Donald! Trump!

What nonsense has Trump said or done today dot com.

Putin appears to know he has Trump infatuated, and is playing him like a desperate to please teenage girl.

He apparently kept Trump and his wig waiting - the no doubt pretended to be impressed by the Trump as he flirted towards Putin, and kept him happy by agreeing to consider agreeing in the future .. whilst getting Trump excited about possible closer economical ties in the future.

Putin has won the lottery of lotteries with Trump. It just amazes me how Trump is able to continue the destruction of the USA .. Trump has done more damage to NATO than USSR ever managed, and Trump appears blind to see how that is a bedrock of USA power and influence.

There will be some good movies about this; this is a time in history that's gonna have significant discussion. Trumps name will be used alongside those such as Mussolini and Frank Spencer .. a would be dictator, but a bit simple and something of a melt behind the bluster.

Wait, have we finally arrived at Alexi Sayles Mussolini?

Edit, nah, not enough social awareness...

We've been watching Designated Survivor of late and the difference between the fictional POTUS and the current incarnation is increasingly stark!

It's quite depressing. 

The way I see it, anyone in any government agency who defies a Trump order, will be sacked. At any level.

It's an easy way to purge anyone who's not on board.

Dark, dark times

Theres a pattern to it too though. Trump has fired various heads of the military. Not for anything they've said or done, but he seems to have managed to fire all the ones that are black or female and left all the ones that are white and male.

He's also done things like fire just enough people from an agency or body to render it useless, rather than simply disbanding the agency. For instance he fired a few people from the National Labor Relations Board. Much to Jeff Bezo's benefit as they were charged with enforcing a ruling against Wholefoods (which he owns). He was trying to prevent his workforce from unionising and the NLRB in the agency that had the role of enforcing a court ruling against Bezos that prevented him from blocking unionisation. 

Trump has fired just enough people from  the agency's board (the black and female ones obvs) to be one less than required by its constitution to be quorate. Which means it exists but can't really do anything. He did that on the same day wholefoods staff voted to unionise, setting a precedent that would benefit all of Amazon's staff. Trump's convenient new friend Bezo's is now rejecting the vote, not on legal grounds but basically on the grounds that theres no agency able to enforce it.

There will be some good movies about this; this is a time in history that's gonna have significant discussion.

Oh god yes - this kind of thing is great for 'content', pretty much for ever. On any given day flick through the TV channels and see if you can't find at least one film or documentary about Germany in the 30s and 40s and going forward the Trump era will never, ever run out opportunities to be re-examined and re-told.

Everyone around trump will never, for the rest of their lives, long after Trump is dead and gone, cease be the focus of one investigation or another.

As long as we're alive and this site still exists this thread won't end.

The way I see it, anyone in any government agency who defies a Trump order, will be sacked. At any level.

Yet if they follow the order they will be in contempt of court.  That's your constitutional crisis right there.

Posted by: MacCruiskeen

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As long as we're alive and this site still exists this thread won't end.

What a depressing thought! 😳

This site won't survive unfortunately, small businesses like this will soon be strangled out of existence by the continual drift to the right. What we see in Trumps America will happen hear soon, there is no resistance to the oligarchs power lust in our own government as they continue to burden employees and small businesses to benefit the oligarchs and corporations.

And the thig that is quite clear is that they only count success in winning and losing, they would rather win a 20 second race than be second in a 10 second race, they are destroying the economies they profit from, but that doesn't matter to them, as long as they "win" relative to everyone else they don't care that they are creating a shitter world to live in, as long as they come out on top it doesn't matter to them. They are not interested in being near the top in a clean, happy and more equal world, they prefer to be at the pinnacle of a failed world as long as the absoluteness of their power is clear to the losers

Yeah it's reached a critical point now, the Legislative branch has already caved so it's down to whether the Judicial branch caves or not (they haven't so far but it will depend on SCOTUS very soon). That said, even if by some miracle SCOTUS grew a back-bone and pushed back (declaring the Trump administration's actions to be an illegal over-reach of the Executive branch), what difference would it make?

Impeachment would need the Legislative branch which seems unlikely now. Not sure what options that leaves apart from the military or mass action by the population? I can't see the military intervening, not least because Trump's replaced some key leadership (including within the JAG so commanders now have no one they can trust to check the legality of any orders they receive) and there doesn't look to be enough disapproval within the population (or much chance there will be, no matter how much eggs rise in price). History has taught us dictatorships often come into being in part through general apathy in the population, which with hindsight is hard to understand but as we're living through it now it's easy to see how it happens (not helped by the dictator controlling a large part of the media and therefore influencing the messaging and restricting the ability of people to organise any resistance).

So what does prevent Trump becoming a dictator at this point? Assassination might as Vance is unlikely to have the support to carry on Project 2025 but who knows. 

Yep, when assassinations are the only hope of a way out it has got pretty desperate.  There are also quite a number to carry out!  

On any given day flick through the TV channels and see if youcan'tfind at least one film or documentary about Germany in the 30s and 40s

But that's about 'other' countries.  When did you last see a documentary about McCarthy?

Posted by: kerley

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Yep, when assassinations are the only hope of a way out it has got pretty desperate.  There are also quite a number to carry out!  

Unfortunately, the kind of people that oppose Trump (same/normal/not billionaires) aren't often the kind of people who "take out" presidents. Mostly that's far right nut jobs.  I fear we're stuck with him for some time. 

Posted by: FuzzyWuzzy

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Impeachment would need the Legislative branch which seems unlikely now.

I'm not so sure - the majority is currently slim, and there's possibly enough in both Houses with a backbone to provide support to the SCOTUS if it came to it. 

The crunch will be the midterms - if he looks likely to lose enough seats/control, and whether he creates a national emergency to prevent them taking place. 

He is commander in chief but do the military swear allegiance to the President or the country?

If this was playing out in some unimportant country, it would fascinating. As its the US, it's ****ing terrifying. 

"Unfortunately, the kind of people that oppose Trump (same/normal/not billionaires) aren't often the kind of people who "take out" presidents. Mostly that's far right nut jobs.  I fear we're stuck with him for some time. "

I listened to a podcast (this one i thin k https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/02/17/305-lilliana-mason-on-polarization-and-political-psychology/ ) that said propensity for violence was actually pretty similar across left/right groups, it's just that people tend to be more violent when the other "side" is in power as they feel ignored. Most of the more recent violence is because left wing governments are in charge and they are reacting to perceived threats like immigration. In the 70s/80s there were more left wing groups being violent. (Direct Action Movement, The Angry Brigage). 

Interesting... but where are left wing government in charge?

Most of the more recent violence is because left wing governments are in charge and they are reacting to perceived threats like immigration. In the 70s/80s there were more left wing groups being violent. (Direct Action Movement, The Angry Brigage). 

Which western countries do you believe are more politically to the left of where they were in the 70s? I think most analysis would clearly indicate that the whole western world has taken a rather large step to the right economically, and while there has been some social progression, that is now being used as an excuse to hide the failures of the ever accelerating right wing economic drift. I assume you are buying into that populist narrative.

Unfortunately, the kind of people that oppose Trump (same/normal/not billionaires) aren't often the kind of people who "take out" presidents. Mostly that's far right nut jobs.  I fear we're stuck with him for some time. 

Er- 2 attempts on him within a few weeks in 2024 would suggest that's not really the case. 

Crooks was right wing. Any further threat to Trump’s life is likely to be from the far right.

Posted by: Steve

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The crunch will be the midterms - if he looks likely to lose enough seats/control, and whether he creates a national emergency to prevent them taking place

I did think that but the sheer speed with which they're dismantling the US government and various checks & balances in the constitution means I think it will reach crisis point in the next few weeks rather than the mid-terms. If the Judicial branch can't/won't reign him in now then he'll have done so much damage by the mid-terms that even if they go ahead the outcome will be meaningless.

Posted by: fueled

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The compete disregard of anyone voicing an opposing view is already normalised, this is the sort of thing which will be used to legitimise it, and eventually obligate(ise?) it.

One of the sponsors of the bill has been arrested for "allegedly soliciting a minor for prostitution".

Nothing but the finest supporters.

I did think that but the sheer speed with which they're dismantling the US government and various checks & balances in the constitution

I think that our own leaders in the UK, Europe and the rest of the western world still have their heads buried in the sand about that onslaught soon happening here, protecting our own democracy from big money interests must be one of the highest priorities, but they largely appear too weak and pathetic to even acknowledge the problem.

Posted by: MonkeySpacePilot

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I think that our own leaders in the UK, Europe and the rest of the western world still have their heads buried in the sand about that onslaught soon happening here, protecting our own democracy from big money interests must be one of the highest priorities, but they largely appear too weak and pathetic to even acknowledge the problem.

No one seems to notice of realise we have been at war for the last 10 years, it's proper death by a 1000 cuts.

The crunch will be the midterms

The SAVE act may well come into play (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility). With a name like that you can guess what it's for.

tl;dr: midterms won't be a problem.

Posted by: Matthew Hornby

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Er- 2 attempts on him within a few weeks in 2024 would suggest that's not really the case.

Shooting at a disgraced ex-Pres is a completely different proposition to shooting at a sitting one and will take a whole other level of organisation and commitment.

Who had ‘Canada is one of the nastiest countries and run by liars’ on their bingo card?

From a sitting US president referring to them as the 51st State.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1902147439064461398

I can think of several organizations which are/could be motivated for (and capable of) assassination.

Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, possibly Ukraine security services if Trump has truely f++ked Ukraine over.

I doubt a left wing, lone wolf type US citizen would be capable

Posted by: Tom Howard

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Who had ‘Canada is one of the nastiest countries and run by liars’ on their bingo card?

Canada? The country that basically has "Oh heey, I'm soorry" as their national motto? Or maybe the whole being nice thing is just an act 🤔

What’s the odds Trump and Putin are discussing dividing up Europe as a whole?

and Trump getting bored and giving it all to Vlad?

Zero I would say 

Posted by: Leo

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Posted by: Tom Howard

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Who had ‘Canada is one of the nastiest countries and run by liars’ on their bingo card?

Canada? The country that basically has "Oh heey, I'm soorry" as their national motto? Or maybe the whole being nice thing is just an act 🤔

Eh?

If you're still considering a trip to the US (yes, who'd be mad enough, eh?), make sure you log out of your social media unless you're a Trump fan...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained

The speed at which all this has taken hold is breathtaking.

How did they know, I think there’s more to this story than we are currently getting or do they go thru your social media when you enter the USA now 🙂

It’s a funny one but I’m not  sure the media jumping on everything trump says or does is actually beneficial the constant deluge of his insanity sort of seems to do better for him in the long run.

if you can’t see he’s a lunatic, will you ever ?

The warning lights were on over making Canada a US state and Greenland(and aligning with Russia), I’m not sure a sane President would be pushing this agenda.

or perhaps I’m suffering from undiagnosed Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Anyone seen or heard BBC coverage of Trump and his Ukraine efforts the ladt few days? Seems that Jeremy Bowen and friends have very little faith in Trump, think Putin is playing him for a fool, and don't care about saying it

It was reported as a random check, they have the powers to look at that stuff at the border. Not entirely surprising to find a European with a highly negative view of Trump, I guess. 

According to the Telegraph it was a random check of his phone and laptop.

Which suggests that they had fluent french speakers instantly available, I'm quite impressed by that.

Posted by: ernielynch

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Which suggests that they had fluent french speakers instantly available

Not necessarily, it was an international conference, it's quite plausible they were messaging other attendees in English.

It’s a funny one but I’m not  sure the media jumping on everything trump says or does is actually beneficial the constant deluge of his insanity sort of seems to do better for him in the long run.

I find it a bit frustrating that every trump brainfart is treated as a stand alone story. Given that so much of what he says is unfounded, so many things don't actually come to something. It seems like each day just needs a single 'Trump Digest' - one headline, one story summarising yesterdays antics.

The press's time would be much better served detailing the things he's walking back, u-turning on, not seeing through, even just forgetting about. Reporting what he say's he'll do is just repeating lies. The truth that matters is in what he's abandoning, what he's not seeing through, what he's forgotten about and lost interest in. I'd say even the rightwing press should be doing that - asking what happened to the things he promised, asking why he's reversing decisions. 25,000 federal employees that he'd fired have just reinstated for instance. There are more than 90 court cases in process that will likely overturn plenty more of his lay-offs. Or the fact large swathes of these 'firings' have actually involved putting people on paid leave - so in the name of efficiency tax payers money is being used to pay thousands of people to do nothing - so taxpayer, voters, are paying for public services but not getting them - but somehow thinking they'll see a tax cut.

His keenest supporters see every zany announcement as a loyalty test, they try to best each other qualifying, quantifying and rationalising his nonsense. Tie themselves in knots to toe the line and before they can barely finish tweeting,  without a second thought, Trump will just drop the idea leaving them all looking like chumps. Theres only so many times they can go through that cycle before they get sick of it because, its their political capital thats being squandered each time, not his.

Which suggests that they had fluent french speakers instantly available, I'm quite impressed by that.

Google Translate is a thing. 

Which suggests that they had fluent french speakers instantly available, I'm quite impressed by that.

.....

Posted by: Harry Tuttle

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Posted by: ernielynch

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Which suggests that they had fluent french speakers instantly available

Not necessarily, it was an international conference, it's quite plausible they were messaging other attendees in English.

I took it that it was unconnected to the conference and his personal views, although since they have neither released the person's name, nor what the offending comments were, I guess we can only speculate.

At an international airport, where planes from France arrive several times a day - who'd have thunk it. They planes from Spain will be carrying Spanish speakers in the main I'd imagine.

We are talking about border force officials with presumably nothing better to do here. It was specifically described as a "random" check. I am sure that they access to speakers in a multitude of different languages. I wouldn't expect your average US border force official to be fluent in French.

They planes from Spain will be carrying Spanish speakers in the main.

By George! He's got it!

If you're still considering a trip to the US (yes, who'd be mad enough, eh?), make sure you log out of your social media unless you're a Trump fan...

I honestly would martyr my trip so I could make a story out of it to use against the regime.  At least, if it were a business trip.  I'm not sure I'd be planning a personal trip.

It was reported as a random check, they have the powers to look at that stuff at the border. Not entirely surprising to find a European with a highly negative view of Trump, I guess. 

just seen this on my FB feed, seems the UK Subs also fallen foul of the same thing....

Much though I'd like to believe that the US has completely lost its shit and is turning away people for not liking their new dictator I suspect that there's a little more to it that that - after all probably most of the foreign nationals on that flight think he is crazy and some will have said so publicly...  So I suspect he went a bit beyond the usual: 

Another AFP source said that US authorities accused the French researcher of “hateful and conspiratorial messages”. He was reportedly also informed of an FBI investigation, but told that “charges were dropped” before being expelled.

We prosecute people in this country for hateful or threatening posts about politicians even if they were never intended to be be followed through.

The government are using AI to revoke visas so it is not a massive stretch to also understand that they may be also using that same process to vet incoming visa entries to the states. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/foreign-student-visas-pro-palestinian-ai
https://www.cnbctv18.com/world/us-deploys-ai-to-revoke-visas-of-foreign-nationals-supporting-hamas-report-19570130.htm

Posted by: ajf

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The government are using AI to revoke visas so it is not a massive stretch to also understand that they may be also using that same process to vet incoming visa entries to the states. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/foreign-student-visas-pro-palestinian-ai
https://www.cnbctv18.com/world/us-deploys-ai-to-revoke-visas-of-foreign-nationals-supporting-hamas-report-19570130.htm

 

I can well believe that although if this was the case here it obviously wasn't a random search as claimed. Tbh I unless the unnamed scientist's phone and laptop were filled with hatred directed at Trump I am struggling to believe that this was a random search. Apparently the scientist's phone and laptop were confiscated and not returned.

So does that mean most of us on this thread would be turned away?!