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

You don't even have to look at the current threat, the US military has been damaging historical sites for decades. Have a look at how they treated Ancient Babylon during the first Iraq war.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/15/iraq.arts1

'This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain," says the report, which has been seen by the Guardian.

Among the damage found by Mr Curtis, who was invited to Babylon by Iraqi antiquities experts, were cracks and gaps where somebody had tried to gouge out the decorated bricks forming the famous dragons of the Ishtar Gate.

He saw a 2,600-year-old brick pavement crushed by military vehicles, archaeological fragments scattered across the site, and trenches driven into ancient deposits.

Vast amounts of sand and earth, visibly mixed with archaeological fragments, were gouged from the site to fill thousands of sandbags and metal mesh baskets. When this practice was stopped, large quantities of sand and earth were brought in from elsewhere, contaminating the site for future generations of archaeologists.'

It would still be foreign interference.

Ireland is a member of the UN, if the UN interfered with Irish elections, it would be foreign interference. If the EU meddles in elections, its foreign interference.

If Trump goes ahead with his threat to attack and wipe out Iran's power plants, I hope he's aware that one of the plants is nuclear. Hitting a nuclear power plant with all the might Trump has claimed he will usw tonight if he doesn't get what he allegedly wants from Iran would mean Trump wouldn't have to deploy nukes to wipe out Iran's civilisation.

As of early 2026, Iran has one operational nuclear power plant integrated into its civil electricity grid,

Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP)

• Status: Operational. Unit 1 of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has been active since 2011, with commercial operation beginning in 2013.
• Capacity: The plant provides roughly 1,000 MW (megawatts) to the national grid.
• Contribution: It generally contributes about 1.7%–1.8% of Iran's national electricity generation.
• Fuel & Operations: It is a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) supplied with fuel by Russia (TVEL Co.), and its operation is under IAEA monitoring. 

Ukraine's plants have been under both IAEA supervision and Russian interference for years now.

If he follows through on this insanity there will be world wide protests outside probably every american embassy and id be surprised if there wasn't also violence, just imagine that…. american embassies around the world being attacked not by terrorists but by normal people simply outraged and disgusted by this madman and also with those that have the power to stop him refusing to step up and do so…..

Neither the UN or EU are sovereign entities like countries

And the World sits with bated breath, waiting to see what this evil Entity (as he doesn't deserve to be called human) decides to do . .

Vance is over in Hungary, getting stuck in to save his crooked pal Orban. Yet he claims the EU is foreign interference in the very same election.

Even if his Cabinet resigmed en masse in protest he would just shrug and appoint replacements in the morning.

Orban getting Vance in to sway undecideds. Nothing radiates power more than having the clout to only get their number 2.

I think Trump is over thinking this, why doesn't he simply lie and say a deal has been reached? just lie and say Iran has capitulated, that they came groveling, begging for mercy and of course, Trump being the great ender of wars granted them absolution.

Just blame the Strait being closed on Europe or Biden, his base wont ask questions and Trump lives in imagination land anyway so he wont have a problem with it, just do what he's actually good at and lie, facts have never mattered to Trump, Maga or his adminstration from day one so why should they matter now?

Indeed, im shocked he hasnt simply tried this route yet and honestly its probably too late after all his so far empty threats

I suspect he would love to do that - but it’s unlikely to really help him if people still feel it in their wallets, and there is the possibility that Israel will pressure him to continue too.

Only way out for him I can realistically see is a climbdown in private that allows the strait to be reopened with Hegseth thrown under the bus.

Another exceptionally dangerous scumbag imagine if the EU sent a delegation over to his state to influence elections there and publicise current Republican incompetence and corruption

This is way overstepping any remit.

You are arguing the justification for interference where I am talking about the source of it.

The original question was how the EU can be considered 'foreign' if Hungary is a member. My point is that foreign describes the source of the influence, not the legality of it. Whether the EU is a federation or a voluntary union is irrelevant. If the pressure or the mandates originate from an entity outside of the national electorate, it is external to that domestic election.

Even if you believe the EU is simply enforcing its rules, the entity doing the enforcing is still a third party relative to the Hungarian ballot box. You can argue that the interference is valid or legal but you cannot claim it is domestic just because the target is a member of the group.

For the record, I don't agree with Vance and I think the man is a tool. Arguing that because Hungary are members of the EU that suddenly its not an external actor is an odd one.