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Donald Trump Presidency discussion thread III

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    #4352
    Mumha
    Registered Users Posts: 1,245 ✭✭✭Mumha


    jooksavage wrote: »
    So much wrong with this, I'm not sure why I'm picking you up on this point but sanctions DO hurt. It's the most effective weapon against Putin and the oligarchs and if you're not convinced I would suggest you read up on Bill Browder and the Magnitsky Act. The story of how it came about is fascinating and the consequences for Putins billionaire supporters have been dire. Reversing the Magnitsky Act is among Putins top priorities.

    BTW if sanctions were, as you say, ineffective, why didn't Trump just sign off on them, spare Nikki Haley all this embarrassment and not end up looking like a Russian stooge himself?

    Absolutely, and indeed a lot of the impetus for helping Trump,was to get those sanctions overturned.

    The bigger issue for Ireland, is why won't the Irish Government pass a Magnitsky Act here ? Bill Browder tried in 2013, but he was shut out. He has stated that he is more than willing to assist the Government, should they get off their arse to do so, in the future. Morally we should not be standing idly by while Putin and his gang use Ireland as a staging post for laundering money out of Russia.


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    #4353
    Pelvis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,758 ✭✭✭Pelvis


    Beechwoodspark wrote: »
    Macron was put back in his box by trump yesterday in front of the media. I’d say he is seething. It reminded me of the time that creep sarkozy ruffled Enda’s hair.
    What happened?


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    #4354
    kilns
    Registered Users Posts: 3,525 ✭✭✭kilns


    NK and Iranian sanctions are entirely different to what Russia are experiencing 
    I am talking from first hand experience of an OFAC sanctioned Russian company and while sanctions make life difficult and you must be actively creative in how deals and transactions are executed,  it has not caused any activities to be stopped nor the sale of goods to the US to be effected.


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    #4355
    Beechwoodspark
    Registered Users Posts: 15,354 ✭✭✭✭Beechwoodspark


    Pelvis wrote: »
    What happened?

    Trump made a very public show of brushing invisible dandruff off Macron’s shoulder.

    “We have to make him perfect. He is perfect.”

    Meanwhile, Macron grinned and appeared somewhat lost for words as he subjected himself to this humiliation.

    The worlds media recording it all for posterity.


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    #4356
    Leroy42
    Registered Users Posts: 15,500 ✭✭✭✭Leroy42


    kilns wrote: »
    NK and Iranian sanctions are entirely different to what Russia are experiencing 
    I am talking from first hand experience of an OFAC sanctioned Russian company and while sanctions make life difficult and you must be actively creative in how deals and transactions are executed,  it has not caused any activities to be stopped nor the sale of goods to the US to be effected.

    Right, so sanctions can work, just not the ones being used against Russia at the moment?

    So why did Trump not pile ahead with n more sanctions, as voted overwhelming by the house and senate? And why did he pull out of applying further sanctions, whilst letting his UN ambassador swing in the wind.


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    #4357
    kilns
    Registered Users Posts: 3,525 ✭✭✭kilns


    Leroy42 wrote: »
    kilns wrote: »
    NK and Iranian sanctions are entirely different to what Russia are experiencing 
    I am talking from first hand experience of an OFAC sanctioned Russian company and while sanctions make life difficult and you must be actively creative in how deals and transactions are executed,  it has not caused any activities to be stopped nor the sale of goods to the US to be effected.

    Right, so sanctions can work, just not the ones being used against Russia at the moment?

    So why did Trump not pile ahead with n more sanctions, as voted overwhelming by the house and senate?  And why did he pull out of applying further sanctions, whilst letting his UN ambassador swing in the wind.
    Exactly, sanctions are just window dressing with regard to the Russia situation.  Currently as I said, life is made difficult but it doesnt stop any business being conducted


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    #4358
    Pelvis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,758 ✭✭✭Pelvis


    Beechwoodspark wrote: »
    Trump made a very public show of brushing invisible dandruff off Macron’s shoulder.

    “We have to make him perfect. He is perfect.”

    Meanwhile, Macron grinned and appeared somewhat lost for words as he subjected himself to this humiliation.

    The worlds media recording it all for posterity.
    Oh I saw that yesterday alright but didn't hear the audio... tacfull as ever from Trump.


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    #4359
    Mumha
    Registered Users Posts: 1,245 ✭✭✭Mumha


    Big News and shocking for the Republicans, last night.

    In Arizona House CD 8, Lesko the Republican won, BUT only by about 3%, after Trump had won the same district by 21% in 2016.

    In NY AD 10, a Democrat, Steve Stern has flipped a seat that has been Republican for the last 40 years, to win by 59-41%.

    Watch out for more Republican retirements in the coming weeks.


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    #4360
    everlast75
    Registered Users Posts: 19,080 ✭✭✭✭everlast75


    Mumha wrote: »
    Big News and shocking for the Republicans, last night.

    In Arizona House CD 8, Lesko the Republican won, BUT only by about 3%, after Trump had won the same district by 21% in 2016.

    In NY AD 10, a Democrat, Steve Stern has flipped a seat that has been Republican for the last 40 years, to win by 59-41%.

    Watch out for more Republican retirements in the coming weeks.


    One can hope....


    A quick question. Jackson has been warned by Senate members of both sides not to go ahead with his appearance before the Committee, based on information that they have regarding his part behaviour and lack of suitability to the position.

    The public humiliation of this guy would not happen, if it were not for Trump by-passing the normal protocol of checking into his history before putting forward his name for a position.

    Why is that Trump is for "extreme vetting" of anyone coming into the Country from a muslim country, and yet is the polar opposite for someone who would have control of a massive budget and overseeing approx 350,000 staff?


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    #4361
    Leroy42
    Registered Users Posts: 15,500 ✭✭✭✭Leroy42


    kilns wrote: »
    Exactly, sanctions are just window dressing with regard to the Russia situation.  Currently as I said, life is made difficult but it doesnt stop any business being conducted

    So you agree that Trump should take no kudos in relation to NK due to the tough sanctions?

    It is difficult to work out your position on this. Russian sanctions don't won't and can't work, yet all other sanctions are working? On what basis are you making such a claim?

    International sanctions are used worldwide and have been shown to have clear effects if done correctly. The only position I can work out is that you think the Russian sanctions aren't the right type of sanctions, which of course begs the question as to why Trump, seeing the sanctions work so well against NK, fails to undertake the correct sanctions against Russia


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    #4362
    Leroy42
    Registered Users Posts: 15,500 ✭✭✭✭Leroy42


    More bad news from Trump yesterday. Court filings by Mueller show that part of the reason behind the search warrants served on Manafort (large parts of them continue to be redacted) was that Mueller was looking for evidence relating to the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Trump Jr organised.

    This clearly shows that Mueller is very much still investigating collusion.


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    #4363
    Professor Moriarty
    Registered Users Posts: 14,359 ✭✭✭✭Professor Moriarty


    everlast75 wrote: »
    One can hope....


    A quick question. Jackson has been warned by Senate members of both sides not to go ahead with his appearance before the Committee, based on information that they have regarding his part behaviour and lack of suitability to the position.

    The public humiliation of this guy would not happen, if it were not for Trump by-passing the normal protocol of checking into his history before putting forward his name for a position.

    Why is that Trump is for "extreme vetting" of anyone coming into the Country from a muslim country, and yet is the polar opposite for someone who would have control of a massive budget and overseeing approx 350,000 staff?

    Jackson isn't Muslim. If he was he wouldn't be within a country mile of the WH.


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    #4364
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users Posts: 26,155 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    Mumha wrote: »
    Absolutely, and indeed a lot of the impetus for helping Trump,was to get those sanctions overturned.

    The bigger issue for Ireland, is why won't the Irish Government pass a Magnitsky Act here ? Bill Browder tried in 2013, but he was shut out. He has stated that he is more than willing to assist the Government, should they get off their arse to do so, in the future. Morally we should not be standing idly by while Putin and his gang use Ireland as a staging post for laundering money out of Russia.
    Because Irish and European protection of human rights is robust. You can’t seize somebody’s property just because you don’t like the company he keeps. Whereas in the US, so long as he’s not a US citizen, you can.


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    #4365
    Doltanian
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,201 ✭✭✭Doltanian


    I thought Trump really made Macron look like such a fool yesterday, the body language and what was so telling was Trump with Melanie who looked so radiant and youthful and Macron with his wife who is 25 years older than him whilst Melania is 23 years younger than the Donald. Trump portrays the strong leadership of the Right and Macron as a weakling beta-cuck poster child leftist.


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    #4366
    oscarBravo
    Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 28,792 Mod ✭✭✭✭oscarBravo


    Doltanian wrote: »
    I thought Trump really made Macron look like such a fool yesterday, the body language and what was so telling was Trump with Melanie who looked so radiant and youthful and Macron with his wife who is 25 years older than him whilst Melania is 23 years younger than the Donald. Trump portrays the strong leadership of the Tight and Macron as a weakling beta-cuck poster child leftist.

    Wow. It's mind-boggling that in this day and age anyone will actually admit to judging a politician by the age of his wife.

    As the old saying goes, better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool...


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    #4367
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 28,920 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    Doltanian wrote:
    I thought Trump really made Macron look like such a fool yesterday, the body language and what was so telling was Trump with Melanie who looked so radiant and youthful and Macron with his wife who is 25 years older than him whilst Melania is 23 years younger than the Donald. Trump portrays the strong leadership of the Tight and Macron as a weakling beta-cuck poster child leftist.


    So having a young wife portrays a stronger leader? The world certainly is a strange place! Macron really isn't at all a lefty


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    #4368
    Hande hoche!
    Registered Users Posts: 7,506 ✭✭✭Hande hoche!


    Doltanian wrote: »
    I thought Trump really made Macron look like such a fool yesterday, the body language and what was so telling was Trump with Melanie who looked so radiant and youthful and Macron with his wife who is 25 years older than him whilst Melania is 23 years younger than the Donald. Trump portrays the strong leadership of the Right and Macron as a weakling beta-cuck poster child leftist.

    I assume this is satire?


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    #4369
    kilns
    Registered Users Posts: 3,525 ✭✭✭kilns


    Leroy42 wrote: »
    kilns wrote: »
    Exactly, sanctions are just window dressing with regard to the Russia situation.  Currently as I said, life is made difficult but it doesnt stop any business being conducted

    So you agree that Trump should take no kudos in relation to NK due to the tough sanctions?

    It is difficult to work out your position on this.  Russian sanctions don't won't and can't work, yet all other sanctions are working?  On what basis are you making such a claim?

    International sanctions are used worldwide and have been shown to have clear effects if done correctly.  The only position I can work out is that you think the Russian sanctions aren't the right type of sanctions, which of course begs the question as to why Trump, seeing the sanctions work so well against NK, fails to undertake the correct sanctions against Russia
    NK sanctions permit no trade whatsoever with NK which has a dramatic effect.  Trump should not be taking credit for anything.
    I am speaking from first hand daily experience, Russian sanctions for sanctioned entities mostly relate to financing, whereas they cannot receive financing for more than 60 days.  This means taking loans in USD for longer periods of this, invoices must be settled in USD within 60 days of being issued or else the relevant payments will be rejected.  
    This just makes doing business that bit more difficult as oil is priced in USD and so USD is king (it is a reason why the Americans took out Gadafi too as he wanted countries to move away from the USD but thats for another story).
    But NK and  Iranian sanctions forbid any sort  of trade with these countries which is entirely different


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    #4370
    Captain Obvious
    Registered Users Posts: 4,165 ✭✭✭Captain Obvious


    Beechwoodspark wrote: »
    Macron was put back in his box by trump yesterday in front of the media. I’d say he is seething. It reminded me of the time that creep sarkozy ruffled Enda’s hair.
    Beechwoodspark wrote: »
    Trump made a very public show of brushing invisible dandruff off Macron’s shoulder.

    “We have to make him perfect. He is perfect.”

    Meanwhile, Macron grinned and appeared somewhat lost for words as he subjected himself to this humiliation.

    The worlds media recording it all for posterity.
    Doltanian wrote: »
    I thought Trump really made Macron look like such a fool yesterday, the body language and what was so telling was Trump with Melanie who looked so radiant and youthful and Macron with his wife who is 25 years older than him whilst Melania is 23 years younger than the Donald. Trump portrays the strong leadership of the Right and Macron as a weakling beta-cuck poster child leftist.

    As usual, Trump and his fans think he is being an Alpha whereas everyone else thinks he is making a fool of himself. It's pretty pathetic.


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    #4371
    Leroy42
    Registered Users Posts: 15,500 ✭✭✭✭Leroy42


    Wanderer78 wrote: »
    So having a young wife portrays a stronger leader? The world certainly is a strange place! Macron really isn't at all a lefty

    In fairness, whilst I disagree with the line about the wife, I think the overall view was that Macron was the little boy in the big mans house. It was akin, as mentioned before, to Enda getting his hair ruffled in the EU.

    Macron is, IMO, playing to Trump here. He knows that Trump loves the feeling of winning far more than the actual outcome. Trump, from all that we can see, doesn't have particular ideologies and can be turned with the right approach.

    The Chinese completely played him on the state visit, when during the election he never shut up about China, but left that visit like the boy with the bag of sweets.

    The problem for Macron, is that it is a tight rope act. Fail to secure the Iran deal and he will look weak. May suffered quite a backlash and quite a damaging impact on her standing by the way she was portrayed in her visit


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    #4372
    kilns
    Registered Users Posts: 3,525 ✭✭✭kilns


    I really hope Macron is playing the game with Trump, flattering him, making him feel like the most important man in the room etc all the while convincing him to keep with the Iran deal.


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    #4373
    Captain Obvious
    Registered Users Posts: 4,165 ✭✭✭Captain Obvious


    kilns wrote: »
    I really hope Macron is playing the game with Trump, flattering him, making him feel like the most important man in the room etc all the while convincing him to keep with the Iran deal.

    Trump has shown himself exceedingly easy to manipulate.


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    #4374
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 25,611 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Say what you like about Macron and Merkel but they can surely handle Trump. Smile, let him think he's great and get him to do what you want. Scary that someone like that is in the White House but ya gotta play the hand you're dealt.


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    #4375
    kilns
    Registered Users Posts: 3,525 ✭✭✭kilns


    Captain Obvious wrote: »
    kilns wrote: »
    I really hope Macron is playing the game with Trump, flattering him, making him feel like the most important man in the room etc all the while convincing him to keep with the Iran deal.

    Trump has shown himself exceedingly easy to manipulate.
    For the sake of peace in the middle east and the wider world hopefully it works, if the Iran deal falls apart it could be a disaster as Bolton will convince Trump to go after them and it will end badly for millions of people


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    #4376
    Zubeneschamali
    Registered Users Posts: 16,686 ✭✭✭✭Zubeneschamali


    Doltanian wrote: »
    Trump with Melanie who looked so radiant and youthful

    She does look radiant when the likes of Macron or Obama is around.

    Not so much when she is stuck with Trump. It must be a really serious pre-nup.


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    #4377
    pixelburp
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 35,941 CMod ✭✭✭✭pixelburp


    The narrative from the right wing media may decide to talk about Trump dominating Marcon, but from what I'm reading Macron has somewhat successfully leaned on Trump to keep the Iran deal intact, with some possible tweaks around the edges for the hawks to gloat about.

    Every leaked tell-all, memoir and piece of info during and prior to Trump's election points to a man easily swayed and persuaded; if aides are having to reduce daily intelligence reports to bullet points (and even then, need to include the presidents own name peppered throughout so he won't lose interest), we are not dealing with someone who is entirely their own man. The Fox & Friends regurgitations on Twitter equal proof.

    With all this nonsense hyperbole about the Iran deal being the 'worst ever', and Trump ready to tear it up, I think any sane diplomat would take a little public humiliation if it meant the deal could be maintained and a crisis averted.


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    #4378
    jooksavage
    Registered Users Posts: 1,531 ✭✭✭jooksavage


    The problem is, even if Macron successfully cajoles Trump, Bolton and Pompeo still have a fortnight to turn his head and Trump is notoriously easy to manilulate. The likelihood of going a fortnight without another newsworthy scandal is also unlikely. When May 12 comes around, Iran could well be the distraction Trump needs.


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    #4379
    josip
    Registered Users Posts: 13,673 ✭✭✭✭josip


    Doltanian wrote: »
    I thought Trump really made Macron look like such a fool yesterday, the body language and what was so telling was Trump with Melanie who looked so radiant and youthful and Macron with his wife who is 25 years older than him whilst Melania is 23 years younger than the Donald. Trump portrays the strong leadership of the Right and Macron as a weakling beta-cuck poster child leftist.

    So you're appraising Trump and Macron based on their respective wives?


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    #4380
    Mumha
    Registered Users Posts: 1,245 ✭✭✭Mumha


    everlast75 wrote: »
    One can hope....


    A quick question. Jackson has been warned by Senate members of both sides not to go ahead with his appearance before the Committee, based on information that they have regarding his part behaviour and lack of suitability to the position.

    The public humiliation of this guy would not happen, if it were not for Trump by-passing the normal protocol of checking into his history before putting forward his name for a position.

    Why is that Trump is for "extreme vetting" of anyone coming into the Country from a muslim country, and yet is the polar opposite for someone who would have control of a massive budget and overseeing approx 350,000 staff?

    It really is bizarre, but Trump and his gang have a plan to privatise the VA, which Shulkin was vehemently against. So perhaps Jackson made noises in that direction, on top of impressing Trump with his "could live to 200" medical diagnosis.

    That said, judging by his comments yesterday, Trump was signalling that Jackson should think about withdrawing, however, since one of the accusations was that he was passed out drunk when on call during at least one of Obama's overseas trips, he might have to leave the WH as well.


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    #4381
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,141 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    http://cf.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/it-19.jpg

    Ridiculous pic of Trump and Macron with Trump hauling him along like a child - though it makes Trump look more undignified than Macron.


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