...to think surely nobody will vote Donald Trump now?

[QuizteamBleakley]

Donald Trump thinks there should be a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.

Beeb news here.

All he needs to do is tell them hardball on the phone.

That only works if they don't call his bluff. What if they do?

'Trump has previously said he would have Putin manage the ME and have America stay out.'

He can't let that happen because of the oil and the fact that Putin may then doublecross him. I think he will do a fair deal with Putin where the US and Russia become more friendly and work together to sort the world's problems out and where the US remains number one. Putin will accept that, as he doesn't want to be number one, as long as he gets a fair share of the pie. Trump is a deal maker, a fair guy, hardball but fair. He wants to rebild Amerca, sort out the debt, stop wasting trillions of dollars on Iarq etc and wanst to give American people the jobs and prsoperity they used to know. He wanst to "make America great again" and he will do it because he is a winner and has won all of his life.

The countries concerned don't have to call Trump "unfit for office". All they have do to is ignore him. If you think it's as simple as sequestering assets, putting sanctions in place and issuing arrest warrants, your knowledge of foreign affairs is simply woeful. And what happens if the people in the countries concerned don't want regime change?

'That only works if they don't call his bluff. What if they do?'

If they call his bluff, then they will only make that mistake once. America is the number one power in the world, no one calls America's bluff. Trump has ways and means to get what he wants, he will have the power to make things happen.

Regimes can be toppled, just as there is the current attempt to topple Syria now. The attempt to topple Assad in Syria has failed because Obama was not 100% committed to it and because it risked potentially a much bigger war involving other powers.

If Trump does a deal with Putin, then Trump gets exactly what he wants anywhere he likes.

'All they have do to is ignore him'

I don't think so. This is what faux conservative, Bill O'Reilly, keeps implying when he interviews Trump. Trump just brushes it off and laughs. Trump knows that no one will ignore Trump.

'your knowledge of foreign affairs is simply woeful'

You may be right, we will have to wait and see. I think the world works on force and power and Trump will have it and the American public laugh when Trump mocks Jeb Bush and says

"i know, your'e a tough guy, Jeb, very tough"

but no one will laugh about Trump being tough.

'And what happens if the people in the countries concerned don't want regime change?'

The people in Libya didn't want regime change, the million who died in Iraq didn't want regime change, the millions of refugees in camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan didn't want regime change, but they don't have the power to stop regime change. Regime change only works by powerful rich backers funding the mercenary Jihadis, when that funding is stopped, there is no regime change.

I think the only thing that will work is switching off trumps internet

Owllady, nothing works against Trump. The Bushes thought they would win. Jeb has spent about $50 million already and Trump has spent practically nothing and Jeb is on 3% and Trump is on 42%.

Trump is the outsider who is not intimidated by them. He has bypassed the media, their ads can't stop him. All the pundits are against him, politicians across the world say he is "not fit for office" and nothing works against him.

To see why, just watch his interview on Fox last night with faux conservative, Bill O'Reilly. There are 15,000 people in a hall in Arizona behind Trump cheering him on. Trump is totally unscripted, off the cuff, not a "career politician". The crowd backs him like no other politician anywhere. Trump is different. They have never come up against anyone like Trump and they are clueless about ho to stop him.

First they said he was a joke, then they said he is "not fit for office" and dangerous. As Gandhi said, "first they laugh at you, then they fear you, then you win".

Voting is one thing
investing in is another
fortune.com/2015/12/17/donald-trump-deals-lost/

America is the number one power in the world, no one calls America's bluff.

Really? Vietnam? Iraq? Afghanistan?

And claig, don't try saying Trump is immune from that sort of fuck-up, clearly on your own account of his economy with the truth and inability to keep to a consistent decision for more than two minutes together he absolutely isn't.

You know, claig, all this is so similar to wall that guff you were telling us about the glorious People's Army at the beginning of this year. Does it ever occur to you that just maybe you could be mistaken?

America terrifies me for so many reasons, Trump's inexplicable popularity among the top.

crazycat
Opinion polls mean nothing : wait till voters actually have to put a tick in a box.

Its a bit like Farage - everybody loved him except the people who had to actually decide whether they wanted him as an MP
which is why he isn't

Trump has no more staying power than Ross Perot did.

'Really? Vietnam? Iraq? Afghanistan?'

Trump will not start pointless wars. He was against the Iraq War, he is against the destabilisation of the Middle East, he said that what happened in Iraq was a terrible thing, so many people dead for no reason. All of these pointless wars will end.

'Does it ever occur to you that just maybe you could be mistaken?'

Of course I could be. I could be wrong and Bush or Rubio or some Establishment pupet could win and no one might ever defeat isis and all of the liberties of 450 million European citizens may have to be removed to protect us from some London DJ Jihadis in Syria. But I have hope that things can change, that Trump will win and change things, "make America great again" and kick out the "losers" who have created the wars and messes that have led to Londobn DJ Jihadis threatening our liberties.

'America terrifies me for so many reasons'

America is the country of freedom, of free people and good values. The American elites are not America. When Trump gets in and the Bushes are out, everything will be different.

Trump has spent practically nothing
www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/11/fec-questions-trump-campaigns-disbursements/
edition.cnn.com/2015/10/22/politics/donald-trump-super-pac-shuts-down/

When Trump gets in and the Bushes are out, everything will be different.
ROTFLMAOPMPL

'Trump has no more staying power than Ross Perot did.'

Yes that is possible. Perot got 19% as an independent and let Clinton in.

Jeb Bush has said that he can guarantee that Trump won't get the nomination. They think they have it sown up, maybe they will have, maybe nothing will change, maybe Trump will lose.

Bush won't get it.
But I agree with him that Trump won't.

and its sewn up

'Bush won't get it.'

Yes, Bush looks almost down and out. Pundits are saying that he will have to step aside soon to let another Establishment candidate take on Trump.

They have only got Rubio and Cruz left unless a Romney reenters.

I am not impressed with Rubio, he has puppet written all over him. Cruz is OK and could possibly get it.

'and its sewn up'

Thanks, I will try and remember that, improve my knowledge.

I think it bears repeating that Trump is only popular with registered Republicans. He's so divisive that it's believed that if he wins, many Republicans won't vote Republican and certainly swing voters won't.

He may have had a chance with the views and demography of the US 50 years ago but it's very different today.

Basically, if he wins, it's a shoo-in for HC.

Although I agreed with Trump during the debate about the ridiculous amounts poured into the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What he forgot, though, was that it was the Republicans who got them into that mess and Obama who got them out.

'I think it bears repeating that Trump is only popular with registered Republicans.'

Absolutely, but that is for now. His current hurdle is to win the Republican nomination with the active conservative base who actually turn out to vote. But there are lots of good conservative articles saying that Trump is not a conservative, that he was a Democrat. I saw Glen Beck say last night on Megyn's Fox show that he does not support Trump because he is not a real conservative. Trump is beyond conservative/democrat, he straddles both because he is a populist, for the people.

'What he forgot, though, was that it was the Republicans who got them into that mess and Obama who got them out.'

Yes, but Trump is against the Bushes, against the Republican elite. He questioned McCain's war hero status, he questioned whether Bush kept America safe, he was against the Iraq War and he keeps dropping lines about the partners being flown back to Saudi Arabia after 911. Some Republicans accuse him of saying that Hillary would negotiate a good deal with Iran. Trump changes all of the time, no one quite knows where he stands, but the Bushes know it is not with them.

And just hot off the press is the following:

"Putin praises 'bright and talented' Trump
...
Putin offered high praise for the billionaire businessman-turned-Republican presidential front-runner on Thursday during an annual news conference with reporters.

"He is a bright and talented person without any doubt," Putin said, adding that Trump is "an outstanding and talented personality."

And in remarks closely mirroring Trump's assessment of the campaign, the Russian leader called Trump "the absolute leader of the presidential race," according to the Russian TASS news agency.

edition.cnn.com/2015/12/17/politics/russia-putin-trump/

Obviously, they will all go after Trump now, but Trump is too big for them, Jeb is a joke compared to Trump.

Which only shows that Putin is no fool. If I were the leader of a country which has long held interest in seeing America weakened, I too would back Trump for president...

He said he was committed to the Republican party. If he then changes direction and starts appealng to Democrats then he's as two-faced and phoney as the Republican elite and the rest of the politicians that he is supposed to be such as alternative to.

'He said he was committed to the Republican party. If he then changes direction and starts appealng to Democrats then he's as two-faced and phoney as the Republican elite'

This is what the Republican elite fear. They don't trust him. The excellent conservative commentator, Laura Graham, said on Fox that some of teh top Republican donors were overheard saying they would prefer to vote for Hillary than Trump. She said the establishment want to stick together, against Trump. They are really one party and Trump does not play by their rules.

'If I were the leader of a country which has long held interest in seeing America weakened, I too would back Trump for president...'

But Trump will "make America great again", he has said he will make the Maerican military so strong that everybody will understand that no one messes with America. These endless pointless wars that are costing trillions are weakening America as the deficit grows. Trump says "we are always losing, we never win anymore, we are run by losers". Trump will turn it all around. I think he will make a good deal with Russia that means that the great countries and peoples will work together. Instead of helping regimes that behead people and stop women driving and have some medieval practices, Trump will work with modern Russia to spread better values across teh world - science, progress etc

That is what Trump represents - a complete change in direction. That is why the Establishment wants to stop him.