Donald Trump Presidency discussion thread III

Christy42

Cheerful Spring wrote: »

Captain Obvious wrote: »

Can you imagine if Trump manages to make NK the good guy in these negotiations? What an accomplishment that would be. Terrible for the world but amazing none the less.

I don't know the US media will never trust Kim and North Korea. US media is demanding verifiable denuclearisation as well. North Korea never had a willingness to give up its nuclear weapons for nothing. This could be the end because both sides are looking for different things in the negotiation. If Trump willing to ease sanctions and stop military exercises and provide aid before denuclearization maybe they can work out a deal?

I hope he can but the negotiations are going backwards. Getting North Korea to actually give up its nuclear weapons and submit to stringent checks would be an incredible achievement.

I see no reason for hope here. Trump has utterly failed at international negotiations so far recently capitulating to China (to take the more favourable view for Trump of that situation).

People are trying very hard to find something to give him credit for. I will wait till he does something here.

Zubeneschamali

Cheerful Spring wrote: »

If Trump willing to ease sanctions and stop military exercises and provide aid before denuclearization maybe they can work out a deal?

Sure, America eases sanctions, stops exercises and provides Aid, the North Koreans laugh and say thanks, lads.

The End.

Sand

North Korea will never denuclearise. That would be incredibly stupid of the regime. If the US objective is to remove the North Korean nukes, then the talks are failed before they begin. The objective should only be to de-escalate the tensions and integrate the regime into the wider world to build interdependence so that Korea stops being a potential trigger for a nuclear war, and permit the demilitarisation of the peninsula. That is the only rational objective.

VonZan

Sand wrote: »

North Korea will never denuclearise. That would be incredibly stupid of the regime. If the US objective is to remove the North Korean nukes, then the talks are failed before they begin. The objective should only be to de-escalate the tensions and integrate the regime into the wider world to build interdependence so that Korea stops being a potential trigger for a nuclear war, and permit the demilitarisation of the peninsula. That is the only rational objective.

Kim and North Korea are much smarter than what we give them credit for. Unlike Gaddafi, Kim has almost total control over NK. Removing him as the head and putting in a SK puppet government or proxy control would likely lead to another Libya. I think escalation with NK is inevitable particularly if the current administration in the US somehow achieves another term.

Congress largely has tied Trump's hand domestically but he can basically do what he wants internationaly and he's rewarding all his backers.

Why are we focusing on Russia when his international performance to date has proven him to be incapable of office? There is no deal making going on in either house and everything has become so partizan. If any country needs a radical overhaul of its regime and government (including both houses and parties) its the United States.

Parts of the US could only be described as 3rd world slums where people live in complete squalor and pollution while local government take bribes and campaign funds from corporate lobby groups.

Mumha

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Donald Trump's financial disclosure forms which have been released list a payment to Michael Cohen stating that he paid Mr Cohen back in 2017 in the range of $100,001 to $250,000. I mean it's hardly a surprise that Trump can't even get his story straight on this, but the fact we have video evidence of him on Air Force one saying he knew nothing about the payment. And we have an official government form where he lists a payment he claims he knew nothing about.

The bigger question is, with all the pressures of the closing weeks of the 2016 campaign, pussygate etc, it stretches credibility that Daniels was the only one who was paid hush money, especially when Guiliani said that Cohen got over €400,000 rather than just the €130,000 (+ fees). Avenatti said as much earlier, but Daniels previous lawyer, the crooked Keith Davidson, is cooperating with Mueller now, so we'll see what else was "fixed" in due course.

everlast75

Christy42 wrote: »

I hope he can but the negotiations are going backwards. Getting North Korea to actually give up its nuclear weapons and submit to stringent checks would be an incredible achievement.

I see no reason for hope here. Trump has utterly failed at international negotiations so far recently capitulating to China (to take the more favourable view for Trump of that situation).

People are trying very hard to find something to give him credit for. I will wait till he does something here.

The cries for his Nobel have died away... so there's that to be thankful for...

briany

VonZan wrote: »

Kim and North Korea are much smarter than what we give them credit for. Unlike Gaddafi, Kim has almost total control over NK. Removing him as the head and putting in a SK puppet government or proxy control would likely lead to another Libya.

I'd say if the people of North Korea were opened up to the West, and providing the puppet government weren't so dogmatic, they'd soon forget about Dear Leader if they had a full belly instead.

Not that I'm unquestioningly for installing democracy, but I don't know if the situation is comparable to Libya which has ethnic and sectarian fault lines helping destabilise the country. Not really a problem the Korean peninsula suffers from.

Itssoeasy

I find it funny that American news commentators are suprised that the North Koreans are pulling back from an apparent position of full denuclearisation of its country. I
Mean Kim might be a bit daft and a bit of a unpleasant person giving how he treats his country people, but he's not stupid. His nukes are Kim's ace card. He's not going to give it up.

The fact that trump went about trying to get a deal so badly and basically has legitimised Kim to the world is just so trump.

Hurrache

Tillerson with an interesting statement today
https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/996791266137473026?s=19

And some good news
https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/996839415258537986?s=19

PopePalpatine

On to the House, where it will go to die. Even if 24 Republicans cross the aisle to join every single Democrat Representative, then you've Trump's veto to kill off any hope.

Hurrache

And at the risk of being a Twitter dump, Tusk in no uncertain terms tweets, copying Trump himself, what he thinks of him. You'd have to go back a long time, if ever, to see EU-US relations at such a low level.

https://twitter.com/eucopresident/status/996731038062862336?s=19[URL][/url]

Mumha

Whoa ! Ronan Farrow has another potential blockbuster report in the New Yorker. He has an interview with a law enforcement officer who was the person leaking the Cohen Financial Transactions to Michael Avenatti. What he reveals is shocking, and suggests a cover up.

In the days since, there has been much speculation about who leaked the confidential documents, and the Treasury Department’s inspector general has launched a probe to find the source. That source, a law-enforcement official, is speaking publicly for the first time, to The New Yorker, to explain the motivation: the official had grown alarmed after being unable to find two important reports on Cohen’s financial activity in a government database. The official, worried that the information was being withheld from law enforcement, released the remaining documents.

The payments to Cohen that have emerged in the past week come primarily from a single document, a “suspicious-activity report” filed by First Republic Bank, where Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants, L.L.C., maintained an account. The document detailed sums in the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Cohen by the pharmaceutical company Novartis, the telecommunications giant A.T. & T., and an investment firm with ties to the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

The report also refers to two previous suspicious-activity reports, or sars, that the bank had filed, which documented even larger flows of questionable money into Cohen’s account. Those two reports detail more than three million dollars in additional transactions—triple the amount in the report released last week. Which individuals or corporations were involved remains a mystery. But, according to the official who leaked the report, these sars were absent from the database maintained by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or fincen. The official, who has spent a career in law enforcement, told me, “I have never seen something pulled off the system. . . . That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of information. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned.” The official added, “That’s why I came forward.”

More at https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/missing-files-motivated-the-leak-of-michael-cohens-financial-records

everlast75

As some on Twitter said...



Ronan Farrow is Clark Kent, Robert Mueller is Batman...

And Avenatti is Deadpool

pitifulgod

The allegations in that article is Watergate level in terms of outright criminality.

Leroy42

Just going back to Trump Jr testimony.

On a number of occasions he was unable to recall who he had talked to or what they had talked about. For example, soon after the Trump Tower meeting he called a blocked number (Trump has a blocked number) for a few minutes yet when asked said he couldn't recall who it was.

Yet when asked if he had discussed the meeting with Trump he was able to state clearly that he hadn't. No loss of memory there. Even the most casual of investigators will tell you that sort of selective amnesia is usually a tell that they are trying to get across a particular point of view (ie Trump knew nothing).

He also claimed that he had been swamped by e-mails that particular day (more than usual) and so hadn't paid any particular attention to the e-mail about the potential meeting. He acknowledged that he had replied with 17 minutes to this e-mail. So again, we have he claiming he was swamped buy still took the time to get back to this particular e-mail within 17 minutes of receiving it.

Yet he had time to call both Kushner and Manafort prior to responding.

We also now know that the WH counsel contacted Goldstone prior to releasing a statement about the NYT story about to break on the Trump Tower meeting asking them if they agreed with the statement they were about to put out. We also know that the statement they put out was a lie.

jooksavage

Trump's financial disclosures again drew attention to the mysterious Chicago Unit Acquisition LLC, from which Trump borrowed $50M. Trump himself actually owns that LLC and one would expect to see this lended money listed as an asset against the company. Instead, the LLC is listed as being worth nothing. Looks awfully like its being used as a conduit to funnel money elsewhere. Unfortunately the Office of Government Ethics are unlikely to probe any further - we just have to rely on Mueller to get around to it.

How frustrating would this all be if the special counsel hadnt been appointed? Hopefully we're not investing too much in Mueller but it was encouraging listening to John Brennan yesterday - he described Mueller as a brilliant, ruthless investigator, utterly committed to the rule of law.

Mumha

Michael Avenatti was on with Morning Joe earlier and announced that he was aware of two more NDAs, which of course have not been mentioned in the 2017 Financial Disclosure. Also the two new NDAs were for more money than what Stormy Daniels was paid.

everlast75

Mumha wrote: »

Michael Avenatti was on with Morning Joe earlier and announced that he was aware of two more NDAs, which of course have not been mentioned in the 2017 Financial Disclosure. Also the two new NDAs were for more money than what Stormy Daniels was paid.

McDougal and Clifford were both represented by the same Lawyer (Keith Davidson) when negotiating their NDAs with Cohen. There were accusations of him not representing their best interests and conspiring with Cohen.

It is very likely Davidson was involved in other NDAs with Cohen... and he is co-operating with police officials so you can be sure the police know it all.

Because of the media centered approach by Avenatti, he has become a lightning rod for others who have info so any ladies involved would come forward to him.

He only states what he later confirms so my money is on there being more ladies. We will find out if it was Trump that paid that Playboy girl $1.6 million soon I am guessing.

IMHO Avenatti has played it exceptionally well and has forced errors on Trump's team.

Leroy42

Avenetti has certainly played a good game so far. By the constant media blitz, the continued drip-drip of information, he will tease out information over a number of interviews so as to drag it out as long as possible.

Even the recent pics of the meetings at Trump Tower (Qatari guy a believe) has nothing to do with the Daniels case but keeps both him and the Daniels case front and centre and makes he claims more credible whilst calling into question their claims (not that anybody with a shred of critical thinking can really have any doubt).

But he keeps Trump totally on the back foot. He cannot come out too hard against Avenatti for fear of what else Avenatti has or how he will release it.

Compare out Trump has attacked nearly everyone else with how quiet he is in terms of Daniels and Avenatti. Trumps usual MO would be tp attack Avenatti continually over Twitter, get Guiliani attacking him, Fox News. But its almost nothing.

NKante

My thoughts - if he somehow manages to secure a Korean peace, then that alone would be worth his presidency and he'd have achieved far more than Obama just with that.

Captain Obvious

NKante wrote: »

My thoughts - if he somehow manages to secure a Korean peace, then that alone would be worth his presidency and he'd have achieved far more than Obama just with that.

Not even close. The damage he's done to international relations and the US itself is not worth an unreliable peace treaty.

NKante

Captain Obvious wrote: »

NKante wrote: »

My thoughts - if he somehow manages to secure a Korean peace, then that alone would be worth his presidency and he'd have achieved far more than Obama just with that.

Not even close. The damage he's done to international relations and the US itself is not worth an unreliable peace treaty.

What damage? angered a few bureaucrats in the EU? 
Angered a totalitarian regime in Iran?

North Korea has been one of the most volatile situations this world has had since the Cuban missile crisis. Relations with the EU, Iran, Embassy move in Jerusalem pale in significance.
I hope he goes all out for Korean peace.

looksee

N Korea and Trump are as reliable as each other - a treaty is not going to be worth anything on either side, neither would hesitate to break it if they felt like it.

ECO_Mental

jooksavage wrote: »

listening to John Brennan yesterday - he described Mueller as a brilliant, ruthless investigator, utterly committed to the rule of law.

Yeah saw a documentary where after he left the FBI and went into private practice defending people he was actually rubbish! because all the clients that came into him a and told their story he would say to them "yeah you should go to jail":D ruthless in right and wrong this jobs suits him down to the ground

Hande hoche!

Haspel confirmed as the CIA director. Wonder will she see out her term?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44159593

StringerBell

NKante wrote: »

What damage? angered a few bureaucrats in the EU? 
Angered a totalitarian regime in Iran?

North Korea has been one of the most volatile situations this world has had since the Cuban missile crisis. Relations with the EU, Iran, Embassy move in Jerusalem pale in significance.
I hope he goes all out for Korean peace.

Yep, so latch onto anything perceived positive, build it up to near God like levels regardless of the merit and dismiss anything negative as completely inconsequential. Pretty standard, the accounts change the message stays the same.

Mumha

Manafort's former Son-in-law has flipped and is co-operating with Mueller. In fact he reached an agreement with Mueller last January, but it has only been made known now. This piles more pressure on Manafort, who one former prosecutor said that he will never see the outside of a prison cell, unless he co-operates.

AlAlkovitch4

Have to say I’m a fan, he is definitely an asshole but seems to be better for the ordinary man than most politicians

Trent Houseboat

AlAlkovitch4 wrote: »

Have to say I’m a fan, he is definitely an asshole but seems to be better for the ordinary man than most politicians

Who do you think is a better politician than whom?
Trump has contributed to the murder of babies in the middle East and has given face to a previously unacknowledged North Korean regime. Failed to bring back or stop the out flow of jobs from the us to Mexico.

Which ordinary man do you refer to?

josip

AlAlkovitch4 wrote: »

Have to say I’m a fan, he is definitely an asshole but seems to be better for the ordinary man than most politicians

Welcome to boards Al.
In what way do you think he's better for ordinary people?