The Trump Presidency, Season 2

[Jopsy Pendragon]

It doesn't hurt until it hurts them. Some parts of Trump's supporters are starting to see impacts, but for most it will be later this year. But it will eventually catch up to them.

They'll use that to cull their own weak. Those harmed by these 'policies' are done. Too weak to help their cause... and too weak to oppose it. They'll pick over the carcass and cast them aside.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Well when looking closer on the Mar-a-Largo-Accord, and the plan is really to move to 100 years running bonds without interest rates, there is one nasty truth hidden deep inside of that: America is bankrupt, or close before.

Because otherwise such stunts would not be necessary.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Well when looking closer on the Mar-a-Largo-Accord, and the plan is really to move to 100 years running bonds without interest rates, there is one nasty truth hidden deep inside of that: America is bankrupt, or close before.

Because otherwise such stunts would not be necessary.

Trump's billionaire buddies are definitely positioning themselves for a "Black Friday" the likes of which this nation hasn't yet seen.

I can't even wrap my head around what our economy would look like if we default on our debt. And it seems like Jabber the Butt is fast tracking us towards it happening.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Trump tariffs: DHL suspends high value US deliveries

The postal giant will stop shipping packages to American consumers after a rise in red tape at customs.

www.bbc.co.uk

DHL Express is suspending deliveries to the US worth more than $800 (£603) because of a "significant increase" in red tape at customs following the introduction of Donald Trump's new tariff regime.
The delivery giant said it will temporarily stop shipments from companies in all countries to American consumers on Monday "until further notice".
It added that business-to-business shipments will still go ahead, "though they may also face delays".

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Trump is really hurting US arms exports to Europe and elsewhere

Defence companies boast Trump-proof weapons are free of US parts

The first question firms now face when trying to export their weapons is whether they rely on American technology

www.thetimes.com

Evernote Link

Itar, which stands for the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, refers to a set of longstanding US rules that govern the items on the United States Munitions List, which is aimed at safeguarding national security.
The list contains US-produced software, components and other technology that can be used for either military purposes or serve a dual use. If a weapon is subject to Itar, it cannot be built, sold or supplied to someone else without US consent and support.

Brinley Salzmann, the director of overseas and exports for ADS, a defence trade association, said that what was once a preference for Itar-free weapons was quickly becoming a requirement.
He said: “As international collaboration increases and governments seek greater control over their supply chains, the ability to operate without US extraterritorial export restrictions is becoming a strategic consideration.”
Defence businesses were “actively prioritising Itar-free components and systems to reduce compliance risk, accelerate time-to-market, and expand global market access”, he added.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

 

[Free]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Evernote Link

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Evernote link to Reuters article

 

[Cristiano]

Ouch lol

 

[Zaida Gearbox]

I'm afraid to ask, but why do people call JD Vance a couch fucker?

I know you all are for the most part not religious, but I'm pretty well convinced Trump is an agent of the anti-Christ - my money is on it being Elon. So, none of this chaos is accidental. He knows exactly what he's doing. The whole point is to make people desperate, so that they'll be easier to control. When he gets done shredding the Constitution and decimating the world economy. The actual anti-Christ (again my money on Elon) will come sailing in saying, "I'm the only one who can fix this mess Trump created (while ignoring that he helped)." He'll move us off our current fiat currency onto some kind of crypto, and we'll all have to take the "mark of the beast" to be able to participate in the new system. People will know exactly what the mark is - at least people who went to Sunday school - but if you and your family is starving - what choice do you really have? That's why they need us to be desperate. Also, remember, our currency isn't backed by anything. It only has value because everyone agrees it does. So, the whole point of this exercise, is so that people will no longer agree that the dollar has value.

*IF* we get out of this with the United States intact, I solemnly swear to throat punch any Rethuglican who claims to care about the Constitution.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I'm afraid to ask, but why do people call JD Vance a couch fucker?

It's purely a viral prank that seemed to get under his skin. No reason to think this actually happened.

I know you all are for the most part not religious, but I'm pretty well convinced Trump is an agent of the anti-Christ - my money is on it being Elon. So, none of this chaos is accidental. He knows exactly what he's doing. The whole point is to make people desperate, so that they'll be easier to control. When he gets done shredding the Constitution and decimating the world economy. The actual anti-Christ (again my money on Elon) will come sailing in saying, "I'm the only one who can fix this mess Trump created (while ignoring that he helped)." He'll move us off our current fiat currency onto some kind of crypto, and we'll all have to take the "mark of the beast" to be able to participate in the new system. People will know exactly what the mark is - at least people who went to Sunday school - but if you and your family is starving - what choice do you really have? That's why they need us to be desperate. Also, remember, our currency isn't backed by anything. It only has value because everyone agrees it does. So, the whole point of this exercise, is so that people will no longer agree that the dollar has value.

I'm not religious either, but definitely agree that some authors of the bible knew a shady politician when they saw one and those descriptions match Trump a bit too well.... Elon too.

 

[Cristiano]

 

[Fionalein]

I'm afraid to ask, but why do people call JD Vance a couch fucker?

I think that stems from a quoted unfotunate line in one of his autobiographies - which upon further investigation didn't exist.

The internet seems to operate on on this definition of truth by Erich Kästner:

"Ob wirklich passiert oder nicht, das ist egal. Hauptsache, daß die Geschichte wahr ist ! Wahr ist eine Geschichte dann, wenn sie genauso, wie sie berichtet wird, wirklich hätte passieren können."

google translated: "Whether it actually happened or not is irrelevant. The main thing is that the story is true! A story is true if it could have actually happened exactly as it is reported."

 

[Noodles]

The internet seems to operate on on this definition of truth by Erich Kästner:

"Ob wirklich passiert oder nicht, das ist egal. Hauptsache, daß die Geschichte wahr ist ! Wahr ist eine Geschichte dann, wenn sie genauso, wie sie berichtet wird, wirklich hätte passieren können."

google translated: "Whether it actually happened or not is irrelevant. The main thing is that the story is true! A story is true if it could have actually happened exactly as it is reported."

In that respect, I think it's also a meme to make fun of how your quote applies way more to Maga conspiracy dumbasses than anything else. Musk goes around going all "looking into it" and "concerning" in replies to lies and shit, for example.

So people have run with the couch thing as a stupid meme/joke in that vein.

Frankly, I hate these dumb euhamisms, stick to the facts and use terms like "Asshole Vance".

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

In that respect, I think it's also a meme to make fun of how your quote applies way more to Maga conspiracy dumbasses than anything else. Musk goes around going all "looking into it" and "concerning" in replies to lies and shit, for example.

So people have run with the couch thing as a stupid meme/joke in that vein.

Frankly, I hate these dumb euhamisms, stick to the facts and use terms like "Asshole Vance".

I got to admit, I don't love the modern consensus that we may as well sink to their level at least ironically. I WISH the left would stick with valid arguments only... but I also realize it's naive to assume we''ll come out ahead if we stick to the facts while the right will tell any lie that suits them. Vance himself has admitted to lying his head off a few times because he thought he needed to draw attention to his issue.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The Trump administration's cavalier attitude to the law and to courts comes back to bite them.

How the Trump administration’s “shock and awe” approach has resulted in its litigation being shockingly awful

22nd April 2025 The US government is on the back-foot in its own courts because it is not thinking strategically * Over at his Substack the great historian of strategy Lawrence Freedman has provide…

davidallengreen.com

In essence: the courts simply do not believe what the government is telling them.

And in litigation, there is no worse situation for any party to that litigation to be in than to lose the confidence of the judges.

Generally it means that at each round of litigation – each interim hearing, each application, each appeal – the judges will go against you.

And at its extreme, the courts will, of their own volition, make orders against you.

For the supreme court of the United States to make that midnight order was an absolute rebuttal of whatever litigation “strategy” the United States government was following with these cases.

Perhaps those at the US government thought the conservative majority of the Supreme Court meant that favourable decisions were in the bag.

But all they have now been left with are Alito’s worthless bullet points instead.

Mark Joseph Stern covers similar ground

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/sam-alito-dissent-supreme-court-emergency-deportation-false.html

Evernote Link

 

[Free]

The Trump administration's cavalier attitude to the law and to courts comes back to bite them.

Didn't we already learn this from Aesop?

 

[Free]

Trump continues to prove he is just not good for business.

Dow Headed for Worst April Since 1932 as Investors Send ‘No Confidence’ Signal

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed almost 1,000 points on Monday and is headed for its worst April performance since 1932, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500’s performance since Inauguration Day is now the worst for any president up to this point in data going back to 1928, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

Worries about trade restrictions and the prospect of President Trump firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have investors bracing for greater losses ahead. Corporate earnings reports are rolling in, along with executives’ tariff-dented outlooks for the months ahead. Few think the administration’s negotiations with trade partners will yield results soon enough to ease the strain.

Meanwhile, counterweights that usually strengthen when stocks fall—such as government bonds and the U.S. dollar—are also under pressure, leaving investors with few havens to wait out the storm.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

‘We no longer felt welcome nor safe’: Canadian snowbirds cashing out of U.S. for good

The number of Canadian 'snowbirds' planning to sell their second homes in sunny Florida and Arizona has surged this spring, many of them put off by the sudden chill that has blanketed relations between their homeland and the U.S.

www.ctvnews.ca