[Discussion] Hope to Remember The Trump Administration Thread as being 'transparent and honest'

Let's follow and discuss what our newest presidential administration gets up to, the good, the bad, the lawsuits, and the many many indictments.

Wealthy conservatives have been pushing for this for years. They've claimed that they're afraid of the backlash that might happen to them or their business interests if the public finds out what causes and groups they're supporting.

And if money truly is speech then what they're actually doing is trying to hide who they're having very loud conversations with. Like racists, they want to enjoy free speech (millions and millions of dollars worth), while completely avoiding all non-governmental consequences of that free speech.

I dunno, if you're worried that the public backlash to supporting certain groups and causes would be, maybe that's A SIGN THAT YOU SHOULDN'T BE SUPPORTING THOSE GROUPS AND CAUSES.

Yeah kinda like Papa John found out last week.

Public shaming and your business losing money is a good thing if you're being a horrible human being.

Trump’s allies in Congress are blaming the press for Trump’s performance in Helsinki

“Given the unfriendliness of the press to the president, why should we concentrate on the press conference?” Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) said at a press event Tuesday. “The summit in fact had the two world superpowers sit down and discuss in a civilized way for two hours privately, then two hours with staff, the wide gamut of issues that are important to this world. I call that a success. A successful summit.”

“And I disregard and discount anything that involves the mainstream media press,” he concluded.

NathanialG wrote:

Trump’s allies in Congress are blaming the press for Trump’s performance in Helsinki

“Given the unfriendliness of the press to the president, why should we concentrate on the press conference?” Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) said at a press event Tuesday. “The summit in fact had the two world superpowers sit down and discuss in a civilized way for two hours privately, then two hours with staff, the wide gamut of issues that are important to this world. I call that a success. A successful summit.”

“And I disregard and discount anything that involves the mainstream media press,” he concluded.

f*cking treasonmonkeys can't stop gaslighting the American people for more than a day.

Meanwhile, the West Wing revolted after the presser:

But Chief of Staff John Kelly was irate. According to a source, he told Trump it would make things worse for him with Robert Mueller. He also exerted pressure to try to get the president to walk back his remarks. According to three sources familiar with the situation, Kelly called around to Republicans on Capitol Hill and gave them the go-ahead to speak out against Trump. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan held televised press conferences to assert that Russia did meddle in the election.

So...if Kelly says it's okay, then the GOP will criticize the president.

Trump is the capo

Rat Boy wrote:

Meanwhile, the West Wing revolted after the presser:

But Chief of Staff John Kelly was irate. According to a source, he told Trump it would make things worse for him with Robert Mueller. He also exerted pressure to try to get the president to walk back his remarks. According to three sources familiar with the situation, Kelly called around to Republicans on Capitol Hill and gave them the go-ahead to speak out against Trump. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan held televised press conferences to assert that Russia did meddle in the election.

So...if Kelly says it's okay, then the GOP will criticize the president.

I'm thinking this makes Trump firing him a foregone conclusion. He'll have to grit his teeth and wait a while so it doesn't look as bad. The only question is, how long?

"THERE WAS NO COLUSION" - misspelled, written in all caps, in sharpie.

There's your metaphor right there.

I was hearing this a lot yesterday on various news shows where conservative guests would go on about how the question from the Associated Press reporter was inappropriate, was a "gotcha" question, was disrespectful to the President, etc. and that this had been a diplomatic meeting between two world leaders and that the press was trying to turn it into reality show drama and trying to start a fight. From about 4 or 5 different people, they were all on the same page as to who was to blame and it wasn't Trump.

Also, one reporter pushed back saying "But this was a press conference! How could the President not anticipate questions like this!" and brought up McCain's comment about how this was a disgraceful display by a US President and their response was "Well, he's earned the right to have his opinion."

Wait, you have to earn that right?

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Wait, you have to earn that right?

I'm also confused. I always assumed white men got the right by default, only everyone else had to earn it. Is McCain still white?

dejanzie wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

Wait, you have to earn that right?

I'm also confused. I always assumed white men got the right by default, only everyone else had to earn it. Is McCain still white?

IMAGE(https://media1.tenor.com/images/cfbc8660b5a6c08c36f6f09fa76e7a1e/tenor.gif?itemid=10944050)

That gif isn’t me being sarcastic. I laughed out loud on public transport.

NathanialG wrote:

Trump’s allies in Congress are blaming the press for Trump’s performance in Helsinki

“Given the unfriendliness of the press to the president, why should we concentrate on the press conference?” Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) said at a press event Tuesday. “The summit in fact had the two world superpowers sit down and discuss in a civilized way for two hours privately, then two hours with staff, the wide gamut of issues that are important to this world. I call that a success. A successful summit.”

“And I disregard and discount anything that involves the mainstream media press,” he concluded.

Andy Harris is a worthless f*cking piece of sh*t.

He's also usually quiet as a mouse. Chicken{f*cker|sh*t} Andy waited months into 2017 before holding a town hall on the Trump push to eliminate Obamacare. (Asking his local office about that, I spoke with someone who demanded my name and number. Maybe that's normal.)

Before that, his biggest splash was harshing DC's buzz.

For Chicken{f*cker|sh*t} Andy to get a quote out there--alongside a number of other nobodies--indicates to me that some Republican lawmakers want to signal their support for Trump without actually supporting Trump in advance of the 2018 elections. Chiming in and getting their names mentioned is a way to remind possible voters that they still exist.

Trump Says Russia No Longer Targeting U.S., Rejects U.S. Intelligence Again

A day after publicly reaffirming his confidence in U.S. intelligence agencies, President Donald Trump has rejected their findings once again.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he did not believe Russia was continuing to target the U.S., as Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats suggested last week.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he did not believe Russia was continuing to target the U.S.

Obviously he meant that he did not believe Russia was NOT continuing to target the US.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he did not believe Russia was continuing to target the U.S.

Obviously he meant that he did not believe Russia was NOT continuing to target the US.

Not quite. He meant that the US is not continuing to target Russia. Easy mistake to make.

I think we should let him keep digging himself into a hole with this.
In a mock interview, keep feeding him questions that answer themselves:
reporter - "Putin is such a strong leader don't you think?"
Trump - "He is a strong leader. The best. Nobody does it better than him. Certainly better than crooked HIllary."
Reporter - "The way Russia meddled with our election, do you think anyone other than a mastermind like Putin could pull it off? He is really crafty..."
Trump - "So crafty like you wouldn't believe. Let me tell you, it would blow your socks off. But only I can get it because I have the best understandings."

farley3k wrote:

Trump Says Russia No Longer Targeting U.S., Rejects U.S. Intelligence Again

A day after publicly reaffirming his confidence in U.S. intelligence agencies, President Donald Trump has rejected their findings once again.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he did not believe Russia was continuing to target the U.S., as Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats suggested last week.

Guess that answers my question from yesterday. I should have used the predictions thread!

Jonman wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he did not believe Russia was continuing to target the U.S.

Obviously he meant that he did not believe Russia was NOT continuing to target the US.

Not quite. He meant that the US is not continuing to target Russia. Easy mistake to make.

White House denies Trump said Russia no longer targeting U.S.

It's like watching it all spiral out of control in real-time.

Aaron D. wrote:
Jonman wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he did not believe Russia was continuing to target the U.S.

Obviously he meant that he did not believe Russia was NOT continuing to target the US.

Not quite. He meant that the US is not continuing to target Russia. Easy mistake to make.

White House denies Trump said Russia no longer targeting U.S.

It's like watching it all spiral out of control in real-time.

F.
F.
S.

White House did not not deny that Trump did not not say that Russia is not no longer targeting the US.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

I guess Trump just dumped all of his points into charisma. I mean, I don't see it, but somehow he keeps making all his bluff checks with so many people. As the half-orc thief said who'd just been caught trying to sneak "YOU DO NOT SEE GRONK!"

DSGamer wrote:

White House did not not deny that Trump did not not say that Russia is not no longer targeting the US.

They seem to be conveniently ignoring that there was a follow-up version of the question and he said 'No' to that as well. If he was saying no to more questions, why did he answer another question?

Kehama wrote:

I guess Trump just dumped all of his points into charisma. I mean, I don't see it, but somehow he keeps making all his bluff checks with so many people. As the half-orc thief said who'd just been caught trying to sneak "YOU DO NOT SEE GRONK!"

Oh God. This is just a D&D campaign universe?! I probably wasted my points on a useless category.

We are all part of a failed kickstarter game. 'Darkest timeline' does not even begin to cover it.

Hobear wrote:
Kehama wrote:

I guess Trump just dumped all of his points into charisma. I mean, I don't see it, but somehow he keeps making all his bluff checks with so many people. As the half-orc thief said who'd just been caught trying to sneak "YOU DO NOT SEE GRONK!"

Oh God. This is just a D&D campaign universe?! I probably wasted my points on a useless category.

It's the Planescape universe where nothing makes sense and thoughts/bullsh*t can change reality.

NYT: Cohen taped Trump on payment to ex-Playboy model

Giuliani claims the recording has Trump saying to use a check so the transaction is documented, which seems like a very odd thing for him to say explicitly.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

NYT: Cohen taped Trump on payment to ex-Playboy model

Giuliani claims the recording has Trump saying to use a check so the transaction is documented, which seems like a very odd thing for him to say explicitly.

Deduct as a business expense on his taxes? Charitable donation? Medical bill for therapeutic massage?