What stupid shit has Trump done today?

[1%er]

 

[bimble]

i see your shit Trumper meme and i raise you a couple of my recent favourites..

 

[1%er]

You've been Trumped by your democracy!!

 

[gosub]

Qatar. That's what the problem is according to his latest tweet.
Qatar, which has just annoyed the Saudis.

Qatar, which has the largest US military base in the region

 

[CRI]

Qatar, which has the largest US military base in the region

Yup!

The United States Department of Defense on Tuesday contradicted President Donald Trump’s tweets by praising the nation of Qatar for its “enduring commitment to regional stability.”

After Saudi Arabia and several other Middle East countries cut diplomatic ties with Qatar over its alleged support of terrorism early on Tuesday, Trump took to Twitter to praise the Saudis’ commitment to fighting extremist ideology.

The problem is that Qatar is also home to Al-Udeid Airbase, a key base that houses 11,000 American troops and that the U.S. military regularly uses to launch airstrikes against ISIS and other militant groups in the region.

Reuters reports that the Department of Defense on Tuesday issued a statement which said it was “grateful” for the help Qatar has provided that U.S. military, while also praising the government’s efforts to help promote “regional stability.”

 

[CRI]

How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business

As if he isn't enough of a shitebag already.

The real star of the day is Eric Trump, the president's second son and now the co-head of the Trump Organization, who has hosted this event for ten years on behalf of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. He's done a ton of good: To date, he's directed more than $11 million there, the vast majority of it via this annual golf event. He has also helped raise another $5 million through events with other organizations.

The best part about all this, according to Eric Trump, is the charity's efficiency: Because he can get his family's golf course for free and have most of the other costs donated, virtually all the money contributed will go toward helping kids with cancer. "We get to use our assets 100% free of charge," Trump tells Forbes.

That's not the case. In reviewing filings from the Eric Trump Foundation and other charities, it's clear that the course wasn't free--that the Trump Organization received payments for its use, part of more than $1.2 million that has no documented recipients past the Trump Organization. Golf charity experts say the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament.

Additionally, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has come under previous scrutiny for self-dealing and advancing the interests of its namesake rather than those of charity, apparently used the Eric Trump Foundation to funnel $100,000 in donations into revenue for the Trump Organization.

And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.

All of this seems to defy federal tax rules and state laws that ban self-dealing and misleading donors. It also raises larger questions about the Trump family dynamics and whether Eric and his brother, Don Jr., can be truly independent of their father.

Especially since the person who specifically commanded that the for-profit Trump Organization start billing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the nonprofit Eric Trump Foundation, according to two people directly involved, was none other than the current president of the United States, Donald Trump.

 

[CRI]

Donald Trump To Dine With Two Senators Who Will Question James Comey

Sens. Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, Todd Young, Cory Gardner, and Reps. Francis Rooney and Lee Zeldin have all been invited to dinner with the president in the residence at 6:30 p.m. Rubio and Cotton, who are both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, are then scheduled to question Comey during an open and closed session hearing Thursday.

The committee said Comey will be questioned regarding Russian interference in the election. It will be the first time he has spoken publicly since he was fired by Trump in early May.

I'm sure the timing is merely a coincidence. Nothing to see here.

 

[CRI]

Apologies for the tweet, but some sobering thoughts in the thread about resistance and complacency. Have a look at the whole thing if you can.

Screencaps for the non-tweeters.

My worry is that too many people are still putting their faith in institutions, systems and processes to end the Trump mess, but so far, they haven't worked. The longer he's in the White House, the more damage he can cause and the harder his administration and the GOP led Congress will make it for anything like fair elections to happen in future. I just can't see Americans going for a general strike though

 

[Tankus]

Proof that its a fuckwit medium to make a reasoned point

 

[CRI]

Proof that its a fuckwit medium to make a reasoned point

True - it sucks, as does facebook for different reasons, but people use it, so . . .

 

[MightyTibberton]

CNN Exclusive: US suspects Russian hackers planted fake news behind Qatar crisis - CNNPolitics.com

 

[redsquirrel]

Not Trump but US news - the primaries for New Jersey Governor race have just been held and the Democrats have decided on Phillip Murphy, a bloke with a 23 history at Goldman Sachs and who

Murphy moved to Middletown Township, New Jersey in 2000.[6] He and his family live in a riverside estate with a $200,000 annual property tax bill.[49] Murphy also owns homes in Berlin and at a location in Italy.[29]

In 2016 Murphy released five years' worth of federal tax returns: for 2014 he earned about $6 million, paid about $2 million in taxes for an effective tax rate of 34 percent, and directly or indirectly donated 24 percent of his income to charity.[29] The returns for the other years showed effective tax rates ranging between 32 and 39 percent.[83] Murphy's charitable donations during these five years averaged about $980,000 a year.[83] Due to his wealth and the complicated nature of his holdings, his federal tax filings have been known to exceed 300 pages in length.[29]

Lovely, what a generous man.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In Politico The 27 Words Trump Wouldn’t Say

...
Instead, the sentence regarding the United States and its “unwavering” dedication to Article 5, the one-for-all, all-for-one mutual defense provision that is at the heart of the NATO alliance, was deleted at the last minute from his speech—to the surprise and consternation of his own blindsided national security team.

“This was unambiguous,” the source said, “and it was taken out.”

Had Trump said the missing sentence—or any reference at all to Article 5 and the American commitment to it—he would have avoided a major headache with Western allies and hours of what aides are openly calling “cleanup duty” on the part of top advisers including Vice President Mike Pence, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and Defense Secretary James Mattis.

All of them in recent days have gone out of their way to make public statements reaffirming Article 5 in explicit language. Pence, for example, appearing at a gala ceremony Monday night in Washington, held by the Atlantic Council to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe, touted America’s involvement in NATO and celebrated its newest member, the small Balkan country of Montenegro, whose membership was finalized at the controversial Brussels meeting where Trump spoke.

In fact, the language Pence used was almost a verbatim copy of what Trump’s national security team had expected the president himself to say. “Make no mistake, our commitment is unwavering,” Pence told the Atlantic Council dinner. “We will meet our obligations to our people to provide for the collective defense of all our allies … an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”
...

The most powerful country on the planet and the team running it are constantly having to clean up after Trump. With this one they can't really as it's apparent Trump thinks NATO a deeply unfair arrangement for the US to participate. Trump's Commander in Chief not Mattis or McMaster. There's no mechanism to quickly oust or sideline him in an emergency. It's still quite possible Trump would be angrily demanding the back rent from NATO members if they attempted to invoke Article 5. That would be completely in character.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico Sessions offered to resign before Trump’s trip abroad

...
The Trump adviser said Sessions was unlikely to leave his post — but that Sessions has been taken aback by how often Trump complains about the Russia recusal. Sessions, after consulting with Department of Justice lawyers, had thought the recusal was inevitable.

Trump hasn’t seen it the same way, the Trump adviser said.

"Trump doesn't follow the traditional rules of politics that when it gets hot, you have to do something to take the heat down," this person said. "He dials it up."

For his part, Sessions has maintained to Trump and others that his decision came only after taking the advice of career officials, the person close to Sessions said.

Sessions wanted to show that he was willing to keep the Department of Justice above politics, said the source, who added that Sessions felt motivated to restore faith and confidence in the department.

Sessions was a really loyal early supporter and kindred spirit on some of Trump's most favoured hobby horses. But it's alway transactional with Trump. He seems to have expected him to suppress the Russia investigation. Which just makes it look like he's got something to hide.

Cabinet members are going to start to bail on Trump.

 

[MightyTibberton]

I won't post it, but there's a big tweet storm from a guy called, Daniel W. Drezner‏, with each tweet reading: "I'll believe that Trump is growing into the presidency when his staff stops talking about him like a toddler," followed by quotes from stories about him.

They're all "sources said", a "close advisor said" things, but they include things like the inclusion of lots of graphics in very short papers, trying to limit his TV time, making sure his day is structured, not letting him phone his friends...

I think the thing (things!) with Trump is that people keep trying to simplify it down to one thing, when in reality it's everything. It's not a case of is he corrupt or is he incompetent - he is both. Is he a Russian stooge or a prisoner of the far right of the GOP - he is both. Is he probably diagnosably mentally ill in some way or a PR genius - he is both (less sure about this one - the genius part, he is great at getting attention, unable to manage negative attention).

Trump is almost what a supercomputer would design as the worst of all possible worlds for the US presidency, for America and for the world.

 

[MightyTibberton]

Cabinet members are going to start to bail on Trump.

I thought he might start firing them soon, but there's no-one to replace them, apparently no-one will take jobs with the admin now. No FBI director yet, no law firm will work for him... hundreds of jobs unfilled... Maniac!

 

[8den]

Anyone following the Reality Winner story? A 25yo NSA employee, spoke 3 middle eastern languages, TS security clearance and she was 25.

Before we go into the details of her whistleblowing, the intercept (the Greenwald/Scahill newsite) clearly fucked up very badly by giving the NSA back the document, and the letter it came from, they helped clearly identify her.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/us/politics/reality-leigh-winner-leak-nsa.html

But the documents released supposedly prove Russian attempts to manipulate the election.

Reality Winner: NSA contractor and environmentalist repulsed by Trump

 

[DotCommunist]

screwed by a traitorous printer- ~I'd never heard of this hidden stenography thing before. Back to cutting out individual letters from the newspaper for me.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The Boston Globe Donald Trump rode casino wave in Atlantic City, leaving bankruptcies and angry creditors in his wake

...
The future seems bleak, though not so much, perhaps, to one who is paid to read it. Chanel Mitchell, a psychic who has been reading fortunes here for more than 40 years, was preparing to close for the night, but she agreed to consider one last request.

Just a few steps away from Trump’s former casino, she is asked, “Will Donald Trump be president?” She begins flipping through tarot cards, eventually reaching a verdict: Success will be Trump’s, she said, but as with his Atlantic City interlude, the glow won’t last..

“One hundred percent, he is meant to be president,” she said. “But he is very greedy. He is very selfish.”

“He will only be there for four years.”

From 2015, now there's a woman who knows her trade!

Just a look back at how Trump's Casino empire collapsed. His strange reality TV Presidency is getting rather reminiscent of this venture into another business he really didn't understand.

He only lost a lot of his money in the first casino bankruptcy. He'd later write that off in future taxes. He financed the purchase with junk bonds he couldn't finally pay the interest on and bought into an already saturated gambling market. Trump's often been poorly briefed and well behind were the smart money is. You see that in his past their sell by date policies as well. Trump finally danced away from the wreckage pretty smugly leaving others to take the big hit. He'd pick over the bankruptcies to the disadvantage of employees and investors. That's entirely legal and he was praised for his clever use of Chapter 11 in the business press. He actually berated his investors for being serial losers. One bitter Trump investor, a Saudi Prince who was dumb enough to do that twice, called him "a disgrace to America". That as The Donald would say makes Trump smart.

It's possible Trump be a one term President but he'll walk away with his business empire expanded and perhaps with the lasting gratitude of several despots. McMasters wrote an excellent book "Dereliction Of Duty" about a deranged LBJ administration, their complicit Generals and Vietnam. The spirits are telling me there may be a sequel.

 

[8den]

screwed by a traitorous printer- ~I'd never heard of this hidden stenography thing before. Back to cutting out individual letters from the newspaper for me.

It's common practice in security circles. The intercept should have just given them a transcript of what they were sent. Everything above that goes to help identify the leaker. And Glen Greenwald should know this. He helped release the Snowden files for fucks sakes.

The intercept started out very interesting. But then it had Dennis Kucinich on to tell us how the recent Syria gas attack was a "false flag" (Kucinich is noted 9/11 truther). And then they had Assange on the week afterwards. And now this.

 

[ohmyliver]

yeah there's something really dodgy about the whole Winner/Intercept thing. Can't put my finger on it.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Anyone following the Reality Winner story? A 25yo NSA employee, spoke 3 middle eastern languages, TS security clearance and she was 25.

Before we go into the details of her whistleblowing, the intercept (the Greenwald/Scahill newsite) clearly fucked up very badly by giving the NSA back the document, and the letter it came from, they helped clearly identify her.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/us/politics/reality-leigh-winner-leak-nsa.html

But the documents released supposedly prove Russian attempts to manipulate the election.

Reality Winner: NSA contractor and environmentalist repulsed by Trump

I'm following that and really wondering why that information was kept from the public in the first place. If foreign entities are trying to hack our voting machines, that's something the average citizen should have a right to know.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Naked Capitalism Trump Using Failed Australian “Asset Recycling” to Justify Mass Privatizations

...
But it’s even worse than that. As the Economic Policy Institute points out, if you look at the budget, it tells a very different story:

If you’re not willing to say forthrightly how you’re going to pay for infrastructure investments, you really cannot be serious about it. As the old adage goes, “show me your budget and I’ll tell you what you value”.

The recently released Trump federal budget plan guts infrastructure, period. Read the link—the damage the Trump budget would do to public investment and infrastructure is staggering. This alone should make any open-minded person extraordinarily skeptical of their claims to value infrastructure spending.

The Trump campaign plan on infrastructure was notable only for its shallowness and its determination to increase cronyism in infrastructure provision. The plan claimed that the problem with American infrastructure investment was a lack of innovative financing, and that the private sector could somehow be convinced to build infrastructure at no cost to taxpayers. This was obviously false. Even long-standing, bipartisan efforts to leverage private sector financing of infrastructure have ranged from disappointing to disastrous. And in no case did they provide a free lunch to taxpayers—unless taxpayers have a huge preference to paying tolls to private companies rather than the same amount of tolls or taxes to governments.​

Another ugly element of the White House plan is its priorities. Some articles have duly criticized the idea of letting private equity overlords run air traffic control. Another bad idea is selling off VA assets. We posted an interview that mentioned why Theresa May’s similar plan to dispose of NHS real estate was designed to weaken the NHS and set up further privatization, which is what the Republicans would love to do to the VA. Selling off real estate produces as one-time cash influx which is pretty much guaranteed not to go to the VA to any large degree. The agency would then be saddled with higher costs in the form of rent payments. The newly increased costs would be used to depict the VA as inefficient, a budget drain, and in need of “reform” as in divestiture.
...

My bold, the VA is U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Socialised medicine for former military guys. A group of people who Trump is very popular with.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On VOX The Trump administration's misguided focus on trade barriers

...
The US trade deficit is about saving and investment, not trade barriers

The US imports more than it exports, which has resulted in a trade deficit of roughly $500 billion, or 3% of GDP, in recent years. What causes this disparity? The US runs a trade deficit because its citizens spend more than they earn and finance the difference with foreign credit. In 2015 (the most recent year with full data), the households, firms, and government in the US earned $16.9 trillion and spent $17.4 trillion on goods and services, resulting in a disparity of $500 billion.

The trade deficit is a macroeconomic phenomenon – unless the US increases earnings and/or reduces spending, the disparity of $500 billion will not go away. In fact, trade policy has a negligible effect on the trade deficit. Changes in overall earnings or spending will be required to reduce the trade deficit.

The US trade deficit has grown over time because the country as a whole saves less than it did in the past. The personal saving rate fell from 8% in the early 1990s to 5.5% in recent years. At the same time, the government deficit expanded. Unless savings rise or investment falls, the aggregate trade deficit will not be reduced. From this perspective, policies that encourage people, businesses, or the government to save will have a bigger impact on improving the trade deficit than trade policy.

The overall imbalance must fall on some countries, creating significant bilateral deficits in some cases. These deficits are a symptom of the aggregate trade balance – not its cause.
...

That Americans buy lots of foreign shit they don't need on tick is almost a defining characteristic of the culture.

Points out trade deficits mostly stem from structural differences in economies. Which would make it hard for even a wonder working billionaire to change that much via the art of deal. Bit ironic that Trump's a walking advert for a lifestyle of debt ladened consumerism.

 

[8den]

I'm following that and really wondering why that information was kept for the public in the first place. If foreign entities are trying to hack our voting machines, that's something the average citizen should have a right to know.

Presumably it would have come out during the senate or house hearing into the election?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Presumably it would have come out during the senate or house hearing into the election?

I'm not certain it would. A lot of the companies that service voting machines are owned by Republicans. There's already something called "red shift" that's been happening with voting machines. I don't think the Republicans, who are in control of both those bodies, want anyone to know.

Red Shift: why it's important

Wisconsin: None dare call it vote rigging

 

[CRI]

On Politico Sessions offered to resign before Trump’s trip abroad
Sessions was a really loyal early supporter and kindred spirit on some of Trump's most favoured hobby horses. But it's alway transactional with Trump. He seems to have expected him to suppress the Russia investigation. Which just makes it look like he's got something to hide.

Cabinet members are going to start to bail on Trump.

Not so sure. Perhaps the "intrigues at court" are manufactured to keep people occupied with speculation, hoping they'll miss what's really happening. Remember how Bannon and Gorka were supposedly ejected from the inner circle? Funny that.

 

[Corax]

And where does the UK sit in all of this...?

In the middle of the Atlantic.

 

[Pickman's model]

In the middle of the Atlantic.

no, that's the azores

 

[1%er]

I'm not certain it would. A lot of the companies that service voting machines are owned by Republicans. There's already something called "red shift" that's been happening with voting machines. I don't think the Republicans, who are in control of both those bodies, want anyone to know.

Red Shift: why it's important

Wisconsin: None dare call it vote rigging

Its a good job someone is hacking voting machines, you can't trust the public to vote the right way