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

PropJoe10 · 15-05-2026 10:24PM

Imagine being an American with even one brain cell and seeing Donald Trump representing your country abroad. Mortifying.

briany · 15-05-2026 11:14PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124470901#Comment_124470901

He really gave America the Gulf of America. Most of the rest of the world feels no obligation to call it anything of the sort. Maybe a few use it just to plámás him.

Yeah, it's hard to see any way out of the political polarisation that the US is suffering from which doesn't involve some kind of war/civil unrest/organised violence. Unfortunately, when two sides cannot agree on anything, this is what results, and it's the terrible nature of conflict that forces some kind of compromise or settlement that the parties can live with. That's the cold splash of water that war provides.

Hope I'm wrong.

Capt'n Midnight · 15-05-2026 11:43PM

https://www.wsj.com/business/boeing-toyota-donated-1-million-each-to-transportation-secretarys-road-trip-show-bccbe412

This is the best administration that money can buy. If you have lots of money.

For Forks Sake · 16-05-2026 12:23AM

Attention To Detail right 🙄

https://twitter.com/i/status/2055331493858410721

For Forks Sake · 16-05-2026 12:28AM

He's doubling down on saying the quite part out loud I see, making muppets of the likes of Vance and Johnson who went out trying to claim that wasn't what he meant

An absolute godsend for Dem strategists

https://twitter.com/i/status/2055413900427092185

silliussoddius · 16-05-2026 02:09AM

Classic narcissist, never admit to a mistake.

Ozymandius2011 · 16-05-2026 02:41AM

Looking at the polls it seems likely Alaska will get its first Democratic Senator since 2015.

Remember I mentioned the alleged Republican plant that was running in the Democratic primary, possibly to split the vote (Democrats are supporting the Independent Dan Osborne who has been competitive in recent elections? Well the alleged plant did not win the Democratic primary.

StarryPlough01 · 16-05-2026 02:59AM

When will US voters ever learn

Corruption run amok by Trump

The American Project “Aftermath: Trump Is Wrecking the U.S. Military”
“Not our precious troops! No! No!!”
by Ryan Cooper May 15, 2026
https://prospect.org/2026/05/15/aftermath-trump-wrecking-us-military-iran-war/

“It didn’t even occur to any previous president to sue his own administration over complete nonsense and then settle with himself for a cool $10 billion in free money, as Trump is reportedly considering. That is leading to the usual problem of public spending going to incompetent insiders, like a company linked to Trump’s two sons getting a $24 million Pentagon contract. ....
“.... It doesn’t help that the Trump administration’s other main budget priority is enormous cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, and Obamacare, coupled with tax cuts for the rich that are so huge they still increase the deficit. In a quite literal sense, Trump is snatching food out of the mouths of hungry American children, in order to pay for bombs that are dropped on Iranian children, and the effect is to make the price of gas and diesel, and therefore food, shoot upward.

By PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER, 16 May 202
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15821019/Taxpayers-foot-Trumps-1-7-BILLION-bill-president-sues-government-Im-paying-myself.html

“Donald Trump will drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for a $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded payout to his business entities and allies who claim the Biden administration wrongfully targeted them.
“The commission overseeing Trump's fund would have complete authority to distribute the money to anyone alleging harm from the Biden administration's 'weaponization' of the legal system, including nearly 1,600 January 6 defendants.
“While Trump is barred from directly receiving payments on those three claims, entities associated with him are not explicitly prohibited from filing additional ones, according to ABC News.

^ I don’t think it’s possible to put someone with so many billions in prison. When in history has that ever happened? There is no justice for people like that.

Ozymandius2011 · 16-05-2026 05:48AM

SCOTUS rules a man who lost his leg in an accident can show a truck company. Lower courts including the conservative leaning 7th Circuit had said he couldn't.

Manic Moran · 16-05-2026 07:05AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124472410#Comment_124472410

And lower courts including the conservative leaning 6th circuit had said he could.

It wasn’t a well written law. The Court ruled unanimously that a line in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act that the state’s safety regulation authority over motor vehicles were exempted from preemption could be said to include trucks, though the concurrences observe that the decision was closer than one might think from the unanimous ruling.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/05/court-rules-freight-brokers-can-face-negligent-hiring-suits-under-state-law/

dulpit · 16-05-2026 07:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124472428#Comment_124472428

How bad are the laws in the states that you can have different sets of courts come to completely contradictory decisions? It's a lottery as to which judge you get, is it? Surely the law is the law?

Oscar_Madison · 16-05-2026 09:09AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124472106#Comment_124472106

It’s not just the fact Trump currently represents America, which is mortifying enough- he was absolutely humiliated by Xi Jinping.

That speech which was only very thinly draped with diplomatic language really put it to Trump - it very much landed the message, you are Sparta and we are Troy- don’t mess with us.

America has depleted its cruise missiles and will take up to 4 years to replace- Trump has failed with his incursion into Iran, even if you believe the conspiracy theory of Trump destroying the world so all countries become reliant on America.

He has to be the most stupid president of America - ever. Hopefully impeachment will follow and he becomes a lame duck - but he’s going to continue to act recklessly until that happens.

Oscar_Madison · 16-05-2026 09:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124471279#Comment_124471279

Such a move, whilst worrying, is not unexpected. Trump does appear to be doubling down on his attitude to NATO and Europe - in my view not a bad thing in that it will only make Europe stronger long term, but there will be short term pain.

Trumps attention appears to be elsewhere now from a military perspective - whether it’s South America or towards the far east who knows -but he obviously needs troops and machinery - he doesn’t have an unending supply.

Thankfully Russia is currently in rag order- so Europe needs to reinforce its defences itself while it has a chance.

Personally I think America is scared sh1tless of China - it knows they’re now militarily and economically superior - they’ll never admit it which is unfortunate. And also, I really don’t see how America detaching from Europe will end well - America is not the superpower it once was.

Tazz T · 16-05-2026 02:15PM

His recent investments have just been made public. Thousands of trades - many made just before significant announcements from the administration. Blatant insider trading, which would have sent many a former president packing.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/05/15/trumps-investments-in-palantir-and-nvidia-draw-scrutiny-heres-what-companies-were-traded/

pah · 16-05-2026 02:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124469977#Comment_124469977

Oh. My bad. I'm actually glad I didn't know that 😅I've been trying to detach from all the Trump shite through my socials and change my algorithm a bit. It must be working!!

Manic Moran · 16-05-2026 02:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124472576#Comment_124472576

There is a simpler answer: We are out of money. The administration has been very free with its use of the military, but Congress has not passed funding authorizations commensurate with this. As a result, all sorts of operational activities are being cancelled, particularly involving the armoured and aviation forces, which are what takes up most of the operational budget, though most people are only noticing the 2/1 CD deployment cancellation and so forming conclusions on that. Basically the Army needs to shave some $6bn of expenses in the next four months out of an operations budget of just under $70bn. It seems unlikely that Russia will be in a position to threaten Europe in the next nine months, and the cancellation of the deployment is a low-risk option. To my knowledge, the scheduled exercises in Europe still on.

https://abcnews.com/Politics/army-cuts-training-service-short-billions-dollars/story?id=132898323

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124472447#Comment_124472447

No worse than any other country whose legal system has multiple tiers of courts to hear appeals, and panels of courts which permit dissenting opinions. The law is the law, but the laws are passed by politicians, not lawyers, are not always well written as a result, and sometimes a situation comes up which the drafters did not anticipate. The Irish Supreme Court hears about a hundred appeals a year, and reverses a little under half of them, with dissenting opinions in a number of those judgements (Unlike in the US, however, the Irish system prohibits the release of dissents on Constitutional matters). But the law is the law, how bad are the laws in Ireland that the judges come to different opinions?

But, yes, “judge shopping” is a thing in the US, though two relatively recent developments have curbed the practice. The first is a change in the courts’ processes that plaintiffs cannot select which just will hear their case.

https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judiciary-news/2024/03/12/conference-acts-promote-random-case-assignment

The other is the Supreme Court ruling (Trump v CASA) limiting universal injunctions by lower courts meaning that plaintiffs can’t bring national actions to stop by getting that one ‘friendly’ judge.

aloyisious · 16-05-2026 04:18PM

I see in The Independent that Texas State Supreme Court refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers who briefly fled the state in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional maps, which were pushed by Donald Trump, had vacated their office. According to the report, this ruling by the all-Republican court dealt a significant blow to Governor Greg Abbott and state Republicans in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on the maps during a special legislative session.

In Texas, Abbott had argued in a lawsuit filed directly to the state’s highest civil court that state Rep. Gene Wu, the recognized leader of the House Democratic caucus, and others had effectively abandoned their official office. Abbott sought to have the Democrats declared to have vacated their offices so the GOP would have a reduced opposition to attempts to redistrict the electoral map.

In denying Governor Abbott’s request, the court opinion written by Justice James Blacklock noted that the Republican-majority Legislature had adequately resolved the problem itself through various measures such as fines against the missing lawmakers, and it noted they eventually returned on their own within a few weeks.

PropJoe10 · 16-05-2026 05:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124472550#Comment_124472550

He's so easy to manipulate for the likes of Xi, Putin etc. Just shower him with a few compliments, play some loud music and its job done. He thinks he's an unparalleled genius whereas in fact he's an extremely dangerous idiot that has absolutely no idea how to interact with these people. Roll on the mid-terms.

Frank Bullitt · 16-05-2026 05:59PM

After this visit to China, it’s clear that they now hold the cards over America. Poor leadership is one thing, being led by a complete idiot is another.

Can’t say I’m surprised at all, I am surprised how easy this was for China though.

bog master · 16-05-2026 06:04PM

Does the US have some of the most ignorant politicians in the world?

Fla. Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna declares "the King James Bible was a bible that was rewritten so that a king could get remarried."

Manic Moran · 16-05-2026 06:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124473460#Comment_124473460

Worth noting that the court decided that the claim was moot given they were back, but also affirmed that the governor's argument did have merit. If the claim were made before the lawmakers had returned there may have been a different result.

Screenshot_20260516_120229_Samsung Browser.jpg

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/05/15/texas-supreme-court-gene-wu-greg-abbott-redistricting-map-quorum-break/

aloyisious · 16-05-2026 09:35PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124473697#Comment_124473697

Yup, have to agree on the legal tech points. The Texas GOP people missed a sitting chance to create havoc, lucky for the Dems. I expect the Texas GOP to try change the state reps attendance obligation house statute rules.

aloyisious · 16-05-2026 09:39PM

Trump has made the U.S a house of cards internationally, holding his hand out where everyone can read it. So much for him holding all the cards.

growleaves · 16-05-2026 09:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124470901#Comment_124470901

We?

Jelle1880 · 16-05-2026 10:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124474476#Comment_124474476

I still can't get over that they made some AI picture of him holding loads of UNO cards and claiming that's because he's so good at making deals :D

Ozymandius2011 · 17-05-2026 01:02AM

South Carolina governor calling a special session to gerrymander the state, despite legislature voting against gerrymandering.

https://youtu.be/P_HpGELsqs8?is=DpwwL1rhGsJ4tlWn

Livestream of Louisiana Senate primaries. Can Bill Cassidy, a Trump critic in the GOP, survive? I personally think he's gone, but there is a question about whether Trumps favourite Julie Letlow or John Fleming becomes the GOP candidate. Thats has been competitive.

Louisiana has a jungle primary, meaning it goes to a runoff if noone gets to 50%. At moment its 45-28-24.

Edit some funny things going on with the count. Constant unexpected results in some places.

Edit: Senator Bill Cassidy (GOP-Louisiana) who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, has failed to win his primary. Another example of the cost of losing Trump's favour in the GOP. NBC projects its going to a second round, and the two candidates will be Julia Letlow, and State Treasurer John Fleming.