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

if the shoe was on the other foot. The Republicans would be frothing at the mouth with outrage.

kimmel has a special on it tomorrow night, should be funny.

tonight’s state of the union….sleepy Joe Biden

Regarding judicial appointments, so far Trump (or the Senate) seems to be prioritising district court nominees, unlike the Circuit Courts of Appeals. In his first term he prioritised the Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Edit: It seems likely thats because few judges are retiring so far.

List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump - Wikipedia

Under the Blue Slip Rule, which is a custom rather than a Senate rule, a Senator can block consideration of a nominee. This has resulted in liberal circuits (circuits are collections of states under a Circuit Court) tending to have liberal judicial outcomes, and the opposite for conservative ones. However, some conservative states are in liberal circuits e.g. Montana is part of the 9th Circuit which includes California, and vice versa e.g. Minnesota is part of an extremely conservative circuit and all but 1 judge on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals are Republican appointees.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who is in his 90's was chair of the judiciary committee in Trumps first term. He did not always abide by the Blue Slip Rule. This resulted in the two thirds liberal majority on the 9th Circuit reducing to a majority of 3. This results sometimes in conservatives winning the 3 judge panels that rule before a case gets to the full court (called an En Banc hearing). But the way it works in the 9th Circuit is controversial because instead of all judges being present in an En Banc hearing, two thirds are. The 2nd Circuit, which includes New York, now has 6 liberals and 5 conservatives, excluding the semi-retired (Senior Status) judges who sometimes sit on panels. There are 2 Carter appointees on the court with Senior Status.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, now has a conservative majority of 8-6 following 2 Trump appointees (including Emil Bove). During his time as a top DOJ official under President Donald Trump, a former DOJ attorney (Erez Reuveni) alleged that Bove advocated for the Department of Justice to ignore judicial orders blocking deportation flights of undocumented immigrants, reportedly saying the DOJ would need to tell courts “f— you.” Critics argued this showed a willingness to set aside the rule of law. Bove and the DOJ deny these claims. After he was confirmed and began serving as a federal judge, a judicial watchdog group (Fix the Court) filed a formal ethics complaint because Bove attended a political rally for President Trump. Federal judicial canons generally require judges to avoid political activity or the appearance of partiality, and critics say his attendance could undermine public confidence in judicial impartiality.

On the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (jurisdiction Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and West Virginia), there is a 9-6 liberal majority.

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit - Wikipedia

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - Wikipedia

Current vacancies on the Circuit Courts of Appeal and the current balance of the court. Note that Senior Status (semi retired) judges do not normally sit on the full court but do sit on panels that rule before it gets to the full court.

• 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals: Debra Ann Livingston, a Bush appointee (born 1959) is taking Senior Status. Trump hasn't yet nominated a replacement.
• 3rd Circuit: None.
• 4th Circuit (includes Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and South Carolina): None.
• 5th Circuit (includes Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi) the conservatives have a 12-5 majority. It has no vacancies and Trump hasnt made appointments to it in his second term.
• 6th Circuit: (Includes Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee), there is one vacancy as Jeffrey Sutton, a Bush appointee, is taking Senior Status (semi retirement). Trump has not nominated a replacement yet.
• 7th Circuit: None. This used to be a conservative court but Biden appointed 5 judges to it so its now 5-5, and there are no vacancies.
• 8th Circuit (includes Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota). There is 1 vacancy as Duane Benton, a Bush appointee, is retiring. Trump has nominated Justin D Smith to replace him. This already has a 10-1 conservative majority.
• 9th Circuit (includes California, Arizona, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii). No vacancies at moment. This circuit is 20% of the US population. It currently has a 16-13 liberal majority of 3. Trump has appointed one judge (Eric Tung) to it in 2025.
• 10th Circuit (includes Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming). 1 vacancy. This court has a 7-5 liberal majority. Timothy Tymokovych, a Bush appointee, is taking semi retirement (Senior Status). Trump has not yet nominated a replacement.
• 11th Circuit (includes Florida, Alabama and Georgia). No vacancies. Has a 7-5 conservative majority.

I'd say it will be the usual rambling on about the deals he has done.

Sky News were saying that Donald Trump holds the record for the longest State of the Union address, at 1:39:32. And they were saying that there's a rumour that this one could be 2 hours. 😱

Now, I know Trump loves himself, loves talking about himself, loves praising himself and a good ramble, but there's no way it'll be that long. 🥱 😴 💤

Could he stay awake that long without a nappy change?

Trumpty says "America is the hottest country anywhere in the world."

That could be due to climate change, but Trump doesn't believe in climate change.

I wonder are all those hockey guys mad about being there?

I've heard of resting Bitch face, but JD Vance seems to have a permanent frown face. Maybe he's having trouble keeping up?

He really does have a peculiar way of talking. "Very great" and "very tremendous". Something can't be very tremendous. It's either tremendous or it isn't.

But Joey had 2 brain cells.