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

You know, the thing about the Biden administration is that it just ticked along. Imperfectly, but without this constant feeling of chaos and awfulness. Last time, when he lost, I felt the way people must feel when they leave abusive relationships and the terrorising and gaslighting stops. Now it feels like we've gone back to the abuser.

I keep thinking about the song King George sings in Hamilton, but it's our very own mad king we've gone back to.

Fuck the MAGAs.

And if I have to hear one more Dem go on about the price of fucking eggs, I'm going to stage my very own January 6 (29th?)

This thread is a welcome slice of sanity.

Apart from the annoying 12 year old who keeps throwing things around in a desperate bid for attention. Sad 🙄

Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s freeze on federal grants and loans. (AP)

It was US District Judge Loren L. AliKhan (a Biden appointee) who blocked the Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants & loans. The judge ruled just a few minutes before it was due to go into effect.

However it only pauses the freeze until Monday, to allow time for further legal scrutiny.

"U.S. citizenship renunciation inquiries surge in Canada, lawyers say"

Which reminded me of this

Exhibit A and Exhibit B

Please don't tell me that people are boycotting Columbian coffee by buying "Italian coffee"?

Lots of chaos caused across all states by the freezing of federal funding.

The parallels with Brexit cannot be coincidental.

Today’s TRIP is pretty sobering in their comments on the executive orders and the impacts of things like freezing international aid.

Trump has violated multiple laws with some of these orders but the Republicans that have been challenged on this just seem to shrug their shoulders. Terrifying.

Remember Trump has immunity from the Supine Court. So even if his orders and actions are illegal, there won't be a remedy.

If only the world could say: not our circus, not our monkeys.

The Pentagon has confirmed that the new US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is revoking the security clearance and personal security detail for Mark Milley – the retired decorated army general and former chair of the joint chiefs of staff who served under Donald Trump’s first presidency and went on to criticise him.

Hegseth also directed the defence department’s inspectorate general to determine whether it is appropriate to reopen an assessment of Milley’s military grade, the Pentagon said late on Tuesday.

Milley was pardoned by Biden

Has there ever been a more craven bunch than the current batch of Republican lawmakers? Mainstream media largely vying for a close second.

BoHo works better

It’s being run like a protection racket. The long term effects on the US’s “soft power” will impact administrations for decades to come.

How will anyone trust the US to stick to its word on long term investments, etc when there is the risk that someone like Trump will just come along and rip up the rule book with no internal repercussions?

A while back, I read a piece that distilled Trump into two sole drivers:

• a desire to get bigly bigly rich
• a desire to stay out of prison

All else - all else - is subservient to those mission goals.

The sheer size of the US and the inequality between states' populations make it very difficult to corral and protest in a meaningful way, I think. Many voters will see no difference in their lifestyle at all and others will be completely shafted. The adversely affected (Trump) voters will eventually look for someone to blame and it's likely they will take their guns down to the local government offices rather than boycotting the local Tesla showroom.

I saw postings on Reddit from fed gov workers who had originally been thinking of leaving that they're now planning on staying on in their jobs and not taking the bribe to leave as they are so angry.

Yes I think I remember The Mooch saying something similar this time last year - that if someone were to offer him a fat cheque and a Presidential Pardon he’d have walked away from running for a second term with a smile on his face.

Trumps management seems quite Stalinist in style.

The bottom line is the US system doesn't allow for removal of bad actors. Or rather it relies on the wisdom of the legislature to do it.

As a former proponent of the Fixed Term Parliament act, I was very harsh on it's critics. In retrospect, I have to admit I was completely and utterly wrong in dismissing them, and ultimately have to admit they were right. Which is why I am just as comfortable in my assessment of my own intelligence and it's limits as I am in calling out Brexiteers lack of intelligence and it's much narrower limits.

Fun fact: it's entirely possible that in the annals of history Boris Johnsons main entry will be around the fact he canned the FTPA. Something we can all be grateful for.

Matt Green

What does Melania Trump's portrait mean?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_xZO159uR4E

RFK JR's confirmation hearing is happening right now

@DuncinToffee he sounds somewhere between bewildered and deranged. He can't remember what he's said or written in the past, mainly because he's done more u turns than a black cab.