Trump+Musk: Folie à Deux - Trump thread #137

[Spandauer]

The clock is already ticking and he's an old man. Mid-terms: November 3, 2026

Thanks to @AcrossThePond55 for the thread title.

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5206120-the-grown-ups-have-left-the-building-trump-thread-136

We need Pete Buttigieg on Fox every day.

Ain't that the truth.

It's like there's some new fresh hell every 10 minutes

https://bsky.app/profile/nathantankus.bsky.social/post/3lhaad5pgy22o

I'm reminded of what Trump biographer Michael D'Angelo said about his experience shadowing Trump long before the political runs. Ie he was seeing Trump in a business environment.

He said Trump did appalling things so frequently that it was impossible to keep up and certainly impossible to call him out on them all.

Then, after one had let some of the deluge go unchallenged (in order to pick one's battles) Trump would turn round and say, "But you were there when WE did this appalling thing and you didn't challenge. You are complicit. This is your crime too." Dipping everyone's hands in the blood.

We've seen a lot of this from Trump in politics. He's certainly done it to people close to him.

But I suspect we're about to see it rolled out on a much wider scale. Trumpists as well as Trump will constantly be bleating that everyone on the planet is complicit in and responsible for Trumpist actions – as proven by the world's failure to publicly denounce Trumpist actions 4 or 5 times a day.

Well there I kinda agree. I've worked in local government. The waste ranges from ineptness to sheer theft. Corruption is sized up in central governments and the watch keepers have the wool pulled over their eyes.

I think though it's just too endemic to pick away at more than the edges.

I think with the democrats now, unlike in the UK, there is no formal role in the US of "HM opposition" to state formal critiques of the government.

Meanwhile

In an effort to restrict abortion access, Wyoming Republicans authored a bill that could choke access to a host of life-saving medical procedures, from chemotherapy to heart surgery.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/02/wyoming-republicans-anti-abortion-bill

<sigh>

Day 12 of Trump 2.0
638 days till Midterms (03/11/2026)
1,373 days till the 2028 election (07/11/2028)
1,447 days till Inauguration Day (20/01/2029)

Today’s TRIP Leading is good, interview with Tommy Vietor, host of “Pod Save America”.

We’ll see what the treats of tariffs on EU/UK do, BBC reports that Germany could be hit the hardest whilst UK is in a comparatively better position as we operate a trade deficit with the US - though no doubt The Orange One will use that as an excuse and say we need to buy more, like that god awful chlorinated chicken 🤢

"Inadvertently" ?

Trump confirms Mexico tariffs are paused for a month

From Bloomberg

You agree the federal government should be put on blockchain by an unelected foreign tech bro who is accessing classified data with no formal security clearance?

Seems in return for the Mexicans sending 10k soldiers to the border. Fairly certain surely you don’t want your neighbour’s military on your doorstep.

I read that Hitler dismantled the German government in 53 days. As CaveMum said, this is day 12. We have 5 weeks left.

Am I furious at my party? Yes. But I also acknowledge that they don't have the votes to countermand the hell that is going on. The 'power' of the minority party is to propose legislation and convince the other party to cross the aisle. The Repugs in Congress are either 'all in' or too scared to do anything. I don't know which. Without the votes their hands are tied. They can't fire the appointees that Scrotus is stacking the deck with. They can't initiate investigations, and what would be the point with the DoJ in Scrotus' pocket? Unfortunately they're trying to work within the law with a man (and his cronies) who are lawless. Unless they want to call for riots in the streets or plan assassinations I don't know that they can do. Yes, they can wake up and get a more proactive platform and drop the 'social reform' bits, but that's not going to help with what's going on right now. And 2026 may be too late.

Serious question; what powers do the opposition party have in Parliament? Can they draft and approve legislation without the votes of the party in power? Can they hire and fire cabinet members or the heads of various agencies on their own? Or are they like our minority party, only able to scream and try to get 'the other side' to cross the aisle? The only thing I can see that's different is that they can push for a vote of 'no confidence', something we don't have here. But what does it take to force a 'no confidence'? I assume a majority vote in the Commons or is it a public vote? If it's a vote of MPs, even if we had that here, it still wouldn't work in this situation.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/historian-reveals-how-hitler-dismantled-democracy-in-less-than-two-months/ar-AA1xbNBe

Tax on sex next ?

A memo sent out by the Department of Transportation is directing the agency to send federal funds for infrastructure projects to areas of the country with higher birth rates and marriage rates.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dot-memo-funds-communities-marriage-birth-rates_n_679bf8d8e4b0e1faebeef9c8

Rather hilariously. He governs like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Other countries need to be firmer with him, give him some nice, safe boundaries.

oops hit post too soon!

I worry about the optics of even being seen to appease Trump and his petulance. If he thinks his bullying tactics work then that spells disaster for us all.

They could be making more noise, I think. I know it's not process oriented, but I think the Dems would do well to step away from that mindset to some extent. They should be holding press conferences and crawling all over social media - Elon Musk has your social security number and your tax records. Bring cameras to a USAID hospital, show the babies that are going to die.

The Republicans essentially won by media blitz, the Dems should be doing the same. And working through the weekend occasionally. And slowing down those nominations. Be as obstructive as possible. And shout as loud as possible about the stuff that's going down.

Bring cameras to a USAID hospital, show the babies that are going to die.

Fake news will be the howls.

I'm sure that's right, but you have to just keep on doing it. The willingness to engage in a constant barrage of repetition is surely part of the Repugnanticans' success? What's the science on how many times someone needs to see something before they start to believe it?

I mean, I didn't even believe HRC was keeping those kids in the pizza place the first two times I was told... 😅

Trump is a glorified internet troll, he’s the big man when he’s thumping away on his keyboard and ranting at rallies, but put him face to face with people who won’t stand for his crap and he shows himself for the big cowardly custard he really is - look at what happened when he went to California and had to face Gavin Newsom after repeatedly calling him “New-Scum”.

For those that missed it, Gavin Newsom turned up at the airport for Trump’s arrival, despite the White House team trying to block him being there. Trump initially refused to get off the plane but had to back down when it was clear Newsom wasn’t going anywhere. When he got off, Newsom shook his hand (and looked like he wasn’t going to let go of Trump’s hand) while Trumped spluttered ““Oh, Gavin, you're a great guy, Gavin. You're a great guy.”

Hitlers public appearances became increasingly rare very quickly.

I'm old enough to remember Reagan doing similar

"Reaganomics: Definition, Policies, and Impact" https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/reaganomics.asp

Was that aimed at me? I'm not a big fan of Reaganomics. In fact, I don't think it's too hard to draw an arrow from his policies to where we are today.

That aside, Reagan didn't bring unelected foreign government contractors who would be unable to pass a background check in to access private data and cut congressionally-approved spending illegally. See the difference?

Sheesh, not directed at anyone just a passing thought. Lighten up.

It doesn't feel like a particularly light moment.

unelected foreign government contractors who would be unable to pass a background check in to access private data and cut congressionally-approved spending illegally.

This is a good summary.

all round. We're all a little stressed!

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lhc7wai7yg2s

Trump on what Trudeau could offer him to change his mind on tariffs:

"What I'd like to see -- Canada become our 51st state."