Donald Trump Presidency discussion thread III

mcmoustache

Ludo wrote: »

McMaster GONE...Bolton in...christ....

But. But I thought Hillary was the warmonger.

Water John

See playboy model on CNN, now. Bringing forward the Bolton app may have been done to overshadow this.

Professor Moriarty

It's like a soap opera. The line between reality and fantasy is increasingly blurred. East Enders is more realistic.

Professor Moriarty

jooksavage wrote: »

Bolton's appointment has just moved the world a few steps closer to a major war. He's learnt nothing from Iraq or Afghanistan. He's still pushing for yet more conflicts with N Korea and Iran. Id prefer to see Ramsey Bolton appointed.

Very clever!

aloyisious

Water John wrote: »

Bolton didn't know he was being appointed, today.

CNN reported that Don and Bolton had a meeting in the White House on Wednesday. The idea that Don, despite his unusual way of getting working raletionships off to a start, didn't give a heads up to Bolton would be strange by even Don's standards [I think]........ The NYT has a headline that McMaster is to resign as NSA and be replaced by Bolton.....

IMO, that wording indicates that a face-saving deal was worked out in advance. The general is still a serving officer, not one on the retired liable for recall to duty list.

aloyisious

Water John wrote: »

See playboy model on CNN, now. Bringing forward the Bolton app may have been done to overshadow this.

She met Melania and Barron and say's she had sex with Don in the bed he and Melania slept in, and the relationship continued after Barron was born.... If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned in this case, then Don is OK.

Steve Bannon thinks that if Kelly goes Trump won't bother replacing him.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/379832-bannon-if-kelly-leaves-white-house-trump-wont-replace-him
It already looks like he ignores any good advice he gets but if there's nobody around to reign in his worst impulses things could get very bad. As if they weren't bad enough to begin with.

FreudianSlippers

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Sadly I think the departure of Dowd is far more likely to be a precursor to Trump firing Mueller.

As said , Dowd has a more than solid rep as a lawyer and whilst he pushed for Trump to not sit down for an interview (what competent Lawyer wouldn't?) he also was firmly of the belief that Trump should co-operate with the investigation.

Trump is also talking about firing Ty Cobb (again , despite what opinions you might have is a lawyer with a very solid court-room reputation) another of the lawyers in the "Let Mueller do his job" camp.

With Dowd and Cobb (potentially) gone , none of the other "Fox News Lawyers" will stop Trump from firing Mueller now..

Well, Trump firing Mueller must be the trigger for impeachment proceedings though.

Water John

She did not say that. She said she was shown around the apartment by DT. She wanted to get out of there.
Congress can withold the firing of Mueller and ask for just cause.

david75

Most likely because the Donald can’t grow a moustache

https://twitter.com/cliffordlevy/status/976993852803477504?s=21

everlast75

H.R. - please report to H.R.

Anybody who thinks DT is a competent president has to only look the staff turnover in that place to see what he truly is. It is by any standards alarming at the very least. He is simply (nor was he ever) fit for office.

This presidency is a complete and utter sh*tshow.

He has grown more and more erratic which has to be as a result of the enormous (and self made) pressure he is under.

He is replacing those who provide advice to those who will simply agree with him. It'll come to a crescendo with Mueller - one way or the other...

everlast75

Shulkin and Carson were apparently lined up to be fired arising from spending scandals (one wonders why Mnuchin wasn't in there too) in one announcement but oul DT's itchy Twitter fingers couldn't help themselves.

They really should install a revolving door in the White House

circadian

I'm starting to think impeachment is inevitable at this point. The heavy hitters in the GOP should be more than happy for Trump to hang himself either by firing Mueller or something else equally as stupid.

Ryan and the likes are vultures circling, stoking the flames when need be. There's is absolutely no way they are fully on board with this presidency and I can only imagine this as an opportunity to manoeuvre into more power.

Christy42

There has been some debate about whether or not the various ups and downs of the stock market have been due to Trump but I think it is safe to call the latest 3% drop down to him as it came in direct response to launching a trade war.

With Bolton on board there are certainly worries more types of wars will be coming though I am sure plenty of his supporters will transform into neo cons as soon as the troops ship off somewhere new.

pixelburp

Randian zealots such as Paul Ryan may have got their wish in railroading changes to healthcare & the taxation system, but I'm presuming there'll be less appetite from Republicans for a ground war. The second Iraq campaign wasn't exactly a resounding success & from the outside, it feels like the war has coloured a generation's perception of direct American intervention, ala Vietnam (though perhaps not as spectacular a climbdown as that venture was).

Many soldiers and soldiers' families will remember Baghdad and Mosul very clearly - it wasn't that long ago - and you'd only presume the kickback against Trump announcing a war on Iran would be quite noisy. Even the most sycophantic in the GOP must surely know how unwinnable a war with Iran would be (and my slim knowledge of Iran's geography, history & society points to something that'd leave Vietnam in the shade). Iraq was a papered-over mess before the US rolled in, its neighbour is a (dys)functioning powerhouse that'd be no pushover.

Leroy42

I do think that the media need to start to learn the lessons from Trump and adapt their approach.

Currently, and in the past, announcements from POTUS or the WH were rare and treated with the 'breaking news' moniker. A press release would dictate that days news agenda. However, Trump is using Twitter to easily manipulate the news cycle. So as shown above, the HR firing could easily be timed to deflect from the CNN interview, and it works.

In addition, the same reverence is given to each twitter post and SHS announcement as if it was official policy when we can see that there are no more than (at best) and opinion at that time. IN the last few weeks we have had both Trump and SHS stating that HR McMaster is going nowhere and Trump has fell confidence in his legal team.

These announcements should be given the respect they deserve, none. They are nothing more than shouting for a hill top.

robinph

Leroy42 wrote: »

These announcements should be given the respect they deserve, none. They are nothing more than shouting for a hill top.

If his tweets do get any coverage at all it should be after the "in other news today there was a cat/ dog/ little old lady/ cute kid did something funny" section at the end before the weather and presented purely as the ramblings of an idiot.

Leroy42

The bit that gets me is that they actually interrupt a discussion about NK, or trade tariffs or whatever to ask the panel what they think of his latest tweet.

The big story is that Trump is ramping up a trade war with, mainly, China. There has been little to no justification of this from the WH, apart from they want steel jobs back.

BUt instead the media divert from any discussion of the main topics to laugh (generally) at the latest tweet. How silly is Trump to call out Biden, who would win in a fight etc etc.

As Robinph said, fine talk about it at the end of the broadcast, treat it with the level of respect it deserves.

everlast75

robinph wrote: »

If his tweets do get any coverage at all it should be after the "in other news today there was a cat/ dog/ little old lady/ cute kid did something funny" section at the end before the weather and presented purely as the ramblings of an idiot.

Yep. I mentioned that exact approach on here about 2 months ago - couldn't agree more.

If he does tweet something explosive on Sunday night it will be further affirmation of his orchestra politics in play

Really Interested

Leroy42 wrote: »

I do think that the media need to start to learn the lessons from Trump and adapt their approach.

Currently, and in the past, announcements from POTUS or the WH were rare and treated with the 'breaking news' moniker. A press release would dictate that days news agenda. However, Trump is using Twitter to easily manipulate the news cycle. So as shown above, the HR firing could easily be timed to deflect from the CNN interview, and it works.

In addition, the same reverence is given to each twitter post and SHS announcement as if it was official policy when we can see that there are no more than (at best) and opinion at that time. IN the last few weeks we have had both Trump and SHS stating that HR McMaster is going nowhere and Trump has fell confidence in his legal team.

These announcements should be given the respect they deserve, none. They are nothing more than shouting for a hill top.

But each Twitter post from Trump is legally the policy of the USA, the fact that such policy is not thought out or followed matters not each tweet has to by law be preserved. The real issue is not how the News Media deals with such communication but how other countries do, ask anyone is serious positions in and country and they will tell you the USA is a joke.

The fact that the SHS who is an official spokesman for the WH and has show over and over that she either lies or really has no information is news.

Thomas__.

Leroy42 wrote: »

I do think that the media need to start to learn the lessons from Trump and adapt their approach.

Currently, and in the past, announcements from POTUS or the WH were rare and treated with the 'breaking news' moniker.  A press release would dictate that days news agenda. However, Trump is using Twitter to easily manipulate the news cycle.  So as shown above, the HR firing could easily be timed to deflect from the CNN interview, and it works.

In addition, the same reverence is given to each twitter post and SHS announcement as if it was official policy when we can see that there are no more than (at best) and opinion at that time.  IN the last few weeks we have had both Trump and SHS stating that HR McMaster is going nowhere and Trump has fell confidence in his legal team.

These announcements should be given the respect they deserve, none.  They are nothing more than shouting for a hill top.

That is all right and if it wasn't for him sitting on the levers of a world power one could follow your suggestions, but he is an unstable character and he hasn't even the decency to tell those he is firing to tell them to their face before announcing that via his daily twatter messages.

Trump runs his presidency the way he run his businesses and the world learns about the patterns which were already there and are now in the WH. What is worrying is that he fires all the moderates in his cabinet and replaces them with more hardliners. Meanwhile there seems to be a stagnation by those who seek to find enough evidence to put him on impeachment. He remains unpredictable and that is what he wants to persue his gambling.

Less media attention on him would be very welcome but they can't do so for various reasons. So, one is left to his own to decide what one ignores and what not that comes from this big child in the WH.

everlast75

Sadly I can't help but think that the media attention is not so much for valid reasons, but moreover something more basic - ratings...

Leroy42

Really Interested wrote: »

But each Twitter post from Trump is legally the policy of the USA, the fact that such policy is not thought out or followed matters not each tweet has to by law be preserved. The real issue is not how the News Media deals with such communication but how other countries do, ask anyone is serious positions in and country and they will tell you the USA is a joke.

The fact that the SHS who is an official spokesman for the WH and has show over and over that she either lies or really has no information is news.

Technically they are policy, and that is certainly how the media treats them, as they would the normal announcements and speeches of WH or POTUS. What is said matters.

But that is not the case with Trump. What he says doesn't matter. It means nothing. Take the example of the gun meeting or the immigration meeting. He made announcements in both, and in both cases the final outcome was almost the opposite of what he said.

Trump will make many announcements on the same thing, sometimes in the same day, and each of them will conflict with each other.

So either Trump is held accountable so what he is officially saying (and it seems no one is willing to do so) or they should be discarded as the equivalent of graffiti on a toilet wall.

Really Interested

everlast75 wrote: »

Sadly I can't help but think that the media attention is not so much for valid reasons, but moreover something more basic - ratings...

Of course it is. What are the media supposed to do ignore when the President of the USA says something really really silly? It only seems a lot of coverage because he says a lot of silly things.

Leroy42

everlast75 wrote: »

Sadly I can't help but think that the media attention is not so much for valid reasons, but moreover something more basic - ratings...

Totally agree. They gave Trump a massive help in the primaries and in the campaign itself, giving over full time life feeds of nearly all his speeches and discussing him non stop. In a race between two names, having name recognition is a big deal, and Trump was 24hrs. (there are more factors but it helped).

The problem is that they learnt nothing from it. It was all seen as a laugh at the time but they cannot seen to accept that there bid for ratings is actually hurting America,

They are enabling the reduction of the office of POTUS to a game show.

Leroy42

Really Interested wrote: »

Of course it is. What are the media supposed to do ignore when the President of the USA says something really really silly? It only seems a lot of coverage because he says a lot of silly things.

They should ignore it until there is some substance to it. A lot of his tweets, I suspect, are flying a flag to gauge the reaction or to try to divert the news agenda.

Take the Mueller tweet last week. IMO, that was clearly sent out to gauge the reaction both from the GOP and the public. Had there been a massive outcry he would have simply moved on, if not he continues to push the boundry.

So maybe cover it in so much as acknowledge that another tweet has been sent, but also acknowledge that in reality it means nothing.

So "Trump has sent another tweet, here it is, and we will give you more detail if we get any updates from the WH".

everlast75

Sadly I can't help but think that the media attention is not so much for valid reasons, but moreover something more basic - ratings...

demfad

Leroy42 wrote: »

They should ignore it until there is some substance to it. A lot of his tweets, I suspect, are flying a flag to gauge the reaction or to try to divert the news agenda.

Take the Mueller tweet last week. IMO, that was clearly sent out to gauge the reaction both from the GOP and the public. Had there been a massive outcry he would have simply moved on, if not he continues to push the boundry.

So maybe cover it in so much as acknowledge that another tweet has been sent, but also acknowledge that in reality it means nothing.

So "Trump has sent another tweet, here it is, and we will give you more detail if we get any updates from the WH".

There are two types of tweets from Trump, tactical tweets to manipulate media and substantive tweets on policy. Media need to evaluate these to determine how and if to respond.

mcmoustache

Remember Guccifer 2.0? The guy who claimed credit for the DNC hack and was one of the first to start distributing them? The guy Roger Stone was in contact with? The guy who admitted giving most of the stash to wikileaks? They one who pretended to be an independent Romanian hacker?

Guccifer 2.0 maintained a sporadic online presence throughout the election, posting to his dedicated WordPress blog and on Twitter, and spilling more DNC documents, sometimes in private emails to journalists.

Well, according to the daily beast, he was actually a GRU operative.

Proving that link definitively was harder. Ehmke led an investigation at ThreatConnect that tried to track down Guccifer from the metadata in his emails. But the trail always ended at the same data center in France. Ehmke eventually uncovered that Guccifer was connecting through an anonymizing service called Elite VPN, a virtual private networking service that had an exit point in France but was headquartered in Russia.

Nothing strange about a VPN headquartered in Russia, to be fair. However, he slipped up and forgot to log into his VPN, revealing his location in meta data from emails.

Working off the IP address, U.S. investigators identified Guccifer 2.0 as a particular GRU officer working out of the agency’s headquarters on Grizodubovoy Street in Moscow. (The Daily Beast’s sources did not disclose which particular officer worked as Guccifer.)

Anyway, if this is all true, it connects Russian Military intelligence with Roger Stone and Wikileaks.

In other news, it appears from twitter (pinch of salt and all that) that there will be a cyber and financial crime announcement from the DOJ/Rosenstein later today at around 4. This may be entirely coincidental but it has a certain embassy squatter' attention.

https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/976992501696466944

Today could get very interesting.

robinph

The only tweets that ever say anything substantive or that are not contradicted before the end of the day are the ones where he is firing someone.

Everything else is to manipulate the media, if you give him enough credit to actually be doing so. The tweets do manipulate the media, but I'm doubtful that there is any real design behind them other than repeatedly dropping the dead cat on the table.

He is dropping lots of dead cats on the table because it seems to work, but I don't think he knows what a cat is.