Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[Annetts key]

If the US is so concerned about countries with overseas territories, perhaps we should look at Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, etc., or maybe hand Alaska back to Russia.

It's a bit rich, considering that it's casting its greedy eyes on Greenland and Cuba!

Absolutely, Russia and the USA are currently the two main countries seeking to take territory by force or by threats or via some other method of control.

 

[Strathclyder]

There's a good reason I'm not a diplomat as I'd be tempted to say:

"The UK has never shirked from supporting Allies who have legitimately triggered Article 5 when they were attacked; do so and we will help"

It's just as well I ain't a diplomat either. I can barely keep what I really think and what I really, really want to say about this cretinous old goat and his band of ring-kissing weasels (it involves the sort of language that would make a longshoreman keel over) out of my posts on here, lest I get smacked square in the temple with the ban-hammer. I wouldn't last a week as a diplomat when having to deal with this insanity on a daily basis; I'd be driven mad in half that time.

It's all very well us in the UK, most of the rest of Europe and the world thinking Trump is an idiot but possibly 30% in the US apparently don't and their wishes still dominate.

He can do a massive amount of irreparable damage to the entire world in his remaining two and a half years. On his usual form he'll ensure he leaves smouldering time bombs for his successors to defuse.

The scope for total bloody mayhem is vast! Can we do much to stop him? Probably not but the King may have a quiet word.

Which is part of the reason why all of this is so maddening. It's obviously insane drivel out of the mouths of cretins and yet it has to be treated seriously given the positions said cretins hold and the damage they've done, are doing as we type and will do in the time they have left in their positions.

 

[dgl]

Maybe Starmer should put out a message saying,

In WWII America came to our help to stop a fascist, and we were grateful for it and we never thought that later on America themselves would ever have to save themselves from a fascist. We don't go to war to protect egos and to distract attention, we go to war to protect people.

America, when you need us to protect you from an actual threat we will be there, when you are protecting a fascist, I think I speak for the UK and most other countries in the world when I say, you got yourself in to this mess you have to get yourself out of it. I will certinaly not go to war on the whims of a misogynistic pedo and convicted felon.

 

[The exile]

There's a good reason I'm not a diplomat as I'd be tempted to say:

"The UK has never shirked from supporting Allies who have legitimately triggered Article 5 when they were attacked; do so and we will help"

And I would hope that diplomats are going round the reliable bits of NATO giving and obtaining assurance that those countries will continue to do exactly that, wherever that attack comes from.

 

[martin butler]

I would hope that the various foreign secretaries of the NATO members are discussing how to keep the US administration out of the loop because you can be sure it will end up on the desk of someone in the kremlin

At the moment, we nor any other member can remove the US from Nato, only they can do it, by giving an years notice I'm wondering if that's going to be trumps parting gift, when he has exactly a year left, he will somehow bully congress into passing a dictate that the US will leave NATO,

 

[najaB]

when he has exactly a year left, he will somehow bully congress into passing a dictate that the US will leave NATO

Unlikely. I would be very surprised if the GOP and particularly MAGA-GOP will have enough seats to be able to effect anything like that come January 2027.

 

[Strathclyder]

Unlikely. I would be very surprised if the GOP and particularly MAGA-GOP will have enough seats to be able to effect anything like that come January 2027.

Of course, but that ain't gonna stop him from intermittently honking in the corner about it like a drunken goose with a head injury.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I would hope that the various foreign secretaries of the NATO members are discussing how to keep the US administration out of the loop because you can be sure it will end up on the desk of someone in the Kremlin.

Sounds to me like there is a good opportunity for them to first plant a load of misinformation towards Moscow.

 

[FinsburyPark]

Why is the man so insincere about talks in ending the war.

This is now the 3rd of 4th time he has given up on sending delegates to Islamabad to go to talks with Iran, with Pakistan as mediator

 

[Trackman]

This is breaking, so limited information

White House correspondents' dinner suspect charged with attempting to assassinate Trump

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from California, was also charged with weapon offences allegedly relating to Saturday’s shooting.

www.bbc.co.uk

The president appeared to be part way through a conversation at the Washington Hilton when he was interrupted by a commotion at the White House table.

Loud bangs could be heard and then various secret service members escorted the president away from the venue as they called out “stay down, stay down”.

Stephen Miller, Trump’s top adviser, could be seen being escorted from the crowd and out of the venue. Most other attendees initially crouched down during the commotion but remained inside after the president was evacuated.

 

[The Ham]

This is breaking, so limited information

White House correspondents' dinner suspect charged with attempting to assassinate Trump

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from California, was also charged with weapon offences allegedly relating to Saturday’s shooting.

www.bbc.co.uk

Given that Trump has been a target before, you do have to wonder at if the appropriate measures are being put in place to stop weapons getting that close to him.

At least with no fatalities they haven't had to draw on their major defence against gun crime by having to say "thoughts and prayers" as everyone (regardless of religious background) knows just how good that is at limiting future gun crime.

 

[najaB]

Given that Trump has been a target before, you do have to wonder at if the appropriate measures are being put in place to stop weapons getting that close to him.

That would apply to any president, not just DJT. That said, it's equally likely that the target in this case was "the liberal press" as it was the President, given his constant attacks on the "fake news" and "enemies of the people".

---

In another demonstration of extreme competence by the DJT administration, it appears that they lined the streets of Washington with Australian flags rather than British to welcome the King:

Simon Marks and Vanessa Feltz are in disbelief as work crews mistakenly raised the Australian flag ahead of the King's state visit.

 

[AlterEgo]

Another day in beautiful America, another nutjob trying to kill the nutjob president.

 

[brad465]

I wonder why Trump finally decided to go to one of these dinners? For all his love of publicity, he made a thing of not going to them at all in his first term.

 

[Krokodil]

In another demonstration of extreme competence by the DJT administration, it appears that they lined the streets of Washington with Australian flags rather than British to welcome the King:

Well he is King of Australia too. They should have flown the flags of all 15 realms.

 

[dgl]

As for the attack, does someone need a distraction perchance...

 

[dosxuk]

I wonder why Trump finally decided to go to one of these dinners? For all his love of publicity, he made a thing of not going to them at all in his first term.

Well the suspect has allegedly said to the authorities that he was planning to shoot the President's team, and wasn't specifically targeting the President - therefore he may not have known Trump was going to be there.

I wonder if any of Trump's close team are going to be re-evaluating how close they are to Trump now, as it seems to have put them in the sights of wannabe assassinators too.

 

[Bayum]

As for the attack, does someone need a distraction perchance...

Interestingly, there’s a video of Kash Patel sitting around, twiddling his thumbs whilst it’s all taking place with some calling it a scripted event…

 

[Gloster]

I wonder if any of Trump's close team are going to be re-evaluating how close they are to Trump now, as it seems to have put them in the sights of wannabe assassinators too.

More likely they will use it as an excuse to isolate themselves even more from the general public as they are far too important to take risks, so making it even more difficult to challenge them. Meanwhile, they will be quite happy to continue to push Trump to the front as he can easily be flattered into believing in his massive heroism in occasionally appearing behind a phalanx of bodyguards. They have far too much riding on getting on with their projects to go back and if Trump does get hit, they can surely turn that to their advantage.

 

[brad465]

While current indications are the trip will go ahead, the state visit is being reviewed after the shooting, which might be a blessing in disguise for the government if they can point to something completely out of their control as being it being canned:

Final decision expected on King Charles' US visit after DC shooting

The King is "being kept fully informed of developments" after the shooting, Buckingham Palace says.

www.bbc.co.uk

A final decision confirming that King Charles and Queen Camilla's state visit will go ahead is expected later on Sunday, the BBC understands, after a shooting incident in Washington DC raised security concerns.
The UK government has to be satisfied, but all indications suggest the state visit will begin as planned on Monday, possibly with some minor adjustments to more public-facing events.
Donald Trump also seems to expect the trip to go ahead, telling Fox News: "King Charles is coming, and he's a great guy."
Buckingham Palace said the King was "greatly relieved" to hear that the US president, Melania Trump and other guests at the White House Correspondents' Dinner had been unharmed.
It's understood that the King and Queen privately reached out to the Trumps to express their sympathies for those caught up in the attack.
The couple and other senior administration figures were evacuated from the dinner after a man fired several shots while attempting to enter the venue. The suspect, identified in US media as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was detained at the scene and was believed to have been targeting Trump administration officials.
There have already been talks about the security around the King and Queen's trip, concerning "to what degree the events of Saturday evening may or may not impact on the operational planning for the visit", the Palace said earlier.
Any last-minute changes to the planned itinerary are thought to be less likely to be at the set-piece occasions, which are in secure locations such as the White House and the US Congress.
Trump appeared confident on Sunday that the trip would still go ahead, telling Fox: "He's coming, and we're going to have a great time."
The US president added: "He's really a fantastic person and a tremendous representative."
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said he was "very confident" the King and Queen will be safe during the four-day visit, telling NBC News that Saturday night's incident showed the US security system worked.
Senior government minister Darren Jones told the BBC earlier on Sunday that the King's state visit would have "appropriate security in place in relation to the risk".

 

[edwin_m]

Well the suspect has allegedly said to the authorities that he was planning to shoot the President's team, and wasn't specifically targeting the President - therefore he may not have known Trump was going to be there.

It's possible his target was someone else but very unlikely he didn't know Trump would be there. By the amount of times I saw it mentioned even here without even looking, anyone searching for who from the Trump administration was attending would very quickly found out it included Trump himself.

 

[Uncle Buck]

.

 

[Mogster]

Incidentally it’s the same hotel where the 1981 attempted assassination of Ronnie Reagan took place. The assassin survived the 1981 attack also.

 

[Simon11]

A couple of thoughts:

Considering this is an enclosed venue and having looked through lots of news articles, why is no one asking how on earth someone with a gun even managed to get into the main room? An Airport seems more secure than the evening dinner with Trump.... Does make you wonder. If this happened in the UK, our media would be criticising it immediately.

Secondly, so many people have attempted this on Trump over the last few years. One has to wonder if there will be more before his terms ends

 

[Darandio]

how on earth someone with a gun even managed to get into the main room?

I don't think he actually did?

 

[najaB]

Considering this is an enclosed venue and having looked through lots of news articles, why is no one asking how on earth someone with a gun even managed to get into the main room? An Airport seems more secure than the evening dinner with Trump.... Does make you wonder. If this happened in the UK, our media would be criticising it immediately.

I believe he was a guest at the hotel, and only made it as far as the lobby leading to the banquet room before being stopped by the Secret Service/Police.

 

[FinsburyPark]

I believe he was a guest at the hotel, and only made it as far as the lobby leading to the banquet room before being stopped by the Secret Service/Police.

Many people believe there was something not quite right about the 1st shooting attempt, both in America and Overseas.

There are a ton of conspiracies online about this.

It would not suprise me if the lax security, more lax than most airports will generate a new round of possible conspiracy theories surrounding #2

 

[najaB]

It would not suprise me if the lax security, more lax than most airports will generate a new round of possible conspiracy theories surrounding #2

Technically this is number three, no? There was the "shooting" at Butler, and the gunman discovered hiding on his golf course.

 

[Cowley]

Technically this is number three, no? There was the "shooting" at Butler, and the gunman discovered hiding on his golf course.

Definitely.

I’m feeling like I’m going to need quite a decent amount of solid evidence to convince me that this was somehow staged before I change my mind from what seems fairly obvious as to what’s probably happened here.

I’m firmly on the side of if I’ve heard the sound of hooves outside the window, I don’t instantly assume that it’s zebras basically…

 

[najaB]

I’m feeling like I’m going to need quite a decent amount of solid evidence to convince me that this was somehow staged before I change my mind from what seems fairly obvious as to what’s probably happened here.

Indeed. While I have serious doubts about Butler, this appears to just be a lone crazy person who didn't really have a plan.

Edit: There will likely be a text version of this available at some point but what is purported to be the shooter's manifesto has been found in social media: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXmyr07FZAu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

(Note to mods: The version I've seen is images only, and I won't transcribe it. I'll add a quote from a text version when it's available.)