Trump Presidency

[fiksal]

under Trump it was clearly communicated that Justice Department serves Trump

I have no crystal ball to say if US goes after people it doesn't like or those that maybe committed a crime

[Chips]

To be honest this applies in the Uk Too…

Recently I had the Dwp demand that I send them all transactions on all bank accounts or lose all benefits!

Was I under investigation for fraud? No
It was a compliance check for Universal Credit

Needless to say I did not do that and went and found a job

But I am still hacked off that they cut off everything because I would not give them 5 months of my life and I feel my human rights where violated so I can understand not giving phone data.

Erm, the Government has published when/what requirements are required with regards to universal credit.

For example: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit-reviews

It is indeed to reduce fraud. You find it is totalitarian that people need to provide evidence that they qualify/still qualify; I entirely disagree.
e.g. On the face of it it'd appear you didn't need it seeing as you "just went and got a job instead", but obviously there may be something you *were* entitled to receive, are *still* entitled to receive, but unless you prove it - how can they know.

There was something that was... tangenitally relevant to this published in Feb
https://committees.parliament.uk/commit ... -at-stake/

I don't, for clarity, remotely think this is a parallel. You've exercised your "right to privacy" and aren't now being prosecuted for *failing* to provide it. That US citizen at the US border, however, is...
The reason to ask you for those details is to check you still qualify for whatever it was you were receiving. Seems reasonable.
The reason to ask him for access to all his personal communications (not bank transactions, his actual communications data without a court order - which it requires elsewhere in the US) isn't as clear and they could *easily* have applied for a court order to do so.
If they *had* obtained a court order, then I'd be understanding *why* he's being taken to court for wiping the phone instead of supplying it...

[fiksal]

Trump administration is so incompetent it can't even fabricate a court case.

Charges of some guy near some pool, were dropped, after it was noted that the evidence... what's the word... was a lie

[EGO_Aut]

Trump administration is so incompetent it can't even fabricate a court case.

Charges of some guy near some pool, were dropped, after it was noted that the evidence... what's the word... was a lie

A possible 10 years in prison, stress, and legal fees. Oh yeah, and the contract went to a businessman friendly with Trump without any public bidding process. The land of the free.

[fiksal]

well they try of course, A for effort

it's true that scamming they do better than everything else, practice does make perfect

[burger1]

Greenland issues ‘strong warning’ as Trump-linked oil firm prepares to drill - US has brought drilling equipment into Greenland and is preparing to use it to drill without Greenlands permission.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... ares-drill

An American oil company connected to Donald Trump is preparing to sink wells in remote Greenland despite not having received permission from the local authorities.

As the US president renews his threats to claim the vast Arctic territory, materials to prepare for drilling were brought ashore in recent days on Greenland’s eastern coast.

That has prompted Greenland’s government to issue a “strong warning” that no approval had been granted to land the kit. “All future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority – before they are carried out,” the government said in a statement.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/euro ... sia-trump/

Around 1,600 Danish military recruits on Monday began the country’s new extended conscription, embarking on an 11-month service period as Denmark accelerates its defense build-up driven by Arctic security pressures and the war in Ukraine.

Denmark said in 2024 it would extend conscription to include women for the first time and increase standard service time to 11 months from four, while the number of conscripts is set to increase to 7,500 annually by 2033 from 5,000.

The new intake arrives as Denmark prepares to deploy conscripts to Greenland for the first time later this month, with a company of more than 100 soldiers set to serve for one month, taking over operational tasks from professional troops.


NATO also has some more non US troops there now.

[burger1]

Trump butt bulge is speculated to be a portable IV unit

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/bul ... 25814.html

US to reduce military activity in South Korea

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/16/middleea ... -exercises

President Donald Trump has said the US will "substantially reduce" joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good relationship" with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korean guards fire warning shots as North’s troops cross DMZ border possibly a week prior to the meeting?

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_p ... 87549.html

South Korea fired warning shots after North Korean troops crossed the fortified border between the two countries, according to the South’s Ministry of National Defense.

The ministry in a text message to reporters said the incident happened “recently.” A report Sunday by Yonhap News Agency, citing unnamed government sources, said it occurred last week.

Moscow Mitch is still absent.

https://www.aol.com/articles/kentucky-g ... 22000.html

“I wish him no harm,” Beshear told fill-in host Ed O’Keefe. “I actually wish him good health. His boss are the people of Kentucky, and this is why the Senate feels so broken. They feel like they’re not accountable to anyone,” he added. Beshear stressed that a brief public appearance from McConnell would go a long way for Kentucky residents.

[Chips]

Missed the one about the US threatens to bomb Oman 'if it gets in the way' over a deal with Iran...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5dzk0ryzdo

Despite Iran saying there's no talks with the US currently

USA; where allies are enemies and enemies are allies.

[matthewfarmery]

Morale and living conditions aboard the USS Lincoln is getting so bad, people are jumping overboard.

Also, female staffers are leaking details about Trump, they are saying he hates travelling, and may not travel around the country giving support to GOP candidates. Seems Trump is getting tired of the job. But still wants its protection of course.

Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is going from bad to worse for him, he now scaling down the lawsuit, saying its about reputation damage now. But the BBC has him and his inner circle on the run. And may get Trump's adult kids on the stand, and other inner circle members.

[felter]

I got to post it.

Scooby-Doo: The Mystery of the Reflecting Pool

It's probably better and more truthful coverage than what the US main stream media is saying.

[matthewfarmery]

That was very good.

On a serious note, Todd Blanche has confirmed that he might / will send 1000 ICe agents to monitor polling stations. But we all know, the real reason don't well???

They will disrupt and throw out votes. This is just one way that the GOP will try and steal the midterms.

If this is true, it could wind up be a blood bath. We already seen how violent ICE agents can be. Trump is scared of losing the midterms. So of course, they will do whatever to rig the votes to their favour.

[SphinxofBlackQuartz]

On a serious note, Todd Blanche has confirmed that he might / will send 1000 ICe agents to monitor polling stations. But we all know, the real reason don't well???

They will disrupt and throw out votes. This is just one way that the GOP will try and steal the midterms.

If this is true, it could wind up be a blood bath. We already seen how violent ICE agents can be. Trump is scared of losing the midterms. So of course, they will do whatever to rig the votes to their favour.

On the plus side, this may backfire on the Republicans. Polling suggests voters think ICE is going too far. So while this will may have the intended effect of slowing voting (making it harder for the working class to vote) and scaring minoritized voters away from the polls, seeing a bunch of masked ICE thugs may cause some GOP-leaning voters to question whether this is really the country they want.

I guess ultimately it's a question of how many center-ish voters are okay with violent government goon squads as long as they can be rid of queer folks and people of color.

[matthewfarmery]

Just seen the love letters that Natalie Harp wrote to Trump. That woman NEEDS major help. Its clear she is in love with him. At least that is what it seems like. And Melania I don't think is too happy about it either.

Projections are, The American economy might crash. the country has hit the $40 trillion debt mark. and the bonds market is shaking. Americas wants counties to buy its debt, but that looking more and more unlikely. The warnings signs there there. And it could be pretty bad. Plus, America's fuel reserves are also in the red.

That senile old man is doing a lot of damage, and still no one is strong enough to put an end to this.

[burger1]

The US is already insolvent and they tried to pull a fast one to save the bond market but it failed. US tried to sell short term bonds to buy long term bonds.

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/curre ... 57061.html

The US Treasury secretary's pledge to expand a bond buyback program in order to lower borrowing costs did little to quell market unease.

Scott Bessent's remarks to CNBC followed this week's announcement of the government's unusual intervention in longer-dated debt, a move that initially cooled bond yields before the optimism fizzled.

On the other hand trump thinks sending in the military to solve the bond market as a last resort will help. US might take military action against the US bond market if things escalate.

https://cryptobriefing.com/trump-sugges ... et-issues/

Former President Donald Trump has made a statement suggesting the use of military intervention as a response to U.S. bond market issues, according to a report by First Squawk. The comment, while not directly linked to any specific military operation, indicates a high level of escalation by invoking the military in a financial context.

trump is getting quite cozy with North Korea and thinks North Korea sending 50k troops to Ukraine is a good idea.

trump and his current wife have apparently lived in separate rooms for quite a while. A very strange arrangement.

https://people.com/donald-trump-melania ... s-12006192

[Usenko]

I'd be careful of suggesting that the USA is insolvent. Granted, I can't stand the current administration, but insolvency isn't really a category that applies to countries, at least not as we mostly understand it[1]. It's a problematic term even for smaller and less well-resourced countries than the USA, and even many countries with vastly bigger problems than the USA can't be simply described as insolvent[2]. Certainly a country with America's gigantic financial resources would be very unlikely to face insolvency.

You CAN quite reasonably say that the USA is being grossly financially mismanaged. Calling it insolvent does not correctly describe the situation, nor does it even work as an approximation.

[1] There is an insolvency category used by the IMF for countries, but it is immensely more complex than what we would usually mean by the term.

[2] Ukraine is under vastly greater financial stress than the USA right now. Despite the extraordinary strain on its finances, however, its debt situation is analysed in terms of debt sustainability, restructuring, financing requirements and sovereign risk, rather than simply treating the country as an insolvent corporation.

[burger1]

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. Countries are made up of many people so they are very resilient. People will do business and life goes on even in very poor countries. It's the main reason governments can do dumb stuff and still be ok because the population adapts and find ways.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/us-gover ... risis-fix/

The U.S. government is insolvent. That’s not hyperbole — it’s the conclusion drawn directly from the Treasury Department’s own consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2025, released last week to near-total media silence. The numbers: $6.06 trillion in total assets against $47.78 trillion in total liabilities as of September 30, 2025.

Canada/US enter trade war. It's not just a trade dispute. US government wanted Canada to apply tariffs on other countries as the US demands, getting rid of some French language protections, etc... Basically the US wants Canada to do whatever they say and act as part of the US. Needless to say Canada said no. EU and likely Mexico might group together with Canada. Humouring and trying to protect the US for future governments only goes so far.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada-u- ... -apart-why

[SphinxofBlackQuartz]

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. Countries are made up of many people so they are very resilient. People will do business and life goes on even in very poor countries. It's the main reason governments can do dumb stuff and still be ok because the population adapts and find ways.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/us-gover ... risis-fix/

Given Trump has appointed groveling and oft-incompetent flacks as the departmental secretaries, I wouldn't give such statements too much credibility. They've already shown they aren't above cooking the books and massaging the data to give the answers Dear Leader demands. My guess is we're watching the manufacturing of political will for some kind of insane economic agenda. "Even More Tariffs"? "End Social Security"? "Outright colonization of Greenland, Venezuela, and Iran"? Place your bets, my lovelies!

The real solution to the US's financial woes, of course, is raising taxes — but nobody ever wants to talk about that. One of my own pet hobbyhorses is bring back the war tax. If a war is worth fighting, it's worth paying for up front. And besides curbing our lust for military adventurism, it might also make us a bit less reluctant to keep slopping the trough for the defense industry.

[Usenko]

I read the article in question, and I would argue that the headline and the first statement in the article is misleading. Perhaps clickbait. But not only does the Treasury NOT say that the USA is insolvent, the IMF discusses the challenges faced by the USA, whilst accepting that "Solvency risks remain low."

This is not saying that all is well. Quite the reverse. Just that solvency for a country doesn't work like it does for a person or small business, and the article is confusing negative accounting net worth with sovereign insolvency.

That's not the same thing as saying that the USA can continue doing what it is doing long term with no consequences, just to be clear.

[SphinxofBlackQuartz]

This is not saying that all is well. Quite the reverse. Just that solvency for a country doesn't work like it does for a person or small business, and the article is confusing negative accounting net worth with sovereign insolvency.

Yah. I don't generally get into the weeds on discussions of economics online, in part because our society conditions us to think about economies in the wrong ways. But nations don't really go "insolvent" the way individuals do, and the comparison is aggressively unhelpful. And it's usually framed that way by people about to tell us we need to cut spending on social services (but not the military, of course) and prepare for drastic, painful (to us, not them) measures to avert some impending disaster.

Caveat lector, my lovelies.

(People say I'm paranoid but of course they'd say that because they're all out to get me )

[matthewfarmery]

So Trump's lawyers are now floating the idea of demolishing the Kennedy Center. Basically, if Trump can't have his name on it, then it needs to go. Then again, who will stop him? no one. Let them tear it down. Might as well. How long before people see Trump for who he is?

Congress won't, the supreme court is mostly in his pockets. Only November, but with the recent stuff, Even that could be stolen.

Edit,

Mail in ballots could very well be in serious trouble. The supreme court has messed up big time.