Bored of Peace? Let's Mambo! - Trump Thread #158

[Spandauer]

Cuba - the appetiser to Greenland?

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5501326-war-huh-good-god-what-is-it-good-for-absolutely-nothing-trump-thread-157

Not sure whether to mark this as sensitive.

Peeps on this thread never cease to astond me with how knowledgeable and eloquent they are. What I will say: we may feel helpless alone, but we are a force to be reckoned with, together. And that starts by talking with each other.

Now, I'm not going to predict what will happen with the next US elections, but I do know that the trust has gone, the alliance broken, and everyone across the world will think twice before trusting their security to America again. Because if that system and that people can deliver Trump without a single block on his actions, they can deliver worse.

America's mythos as a benign superpower is gone. I'm waiting to see if the dollar as the world reserve survives.

With any luck, the transition to green energy will slow down most if the resource wars and stop petro-states from screwing over everyone else. I include the US and Russia in this.

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2038672001959592147

Karoline Leavitt: "Some of the previous leaders are now no longer on planet Earth because they lied to the United States and they strung us along in negotiations, and that was unacceptable to the president, which is why many of the previous leaders were killed"

Pretty sure you aren’t supposed to say this bit out loud Karoline.

Well, Trump admits Putin has been "tapping him along".

So... what are you telling us here, Karoline?

According to the comments, KKK Karoline had said a prayer before the briefing. The Pope needs to stop being diplomatic in his comments and start naming these devious and untrustworthy monsters.

Who would want to negotiate with the US now? The only thing this WH understands is power, but this attitude will come back to bite them in the gonads as everyone arms themselves to the hilt.

@SerendipityJane we might not need for a tactical nuclear weapon to be actually used before everyone acquires one.

It's been reported that the PEOC (Presidential Emergency Operations Center) was destroyed during the tear down of the East Wing. From what has been said about it was rather 'utilitarian' in style and WWII era bombs 'bomb proof'.

Naturally, he wants his own bigly nuclear proof shelter all done up in gold medallions and scroll work.

Yes, he ran and hid in 2020 when the George Floyd protests broke out. Someone reported it to the media and he was roundly lambasted and made fun of for running away from people with placards. He later told then Sec of Defense Esper that the person who 'snitched' should be 'tried for treason and then executed'*.

*Was it the Red Queen who said "sentence first, verdict afterwards"? Because we all seem to now be 'through the looking glass'.

A Goebbels Barbie special

Sky:

"Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, insisted the US "will always act within the confines of the law but with respect to achieving the full objectives of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump is going to move forward unabated".

Pardon

"will always act within the confines of the law but with respect to achieving the full objectives of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump is going to move forward unabated".

That pesky law and the way it confines one. sigh. But no matter, we are going to do an Orwellian doublespeak thing where we contradict ourselves in the same sentence.

"We've seen presidents, we've seen leaders of the department of war, and we've seen our troops go to prayer during the most turbulent times in our nation's history. I don't think there's anything wrong with our military leaders, or with the president, calling on the American people to pray for our service members and those who are serving our country."

It's a low res photo in the feed but yes, she is wearing a cross. She appears to have picked a top to wear that allows it to be tucked away, but we see it, peeking out.

"Anything that they say to us privately will be tested, We will ensure that they are being held accountable to their word, and if they are not the president has laid out the military consequences that the Iranian regime will see."

We wont tell anyone what they say but if they don't do the secret thing we will bomb the fuck out of them. That appears to be her pre-empting Turd making things up and bombing them no matter what they say. So it all depends on what the voices in Turds head are saying as he squeezes one out on his golden throne.

How on earth could the slave owning founding fathers of the USA have gotten it so wrong when they wrote that constitution ?

Sometimes these sites open, sometimes not. This did. I think filtering his words out should come with a health warning. Does the US have a Surgeon General yet ? Need check that.

“Now, the military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed,”

“But the military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that’s under construction, and we’re doing very well,”

“We have all bulletproof glass, we have drone-proof roofs, ceilings, Unfortunately, we’re living in an age when that’s a good thing”

“Now it’s no secret, the military wanted it more than anybody,”

“It was supposed to be secret, but it became unsecret because of people that are really unpatriotic saying things,”

And no. It appears the USA does not have a Surgeon General yet. Some issues with the influencer that Trump picked. Just the usual anti-vax stuff.

Casey Means' surgeon general nomination is stalled | AP News

No prob :-) As I said, I used to debate flat earthers online .

I think it is fair enough if folk don't understand the concept of evidence and how it slots into logical thinking. Burden of proof and all that. Not everyone is exposed to it.

But I had my monthly look at GB news while I was at it ( I can see 5 articles a month I think before the email box thing pops up), and as we know, it really is no wonder so many people think as they do. And if one tries to subtly "guide" the discussion on "other threads", it soon becomes clear that the people who yell " Bomb them cos they kill protestors", are the same folk who yell " send asylum seekers home".

I get contradictions. Mao was big on how to explain them away. At least he tried in his word salad way. But the current WH appear to thrive on them. So it's no wonder really that so many people are just ignoring them.

Not really Trump related this post. I just want to register my total horror at this new death sentence law Israel has passed.

I am hoping that other anti death sentence states follow the lead of Spain, and just totally say no to this war. Looking at you EU and Starmer.

In the past I have argued against Israel being an apartheid state. But now there is no way I could do that. Because it is.

Sky -

"Trump willing to end Iran war without reopening Strait of Hormuz - report
Donald Trump has told aides he would be willing to end the US military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, according to the Wall Street Journal citing White House officials.
The reports claims that Trump has decided that the US should achieve its primary goals of reducing Iran's navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while putting pressure on Tehran to resume the free flow of trade through the strait. "

Who are all these WH officials who keep "leaking" this stuff ?

Is this a "testing the waters" thing ? Leak something to check the public reaction ? Stock market manipulation?

Here’s the beginning of the most recent post from Sunday night which only just arrived on my FB news feed, from another Heather, Heather Delaney Reese. I will happily copy and paste the rest of it here if anyone wants*, as it strikes me as disturbingly accurate about Trump:
"At 8:17 p.m. tonight, the president of the United States finally emerged from hiding. He had spent the entire weekend at Mar-a-Lago so that he wouldn’t have to face the humiliation of large protests, fractures within his own party, and the longest government shutdown in the history of our country. Now aboard Air Force One, Donald Trump stood in the doorway to the press cabin and gaggled with the traveling journalists, telling them the next country he would be targeting with our military, and calling the Democrats “terrorists.” After a quick update about his war with Iran, the president abruptly changed the subject and held up drawings of the ballroom he is building at the White House, one he said was needed for when authoritarians, or as Donald Trump calls them “dignitaries,” like President Xi of China come to visit.
After straightening his jacket, Trump spent the next 20 minutes and 46 seconds acting out the kind of performance that has become the hallmark of this presidency. One where confidence and desperation occupy his body at the same time, where every sentence contradicts the one before it, and where the man delivering it genuinely believes he is selling it, while also not fully understanding much of what he is even saying. He told the press that negotiations with Iran are going “extremely well,” that the relationship is strong, that progress is being made, and then in the very same breath said, “you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” effectively telling every diplomat working to bring Iran to the table and every foreign leader that the United States views diplomacy as a prelude to bombing. He said he would “probably” make a deal with Iran, that he was “pretty sure,” and then immediately added, “but it’s possible we won’t,” which is not a strategy and not a plan and not leadership but the verbal equivalent of a coin flip from the man who holds the lives of thousands of people in his hands and cannot commit to a single position for the length of a single sentence."

*or you can read the whole thing on substack: https://substack.com/@heatherdelaneyreese/note/c-235399887

The report re Trump willing to end the war without opening the Strait - isn’t that just called ‘we lost’?

BBC says Financial Times reporting that Hegseth’s stock broker tried to make (not clear if he actually made them) quite a few big investments shortly before the war with Iran.

There’s nothing Trump hates more than someone else trying to make more money than him..,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jke9v9xv9t?post=asset%3A37422c65-4a06-467c-a7a9-c8ceb10495a1#post

FT article

https://archive.ph/auz8H

Trump adjacent news.

Palantir is been working on joining up NHS computerised systems to reduce waiting times and produce more operations, but doctors had ethical concerns over access to NHS (potentially valuable) patient data.

The government has sought advice on scrapping a significant NHS contract delivered by Palantir over the tech giant’s work for the American government.
Louis Mosley, executive vice-chairman of Palantir in the UK, urged ministers not to give in to “ideologically motivated campaigners” who are demanding that the NHS cut its links with the company because of its work for the US defence sector and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/palantir-data-contract-nhs-prrj8j9tm

I also personally believe it's time for the UK to stop throwing good money after bad with F35s they are not allowed to fully control, and start pivoting towards Sweden's Gripen E fighter.

I also personally believe it's time for the UK to stop throwing good money after bad with F35s they are not allowed to fully control, and start pivoting towards Sweden's Gripen E fighter.

I wouldn't disagree but we need to be aware that if you do that you do lose some capability (e.g. in areas such as Low Observability)....now ATM that might be something that's acceptable and probably is a price worth paying.

Hopefully the supertanker of EU initiatives will help pull th UK out of the clutches of US tech dominance.

Is there no end to this pain?

https://news.sky.com/story/trump-posts-lavish-render-of-gold-laden-presidential-library-13526299

uk.news.yahoo.com/trump-unveils-crass-horror-book-044733985.html

https://www.themirror.com/entertainment/celebrity-news/rolling-stones-trump-visa-revoked-1765765

Crassus

FT exclusive:

A broker for Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, attempted to make a big investment in major defence companies in the weeks leading up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter

www.ft.com/content/744e...

https://bsky.app/profile/pickardje.bsky.social/post/3midmt7yp7c2b

Lindsey Graham is taking Spain's decision to has close its airspace to US planes involved in attacks on Iran well...

https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3midq45xsok2k

Tuesday.
Hegseth nefariously making dosh.
The Rolling Stones banned from the US, because, Melania 🤔.
Spain declared public enemy.
Which of those is the most shocking? Well, the Stones. 😂 Didn't see that coming.

On a personal note, after my anti-authoritarian rant yesterday, today I woke up thinking about doing some serious prepping. So more than just always having spare Branston pickle, and plenty of cheese in the freezer, which is kinda what it amounts to at the moment. I feel like hard times really are in sight now. Anyone else feel like buckling down on the tins of chick peas?

Totally agree. And the French Mirage platform too. The Murage already has a carrier version, and it should not take much to change it from the French Catapult version to our ski jump carriers.

Just a couple of years back the UK had a deal with Italy and Japan to do a new fighter, but that was scrapped. Daft decision.

Re the Gripen. From memory, Canada, Thailand and Spain were deciding between F35 and Saab. The Thais went Saab, Canada F35, Spain Saab. From my poor memory so probably mixed up, but the thing is, more countries buying Grippen means more money for Saab to make it even better.

Also worth noting that buying F35 involves meeting a whole slew of US demands on other things too. No Chinese telephone network kit ANYWHERE for example. I do not totally disagree with no Chinese made kit Tho, but there are loads of others I can't remember.

A quick look, I won't post links "

"The reason Turkey was kicked out of the program was that it purchased Russian-made S-400 SAMs. The US fears the S-400 will gather information on the jet for Russia. "

"According to Janes reporting in 2020, the US warned the UK that if it didn’t ban the Huawei 5G networks, it would not deploy its F-35s to the nation. The UK has since banned Huawei’s 5G networks, with the last technology to be removed by 2027."

Odd thing with the UK, is that we make about 15% of EVERY F35, yet we technically do not fully control those we buy.