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

I forgot where I saw it, probably in the Guardian or Telegraph, about the negotiations in the Middle East. Russians arrived with draft contracts and having the legal fine print down, and sent long-experienced negotiatiors.
They were apparently actually surprised at how badly the US side was prepared.

They are just doing everything so casually and superficially, they don't have the depth to deal with this. And I suppose many of the US politicians went to college or university, too, and they often had prestigious jobs, so you would expect some degree of professionalism.
This Venmo friends list of people working in jobs with an extreme security risk is mad, many 17 year old hackers are better prepared.

Echoes of Brexit negotiations

Thing is whether you agree with the Russians or not (and I obviously don’t) their team of “negotiators” are hardened career diplomats with decades of experience in working the system and in the fine art of manipulating the West. The US side are absolute amateurs.

They were saying the same on Pod Save the World this morning. The idea that a real estate guy from Florida whose main claim on "qualification" is that he's a golf buddy of Trump's (Steve Witkoff) is The Man to send and negotiate with arch manipulators like Putin and Erodgan is embarrassing/laughable/terrifying.

Lithuanian politicians trying to pre-empt US throwing the toys out of the pram:

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2522670/pabrade-incident-should-not-affect-us-lithuanian-defence-cooperation-seimas-speaker

I found it amusing that the Russian side would let this be known to the public, which means they have no worries that their opponents will find someone smarter instead.

@ForestAtTheSea

It appears they've been found 'in submerged vehicle', so I assume not found alive.. This was just a few moments ago on NBC online so I hope it's accurate.

I thought their vehicle had been found a few days ago. Maybe I've got that wrong or maybe it was just 'spotted from the air'.

At any rate RIP and sympathy to their poor families.

@AcrossthePond55

thanks for the update; it is strange as in other news they haven't yet even lifted the vehicle. Bit of conflicting news everywhere. Sorry to hear that if it's true. Maybe there is an embargo on the news and someone went ahead. That could be possible.

What they said earlier is that they located the vehicle, it has a tracker. But according to the link I posted earlier today, it's under 5m of mud already. So they found it but they didn't see it yet. It was already sunk into the swamp.

Do you remember all the news where Russia fiddled with the GPS to mislead planes near its borders but flying in other states? (so not flying into Russia). Maybe they influenced the GPS and led them off the path, too?

Wow. Can't say I blame them. A huge loss.

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/03/27/three-prominent-yale-professors-depart-for-canadian-university-citing-trump-fears/

@Wallaw

I'm sorry to see them go, but don't blame them.

An exodus of higher education professors is right in line with P2025's need for an uneducated citizenry. Who needs a college education and real exposure to critical thinking, right?

I was thinking earlier, while stuck in traffic, have Mike Waltz or Pete Hegseth had college educations? This was after reading their signal chat as being in the style of Frat boys. Just hard to believe that they have but...

Obviously I know about Vance

Waltz went to some military college, can't remember which one.

Hegseth, believe it or not, went to Princeton and Harvard.

Since education is a threat to the dominance of trump/project 2025 surely the internet is too? Plenty of lectures & study materials available for free online.

I think the algorithms tend to send people in the other direction

Thanks @Wallaw . Next I'll be expecting to hear that MTG went to Bryn Mawr.

She was too busy at charm school. Such lovely manners

Yes. Only you'd still end up with someone that Trump thought was "smart".

The Russians could take out front page ads (with pictures for MAGA voters) saying "we are going to ream the ass out of the US" and Trumply would just wibble inanely and they'd believe he was in charge.

Update on the search in Lithuania (from 18.17 CET I think it is):
"Works will continue overnight
As the search for the missing US soldiers continues, the Pabradė training ground is being prepared to receive earth-moving equipment, the Lithuanian Armed Forces reports. The work is expected to continue overnight.
“A brief update from Pabradė: a dam is being reinforced to isolate the mud and water pumping site, and preparations are underway to receive the incoming earthmoving equipment. Bulldozers and excavators are at work and work will continue overnight,” the military said on its Facebook page."

"The US European Command has posted a message thanking Lithuania for its efforts in the search for the missing American soldiers.

Our Lithuanian Allies are dedicated to helping us find our missing Soldiers - we could not ask for greater friends. <a class="break-all" href="https://t.co/VMYCmxaP9X" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">t.co/VMYCmxaP9X</a>
— U.S. Army Europe and Africa (@USArmyEURAF) March 27, 2025"

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

That sounds like they are still searching and we probably won't know where the soldiers are or whether they managed to get out before the tank was sinking.

In some articles it was said that persons could walk in this area, but the vehicle is too heavy to not sink.
And of course any rescuing effort needs a lot of safety preparation, so that the rescuers aren't sinking into the swamp, too. Anything that is used to lift the tank needs to be heavier than it (?), so needs at least reliable ground undernearth.

I found this article only in Lithuanian on the same page (state broadcaster), where a biologist / scientist says that these swamps are only comparable to Alaska (not Scotland, as I presumed), and also says somewhere that those accidents happen to the US military elsewhere, too - maybe also in order to preempt some fury.
https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/2522983/gamtininkas-apie-pabrades-poligono-klastingas-pelkes-operacija-bus-ziauriai-sunki

I used google translate to read it.

@SerendipityJane

"wibble inanely" 😂

I can only remember the ending of "The Man Who Would Be King" ... could that be how MAGA turn on Trump ?

Absolutely.

The UK had no experience of negotiating deals, having delegated all that to the EU. NZ actually offered the UK a team of seasoned negotiators but the UK declined. I suspect they'd have done much better. It was awful to watch.
I still don't think the UK has found its feet yet.

That's not actually Him in that photo on the right is it? Tell me it's been tampered with by AI or Photoshop

https://bsky.app/profile/markhamillofficial.bsky.social/post/3llexg54ugc2z

Latest news from The Times.

President Trump has demanded Ukraine forfeit control of its minerals, oil and gas as the price for continued US support.
A draft deal suggests the US president has hardened his demands as he seeks to extract a greater share of Ukraine’s mineral wealth in exchange for American weapons.
Ukrainian officials baulked at the revised deal, with one saying it amounted to “robbery”.
The deal, first reported by the Financial Times, proposes transferring all of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including oil and gas, as well as major Ukrainian energy infrastructure into a joint investment fund. The income would be split between the US and Ukraine. The US would appoint three of the five board members, giving the White House overall control of the fund.

I'm in a queue to archive the article, so unable to post a link atm.