[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.

Stele wrote:

Some thing on the news where Iran says they captured 17 CIA operatives but Trump of course denies it.

Is it weird that I believe Iran over him? Being lied to every time he opens his mouth, I just assume he's lying again.

That assumes that the CIA would take the risk of sharing details with Trump....

JC wrote:

*sigh*

Ahead of a Monday meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Trump told reporters at the White House that he could win the war in Afghanistan in just one week if he really, really wanted to. But Trump says he won’t do that because he doesn’t want millions to die.

“I don’t want to kill 10 million people,” he said. “I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth, it would be gone, it would be over in literally 10 days.”

And he f*cked up the meeting with Imran Khan by claiming that he had spoken with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 Summit last month and that Modi had begged Trump to be a third-party mediator to help resolve Pakistan and India's conflict over Kashmir.

Trump said "I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked about this subject (Kashmir). And he actually said, 'would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator?' I said, 'where?' (Modi said) 'Kashmir'. Because this has been going on for many, many years. I am surprised that how long. It has been going on (for long)," with Khan responding 70 years. "I think they (Indians) would like to see it resolved. I think you would like to see it resolved. And if I can help, I would love to be a mediator. It should be....we have two incredible countries that are very, very smart with very smart leadership, (and they) can't solve a problem like that. But if you would want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do that."

Predictably, this has royally pissed off India, who immediately denied that Modi said anything remotely like that and insisted that any discussion about Kashmir would only happen in direct talks between the two countries and even that was dependent on Pakistan stopping its cross-border attacks, referencing a car bombing in February that killed 40 Indian soldiers that was carried out by a Pakistan-based militia group that wants Kashmir to become part of Pakistan and who India claims is actively supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (the same group who created and supported the Taliban in Afghanistan).

During the post-meeting press conference Prime Minister Imran Khan said that "Pakistan has one of the freest presses in the world... The criticism I've received from my own press is unprecedented. To say there are curbs on the Pakistan press is a joke."

Trump responded "Wait a minute. There's no way you're treated worse than I am."

Journalists in Pakistan claim Khan's literal attacks on the press have increased, with the government suspending three cable news channels last week who broadcast a news conference by an opposition politician. As Khan was getting on a plane to fly to the US the Pakistani government forced Geo News, Pakistan's most popular news channel, off the air. Last month Pakistani journalists protested nationwide, citing both economic and market changes that are roiling the industry as well as direct attacks by the government who have been known to kidnap or kill journalists who criticize the government, especially the military, too much.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Pakistan 142nd out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index, three places lower than it was in 2018.

OG_slinger wrote:
JC wrote:

*sigh*

Ahead of a Monday meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Trump told reporters at the White House that he could win the war in Afghanistan in just one week if he really, really wanted to. But Trump says he won’t do that because he doesn’t want millions to die.

“I don’t want to kill 10 million people,” he said. “I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth, it would be gone, it would be over in literally 10 days.”

And he f*cked up the meeting with Imran Khan by claiming that he had spoken with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 Summit last month and that Modi had begged Trump to be a third-party mediator to help resolve Pakistan and India's conflict over Kashmir.

Trump said "I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked about this subject (Kashmir). And he actually said, 'would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator?' I said, 'where?' (Modi said) 'Kashmir'. Because this has been going on for many, many years. I am surprised that how long. It has been going on (for long)," with Khan responding 70 years. "I think they (Indians) would like to see it resolved. I think you would like to see it resolved. And if I can help, I would love to be a mediator. It should be....we have two incredible countries that are very, very smart with very smart leadership, (and they) can't solve a problem like that. But if you would want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do that."

Predictably, this has royally pissed off India, who immediately denied that Modi said anything remotely like that and insisted that any discussion about Kashmir would only happen in direct talks between the two countries and even that was dependent on Pakistan stopping its cross-border attacks, referencing a car bombing in February that killed 40 Indian soldiers that was carried out by a Pakistan-based militia group that wants Kashmir to become part of Pakistan and who India claims is actively supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (the same group who created and supported the Taliban in Afghanistan).

During the post-meeting press conference Prime Minister Imran Khan said that "Pakistan has one of the freest presses in the world... The criticism I've received from my own press is unprecedented. To say there are curbs on the Pakistan press is a joke."

Trump responded "Wait a minute. There's no way you're treated worse than I am."

Journalists in Pakistan claim Khan's literal attacks on the press have increased, with the government suspending three cable news channels last week who broadcast a news conference by an opposition politician. As Khan was getting on a plane to fly to the US the Pakistani government forced Geo News, Pakistan's most popular news channel, off the air. Last month Pakistani journalists protested nationwide, citing both economic and market changes that are roiling the industry as well as direct attacks by the government who have been known to kidnap or kill journalists who criticize the government, especially the military, too much.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Pakistan 142nd out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index, three places lower than it was in 2018.

India totally brought it up because Trump is too stupid to know anything about it. Sucks that he can’t broach the topic in private like does with Putin.

I think the only person that thinks Trump could handle a role as mediator or arbitrator is Trump.

For someone with nothing to hide he sure is working really hard....

(CNN)President Donald Trump has filed suit in federal court in Washington, DC, against the House Ways and Means Committee, the New York state attorney general and the New York tax commissioner to prevent the disclosure of his tax returns.
Trump seeks a series of injunctions and restraining orders from the court.
JC wrote:

For someone with nothing to hide he sure is working really hard....

(CNN)President Donald Trump has filed suit in federal court in Washington, DC, against the House Ways and Means Committee, the New York state attorney general and the New York tax commissioner to prevent the disclosure of his tax returns.
Trump seeks a series of injunctions and restraining orders from the court.

So much for his bullsh*t that an audit is the reason he can't release taxes. Lies lies lies

Almost no words. Only three. Impeach the motherf*cker.

This should be viewed by every American. Might be the most important 2 minutes and 42 seconds of the year.

Ooof. That was a tough watch.

Trump's tweets were all based on a Fox & Friends segment he watched this morning (just as his racist tweets against The Squad were).

There's no word if the Fox & Friends segment visited the 9,000+ rental units Kushner's family business owns throughout Baltimore County, properties that receive millions of dollars in the form of federal rent subsidies.

Kusher's Baltimore properties have been in the news lately because several lawsuits alleging excessive late fees and fines as well as a highly controversial policy where his company uses body attachments, or civil arrests, where the courts order the arrest and detainment of tenants who owe Kushner money. As of 2017 Kushner had more than 100 tenants arrested, which is more than every other Maryland landlord.

What, are there no debtors’ prisons??

They sent Capone to Alcatraz (right?)... I think a fitting sh*thole to send 0.45 and his thieving cronies would be the concentration camps he created.

BALTIMORE SUN EDITORIAL BOARD: Better to have a few rats than to be one

In case anyone missed it, the president of the United States had some choice words to describe Maryland’s 7th congressional district on Saturday morning. Here are the key phrases: “no human being would want to live there,” it is a “very dangerous & filthy place,” “Worst in the USA” and, our personal favorite: It is a “rat and rodent infested mess.” He wasn’t really speaking of the 7th as a whole. He failed to mention Ellicott City, for example, or Baldwin or Monkton or Prettyboy, all of which are contained in the sprawling yet oddly-shaped district that runs from western Howard County to southern Harford County. No, Donald Trump’s wrath was directed at Baltimore and specifically at Rep. Elijah Cummings, the 68-year-old son of a former South Carolina sharecropper who has represented the district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1996.

Finally, while we would not sink to name-calling in the Trumpian manner — or ruefully point out that he failed to spell the congressman’s name correctly (it’s Cummings, not Cumming) — we would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are “good people” among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/3cnMRPY.jpg)

Ha! That is perfect.

Donald Trump using that tried and true tactic say a lie enough times and everyone will believe it.

I have to wonder if Trump's weekend attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings and Baltimore aren't because the House Oversight Committee is digging into Trump's 2016 campaign and finding some seriously swampy sh*t went down.

Trump aide submitted drafts of 2016 'America First' energy speech to UAE for edits, emails show

ABC News wrote:

When candidate Donald Trump prepared to give a major energy speech during the 2016 campaign, one of his closest advisers provided a pre-speech review to senior United Arab Emirates officials, an unorthodox move that caught the attention of federal investigators, according to emails and text messages uncovered by a House Oversight Committee investigation.

“The Trump Administration has virtually obliterated the lines normally separating government policy making from corporate and foreign interests,” according to a report overseen by House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, who commissioned the investigation into back channel business dealings between certain Trump aides and Middle Eastern countries.

Two weeks before Trump was scheduled to deliver the energy policy speech, Thomas Barrack, a California investment tycoon with extensive contacts in the Middle East and who later helped oversee Trump’s inauguration, provided a former business associate inside the United Arab Emirates with an advance copy of the candidate’s planned remarks. The associate then told Barrack he shared them with UAE and Saudi government officials, after which Barrack arranged for language requested by the UAE officials to be added to the speech with the help of Trump’s campaign manager at the time, Paul Manafort.

“This is the most likely final version of the speech. It has the language you want,” Manafort confirmed in an email to Barrack on the day of the speech, according to the report. Manafort has since gone to prison for financial crimes unrelated to his campaign work.

Thomas Barrack is also in the news because he was the driver behind the Trump administration's decision to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.

Trump fundraiser Thomas Barrack Jr. lobbied for Saudi nuclear deal, new report alleges

USA Today wrote:

The Trump administration’s move to sell sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia took shape even before the president took office and was championed by Donald Trump’s longtime personal friend and fundraiser, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., according to a new report released Monday by congressional Democrats.

The report details how Barrack used his personal connections to the president and other Trump administration officials to win support for the controversial Saudi nuclear deal – at the same time he was seeking funding from the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates for a bid to purchase Westinghouse Electric Company, the only U.S. manufacturer of large-scale nuclear reactors.

The Trump administration quietly approved the transfer of commercial nuclear expertise to the kingdom starting in December 2017, later explaining that it would allow Saudi Arabia to build nuclear reactors.

But lawmakers in both parties have expressed alarm about the deal, in part because the Saudis have so far refused to agree to standard restrictions that would bar them from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel.

...

The Democrats' new report delves into the financial interests of those pushing the deal, highlighting Barrack's role in particular. Through emails and interviews, the committee found that Barrack was promoting the interests of American companies seeking to do business with the Saudis at the same time he was trying to position his own company, Colony NorthStar, to profit from those same proposals.

He was also lobbying the Trump administration to appoint him to a top diplomatic position that would have allowed him to shape Middle East policy.

"The new documents indicate that a key component of Mr. Barrack’s plan was the purchase of Westinghouse Electric Company – the only U.S. manufacturer of large-scale nuclear reactors – using significant Saudi and Emirati capital, but with enough U.S. ownership to bypass scrutiny" from federal regulators that oversee foreign investment in the U.S.

Barrack’s efforts to shape Trump’s relationship with the Saudi and Emirati governments began when Trump was still campaigning for the GOP nomination, according to the report.

...

A few days before Trump's inauguration, Barrack aligned himself and his company with IP3 International, a consortium of U.S. firms seeking to build nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. Barrack chaired Trump's inaugural committee; both he and the inaugural committee have come under scrutiny from law enforcement officials seeking to determine, among other things, whether it received improper donations from foreign sources, according to multiple media reports.

Barrack used his contacts with the president and other advisers to push IP3's agenda, the Democrats' report alleges. And IP3 officials "repeatedly pressed the Trump Administration" not to require the Saudis to sign a so-called "Gold Standard” non-proliferation agreement that would limit the kingdom's ability to use the technology to develop a nuclear weapon.

"The new documents obtained by the committee show that the unique access that Mr.

Barrack and IP3 officials enjoyed with the Trump administration yielded promises from high-level government officials to support IP3’s efforts with Saudi officials," the report states.

In November of 2017, an IP3 employee sent an email to another nuclear company executive boasting that the Trump administration fully supported its plans.

"The USG [U.S. Government] is an extended team member," the IP3 employee wrote. “We will help Saudi leapfrog Iran and become a nuclear leader."

Probably a factor, but there's always seriously hinky sh*t coming out that would have burned down any previous presidency. I think the guy just likes being racist.

And he knows being a racist makes other conversations about him grind to a screeching halt during the news cycle.

Tanglebones wrote:

I think the guy just likes being racist.

According to a Quinnipiac poll released today 51% of Americans agree with you.

And that number would be way higher if it wasn't for white evangelicals (and what I'm sure are white Catholics).

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/yrXhKuZ.png)

Interesting that the more frequent church attendees are less likely to think he's racist.

Not paying much attention to the Bible or sermons there are they?

Genuinely shocked that there isn't a bigger age gap in those breakdowns

Rat Boy wrote:

And he knows being a racist makes other conversations about him grind to a screeching halt during the news cycle.

We just demonstrated a microcosm of that. 4 posts about racism following one post about egregious corruption

OG_slinger wrote:

And that number would be way higher if it wasn't for white evangelicals (and what I'm sure are white Catholics).

From personal experience, I can pretty much guarantee the bolded part. Especially, Irish and Polish Catholics.

polypusher wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

And he knows being a racist makes other conversations about him grind to a screeching halt during the news cycle.

We just demonstrated a microcosm of that. 4 posts about racism following one post about egregious corruption

That's because the 2020 election--like the 2016 election--is going to boil down to how racist the white electorate is. A way too large chunk of white Americans were (and remain) completely happy with voting for Trump because they see him as defending a version of America where whites are on top.

When you see 93% of Republicans saying that Trump's immigration policies aren't racist from that same Quinnipiac poll you have to remember that 90+% of the votes he got were from white people and that the strongest predictor of support for Trump was being a white person who lived in a lilly white community and who was afraid of losing status to non-whites.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/Azm6gF0.png)

And even though 68% of Americans say that conditions in immigration detention centers are a serious problem, 51% say that conditions in immigration detention centers are inhumane, and 62% say that the government isn't doing enough to improve conditions all that flies out the window for Republicans when asked if those immigrants should be set free.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/hpE7Hgz.png)

A healthy majority of Republicans would rather see immigrants suffer in inhumane conditions rather than risk some of them ducking their immigrations hearings (historically 60-75% of released immigrants show up to their hearings). That's how strong the racist beliefs of Republicans are.

A problem with Trump's strategy is that 55% of white women don't seem to be down with it (from another Quinnipiac poll released yesterday).

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/3xu0BFi.png)

But you can guarantee that Trump's going to be hammering the racist bell moving forward because it's the only thing he has and it worked so well in 2016.

Stele wrote:

Interesting that the more frequent church attendees are less likely to think he's racist.

Not paying much attention to the Bible or sermons there are they?

In my experience, growing up in downstate Illinois, the white evangelicals around here live in very insular communities, usually suburbs. The neighborhoods are 80% white and 19% Asian, nearly everyone is a Christian of some stripe (usually evangelical), everyone is an upper middle class homeowner, and nearly everyone is a conservative Republican who voted for Cruz in the 2016 primaries but has been pleasantly surprised by Trump. They have no exposure to blacks or black communities, as those tend to be in the poorer areas of town that these people avoid at all costs. While they won't say it directly, they're not comfortable around, and thus don't like, any group of people that acts, looks, or thinks differently than they do, hence their disdain for black culture and immigrants.

In the end, they don't think they're racist (even though they are), so they don't think Trump is racist (even though he is).

Mormech wrote:
Stele wrote:

Interesting that the more frequent church attendees are less likely to think he's racist.

Not paying much attention to the Bible or sermons there are they?

In my experience, growing up in downstate Illinois, the white evangelicals around here live in very insular communities, usually suburbs. The neighborhoods are 80% white and 19% Asian, nearly everyone is a Christian of some stripe (usually evangelical), everyone is an upper middle class homeowner, and nearly everyone is a conservative Republican who voted for Cruz in the 2016 primaries but has been pleasantly surprised by Trump. They have no exposure to blacks or black communities, as those tend to be in the poorer areas of town that these people avoid at all costs. While they won't say it directly, they're not comfortable around, and thus don't like, any group of people that acts, looks, or thinks differently than they do, hence their disdain for black culture and immigrants.

In the end, they don't think they're racist (even though they are), so they don't think Trump is racist (even though he is).

Actual quote from a news article, "It's not like (Trump) says the n-word."

And if he did, they'd make excuses for that too.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

And if he did, they'd make excuses for that too.

And his support would go up another 2%.

Mixolyde wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

And if he did, they'd make excuses for that too.

And his support would go up another 2%.

Oh c’mon now. It’d be at least 5 for that.

The racism is the issue in a nutshell.. White voters literally don't care about anything else happening as long as it comes with the racism. They don't believe they are racists or that racism exists because you don't see black people hanging from trees thus all problems solved! The mistake we think it that its a generational thing but its not.. the same white racist parents are going to raise white racist children.. its inevitable.

As long as Fox News keeps feeding them the correct propaganda I don't see this changing without them literally dying off. They'll keep voting against their better interests all in the name of racism and everything and anything the Democrats try and do to reach them will probably get drowned out by all the noise and defensiveness.

It's why Trump can get away with Tax Cuts for the rich that actively hurt the pockets of some of his biggest supporters.. its why they go along with Russian propaganda and voter suppression. They don't care as long as they are marginally higher on the food chain than POC.