Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[brad465]

He did offer refuge to Assad though, and I can't see him being of any further use.

Putin had to do that so all his other allies were assured there was a safety net if they also fell. If Putin either refused Assad, or took him on and then pushed him out of a window, all his other allies would immediately abandon Putin while they had a chance, which would really screw Putin over.

 

[martin butler]

but there could be an awful lot of money to be syphoned across into Russia with him or following him...

He will Quietly put Trump in a nursing home away from prying eyes, where later he dies from some strange radioactive poisoning that just can't be explained.

 

[najaB]

When the Trump Mobile was discussed a few pages back I mentioned that there was a YouTuber who ordered one* and has given several us updates (or not dates) on the progress of his order. He was told at the start of March that they would all be shipped by the start of April, he called again yesterday and was told that they'll start shipping "towards the end of this month".

*Slight correction. He hadn't actually ordered one previously, he just gave them fake info and they managed to find "his" order. He has now placed the pre-order.

He posted an update today. In a surprise to nobody his T1 phone still hasn't been shipped and there's still no update on delivery.

He's also found out that the T&Cs appear to have been updated with language that suggests that the phone will never be released:

penguinz0 investigates the status of a long-delayed T1 mobile device pre-order after experiencing extended shipping wait times. By analyzing updated terms and conditions and contacting customer support, penguinz0 explores the discrepancies between official marketing promises and the fine print regarding device availability, pricing guarantees, and potential delivery timelines.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 May 2026 ==

Interestingly, when DJT arrived in China for his official visit, not only did Xi Jinping not greet him at the airport, but there wasn't even a top-level official such as the foreign minister.

 

[brad465]

It's not just the UK having something of a bond crisis, the US has now reached 5% on 30-year Treasury yields for the first time since 2007. If history repeats, then an almighty recession is imminent:

https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/85362f83-7daa-4f45-ab85-8f2b005b221a

The US government has sold 30-year debt at a 5 per cent yield for the first time since 2007 amid mounting signs that Donald Trump’s war in Iran has unleashed a new surge in inflation. The Treasury department issued $25bn of new 30-year bonds on Wednesday, with the high yield at auction reaching 5.046 per cent. Earlier in the day, yields on US debt, which move inversely to prices, rose after official data showed wholesale inflation had jumped to 6 per cent in April, its highest level since 2022.

 

[The Ham]

Interestingly, when DJT arrived in China for his official visit, not only did Xi Jinping not greet him at the airport, but there wasn't even a top-level official such as the foreign minister.

Not according to the BBC:

Trump in China: US president concludes 'very successful' talks with Xi in Beijing

The cordial talks covered issues such as the Iran war, Taiwan, tariffs, and competition over tech.

www.bbc.co.uk

Vice-President Han Zheng was at the tarmac to receive Trump as he walked down the steps from Air Force One.

Han is among China’s top leaders and sending him to receive Trump is being read as Beijing showing the US president respect. Last time, during his 2017 visit, they sent a lower-level leader, State Councillor Yang Jiechi.

Han also attended Trump’s inauguration last year.

In that the vice president is a fairly high up official.

 

[The exile]

Not according to the BBC:

Trump in China: US president concludes 'very successful' talks with Xi in Beijing

The cordial talks covered issues such as the Iran war, Taiwan, tariffs, and competition over tech.

www.bbc.co.uk

In that the vice president is a fairly high up official.

If “Yes Prime Minister” is to be believed then being met by the Vice-President is a massive snub. And Trump is Head of State. (Thinks - where does a fish rot from?)

 

[bleeder4]

Heads of state don't greet guests at the airport, they always send a lackey to do it instead. The political game is in choosing which lackey will do the greeting. Trump got the vice president, which was quite a coup. It's very rare for someone so senior to do the airport greeting.

 

[The exile]

Heads of state don't greet guests at the airport, they always send a lackey to do it instead. The political game is in choosing which lackey will do the greeting. Trump got the vice president, which was quite a coup. It's very rare for someone so senior to do the airport greeting.

Yes - I realise I’d misremembered the YPM episode - it was not referring to the initial “meet and greet” but who Hacker would get to meet at all.

 

[brad465]

Heads of state don't greet guests at the airport, they always send a lackey to do it instead. The political game is in choosing which lackey will do the greeting. Trump got the vice president, which was quite a coup. It's very rare for someone so senior to do the airport greeting.

Yes Yvette Cooper greeted Trump for the UK State Visit. One exception is Trump and Putin greeted each other on the runway in Alaska, but then again Trump was meeting with his boss.

 

[najaB]

In that the vice president is a fairly high up official.

Hmm... interesting then that it was reported elsewhere as only having low-level officials.

Though, it's notable that the Vice President is an entirely ceremonial position with no real power, unlike 2017 when Trump was met by Yang Jeichi who was a politburo member, and Obama's visits in 2014 when he was met by the Foreign Minister and 2009 when Xi Jingping who was a standing member of the Politburo at the time.

 

[jon0844]

Interestingly, when DJT arrived in China for his official visit, not only did Xi Jinping not greet him at the airport, but there wasn't even a top-level official such as the foreign minister.

I saw that, yet the BBC seemed to report the visit in a far more positive light. In fact, some right-wingers even claim that when Obama visited China they 'didn't even get stairs for him'. Once again, Trump has to believe he got more attention than Obama who lives in his head rent-free.

The full thread covering the visit can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cvgz8qverzqt

 

[brad465]

Nothing to see here:

https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/0fde5f37-9ffd-49fe-9f6b-87f2ed4cc109

US President Donald Trump traded hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of securities in major American companies including Nvidia, Palantir, Paramount and Boeing in the first three months of 2026. Regulatory filings published by the US Office of Government Ethics show transactions involving Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Meta, Visa, Citi, Boeing, Qualcomm and GE Aerospace.

Top executives of all of those companies accompanied the US president on his trip to Beijing this week to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

 

[najaB]

Nothing to see here:

https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/0fde5f37-9ffd-49fe-9f6b-87f2ed4cc109

That is nothing compared to the [checks notes] Biden Crime Family and the [checks notes again] $50 million that are supposed to have stolen.

 

[dorsetdesiro]

So Trump's tacky gold MAGA mobile phone is finally released after delays.

It is already being criticised for its Temu-like quality despite claiming to be made in the USA, buyers clearly have been hoodwinked by the orange conman, who was recently in China likely visited the production line in secret

 

[najaB]

So Trump's tacky gold MAGA mobile phone is finally released after delays.

Has it actually been released? Have people actually received them? I saw that they had published a release video but hadn't heard that any had actually been delivered.

 

[AlterEgo]

It is already being criticised for its Temu-like quality

Has anyone actually got one yet?

 

[Bantamzen]

Has anyone actually got one yet?

The first ones are supposedly shipping this week. But from where and how long is anyone's guess, although the President has just got back from China on a big aircraft....

 

[edwin_m]

The first ones are supposedly shipping this week. But from where and how long is anyone's guess, although the President has just got back from China on a big aircraft....

Apparently staff were required to leave their phones on Air Force One and use "burner phones" while in China, depositing them in a bin for disposal before re-boarding. Make of that what you will.

 

[DerekC]

The feedback from various sources on the Trumphone is that it is a re-skinned cheap Chinese job. No surprise that the "All-US" promises turned out to be the usual Trump bullsh*t.

 

[brad465]

There's an FT exclusive about Xi telling Trump that Putin might end up regretting invading Ukraine. The most striking comment though is what Trump reportedly said about the International Criminal Court:

https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/c8605168-95af-4ce5-91af-eaa325902d88

Xi Jinping told Donald Trump during their talks last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin might end up regretting his invasion of Ukraine.

According to several people familiar with the US assessment of last week’s summit in Beijing, the Chinese president made the comments during wide-ranging talks that touched on Ukraine and included Trump suggesting that the three leaders should co-operate against the International Criminal Court.

 

[najaB]

There's an FT exclusive about Xi telling Trump that Putin might end up regretting invading Ukraine. The most striking comment though is what Trump reportedly said about the International Criminal Court

Because, naturally, people who have done nothing wrong always strive to avoid being held to account for the things that they didn't do.

 

[brad465]

Banana Republics must be looking at this and being shocked:

https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/0ddde003-cd7c-404b-8608-cb450677a2ad

US tax authorities will be barred from pursuing claims against Donald Trump, his eldest sons and the Trump Organization under an agreement to halt the president’s $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The pledge by the Department of Justice on Tuesday came a day after Trump agreed to settle his lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for the US government launching a $1.8bn fund for victims of alleged “lawfare”.

 

[najaB]

In a huge surprise to nobody, it appears that the Trump Mobile website has a huge security flaw that has exposed the personal information of anyone who placed an order.

This video details a major security catastrophe involving Trumpmobile.com and the highly anticipated T1 mobile device. The creator, penguinz0, explains that he and other customers have had their personal information—including names, email addresses, and mailing addresses—leaked due to a critical security vulnerability on the company's website

 

[jon0844]

In a huge surprise to nobody, it appears that the Trump Mobile website has a huge security flaw that has exposed the personal information of anyone who placed an order.

It also appears that the number of orders placed was quite likely a lot less than the company has stated. Like nearer 10,000-30,000 (it wasn't clear from the data leak if orders were placed for the phone or the SIM cards that I believe people have got).

Whatever the numbers, the whole thing is just typical for any business that Trump puts his name to. I am sure the data was considered valuable and was probably sold on to others, given the only people likely ordering the phone would be Trump supporters and it's valuable to get their names and addresses, and - hey - why not keep their credit card details on file in case they want to be tapped up to make further donations, sorry, purchases.

 

[Meole]

So Trump's tacky gold MAGA mobile phone is finally released after delays.

It is already being criticised for its Temu-like quality despite claiming to be made in the USA, buyers clearly have been hoodwinked by the orange conman, who was recently in China likely visited the production line in secret

US designed not made.

 

[najaB]

US designed not made.

The original claim was that they would be made in the USA. That then changed to US-designed with final assembly in the USA.

Days after the Trump Organization announced plans to launch a US-made smartphone, a reference to its American production has vanished from its website.

A "Made in the USA" tagline featured in promotional material for the Trump T1 phone when it launched on 16 June, was no longer displayed on its site as of Wednesday, reporters found.
…

Wording on the company's website, advertising the launch of its upcoming mobile plan for Americans, now counts an "American-Proud Design" among the Trump T1 phone's key features.

They also say the phone is "brought to life right here in the USA", with "American hands behind every device".

A banner that previously encouraged site visitors to pre-order "our MADE IN THE USA T1 Phone" on the website now only refers to it as "the new T1 phone".

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4yv3pmmwjo

What exactly "brought to life" means is unknown, but I'd be surprised if it is anything more than packaging them for shipping.

 

[AlterEgo]

What exactly "brought to life" means is unknown, but I'd be surprised if it is anything more than packaging them for shipping.

Being turned on by the customer probably.

 

[najaB]

So, it appears to be confirmed that the Trump T1 which sells for $499 is, indeed, a rebadged version of a Taiwanese phone that retails for around $130. They also managed to mess up and don't have the right number of stripes on the US flag on the back:

 

[Annetts key]

They also managed to mess up and don't have the right number of stripes on the US flag on the back:

What do you expect, Trump is not very good with numbers...

 

[SuspectUsual]

It has a bigly amount of stripes, what more do you need?