Donald Trump Presidency discussion Thread VII (threadbanned users listed in OP)

Stallingrad

Those 15 early cases went as planned hey Donald? Given the shambolic US response can we now ban all flights from the US to Europe?

Leroy42

Total and utter embarrassment. This, lets remember, was a prepared speech, given at his timing (he moved it back on hour), that he was reading off a teleprompter after, one assumes, was a practice or two.

He made so many gaffs, lies and mistakes, you would not accept that from a school kid. He then had to tweet out clarification of what he had just said (basically everyone relax, international trade is still in operation).

According to reports, he did not flag this with any foreign allies or diplomats or reach out to any world leaders.

He hasn't got approval for his tax cuts (or pause or whatever he is talking about), he hasn't agreed this with the House or Senate.

And this is where having zero credibility bites you in the ass. Sure its all a great laugh him lying all the time, but as said previously, this is suddenly an issue over which he has no control of the narrative. He talked about bi-partisanship, bet that woman from Fox News feels pretty awful now after calling it all out as simply a ploy by the DNC to impeach Trump. And didn't he say that the initial 15 cases would be down to 5 in a few days? And didn't he say it would be over soon only yesterday?

I don't disagree with the travel bad itself, it makes sense, but the delivery, the explanation, his performance! Good grief every American should be deeply ashamed of their 'leader'.

Nody

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Nothing to do with the fact that the excluded countries are the only ones with Trump Properties?

Wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone travelling to or spending money with the Trump Corporation now would we?

Well I thought of it but in the end he got more properties in the states etc. which he'd block people attending from Europe (Trump hotel in NY etc.) than possible people going to his UK/Irish properties. That's why I ruled that out as a reason; not that I'd not be surprised if his thinking went that way but simply because I don't think it tallies up properly for it.

Stallingrad

Will this be the end of Trump rallies?

Quin_Dub

Stallingrad wrote: »

Will this be the end of Trump rallies?

I can see him continuing with them to be honest , all part of his "Nothing to see here approach"

The people who attend them will still attend them as they don't believe that it's serious and buy into his "it's all the dirty foreigners fault" line of reasoning so they would believe that there's no chance of them catching anything from other red blooded god fearin' Americans.

Runaways

The point was well made by one US political commentator that the White House is scrambling to control Trump right now and not the virus.

Good read on his decision and the outcomes. He has nobody he can blame when this gets worse. The speech such as it was, was to calm the markets. It’s made it far worse.

Worth a read

https://twitter.com/irishtimesworld/status/1238047591947841536?s=21

Nody

Stallingrad wrote: »

Will this be the end of Trump rallies?

Why? It's all fake news anyway; keep having them I say and show the world who you trust; Trump or the experts and let the Darwin awards flow.

Runaways wrote: »

Worth a read

https://twitter.com/irishtimesworld/status/1238047591947841536?s=21

Few choice parts for reference (and it is well worth a read):

Two weeks ago, Trump said that the $8.5 billion Democrats had requested to tackle the virus was too high. He only asked for $2.5 billion. On Wednesday, he called for a three-month suspension of the payroll tax, which will cost at least $300 billion – more than a 100 times larger.

Well it's company wellfare so that's ok then.

Trump has been badly shaken by the stock market fall that has wiped out most of the gains of his administration.

Were are our normal Trump fan boys proclaiming how the DOW keeps going up? What will be the word once it goes negative on Trumps watch?

The US has tested fewer than 6,000 people out of a population of 327 million. By contrast, the Netherlands, with 17 million people, is testing that many every day.
Epidemiologists say accurate testing is the single most effective method to counter the disease’s spread.

Yea; this will not cause any problems what so ever to not test people for the virus...

martingriff

Maybe Ireland was excluded as Trump and Pence wanted there private meeting with Leo and the Irish American vote

everlast75

Stallingrad wrote: »

Will this be the end of Trump rallies?

Hopefully that will be January 2021.

duploelabs

everlast75 wrote: »

Hopefully that will be January 2021.

What about the book tour?

amandstu

Quin_Dub wrote: »

I can see him continuing with them to be honest , all part of his "Nothing to see here approach"

The people who attend them will still attend them as they don't believe that it's serious and buy into his "it's all the dirty foreigners fault" line of reasoning so they would believe that there's no chance of them catching anything from other red blooded god fearin' Americans.

Except when attendees of large gatherings can be shown to be getting infected ....they will get the message then.

Have to say his "foreign virus" line was quite despicable. What part ignorance ,what part design?

dinorebel

amandstu wrote: »

Except when attendees of large gatherings can be shown to be getting infected ....they will get the message then.

Have to say his "foreign virus" line was quite despicable. What part ignorance ,what part design?

Stephen Miller so design.

TomOnBoard

amandstu wrote: »

Have to say his "foreign virus" line was quite despicable. What part ignorance ,what part design?

It's been part of GOP/FOX messaging for more than a week now..

Toeuptony

The obsequiousness knows no ends

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6140679254001/

(apologies for the source, but you need to go to the source to get to the undiluted horse poop)

Runaways

Has nobody around trump told him that this virus targets his demographic specifically? The older and infirm? Looking at his rallies they’re predominantly populated by older white and often obese folks. Presumably a lot of them with health conditions that would leave them vulnerable

Does he know or just doesn’t care?

Toeuptony

Runaways wrote: »

Has nobody around trump told him that this virus targets his demographic specifically? The older and infirm? Looking at his rallies they’re predominantly populated by older white and often obese folks. Presumably a lot of them with health conditions that would leave them vulnerable

Does he know or just doesn’t care?

I'd say a little from column A and a little from column B

Runaways

Toeuptony wrote: »

I'd say a little from column A and a little from column B

Unconfirmed reports that he read pandemic and just saw the DEM in the word and will now use that in his upcoming updated blame the dems strategy.

one armed dwarf

Trump is a fantasist is the reason why he refuses to take it seriously, unfortunately magical thinking cannot vanish this problem away.

Stock market isn't the economy. What use is an economy which has no resilience in hard times like these. Those tax cuts sure aren't going to help out here.

I don't wish ill on him tho.. I'd happily take multiple terms of emperor Trump over this ****ing virus

amandstu

one armed dwarf wrote: »

Trump is a fantasist is the reason why he refuses to take it seriously, unfortunately magical thinking cannot vanish this problem away.

Stock market isn't the economy. What use is an economy which has no resilience in hard times like these. Those tax cuts sure aren't going to help out here.

I don't wish ill on him tho.. I'd happily take multiple terms of emperor Trump over this ****ing virus

That is a Hobson's choice.

Has Trump caused unnecessary deaths in USA by his approach to this issue?

Mighty trees from small acorns grow and USA was well placed to learn from China and ensure testing was widely available from the outset.

They could have attempted to strangle it at birth.

Water John

Well Trump has spooked the markets, not the intended outcome. Down over 7%, trading suspended for 15 mins. Utter twat.

amandstu

I thought the idea with markets was for the politicians to be forced to keep their distance because they could attempt to use economic cycles to their political benefit


Wasn't the Central Bank supposed to be independent a bit like the Judiciary?

greenfield21

Water John wrote: »

Well Trump has spooked the markets, not the intended outcome. Down over 7%, trading suspended for 15 mins. Utter twat.

Are you for real, haven't you heard of the virus yet? Look at the measures other countries are taking and for good reason.

Water John

His address to the nation last night, finished him. Appalling by any basic standard.

BTW I am very familiar with Covid 19 not the 'foreign virus' as I've family on the front line.

Nody

greenfield21 wrote: »

Are you for real, haven't you heard of the virus yet? Look at the measures other countries are taking and for good reason.

Yes; but unlike the USA the other markets have leaders to take decisive action to make a difference; Trump is floundering around and refusing to actually take measures that would make a difference. For example many states offer now to pay social payments to stay at home if affected, Trump does not. A lot of countries do massive testing of everyone to catch people early before it spreads. Trump has managed 6000 tests to date which is what Netherlands does in a day, South Korea bless their socks are at over 10000 tests a day. Did you see any announcement from Trump of more testing? Paying people to stay at home if sick to avoid it spreading? No? Well that's Trump floundering and scaring the stock markets due to shown incompetence and lack of action to deal with the virus.

Christy42

greenfield21 wrote: »

Are you for real, haven't you heard of the virus yet? Look at the measures other countries are taking and for good reason.

Did he have to announce he was stopping all trade with Europe? Certain measures are fair enough but it was a simple script to make it look like they were on top of things. He butchered it. The white house had to rush out a correction to contradict the big announcement to the nation.

Contrast to Leo. Leo has his flaws but he delivered the message he sought to. He said what they are actually doing and moved to reassure people. This is not to give Leo credit. This is the very basic stuff I expect from the head of a Nation. I used Leo purely because he is the only other address I heard. I am sure the vast, vast majority of world leaders managed the same basic steps.

That and the steps are not expected to do much given it is already assumed the US is sitting on a time bomb due to complete testing incompetence. He needed more tests. To stop Americans from spreading it to Americans as they already have it. There was nothing like that. Just blame someone else and hope the problem goes away as always

pixelburp

I do wonder what the feeling on the ground is; while it's easy for us to see the lack of leadership in Trumps flailing, cavalier style, it does beg the question is this filtering down into the populous to any degree. Looking at the polling aggregation, his disapproval rate is ticking upwards again, but nothing so far that suggests a major swing towards dissatisfaction - nor one that could be extrapolated as relevant to Corona. Of course that can change, and it can take a while sometimes for stats to reflect current affairs. But then you look at those Fox News mouthpieces, desperately trying to make it the Democrat's fault, in all its farcical, melodramatic glory.

The helicopter view though is just ... well, it's somewhere between mayhem and farce really. The US President drives policy and agenda much more than other heads of state, not to mention the ability to steer the cultural mood or zeitgeist. In all those aspects, Trumps behaviour has been exposed as that of the flailing spoofer we've long suspected, finally showing how out of his depth he is in the hotsteat. Perhaps to those holding out for fairness' sake, he is showing just what happens when a man singularly incapable of delegation or planning is in charge of a genuine, quantifiable threat to ordinary life. It's easy to talk big about ISIS as the intangible foreign threat, one suitable for big gestures or bombing, it's another thing to be the eye of the storm of a threat to the functional stability of a nation. Tossing paper towels at the masses just ain't gonna cut it.

Often those least suited for normal leadership excel in crisis situations; Winston Churchill being the standout example there, exactly the leader the UK needed in ww2, but unceremoniously bumped out in peacetime. I had figured the state could survive the empty swagger of Donald Trump in peace time, but faced with a genuine - potential - crisis, Trump is no Churchill. More like... I dunno, Paul Reynaud.

Leroy42

We need to look at what the point of a public announcement such as what Trump did last night, or indeed Varadkar did this morning, is meant to do.

It is not, of course, meant to stop the crisis, or provide a solution. It is meant to get important information across to the nation, to correctly detail the severity of the issue and to try, in as much as possible in such a situation, to keep people calm.

By any measure, Trump's 'performance' yesterday missed on every level. From the many speaking mistakes he personally made, the air of uncomfortableness he exuded; the numerous misinformations he spouted meaning that his own staff, and he himself, had to rush out to try and correct it shortly afterwards. So rather than people coming away worrying but at least all worrying about the same things, afterwards people are left scratching their heads wondering if he meant this or that?; to the politicalisation by his repeated attempts to portray how great he has been.

Is there anyone that actually thinks that Trump did a good job last night?

aloyisious

Christy42 wrote: »

Did he have to announce he was stopping all trade with Europe? Certain measures are fair enough but it was a simple script to make it look like they were on top of things. He butchered it. The white house had to rush out a correction to contradict the big announcement to the nation.

Contrast to Leo. Leo has his flaws but he delivered the message he sought to. He said what they are actually doing and moved to reassure people. This is not to give Leo credit. This is the very basic stuff I expect from the head of a Nation. I used Leo purely because he is the only other address I heard. I am sure the vast, vast majority of world leaders managed the same basic steps.

That and the steps are not expected to do much given it is already assumed the US is sitting on a time bomb due to complete testing incompetence. He needed more tests. To stop Americans from spreading it to Americans as they already have it. There was nothing like that. Just blame someone else and hope the problem goes away as always

As the MC, Don cant stick to the script in front of him, even when he's had it altered to his liking [the 1 hour delay in his self-announced start times] last night and he's reading the altered one from a teleprompter. He'll blame the fallout from his address on the speechwriters.

PropJoe10

Water John wrote: »

His address to the nation last night, finished him. Appalling by any basic standard.

BTW I am very familiar with Covid 19 not the 'foreign virus' as I've family on the front line.

The "foreign virus" line will work perfectly for him, seeing as he's been pushing the "foreigners are bad" concept since he started his campaign for 2016. Miller will be all over that, along with his sycophants on Fox. His speech last night was again nothing short of a national embarrassment. When the most powerful person on the planet can't even read effectively from a teleprompter, you know there's a serious problem.

Leroy42

aloyisious wrote: »

As the MC, Don cant stick to the script in front of him, even when he's had it altered to his liking [the 1 hour delay in his self-announced start times] last night and he's reading the altered one from a teleprompter. He'll blame the fallout from his address on the speechwriters.

He has already got that covered.

Its all just fake news!

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1237842710674812928