Donald Trump the Megathread part II - mod warnings in OP, Updated 18/03/25

A lot of truth in that, but the fact that Trump and Musk are shredding the US's international reputation even among its allies is a hugely significant event in itself. So Americans might face the double whammy of Trump crashing the economy plus destroying all its long standing alliances.

Are Americas employment laws completely different to ours? Can you imagine some self appointed unelected business man here appointed to reduce civil service numbers firing people at the stroke of a pen? Sending out emails on a Saturday asking people to name 5 things they did during the week and reply by Monday or face firing. Surely even MAGA supporters will start pushing back once they see how its affecting them not mention they now see Trump has aligned America with Russia.

Musk trying to apply these private sector standards to the public sector is absolutely bonkers. These federal employees would be your schoolteachers, police, healthcare (including doctors, nurses and paramedics), the military, firefighters, council workers, special education, scientists etc not just management, clerical and admin employees. Threatening everyone with the sack if they don't meet weekly performance targets is unhinged.

With all the contrary things he's been saying over the past week, it strikes me Trump is trying to keep multiple balls in the air and making a bags of it, [this not including things at home involving his voters and US economy] talking about his part in peace between Russia and Ukraine while talking about Ukraine making a deal with him over the mineral-rights in Ukraine. Plus giving an unspoken nod to EU troops going on the grounds in Ukraine. The troops may be designated as EU peacekeepers BUT they will be also from NATO country military forces, different packaging with same contents. Putin won't like them sitting around vital installations like Kyiv, which he likes using long range weaponry on.

This while Zelenskyy had been meeting with Erdogan's Govt last week in Turkey and doing prisoner transfer deals with Russia [around the time he made the "if I resign as president offer for security of Ukraine (including the minerals)] followed by Putin's foreign minister Lavrov meeting with Erdogan yesterday over the future of Ukraine, I wouldn't be surprised for there to be a blow-up between Trump and Putin if the meeting Trump is saying he's to have with Putin in Moscow goes ahead. I can't imagine Putin being a happy bunny with Trump selling him out by doing a mineral-rights deal with Zelenskyy. Trump might try to pacify Putin by releasing from sanctions any monies and other goods the US sequestered from Russia's use but congress might not be happy with that.

Oh right, so they are not employed by the government then? It seems he is indeed going after the clerical and admin and management side of things - but there is no evidence they are all slackers and layabouts (this type of demonising of the civil service is what you usually see from far right types….we heard all of this from the Brexit crowd in the UK).

it will be of interest to watch these companies as to when they will start ‘putting shovels in the ground’. Will they stretch the ‘start date’ out to the next presidential election in the hope that there might be a change of direction that they would be happy with?

That "rapist" line is so true isn't it. And its another example of how this administration and the modern day GOP is failing women so much while telling them they only care about their best interests.

Some of the videos over the last 2 weeks from Conservative town halls across the breadth of the country have given quite an insight in to just how the people feel about what is happening.

Democrats should be using the fact that meetings like this are happening to fuel their strategy right up to the next midterms but they are still displaying mostly incompetence in the strategic department right now. There are some outliers, but there's a lot of sitting around doing nothing. Obama should really learn from this and really keep quiet in the future. I wish he was leading the charge now while potential candidates in 28 gather themselves, but he has chosen to remain silent.

Be quiet the adults are talking….

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c1lpvgj31r3o

It’s a frustrating trait of the Democratic leadership that makes all of their pronouncements about Trump, no matter how accurate, seem exaggerated when they’ll happily sit there cordially with him.

If they genuinely think that he is a threat to American democracy(and judging his first month it’s hard to argue he isn’t), then skipping his inauguration should be considered perfectly reasonable.

They can be so tied to tradition that they don’t seem to realise how damaging their actions can be.

I was always felt Obama's youth when he became President was going to be a problem. For two reasons. 1, it wasted anything he could have added to the senate had he been there for 12, 16, 20 years instead of just 1 term during which he started campaigning for President so was really only effectively there for 2 years.

Secondly, him leaving office so young meant that for the next 20 odd years he'd be on the edge of current affairs but no real threat because he couldn't run for anything again. And it has played out that way. He's a fantastic communicator and I do believe he is well intentioned, but he could have been so much more effective than he was/is.

it’ s of INTEREST to note that the key target for The US and it’s allies over the last, circa, 80years was to make sure that Russia does not win any war against them , to be stronger than Russia militarially, economically, etc, etc., to make sure that USSR/and then Russia do not expand its geographical area, etc.

And the VERY TIME that the US had a ‘ clear run at the goal’ and when Russia’s percieved strength has been exposed as a ‘ damp squib’ by UKr that The US has done a 180 degree turn.
It is unbelievable x by 100%

maybe science by the Democrats is a very good strategy as tTrump is doing the ‘ work that they should be doing is meting done for them by Trump - ‘ upsetting “ his own side and they are getting louder and louder. And what about the 50501 movement - why is it getting so little coverage or was that ‘fakeNews’