Trump 38: Donald Trump and the Wall of Lies

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

My word, he's even more unhinged. "Trump offers pessimistic view of negotiations over wall funding, says Republicans are ‘wasting their time’"

Spoiler

President Trump offered a pessimistic assessment Thursday of congressional negotiations over border security funding and suggested he is ready to move forward with construction of his long-promised border wall without the consent of lawmakers.

In a spate of morning tweets, Trump wrote that Republicans involved in bipartisan House-Senate negotiations that began Wednesday are “wasting their time.”

“Democrats, despite all of the evidence, proof and Caravans coming, are not going to give money to build the DESPERATELY needed WALL,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I’ve got you covered. Wall is already being built, I don’t expect much help!”

His tweets — which included a false assertion that large sections of the wall have already been built — came a day after Democrats unveiled a new border security plan that contains no new money for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico divide.

The Democrats’ proposal was their opening bid in negotiations aimed at coming up with a deal to keep the government open when temporary funding runs out Feb. 15. Trump is insisting that funding for a wall or barrier be a significant part of the package crafted by negotiators.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insisted that “there’s not going to be any wall money in the legislation.”

Pelosi said negotiators should be given an opportunity to craft a bipartisan agreement without “outside inference,” adding that she would be open to “some infrastructure” and new technology in some locations.

She also chided Trump for the tone of his tweets.

“What did he say today? It doesn’t matter what Congress does?” Pelosi said. “Really, a president who wants Congress to become completely irrelevant in how we meet the needs of the American people? No. Come on. Let them work their will.”

Trump has previously threatened that if Congress does not provide the $5.7 billion in funding he is seeking, he could declare a national emergency that would allow the military to construct a border wall without congressional consent.

Such a move, which several leading Republicans have cautioned against, would almost certainly draw legal challenges.

In other tweets Thursday, Trump referred to an announcement earlier this week by the Pentagon that it is dispatching several thousand more troops to the border as the military shifts its operations there from improving security at ports of entry to the vast areas between them that are less controlled.

“More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country,” Trump wrote. “We have stopped the previous Caravans, and we will stop these also. With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive.”

Trump also cited a sharp increase in the murder rate in Mexico last year as he insisted the southern border wall would be constructed “one way or the other.”

“With Murders up 33% in Mexico, a record, why wouldn’t any sane person want to build a Wall!” Trump said in one of his tweets. “Construction has started and will not stop until it is finished.”

Earlier this month, Mexico’s Interior Ministry released figures showing investigators opened to 33,341 murder probes in 2018 compared with the previous year’s record of 25,036 in a country ravaged by drug cartels.

“This is a big contributor to the Humanitarian Crises taking place on our Southern Border and then spreading throughout our Country,” Trump asserted. “Worse even than Afghanistan. Much caused by DRUGS. Wall is being built!”

In another of his tweets, Trump seemed to backtrack from an earlier position that something other than the physical wall he long promised could be constructed at the border, such as “steel slats.”

“Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL!” Trump said.

Several White House aides have previously accused Democrats of being hung up on terminology. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, for example, has said Democrats have sought to turn “wall” into a “four-letter word” in order to build opposition to Trump’s border-security plans.

Trump also repeated a false assertion Thursday that “large sections of WALL have already been built.”

Although there has been some addition and replacement of fencing and other barriers since Trump took office, none of that is based on the prototypes that he commissioned to fulfill his marquee campaign promise.

“Renovation of existing WALLS is also a very big part of the plan to finally, after many decades, properly Secure Our Border,” Trump also wrote. “The Wall is getting done one way or the other!”

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[onekidanddone]

7 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

I'm going to marry Ted Lieu some day.

7 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Fucking shit.

[Howl]

I have an crush on him in a totally appropriate, intellectual kinda way.  But, you know, crush. 

[fraurosena]

Oh Rufus! The stable genius has been doing that his whole life... ?

 

[The limit does not exist]

2 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Oh Rufus! The stable genius has been doing that his whole life... ?

 

Getting briefings from the Kremlin is not quite the same...

[thoughtful]

That son of a bitch is really completely incapable of understanding that the job is president, not dictator.

[GreyhoundFan]

"The scariest thing about Trump’s tweets"

Spoiler

Of all the crackpots on social media, is any more untethered to reality than the president of the United States?

Seriously, there are tinfoil-hatted lunatics yelling on street corners who make more sense than President Trump’s increasingly loopy Twitter feed. Think about it: Most mornings, and some evenings as well, the most powerful man in the world rants and raves like someone you’d urgently tell the gate agent about if you were waiting to board the same airplane. This is not normal. This is alarming.

I know, there is a school of thought that says Trump’s tweets are nothing more than weapons of mass distraction and should be ignored. But if you want to know the administration’s policy on just about anything, what other reliable source is there? Surely not press secretary Sarah Sanders and the other White House mouthpieces, whose main job is to invent “evidence” to back up Trump’s misstatements, distortions and pants-on-fire lies.

And surely not Trump’s own high-level appointees. After Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats told Congress this week that North Korea is unlikely ever to give up its nuclear weapons, Trump tweeted that there is a “decent chance of Denuclearization . . . Progress being made — big difference.” After CIA chief Gina Haspel said that Iran is abiding by the terms of the nuclear deal that Trump renounced, the president used a tweet to slap her down: “The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! . . . Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!”

Take a moment to absorb how crazy this is. The informed assessments of the president’s intelligence chiefs disagree with Trump’s uninformed or misinformed prejudgments — so he attacks and belittles his own handpicked team.

What are Coats, Haspel and all the others who work for Trump supposed to do? Grin and bear it? Shrug and carry on? Quit and write books telling how the chaos and dysfunction inside Trumpworld are worse than we could possibly imagine?

The president also uses Twitter — where he has nearly 58 million followers — to cut the legs from under members of Congress who are gamely trying to carry his water. This week’s victims are the GOP members of the bipartisan committee that is supposed to be negotiating a spending package for border security. Those Republicans “are wasting their time,” Trump tweeted, because Democrats do not want to approve money to build the imaginary border wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for.

One way to end this farce would be for the committee to come up with funds to replace or upgrade existing border fences and barriers. Trump could say this was money for the wall, Democrats could say it wasn’t, and there would be no threat of another government shutdown or an unconstitutional declaration of national emergency. But another Trump tweet seemed to rule that solution out: “Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL.”

I guess Shakespeare was wrong; a rose by any other name would not, in fact, smell as sweet. But I digress.

One of the scariest things about Trump’s tweets is that you can read them and immediately know what he’s been watching on television. He often repeats what he has just heard on Fox News — to the point that the hosts of his favorite show, “Fox & Friends,” often appear to be setting the administration’s agenda. If I worked for the president, I’d watch the show to get my marching orders for the day.

To review: The president won’t accept the conclusions of the intelligence community, which are synthesized by thousands of public servants with great expertise in their subject areas. But he treats three blow-dried talking heads sitting on a couch in Manhattan as Delphic oracles.

Perhaps above all, Trump uses his Twitter feed to lie and mislead. On Thursday morning alone, he claimed in four separate tweets that his promised border wall is already “being built.” That’s an utter, shameless lie. Some existing fencing has been replaced, but not a single mile of new wall has been constructed. Not one.

Rare is the Trump tweet that does not include at least one lie, exaggeration or distortion. I’ll leave it to my Fact Checker colleagues at The Post to keep track of them all. But think about it: We have a chief executive who gushes toxic falsehoods like Drunk Uncle at closing time.

How can the nation respect the presidency when it can’t believe a word the president says?

I don’t know, either.

 

[fraurosena]

9 hours ago, thoughtful said:

That son of a bitch is really completely incapable of understanding that the job is president, not dictator.

There, FTFY. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[formergothardite]

Quote

Like is he not aware that this means the market did nothing for a year?

No he isn't. He can't think like that. He doesn't seem to have any capability for long term thinking. He just does whatever feels right for him in that moment with little thought of the past or the future. 

Quote

Trump added that he has stopped receiving intelligence briefings at the White House, arguing, “I can do my job without any intelligence whatsoever

Something terrible is going to happen because he has thrown our intelligence agencies out the window. 

[fraurosena]

44 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Something terrible is going to happen because he has thrown our intelligence agencies out the window. 

Don't worry. Nothing terrible is going to happen. First off, the most terrible thing has already happened: the presidunce fraudulently won the elections in 2016. 

He may ignore the intelligence agencies. But, as the article @GreyhoundFan posted in the other thread states, the presidunce is being ignored in turn. And although you could debate that ignoring the office of the presidency is a bad thing, in the case of this presiduncy, it is a very good and very necessary thing indeed.

Furthermore, there are lots of bills being made and will be brought to the floors of Congress that will limit the powers the presidunce has. One of them is the ability of starting a war (which should be firmly in the hands of Congress anyway), and another is that he won't be able to order a nuclear attack without prior authorization by Congress. Although I don't think highly of the Repugs, I do believe they won't vote against limiting these kinds of presiduncial (and presidential) powers if it gives Congress (and therefore also them) more power. 

[mamallama]

BTW, the Erica Jong quote is a reference to the Andy Borowitz article.  As has often been the case satire and reality are too close to distinguish.

 

[Howl]

God, I love Chip Franklin.  The video is NSFW, because F word.  This video aligns with Rick Wilson's statement: ETTD™ (Everything Trump Touches Dies)

 

[AmazonGrace]

Look what fuckhead did now 

 

He wants to burn the house down before he goes

[formergothardite]

Can someone explain how bad this is for us? If Trump goes down he will take as many people with him as possible and he will include America if he can. 

[fraurosena]

1 minute ago, formergothardite said:

Can someone explain how bad this is for us? If Trump goes down he will take as many people with him as possible and he will include America if he can. 

I think Putin would like the arms race to be started up again. Good for the weapons industry, of which I am sure he has quite a big (bigly) portion of income.

The presidunce on his part would like to throw some nukes on something, anything, because it makes him feel all powerful and manly and stuff. That's why it's imperative that the bill limiting his power to randomly push the nuclear button is passed as soon as possible. 

 

[formergothardite]

I've been reading a book about lowering stress levels and advice is to cut out stressful people. America really needs to cut Trump out of our lives. 

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

Something terrible is going to happen because he has thrown our intelligence agencies out the window. 

I think that may be one of the most terrifying things I've seen. Not so much that he doesn't get the briefings - because really, what are the chances of him understanding even a fourth of what he's being told - but that he just up and freely admits that he is ignoring - or flat out disbelieving -  everything his intelligence agencies are telling him. That's like a teenager posting his address online saying "hey, my parents are out of town, come party!" only instead of drunk teenagers and burglars there are terrorists and spies and who knows what ready to show up.

I hope that enough has been routed around president Lump that the basics are still functioning, but OMG. 

I do have to say that I'm surprised Trump hasn't tried to nuke anybody yet. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we were told that he'd had to be talked out of it at least once. Unfortunately, he's more likely to want to go after one of our allies than an actual enemy...

[47of74]

19 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Warning: Get brain bleach ready.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah, like all kinds of women just beg to have sex with him and experience the joy and sheer pleasure of having Spanky McToadstool's microscopic toadstool inside them.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Well, he's finally going back to Mar-a-Loco. "Trump Returns This Weekend to Mar-a-Lago, His Gilded Comfort Zone"

Spoiler

WASHINGTON — After two months spent scorching the earth in Washington and complaining about being cooped up in the White House, President Trump is planning to return this weekend to the one place where he knows he will receive a hero’s welcome for his troubles: Mar-a-Lago, his gilded club by the sea in Palm Beach.

“You would have to be insensitive not to be touched by how he has stayed there working,” said Toni Holt Kramer, the founder of Trumpettes USA, a booster group that is planning to welcome him. “I think people will have tears in their eyes because they’re so grateful that he’s come back to his home away from home.” (Greyhound Fan added -- GAG)

Mr. Trump made a point of staying in Washington over the Christmas holidays — waiting, he said, for Democrats to negotiate with him on funding for a border wall — so it will be the president’s first visit to Mar-a-Lago since Thanksgiving.

It will not be a complete escape — he still has no deal on the wall and a State of the Union address to give on Tuesday. But after his arrival on Friday afternoon, Mr. Trump is expected to do many of the things he always does when he is at Mar-a-Lago: dining at the owner’s table on the patio; spending the afternoon at Trump International Golf Club, about a 15-minute motorcade drive away; and never venturing anywhere in Palm Beach outside his own two properties.

The first lady, Melania Trump, will travel there with him this weekend, her spokeswoman said, though Mrs. Trump tends to keep a low profile while at the resort.

In the Mar-a-Lago cocoon, the president is in his most comfortable mode, friends and allies say: playing the jocular host in front of an adoring crowd.

On Saturday, P.J. Schrantz, who founded Veleve, a charity that provides support for veterans, is betting on Mr. Trump to make an appearance at a $600-a-plate fund-raiser his organization is hosting in one of the club’s ballrooms. And plans for Mr. Trump’s annual Super Bowl viewing party at his golf club on Sunday evening, complete with a steak and lobster buffet, are still on.

“I chose to have it there because I’ve attended galas there,” Mr. Schrantz said of his event, which will feature a George Michael tribute artist donating his time, as well as honor the astronaut Buzz Aldrin. “The members are such giving people that we could raise a couple of million dollars in an evening.”

Some Mar-a-Lago members say they are already wistful about the blissful weeks without tangled traffic and increased security — a seven-minute drive from home to the club takes at least 30 minutes when Mr. Trump is in town, one said — but many will brave the roads for the chance to participate in a presidential selfie or a similar show of support.

Laurence Leamer, a longtime Palm Beach resident who has known Mr. Trump since the 1990s and is the author of “Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace,” said in an interview that even if people had an issue with the president’s policymaking, the meatloaf recipe or anything in between, they tended to keep it to themselves.

“People have been trained to have like a Pavlovian reaction or something,” Mr. Leamer said. “You’re supposed to say things are great. When he asks you, ‘How are things?’ you’re not supposed to complain.”

Just as the Trump International Hotel in Washington has become a safe space for the president and his supporters, Mar-a-Lago is a 20-acre oasis for those who adore all things Trump, from his zero-tolerance immigration policies to the menu items named after his children.

The focus on Mr. Trump has grown to the point where some Democratic members, who have loved the club’s amenities for decades, have recently rescinded their memberships because they do not feel comfortable there anymore.

“There’s a political angle to being a member now,” said Cynthia Friedman, a Democratic fund-raiser who joined the club 24 years ago and recalls playing tennis on Saturdays with Marla Maples, Mr. Trump’s second wife. “There are a lot of people who I don’t recognize. They’re not the people I used to play tennis with. Things change, and it’s time to move on.”

In December, instead of sending her $1,600 in monthly dues, she joined the Beach Club, a rival members-only club, on the other side of town.

But Ms. Friedman is still in the minority. Many Mar-a-Lago members book reservations weeks in advance to be in the same room with the president. And Trumpworld celebrities, like Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director; the president’s son Donald Trump Jr.; and Antonio Sabato Jr., the Trump-loving model-turned-politician, have been spotted at social events and fund-raisers in Palm Beach, serving as something of a warm-up act to the main event.

Karyn Turk, a business owner and the 2016 winner of the Mrs. Florida beauty pageant, said if the walls looked like they were caving in on the president in Washington, there were only blue skies in Palm Beach.

“It’s a lot of hype,” she said of the special counsel investigation, led by Robert S. Mueller III. “I feel like in a lot of ways, it’s still just a witch hunt.”

If the “Winter White House” is a boon for the members of Mr. Trump’s exclusive club, and a respite not only for the president but also for the staff members who relocate with him, the annual decampment still raises ethical concerns.

The White House has refused to release a list of those who visit the president there. And elsewhere in the Trump Organization orbit, the company said it would introduce new procedures to screen for undocumented immigrants after The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump’s flagship New Jersey golf club employed people who had entered the country illegally.

And ProPublica reported last summer that three Mar-a-Lago members had amassed an unusual amount of influence in the Department of Veterans Affairs, meddling in agency initiatives and participating in the review of a contract worth some $10 billion.

“It certainly seems unprecedented,” said Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of the ethics watchdog CREW, “and highly troubling for people to be given significant authority over government matters seemingly primarily on the basis of being paying customers of the president.”

The White House has taken at least one informal step to block people who have access to the president’s properties from asking for anything that seems to go too far. Aides have long been on the alert to intercept any notes or policy proposals from overeager supporters — including one from a guest who once helpfully tried to show the president an executive order he had drafted. Mr. Trump has at times directed his aides to give those people ample listening time even if he cannot, according to someone familiar with the process and his thinking.

Security around the president may have tightened since 2017, when Mr. Trump sat on the open patio, in front of hundreds of eyeballs and iPhones pointed in his direction, discussing a response to North Korea’s missile test with Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister. But in many ways, Mr. Trump himself has not changed from the involved club owner he has always been.

He has always kept close watch over who comes and goes, and pays close attention to those in the latter category.

Jeff Greene, the Palm Beach billionaire who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for governor of Florida, joined the club when he moved to Palm Beach in 2010. But he quit because, he said, “I have my own tennis court. I never loved going there.”

Mr. Trump, he said, took his resignation personally. Sitting next to him at a charity event at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Greene recalled being confronted. “He went right at me, saying, ‘I can’t believe you quit the club.’ He’s figuring someone with plenty of money, why would they care about paying dues for a club?”

 

[Dandruff]

Trumpettes?!  WT...