Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[Strathclyder]

There goes the Department for Education:

Trump signs executive order in first step to shut down Department of Education - live updates

The White House says an executive order dismantling the agency will improve education for US students and save money.

www.bbc.co.uk

The US education system has been deeply broken for some time. The Orange Cretin's solution? Burn the government department responsible for it to the ground, then turn around and claim it's a positive and that it'll sort itself out eventually, with a few 'sacrifices' having to be made along the way. Which is code for the minorities and disabled getting shafted the worst.

Stone me, I'm rapidly running out of ways to express what I truly think of this meth lab dumpster fire of a administration that aren't peppered with 30 expletives per sentence. My restraint not to do so is getting stretched wafer-thin.

a long-time goal of many Republicans that they say will improve student outcomes and save government money

Improve student outcomes, how exactly? Can't wait to see what they come away with to try to sell this latest barrel of kool-aid to the masses.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Not sure I understand the US legal system enough. Isn't this blatant corruption?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c51ypekv9xwt

Trump rescinds order targeting law firm after it makes $40m promise​

President Donald Trump has rescinded an executive order targeting a prestigious international law firm after it promised to abandon diversity policies and provide $40m (£31m) worth of free legal work to support White House initiatives.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a multinational law firm headquartered in New York that has many high-profile clients.
Trump's 14 March order had terminated federal contracts with the firm and suspended security clearances for its lawyers, saying it was undermining the US judicial system.
The firm is now facing blowback from many in the legal community, including a top lawyer for Democrats, even as some lawyers said it faced few other options.
Trump has issued similar executive orders against the law firms Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling.
The White House rescinded the order on Thursday after a meeting between Trump and Brad Karp, the chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Garrison & Wharton.
In a post on Truth Social, the president said the firm had agreed to a series of concessions, including the promise to provide "the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump's term to support the Administration's initiatives".
It added that Paul Weiss would commit to "merit-based" hiring and promotion, and "will not adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies".
Trump's order last week had cancelled contracts with the firms citing Trump's orders to wipe out any initiatives aimed at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) within the federal government.
The Truth Social post also included a statement from Mr Karp, who said: "We are gratified that the President has agreed to withdraw the Executive Order concerning Paul, Weiss. We look forward to an engaged and constructive relationship with the President and his Administration."
Many in the legal community have expressed outrage over the deal, which one lawyer said was a "sad day for the legal industry".
Marc Elias, a former Perkins Coie partner and a top lawyer for Democrats, assailed the agreement in a post on social media platform Bluesky.
"Paul Weiss, didn't just bend a knee, it set a new standard for shameful capitulation," he wrote. "This is a stain on the firm, every one of its partners, and the entire legal profession."
Soon after Trump made the announcement, Rachel Cohen, an associate at the Skadden Arps legal firm, resigned in a blistering company-wide email condemning the agreement.
"Please consider this email my two week notice, revocable if the firm comes up with a satisfactory response to the current moment," she wrote. Cohen had asked Skadden to sign onto a brief supporting another firm that has sued the Trump administration.
She had helped organise the open letter, external criticising the Trump administration for attempting to "bully corporate law firms out of engaging in any representation that challenges the administration's aims". More than 300 associates have anonymously signed the letter since it went live about a week ago, Politico reported.
In an internal email to its lawyers, Mr Karp defended the agreement, saying it was in line with the firm's principles, including a commitment to remaining politically independent, Reuters reported.
The firm brought in more than $2bn in annual revenues in 2023, and employed more than 1,000 attorneys, according to American Lawyer Magazine. Revoking its security clearance, which allows its lawyers to see some sensitive information, could have created hurdles to its work with its many corporate, security and Wall Street clients.
In the original executive order, Trump had accused the firm of playing "an outsized role in undermining the judicial process and in the destruction of bedrock American principles".
It had cited "a Paul Weiss partner" who had filed a pro bono lawsuit against the perpetrators of the 6 January 2021 riots at the Capitol. Trump has released all and pardoned many of those known as "J6ers".
It also took direct aim at Mark Pomerantz - a former partner who had worked with the Manhattan District Attorney on the case involving hush-money payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump was convicted by a jury last year of having committed a felony in the case.
The order had also alleged that the firm "discriminates against its own employees on the basis of race and other categories prohibited by civil rights laws".
Law firm Perkins Coie has sued in court over the similar order.

 

[The Ham]

Stone me, I'm rapidly running out of ways to express what I truly think of this meth lab dumpster fire of a administration that aren't peppered with 30 expletives per sentence. My restraint not to do so is getting stretched wafer-thin.

I'm sure the admins are grateful that they don't have to delete your post if you were to include a long sentence with few words other than expletives - much as many on here may well agree with such a statement.

 

[DelW]

Not sure I understand the US legal system enough. Isn't this blatant corruption?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c51ypekv9xwt

Trump is succeeding in turning the presidency into a combined revenge and extortion racket. It's the mafia writ large, I don't think Al Capone even dreamed of some of the things Trump is trying on. Every time his bullying and lying succeeds, he'll try something worse next time.

Unfortunately the Democrats seem to be in complete disarray and unable to raise any sort of resistance against the criminal takeover of the government. Maybe the Supreme Court will go further than their recent reprimand about Trump's desire to impeach judges who rule against him, but I'm not holding my breath.

Trump must be making many enemies, but no-one seems able to restrain his blatant misuse of executive orders for personal aims.

 

[jon0844]

For someone who pretended he didn't have a clue what Project 2025 was, he's done a great job of implementing so much of it in such a short amount of time.

[edit; added some words to above sentence]

 

[nlogax]

For someone who didn't have a clue what Project 2025 was, he's done a great job of implementing so much of it in such a short amount of time.

It's now obvious to everyone that Project 2025 was and is very real.

Project 2025 Tracker

Track the progress on Project 2025

www.project2025.observer

About this tracker​

Project 2025 Tracker began as a humble spreadsheet created by /u/rusticgorilla, combined with /u/mollynaquafina's vision for making this information accessible to everyone through a dedicated website.
What started as a passion project by two Redditors has grown into a community-driven resource, powered by people like you who believe in the importance of transparent, detailed analysis.

 

[Howardh]

Isn't it time the footy World Cup was removed from the US and played in Canada and Mexico only? And the Olympics moved to possibly Paris or London again?

 

[JamesT]

Isn't it time the footy World Cup was removed from the US and played in Canada and Mexico only? And the Olympics moved to possibly Paris or London again?

The IOC and FIFA like autocracies. The former have just elected the sports minister of Zimbabwe as their president and the latter chose Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup. Are they really going to find Trump objectionable?

 

[Howardh]

The IOC and FIFA like autocracies. The former have just elected the sports minister of Zimbabwe as their president and the latter chose Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup. Are they really going to find Trump objectionable?

Absolutely not! But as for the Olympics, will Russia take part (as Russia) and will we might then have an 80/84 style boycott? If they do take part then I hope our Olympic Committee will pull out. One thought, if Trump has to open the Games, will he be drowned out by booo's at the stadium?

 

[Cloud Strife]

Improve student outcomes, how exactly? Can't wait to see what they come away with to try to sell this latest barrel of kool-aid to the masses.

It's just so predictable. Cut all the funding to the states, watch as the Blue states continue to educate and enjoy the votes from the Red states who will become ever progressively more stuipd.

 

[sor]

I'm sure many people have seen this but worth starting the discussion anyway: Trump's officials have outdone themselves. A journalist was accidentally included in a group of senior officials (cabinet level and including the VP himself) to discuss a future military operation - what would become the Houthi bombings starting on the 15th. Aside from the obvious security issues of discussing this on a publicly available chat app, there's also the tidbit from Vance where he goes against Trump in private.

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

www.theatlantic.com

It's far too long to quote in any real length here, but here are some snippets

The Vance account then goes on to make a noteworthy statement, considering that the vice president has not deviated publicly from Trump’s position on virtually any issue. “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”

According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time. So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.

Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council, responded two hours later [after being asked for comment on the security breach], confirming the veracity of the Signal group. “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” Hughes wrote. “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”

All along, members of the Signal group were aware of the need for secrecy and operations security. In his text detailing aspects of the forthcoming attack on Houthi targets, Hegseth wrote to the group—which, at the time, included me—“We are currently clean on OPSEC.”

You'd expect this would lead to some significant resignations under any other government, but for Trump it'll just be Monday. It makes the Tory govt's use of whatsapp for "pandemic stuff we don't want FOI'd or used in the inquiry" rather quaint.

Not so quaint is the reality is that we have, at least on paper, an intelligence partnership with this lot...

 

[brad465]

You'd expect this would lead to some significant resignations under any other government, but for Trump it'll just be Monday. It makes the Tory govt's use of whatsapp for "pandemic stuff we don't want FOI'd or used in the inquiry" rather quaint.

Not so quaint is the reality is that we have, at least on paper, an intelligence partnership with this lot...

That wouldn't just be resignation stuff under any other government, some individuals would be behind bars as well. Richard Nixon must be looking up thinking "I was 50 years too early."

Oh and worth adding this joke doing the rounds that I laughed harder than I should have at:

"New phone, Houthis?"

 

[Harpo]

Question. Is the Trump administration a democracy?

 

[OhNoAPacer]

Question. Is the Trump administration a democracy?

At the moment yes, it is however arguable that it is acting unconstitutionally.

 

[DarloRich]

I wonder when JD "Captain Eyeliner" Vance makes his move against Trump?

Question. Is the Trump administration a democracy?

yes but working outside of the constitution. That is not the question though. The question is will it remain a fully functioning and free democracy?

You'd expect this would lead to some significant resignations under any other government, but for Trump it'll just be Monday.

it is outrageous but nothing will happen. If it gets really bad a patsy will be made to resign, probably the national security advisor.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Don't expect this to cause them any issues domestically. It's not a problem that can't be blamed on the left.

But within the messages the further insults to Europe might do further damage to transatlantic relations. Being called pathetic freeloaders. The more I hear it the more I think this will start to become an irreversible dent in relations.

 

[SteveM70]

But within the messages the further insults to Europe might do further damage to transatlantic relations. Being called pathetic freeloaders. The more I hear it the more I think this will start to become an irreversible dent in relations

Beneath the insults, is there any truth in what they say?

It seems to be a developing thing (see Trump’s previous comments re NATO funding) that they believe the US is effectively paying for stuff whilst others share the benefit

 

[Annetts key]

Beneath the insults, is there any truth in what they say?

It seems to be a developing thing (see Trump’s previous comments re NATO funding) that they believe the US is effectively paying for stuff whilst others share the benefit

No, it’s all bull, lies, misinformation and distractions.

The U.S. choose to do the things it did. Ever since it became powerful it has always made its own choices.

In terms of N.A.T.O., the primary reason for it’s existence was the threat from Communism and the U.S.S.R.
America was very concerned about Communism and the threat of another war.

The N.A.T.O. Supreme Allied Commander Europe is always an American.

European nations did reduce their defence spending after the perceived threat from the U.S.S.R. ended as it broke up. The U.S.A. military budget also reduced. But the U.S.A. still maintains a very powerful military because of the hard power it gives America. America likes being the most powerful country.

And as Russia has got more aggressive (under Putin, he has used his military to force his agenda in nearby countries) combined with China’s economic growth and hence their military getting stronger, the U.S.A. has got increasingly concerned.

Also note that no N.A.T.O. country pays the U.S.A., the 2% and 5% figures that Trump likes to talk about are the amounts of G.D.P. that each country spend on its own military. The 2% figure is a recommended amount nothing more. And the U.S.A. doesn’t spend anywhere near 5% itself.

In terms of the economy in the U.S.A. they are suffering exactly the same as most industrialised Western countries. Manufacturing has and is being undercut by other developing countries. What Trump is doing won’t fix this long term trend.

However, the U.S.A. benefits from their military spending in other ways. They get the latest and most effective weapons. It creates and maintains jobs and they export lots of military products to other friendly countries (although this may change now).

Trump cutting USAID (The United States Agency for International Development) is killing the “soft” power that that body gave them. USAID enabled the U.S.A. to have a positive influence that otherwise wouldn’t exist and it’s budget was a tiny fraction of the overall U.S. budget in percentage terms. Now China will move in and gain influence in countries that the U.S.A. has left hanging.

 

[brad465]

I wonder when JD "Captain Eyeliner" Vance makes his move against Trump?

yes but working outside of the constitution. That is not the question though. The question is will it remain a fully functioning and free democracy?


it is outrageous but nothing will happen. If it gets really bad a patsy will be made to resign, probably the national security advisor.

Under anyone else this would be scandal of the century. Under Trump, it's Monday.

Beneath the insults, is there any truth in what they say?

It seems to be a developing thing (see Trump’s previous comments re NATO funding) that they believe the US is effectively paying for stuff whilst others share the benefit

The US needs to protect Israel at all costs, and as they are directly impacted by Houthi actions, any US action against the latter is for their benefit. The US can throw a strop about Europe not doing enough as they see it, but if they stopped intervening there, they'll have a whole load of other furious voices to deal with.

 

[Annetts key]

The US needs to protect Israel at all costs, and as they are directly impacted by Houthi actions, any US action against the latter is for their benefit. The US can throw a strop about Europe not doing enough as they see it, but if they stopped intervening there, they'll have a whole load of other furious voices to deal with.

Ah, but if the U.S.A. told Israel that it would no longer protect, supply or support them, maybe the Israeli government would actually realise that stopping the violence and warfare, and actually sitting down in good faith to negotiations, to bring a peaceful settlement for the area, would now be in their best interests.

Of course given the influence that the Israelis have in American politics, that’s extremely unlikely...

 

[edwin_m]

Ah, but if the U.S.A. told Israel that it would no longer protect, supply or support them, maybe the Israeli government would actually realise that stopping the violence and warfare, and actually sitting down in good faith to negotiations, to bring a peaceful settlement for the area, would now be in their best interests.

Of course given the influence that the Israelis have in American politics, that’s extremely unlikely...

You do have to wonder why Israel isn't being asked to pay its fair share of the costs of defending it...

 

[The Ham]

You do have to wonder why Israel isn't being asked to pay its fair share of the costs of defending it...

There's an element of US Christian support for Israel, which is probably influencing the Trump Administration.

 

[edwin_m]

There's an element of US Christian support for Israel, which is probably influencing the Trump Administration.

Yes, something to do with enabling the Second Coming I believe. Perhaps that's why Trump likes it.

 

[The Ham]

Yes, something to do with enabling the Second Coming I believe. Perhaps that's why Trump likes it.

Indeed, although there's also talk of the Antichrist who will also turn up (who apparently many Christians will be taken in by) so it's a risky strategy to encourage it.

 

[najaB]

Yes, something to do with enabling the Second Coming I believe.

Yes. Among the evangelicals there's a belief that a militarily strong Israel is necessary to bring on Armageddon.

 

[SteveM70]

Yes, something to do with enabling the Second Coming I believe. Perhaps that's why Trump likes it.

Trump's religious affectations are an absolute sham.

He probably thinks the Second Coming is something that happens on a particularly good evening with Stormy Daniels

 

[Purple Train]

Trump's religious affectations are an absolute sham.

He probably thinks the Second Coming is something that happens on a particularly good evening with Stormy Daniels

This is one of the truest things that I have ever laughed out loud at.

 

[dgl]

Yes. Among the evangelicals there's a belief that a militarily strong Israel is necessary to bring on Armageddon.

Well I hope the people wanting to bring on armageddon are wearing asbestos clothing!

 

[brad465]

Trump's religious affectations are an absolute sham.

He probably thinks the Second Coming is something that happens on a particularly good evening with Stormy Daniels

LMFAO

 

[Giugiaro]

European nations did reduce their defence spending after the perceived threat from the U.S.S.R. ended as it broke up. The U.S.A. military budget also reduced. But the U.S.A. still maintains a very powerful military because of the hard power it gives America. America likes being the most powerful country.

And as Russia has got more aggressive (...)

Let us not forget that the 9/11 attacks happened in between those events, and NATO's Article 5 was triggered as a result.
Madrid and London would later suffer the consequences, respectively the 11M and the 7/7 attacks.

It's also possible that the current US administration is calling "pathetic freeloaders" to the countries that did not participate in the "Coalition of the Willing" (namely France and Germany).
But that's not what their wording says. Their insults are generalized to all European countries, which is absolutely inadmissible and highly disrespectful of those who died for the US, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in European territory as a result of terror attacks.
This sort of attitude should have resulted in immediate reprimand from countries like the UK and Spain. There's no reason for the hold-up.

It's now obvious to everyone that Project 2025 was and is very real.

Project 2025 Tracker

Track the progress on Project 2025

www.project2025.observer

For some reason, this website can't be reached through my company's proxy server.

(...) Their insults are generalized to all European countries, which is absolutely inadmissible and highly disrespectful of those who died for the US, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in European territory as a result of terror attacks.
This sort of attitude should have resulted in immediate reprimand from countries like the UK and Spain. There's no reason for the hold-up.

And just as I was writing this post, the Youtuber Maximilien Robespierre touches and elaborates on the exact same issue, because... *shocker*... Trump doubled down on those comments...