mugatu
Ranger
So easily confused. It's almost like maybe they have no idea what they are doing...
Trump 47
- Thread starter PF5
- Start date
mugatu
Ranger
You know Donny is happy about it
Ugg.
Trump : "Canada has been very bad to us on trade, but now Canada is gonna have to start paying up," Trump told reporters, once again apparently under the mistaken impression that foreign countries, rather than U.S. citizens, pay tariffs enacted by the United States. "They think we're gonna protect them, with our military, which is unfair. Canada is gonna be a very interesting situation because we just don't need their product ... Canada is gonna be a very serious contender to be our 51st state."
50s an aggressive first statement but let’s not act like we haven’t wasted trillions on defense.
Glad we are all on the Same page and sending the same message....WHAT A COMPLETE JOKE
Vice President JD Vance issued a stark warning to Russia, threatening the potential deployment of U.S. troops to Ukraine—a move that directly undercut Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who was forced into an embarrassing reversal on his earlier remarks.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Vance said the U.S. may take military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin fails to negotiate a deal that guarantees Ukraine’s long-term independence.
“There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” Washington could use to pressure Putin, the vice president told the newspaper.
“There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence,” he said.
Hegseth had firmly ruled out any U.S. troop involvement in Ukraine, but was left scrambling to walk back his first statement on the world stage after a powerful backlash.
Criticism must have also come from inside the administration because the next time he was in front of the cameras he had radically changed his tune. “Any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,” he said.
“Everything is on the table in any future peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, including Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO,” the defense secretary said Thursday in a major shift in tone. He added that negotiations were being led by President Donald Trump.
“What he decides to allow or not allow is at the purview of the leader of the free world, of President Trump. So I’m not going to stand at this podium and declare what President Trump will do or won’t do,” he said.
Trump announced that he had spoken. to Putin by phone on Wednesday morning, and said they agreed to work “very closely” with each other to kickstart peace negotiations “immediately.”
Economist Mark Toth, a national security and foreign policy analyst, told The Daily Beast that the contradictory messaging from Vance and Hegseth signals a deliberate White House strategy to keep adversaries—and allies—off balance.
“The White House appears determined to be unpredictable, using the ‘fog of war’—or in this case, the ‘fog of negotiations’—to maintain leverage as they work toward their endgame in Europe,” Toth said. “Ultimately, this approach sets the stage for a strategic pivot to pressing national security threats emerging from the Indo-Pacific and Iran.”
However, he warned that such tactics come with significant risks. “One final word of caution—fog, especially self-created fog on the battlefield, always risks its creator becoming lost in it as well. Trump and his national security team would be wise to remember that.”
The contradictory messaging from the White House may also be part of the strategy to pressure NATO member states into raising their defense spending from 2 percent to 5 percent of their GDP, Toth said.
“This mixed messaging by senior White House officials was likely intentional in design,” he said. “What better way to do that than scaring Brussels that under a Trump Administration going forward that Europe is going to increasingly be more on its own when it comes to confronting Putin’s ambitions in Eastern Europe?”
US VP Vance Undercuts Def Sec Hegseth by Threatening Putin With U.S. Troops Forcing Hegseth to Withdraw Earlier Remarks
Vice President JD Vance issued a stark warning to Russia, threatening the potential deployment of U.S. troops to Ukraine—a move that directly undercut Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who was forced into an embarrassing reversal on his earlier remarks.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Vance said the U.S. may take military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin fails to negotiate a deal that guarantees Ukraine’s long-term independence.
“There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” Washington could use to pressure Putin, the vice president told the newspaper.
“There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence,” he said.
Hegseth had firmly ruled out any U.S. troop involvement in Ukraine, but was left scrambling to walk back his first statement on the world stage after a powerful backlash.
Criticism must have also come from inside the administration because the next time he was in front of the cameras he had radically changed his tune. “Any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,” he said.
“Everything is on the table in any future peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, including Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO,” the defense secretary said Thursday in a major shift in tone. He added that negotiations were being led by President Donald Trump.
“What he decides to allow or not allow is at the purview of the leader of the free world, of President Trump. So I’m not going to stand at this podium and declare what President Trump will do or won’t do,” he said.
Trump announced that he had spoken. to Putin by phone on Wednesday morning, and said they agreed to work “very closely” with each other to kickstart peace negotiations “immediately.”
Economist Mark Toth, a national security and foreign policy analyst, told The Daily Beast that the contradictory messaging from Vance and Hegseth signals a deliberate White House strategy to keep adversaries—and allies—off balance.
“The White House appears determined to be unpredictable, using the ‘fog of war’—or in this case, the ‘fog of negotiations’—to maintain leverage as they work toward their endgame in Europe,” Toth said. “Ultimately, this approach sets the stage for a strategic pivot to pressing national security threats emerging from the Indo-Pacific and Iran.”
However, he warned that such tactics come with significant risks. “One final word of caution—fog, especially self-created fog on the battlefield, always risks its creator becoming lost in it as well. Trump and his national security team would be wise to remember that.”
The contradictory messaging from the White House may also be part of the strategy to pressure NATO member states into raising their defense spending from 2 percent to 5 percent of their GDP, Toth said.
“This mixed messaging by senior White House officials was likely intentional in design,” he said. “What better way to do that than scaring Brussels that under a Trump Administration going forward that Europe is going to increasingly be more on its own when it comes to confronting Putin’s ambitions in Eastern Europe?”
JTOSU
Ranger
Fact check rating from Newsweek: False
Fact Check: Did Donald Trump forget to swear in Tulsi Gabbard?
President Trump has sworn Gabbard in as director of national intelligence, though some media outlets missed coverage of the event.
www.newsweek.com
No in a 75k Ram 2500 why do you ask.
What do you do in that $300k Harvester !??!
Only drive that bad boy on paved roads wouldn't want to scratch it.
PF5
Sheriff
now you wanna throw out the ´fact checks´ ... LOL... maga´s are normally crickets on fact checking on the plethora of lies tRump and/or his administration spews...Fact check rating from Newsweek: False
Fact Check: Did Donald Trump forget to swear in Tulsi Gabbard?
President Trump has sworn Gabbard in as director of national intelligence, though some media outlets missed coverage of the event.
PF5
Sheriff
Issa Rae: Actress cancels Kennedy Centre show after Donald Trump takeover
The star of Insecure pulls out over "infringement of values", after Donald Trump took over the venue.
www.bbc.com
US actress, writer and producer Issa Rae has cancelled her forthcoming appearance at Washington's Kennedy Centre over "an infringement of values", after Donald Trump named himself the venue's chairman.
The US president also fired its board of trustees within weeks of being re-elected, and Rae, the creator and star of HBO's Insecure, said all tickets from her sold-out An Evening With show would be refunded.
She added that the "infringement" was on a venue which had "faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums".
...
When the president was asked about his takeover, he said: "We took over the Kennedy Centre. We didn't like what they were showing and various other things.
"I'm going to be chairman of it, and we're going to make sure that it's good and it's not going to be woke," Time Magazine reported him as saying.
Rae is not the first to distance herself from the Kennedy Centre after Trump's takeover.
Shonda Rhimes, the executive producer of Bridgerton, also resigned earlier this week as the centre's treasurer.
Rhimes, who also founded the production company Shondaland and created Grey's Anatomy, posted a quote on Instagram: "'If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.' - John F Kennedy."
'It is a heartbreak'
Singer-songwriter Ben Folds also stepped down from his work with the National Symphony Orchestra, posting online: "Given developments at the Kennedy Centre, effective today I am resigning as artistic advisor to the NSO. Not for me."Opera singer and actress Renée Fleming also left her post as an artistic advisor, saying she was leaving "out of respect" to her colleagues.
On Thursday, Deadline reported that the centre had "cancelled its tour of Finn, an acclaimed Kennedy Centre-produced children's musical" about a young shark who "wants to let out his inner fish."
The show's creators Chris Nee, Michael Kooman, and Christopher Dimond posted online: "While not a surprise given the events of the last week, it is a heartbreak. But we will not be silenced.
"And we will not abandon the kids we wrote this show for. They are already under attack from every side. We didn't ask for this joy bomb of a show to be a part of the resistance, but here we are."
PF5
Sheriff
Teachers fear shuttering Department of Education will diminish vital programs
If the Department of Education is dismantled, as some Republican lawmakers are hoping to do, public school K-12 educators fear what programs could be impacted.
Ugh. My bad. That’s what I get for trusting the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Thanks.Fact check rating from Newsweek: False
Fact Check: Did Donald Trump forget to swear in Tulsi Gabbard?
President Trump has sworn Gabbard in as director of national intelligence, though some media outlets missed coverage of the event.
Mississippi GOP senator on Hegseth Ukraine remarks: ‘Rookie mistake’ “I don’t know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool,”
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) painted recent remarks from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on whether Ukraine would be welcomed into NATO a “rookie mistake.”
“Hegseth is going to be a great Defense secretary, although he wasn’t my choice for the job,” Wicker told Politico on Friday. “But he made a rookie mistake in Brussels, and he’s walked back some of what he said, but not that line.”
The newly minted Defense chief has seemingly walked back the comments, clarifying Thursday that President Trump is leading the negotiations and that “everything is on the table.”
“I don’t know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool,” Wicker told Politico’s Jonathan Martin on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“Everybody knows … and people in the administration know, you don’t say before your first meeting what you will agree to and what you won’t agree to,” he added later.
Wicker has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia’s initial invasion nearly three years ago. He said he was “heartened” by Hegseth’s move to retract his controversial statements.
“There are good guys and bad guys in this war, and the Russians are the bad guys,” Wicker said.
“They invaded, contrary to almost every international law, and they should be defeated,” the Mississippi Republican added. “And Ukraine is entitled to the promises that the world made to it.”
Trump spoke with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week about ending the war. He is also expected to meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia at a later date, which was not disclosed.
His administration has outlined a six-month timeline for peace between the Eastern European nations following Trump’s campaign promise to bring an end to the global conflict.
Wicker has long urged the U.S. to continue weapons shipments to Ukraine and hammered down on the objective Friday, arguing arms should continue arriving “until there is a ceasefire.”
Another resignation. This guy clerked for Roberts. Sassoon clerked for Scalia. Not exactly liberals.
‘Beyond Disgusting’: Elon Musk Faces Backlash After Mocking Federal Aid Receipts As ‘Parasite Class’ While His Companies Rake In $18 Billion from U.S. Taxpayers
Elon Musk is many things, but self-aware is not one. Compassionate is another adjective that eludes one of the nation’s biggest recipients of federal contracts.On Wednesday, Musk posted a meme on his social media platform, X, showing a blue-eyed young blond woman sporting a bright smile with the caption, “Watching Trump slash federal programs because it doesn’t affect you because you’re not a member of the ‘Parasite Class.'”
Musk wrote an accompanying message, “Why 90 percent of America loves @DOGE,” referencing the Department of Government Efficiency, which the tech billionaire leads.
Musk has live tweeted DOGE’s progress targeting what he terms as agencies fraught with government waste — posting nearly 200 times in a 24-hour period alone from Tuesday into Wednesday, according to a review by ABC News.
Deal with it!
PF5
Sheriff
Trump, Musk so far provide scant evidence for their claims of government fraud
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have claimed from the Oval Office and on social media widespread fraud in government, but many of them are unsupported by facts.
President Donald Trump said he would provide details Thursday of what he and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claim are billions of dollars of wasteful and fraudulent government spending.
"I'm going to read to you some of the names that hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars have been given to," the president said in a news conference Wednesday.
But the president had not produced his list as of Thursday evening.
In the weeks since Trump's inauguration, he and Musk have made claims from the Oval Office and on social media about specific programs such as disaster relief for states, lodging for migrants in cities and that 150-year-olds are receiving Social Security payments. However, what few details were provided were vague, unsupported and sometimes false.
In fact, Musk admitted Tuesday that some of its claims might be "incorrect."
...
The updates that DOGE and Musk provide on his X social media platform are often vague and often don't contain documentation.
On Thursday, the billionaire reposted to his 217.5 million followers on X a claim that Reuters was awarded $9 million by the Department of Defense for a "social engineering" program and called it a "scam." Trump passed the claim along on his Truth Social platform, posting "GIVE BACK THE MONEY NOW!"
However, public records show the contract was awarded in 2018, during Trump's first term, to Thompson Reuters Special Services division, not its news organization, following a request from the previous year from a Department of Defense agency for research on "automated defense social engineering attacks."
...
At the time of Tuesday's Oval Office news conference when Musk was asked about transparency, the site showed only a logo and a slogan, but a day later, it was populated with posts from the DOGE X account, a regulations page that featured a bar graph of "agency rules created by unelected bureaucrats" and a "workforce" page that listed headcount for federal workers.
The website cites its "sources" as largely publicly available OPM data.
The bottom of the page features the following notice by DOGE acknowledging "there are likely some errors or omissions. We will continue to strive for maximum accuracy over time."
...
Despite Musk's companies SpaceX and Tesla being awarded at least $18 billion in federal contracts over the past decade and SpaceX winning more than $17 million worth of contracts since 2015, Musk did not squarely address his potential conflicts of interest with the government on Tuesday.
...
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