Category: Trump

Trump will surely use his Covid for election advantage, it also opens door for unthinkable… such as breakthrough on New START — RT Op-ed

Trump will surely use his Covid for election advantage, it also opens door for unthinkable... such as breakthrough on New START
A Russian prediction to help Trump

And, given Trump’s need for a new electoral “hook” that conforms with the new political reality surrounding his illness, the possibility of an ‘October surprise’ in the form of an arms control agreement that is widely seen as benefiting US national security interests may be the best opportunity for a sick president to appear presidential at a critical time in his bid for re-election.

Trump will surely use his Covid for election advantage, it also opens door for unthinkable… such as breakthrough on New START — RT Op-ed

Trump Tests Positive for Covid-19 After Mocking Biden’s Mask

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a protective mask during the first U.S. presidential debate.

For months, the president recklessly disregarded mask-wearing, and aides and supporters followed his lead.

Trump Tests Positive for Covid-19 After Mocking Biden’s Mask

Biden Makes a Direct and Heartfelt Call for Common Sense After Trump Tests Positive – Mother Jones

When Trump mocked Biden

“It’s not about being a tough guy,” the former vice president said during the speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan—a Friday afternoon appearance only made possible by his own negative result. “It’s about playing your part. Wearing a mask is not only gonna protect you, but it will also protect those around you.”

Biden Makes a Direct and Heartfelt Call for Common Sense After Trump Tests Positive – Mother Jones

Trump shows American democracy is in terrible danger

Either victory or an attack on the election: US President Donald Trump.

Trump’s motives could not be more transparent. If he does not win the Electoral College, he’ll muddy the results so that the outcome can be decided only by the Supreme Court or the House of Representatives (where each state delegation gets one vote). Trump has advantages in both right now, which he has boasted about for the past week. I can’t say this any more clearly: Our democracy is in terrible danger — more danger than it has been since the Civil War, more danger than after Pearl Harbor, more danger than during the Cuban missile crisis and more danger than during Watergate. Advertisement

Trump shows American democracy is in terrible danger

US Presidential debate: Trump signals he might not accept changes to format

US President Donald Trump during the first presidential debate.

Trump calls foul someone untied Biden’s tongue(ODT)

US President Donald Trump has signalled he might not accept rule changes for upcoming presidential debates, which organisers have said will be needed to reign in unruly behaviour.

US Presidential debate: Trump signals he might not accept changes to format

The Proud Boys Are Lapping Up the President’s Instruction to “Stand By” – Mother Jones

“Trump basically said to go fuck them up!…this makes me so happy.”

The Proud Boys Are Lapping Up the President’s Instruction to “Stand By” – Mother Jones

Private Equity Firm Blackstone Actually Had a Sub-Zero Tax Rate Last Year

Even though Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm, raked in billions in profits last year, new documents show their tax rate actually went below zero. This may help explain why CEO Stephen Schwarzman has spent nearly $25 million to help Trump and GOP senators win: to ensure the tax breaks enriching Blackstone stay in place.

Private Equity Firm Blackstone Actually Had a Sub-Zero Tax Rate Last Year

Did Trump Throw Kurds under the Bus for Turkey because of his Istanbul Revenue Stream?

https://www.juancole.com/images/2020/09/did-trump-throw-kurds-under-the-750x422.jpg

One of the few bright spots in his portfolio is overseas investments. In 2017-2018, the first two years of his presidency, he earned $73 million from projects abroad, especially resorts and other properties in Scotland and Ireland. But he also took in $3 million from the Philippines, $2.3 million from India and $1 million from Turkey. Given how much in the hole Trump is, even $6 million every four years from the Philippines or $2 million from Turkey could be a substantial incentive for Trump to please the rulers of those countries.

Did Trump Throw Kurds under the Bus for Turkey because of his Istanbul Revenue Stream?

Debunking the Myth of “The Greatest Economy Ever” | The Smirking Chimp

Donald Trump routinely claims he “built the greatest economy in the history of the world.” It is a claim rarely challenged in the mainstream media. If true, it would be at least part of a possible claim for re-election. But is it true? There are five things we need to know to evaluate Trump’s claim to economic wizardry.

Debunking the Myth of “The Greatest Economy Ever” | The Smirking Chimp

Trump Needs To Win The Election To Keep His ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ Card | HuffPost Australia

“He’s in a very precarious financial situation,” Painter said. “And we don’t know who the creditors really are. Because if Deutsche Bank makes a loan, you have no idea whether Deutsche Bank has the risk attached to that loan, or whether somebody else has made a commitment to Deutsche Bank to take on a piece of that, or all of it.” That poses national security and other risks to the United States and also highlights the legal and financial uncertainty Trump and his web of businesses may face if he loses in November. “When he’s not president anymore, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Painter said. “And neither does he, so he wants to stay in order to continue to prop those businesses up. The minute he’s out, I think the loans could get called. And there could be a lot of investigations.”

Trump Needs To Win The Election To Keep His ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ Card | HuffPost Australia

Our Tax System Allows and Encourages Massive Rip-Offs Like Trump’s

It’s tempting to turn the new reporting on Donald Trump’s tax shenanigans, paying only $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017, into a story about Trump as a singular villain. He’s despicable, but he could only get away with it because we live under a system that allows the wealthy to rip off $266 billion from the country every single year.

Our Tax System Allows and Encourages Massive Rip-Offs Like Trump’s

Trump’ Movement Is Shot Through With Fascism

Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a campaign rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

Allegations of involuntary hysterectomies conducted on people in a migrant detention center? Record numbers of children going to bed hungry? The revelation that President Donald Trump sat on his hands upon learning that Russia paid bounties to kill American soldiers? It’s futile to pinpoint when exactly Trump’s America left the community of civilized peoples. It’s more important and useful to explain how we kid ourselves about the fascist impulses of his “ordinary” supporters that hide in plain sight.

Trump’ Movement Is Shot Through With Fascism

Has Trump done Irreparable Damage to US Partnerships Abroad?

Trumpocalypse the Vote

Politically speaking, the world will survive the Trumpocalypse. The United States is a different matter. Trumpism, like COVID-19, has both exposed and amplified the manifold defects of this country, from widespread racial injustice to a failing social safety net. All the world’s a stage, as the Bard once said, and the international community has front row seats to watch, with a mixture of pity and fear, the tragic downfall of the once-great United States.

Has Trump done Irreparable Damage to US Partnerships Abroad?

Donald Trump paid just $750 in US income taxes in 2016, 2017: report

President Donald Trump gestures while speakings during a news conference at the White House, on Sunday, September 27.
Smart Business Fake News

President Donald Trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years, according to a bombshell report in The New York Times. Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public, paid $US750 in taxes to the federal government the year he was elected, 2016, and $US750 again in his first year in office.

Donald Trump paid just $750 in US income taxes in 2016, 2017: report
Filed under:

Trump’s Vaccine Czar Refuses To Give Up Stock In Related Drug Company | Crooks and Liars

The administration calls Moncef Slaoui, who leads its vaccine race, a “contractor” to sidestep rules against personally profiting from government positions. Slaoui owns $10 million in stock of a company working with his team to develop a vaccine.

Trump’s Vaccine Czar Refuses To Give Up Stock In Related Drug Company | Crooks and Liars
Trump’s Vaccine Czar Refuses To Give Up Stock In Related Drug Company
Corruption in plain sight

Deconstructed: What if Trump Won’t Go?

Fears are growing, stoked by the president’s own comments, that he will refuse to peacefully leave office should he lose the election in November. How concerned should we be, and what can we do to make sure we’re prepared? Joshua Geltzer, visiting law professor at Georgetown University and a former member of Barack Obama’s National Security Council, joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss.

Deconstructed: What if Trump Won’t Go?

Donald Trump doing it tough down in Dixie

Alabama: Trump won it by 14% in 2016, now down 4% on that (to 10%).

Arkansas: Won by nearly 16% in 2016, now down by 13.5% to a 2.5% lead. What is going on there?

Florida (possible change): Trump won by nearly 1.5% in 2016, with a swing so far close to 3.5%, he is 2.3% behind.

Georgia: Volatile this week. Trump won by 5% in 2016, with a swing of 3.5% he holds on 1.5% in front.

Louisiana: Won by 20% in 2016, now down 4% on that.

Mississippi: Won by 18% in 2016, now down 8% on that.

North Carolina (possible change): Won by 3.5% in 2016, with a swing so far of 5.5%, he is 2% behind.

South Carolina: Won by 18% in 2016, now down 12% on that. Tennessee: Won by 26%, now down 17% on that.

Texas: Volatile this week. Won by 9% in 2016, with a swing so far of 8%, he is holding on 1% in front.

Virginia: The only former Confederate state carried by the Democrats in 2016. Lost by Trump by 5.5%, with a swing of 8.5% he is trailing now by 14%.

Donald Trump doing it tough down in Dixie

After praising Nordic “genes,” Trump slams Jewish Americans and Muslim Americans

Trump can’t keep himself from sounding like a Nazi. Campaigning in Minnesota, he told the almost all-white crowd, most of Scandinavian descent, “You have good genes.”

After praising Nordic “genes,” Trump slams Jewish Americans and Muslim Americans

Trump Signs Meaningless Paper, Promises Bribes To Seniors And Calls It His Healthcare Plan | Crooks and Liars

Trump's Latest Executive Orders Are a Political Stunt | The New Yorker
Executive Orders aren’t law = Political Stunt

An executive order Is. Not. Law. Let’s turn it over to Nicholas Bagley, law professor at the University of Michigan and health law expert. “Traditionally, executive orders are instructions to agency officials about how to exercise their congressionally delegated powers,” he explains. “Maybe they should issue a new rule or set new enforcement priorities.” But they are not law. They are, according to Bagley again, “internal memos with a fancy header. That’s all they are.”

Trump Signs Meaningless Paper, Promises Bribes To Seniors And Calls It His Healthcare Plan | Crooks and Liars

Trump, Barr, and Fox News are working in concert to undermine confidence in the election | Media Matters for America

Tucker Carlson

On Thursday, Tucker Carlson bolstered a corrupt attack on mail-in ballots that was eagerly promoted by Trump

Trump, Barr, and Fox News are working in concert to undermine confidence in the election | Media Matters for America

Trump administration advances plan to cut protections for largest national forest | US news | The Guardian

A bay in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska.

Trump’s plan to clean the forests up so there’s less to burn(ODT)

Plan to open Alaska’s Tongass national forest to logging faces backlash from environmental advocates, tribal nations and fishermen

Trump administration advances plan to cut protections for largest national forest | US news | The Guardian

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death a win for Trump in 2020

US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Illustration: Andrew Dyson
DEPRESSION

I suspect the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg means Donald Trump will win November’s US election. You might think conversely that it favours Joe Biden, and you might even be right. What interests me is that everyone agrees her death is hugely significant.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death a win for Trump in 2020

 

For RBG it was all Principle, for Mitch McConnell it’s all Power | The Smirking Chimp

People in public life tend to fall into one of two broad categories – those who are motivated by principle, and those motivated by power.

For RBG it was all Principle, for Mitch McConnell it’s all Power | The Smirking Chimp

Operation Legend Is Bringing Surveillance Tech to Cities

Attorney General William Barr talks to the media during a news conference about Operation Legend, a federal task force formed to fight violent crime in several cities, on Aug. 19, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo.
LAW & ORDER
Attorney General William Barr talks to the media during a news conference about Operation Legend, a federal task force formed to fight violent crime in several cities

“Much of this equipment and technology is given under the guise of either narcotics, policing, or counterterrorism. Ultimately, a lot of it gets used to monitor protests.”

Operation Legend Is Bringing Surveillance Tech to Cities

Trump’s appeals to white anxiety are not ‘dog whistles’ – they’re racism

Today news coverage shows that Americans broadly understand the racial connotations when Donald Trump talks about “restoring law and order” and protecting “the suburbs.” Such phrases are no longer dog whistles, though they are still referred to as such.

Trump’s appeals to white anxiety are not ‘dog whistles’ – they’re racism

U.S. military leaders line up to condemn Commander-in-Chief Trump

Activism in the U.S. Presidential Election by senior military personnel, retired and serving, has reached an unprecedented level. Alan Austin reports.

U.S. military leaders line up to condemn Commander-in-Chief Trump

Consider, If You Will, Donald Trump’s Hair: 200,000 Are Dead — but It’s Perfect | The Smirking Chimp

An elaborate confection of ego and insecurity and hormonal loss and want and need — you almost have to conclude it’s the thing he really cares about.

Consider, If You Will, Donald Trump’s Hair: 200,000 Are Dead — but It’s Perfect | The Smirking Chimp

Trump’s 1776 commission is proof America is spiraling toward facism | Arwa Mahdawi | Opinion | The Guardian

‘Trump has made a promise to his base that he will Make America White Again.’

Trump is setting up the commission to teach students ‘the miracle of American history’ – which sounds like a core part of the fascist process of taking power

Trump’s 1776 commission is proof America is spiraling toward facism | Arwa Mahdawi | Opinion | The Guardian

Roger Stone continues to lay the groundwork for Trump to declare martial law | Media Matters for America

Alex Jones and Roger Stone

After Trump confidant Roger Stone drew widespread attention for advising President Donald Trump to declare martial law after Election Day, he has continued to promote conspiracy theories about Democrats stealing the election to justify Trump taking draconian actions to stay in office.

Roger Stone continues to lay the groundwork for Trump to declare martial law | Media Matters for America

Former Pence Staffer Condemns Trump’s “Flat Out Disregard for Human Life” – Mother Jones

 

Another former member of President Donald Trump’s administration has denounced him and endorsed his Democratic opponent. This time it’s Oliva Troye—a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence on homeland security and counter-terrorism and member of the White House’s coronavirus task force—who told the Washington Post she made her decision because of the president’s “flat out disregard for human life.” Troye left her position in August.

Former Pence Staffer Condemns Trump’s “Flat Out Disregard for Human Life” – Mother Jones

Ugly numbers of Trump’s tax cuts serve a warning for Scott Morrison – Michael West

Trump's tax cuts favour the rich

Overall the share of American income from wages and salaries fell significantly, from almost 71% in 2016 to less than 68% in 2018. There’s one more enlightening and perhaps infuriating detail. The number of households making $1 million or more but paying no income taxes soared 41% under the new Trump tax law. Under Obama, there were just 394 such households. With Trump, this grew to 556 households making on average $3.5 million without contributing one cent to our government. Again, Trump seems to have forgotten all about the Forgotten Man. But he’s busy doing all he can to help the rich, then stick you with their tax bills.

Ugly numbers of Trump’s tax cuts serve a warning for Scott Morrison – Michael West

Right-wing Talk about “Sedition” and the Insurrection Act Has One Purpose: Stealing the Election | The Smirking Chimp

Remember, Trump was willing to use tear gas and baton assaults against peaceful protesters just to keep them from heckling him. There’s no telling how far he’ll go to keep those same peaceful protesters from messing with his efforts to steal an election.

Right-wing Talk about “Sedition” and the Insurrection Act Has One Purpose: Stealing the Election | The Smirking Chimp

Trump doesn’t Understand History any more than he Understands Epidemics

Professional historians are not interested in history as a celebration of anything. What excites historians is explanation. Why did something happen when it did? There never really was such a time. Professional historians have always been skeptical and the very tools of their profession are seditious, because history teaches us that things could have been different (contingency) and can still be different. And that is what terrifies Trump and his white supremacist cronies.

Trump doesn’t Understand History any more than he Understands Epidemics

Pence’s Former Aide Endorses Biden, Recalls Trump Addressing COVID-19 As ‘Good Thing’

Trump

Pence’s Former Aide Endorses Biden, Recalls Trump Addressing COVID-19 As ‘Good Thing’

Pence’s Former Aide Endorses Biden, Recalls Trump Addressing COVID-19 As ‘Good Thing’

Post Office, Vote by Mail: Fed Judge Hits Louis DeJoy, Trump – Rolling Stone

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on the Postal Service on Capitol Hill, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP)

“At the heart of DeJoy’s and the Postal Service’s actions is voter disenfranchisement,” writes a federal judge in a scathing ruling that seeks to protect the integrity of the 2020 election

Post Office, Vote by Mail: Fed Judge Hits Louis DeJoy, Trump – Rolling Stone

Roger Stone Coaches Trump on How to Stage an Election Coup | The Smirking Chimp

Roger Stone, long-time Rasputin-like political advisor and confidant to Donald Trump, should be in federal prison right now. Stone was convicted and sentenced for seven federal felonies, based, among other things, on his lying to Congress regarding his communications with Wikileaks about coordinating release of Hillary Clinton’s stolen emails for maximum advantage to the 2016 Trump campaign.

Instead, Stone is back on the streets after Trump commuted his sentence. Stone had told the media that Trump should let him out of the slammer so he could more effectively help Trump to stay in office. Trump apparently agreed

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/miles-mogulescu/92844/roger-stone-coaches-trump-on-how-to-stage-an-election-coup

Trump Scoffs at Plea to Take Climate Change Seriously

Wade Crowfoot(R), Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency speaks to US President Donald Trump(L) during a briefing on wildfires with local and federal fire and emergency officials at Sacramento McClellan Airport in McClellan Park, California on September 14, 2020. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Incapable of nuance Trump simply denies Science but Science and technology well American Science is the best in the world

Urged to slow the planet’s warming to save lives, the president said, “I don’t think science knows, actually.”

Trump Scoffs at Plea to Take Climate Change Seriously

The Smirking Chimp | News And Commentary from the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy

Well, that escalated quickly. Only a couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump and his allies were using the term “self-defense” to condone the behavior of armed right-wingers who showed up at Black Lives Matter protests to intimidate demonstrators — and also to justify the alleged murder of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, by 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse. Now Trump has expanded the universe of excuses for such lethal violence, suggesting that it’s acceptable in the name of “retribution.”

The Smirking Chimp | News And Commentary from the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy

Trump Doesn’t Want to Keep You Calm. White Panic Is Central to His Presidency. – Mother Jones

does it matter that the president is once again being a hypocrite? There’s a danger in dismissing this latest bold-faced lie. If white fear and shameless hypocrisy were central to Trump’s first term and help him clinch another four years, imagine what he will do in the next round.

Trump Doesn’t Want to Keep You Calm. White Panic Is Central to His Presidency. – Mother Jones

Attacking even the Study of Slavery History, Trump is Running for President of White Nationalists

https://www.juancole.com/images/2020/09/attacking-even-the-study-of-slav-750x422.jpg

In what appears to be a blatant appeal to the white supremacists in his base, President Donald Trump has made clear his attempt to both defend and rewrite the history of racial injustice in the United States while eliminating the institutions that make visible its historical roots.

Attacking even the Study of Slavery History, Trump is Running for President of White Nationalists

America could be heading towards a second Civil War

With the U.S. Election approaching, President Trump seems to be agitating his country into a frenzy of violence and hate crime, writes Dr Martin Hirst.

America could be heading towards a second Civil War

All of Trump’s Lies About the Coronavirus – The Atlantic

President Donald Trump has repeatedly lied about the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s preparation for this once-in-a-generation crisis. Here, a collection of the biggest lies he’s told as the nation endures a public-health and economic calamity. This post will be updated as needed.

All of Trump’s Lies About the Coronavirus – The Atlantic

Lindsey Graham: Soleimani hit “Over the Top”– As all Trump’s Iran Goals Foiled

Israel’ grand plan was always to keep the Middle East religiously divided their biggest danger a secular and united pan Arabic military union Libya, Syria Iraq made it urgent to get rid of Qaddafi, Assad and Saddam.

Peace hasn’t arrived in the Middle East only a light shone on what was always the goal keep Shia and Sunni divided with Israel and the US on the side of Israel Sunni States and Oil. ISIS is not their enemy anymore. Fuck the Kurds.

The Iraqi government says that Soleimani came to Baghdad on a commercial flight with a diplomatic passport to engage in behind the scenes talks Saudi Arabia that the Iraqi government was mediating. There is no evidence that he was, as Trump alleged, coming to kill Americans, and the Pentagon has refused to make that charge. The furious Iraqi parliament voted to constrain the prime minister to find a way to move US troops out of Iraq in the aftermath, since Trump whacked Soleimani on Iraqi soil without bothering to tell that government. The prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has complied, arranging for the US gradually to leave. This month 2,000 of the some 5,000 US troops in Iraq will depart.


Lindsey Graham: Soleimani hit “Over the Top”– As all Tru
mp’s Iran Goals Foiled

Trump breaks silence on devastating wildfires, blaming them on bad forest management

Trump says the wildfires in the West Coast are the result of bad forest management.

The President’s comments about fire management are likely to prove contentious, particularly as most of the forests in California are in national forests, and managed by federal authorities.

Trump breaks silence on devastating wildfires, blaming them on bad forest management

Roger Stone calls for Trump to seize total power if he loses the election | Media Matters for America

Donald Trump and Roger Stone

Stone also said federal authorities should seize all Nevada ballots, federal agents and GOP state officials should “physically” block voting, that Trump should nationalize police forces, and that Trump should order widespread arrests

Roger Stone calls for Trump to seize total power if he loses the election | Media Matters for America

Fact Checking the Fact Checkers: Trump Does Indeed Plan To Destroy Social Security | The Smirking Chimp

Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are promising to expand Social Security and ensure that all benefits can be paid in full and on time for the foreseeable future by requiring the wealthiest to pay more. Donald Trump promises to end Social Security as we know it.No amount of obfuscation by the Trump administration, Trump allies, surrogates, and so-called fact checkers should hide that very clear and very real fact.

Fact Checking the Fact Checkers: Trump Does Indeed Plan To Destroy Social Security | The Smirking Chimp

Aztec Politics: Trump sacrificed 200K by Downplaying Covid-19 to save the Stock Market from Panic

When Trump says he did not what to “panic” the “country,” what he really means is that he did not want to drive down the stock market. In all the commentary I heard about the phrase in the media yesterday, I heard no one make this point. People were disgusted with Trump’s two-facedness, which certainly cost tens of thousands of American lives. But they still took his statement at face value as an expression of concern for the people.

Aztec Politics: Trump sacrificed 200K by Downplaying Covid-19 to save the Stock Market from Panic

Donald Trump’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

President Donald Trump talks to reporters at Andrews Air Force Base after attending a campaign rally in Latrobe,  Pennsylvania.

But there is a difference or two between now and 2016. For one, Trump is an incumbent; a re-election campaign is a much different thing. He’s not an upstart spitting at the castle walls. Now he’s inside – and just about everyone can see that he let in the COVID-19 dragon.

Donald Trump’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Looters and Losers and Trump, Oh My! – CounterPunch.org

“Pillaging.” Sounds a lot like looting. But looting is bad, isn’t it? Conservatives say it is. Looting is a wicked thing—although I only hear conservatives denounce looting when Black people do it. Racism explains why the MAGA crowd loses their minds over scattered offenses against property and doesn’t bat an eye over cops shooting unarmed Black people. In any event, stealing all the oil in Syria is looting on such a heroic scale that it’s hard for some people not to admire it. One thing Trump has taught us is: if you’re going to loot, go large.

Looters and Losers and Trump, Oh My! – CounterPunch.org

Trump digs in on cut from TikTok deal – World – Chinadaily.com.cn

America Inc Trump’s Corporate government demanding a Mafia Commission. Trump’s “Free Trade by Extortion”

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his demand for a piece of the action from any sale of TikTok’s US operations for forcing such a deal. Trump’s line on the US government’s receiving a cut from any deal has been slammed by critics from the outset. TikTok has been at the center of a diplomatic storm between Washington and Beijing, and Trump gave a deadline for an end to business with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance-effectively compelling a sale of the app to a US company. “Well, I told them that they have until September 15th to make a deal; after that, we close it up in this country,” Trump told journalists. “And I said that the United States has to be compensated-well compensated-because we are the ones that are making it possible, and so we should be compensated.”

Trump digs in on cut from TikTok deal – World – Chinadaily.com.cn