Trump+Musk; the DOGE and Pony show continues -Trump thread #140

[Spandauer]

Trump, as out of control as a faulty Tesla, takes an ICE pick to the Constitution.

Thanks to @AcrossthePond55 and @Jaichangecentfoisdenom for the thread title and sub-title 😊

Photocollage: Cold War Steve
Map illustration: Barry Blitt

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5286872-the-orange-man-and-the-state-of-his-union-trump-thread-139

Well Trump seems to be going for signal being defective, it not being a big deal, it being a Dem witch hunt etc etc etc. I’m sure she’ll be perfectly on brand.

Meanwhile Trump is being distracted by imposing more tariffs

Stephen Colbert on #SignalGate last night.
s

And Hesgeth is in fighting denying mode and is very errmmm animated. He's either stupid or desperate. Or both.

twitter.com/MAGALieTracker/status/1904963829085147441

Did someone wake Lil’ Marco up? Sounds like he’s dipping his toe in the water a teensy bit to passive aggressively pint the finger at Hegseth/Waltz.

No doubt he’ll crawl back under his rock once 🍊notices he’s not toeing the line.

A strange coincidence; in Lithuania, where several international troops are stationed, four US soldiers have gone missing during training.
They drove a vehicle which is used to draw tanks out of swampy ground when the tanks get defective or something is wrong.
https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2522247/search-for-missing-us-soldiers-in-lithuanian-training-ground-continues

The vehicle was found, but the soldiers weren't. Mark Rutte / NATO said these soldiers were dead (has meanwhile corrected this), but the Lithuanian Army is still searching for them and say that this is not confirmed. News are available also from CNN and The Guardian, for example, but above is the Lithuanian broadcast news.

Since this is right next to Belarus, I wonder whether there was some "interference" to send a message, as both Russia and Belarus do not want these troops in their neighbourcountries.
www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2522247/search-for-missing-us-soldiers-in-lithuanian-training-ground-continues

Or maybe it's a trick to say US soldiers in Europe aren't safe and it's Europe's fault. I hope of course the people are found and are safe, but with all that happens I do wonder whether there is something else going on.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/26/europe/us-army-soldiers-lithuania-intl-latam/index.html

This was pretty typical for Trump, as well we know, end of term 1 casually leaving documents lying around Mar el Largo bedroom, bathroom down the loo etc so everyone's doing in USA government. Follow my leader.

Saw this in the replies to the Wired link.

Fox News host getting his arse handed to him on a plate

https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1905003886332846279

😅

Mark Rutte has to say this. Otherwise he's informing the entire world that NATO is either dead or in suspended animation.

Republicans are claiming the angry voters turning up to Town Halls are democrat plants

The wife of a serviceman who took part on the raid in Lebanon is so FEWMIN at the signal leak compromising her husband's safety she's vowing to tail her Senator (?) to every appearance makes

https://bsky.app/profile/krassenstein.bsky.social/post/3llca52wf4s2b

I've just woken up to this.

I was expecting something. The US government is currently a laughing stock, so I figured he would lash out in some way to distract the world and also massage his poor ego.
Also what better way to support his mates business than to reduce the choice of affordable cars for Americans... it will be interesting to see if Tesla stock prices are affected.

Remember: nothing is as it seems.

If I were Rutte, I would be praising the US to the skies, after all talk is cheap. It's what you actually do that matters.

And in terms of doing, NATO (i.e. we) should be doing whatever it takes to mitigate the presence of an unreliable actor in out plans.

Given recent history, 4 soldiers missing in Lithuania would be a great pretext for an invasion of Ukraine by the US.

I do find myself wondering if allowing Trump to be elected as a Russian agent isn't actually some form of 4-D chess by the US and they can use it to blindside Putin ? At this stage of the game it wouldn't harm Trumps power base at all. In fact it could enhance it.

Is it true ? Who knows. The secret with MAGA about truth is not the knowing. It's the caring.

Given recent history, 4 soldiers missing in Lithuania would be a great pretext for an invasion of Ukraine by the US.

And there’s a long history of wars started after relatively trivial events.

All of this stuff with these missing soldiers is very odd. Where on earth are they?

Perhaps they don't want to go back to the US. Maybe they will turn up claiming asylum somewhere in Europe. I hope so, not only because I hope they haven't come to harm, but I'd love to see Vance's reaction.

The War of Jenkins Ear ?

I have to admit, this occurred to me.

I'm old enough to remember the Iron Curtain and defectors claiming asylum. It was usually defectors from behind the Iron Curtain defecting to the West, but these days who knows? If I was in the US military and in my right mind, it would certainly occur to me to defect somewhere. I expect that before this is all over US troops will be ordered by Scrotus to either invade some friendly country or they'll be turned on US citizens to quell protests. And I'm sure if I'm thinking it, so are some members of the military.

Though no bodies found yet far as we know.

Below: Copied from a recent post on the long running Ukraine thread.

Four U.S. Soldiers Reported Missing During Military Exercises in Lithuania
Four American soldiers have gone missing during military exercises near the Belarusian border in Lithuania.
The ARV they were in has been found this morning, submerged in water.
NATO clarifies comments that four missing US soldiers had died during training in Lithuania
The ARV is huge, and notoriously difficult to get into and out of, so it's quite possible they drowned.

On Lithuanian news are continuous updates, that also explain why this is technically a complex operation - they are now draining a part of the swamp to retrieve the sunken vehicle.
There is also a good explanation on the environment, which explains why people unfamiliar with it could be lost.

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2522536/missing-us-troops-in-pabrade-works-underway-to-pull-military-vehicle-from-swamp

Also the US ambassador to Lithuania is talking nicely (for now):
"United States Ambassador to Lithuania Kara McDonald says Lithuania is an exemplary ally in the search for the US soldiers missing at the Pabradė training ground.

The operation will continue until the soldiers are found, she said.

“As our secretary of defense has said, we will not rest until our troops are found. You can see that it is technically a very different recovery situation,” the ambassador said.

“I want to thank the Lithuanian government, the authorities and all that are out here helping in the recovery, their support has been absolutely vital and essential to this, Lithuania is a model ally and we are so grateful for their help, thank you.”

McDonald said she arrived at the training area on Thursday “in a show of support and solidarity to the families of our four missing soldiers and to the troops and units that are working so hard in the recovery”."

possible, but given the location - moors and swamps that possibly are comparable to some in Scotland - and so close to Belarus, I'd think either they weren't prepared enough for the terrain or there is something Russian going on.

I mean they are temporarily stationed in Lithuania; wouldn't it be much easier to leave during other times? They weren't just there for three days, so would have other options.

Or it is, but I hope it isn't, some pretext for another mess.