Trump - The positives - (see Mod note in OP)

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123187766#Comment_123187766

It's just about him.. He doesn't care about America beyond how it might impact him.

He's only lens is "what's in this for me?"

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123187515#Comment_123187515

There is absolutely no one that convince me that Putin hasn't got dirt on either Trump himself or members of his family.

There is absolutely no rational excuse for fully adopting and parroting Russian propaganda verbatim.

A de facto Russian puppet in the White house. The signs were there previous, but it is without doubt now.

What guardrails have the US left because we have entered into a unprecedented scenario only seen before in movies.

Sleepy

I don't think there's any level of dirt that could make Trump turn traitor so easily. My guess is it's financial control. We know Musk bought X with Russian money. It's quite probable that Trump's business interests are propped up with similar blood money and it's the ability to pull the entire house of cards down that has him dancing for his master.

Sleepy

As to the thread title: the only positive I can think of is that America's going to suffer so badly over the next 4 years, Trump's second term may just serve as an innoculation against them voting in another Russian agent/conman.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123188463#Comment_123188463

Hey, he gets good return on his investments, if he sells them to RuZZians!

A Dub in Glasgo

He has finally been outed as Putin's useful idiot… about the only positive thing about what has happened

dulpit

I was watching a movie with a fictional president in it and it got me thinking. If someone wrote a movie with a fictional president who did what Trump has done or is planning to do - is there any sane person who would think anything he's doing is a good thing? If you split the actions of the man from the cult of the man, is there anything good?

Fishdoodle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123183623#Comment_123183623

Cinton did a lot more. He got the peace process rolling and that delivered in vastly more beneficial ways than a hotel in Co Clare.

Beechwoodspark

Definitely, it’s beyond all doubt that he is in Putin’s pocket and has been for many years.

he dislikes Zielinsky going back to when he asked him to go along with false allegations against Biden and Z refused.

i would recommend “House of Trump, House of Putin” by Craig Unger if you want a deep dive into Trump’s entanglements with Russia.

He has been bought and paid for by Putin.

Beechwoodspark

Russia has achieved inserting “their man” into the White House, who has completely divided american society and as a bonus undermined the western order - particularly Russia’s enemies in the EU.

The Russian yes man trump has brought along a whole cast of unqualified minions throughout the US govt, and a witch-hunt against genuine American patriots in the US system.

The vodka must be flowing in the Kremlin.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123183065#Comment_123183065

No one who is in any way objective could look at Trump and not identify him as a Liar.

The Washington Post documented him lying over 30k times in the 4 yrs he was President first time round.

And we've all listened to words straight from his own mouth. I wouldn't trust him if he told me the time.

Bishop of hope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123188077#Comment_123188077

Again I'm not sure of that completely. I think he is a megalomaniac, but I think his delusion is that he sees as good for him is also good for America. The type of America he would like to live in anyway.

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123188457#Comment_123188457

Do not rule out the possiblity that Trump just likes treason. You don't have to pay him to be a Putin supporter because he genuinely supports Putin. He admires cruelty, corruption, bullying, dishonesty and selfishness; he sees them as virtues, not vices. He's got a serious crush on Putin. He'd like to be Putin. You can't buy that kind of adoration with money.

itsacoolday

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123190050#Comment_123190050

How would that conspiracy theory of yours be a "positive", the point of this thread, and why do you derail the thread with it?

spacecoyote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123190344#Comment_123190344

I think you're getting a bit narrow and inflexible with your approach to a thread.

The OP asked if there were any actual positives that could be seen. If you only take one side to a question, this thread would have disappeared from the first page of the Politics forum within a couple of days.

It's OK to argue that there are no positives to Trump, in answer to a question about whether there are any positives.

In essence the thread has become the de facto Trump presidency thread. Getting into semantic arguments about people's posts is not going to change that fact.

Reality is, if you came here expecting a Trump cheerleading thread, you're probably on the wrong website completely

There are little to no meaningful positive arguments coming in, and to be fair, unless your rich, or a troll, that's probably the truth of the matter.

Arguing he tells it like it is, is provably untrue.

If you want to re-frame that to be...he's openly unpleasant, or he doesn't ever think before he speaks, maybe that's a more reasonable statement, and maybe some people think that's a good thing.

To call Zelensky a dictator out one side of your mouth, and refer to yourself as kinglike out of the other side at best shows a complete lack of self-awareness

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123190344#Comment_123190344

I'm suggesting that Trump is not, in fact, a paid agent of the Russians, and you think that's a "conspiracy theory" of mine? Seriously? Surely it's the opposite theory, that he is a paid agent of the Russians, that would be a conspiracy theory?

And you're asking me how is this a "positive". Again, seriously? How in God's name is "I don't think Trump is a paid agent of the Russians" not a positive?

rock22

Well, to Putin and the Russians, Trump being so idiotic and naive is a major positive. Merkel recalls , on her first meeting with Trump, that all he wanted to talk about was Putin, who he hadn't met at that time. Trump had a schoolboy crush on his big strong aggressive role model.

Anyway, accusations of derailing the thread are ironic coming from you.

Seth Brundle

Mod: Right folks - back on topic and @itsacoolday - there is also a rule against back seat moderation!

Bishop of hope

Everything Trump does is a positive to someone. He is emboldening Russia for sure and at a time when Ukraine and Zelensky need him and all the help they can get.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ukraine/2025/0220/1497787-ukraine-war/

poop emoji

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123186902#Comment_123186902

Price of eggs in US is an all time high well above Bidens peak eggflation

That’s a positive

spacecoyote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123190678#Comment_123190678

And inflation is going nowhere for the foreseeable, in all likelihood, with Trumps approach to global economic policy

ronjo

He is one day closer to not being here…… Its all I can think of

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123178520#Comment_123178520

The resort at peak season employs 300 and staff costs last year increased from €7.17m to €7.56m that included €7m in wages and salaries.

https://www.thejournal.ie/record-year-trump-doonbeg-golf-resort-profits-double-6577752-Dec2024/

Mod: folks no more discussion about the resort, thanks.

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123184048#Comment_123184048

As far as I know, Trump doesn’t get a cent as US President, well he didn’t take it in his first term anyway.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191262#Comment_123191262

He didn't take a salary last time , which conveniently prevented his tax returns becoming subject to FOI requests as a Federal employee.

But you truly believe that "he didn't get a cent as US President" then I really can't help you.

He billed the US Government millions of dollars for having the Secret service stay in his hotels while he played Golf.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191262#Comment_123191262

Actually the President of the United States receives an annual salary of $400,000, a figure set by Congress in 2001 and unchanged since then. However, as you say, Trump probably does not take a cent as President, he does not need it and would only be pocket change to him. 400,000 dollars is still a fair bit, about 382,000 euro, not far off what our President gets between his salary and pensions. So obviously money is not a motivating factor for Trump. Perhaps, as someone else said, he just likes fame and power. Or he and his followers saw the mess (as they saw it, not saying they were right or wrong) the USA was in, caused by Obama/Biden, so he decided to run for President and got elected. Politics is mad in America.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191715#Comment_123191715

Trump cares about money a lot. Hence all the fraud convictions and bans from running charities, among others.

As for why he ran for Potus? I think a lot had to do with him being roasted at the Correspondents dinner by Obama for Trump's baseless racist dogwhistle birther nonsense. He definitely looked unhappy and probably thought of revenge. Melanoma, his wife, was REALLY unhappy according to reports that he ran, and even more so that he won the first time.

Trump never ran for President to fix anything, other than tax cuts for himself and his ilk. He could give a rats about the average American and his current behaviour cements this.

Side note - I wonder how soon before the Correspondents dinners are cancelled. No way they're happening during this administration, at least for awhile some of Trump's people showed up (SHS got roasted good at least once.)

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191753#Comment_123191753

You claim "Trump never ran for President to fix anything, other than tax cuts for himself and his ilk.". I think if he fixed America it would be beneficial for everyone : himself, his ilk as you call it and everyone else. It is absurd to think that he ran for President just to get tax cuts for himself : if nothing else, he got shot at just for running for President. And also for a lot of work involved in being President, and responsibility 24/7. If he just wanted to pay less tax he could base some of his bigger companies in Ireland and run his worldwide profits through Ireland, like Apple did. I agree with you he cares about money a lot but he is patriotic enough to want American companies to pay their tax in America. His colleagues in US government think the same.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191843#Comment_123191843

Why didn't he fix anything in his first term then? It seems pretty obvious to me that Trump's penchant for grifting, his laziness, and his avarice mean that his motives are purely acquisitive.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123191843#Comment_123191843

I think if he fixed America it would be beneficial for everyone

If he cured cancer it would also be beneficial. However, he won't do either of those things and we all know it!

if nothing else, he got shot at just for running for President

He was shot by one of his supporters and anyhow, that doesn't make him anything other than a victim of gun violence (which f course he'll do nothing about!)

And also for a lot of work involved in being President, and responsibility 24/7

Remind us all what his work/life balance was like was compared to previous Presidents?

If he just wanted to pay less tax he could base some of his bigger companies in Ireland and run his worldwide profits through Ireland, like Apple did

...and there's the dig against Ireland - I was wondering when it was coming!