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The 2018 Trump Presidency thread

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*shrug*


Hes getting a little overplayed in the parody department anyway.


I wouldnt be surprised if this is a valid claim, everyone has their limit I guess.


Hopefully this will be his one and only term in office.
 
Shutdown or no shutdown?

I think Trump will try to change the torrential downpour of stories in the news cycle about how corrupt he and all the people around him are, and the "cliffhanger" will either get punted to January and then buried, or he'll have a shutdown to feel powerful.

Stupid wall...
 
@therealdonaldtrump said:
A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live... and my one sided, twitter fueled, wall viewing (double entendre, double points inveggy), delusional perception and beliefs of everything.
Click to expand...

ftfy donald.

this is a reminder that donald trump is still your president. this is not a nightmare or a wet dream come true. fix your situation before you pay the price for it. end transmission.
 
Trump "Foundation" shuttered.

Flynn finding out that if you taunt a judge, the judge will not respond well. His sentencing was delayed.

Ridiculous assertion by Flynn's lawyers that a former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who is the highest-ranking intelligence officer in the military, was unaware that lying to the FBI was a crime. Flynn ate those words in court.

Before anyone wraps Flynn in the flag, let's remember that the judge has seen a lot more information than we have. When a judge asks if someone can be charged with treason and other crimes, something really bad has happened.

Ask for links, as I post in haste.
 
Here's more about the Trump foundation shutting down:

The Donald J. Trump Foundation, once billed as the charitable arm of the president's financial empire, agreed to dissolve on Tuesday and give away all its remaining assets under court supervision as part of an ongoing investigation and lawsuit by the New York attorney general. The foundation was accused by the attorney general, Barbara Underwood, of "functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests," and of engaging in a shocking pattern of illegality that included unlawfully coordinating with Mr. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. In addition to shuttering the charity, her office has pursued a lawsuit that could bar President Trump and his three oldest children from the boards of other New York charities, as well as force the payment of millions in restitution and penalties. "This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," Ms. Underwood said in announcing the agreement.

The closure of the foundation is a milestone in what has been a two-year investigation after the nonprofit's management and giving patterns emerged as a flash point in the 2016 campaign. What assets remain after penalties will be directed to charities that must be approved by the attorney general's office, and the process will be subject to judicial supervision. Ms. Underwood and a lawyer for the Trump foundation signed the stipulation agreeing to the dissolution. "We'll continue to move our suit forward," Ms. Underwood said, "to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law."
Nonprofit foundations are supposed to be devoted to charitable activities. But the attorney general's office has charged that the Trump Foundation was used to win political favor, accusing the foundation of virtually becoming an arm of the Trump campaign, with its campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, directing the foundation to make disbursements in Iowa only days before the state held its presidential nominating caucuses. "Is there any way we can make some disbursements [from the proceeds of the fund-raiser] this week while in Iowa, Specifically on Saturday," Mr. Lewandowski wrote to the foundation's treasurer in an email disclosed in the lawsuit.

Mr. Trump was required to sign annual filings with the Internal Revenue Service in which he attested that the foundation did not engage in political activity. The president had said after the 2016 election that to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest, he would dissolve the foundation. But the attorney general's office blocked him from doing so amid concerns about the handling of the foundation's documents and assets. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, refused to comment on the dissolution of the Trump Foundation, saying, "That's something that I would refer you to the Trump Organization." Mr. Trump has long claimed that all the foundation's money went to "wonderful charities" that had legitimate purposes. Alan S. Futerfas, a lawyer for the foundation, accused Ms. Underwood of making a "misleading statement" on Tuesday in "a further attempt to politicize this matter." "The foundation has been seeking to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets to worthwhile charitable causes since Donald J. Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election," he said. "Unfortunately, the N.Y.A.G. sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need of nearly $1.7 million." Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for Ms. Underwood, said the Trump foundation had previously wanted to dissolve without any oversight. "That was unacceptable," she said. The investigation of the foundation was begun by the former attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat who was an antagonist of Mr. Trump before stepping down following revelations of sexual misconduct this year.

Next month, the ongoing case will fall to the incoming attorney general, Letitia James, a vocal critic of Mr. Trump who said recently that she would "use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family." Ms. Underwood's office sued the Trump Foundation in June, charging it with "improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations or to implement even elementary corporate formalities required by law." Charities are barred from advancing the self-interests of its executives over the charity's mission, but the attorney general's office said in a court filing this year that the foundation had entered into a number of "prohibited self-dealing transactions that directly benefited Mr. Trump or entities that he controlled."

The Trump Foundation, for instance, purchased a $10,000 portrait of Mr. Trump that was displayed at one of his golf clubs. The existence of the portrait, along with other examples of questionable spending cited in the lawsuit, was first reported by The Washington Post. One transaction was revealed by a note in Mr. Trump's handwriting that said $100,000 of Trump Foundation money should be directed to another charity to settle a legal dispute between the Town of Palm Beach and Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

Mr. Trump was once a major donor to his own foundation. But in the six years before his presidential run, from 2009 to 2014, Mr. Trump stopped giving his own money, relying instead solely on outside donations. The attorney general's office is seeking for the Trump Foundation to pay $2.8 million in restitution, which is the amount raised for the foundation at an Iowa fund-raiser in 2016 that Mr. Trump held on the day that he avoided attending a debate with his Republican rivals. The foundation reported $1.7 million in assets in 2017 to the I.R.S.

Last month, a New York state judge ruled that the lawsuit could proceed, even as Mr. Trump's lawyers had argued that the court did not have jurisdiction over Mr. Trump, as president, and that the statute of limitations had passed on some of the issues. "I find I have jurisdiction over Mr. Trump," Justice Saliann Scarpulla wrote in a 27-page ruling. Mr. Futerfas had said in a statement then that "all of the money raised by the Foundation went to charitable causes" and that "we remain confident in the ultimate outcome of these proceedings." "I won't settle this case!" Mr. Trump posted on Twitter in June, accusing "the sleazy New York Democrats" of targeting him.

The foundation lawsuit follows years of scrutiny of President Trump's charitable activities and adds to his extensive legal challenges, amid a continuing investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. The Trump Foundation is hardly the first charity dissolved by the state. Mr. Schneiderman previously shut down a sham breast cancer charity, for example, but it is the first involving a sitting president of the United States. Also, if the attorney general's office is successful in barring Mr. Trump from serving on foundation boards for a decade, it would put him in the unusual position of not being able to serve on the board of his own post-presidential foundation, should it be set up in New York.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/...tion=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage
 
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"Hey honey, I found this really reputable charity to donate our money to, it's called the Trump Foundation!"

Lol
 
cduggles said:
Before anyone wraps Flynn in the flag, let's remember that the judge has seen a lot more information than we have. When a judge asks if someone can be charged with treason and other crimes, something really bad has happened.

Ask for links, as I post in haste.
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Indeed it is. As any American judge would know, treason isn't a charge easily made. It's a totally unique crime that's only been charged against a few Americans in history. And far as I can recall, almost none have ever been made against anyone related to conduct not made during wartime. And since the last official wartime was quite a long time ago. It's been something like 50 years since the last one. And those were for actions in world War 2 but prosecuted long after.

The founders had concerns about misuse of the charge of treason because of how the British had used it, so they set the bar very high. So we get around it by just making a separate law called the espionage act and charge traitors with that instead. :D

So I suspect judge Sullivan wasn't entirely genuine about his treason suggestions from a legal standpoint. Everyone knows he was pretty outraged.
 
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alasdairm said:
^ this, along with so many other things he says and does, is pandering to his loyal base only. they've already made their minds up and pretty much anything he does is ok with them.

the republicans, generally, can't be happy about this. this just reflects poorly on (the perception of) their ability to govern. after the huge hit they just took in the house midterms, this isn't going to help...

alasdair
Click to expand...

Sounds the same as any other politician to me Trump isn't stupid he just plays dumb hes actually very establishment and maybe his supporters are sick of the same old politically correct bulshit with all due respect I think trump supporters and trump haters are as bad as eachother I do think its refreshing to see someone in the white house who doesn't follow the same play act his predecessors do Ive been on both sides of the fence but this thread obviously has a lot more Trump haters than Trump supporters I'm suprised anyones got the balls to stick up for him.
 
Pete556 said:
Sounds the same as any other politician to me Trump isn't stupid he just plays dumb hes actually very establishment and maybe his supporters are sick of the same old politically correct bulshit with all due respect I think trump supporters and trump haters are as bad as eachother I do think its refreshing to see someone in the white house who doesn't follow the same play act his predecessors do Ive been on both sides of the fence but this thread obviously has a lot more Trump haters than Trump supporters I'm suprised anyones got the balls to stick up for him.
Click to expand...
he is woefully in over his head. his administration is a shambles. even his own party is confused, angered and baffled by his behavior and some of his recent decisions.

he said he'd 'drain the swamp'. he did not. he made things significantly worse.

you're suprised anyone's got the balls to stick up for him? at least we agree on that :) :(

alasdair
 
SheWasLvL18 said:
So people should just be apathetic then?
Click to expand...

Are there just two choices or is being able to discuss civilly not an option?


(Yeah yeah I know, I'm being a hypocrite, but at least I dont lose my shit and discredit people because they support a President of America or not. :|)
 
This is what the society wants to do, I mean having the intuition to manipulate and influence to transform the tactics into strategies and then going into judgments about them like his half of brain which it's auto irony. Whatever it's on my mind i'm goin say it, if i'm evil enough to it or I am demented enough to think it or I am smart enough to think it I am goin to say it. What he wants to it basically to catalogate everyone into diseases and hide himself behind citizen as every president does. The military system already it's fucked up and he fucked up the dices more than it's been, tariffs like the environment it's damaged. There a lot of poor people in the world and mainly USA who doesn't get the help they need, Obama allowed everyone to be equal and having your own free-speech, Trump created & broke his own stupid laws, basically he stepped into his own swamp. The concept behind his thinking it's that he can't control himself nor his actions, I fuckin hate him. He can't make a point because he doesn't got throughout life and he's just a kido that lost his toys, he isn't fed up at all.

The eye is up there in the sky and the sensation that you are followed to not follow the state. We are being kept into the bubble
 
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WASHINGTON - In two hours on Thursday, President Trump publicly unveiled an expansive farm bill, railed against the dangers of illegal immigration, fought with Congress over funding for a border wall and announced the departure of Jim Mattis, his defense secretary, who is resigning over what he regards as the president's ill-planned decision to pull back American troops from Syria. Why not throw in a video of himself singing the theme song from the 1960s sitcom "Green Acres?" The world may never know why, exactly, Mr. Trump chose to divert attention from the political chaos, just before turning the fire hose back on himself by posting a video on Twitter of his performance at the 2005 Emmy Awards. That year, appearing onstage with the (slightly cringing) comedian Megan Mullally. Mr. Trump, dressed in overalls, huffed along to the song with some of the lyrics modified to squeeze in a reference to Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Maybe it was the president's way of bringing some awkward levity to a day that will be remembered for a high-profile cabinet departure and a looming government shutdown. Maybe it was the work of an overzealous social media producer. But it was most likely meant to boost the president as he celebrated the passage of a sweeping, $867 billion farm bill, a result of rare bipartisan compromise that critics say his administration is already seeking to undermine by using regulatory power to restrict access to food stamps. Mr. Trump, a man of endless contradictions, did not explain why he decided to tweet the video to his 56 million followers as he unveiled the farm bill or to have the audio played as he entered the White House's South Court Auditorium to sign the bill. When asked who was in charge of the tweet, a senior administration official claimed ignorance; that person said White House aides were trying to focus on the farm bill's contents, presumably before moving on to the next thing.

Mr. Trump, who only a day earlier had tweeted a message declaring victory over the Islamic State and announcing the pullback of troops in Syria, a decision that would prove to have a grave effect on his relationship with Mr. Mattis, took the podium and, with the world on his shoulders, provided the background on the theme song performance. "That was from the Emmys," Mr. Trump said proudly as members of his administration greeted him with a round of applause. "I sang 'Green Acres' and received a very nice award that night."

Actually, he didn't win an award. That evening, Mr. Trump won "Emmy Idol," a spoof competition based on "American Idol," for his performance with Ms. Mullally. In a 2016 appearance on "The Late Show," she recalled the experience as a "dumb thing that they did on the Emmys" that allowed viewers to call in to vote for their favorite segment. She said Mr. Trump called her with his congratulations the next day. "If he felt that way about 'Emmy Idol,'" she said, "how do you think he felt about the presidential election?"

To be sure, there are other matters of consequence unfolding throughout this administration. For starters, the farm bill the president mentioned along with his video is a major piece of legislation, one that will bring relief to farmers stung by harsh economic or weather conditions, and continue to allow for access to food stamps, known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, for Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. The fact that it managed to slip through a hyperpartisan Congress currently battling over whether or not to shut the federal government down was hailed as a positive, if slightly dissonant, development.

Before sending the video, the president hit back at both allies and critics over his decision to call back American troops from Syria, a move that has been criticized as too abrupt and possibly destabilizing. "Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East," Mr. Trump tweeted into the ether, "getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever?" It was a thought that Mr. Mattis echoed in his resignation letter: "Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world." Also present in Mr. Mattis's letter were repeated references to respecting the country's allies. It was about the only topic that did not show up on the president's Twitter feed on Thursday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/...ml?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage
 
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^ Trump is losing his mind.

Congress should have reigned him in long ago and hopefully ruining one of their many "session breaks" will sour the Senate enough to put him in his place.

This is in addition to Trump pulling out of Syria without warning; losing Mattis because Trump is so ignorant about having allies and foreign affairs; and demanding funding for his stupid wall.

A cornered Trump is a dangerous Trump.
 
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