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Trump / Musk (other than DOGE)

  • Thread starter Thread starter nycfan
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Mulberry Heel said:
When the shit from all of this starts to hit the fan and there finally is a public uprising - and there will be at some point - then Musk will make a very convenient fall guy and scapegoat for Trump and the authors of Project 2025. He's famous and prominent enough so that everyone knows who he is, and so now he's doing much of their dirty work for them, and later they can blame everything on him while still trying to keep most of his "reforms" in place.
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Absolutely. Musk will be Trump’s fall guy.

I have said it many times on this board. Musk has placed himself in a far more precarious situation than he realizes.

The real question is whether Musk will be Rohm’d.
 
Callatoroy said:
He is a deeply vindictive person. However,

"But Trump’s decision to restrict Biden’s access to intelligence briefings comes exactly four years after Biden made the same move against Trump, citing his “erratic behavior” before and after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol."

I mean you gotta call it both ways
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As usual it's not what he did rather how he did it. The man is just such a vial piece of shit.

All things considered, why would Biden need to maintain access?
 
Callatoroy said:
no, biden left them in his unsecured garage. plus biden is mentally compromised. So you will justify why it was ok for biden to do it but not trump based on your partisanship. The bottom line is he did it because he could and out of spite. trump did the same thing. This is just the beginning of what trump is going to do to exact retribution. you reap what you sew.
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I do believe there was more justification when Biden did it. This is just trump being his normal center of the universe self.
 
Every move Trump has made so far is a revenge act. All fed funding cuts have strategically targeted on “liberal” institutions/agencies. Haven’t heard anything about farm subsidies where farmers are PAID to NOT grow a crop- to do nothing. It’s all very clear it’s vendictive revenge politics.
 
And again, unlawful. There is no circumstance under which the President can prevent the NY AG from having access to federal buildings. This will, again, be overturned in short order.

NY needs to pass a bounty law authorizing anyone to sue any person who takes away security clearances. $100M per violation.
 
I don't know where to put this, but a Pub appointee on the DC district court just held that labor unions lack standing to advocate for the rights of their members not to be targeted by DOGE.

It must be the first time in history that a judge found that a labor union lacks standing to represent its members. Literally, labor unions have statutory responsibilities to represent their members' interests in court. It is impossible for the union not to have standing.

I'm not sure if this is malice or simply dementia. Needless to say, it's comically stupid and I'm hoping the DC Circuit reverses in short order. This jackass cites a case that specifically states it does not apply to motions at the pleading stage as the basis for throwing out a motion at the pleading stage. It's a fundamental lack of understanding of standing and shocking for a DDC judge.

Fortunately, a couple of other GOP appointees to the district courts have taken a dim view of Trump's nonsense.

This is the opinion, btw:

 


“President Trump has spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the phone to try to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, he told The Post in an exclusive interview aboard Air Force One Friday.

“I’d better not say,” said Trump when asked how many times the two leaders have spoken.

But he believes Putin “does care” about the killing on the battlefield.

“He wants to see people stop dying,” said Trump.

“All those dead people. Young, young, beautiful people. They’re like your kids, two million of them – and for no reason.”

… Trump has said he wants to strike a $500 million deal with Zelensky to access rare-earth minerals and gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in any potential peace settlement.…”
——
Interesting that the NYPost has an interview with Trump about Ukraine that is all about Trump and Putin talking and Trump’s claims that Putin cares about the deaths of Ukrainians, but apparently has to dig back to prior statements by Trump to come up with a mention of Ukraine and its interests.
 
Cont’d

“… On Iran, Trump told The Post: “I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it. . . . They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die.”

“If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them.”

… “I could tell what I have to tell them, and I hope they decide that they’re not going to do what they’re currently thinking of doing. And I think they’ll really be happy.”

“I’d tell them I’d make a deal.”

As for what he would offer Iran in return, he said, “I can’t say that because it’s too nasty. I won’t bomb them.” …”
 

Trump administration cuts teams that fight foreign election interference​

“This is an invitation for more foreign interference,” one expert told The Washington Post.


“The Trump administration this week eliminated much of the federal government’s front line of defense against foreign interference in U.S. elections.

The move, which follows years of Trump and his allies disputing the role that Russian influence campaigns played in his first successful bid for president, alarmed state election officials and election security experts, who warned that safeguarding Americans from foreign disinformation campaigns will be difficult if no one at the federal level is doing that work.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi dissolved an FBI task force formed in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections that worked to uncover covert efforts by Russia, China, Iran and other foreign adversaries to manipulate U.S. voters.

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security sent a letter Wednesday placing at least seven federal employees who work on teams combating foreign disinformation within the election security arm of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, on administrative leave, according to a recipient who shared a copy of the letter with The Washington Post.

“This is an invitation for more foreign interference,” said Lawrence Norden, vice president of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. …”
 

As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can’t Keep Up​

In the three weeks since President Trump took office and gave Elon Musk free rein inside the federal government, millions of calls have poured in to members of Congress, jamming the system.

www.nytimes.com

As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can’t Keep Up

In the three weeks since President Trump took office and gave Elon Musk free rein inside the federal government, millions of calls have poured in to members of Congress, jamming the system.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“… a system that usually handles a few dozen calls per minute is straining to keep up with more than 1,500.

… Congressional phone lines have been jammed to the point of failure, according to lawmakers and officials on Capitol Hill, in a stark reflection of a political system buckling to a breaking point under an emboldened and unbound Mr. Trump.

Calls are pouring in from constituents outraged about Mr. Trump’s unilateral moves and how he has allowed Mr. Musk to gain access to and begin dismantling critical parts of the federal bureaucracy, and demanding that members of Congress take a stand against them.

Others are calling Republican senators incessantly to either demand that they fall in line behind Mr. Trump and his cabinet nominees, or plead with them to break ranks and challenge the president.

… An aide for Senator John Curtis, Republican of Utah, estimated that about 60 percent of the calls coming into his office were critical of Mr. Musk, while the other 40 percent concerned Mr. Trump’s nominees. The ratio of favorable to unfavorable calls varied by the day, the aide said.

For example, before Mr. Curtis came out in support of Pete Hegseth, now the defense secretary, a majority of the callers were urging the senator to fall in line behind him. But afterward, more calls came in urging Mr. Curtis to change course, defy Mr. Trump and vote against Mr. Hegseth.

… On the other side of the Capitol, Representative Becca Balint, Democrat of Vermont, said she normally has two aides monitoring the office phones, enough to handle the handful of calls they typically receive each hour. But since Jan. 20, she has reassigned at least six additional staff members to keep up with a nonstop flood of calls. Most are from constituents outraged that Mr. Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency gained access to personal and private financial information through the Treasury Department’s federal payment system. …”
 
www.nytimes.com

Hegseth Uses His First Town Hall to Attack Diversity

The defense secretary, speaking to the Pentagon work force, defended his “unconventional approaches” to an audience that included women and people of color.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“… On Friday, Mr. Hegseth touched on some matters of national security, promising “accountability” for “what occurred in Afghanistan” without explaining what that meant.

He also pledged the same for the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as well as for “the war that was unleashed in Ukraine,” a military invasion ordered by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

But in his view, Mr. Hegseth told the attendees, military deterrence begins “with our own southern border.” …”
 
Continued

“… “It starts with the basic stuff, right?” Mr. Hegseth said. “It’s grooming standards and uniform standards and training standards, fitness standards, all of that matters.”

As a civilian, he is often seen wearing an American flag pocket square in his suit coat, as he was during his Senate confirmation hearinglast month, and sporting a full-color American flag belt buckle, as he did when Vice President JD Vance swore him into office as defense secretary and again onstage at the Pentagon on Friday.

Wearing the American flag as an article of clothing is prohibited by the U.S. Flag Code, which establishes proper and improper ways of respecting the national ensign. The Defense Department’s own website reiterates that in a 2019 article posted during the first Trump administration. …”
 
“… As soon as the question-and-answer portion of the event began, the Pentagon cut the video feed.“

White Noise Television GIF by Four Rest Films
 

US and China teeter on edge of trade war as tariff deadline looms​

Donald Trump’s shock tactics may have pushed Beijing away from negotiating table, experts say

www.ft.com

US and China teeter on edge of trade war as tariff deadline looms

Donald Trump’s shock tactics may have pushed Beijing away from negotiating table, experts say
www.ft.com www.ft.com


“… When the US duties took effect three days later, Beijing immediately hit back, announcing additional 10 to 15 per cent duties on US energy exports and farm equipment. China’s duties are due to take effect on Monday.

“This could be just the beginning of this phase of the trade war,” said Zhang Yanshen, an expert at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

“This could become a very, very bad situation.”

Some analysts had expected the US and China to hold talks to avert major trade hostilities. Trump initially said he expected to talk to President Xi Jinping, but after China retaliated, he said he was in “no rush” and the tariffs were an “opening salvo” with “very substantial” measures to come.

…. Experts in Beijing said Trump’s shock tactics, aimed at forcing Xi to reach a deal quickly, might have backfired. The US president provided only two days between announcing and implementing the tariffs — a timeline that was probably unacceptable to Xi.

… But analysts noted that the limited scope of China’s retaliation — which included antitrust investigations into Google and Nvidia but hit a narrower range of goods than the US levies — suggested room for negotiations. …”
 
www.ft.com

Canada’s trade minister visits Brussels in bid to boost mutual commerce

Move comes after Donald Trump threatened both with tariffs
www.ft.com www.ft.com

Canada’s trade minister visits Brussels in bid to boost mutual commerce​

Move comes after Donald Trump threatened both with tariffs

Canada wants to boost trade with the EU, its trade minister has said, as tensions with the US persist over President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.Mary Ng visited Brussels this weekend to hold talks with EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.Ng said that the two sides could better exploit their existing trade deal. Since it came into force in 2017, EU-Canada trade has grown by two-thirds but the pair discussed how to boost it further.“Do I think we could do better? Certainly,” Ng said. Both sides should seek to “enable our businesses to get into each other’s markets” and “always find ways of doing more of” that.

...

EU countries want Ottawa to build pipelines to move oil and gas to Canada’s east coast where it could be exported to Europe, after Europe banned most Russian supplies.Objections from provinces and indigenous communities have held up projects. But Ng said that Trump’s tariff threats could change that. “Canadians are really looking at what are the kinds of things we can do to help us be more resilient,” she said.There was “much consensus now among the provincial and territorial leaders that we will remove barriers within our country so that we truly can have free trade within Canada. That is something that has eluded us.”But she said consultation with indigenous people, who own some of the land which mining and energy projects would exploit, would continue.
 
Bitcoin, emissions credits and promises about artificial intelligence can only do so much. Like it or not, Tesla is still a car company. And Tesla's sales are not off to a great start in 2025.

In recent days, full-year and January sales results from various markets around the world indicate a bleak picture for the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company. Even as it added the Cybertruck to its lineup in large volumes last year—which should have unlocked more buyers in America's expansive pickup truck field—Tesla is seeing serious declines in places where it once had a near-lock on electric sales. Let's take a look at some of the areas taking the hardest hits.
As various outlets covered this week, the California New Car Dealers Association's (CADA) latest data indicates that EV sales leveled off in the Golden State last year, holding steady at 25.3% of new-car sales and just slightly up from 2023's result of 25%. Granted, while it's quite impressive for one in four new cars sold in California to be entirely electric, a slowdown in once-rapid EV growth has coincided with a big decline in Tesla sales.

Their report doesn't mince words. "All of the decrease in the state market last year was attributable to Tesla, which had an 11.6% decline," it said. "Registrations for all other brands increased 1.4%." And that's for all new passenger vehicle registrations in California, not just EVs.

...

The story gets worse in other parts of the world. In Germany, where Tesla was the longtime EV sales leader even as new entries from Volkswagen, BMW, Audi and various Chinese brands started showing up, sales declined a whole 60% in January—just 1,277 registrations in Europe's biggest car market, according to Fortune. Tesla’s sales were also down 63% in France in January, another large car market, from a year earlier. They also dropped 8% in the UK year-over-year in January even as all-electric vehicle sales rose to 21% of the British new car market, a seven-point increase from 2024. "No Tesla cracked the UK's top 10 best-seller list last month, something that has regularly happened in the past," Ars Technica reported this week.

And one trend that's especially worth watching is what's happening in China, which makes up more than a third of Tesla's global sales. In China, which leads the world in total all-electric and hybrid sales, Tesla dropped 11.5% in January.
 
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