An unholy trinity or just a seedy threesome: Trump, Musk and Putin? - Trump thread #138

[Spandauer]

With a side order of Vance, Zuckerberg and Netanyahu.*
(*Other flavours are available)

Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.
George Orwell

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5258416-trumpmusk-folie-a-deux-trump-thread-137

Oh Trump is a big fat coward - look at what happened when Gavin Newsom turned up at the airport when Trump flew into California after calling him “New-scum” all over the media:

Trump hid on the plane for as long as he could and when he finally disembarked Newsom was standing there to shake his hand and judging by the video footage gave him a VERY firm grip and didn’t let go for a longer than Trump wanted - you can see him trying to pull away 🤣

https://news.sky.com/video/california-governor-gavin-newsom-greeted-the-us-president-as-he-got-off-a-plane-in-los-angeles-13295940

https://www.alternet.org/trump-musk-doge-authority/

Elon Musk, the incredibly wealthy man who is making drastic cuts to the federal government, is actually not in charge of the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency, according to a Trump administration personnel official. In court papers released Monday, Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House’s Office of Administration, challenged Trump’s description of Musk’s role

There is a theory that Putin had Trump filmed when he was...entertaining a couple of sex workers in Moscow. Compromat.

So, as far as my notifications are coming in, Badenoch pushed back against the Zelensky is a dictator first of U.K. leaders. Which I presume she's done to distance herself from Reform. Plenty of British people and (old style) Tories are anti Russia.

This might just be the miracle the Tories needed.

(Remembering Alan Rickman in "Die Hard" .."You wanted a miracle, Theo .... I gve you the FBI")

Badenoch’s tweet started pretty well actually. She was unequivocal about Zelensky being the democratically elected leader who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion.

Went downhill a bit when she started on about Europe needing to pull its weight and agreeing with Trump.

Much as I despise Trump, this theory has been pretty much debunked. The podcast “The Coming Storm” went into a lot of detail looking at things like this and found no evidence they exist.

I don't think he is. He's a natural born US citizen, but from what I can tell he doesn't meet the 14 year residency requirement. Born 12/1986, left the US 1997 when his parents divorced, so looks like he lived here only around 10 years, assuming they left before 12/1997. I suppose he could move back for 5 years though. What a horrible thought.

I think the same for BoJo, although he's now renounced his US citizenship. He wouldn't have met the residency requirement.

I'll have a look at that, thanks. I haven't seen any evidence refuting Christopher Steele's dossier, but equally there's no smoking gun (or should that be urine stained sheets?!) either.

I'm not entirely sure how I expected Trump 2.0 to go, but I actually didn't expect it to be this seriously bad this quickly. Apparently the Great Orange One is due to speak again in Florida shortly...

Oh I'd actually prefer that if the wheels were going to come off (and they were bound to), they did so immediately.

Reduces the amount of frog-boiling dramatically.

Also people will have sacrificed less time and energy (and blood) playing along with him.

It also allows people to come cleanly out of the gate and disagree with Trump, before they're chained to him by having invested too much of their reputations and political capital defending each additional salami-slice of bad behaviour. So Pence, despite his behaviour during Trump 1.0, has quickly stood up and contradicted Trump this time round.

Trump must be losing his touch.

Usually he takes advantage of people who appease him, by making them complicit in his appallingness and trashing their own reputations in the process; then gets a second bite at the cherry by using that against them when they finally ditch him.

He's failed to play them on the hook long enough this time.

Most things seem to fit with what was predicted (by the pessimists?) except I don't remember reading about annexing Greenland and Canada although I probably missed that it was previously mentioned in term 1*. But definitely didn't have Gaza for being a lovely place for a Middle East Vegas. Although it's kind of not that shocking re Orange Fatso thinking.

Makes you almost long for the simple days of Covfefe, don't it?

• I'll let myself off forgetting about Greenland as there was so much chaotic crazy stuff mooted in term 1.

I just have to remember what Dh says that of course none of what Trump promises he can do will work; that that's what leftists secretly worry about, that he'll deliver. And it won't happen.

Clearly he doesn't remember Sarah Palin saying she could see Russia from her house!

OK actually that was Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, but Palin did say you can see Russia from Alaska, and she was right.

How can Trump/USA now be considered impartial with regards to them being the 'best people' to act as peace negotiators? They have no right to a place at any fecking table.

Yes wtf is US doing there in the first place?

( Yes Im sure someone could definitely say wtf was Chamberlain doing at Munich etc etc)

Isn’t this the thing about him being reined in last time because he was surrounded by people who did know politics & diplomacy. So some of the madder stuff never really got through.
This time all the same people that served with him won’t touch him with a barge pole so he’s off the leash and anything goes.

Yes Trump himself said he didn't really know Washington then and was a New York person. Not because an unqualified dangerous cretin or anything.

...and now I wish I hadn't asked. 🤢

Mind-bleach anyone?

Even worse, Rubio does know the truth, and knows politics and diplomacy. WTF is wrong with him?

I see Trump is King now.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/19/trump-backlash-social-media-king

On Wednesday, following a letter issued by his transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, to the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, that ended the transportation department’s agreement with New York over a new congestion pricing program for Manhattan, Trump wrote on Truth Social:

“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
The White House then proceeded to share Trump’s quote on social media, accompanied with a computer-generated image of Trump grinning on a fake Time magazine cover while donning a golden crown, behind him the skyline of New York City.

I don't think it's anything to do with kompromat, Putin and Trump. I think he is honestly so deluded he wants to go down has the best president in all of history, to be on mount Rushmore, to be the president who has a dynasty, who stays in power without elections and the only way he can do that is repressing those that don't agree with him.
This is why he admires Putin, Erdogan and has said how much she loves Kim Yong un. A dictator who murders people like journalists, who puts people in death camps, trump would have no compunction in doing this sort of thing.

I think the light needs to be focused on republicans who are allowing him to be like this. Too late Pence and McConnell... They could see the way this was panning out

Exactly this. Trump is attracted to power/money he doesn’t give a toss about morals and “doing the right thing”.

Like you say, he genuinely thinks he can get a Nobel Peace Prize (either for Ukraine or Gaza) and can justify putting himself on Mount Rushmore. He is the epitome of the kid no one has ever said “No” to.

Rubio as previously a foreign policy hawk, including on Russia. Now he’s just a sell out and another fucking disgrace.

Journalists currently seem too scared to speak out - maybe they fear they will lose their WH press access, possibly their jobs and individually of being being doxed by MAGAs because Trump would undoubtedly single them out for retribution. Plus most media is owned/controlled by Republicans!
Washington Post has already censored articles and ads, Associated Press are barred from WH briefings, Jim Acosta (CNN) left his job because he was being sidelined for speaking out.
Trump has no regard for others - he'll attack you and want revenge whether you're a president or a postman if you publicly disapprove of him.

Most citizens are still not affected by what's happening... yet. Give it a few months and more people will see their lives and bank balances being negatively impacted. Add to that a total mishandling and/or disregard of a environmental disaster, another virus affecting livestock, another gun massacre etc etc and maybe people will fully wake up.

But it will be too late.