Trump 2024 Run Thread
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In a post on Truth Social, Trump attacked Haley over her previous performances in the primary season, including coming in third place behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus.
Trump also downplayed the significance of Haley's win in Washington, D.C., which only awards 19 of the 1,215 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, while citing his recent victories.
"Birdbrain is a loser, record low performance in virtually every State. DeSanctus easily beat her in Iowa for a VERY DISTANT second place, and then she ran up to the podium, before he had a chance to do so, and claimed victory," Trump wrote.
"I enjoy watching the Bird disavow her PLEDGE to the RNC and her statement that she would NEVER run against President Trump ('A great President'). Well, she ran, she lied, and she LOST BIG!"
In a separate social media post, Trump added: "I purposely stayed away from the D.C. Vote because it is the 'Swamp,' with very few delegates, and no upside. Birdbrain spent all of her time, money and effort there. Over the weekend we won Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan—BIG NUMBERS—Complete destruction of a very weak opponent. The really big numbers will come on Super Tuesday. Also, WAY UP ON CROOKED JOE!"
Trump also downplayed the significance of Haley's win in Washington, D.C., which only awards 19 of the 1,215 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, while citing his recent victories.
"Birdbrain is a loser, record low performance in virtually every State. DeSanctus easily beat her in Iowa for a VERY DISTANT second place, and then she ran up to the podium, before he had a chance to do so, and claimed victory," Trump wrote.
"I enjoy watching the Bird disavow her PLEDGE to the RNC and her statement that she would NEVER run against President Trump ('A great President'). Well, she ran, she lied, and she LOST BIG!"
In a separate social media post, Trump added: "I purposely stayed away from the D.C. Vote because it is the 'Swamp,' with very few delegates, and no upside. Birdbrain spent all of her time, money and effort there. Over the weekend we won Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan—BIG NUMBERS—Complete destruction of a very weak opponent. The really big numbers will come on Super Tuesday. Also, WAY UP ON CROOKED JOE!"
jobob85
Bent Member
Have you ever met a golfer?
LOL.
Surely you are not trying to claim that Putin fears the guy who worships him and is gonna hand him Ukraine on a silver platter while weakening NATO?
It frankly amazes me how people don't listen to Trump's own words. They just see him in the best possible light at all times. He is deified. Just listen to him. All you have to do is listen to him. And the Russians, who BTW, fear him so much that they interfered with our election to get him elected.
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RNC resolution to ban paying Trump’s legal bills is ‘dead’
The Republican National Committee (RNC) failed to earn enough support from states to bring a resolution to ban paying former President Trump’s legal bills to a vote.
Henry Barbour, who serves as Mississippi’s national committeeman, confirmed to several news outlets that the resolutions he drafted that would have prohibited the committee from covering the former president’s growing legal bills is dead.
The RNC is meeting Friday in Houston to elect a new chair after former Chair Ronna McDaniel announced she would resign on March 8.
Barbour confirmed to Politico that the resolution is “dead” and won’t be voted on during Friday’s meeting because he only received co-sponsors from eight out of 10 required states to bring the resolution to a vote.
Trump has already endorsed his preferred replacement for McDaniel’s former seat, RNC general counsel Michael Whatley. He also endorsed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to serve as the next co-chair.
Lara Trump previously said she would spend “every single penny” of RNC funds to reelect her father-in-law to the White House.
Republican critics say the move is Trump’s attempt to streamline the RNC with his campaign, prompting the major question of whether the party will pay his legal bills. Trump currently faces 91 felony charges across four separate investigations, and he was recently ordered to pay more than $355 million in a civil fraud case in New York.
Trump’s campaign advisers have said he won’t ask the RNC for help with his legal bills, but according to federal election filings posted in January, the former president’s fundraising committees spent nearly $30 million on legal fees in the second half of 2023. The Hill has reached out to the RNC for further comment.
The Plot to Subvert: Unveiling the Chesebro Emails in the 2020 Fake Electors Scheme
The release of new emails has cast light on Kenneth Chesebro, the Wisconsin attorney who started planning the “fake electors” plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results the day after media outlets projected Joe Biden as the winner. These emails, part of a settlement in a civil lawsuit in Wisconsin, delve into Chesebro’s strategies and his communications with then-President Donald Trump’s legal team, revealing a comprehensive attempt to exploit the electoral system to keep Trump in office despite his loss to Biden.Chesebro’s early initiatives focused on Wisconsin, one of the key battleground states, and swiftly expanded to include Michigan, Georgia, and others. Chesebro was always measured in his belief that the plans would succeed, but the emails show he was convinced they could—and should—succeed. In his correspondence with former judge Jim Troupis, Chesebro sought to exploit ongoing litigation to question the election’s outcome when the Electoral College met. This included efforts to have Republican electors in states where Trump lost also cast their votes, a supposed precaution, but really a calculated move to prompt Republican-controlled state legislatures to challenge the official electoral votes.
Chesebro’s memos and proposals found their way into the highest levels of the Trump campaign, leading to an Oval Office meeting with the president himself. One memo he wrote on November 19, 2020, to Troupis suggested having two strategies in play: pursuing litigation with the hopes of winning by January 6, but also leveraging delays in litigation to win in state legislatures on December 8. Chesebro’s November 25 email to Troupis underscored the belief that the most plausible path to Trump’s reelection involved legislative intervention or court decisions that would recognize an alternate slate of electors as valid.
The Wisconsin Republican Party’s lawyer, Daniel Kelly, expressed his concerns about the plot, questioning whether it was more about public relations or about obtaining relief based on a meritorious legal claim. Despite Kelly’s reservations, Troupis assured him that the issues at hand were “deadly serious” and warranted court review.
Chesebro’s involvement did not waiver even after the January 6 Capitol attack. He continued proposing ways to overturn the election through long-shot lawsuits, indicating that the events opened up legal options favorable to Trump. He had earlier stated in an email that having the GOP electors send in alternate slates of votes on December 14 could pay huge dividends, regardless of pending litigation on January 6. This assertion directly contradicts his later testimony to state prosecutors, where he suggested the fake electors were contingent on winning the litigation.
These revelations from the trove of communications suggest that the fake electors plot was never a mere stunt but a serious attempt to alter the course of American democracy. The disclosures also suggest that the Trump campaign intended for the plan to be consequential, rather than just a performance for the public.
Despite Chesebro’s guilty plea in Georgia and the unfolding details of this unprecedented effort, there remains a sense of unease over the potential unknowns still left to emerge from the 2020 election’s aftermath. The meticulous crafting of the fake electors plot, which unfolded over months and continued even after it was clear the legal challenges would not succeed, underscores the gravity of the threat posed to the electoral system by such subversive strategies.
Navy demoted Ronny Jackson after probe into White House behavior
Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician turned GOP congressman, regularly touts his military bona fides.“As a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with nearly three decades of military service I understand the commitment and sacrifices made by servicemen and servicewomen to serve our country,” the two-term Texas representative writes on his congressional website, posted to a page listing his work on veterans issues.
But Jackson is no longer a retired admiral. The Navy demoted him in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector general’s report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, a previously unreported decision confirmed by a current defense official and a former U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel move.
Jackson is now a retired Navy captain, those people said — a demotion that carries significant financial burden in addition to the social stigma of stripped rank in military circles.
Despite the demotion, Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral, including in statements released since the Navy reclassified him as a retired captain. Former president Donald Trump and other Republicans have also continued to publicly describe Jackson using his former rank; it’s unclear if they were aware of his demotion.
Jackson’s office did not respond to requests for comment about the Navy’s 2022 personnel action and his demotion.
For an officer who served 24 years like Jackson, there is more than a $15,000 difference in annual pension payouts between a retired one-star admiral, the rank that Jackson held when he retired from the Navy in December 2019, and a retired captain, according to an estimate by Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert at Center for a New American Security. That payout gap is likely to widen over time as the military periodically increases its pay rates for each position.
Kuzminski also said that it was inappropriate for Jackson to describe himself as a retired rear admiral. “While it is possible that others will mistakenly refer to him as ‘Admiral’ in perpetuity, he himself should not make that mistake,” she said.
A Navy official confirmed that the service took unspecified action against Jackson in the wake of the 2021 inspector general report, which found that Jackson berated subordinates in the White House medical unit, “made sexual and denigrating statements” about a female subordinate, consumed alcohol inappropriately with subordinates and consumed the sleep drug Ambien while on duty as the president’s physician. At the time of the report, Jackson was classified by the Navy as a rear admiral (lower half), a one-star admiral that is distinct from the two-star rear admiral position.
“The substantiated allegations in the DoDIG investigation of Rear Adm (lower half) Ronny Jackson are not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and, as such, the Secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July 2022,” Lt. Cmdr. Joe Keiley, a Navy spokesperson, said via email.
Keiley declined to comment on Jackson's current rank and whether he had been demoted. The Pentagon inspector general's report had recommended that the Navy secretary take action against the retired officer, concluding that Jackson did not behave in the “exemplary” manner that is required of Navy officers.
Military guidelines allow a provisional retirement rank if an officer is under investigation for misconduct at the time, as Jackson was during his departure from the Navy. Military officials have the option to downgrade the final rank if adverse findings are made, busting down an officer to the last grade they satisfactorily served.
Retired officers can respond to the decision, according to Navy regulations, but it is unclear if Jackson did so or otherwise challenged the Navy secretary’s determination.
In his July 2022 memoir, “Holding the Line,” Jackson dismisses the inspector general report as politically motivated.
“If I had retired and not gotten into politics, this investigation would have never gone anywhere,” Jackson writes. “This was happening because I am a perceived threat to the Biden administration and because a few political appointees in the Department of Defense want to make a name for themselves.”
In the memoir, Jackson does not address the prospect of being demoted by the Navy.
The Pentagon oversees the White House medical team, which is staffed by career military medical personnel and has become the focus of several investigations in the wake of Jackson’s tenure. The Defense Department in January released a second inspector general report into the White House medical team’s operations that does not name Jackson but faults aspects of how the unit was run while he served in the White House, such as the unit’s lax controls for powerful drugs like Ambien and the stimulant Provigil.
Jackson, who first arrived at the White House in 2006, served as the medical unit’s director between 2010 and 2014 and as personal physician to Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump between 2013 and 2018.
Former colleagues, political officials and Jackson himself have all described his strategy of providing complementary, round-the-clock care to numerous White House officials and even their friends and family. The Pentagon’s most recent investigation found that many of the patients who received complementary care from the White House medical team were not eligible for it.
But in the White House, Jackson’s approach won him favor within two presidential administrations. Obama, who personally chose Jackson as his physician in 2013, considered him a friend and promoted him to a one-star admiral in October 2016.
Jackson also endeared himself to Trump, particularly after a January 2018 news conference where the White House physician extolled Trump's health — joking to reporters that the then-71-year-old president could “live to be 200 years old” if he only ate healthier. Jackson added that Trump performed exceedingly well during a cognitive exam, a test that Jackson scheduled to rebut growing questions about the president's fitness for office.
Trump soon attempted to put Jackson in his Cabinet as secretary of Veterans Affairs, a failed nomination that prompted a whistleblower complaint to Congress and, later, the Pentagon’s inspector general investigations. Trump also twice nominated Jackson to become a two-star admiral, although the nominations stalled and he was not promoted.
Jackson retired from the military and left the White House in 2019 to run for Congress, a long-shot campaign that succeeded with the backing of Trump.
Jackson won reelection in 2022 and has emerged as a leading critic of President Biden’s fitness for office, injecting himself into this year’s presidential campaign with frequent TV appearances, news conferences and public statements where he assesses the 81-year-old Biden’s mental and physical health. Jackson also has publicly called for Biden to undergo a comparable cognitive exam that he administered to Trump in January 2018, invoking concerns that are shared by many independent voters and some Democrats. A Monmouth University poll conducted last month found that 32 percent of registered voters were confident in Biden’s physical and mental stamina, compared to 51 percent of voters who were confident in the 77-year-old Trump’s fitness.
Around Capitol Hill and in political circles, Jackson is frequently referred to by his one-time military rank.
“Where’s the admiral, Ronny Jackson? Come on up here,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a retired Pennsylvania Army National Guard brigadier general, urged at a House Republican news conference in July 2023 as lawmakers discussed a defense-spending bill.
Speaking at the August 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference — days after the Navy privately demoted Jackson — Trump also extolled his former physician.
“He was an admiral, a doctor and now he’s a congressman, and I said, which is the best if you had your choice? And he sort of indicated doctor because he loved looking at my body, it was so strong,” Trump joked before pivoting to the reason for his affection for Jackson. “He said I’m the healthiest president that’s ever lived. … I said, I like this guy.”
Arizona grand jury subpoenas Trump supporters who tried to overturn the election with false paperwork saying he beat Joe Biden
- 11 Republicans signed documents as 'alternate' electors for Donald Trump
- Grand jury has subpoenaed participants
- Comes after lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis reached Wisconsin settlement
The subpoenas ask the Republican 'electors' to testify before a grand jury about their involvement in a plan that would have substituted them for the 11 electors determined by the vote of the people in the state, the Washington Post reported.
State prosecutors have subpoenaed 'multiple people' linked to Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, Politico reported Wednesday, calling it an indication that state Attorney General Kris Mayes is wrapping up her probe.
Trump on Wednesday became the de facto Republican presidential nominee for 2024 after rival Nikki Haley announced she was dropping out of the race.
The Arizona effort features some of the same cast of characters as other contested states where Trump allies sought to overturn the results that went for Joe Biden.
President Joe Biden plans to launch a raid on the super rich, hiking taxes for corporations and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. The Democrat president, 81, will make the announcement during his annual State of the Union address Thursday night. He wants to raise the minimum corporate tax for big companies worth over $1 billion to 21 percent, up from the 15 percent he imposed earlier in his presidency.©WireImage
One critical figure, Kenneth Chesebro, already pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents in the state of Georgia after being charged as one of 18 Trump codefendants there.
Chesebro has been revealed to have penned memos after news organizations called the race for Biden that spelled out a plan to have states submit 'alternate' electors in a move that could have forced the House to referee a contested election – with House Republicans in the driver's seat.
A source told the Post Chesebro appeared to be central to the latest round of subpoenas to electors.
Chesebro and James Troupis, who served as lawyer to Trump's 2020 campaign in Wisconsin, this week reached a settlement with that state, ending a suit there and releasing email and photo communications during the critical days leading up to January 6.
In one photo, Chesebro texts Troupis a smiling photo of himself at the Capitol on January 6 while sporting a Trump had. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones can be seen in the background.
In addition to the Georgia case, prosecutors in Michigan and Nevada have brought charges relate to efforts to substitute fake electors.
In Georgia, Michael Roman is charged as part of the scheme. It is Roman's lawyer Ashleigh Merchant who brought forth sensational revelations that Fulton County DA Fani Willis had engaged in a 'romantic' relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Wisconsin texts between Chesebro and Troupis show the two men discussing an effort to get an 'original copy' of an alternate Wisconsin slate of electors to Sen. Mike Johnson and his chief of staff.
Troupis asked to talke about 'SCOTUS' strategy - meaning the Supreme Court.' Chesebro, who attended a December meeting at the White House with Trump, was optimistic. 'Trump sounds so forceful that maybe Pence has actually agreed to do something at least like not opening the envelopes until a Commission investigates. We'll see soon,' he writes of envelopes containing the electoral votes.
Records also show the pair communicating with former state Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward. Ward was among the 11 people who signed documents purporting to be electors, posting the event on social media.
'Kelli knows how to get in touch with all the electors and has been coordinating with them I believe,' Chesebro wrote in one newly released document.
Records also show Ward reaching to to people who were close to Trump and his campaing at the time. 'I spoke directly to Rudy and told him we were working to make sure we accomplish what we need to do,' she said in a likely reference to former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Republican Senators Don’t Mind If Party Picks Up Tab For Donald Trump’s Legal Defense
WASHINGTON ― Donald Trump’s allies in the Senate say they wouldn’t object if the Republican National Committee decides to help pay for the former president’s mounting legal bills.
Asked if the RNC should bail Trump out, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) answered, “I believe so.”
“I mean, they’re targeting him because he’s the nominee,” the Florida Republican told HuffPost on Thursday, referring to the 91 criminal charges brought against Trump in federal and state jurisdictions.
“I would prefer not to have to do that. But these are all politically motivated prosecutions. And the reason why they’re coming after him is because he’s running for president,” he added.
Trump’s legal bills exceed a half-billion dollars, including $355 million in fines, plus interest, after a ruling that he had manipulated his net worth in New York. Trump was also ordered to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for damaging her reputation after a jury found him liable of sexually assaulting her.
A growing number of RNC members believe the party should help offset the bills from Trump’s lawyers, CNBC reported on Thursday, and a resolution seeking to block Trump from tapping RNC funds for that purpose failed to garner enough support this week.
Moreover, Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law whom he has tapped as the new RNC co-chair to replace Ronna McDaniel, said last month that paying Trump’s legal expenses is “a big interest” to his supporters.
Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, maintains that the committee would not be used to pay his legal bills. “Hard no,” a spokesperson for the presumptive GOP nominee told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch Trump supporter, said he wouldn’t object if the party’s campaign arm came to his financial aid.
“They’re trying to drain the guy dry. I’ll leave it up to the RNC to figure out what’s the best way forward,” Graham said. “I just think we need to help our nominee as best we can.”
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the party arm dedicated to winning control of the Senate, also said it was up to the new leadership of the RNC.
“The RNC will take a look at the best allocation of their funds and make their decision,” Daines told HuffPost.
It’s not like the RNC is swimming in cash right now, even if it agreed to cover some of Trump’s legal expenses. The party is facing an alarming cash crunch in an election year, reporting just $8 million in cash on hand in the last quarter, the smallest amount in a decade. The Democratic National Committee has three times that amount banked: $21 million.
Trump’s GOP critics said he should pay his legal fees himself. The former president has claimed he’s worth over $10 billion, though Forbes estimates the real figure is around $2 billion.
“I think those kinds of personal matters should be covered by a billionaire himself, and RNC dollars should be devoted to his election and campaign,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) scoffed at the idea of footing another lawmaker’s legal bills, asking, “Are they covering yours?”
Stillwater Townie
Ranger
I wonder if Trump would rather bankrupt the Republican Party, rather than sell one or two of his real estate assets to raise money.
mugatu
Ranger
Yes. Yes he would. As long as they pay his debts and support HIS campaign, I don't think he really cares what happens to the rest of the party.
mugatu
Ranger
Trump still getting intel briefs
Really wish the classified trial would have gotten done by this point considering hows he's handled classified information in the past.
I get he's the Republican nominee but seriously he is one person that doesn't need to be getting info he doesn't have to have. History of telling/showing to anyone he feels like and he owes over half a Billion dollars in legal penalties...
Really wish the classified trial would have gotten done by this point considering hows he's handled classified information in the past.
I get he's the Republican nominee but seriously he is one person that doesn't need to be getting info he doesn't have to have. History of telling/showing to anyone he feels like and he owes over half a Billion dollars in legal penalties...
I thought the current president had to approve of daily briefings being given to former presidents, and Joe Biden did NOT approve Trump. Was there a change I’m unaware of?
