this. I'm afraid to say the same trick isn't just working on the populations directly involved, but individuals like you who can't see past the smokescreen. If you don't recognise the real motives, there is no hope of genuine solutions.

However, as the Pope situation has shown, these religions do not advocate war and the Vatican has had to resist US coercion into trying to get them to back this conflict.

I should also add Stalin was atheist (or at least the "religion" was his cult), so whether or not he is technically an "atheist fundamentalist", the idea that atheists don't do wars is not true. Then of course motives like "denazifying Ukraine", "Iraq has WMDs", have no religious connotations.

 

[Annetts key]

Stepping reluctantly into religion as an atheist - but I've noticed this war seems to be between religious fundamentalists, you could also include Netenyahu.
Not the first religious war, but I can't remember any wars involving atheist fundamentalists...

Some of the reason, yes. But for Netenyahu, some of the reason is trying to stay in power, so for him, it's about re-election.

For Trump, again, some of the reason is power, except that for him, it's backfired rather a lot.

Despite all of the U.S.A.'s military might, Trump, having ignored advice that was almost certainly given warning against starting a war with Iran, has discovered the hard way that the U.S. cannot "open" the Strait of Hormuz using air power alone. Trying to use the Navy is a very bad idea, so he's stuck.

And now, whether he realises it or not, he looks very weak, because, he is very weak and incompetent. And losing support at home including amongst some of his own MAGA base. He has, through his own actions, made it almost a certainly that the Republicans will lose the mid-term elections badly.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Just during Covid?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Apr 2026 ==


Quite. E.g. The most sustained campaign of terrorism in the UK in my lifetime.

I was walking across Euston concourse one lunchtime when the Four Leaf Clover bomb went off, and walking from 222 across the grass towards the bandstand at Regents Park - delayed, happily as it turned out, by a defective early ATM so I wasn't close - when the young bandsmen I had watched the previous two lunchtimes were murdered. Euston closed in the evening peak for two or three days a week because of a bomb threat. The Balcombe Street siege, close to 222.
In London you never felt safe when doing everyday ordinary things, and rail seems to be particularly targeted.

 

[AlterEgo]

Quite. E.g. The most sustained campaign of terrorism in the UK in my lifetime.

The IRA were not Christian fundamentalists.

 

[martin butler]

Very seldom, is it about religion, it's about power, it's about greed and wanting more, more land, more power, more money, Trump, and those around him are cut from the same cloth,

 

[The exile]

Not the first religious war, but I can't remember any wars involving atheist fundamentalists...

Those before 1941 with the Soviet Union as aggressor, may be?

 

[gg1]

Those before 1941 with the Soviet Union as aggressor, may be?

While you could make an argument for calling them ideological wars (though I'd say they were just plain old wars of conquest for territory and resources), it was a political ideology, religion or lack or religion wasn't a factor.

 

[The exile]

While you could make an argument for calling them ideological wars (though I'd say they were just plain old wars of conquest for territory and resources), it was a political ideology, religion or lack or religion wasn't a factor.

Except that “militant atheism” was part of that political ideology. Stretching a point though, I agree.