Category: Meet the Trumps

Blunderful Giuliani says US wants to change regime in Iran — RT US News

Blunderful Giuliani says US wants to change regime in Iran

Interfering in the internal politics of countries NEVER. Why does the US have a Military Presance in 153 sovereign states and sanctions those where it doesn’t?

While the US slapped Iran with sanctions and is now urging countries to stop buying its oil, the White House insists they are not involved in regime change.This is not the first time Giuliani has committed a diplomatic faux pas while speaking as a private citizen.
Trump’s old ally Rudy seems not to follow the agenda. In May, he was slapped down by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert after telling a meeting of the Iran Freedom Convention for Democracy and Human Rights in Washington that Trump is “committed” to regime change.

“[Giuliani] speaks for himself and not on behalf of the administration on foreign policy,” Nauert told AP at the time.

via Blunderful Giuliani says US wants to change regime in Iran — RT US News

Is Trump really winning? The truth about the president’s popularity | US news | The Guardian

Donald Trump gives a thumbs up.

Easy come, easy poll: on Monday, Gallup had Trump back down at 41%, as Americans learned more about his policy of separating migrant families at the US border. In fact, Trump’s approval rating during his first term has been “incredibly stable” within a band from about 36% to 43%, polling analyst Harry Enten and others have pointed out.

Under normal circumstances, an overall approval rating much under 50% would spell doom for an incumbent president, ruling out re-election. And 90% in-party support is not unusual in recent presidential cycles.

via Is Trump really winning? The truth about the president’s popularity | US news | The Guardian

The Sarah Huckabee Sanders scam

The Sarah Huckabee Sanders scam. 62574.jpeg

So what better way to shift attention away from the true victims than to become a “victim” yourself? 

 

Add them up and what do you get?-the old diversionary tactic of criminals portraying themselves as victims to divert attention from their crimes. This is reinforced by the fact that Huckabee Sanders did not simply state she was asked to leave a restaurant: She made a special point of both naming the restaurant and giving its location, and, in doing so, may have, according to a former director of the Office of Government Ethics, violated ethics laws by using her official White House account to disseminate this information.

via The Sarah Huckabee Sanders scam

Trump lashes out at restaurant that asked Sarah Sanders to leave | US news | The Guardian

 

Sarah Sanders said she was asked to leave the restaurant on Friday night.

Is Trump a President or a Murdoch Media Commentator? (ODT)

In 2017, it was revealed that Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort had been cited by Florida officials for 78 health violations in three years, including rust, mould and parasites.

via Trump lashes out at restaurant that asked Sarah Sanders to leave | US news | The Guardian

Pew’s scientific polling demonstrates, the vast majority of Americans don’t like and don’t approve of Trump

Trump and family sued by New York attorney general over alleged charity violations | US news | The Guardian

Fraud

In addition to Trump, the lawsuit names his children Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.

Suit brought by Barbara Underwood says Trump Foundation is ‘little more than an empty shell’ and seeks $2.8m in restitution

via Trump and family sued by New York attorney general over alleged charity violations | US news | The Guardian

John Kelly: White House ‘A Miserable Place To Work’ | Crooks and Liars

John Kelly: White House 'A Miserable Place To Work'

Donald Trump’s chaotic behavior is taking a toll on his Chief of Staff and everybody else that comes into contact with him at the White House.

Trump’s one governing principle is to attack and criticize every country, leader, political rival, investigator, cabinet member and media outlet he comes in contact with who does not continually kiss his ring. And he revels in the wake he leaves behind him.

NY Times reports:

via John Kelly: White House ‘A Miserable Place To Work’ | Crooks and Liars

G7 summit: Donald Trump demands end to ‘unfair’ trade after meeting – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Mr Trump left the summit earlier than planned on Saturday to fly to Singapore to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which he described as a “mission of peace”.

His early departure means he will miss a working session among the leaders on climate change and clean energy, as well as talks among the G7 and poorer countries focused on the health of oceans.

The early exit also means he will be gone before allies begin closing news conferences likely to be laden with criticism of the US stance on trade and Mr Trump’s abrupt suggestion on Friday that Russia be re-admitted to the elite grouping.

via G7 summit: Donald Trump demands end to ‘unfair’ trade after meeting – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Trump baffles as he divides – but Russia inclination offers a clue

 

In response Steve Schmidt, the Republican strategist who ran John McCain’s presidential campaign, shot back: “It does if you consider the unthinkable. If he behaves like a Russian asset maybe it’s because he is one.”
The suggestion that Trump might be acting in the interests of Russia rather than the United States has become one of the weirder marks of this very weird presidency. It is a notion that keeps arising not only because of the ongoing investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, but because it is one of the only ways to make consistent sense of what passes for Trump’s foreign policy.

Since taking office Trump has taken every opportunity to undermine the international mechanisms that the United States forged in the wake of World War II. These are Russian foreign policy objectives, but not ones put forward by either Democratic or Republican parties.

“Worst day for US foreign policy since the invasion of Iraq? For sure,” tweeted the prominent foreign policy observer David Rothkopf. “Worst for the Western alliance since middle of WWII? Probably.”

via Trump baffles as he divides – but Russia inclination offers a clue

Trump brags of ‘500 days of greatness’ – but how do his boasts stack up? | US news | The Guardian

The White House is talking up Trump’s accomplishments – but as ever, many of the president’s claims are misleading

via Trump brags of ‘500 days of greatness’ – but how do his boasts stack up? | US news | The Guardian

Trump’s Trips To Mar-a-Lago Have Cost Us More Than Mueller’s Investigation | Crooks and Liars

AP estimates that we have paid $63 million for Trump’s jaunts to Mar-A-Lago since he’s taken office. And that doesn’t include the estimated $75 million it cost for Melania and Barron to stay in New York.

via Trump’s Trips To Mar-a-Lago Have Cost Us More Than Mueller’s Investigation | Crooks and Liars

Was the Roseanne Story really more Important than Puerto Rico’s 5,740 Death Toll?

An American Protectrate Under Trump

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that that likely range for deaths caused by Hurricane Maria was between 1,506 and 9,889, with 5,740 as the most likely number.

Puerto Rico suffered with electricity outages for months, with millions of Americans living in the dark, in a way that would have been unacceptable anywhere on the mainland (need I specify, the White mainland?) People died from lack of access to health care, from lack of rescue services. Some 80% of the agricultural crop was wiped out. Trump never offered debt relief, and called off the US military aid effort way early. Puerto Ricans are not, let us say, his base.

Was the Roseanne Story really more Important than Puerto Rico’s 5,740 Death Toll?

Trump ‘flips off’ the rest of the world, losing friends and allies — RT Op-ed

With a White House riven by policy feuds, Trump has been tearing up agreements and treaties right and left, as well as threating military action and sanctions. This has left its allies wondering if the US is, in fact, an ally.

On the same day that China and the US announced a temporary “moratorium” on trade sanctions by both countries on each other’s exports, China Daily, the English-language official newspaper of the Chinese government, ran a full-page article about how the US was losing the confidence of friends and allies around the globe as the Trump administration tears up one longstanding international or bilateral agreement after another.

 

via Trump ‘flips off’ the rest of the world, losing friends and allies — RT Op-ed

The international butterfly effect of a chaotic U.S. President

A few months ago, I was leaving a supermarket when I saw someone wearing a shirt with ‘Hillary’ emblazoned on it. I was about to remark I wished she had won when I saw the rest… ‘lock her up’. The supermarket was not in Brooklyn or Arlington — it was in Melbourne, 10,000 miles from the Oval Office. More Australians are watching late night U.S. comedians and political shows than ever before. He is challenging the order in all of us, even here in the antipodes. He is creating disorder out of order.

via The international butterfly effect of a chaotic U.S. President

Donald Trump cancelling meeting with North Korea an unsurprising return to the norm – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

President Donald Trump delivers an address.

It was comments from relatively new national security adviser John Bolton that gave the North Koreans an excuse to pull out.

A mis-timed reference to the ‘Libya model’ of denuclearisation in 2003 was interpreted as a US threat to topple Mr Kim, Gaddafi style.

Mr Trump then doubled down, suggesting total decimation would befall North Korea if a deal was not made, and Vice-President Mike Pence weighed in saying North Korea “may end like Libya”.

It was a return to “fire and fury”.

Top aide to Mr Kim, Choe Son-hui described the Vice-President’s remarks as “ignorant and stupid”.

via Donald Trump cancelling meeting with North Korea an unsurprising return to the norm – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Trump cancels nuclear summit despite Kim ‘doing everything he promised’ – Putin — RT World News

Trump cancels nuclear summit despite Kim 'doing everything he promised' – Putin

Trump cancels nuclear summit despite Kim ‘doing everything he promised’ – Putin — RT World News

and

N. Korea says it’s still ready to talk to US ‘at any time, in any way’

The Fart of a Deal

Donald Trump cancels summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

 

The letter was released publicly within hours of Western journalists confirming they had witnessed the demolition of North Korea’s remote nuclear test site at Punggye-Ri.

That act was supposed to signal North Korea’s willingness to negotiate with the US over denuclearisation at the June 12 meeting.

CNN’s Will Ripley, among the journalists to witness the demolition of the nuclear site, said there was “a real sense of shock among the people I was sitting with, the North Korean officials” when he
received the phone call and was told the summit was off. The reporters had to inform the North Korean officials of the news.
Advertisement

via Donald Trump cancels summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

Sex Workers Go Mainstream

Stormy Daniels at Erotica Los Angeles 2009. (James Chang / Wikimedia)

Suddenly, the emphasis in the term sex workers has shifted to sex workers.

It has happened in a matter of months.

My friends on the left, and some in academia, will say, oh no, it’s been going on for a long time. It has, in certain segments. But not in the mainstream. Not in the general public. Until now.

Much of the credit has to go to Stormy Daniels

A porn actress is in a dispute with the president of the United States, and the sex worker has more credibility than Trump.

When she appears on television, she is more composed, more coherent and more contained than the petulant, pugnacious president.

His tales are ever-changing. According to him—directly, and through various spokespersons, including Hope Hicks, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Michael Cohen—he never had sex with that woman. Nonetheless, she was paid $130,000. The money came through Michael Cohen, with one of Trump’s pseudonyms on the contract.

via Sex Workers Go Mainstream

Calling Latinos ‘Animals’ Echoes the Nazis

It is unfortunately worth pointing out that although the Jews were on the receiving end of discourse about dangerous subhumans in the Germany of the 1940s, today in Israel it is all to common to hear politicians refer to Palestinians as “animals.” That discourse is how you get rules of engagement to the point where it is all right to shoot down unarmed, peaceful protesters in Gaza.

There are no undermen. All human beings have the same rights.

via Calling Latinos ‘Animals’ Echoes the Nazis

Trump Dark Money Group Advisor Is Angry Nazis ‘Didn’t Keep ‘F*cking Going’ | Crooks and Liars

Turmp applauds Neo-Nazis

Here’s what one of those “very smart thinkers” had to say about the Nazis. In the video above, obtained by Mediaite from a Snapchat video, Andrade is in mid-rant about Nazis. He shouts at anyone within earshot, unapologetically.

This stands out: “The only thing the Nazis didn’t get right is they didn’t keep f*cking going!”

Trump Dark Money Group Advisor Is Angry Nazis ‘Didn’t Keep ‘F*cking Going’ | Crooks and Liars

Iran deal: Trump breaks with European allies over ‘horrible, one-sided’ nuclear agreement | World news | The Guardian

Donald Trump announces his intent to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement at the White House in Washington Tuesday.

President says he will impose ‘highest level of economic sanctions’ on Iran as Tehran vows: ‘We won’t allow Trump to win’

via Iran deal: Trump breaks with European allies over ‘horrible, one-sided’ nuclear agreement | World news | The Guardian

Rudy G and Bubble Boy Trump: Call It Implausible Deniability | The Smirking Chimp

I have visited that weird Fox bubble on occasion, walked the halls of what feels more like an Orwellian Ministry of Truth than a newsroom. Reality is cast to the side.

Now these two bubbles are as one. Fox and 1600 Pennsylvania have merged, now virtually indistinguishable from each other, and inside that newly created, gigantic toxic bubble sits a manchild oozing irrational exuberance as sycophants tell him he’s the greatest thing since Genghis Khan strode the Earth.

via Rudy G and Bubble Boy Trump: Call It Implausible Deniability | The Smirking Chimp

Michael Avenatti Drops Another Little Bomb About Daniels Payments | Crooks and Liars

Avenatti smiled that cocky little smile and said there were “extensive communications” between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson in 2016 “relating to the timing of this payment and the need for the payment to be made prior to the election. Extensive communications relating to the need for the payment to be made when it was made, and as it related to potential influence on the election.”

And he has those extensive communications. I’ll bet Mueller does, too.

So here’s what the Stormy Daniels payoff did not have anything to do with: A caring husband trying to protect his wife’s feelings. Stay tuned!.

via Michael Avenatti Drops Another Little Bomb About Daniels Payments | Crooks and Liars

Donald Trump reimbursed Cohen for $130k payment to porn star: Giuliani

US President Donald Trump’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the President repaid his personal lawyer Michael Cohen for a $US130,000 ($179,000) payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump reimbursed the money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, according to Giuliani

Trump had told reporters that he was not aware of the payment and that he didn’t know where Cohen had gotten the money.

Giuliani made the revelation during an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity.

via Donald Trump reimbursed Cohen for $130k payment to porn star: Giuliani

Trump dictated note saying he was ‘astonishingly’ healthy, doctor says | US news | The Guardian

 

Dr Harold Bornstein was described in the letter as Trump’s personal doctor ‘since 1980’.

Harold Bornstein tells CNN Trump wrote letter saying he would be ‘healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency’

via Trump dictated note saying he was ‘astonishingly’ healthy, doctor says | US news | The Guardian

Trump lied to me about his wealth to get onto the Forbes 400

This was a model Trump would use for the rest of his career, telling a lie so cosmic that people believed that some kernel of it had to be real. The tactic landed him a place on the Forbes list he hadn’t earned – and led to future accolades, press coverage and deals. It eventually paved a path toward the presidency.

“The largest portion of Mr Trump’s fortune, according to three people who had had direct knowledge of his holdings, apparently comes from his lucrative inheritance. These people estimated that Mr Trump’s wealth, presuming that it is not encumbered by heavy debt, may amount to about $US200 million to $US300 million. That is an enviably large sum of money by most people’s standards but far short of the billionaires club.”

The opacity persists. In 2016, Trump’s presidential campaign put out a statement saying the candidate had a net worth “in excess of TEN BILLION DOLLARS”. But he has never released his tax returns, and he has said that the core Trump Organisation asset is the ownership of his brand – an ineffable marketing claim that is impossible to substantiate or refute.

via Trump lied to me about his wealth to get onto the Forbes 400

Fox News, White House Advisers and Press

Hannity Should Be Fired From Fox News For Being A Presidential Advisor

The next time you hear Donald Trump bluster and harumph about something he’s angry about, you should assume Sean Hannity is his anger translator. Trump doesn’t need speechwriters as long as he can call up Hannity and get his lines for the next day.

 

The Washington Post’s Robert Costa, Sarah Ellison and Josh Dawsey published an excellent story today, outlining just how embedded Fox News personality Sean Hannity is with Donald Trump’s White House.

Behind the Struggle with Mueller; Comey: Trump is the Triumph of Privilege over Law

Frustration and bewilderment are common in media accounts of this administration’s expansive chaos. Even well educated writers turn to expletives, as if proper language were inadequate to convey the shock and dismay. Still, it is not that difficult to identify the source of puzzlement: neither Trump nor his appointees follow the rules. From the beginning he has systematically pursued the substitution of a pre-modern style of arbitrary rule for a modern, rule-based government. What we call chaos is what he calls power. The bad news is that, with help from a gullible press, this administration has been surprisingly successful in confusing these two systems in the public mind. That is dangerous. The longer we fail to mark the distinction between arbitrary and rule-based government, the more successfully the president can install personal privilege as the default conception of authority in the popular imagination.

via Behind the Struggle with Mueller & Comey: Trump is the Triumph of Privilege over Law

In Searing Interview, James Comey Unleashes Against ‘Morally Unfit’ Trump | HuffPost

Former FBI Director James Comey gave a searing interview about his encounters with President Donald Trump to ABC News on Sund

“A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person’s not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds,” Comey said.

via In Searing Interview, James Comey Unleashes Against ‘Morally Unfit’ Trump | HuffPost

Why Does Trump Believe He Could Survive Murder But Not Peeing Prostitutes? | Crooks and Liars

I understand why Donald Trump rails against the Robert Mueller investigation for examining possible collusion between his campaign and the Russians. I understand why Trump is upset about investigations into his business dealings and possible obstruction of justice. There are serious consequences for Trump, his family, and his associates if more wrongdoing is conclusively demonstrated.

But why is he so worked up about the pee tape?

via Why Does Trump Believe He Could Survive Murder But Not Peeing Prostitutes? | Crooks and Liars

Donald Trump labels former FBI director Comey a ‘slime ball’ as accounts surface of critical book – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

What seems to be the priority that preoccupies this President and world leader today

US President Donald Trump has attacked former FBI Director James Comey as a “weak and untruthful slime ball”, reacting to news accounts that cite Mr Comey as hugely critical of the President in a memoir due to be published next week.

via Donald Trump labels former FBI director Comey a ‘slime ball’ as accounts surface of critical book – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Donald Trump is exploring re-joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, senators say – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Donald Trump signs withdrawal from TPP

He really is a Chump

US President Donald Trump has asked trade officials to explore the possibility of the United States re-joining negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, after he pulled out last year as part of his “America first” agenda.
Key points:

  • Mr Trump made the comments to farm-state politicians in a White House meeting
  • US farmers would get better access to overseas markets under the TPP
  • Australia played a key role in resurrecting the trade pact earlier this year

Australia and a group of 10 other nations resurrected the trade agreement earlier this year, despite Mr Trump’s decision to abandon the deal.

via Donald Trump is exploring re-joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, senators say – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Trump v. the World: Is Diplomacy Dead? | Informed Comment

feffer_aftershock

Donald Trump has a plan to solve America’s drug crisis: kill the drug dealers.

In this reincarnated version of an older order, the rich and the strong will prosper — at least for a while. Trump and friends will make out like bandits — at least for a while. And until citizens unite across borders to rescue the human rights order from this onslaught, the weak and the outnumbered will have ever fewer places to turn on an increasingly heartless planet.

via Trump v. the World: Is Diplomacy Dead? | Informed Comment

Trump dumps McMaster, picks super-hawk Bolton as security advisor

 

In a tweet, Trump announced he was hiring John Bolton as his new advisor – his third security advisor in 14 months.

Tweeting President can’t seem to face dealing with actions in person.

via Trump dumps McMaster, picks super-hawk Bolton as security advisor

Donald Trump sets $77 billion China tariff plan, sending Wall Street tumbling – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Following Mr Trump’s announcement, Wall Street plunged.

US markets suffered their worst day since the February 8 sell-off, with the Dow Jones index tumbling by 724 points, or 2.9 per cent, to 23,960.

via Donald Trump sets $77 billion China tariff plan, sending Wall Street tumbling – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Buried, altered, silenced: 4 ways government climate information has changed since Trump took office | Informed Comment

Meanwhile, Columbia University’s Silencing Science Tracker documents news stories about climate scientists who have been discouraged from conducting, publishing or otherwise communicating scientific research. These groups have documented four ways that climate-related information has become less accessible since Trump took office.

Source: Buried, altered, silenced: 4 ways government climate information has changed since Trump took office | Informed Comment

Jared Kushner: “You’re Fired!”

collusion_prins

Responding to Hope Hicks’ departure and, perhaps subliminally, the rumored future exile of son-in-law Jared Kushner, the president typically half-lamented and half-quipped, “So many people have been leaving the White House. It’s invigorating, since you want turnover. I like chaos. It really is good. Who’s going to be the next to leave? Steve Miller or Melania?”

via Jared Kushner: “You’re Fired!”

Cambridge Analytica’s CEO Was Filmed Secretly Bragging About Entrapping Politicians With Sex Workers

Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix

Working and stealing  for Trump

 Cambridge Analytica’s CEO Was Filmed Secretly Bragging About Entrapping Politicians With Sex Workers

and

Right-wing media downplay Cambridge Analytica stealing personal data to help the Trump campaign

Republicans defend Russia probe as Trump openly attacks Mueller

Washington: Republican senators warned US President Donald Trump on Sunday against firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller and said he must let federal investigators looking into Russian meddling in the US election do their jobs.

The Republican President renewed his Twitter attacks on both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Mueller’s probe since the firing on Friday of the bureau’s deputy director, Andrew McCabe, days before he was eligible to retire with a full pension.

via Republicans defend Russia probe as Trump openly attacks Mueller

Pompeo’s rise at State will make Mideast war more likely

Pompeo’s rise at State will make Mideast war more likely

After U.S. president Donald Trump fired his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, many analysts have focused on how this high-level ouster took place: unceremoniously, on Twitter, not in a face-to-face meeting.

via Pompeo’s rise at State will make Mideast war more likely

John Bolton, Trump’s rumored pick for national security adviser, has a record of warmongering, bigotry, and pushing conspiracy theories

John Bolton, a Fox News contributor, is reportedly under consideration to replace National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, likely because President Donald Trump enjoys his television commentary. Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations whose tenure was marred by “his inability to make friends and build alliances,” is a Trump sycophant with a history of warmongering and conspiracy theorizing. He also chairs a think tank that’s been called “anti-Muslim,” and he has connections to anti-Muslim bigots.

via John Bolton, Trump’s rumored pick for national security adviser, has a record of warmongering, bigotry, and pushing conspiracy theories

Trump’s Retreat On Guns Is The World’s Least-Shocking Surprise

 

Democrats cheered. Republicans looked on disapprovingly. Yet in the end, President Donald Trump backed down from his public embrace of comprehensive gun control.

If you didn’t see it coming, you weren’t paying attention.

via Trump’s Retreat On Guns Is The World’s Least-Shocking Surprise

Trump’s trade war could deal a $590 billion blow to the global economy

A full-blown trade war could cost the global economy $US470 billion ($590 billion), according to Bloomberg Economics.

Doing A World Of Good: Decisions by a 4 times bankrupt who has grown his inheritance by Minus $9 billion and destroyed countless numbers of others in the process.

via Trump’s trade war could deal a $590 billion blow to the global economy

The Stormy Daniels Saga Shows How Vulnerable Trump Is To Blackmail | HuffPost

When you go to work in the White House, you divest yourself of your secrets for the same reason you divest yourself of your financial holdings: so people can’t blackmail you.

via The Stormy Daniels Saga Shows How Vulnerable Trump Is To Blackmail | HuffPost