Donald Trump the Megathread part II - Mod Warning updated in OP 12/2/26

One of his sons, would it be Jnr or Eric? The bearded one might be the loser on account of his appearance, liken to the V/P and not clean-shaven. Appearances count to the public as per Chuck Kirk.

That would mean a dynasty and we all know how the last dynasty ended.

I expect Miller would expect a secretarial post in the Admin given how he's been so useful to Trump's one, but it would mean he'd be visibly nearer the bus as a cabinet member, not the Eminence Grise wielding greater influence.

JD Vance seems to be the obvious choice. Young, educated and currently the President in waiting should Trump die.

The Guardian have done an investigation that finds US soda and snack food companies are threatened by RFK jr and have hired strategists, shadowy pollsters and anti work influencers to wage a campaign against Kennedy pitting MAGA against MAHA.

These guys are all going to turn on each other and destroy America when they do.

Miller whispering in Trump's ear: Return California to Mexico as Spanish is regularly spoken there and it's has a Dem governor, you know the one.

Poll finds voters approve of Trumps handling of Gaza 47-34 following the peace deal. This marks a reversal from previous disapproval.

However the public disapprove of his handling of Ukraine 50-30.

Voters continue to name the economy as the top issue facing the United States (31%), followed by threats to democracy (23%), immigration (13%), healthcare (9%), crime (8%), and housing affordability (6%). 

Forty percent of voters say their household finances are worse off than a year ago, while 30% are better off and 30% are about the same. 

52-37 disapprove of his handling of the economy.

Putin has a 6% approval rating, to 74% disapproval. Netanyahu has a 30% approval rating and a 46% disapproval rating.

Zelensky has a 42% approval rating to 34% disapproval.

“Majorities of voters under 30 and in their 40s say they are worse off financially than a year ago, and these groups are most likely to name the economy as the top issue facing the country. Voters over 70 are more concerned about threats to democracy, at 39%, than any other age group,” Kimball said. 

Democrats lead the Congressional ballot poll 44-43. Vance leads Gavin Newsom 46-45 in hypothetical 2028 presidential poll.

Nearly half of voters (49%) said the government shutdown is having “no real impact” on their household, while 30% said “a minor impact,” 14% a “major impact,” and 7% are unsure.

Some peace deal…

Disgraceful comments, saying that Russia should retain territory taken since 2022.

But he negotiated a US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

He also describes the occupied Ukrainian land as "property". What about the people living there, who are being denied social services unless they take out Russian citizenship, and losing their homes to settlers from Russia? This should not be normalised in the name of a bad "peace". It really is Appeasement.

The decision to hold the talks with Putin in Budapest looks like an effort to divide Europe, and undermining the flight bans on Putin in Europe (which dont include Hungary of course).

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Sovereign Wealth fund, tweets a QANON reference and a picture of Pete Hegseth, hinting he was paying homage to Russia with the tie that resembles the Russian flag.

The theory's followers often use the phrase WWG1WGA, stood for 'Where We Go One, We Go All' - which Dmitriev tweeted in response to his picture of Hegseth's tie. Dmitriev also appeared to mock JD Vance after the vice president appeared to deny Hegseth was paying homage to Russia by writing: 'Or maybe he was wearing the colors of America.' 'Maybe it is good that we have the same colors,' Dmitriev posted back.

Hegseth's Russian tie debacle comes as Pentagon insiders told the Daily Mail that the Secretary has been struggling with the toll of the job , saying he has become so rattled he has often appeared to be 'crawling out of his skin.' Dmitriev's posts come after Trump was accused by critics of bowing to Putin as he refused to give Zelensky long-range Tomahawk missiles , admitting he backed off after a phone call with the Russian leader during the week. Dmitriev's prodding of White House officials led to a wave of backlash on X as some users felt the Russian was ridiculing the Trump administration following a week of high-stakes talks over the Ukraine conflict.

People forget the Russians hacked the Republicans as well as the Dems in 2015...

I think the AFD coming to power will depend on the willingness of the CDU to work with them. The AFD are on 27% in a recent poll, to 24% for the CDU. But a deal with the AFD could split the party. In France the danger of a Far Right government is much greater. They won over 40% of the vote in the 2017 Presidential election.

The French Establishment changed the electoral system in 1986 from PR to First Past the Post. For decades this led to the Fronte Nationale only have a handful of parliamentary seats, compared to around 90 before 1986. But the party has adopted a more middle-class image, saying its no longer anti semitic (though during the campaign past comments resurfaced). Le Pen expelled her own father Jean Marie Le Pen from the party over anti-semitism. JMLP had been convicted of anti semitism for calling the Holocaust "a detail" of the Second World War.

One tactic the European Far Right has engaged in to appeal to the Establishment in France and Germany is being strongly supportive of Israel. This "Israel-washing" allows them to avoid accusations of anti-semitism as much. The Netanyahu government has courted Le Pen and the AFD. This somewhat neutralises the issue, but in both parties, past social media tweets and photos of an RN candidate dressed like a German soldier in Normandy have resurfaced, which probably cost them a second round victory in 2017 and 2024.

The comfortable middle class control politics in the West, so if you can win them over, sooner or later you will get into government. The US is a possible exception. I think its controlled by billionaires, because of the campaign finance rules or lack of. The Citizens United Case in 2010 removed all limits of funding of Super PACs, though on paper they are still not supposed to coordinate with political campaigns (yeah right).

Why is Trump letting this happen?