Donald Trump the Megathread part II - mod warnings in OP, Updated 06/06/25

Leroy42

Let's just take a step back and look at what happened yesterday. Trump sent in the NG without any call from the state, a massive power grab by the federal government over state rights. Couple this with the recent confession from MTG that she hadn't read the tax bill but had since seen that within it was a cancellation of state rights in relation to AI for a 10-year period.

Trump then called for the arrest of the democratically elected governor of the great state of California, and when specifically asked on what grounds, the only thing he could come up with is that Newsom is bad at his job.

aloyisious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123529884#Comment_123529884

So you think the state of California is wilfully ignoring immigration laws that govern the entire land. Do you want to debate with Trump on whether he is being a law abiding citizen?

everlast75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530588#Comment_123530588

And yet, we still have folk saying… "well, let's wait and see until he does XYZ before we react"!

Reacting to him isn't the way - you have to pre-empt or else you'll be trying to mitigate or repair the damage as opposed to preventing it.

The problem with Trump is that the damage being done can't be repaired.

Akrasia

If you were to come up with the most daring plan to overthrow US democracy, and you didn't think the courts or police or military or media would stand in your way, here is what you could do.

Trump already controls both legislative houses in 26 states in America. These are lost causes, he will use his influence there to illegally lock those states down and retain control in the mid terms one way or another.

This means he needs 12 more states where he controls a majority in both houses. The states below are would be his likely targets given that they have the smallest margin needed to flip them to full GOP control.

• Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Nevada, Arizona, Maine, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Illinois

How would Trump ensure that he retains the 26 states he has, and maximise his chance of flipping the 8 states he needs?

• Use widespread intimidation, purging and suppression in key states in order to flip control of the state legislatures in the 2026 mid term elections. https://truthout.org/articles/state-voter-suppression-bills-could-disenfranchise-millions-ahead-of-midterms/
• Arrest or deport opposition candidates on spurious charges
• Replace the regulators in election and media oversight committees so that they do nothing to prevent false and misleading campaigning.
• Utilising AI to spread disinformation about opponents.
• Fire anyone responsible for certifying elections who does not support the Trump mission
• Use mass surveillance and data collection (Palantir) to focus suppressive tactics on individuals. Identifying political opponents and using their voting history against them
• Use data aggregation to make people afraid to speak out against the regime, have ordinary people fired or arrested on trumped up charges, or deported or have their careers affected or their credit scores, or have previous 'skeletons' emerge to discredit them
• Declare political opponents to be 'terrorists' if they had been attending protests against mass deportation or other Trump activities
• Pack the courts with regime friendly officers and intimidate remaining officials with propaganda and smear campaigns against them, make them afraid to stand up to the Trump regime, threaten their friends and family with arrest and deportation.

None of this is legal, but that's basically the only barrier to him actually doing any of this. And guess what, Trump doesn't care what is legal or illegal. He will just do whatever he thinks will help his goals, and worry about the consequences later.

The courts are too slow to stop him, especially if he controls the FBI and the department of justice, and has no respect for political norms or precedents. We have already seen many of these things already happen on a smaller scale. Voter suppression is normal now, packing courts is normal. Mass firing of federal employees is normal now, nobody is stopping him from invading LA with thousands of heavily armed soldiers.

There will be elections in 2026. They won't be free and fair, but that is because Trump (and the psychopaths behind project 2025) want to change the constitution, so they need to control more democratic states.
Once they have that, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to legally stop him from doing anything he wants.

If the US population do not rise up now, by 2026, it will be too late.

If commanders in the US armed forces and the National Guard do not recognise that the biggest threat to the US constitution is no longer foreign, but domestic. then it will be too late and democracy in the USA will be over.

yagan

ICE is essentially Trumps private army.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-mistakenly-detain-us-marshal-rcna211599

aloyisious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123529910#Comment_123529910

If the Gov activates the Nat Gd units in his state, they can use the military posts and facilities set aside for them. As Trump sidestepped the Gov deliberately to deny him any say in the activation, Trump has had to house the troops in the federal buildings he claims were at risk from rioters and looters, along with illegal aliens.

Like you, I cant see the Gov aiding Trump in his illegal anti-democratic in-state activities.

aloyisious

Believe it or not, the US constitution allows for the president, if he chooses to retire/resign before his term is up, to name and appoint a successor from within the congress. It apparently need not be the current V/P he chooses, even though the V/P is also a member of the house when it comes to tied votes.

poop emoji

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530605#Comment_123530605

what will some of those folks do when heavily armed masked men arrive at their door without a warrant and try to send em to El Salvador despite these folks being naturalised migrants and citizens

I guess they will wait and see from inside a prison camp

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemöller”

Wolf359f

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Section 1

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

How does it get around that part of the constitution?

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530671#Comment_123530671

Yeah, probably wiser not to believe it. It's not true.

ancapailldorcha

I wish corporate media did this more often instead of promoting Trump like he's harmless:

https://twitter.com/maddenifico/status/1932252250107191303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1932252250107191303%7Ctwgr%5Eb0576a8d9137c72e8f23dfe301312c9188931140%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepoke.com%2F2025%2F06%2F10%2Fthis-news-anchors-2-minute-take-on-whats-going-on-in-the-us-right-now-went-wildly-viral-and-is-magnificently-on-point%2F

Maddow's point is solid. Republicans were counting on apathy to push their fascistic ideology through. They weren't expecting opposition so all they have is "But, woke".

Manic Moran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530602#Comment_123530602

Sortof?

It's difficult to say they are ignoring them, enforcement of federal law is not the responsibility of the state and there are valid reasons for local agencies to have the "don't ask, don't tell" policy they generally have as regards immigration status to allow them to do their jobs.

Active non-cooperation (if not active undermining) however, does lead to its own set of problems and inherently was going to lead to this sort of conflict between state, state citizenry and federal enforcement eventually, be it on immigration, drugs, firearms, or whatever subject the federal administration of the time happened to think important enough to stand upon.

J Mysterio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530819#Comment_123530819

Trump wants it both ways though doesn't he?

For all intents and purposes, he abolished the Department of Education so as to give this competency to the individual states, but then turns around and wants to impose his immigration policies/ 'law and order' on the states.

So is this the federal overreach that all the gun nuts have been waiting for?

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530788#Comment_123530788

I don't think they're relying on apathy, I think they're relying on polarisation and betting that if it comes down to a fight, the people with the most guns are on their side (which is probably true)

This day of protest on the 14th of June will give him an excuse to unleash his forces, (the most militarised law enforcement apparatus this side of North Korea) on the protestors, blame them for fomenting unrest, make protest illegal and arrest anyone they deem to be leaders (like David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California who is still in jail after being lifted off the streets of LA this weekend)

Trump doesn't want apathy, he wants an excuse to round up his enemies and neutralise them.

His opponents will either resign their posts (and give up any power they had) or be removed.

Once his political opponents are taken out, and he controls the military, the courts, all of the political institutions, all of the law enforcement agencies and the media and universities

what is left?

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530864#Comment_123530864

Revolution?

Trump still has a ways to go before he controls the judiciary, universities and the media, I would say. Having said that, I don't know if total control is necessary, there. As long as he has the polarisation, he has divide & rule.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530864#Comment_123530864

To try and control his own bowels?

Thats probably outside reality however.

Baba Yaga

from what i can see donnie pretty much has the "divide and conquer" part done,he seems to have most of the the police with him and already controls the fbi and the homeland security crowd…if he decides its a full blown "insurection" he can call up the army and well the shite will fly then id say…bye bye liberty and freedom…

Manic Moran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530845#Comment_123530845

Education was always fully in the hands of the individual states. Even the creation of the Federal Dept of Education in the Carter Years didn’t change that, it is more a centralized money handling facility which combined monetary distribution which was previously handled by different federal departments.

J Mysterio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530927#Comment_123530927

Maybe so, but that's not how Trump positioned it - he clearly framed it as federal overreach on what should be a competency og individual states, so he is speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/improving-education-outcomes-by-empowering-parents-states-and-communities/

Manic Moran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530936#Comment_123530936

That, I won’t argue with, and partly why I don’t pay overly much attention to what he says, together with his hyperbole in general. Doesn’t change the reality on the ground, though.

poop emoji

Heh, that aged like fine milk

10000maniacs

Here is Trump saying in 2020 that a president cannot call in the National Guard to a state without the say so from the governor of the state. So he is making up the rules as he sees fit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erlAzfshUJ8

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123531010#Comment_123531010

Every accusation is a confession.

MoodeRator

RFK Jr sacks entire US vaccine committee

The circus just keeps on sliding into scary realms

aloyisious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530788#Comment_123530788

Twentynine Palms in California is where the 2nd Bn, 7th Marines, [the MC unit Trump has plans for in LA] is based so, in a way, they are Californians with ties to the community there.

I'm waiting to see what MIGHT happen between today and the coincidence of his birth-day and the anniversary parade for the US Military on the 14th.

I would imagine that a good degree of vetting has been done by Trumps people on the make-up of the units taking part in the anniversary parade. Not all of his people are bozos.

fullstop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123531011#Comment_123531011

But where are the checks and balances we keep being told about?

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123531011#Comment_123531011

A series of actions that also utterly blows up his bullsh!t reasons for not calling in the National Guard on January 6th.

Not that any MAGA head will notice of course.

poop emoji

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123531072#Comment_123531072

They dead

I am very curious now as to what will happen to “Americans need so many guns to defend against tyranny” arguments

when heavily armed masked men without a warrant arrive at the door of houses of those making those arguments

For Forks Sake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123531135#Comment_123531135

To use an Americanism, the average yank is All Hat And No Cattle, up to and incuding the NRA/2A enthusiasts, very big on talk, very low on action

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123531135#Comment_123531135

It was only ever about resisting policies they disagreed with. Actual tyranny is something they clap like seals for.

The cringey "Don't tread on me" stuff is just the American equivalent of some drunken Brit ranting about how the EU stops the UK doing trade with China (Spoiler: It never did).