The Official Donald Trump Thread

[VAiz4hustlaz]

Trump Isn’t Bluffing​

We’ve become inured to his rhetoric, but his message has grown darker.​

By David A. GrahamDecember 7, 2023

Mandel Ngan / Getty
Editor’s Note: This article is part of “If Trump Wins,” a project considering what Donald Trump might do if reelected in 2024.

“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Donald Trump said this past November, in a campaign speech that was ostensibly honoring Veterans Day. “The real threat is not from the radical right; the real threat is from the radical left … The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”

David A. Graham: Trump says he’ll be a dictator on “day one”

What immediately leaps out here is the word vermin, with its echoes of Hitler and Mussolini. But Trump’s inflammatory language can overshadow and distract from the substance of what he’s saying—in this case, appearing to promise a purge or repression of those who disagree with him politically.

Explore the January/February 2024 Issue​

Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
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This sort of language isn’t entirely new. Trump spoke in Manichaean terms throughout his first campaign and term, encouraging chants to lock up Hillary Clinton in 2016, and in 2018 referring to undocumented immigrants as “animals” who would “infest our country.” Over time, the shock of Trump’s rhetoric has worn off, making it easy to miss the fact that his message has grown even darker.

Trump himself has changed, too—the old Trump seemed to be running for office partly for fun and partly in service of his signature views, such as opposition to immigration and support for protectionism. Today’s Trump is different. His fury over his 2020 election defeat, the legal cases against him, and a desire for revenge against political opponents have come to eclipse everything else.

From the January/February 2024 issue: David Frum on the revenge presidency

In the past few months, the former president has described himself as a “very proud election denier.” He has repeatedly threatened and intimidated judges, witnesses, prosecutors, and even the family of prosecutors involved in the cases against him, going so far as to say that his legal opponents will be consigned to mental asylums if he’s reelected. He has suggested that the man he picked for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff deserves to be executed on grounds of treason. He’s called for investigating NBC and possibly yanking the network off the air, also on grounds of treason—one of his most direct attacks on the First Amendment. And he’s vowed to arrest and indict President Joe Biden and other political opponents for no apparent reason other than that they oppose him.

The fact that Trump’s ideas have become more authoritarian is not yet fully appreciated. One reason is people have heard Trump say outlandish things for so long that they can’t identify what’s new, or they’ve become numb. Another is venue: Once Trump left the White House and stopped tweeting, his vitriol became less noticeable to anyone who didn’t attend his rallies, seek out videos of them, or join Trump’s own Truth Social network.

Even when a comment is so extreme that it does break into the mainstream, what happens next is predictable. The first time Trump says something, people react with shock and compare him to Hitler. The second time, people say Trump is at it again. By the third time, it becomes background noise—an appalling but familiar part of the Trump shtick.

David A. Graham: Trump isn’t merely unhinged

This is just the sort of “normalization” that Trump’s critics warned against from the start, but it’s also a natural human response to repeated exposure. The result is that Trump has been able to acclimate the nation to authoritarianism by introducing it early and often. When a second-term President Trump directs the Justice Department to lock up Democratic politicians or generals or reporters or activists on flimsy or no grounds at all, people will wring their hands, but they’ll also shrug and wonder why he didn’t do it sooner. After all, he’s been promising to do it forever, right?

---

This article appears in the January/February 2024 print edition with the headline “Trump Isn’t Bluffing.”

 

[QueEx]

We’ve become inured to his rhetoric, but his message has grown darker.

I agree in toto.
And, if planning for his ascendence is not well underway, we all (especially "US") could suddenly be in an extremely uncomfortable position.

.

 

[VAiz4hustlaz]

I agree in toto.
And, if planning for his ascendence is not well underway, we all (especially "US") could suddenly be in an extremely uncomfortable position.

.

This is where I disagree! We could parlay this if we played our cards right.

 

[QueEx]

This is where I disagree! We could parlay this if we played our cards right.

Thanks for the response.

Maybe we're saying the same thing, just differently.

You stated that "we could parlay . . . if we lay "our cards right."

I most certainly agree.

But I believe that playing the cards correctly necessarily entails "planning" that should already be underway. Of course, "if" its not already underway, when is it going to begin ? "

"If not now, when?"

 

[DC_Dude]

 

[QueEx]

“DESANTIS TO DROP OUT OF RACE; ENDORSE TRUMP - FOX
____________________________________


Most probably in exchange for a Trump endorsement somewhere down the line. They’re interchangeable assholes.

.



.

 

[blackbull1970]

Conservatives Are Having a Meltdown Over Trump and the Epstein List

Donald Trump’s biggest supporters are freaking out over the anticipated unveiling.

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling
January 3, 2024

https://newrepublic.com/post/177828/conservatives-meltdown-trump-epstein-list

Several of Donald Trump’s biggest fans seem increasingly frantic about a forthcoming list divulging the names of those who traveled on Epstein’s plane and visited his various international estates.

In social media posts and public appearances, several MAGA talking heads have made it clear that Trump’s highly anticipated presence on such a list, which is expected to contain nearly 200 names, is at the front of their minds.

On Tuesday, the former president’s son turned fingers toward Bill Clinton, who has also been photographed alongside the serial rapist.

“Everyone knows Bill Clinton was on Jeffrey Epstein’s [planes] and island a lot. Literally no one is at all surprised that he’s all over the release,” Don Jr. posted on X. “What we want to know is ALL THE OTHER NAMES that the government has been hiding & running cover for. That will actually be revealing!”

InfoWars host and Trump sycophant Alex Jones also made some noise on the issue, apparently having a hard time rationalizing how the known womanizer could have been associated with Epstein.

“I will say this, if it turns out Trump ever went to Epstein Island, I will remove any support from him,” Jones said. “But I know Roger Stone very well, and I know people that know Trump well, a lot of people, I’ll leave it at that. I know women that have dated Trump, prominent women.”

“He gets devoted to one woman at a time, gets totally obsessed with them, totally nice to them,” Jones continued, apparently ignoring the fact that Trump is due for a criminal trial this year on the basis of paying hush money to a porn star with whom he reportedly had an affair.

Other conservatives seemed equally flabbergasted at the anticipated unveiling, attempting to frame a new conspiracy to avoid confronting the reality of Trump’s behavior.

“High chance that the Epstein filings will include Donald Trump’s name. Out of context, the legacy media and TDS sufferers will pretend this isn’t because he gave willing testimony against Epstein when queried and will make believe that it makes him a pervert,” posted X user @Styx666Official to much conspiratorial head-nodding.

That’s compared to the dozens of instances in which Trump was photographed partying alongside Epstein and Maxwell and recorded on the socialite’s plane, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” while surrounded by crowds of young girls. He also described the pedophile peddler as a “terrific guy.”

Other MAGA headliners were so upset by the list that they ceased making any sense at all, including Tomi Lahren, who insinuated that the list includes Trump only as a diversionary tactic.

“So, what do you think they’re going to go after Trump for next to bury the Epstein document dump and all the pedophiles on it?” Lahren posted on X. “Every time they want to cover their tracks, they go after Trump.”

The list of Jane and John Does, which was formed nearly nine years ago after Virginia Giuffre filed a defamation claim against Epstein’s girlfriend and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, was originally set to be published on Tuesday but has since been postponed until after January 22, according to NewsNation.

Many of the names are expected to be publicly known Epstein associates, including employees of the financier. Other possible names to be unveiled could include Epstein’s victims as well as his clients and perpetrators. The latter will likely include some public figures who have already been explicitly tied to the sex trafficker, including British Prince Andrew and, of course, Donald Trump.

 

[blackbull1970]

Trump asks US Supreme Court to overturn Colorado ruling barring him from ballot over Jan. 6 attack

Trump appealed a 4-3 ruling in December by the Colorado Supreme Court that marked the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot. The court found that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualified him under the clause.

BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI
January 3, 2024

Trump asks US Supreme Court to overturn Colorado ruling barring him from ballot over Jan. 6 attack

Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to review a Colorado ruling that bars him from the state’s ballot over his role in Jan. 6 attack.

apnews.com

 

[blackbull1970]

Donald Trump’s Tirades Barely Make a Blip

The ex-president is ranting and raving on social media, making wild claims and vowing revenge—and yet, too often, he’s treated as a conventional candidate.

BY MOLLY JONG-FAST
JANUARY 3, 2024

Donald Trump’s Tirades Barely Make a Blip

The ex-president is ranting and raving on social media, making wild claims and vowing revenge—and yet, too often, he’s treated as a conventional candidate.

www.vanityfair.com

Donald Trump is poised to win the Republican nomination. If the polls are right, though they often aren’t, he’ll handily win Iowa and New Hampshire, at which point there will likely be very little chance of any non-Trump candidate slowing him down (not that they put up much of a fight to begin with). He’s also racking up endorsements, with prominent Republicans, including representatives Tom Emmer and Steve Scalise and Senator Tom Cotton, throwing him their support this week. And if you believe the polls pitting Trump against Joe Biden—I, for one, am skeptical—then the quadruply indicted former president is positioned to return to the White House.

Around this time last year, I argued that someone who tried to overturn the 2020 election shouldn’t be covered like a “normal” 2024 candidate, and yet, even four criminal indictments later, it feels like he is being treated that way. Whereas Trump enjoyed $ 2 billion worth of free media to dominate the news cycle during his 2016 run, these days he rarely sits down with mainstream outlets and opens himself up to scrutiny. His autocratic plans and extremist rants, while garnering some headlines, seem to quickly be forgotten amid the latest polls. Given that Trump and his allies have already told us that he plans to target the news media, whether “criminally or civilly,” it’s worth pausing and considering whether we’re adequately covering his unhinged behavior.

Take Trump’s holiday tirade, for example. On Christmas Eve, Trump accused “JOE BIDEN’S MISFITS & THUGS, LIKE DERANGED JACK SMITH,” the DOJ special counsel investigating election subversion, of “COMING AFTER ME, AT LEVELS OF PERSECUTION NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN OUR COUNTRY”; he called the January 6 committee “POLITICAL HACKS & THUGS.” On New Year’s Day, Trump accused former January 6 committee vice chair Liz Cheney of having “ILLEGALLY DELETE[D] & DESTROY[ED]” evidence that could have been used in his legal defense, while pushing the long-debunked claim that “Crazy Nancy Pelosi” turned down his request for 10,000 soldiers to go to the Capitol. Smith’s request for a ruling on whether Trump is immune from federal prosecution, he said, “is now completely compromised and should be thrown out and terminated, JUST LIKE THE RADICAL LEFT LUNATICS DID TO THE EVIDENCE!”

Close your eyes and imagine Joe Biden had written something like that. You can’t, of course, because Biden isn’t fundamentally unhinged. Yet Biden got beat up during the same period for saying that he’d been eating a lot of chicken parm while neglecting to mention his consumption of ice cream. The fact that Biden “forgot” he’d also recently eaten ice cream, and had to be nudged by Jill Biden during an interview with Rockin’ Eve host Ryan Seacrest, reached tan-suit levels of outrage on the right. The clip was boosted by the RNC’s rapid response team and picked up by conservative mainstream outlets like the Daily Wire, the New York Post, Radar Online, the Toronto Sun, and Sky News Australia. While Trump, 77, has his share of verbal slipups, Biden not immediately mentioning ice cream plays into the narrative, fueled in part by the media, that the 81-year-old president isn’t mentally up to the job of being president.

Meanwhile, Trump’s free to muse about “Crazy Nancy Pelosi turning down 10,000 soldiers” on Truth Social, a platform most Americans aren’t paying attention to. (Trump has about 6.5 million followers.) During Trump’s 2016 campaign, and the four years of his presidency that followed, his tweets generated entire news cycles. Journalists would follow a Republican politician down the hallways of Congress, begging him or her to weigh in on the latest tweet. Republican politicians pretending they didn’t see a tweet became such a common occurrence that journalists started printing out the tweets in order to question said members of Congress. “I didn’t see the tweet” was shorthand for Republicans refusing to confront Trump’s basest nature.

Trump doesn’t tweet anymore. His account was “permanently suspended” after the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” He was later allowed back by far-right favorite Elon Musk, but has not heeded that siren’s song—at least not yet. Besides, Twitter isn’t Twitter anymore; it’s X, a weird, abandoned mall in New Jersey.

Yes, developments in Trump’s legal cases grab headlines (while raising major constitutional issues), but the former president seems to keep skating by; according to the polls, he’s thriving. The MAGA faithful have surely seen his mad rants, but persuadable voters, who aren’t plugged into Truth Social or far-right media, could’ve missed them given the relative lack of mainstream attention. Journalists may no longer be shocked or even surprised by Trump’s words and actions, but it’s no time to ignore them.

Maybe Trump benefits from the last eight-plus years of lowering the bar—his history of tweeting incendiary things, making racist remarks, and lying incessantly about the last election has perhaps made him essentially immune from accountability, and so nothing sticks. In 2016, Trump rode the outrage news cycle to victory, and now, two elections later, his abhorrent views and wannabe dictator behavior barely make a blip on the media radar. Will such “business as usual” coverage lull less plugged-in voters into thinking that Trump is behaving like a conventional candidate and would, somehow, act like a “normal” president?

 

[blackbull1970]

Trump should pay $370m and be barred from New York business, state AG argues

Letitia James submits final briefs before closing arguments in a case that imperils his business empire

Alex Woodward
January 5, 2024

Trump should be barred for life from New York business, state AG argues

Letitia James submits final briefs before closing arguments in a case that imperils his business empire

www.independent.co.uk

 

[blackbull1970]

Supreme Court will take up Trump’s eligibility to run for president

The justices set an accelerated timetable to hear the extraordinary election dispute.

By JOSH GERSTEIN, KYLE CHENEY and ERICA ORDEN
01/05/2024

Supreme Court will take up Trump’s eligibility to run for president

The justices scheduled arguments for Feb. 8 in the most explosive election case since Bush v. Gore.

www.politico.com

 

[blackbull1970]

Trump Begs MAGA for Money to Pay NY AG's Suggested $370 Million Fine

The King of the Grifters is at it again

Ron Filipkowski
January 5, 2024

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/trump-begs-maga-for-money-to-pay-ny-ags-suggested-370-million-fine

After NY Attorney General Letitia James announced today that her office will be seeking a $370 million fine in his NY civil fraud trial, Trump has been in full panic mode. First, he fired off a lengthy all-caps screed riddled with falsehoods about how unfair everything is.

Trump then followed that up with an urgent plea for more cash from Mr. and Mrs. MAGA. He emphasized that he wasn't asking them for money to pay off the massive fine, because that would be illegal. Oh no, he badly needs a serious infusion of cash because of this calamity, but it will be to "SAVE OUR COUNTRY from the evil and incompetent people who are letting it burn to the ground."

Right.

Trump is absolutely bleeding out money with no end in sight. In fact, his bills are only going to get much worse as the court cases and campaign ramp up. He is paying for a bloated campaign staff of grifters and hangers on and an army of civil and criminal lawyers, all while having to spend money on his campaign to fight off Desantis and Haley. Now this likely imminent huge fine.

While Biden continues to bankroll a huge war chest for November, Trump continues to spend money as fast as it comes in.

 

[blackbull1970]

Trump on Iowa School Shooting: ‘Get Over It’

The former president's comments come a day after a gunman killed a sixth grade student and wounded five other people at Perry High School

CHARISMA MADARANG
JANUARY 5, 2024

Trump on Iowa School Shooting: 'Get Over It'

A day after a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, Donald Trump returned to the state and told residents that they "have to get over it."

www.rollingstone.com

Click Above Link To View Video

 

[blackbull1970]

Trump says Civil War ‘could have been negotiated’

“So many mistakes were made. See, there was something I think could have been negotiated, to be honest with you,” Trump said at a campaign event in Newton, Iowa. “I think you could have negotiated that. All the people died. So many people died. So horrible but so fascinating, it was, I don’t know, it was just different,” Trump said of the war. “I just find it – I’m so attracted to seeing it.”

By Gregory Krieg and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
January 6, 2024

Trump says Civil War ‘could have been negotiated’ | CNN Politics

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested the Civil War could have been avoided through “negotiation,” arguing that the fight to end slavery in the US was ultimately unnecessary and that Abraham Lincoln should have done more to avoid bloodshed.

amp.cnn.com

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Des Moines Area Community College in Newton, Iowa, on January 6, 2024.​

 

[blackbull1970]

Donald Trump didn't sign Illinois loyalty oath that pledges he won't advocate overthrow of government


Candidates who sign the oath - including Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis - attest that they “do not directly or indirectly teach or advocate the overthrow of the government of the United States or of this state or any unlawful change in the form of the governments thereof by force or any unlawful means.” It also requires candidates to attest that they do not support communism or affiliate with communist organizations. The oath is "a vestige of the red-baiting era of the former U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s," according to WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times.

Sudiksha Kochi, David Jackson
USA TODAY
January 7, 2024

Donald Trump didn't sign Illinois loyalty oath that pledges he won't advocate overthrow of government

Joe Biden’s campaign knocked Donald Trump for refusing to sign an Illinois loyalty oath that says he won’t advocate to overthrow the government.

www.usatoday.com

https://fordcounty.illinois.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/loyaltyoath.pdf

 

[blackbull1970]

Trump warns of ‘big trouble’ as Supreme Court agrees to hear Colorado ballot case

Former President Trump warned Friday that there will be “big trouble” if the Supreme Court does not rule in his favor on his eligibility for the 2024 presidential ballot.

BY NICK ROBERTSON
01/06/24

Trump warns of ‘big trouble’ as Supreme Court agrees to hear Colorado ballot case

Former President Trump warned Friday that there will be “big trouble” if the Supreme Court does not rule in his favor on his eligibility for the 2024 presidential ballot. The Supreme Court is set t…

thehill.com

 

[blackbull1970]

Justice Dept. accuses 2 political operatives of hiding foreign lobbying during Trump administration

Charging documents filed in federal court in Washington allege that Barry P. Bennett, an adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, spearheaded a covert and lucrative lobbying campaign aimed at advancing the interests of a foreign country, including by denigrating a rival nation.

BY ERIC TUCKER AND ALAN SUDERMAN
January 2, 2024

Justice Dept. accuses 2 political operatives of hiding foreign lobbying during Trump administration

Newly unsealed Justice Department court records say two well-connected political consultants provided false information about lobbying work on behalf of a wealthy Persian Gulf country during the Trump administration.

apnews.com

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks with reporters during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Washington, as Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, left, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, looks on.​

 

[blackbull1970]

Trump says he hopes economy crashes in next 12 months: ‘I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover’

Former President Trump said in an interview that aired Monday that he predicts the U.S. economy will crash and that he hopes it does so within the next year. In the interview with Lou Dobbs, Trump, the current front-runner in the GOP presidential primary race, explained that, if he were elected again, he would not want to serve a term similar to President Hoover’s — who took office when the economy was stable but later oversaw the start of the Great Depression.

BY SARAH FORTINSKY
01/08/24

Trump says he hopes economy crashes in next 12 months: ‘I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover’

Former President Trump said in an interview that aired Monday that he predicts the U.S. economy will crash and that he hopes it does so within the next year. In the interview with Lou Dobbs, Trump,…

thehill.com

Former POTUS Trump and Hoover​

 

[Politic Negro]