Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[Annetts key]

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.

I actually think that Trump and his fellow clowns do actually hate the both the E.U. and the countries and governments of Europe.

The trade deficit and the funding differences for military spending are part of it. With them believing their own inaccurate overhyped propaganda (e.g. the comments about being ripped off).

But also it appears to me to also be about other things. Maybe some jealously. But maybe also that they (the U.S. administration or more likely the people behind this movement) don’t have much control over the E.U. and the European countries.

Look at how they have treated Canada as well.

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...

Tripe is the right word. Trump keeps using these outrageous figures that are incorrect. He and his team ignore anything that doesn’t fit their own narrative. They only use their own or Russian talking points.
Trump doubling down is exactly what I expected. According to him neither himself or any of his team have done anything wrong. Now where have we heard that before?

I now try to avoid watching or listening to him. If he won’t shut up about the $350bn, I think every time he says it he should be asked why Ukraine has not received it all, where is the rest and when is the U.S.A. going to provide the rest.

But given that almost every time Trump speaks, his sentences are riddled with lies, misinformation and often Russian talking points, I really don’t see anything changing for the better anytime soon.

At least the “Signal” group chat confirms that no one should now rely on the U.S.A. for anything. Every country that previously considered the U.S.A. a friend needs to have a very careful rethink.

 

[Harpo]

Trump doubling down is exactly what I expected. According to him neither himself or any of his team have done anything wrong. Now where have we heard that before?

And a similar disdain for democracy. At least a) we were able to (eventually) dislodge our own lieing buffoon and b) able to realise that the rest of his rotten contemporaries also needed kicking out at the ballot box.

I suspect it’s going to be a very depressing spectacle for quite some time.

 

[YorkshireBear]

The group chat is now a hoax! Well at least they are predictable.

 

[DarloRich]

I note the Trump clients/vassals are now at the trying to discredit the reporter stage of their denials.

JD "Cpl Eyeliner" Vance: Reporter "oversold" what he had
Alina Habba: "making a big to do about nothing. A reporter that is trying to get clout".
Karoline Leavitt: "another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well known for his sensationalist spin".

Next step: Radical left Marxists who hate America.

 

[SteveP29]

And a similar disdain for democracy. At least a) we were able to (eventually) dislodge our own lieing buffoon and b) able to realise that the rest of his rotten contemporaries also needed kicking out at the ballot box.

I suspect it’s going to be a very depressing spectacle for quite some time.

They've started very low and will go lower still.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a new civil war in the USA as individual states decide to cede from the union and the whole country join Russia and Belarus as pariah states

 

[dgl]

Now said messages are going to be printed in Atlantic magazine so there will be no way of hiding the messages and less opportunity for people to claim the messages are fake.
This show is at festival portaloo level!

 

[YorkshireBear]

Now said messages are going to be printed in Atlantic magazine so there will be no way of hiding the messages and less opportunity for people to claim the messages are fake.
This show is at festival portaloo level!

I think they will just continue to discredit the journalist and claim it's a left wing smear campaign.

 

[sor]

Now said messages are going to be printed in Atlantic magazine so there will be no way of hiding the messages and less opportunity for people to claim the messages are fake.
This show is at festival portaloo level!

Already online: https://www.theatlantic.com/politic...up-chat-attack-plans-hegseth-goldberg/682176/

again I won't quote it all as it is too long, but here's the first run of previously redacted texts

At 11:44 a.m. eastern time, Hegseth posted in the chat, in all caps, “TEAM UPDATE:”

The text beneath this began, “TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.” Centcom, or Central Command, is the military’s combatant command for the Middle East. The Hegseth text continues:

• “1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
• “1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”

and of course it continues in that vein.

People who ought to know are suggesting this is either classified info or ought to have been classified, even if trump and his officials have repeatedly said that it is not. I hope Goldberg and the Atlantic have amazing lawyers on standby should they change their minds.

Apparently the House intelligence committee meets today with the same roster as yesterday's Senate hearings, so I'd expect some particularly heated discussions and claims that they perjured themselves

 

[DarloRich]

Trump will speak to the American people at 16:00 Washington time ( 2000 here?) about this classified texting issue - he will no doubt announce an invasion of Greenland or the annexation of the Panama canal as a distraction. I wish i was joking but with Trump............

 

[brad465]

Trump will speak to the American people at 16:00 Washington time ( 2000 here?) about this classified texting issue - he will no doubt announce an invasion of Greenland or the annexation of the Panama canal as a distraction. I wish i was joking but with Trump............

If Trump were in office when the Queen died, he could easily have launched an invasion and/or a nuclear strike, for no other reason than wanting to be headline news again.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a new civil war in the USA as individual states decide to cede from the union and the whole country join Russia and Belarus as pariah states

There is a very real and interesting possibility that if a MAGA candidate wins in 2028, then the wealthy (and contributing) states may well consider leaving. Having said that, I suspect that they'll simply undermine the federal government, perhaps by setting up their own tax collection agencies and directing people to pay them.

 

[Annetts key]

There is some good news.

Link to article
The same story is available in some other news sites.

Democrat wins Pennsylvania state senate race in major upset

James Malone triumphed in a district that voted for Trump over Harris by more than 15 points last November

Adam Gabbatt
Wed 26 Mar 2025 12.31 GMT

A Democrat won a state senate seat in a Pennsylvania district that overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump, offering a ray of hope for the party as it continues to struggle nationally with its response to the Trump administration.

James Malone triumphed on Tuesday in the 36th senatorial district, which voted for Trump over Kamala Harris by more than 15 points in last November’s presidential election, in a victory that Democratic party leadership said “should put Republicans on edge”.

It served as a major upset win for the party, which has seen recriminations spill out into the open after Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, voted for Republicans’ funding bill to avoid a government shutdown this month.

“I’m very excited and really, really happy that all the work we put in has paid off,” Malone, who won the district by 482 votes, told WGAL-TV.

“Everyday voters are not liking what they’re seeing at the federal level, they don’t like the chaos. We want to be sure that we, as Pennsylvania, are standing up for our neighbors and are standing up for our state.

“And, brotherly love is Pennsylvania, and that just proved out. Kindness over criticism, right? So that’s what we’re trying to do, and I think that that really is what we’re looking at moving forward.”

Trump won Pennsylvania by less than 2% of the vote in 2024, after the state voted for Joe Biden four years earlier. The state has a Democratic governor, rising star Josh Shapiro, but is a persistent swing vote nationally, and is crucial to Democratic hopes of winning the White House in 2028.

Malone’s win capped a second Pennsylvania victory for Democrats on Tuesday, with Dan Goughnour winning a house seat to maintain the party’s slim control of the state house.

“It’s only March, and Democrats have defied the odds again with another upset victory in Republican territory,” Heather Williams, president of the Democratic legislative campaign committee, said in a statement.

“Democrats are on a roll in state legislative races in 2025, from flipping red seats to defending one-seat majorities, which should put Republicans on edge. Both wins affirm Democratic leadership in a moment when GOP power is synonymous with chaos.”

Nationally Democrats have been struggling to present party unity, and Schumer has faced backlash from his colleagues over his funding bill vote. Several Democrats in the House of Representatives, including Glenn Ivey and Delia Ramirez, have suggested Schumer resign, Reuters reported, prompting Schumer to tell NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday: “I’m not stepping down.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the popular congresswoman from New York who recently launched a “fighting oligarchy” tour with Bernie Sanders, has criticized what she called an “acquiesce” by Schumer to the Republicans.

“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people,” she said. “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think, is a huge slap in the face.”

 

[The Ham]

MAGA candidate

There's been reports that maga in Nigerian slang means one who is easily fooled.

Not sure how reliable such reports are, but some are finding it amusing.

 

[brad465]

There's been reports that maga in Nigerian slang means one who is easily fooled.

Not sure how reliable such reports are, but some are finding it amusing.

Not too dissimilar to how "Faraj" in Malay means vagina. So Nigel Farage is a literal f***y.

 

[Richard Scott]

Not too dissimilar to how "Faraj" in Malay means vagina. So Nigel Farage is a literal f***y.

Well he isn't really as it's spelt differently?
As much as I dislike him afraid this one isn't one to go along with?

 

[Cloud Strife]

There is some good news.

It's still too early to say for sure, but there's a special election coming up in Florida's 1st Congressional District on the 1st April. It's a very hardcore Republican seat, very military-heavy, and Trump took it 68-31% in the election. Given that Trump has been upsetting the military veterans (who make up 30% of the federal workforce!) and this district is very veteran-heavy, it's not beyond the realm of impossible that the Republicans could lose here. There's the same story in the 6th District, where the Republican candidate has been running a very poor race so far, and the polls are within the margin of error.

If, and it's a very big if, these two seats flip to the Democrats, there will be panic in the Republican ranks. Even if the 1st goes to 55-45, it will still be panic stations.

 

[DarloRich]

Trump is ratcheting up the rhetoric on Greenland. What's he hiding this time?

 

[GatwickDepress]

All these international students being bundled by plain clothes agents into unmarked vans for the crime of exercising their First Amendment rights is certainly a good look for any prospective applicants.

 

[YorkshireBear]

All these international students being bundled by plain clothes agents into unmarked vans for the crime of exercising their First Amendment rights is certainly a good look for any prospective applicants.

So far I have only seen anti- Israel sentiment tackled, what next though.

 

[AlterEgo]

All these international students being bundled by plain clothes agents into unmarked vans for the crime of exercising their First Amendment rights is certainly a good look for any prospective applicants.

Very grim.

 

[sor]

So far I have only seen anti- Israel sentiment tackled, what next though.

There was the French scientist who was refused entry allegedly because he had made anti-trump comments.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/20/europe/french-researcher-expelled-trump-intl-latam/index.html

France on Thursday said the unnamed researcher was blocked from entering the US earlier this month after authorities found messages about President Donald Trump on his phone. US officials have since rejected that claim and said the researcher held “confidential information” on an electronic device.

The US is now in the same group as China where you'd want to travel with clean devices, though the way they're handling legal residents perhaps puts it on par with North Korea

 

[najaB]

So far I have only seen anti- Israel sentiment tackled, what next though.

Pro-Palestine isn't the same as anti-Israel though.

 

[Richard Scott]

The US is now in the same group as China where you'd want to travel with clean devices, though the way they're handling legal residents perhaps puts it on par with North Korea

No as currently, definitely don't want to travel there!!!!!

 

[najaB]

I'm supposed to go to the States in July, and I must admit I'm starting to reconsider.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I'm supposed to go to the States in July, and I must admit I'm starting to reconsider.

I've had a chat with a friend recently who does a lot of business with the Americans, and he's just imposed a blanket rule that there is to be no travel to the US unless it's personally approved by him, and that taking anything other than clean devices there is officially banned in his company. They do a lot of very sensitive work for clients, and he says that they simply can't trust the Americans anymore.

 

[jon0844]

So far I have only seen anti- Israel sentiment tackled, what next though.

Elon is repeatedly hinting that he wants similar for those protesting against Tesla, with the US Administration already referring to the protestors as domestic terrorists.

It won't be long until such heavy handedness becomes accepted for people MAGA don't like, so by the time the MAGA crowd want to protest at losing their jobs, healthcare, benefits, food, homes, savings etc, there will be a precedent set for these masked people to round them up too.

The US is now in the same group as China where you'd want to travel with clean devices, though the way they're handling legal residents perhaps puts it on par with North Korea

I needed a journalist visa for the USA and the USA was always wanting to know who I wrote for, what I was writing about etc.

I never needed anything like that for visiting China.

Pro-Palestine isn't the same as anti-Israel though.

They want to make it so being pro-Palestine is automatically an attack on Israel and blind support of Hamas.

It is regularly ignored that a lot of protestors are Jewish, and I wonder how long it will be until we see someone Jewish caught up. Where will they be sent to I wonder?

 

[Richard Scott]

Elon is repeatedly hinting that he wants similar for those protesting against Tesla, with the US Administration already referring to the protestors as domestic terrorists.

It won't be long until such heavy handedness becomes accepted for people MAGA don't like, so by the time the MAGA crowd want to protest at losing their jobs, healthcare, benefits, food, homes, savings etc, there will be a precedent set for these masked people to round them up too.



I needed a journalist visa for the USA and the USA was always wanting to know who I wrote for, what I was writing about etc.

I never needed anything like that for visiting China.



They want to make it so being pro-Palestine is automatically an attack on Israel and blind support of Hamas.

It is regularly ignored that a lot of protestors are Jewish, and I wonder how long it will be until we see someone Jewish caught up. Where will they be sent to I wonder?

I honestly can't believe what's happening there, definitely not Land of the Free now.
More like Back to the Future 2 (assuming you've seen the film?).

 

[brad465]

I've had a chat with a friend recently who does a lot of business with the Americans, and he's just imposed a blanket rule that there is to be no travel to the US unless it's personally approved by him, and that taking anything other than clean devices there is officially banned in his company. They do a lot of very sensitive work for clients, and he says that they simply can't trust the Americans anymore.

If the US avoids a recession this year, I'd love to know what they did to avoid it. They've got tariffs making imports more costly, Canada spearheading a global consumer boycott of a number of US goods, and many travellers to the US, both business and leisure, reconsidering, both due to the political nature and the fact they might be deported in a way they wouldn't have last year.

 

[Annetts key]

If the US avoids a recession this year, I'd love to know what they did to avoid it.

You didn’t mention that Trump wants to both pump more oil, but also may agree to lift sanctions on Russia, specifically Russian exports of oil and gas. If the market is “flooded” with a surplus of oil, the U.S.A. production will become less profitable.

And I can see the trade war kicking off big time at some point. The E.U. may well follow with more of it’s own tariffs. Which begs the question, will Trump manage to upset most, nearly all or all “Western” countries they have a significant trade with (and as we know, imports from China are already subject to two rounds of tariffs), such that nearly all imports to the U.S.A. are subject to tariffs?

Plus most of those countries responding with their own tariffs on imports from the U.S.A.

Watching the inflation figures and the response by the Federal Reserve will be interesting. As will the company reports from large U.S.A, firms.

 

[Lloyds siding]

They have at least succeeded in making 'America grate again'.....