Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[Cdd89]

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:

For some reason I sensed that the flag would be wrong in some way before I even read the text of your post.

(Not because I have an intimate feeling for the US flag, but because it's exactly the sort of mistake a lazy designer would make with a customised flag design, and far better outfits than Trump have erred in this way!).

 

[SuspectUsual]

As someone with an interest in graphic design, it looks like the font used for the text is different below the flag and by the camera lenses. More shoddiness and lack of attention to detail, not that the target audience will care

 

[najaB]

As someone with an interest in graphic design, it looks like the font used for the text is different below the flag and by the camera lenses. More shoddiness and lack of attention to detail, not that the target audience will care

Yeah, completely different fonts. Not doing anything for establishing a brand identity.

 

[AndrewE]

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:

My guess is that the bottom line of (blue?) text is the bottom stripe, or that they intended it to be... in which case white text on the coloured background would have been better.

 

[SuspectUsual]

My guess is that the bottom line of (blue?) text is the bottom stripe, or that they intended it to be... in which case white text on the coloured background would have been better.

Maybe, but the font is taller than a stripe, because it looks like they've lazily just made it as big as it needs to be in order to fill the full width of the flag

Is that what they mean by American designed? If so, its no wonder the Chinese do it better and cheaper

 

[najaB]

My guess is that the bottom line of (blue?) text is the bottom stripe, or that they intended it to be... in which case white text on the coloured background would have been better.

Maybe, but the font is taller than a stripe, because it looks like they've lazily just made it as big as it needs to be in order to fill the full width of the flag

Which could so easily be fixed by using a smaller font with solid bars either side to make up the the width of a stripe.

 

[dgl]

The fonts will be different as the back cover is probably outsourced to someone else in China and don't have access to the same fonts.
Also the chances of it being designed in America are slim, at most it'll be the back cover, everything else seems to be an off the shelf product, and not a very good one at that!

 

[Gloster]

Ah, but the sticker saying ‘Made in America’ was made in America. So that’s all right then.

 

[martin butler]

I wonder how many people are now suffering from buyer's remorse? $499 to purchase something that normally sells for $130
A very well-known phrase comes to mind about fools and money

So where are the previous presidents branded items, the Biden alto pen, the Ford notebook ? the Clinton peanut shucker, ?
Or didn't past presidents cheapen their positions in this way ?

 

[Gloster]

I wonder how many people are now suffering from buyer's remorse? $499 to purchase something that normally sells for $130
A very well-known phrase comes to mind about fools and money

So where are the previous presidents branded items, the Biden alto pen, the Ford notebook ? the Clinton peanut shucker, ?
Or didn't past presidents cheapen their positions in this way ?

Surely it would be the Carter peanut shucker? Anything from Clinton would probably be for more intimate use.

 

[martin butler]

Surely it would be the Carter peanut shucker? Anything from Clinton would probably be for more intimate use.

Sorry yes, wrong president

 

[Harpo]

Anything from Clinton would probably be for more intimate use.

The man who stroked but did not impale? Or was it smoked but did not inhale?

Maybe Starmer could market an aid to insomnia?

 

[martin butler]

Surely it would be the Carter peanut shucker? Anything from Clinton would probably be for more intimate use.

I dread to think what that might be, would it be possibly latex?

 

[najaB]

I dread to think what that might be, would it be possibly latex?

Well, there was that 'cigar' that featured so prominently in the scandal*.

*Oh, how naïve we were to think that shagging one intern was a scandal, compared to how the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is **** the whole world!

 

[Broucek]

Anything from Clinton would probably be for more intimate use.

Dry cleaning service?

 

[ainsworth74]

I feel like if we keep going down this particular line of thinking I might need to remind people that content on this Forum is supposed to be family friendly. Don't make me get the red text out...

 

[brad465]

Another one bites the dust:

Tulsi Gabbard resigns as US director of national intelligence

She is leaving the role of coordinating the US intelligence agencies on 30 June in order to help her husband, who was diagnosed with bone cancer.

www.bbc.co.uk

Tulsi Gabbard has said she is resigning from her position as the US director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, citing her husband's recent bone cancer diagnosis.
"His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge," she wrote in her resignation letter obtained by CBS News, the BBC's US partner. "I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position."
President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Gabbard "has done an incredible job, and we will miss her".
Her resignation is effective 30 June. Aaron Lukas, the principal deputy director, will step in as acting director, Trump said.
Gabbard, a loyal supporter of Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign, was confirmed as one of the most powerful figures in US intelligence-gathering weeks after he returned to the White House in 2025. As head of the intelligence community, Gabbard coordinates among multiple intelligence agencies and advises the president.
But this year she has largely been out of public view as the US has taken military action against Iran, put pressure on Cuba, and notably removed Venezuela's president.
In her letter Gabbard said her husband, Abraham, "faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months."
Trump posted on social media that Gabbard "rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together. I have no doubt he will soon be better than ever."

 

[AlterEgo]

I wonder how many people are now suffering from buyer's remorse? $499 to purchase something that normally sells for $130
A very well-known phrase comes to mind about fools and money

So where are the previous presidents branded items, the Biden alto pen, the Ford notebook ? the Clinton peanut shucker, ?
Or didn't past presidents cheapen their positions in this way ?

I think a lot of the buyers either wanted a memento which would turn out to be rare and valuable in 50 years or did it not a laugh, like several YouTube creators.

 

[The Ham]

I think a lot of the buyers either wanted a memento which would turn out to be rare and valuable in 50 years or did it not a laugh, like several YouTube creators.

Chances are the YouTube creators did it for video revenue and so made the purchase based on what future video streams they could get, as such the worse the product turns out to be, almost the better it is for them.

Of course, if it had turned out to have been any good, then they would have had a good phone to use, or to sell on to someone who missed out on getting the first batch.

 

[martin butler]

Chances are the YouTube creators did it for video revenue and so made the purchase based on what future video streams they could get, as such the worse the product turns out to be, almost the better it is for them.

Of course, if it had turned out to have been any good, then they would have had a good phone to use, or to sell on to someone who missed out on getting the first batch.

In 50 years, I can't see anything tied to the Trump name that might be valuable except in a macabre sort of way,

I fully believe that history will judge Donald Trump very severely,
A con man, worse, most criminally insane president ever, who caused the deaths of millions, and if we can believe half what's in those files, a serial sexual predator. People will be denying they ever voted for or supported him.

 

[brad465]

Something else dramatic that happened this week is Thomas Massie was defeated in what is the most expensive primary for a House seat in history. Despite being Republican, he was adamant in wanting the Epstein files released and was very critical of Trump and the Iran war. The conspiracy theory doing the rounds is that Israeli interests want to keep the files under their control so they can continue to blackmail Trump and others with them. I don't know if he will or not, but if he ran as an Independent he could cause some damage, either by splitting the vote and letting the Democrats in, or by the Democrats standing aside and tactically voting for him to defeat the Trump-picked candidate:

Thomas Massie loses to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein in Kentucky primary

The Kentucky race has been viewed as a key test of President Trump's grip on the Republican Party.

www.bbc.co.uk

Congressman Thomas Massie, one of the most vocal Republican critics of Donald Trump, has lost his fight for re-election to a challenger endorsed by the president.
Ed Gallrein, a former Navy Seal, will now compete in November's midterm election after his victory in the Kentucky primary on Tuesday.
The contest, the most expensive primary in the history of the House of Representatives, had been widely seen as a key test of President Trump's decade-long grip on the Republican Party.
Trump repeatedly called for voters to back Gallrein over the incumbent Massie, who he described as a "major sleazebag" and "the worst Republican congressman in history".
Massie, who has been in office since 2012, publicly broke with Trump by voting against his "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill last year over concerns about the national debt. He has also voted to curtail Trump's attacks on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and his ongoing war in Iran.
Massie also joined with Democrats - and a handful of Republicans - to force Trump's Department of Justice to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein.
He lost by 55 percent to 45 percent in the vote on Tuesday, marking a major victory for Trump who has successfully ousted a number of dissenting Republicans by endorsing a more loyal challenger.

 

[jon0844]

He was also someone who seemed to care about the American people, by pushing for legislation on things like right to repair. Clearly he will made a fair few enemies, especially as he couldn't be paid off by the likes of AIPAC which means a lot of money was spent to get rid of him.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/17/massie-aipac-record-spending-israel-maga-trump-primary-00925375

Massie’s primary is the most expensive in history. Pro-Israel groups have played a huge part.​

Ad spending in the race to unseat the rebellious Republican has smashed House records.

 

[martin butler]

Now that he's got nothing to lose, i hope he now goes after the crime family that now runs the US, he can start by using the floor of the house to tell the world the names of all the people in the Epstein files, and their ties to trump ,

 

[The Ham]

In 50 years, I can't see anything tied to the Trump name that might be valuable except in a macabre sort of way,

I fully believe that history will judge Donald Trump very severely,
A con man, worse, most criminally insane president ever, who caused the deaths of millions, and if we can believe half what's in those files, a serial sexual predator. People will be denying they ever voted for or supported him.

Indeed.

 

[martin butler]

With everything he has done, to try to keep justice at bay, what happens though when he shuffles off this mortal coil,

He's in poor health, nearing 80, has advanced heart failure, never exercises, overweight, he can't cheat death, like he has everyone else,

The cheap facade he has put up around himself will crumble; his legacy will be what? exposed lies, on a stage not seen for many years,

Maga will implode without its leader, The best example would be Stalin, how his people were soon looked upon as criminals.by the next leadership.

 

[scarby]

A con man, worse, most criminally insane president ever, who caused the deaths of millions, and if we can believe half what's in those files, a serial sexual predator. People will be denying they ever voted for or supported him.

We don’t need the files - 28 women have already accused him publicly and one won a civil case against him.

It’s absolutely staggering and I consider all governments who accept him as a leader as complicit.

 

[Gloster]

With everything he has done, to try to keep justice at bay, what happens though when he shuffles off this mortal coil,

He's in poor health, nearing 80, has advanced heart failure, never exercises, overweight, he can't cheat death, like he has everyone else,

The cheap facade he has put up around himself will crumble; his legacy will be what? exposed lies, on a stage not seen for many years,

Maga will implode without its leader, The best example would be Stalin, how his people were soon looked upon as criminals.by the next leadership.

He really doesn’t care what happens to others, probably not even his family, after he dies as he is a total narcissist who has never considered the matter or others. He doesn’t really want all these monuments as a legacy, they are just to fulfil his egotism this instant: he lives to satisfy the greed of the moment and anything with future implications is just to feed his current craving. To a certain extent he doesn’t really accept that he will die: it is an abstract idea that ‘can’t happen to him’; he was like this even before he declined so that he is spending much of his time doolally.

We have to realise that he is probably the biggest racketeer ever: others have ripped off a country to a massive extent, but none has done it to such a wealthy one. But, like most rackets, one person is holding it together: when he goes it falls, but some of his assistants are having a go at rigging the system in his name so at worst (for them) they get time to clear out with the loot. At worst (for us) they stay in power.

 

[DerekC]

This is Alan Rusbridger in the Independent (I will link it below but I think it's behind a paywall).

(Todd Blanche, the US Attorney General) ... "who obviously relies on Trump’s patronage to secure his position, went further by granting Trump and his family virtual immunity from any kind of investigation into his financial affairs. The United States – under President Trump – agrees that it is “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing” President Trump, his eldest sons or any of their businesses. The agreement covers matters “whether presently known or unknown” and cases that “have been or could have been asserted” by the government.

The document which Trump signed this week will prevent any cases against the Trumps by the IRS or other agencies or departments. That seems to mean that the Justice Department is also barred from ever charging the Trumps with other crimes.

Trump’s Supreme Court had already granted immunity for the president for any “official” actions while in office. He now has civil immunity. The law, as one observer commented this week, has become adapted to the man. A New York Times editorial was headlined. “There Has Never Been an Example of Presidential Corruption Like This.”

But this was just one story in a week of grotesqueries. The US media barely had the bandwidth to fully explore Trump’s revelation that his big beautiful ballroom is effectively the cherry on top of a massive six-storey underground bunker-cum-military complex with its own hospital and bomb and bio-defence shelters. He wants to add the estimated $1bn cost onto an immigration enforcement bill."

If this had been in a novel fifteen years ago everyone would have said "Don't be silly, it could never happen"). However the thrust of the article is that the worms are turning:

It’s just possible that Trump has gone too far this week and that the people he has contemptuously treated like voting fodder have had enough.

The thing about January 6 is that it was a terrifying attack on the very people Trump now needs. Multiple representatives thought they were about to die or be taken hostage. Some whispered final goodbyes to their loved ones; others quietly removed their congressional pins so they wouldn’t be targeted in the hallways by the rampaging mob.

So when Todd Blanche turned up at the Capitol on Thursday to drum up support for Trump’s $1.8bn slush fund, which could be used to compensate those convicted of violent crimes on January 6, he, the acting attorney general, had a rough ride from Republicans. Blanche reportedly came in for withering questioning and criticism from incredulous lawmakers.

Todd Blanche testifies before the Senate budget panel on Capitol Hill (Reuters)
“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. “Utterly stupid, morally wrong – take your pick.”

At the same time, Senate Republicans refused to hand over the money for the “ballroom” project, and House Republicans cancelled a vote on a resolution on the war in Iran (remember that?). GOP lawmakers are said to bitterly resent Trump’s mafia-style approach to disposing of his perceived enemies.

So, finally, the unthinkable happened. The Senate refused Trump his money. On Thursday, they closed up shop and went home.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voice...385029c74a1e381b4bc70f4a&loginSuccessful=true

It's going to be an interesting year!

 

[Gloster]

I think that Trump has so far carried and will continue to carry enough of the faithful with him, but he has made two serious missteps recently: gas prices and the ‘Trump as Jesus‘ post. The faithful have been unhappy about all sorts of rising prices, but have stayed as the faithful as they somehow feel that it isn’t his fault (it’s probably Biden and the Democrats), that he understands their problems and is doing his utmost to solve them. But gas, that’s the water of life, and even if they don’t understand the connection with the Iran War, that is something he must deal with now! And he hasn’t. The Jesus post is just too blasphemous for many of the groups who will vote for him as a religious duty: it hasn’t tipped them over the edge yet, but the faith of many is shaky.

 

[kitchenoven]

and even if they don’t understand the connection with the Iran War,

I think a lot more of the right-wing camp in the US is struggling to comprehend the Iran war both in its justification and a potential resolution. Certainly in the first week or so you could have continued down the path of MAGA whatever, but as it has continued to drag on and have real everyday consequences like you mentioned it gets harder to ignore. This is most certainly compounded by the president's actions.... (ballroom etc.) and the undermining of the US (both militarily like those army deaths and general world status) divides the camp further. I wonder if the world cup will be a wakeup call for the state of the US generally, depending on how it is received.