Trump 52: Now He's The FORMER President! (And Still Impeached Twice)

[thoughtful]

3 hours ago, Howl said:

the final markdown rack at Filene's Basement. 

In 1971.

[clueliss]

 

[smittykins]

4 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

It affected me the same way.  I usually pass on the videos but this one blew me away.

I just added it to my favorites.

[church_of_dog]

Re Melania's muumuu -- I saw a different clip, after they disembarked, where he stopped to wave and she kept walking -- and noticed she was wearing flats! Don't think I've seen her in flats except during post-hurricane type site visits.

[Smee]

On 1/21/2021 at 11:49 AM, WiseGirl said:

Hmmm what's your ranking? I know who I pick for number 1.

 

I’m not American and history isn’t my strong point anyway - can someone give me the cliff notes for what Johnson did that makes him arguably worse than Trump?? Was he responsible for the first civil war?

[WiseGirl]

There's more to his thread but I still can't successfully bring a whole thread over.

[Audrey2]

48 minutes ago, Smee said:

I’m not American and history isn’t my strong point anyway - can someone give me the cliff notes for what Johnson did that makes him arguably worse than Trump?? Was he responsible for the first civil war?

Andrew Johnson became president after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.From what I understand and remember Lincoln had a different plan to reincorporate the cell with the north to solidify the union after the civil war was over but after his assassination Andrew Johnson took things in a very different direction. It left some of the seeds for the problems that we see in the country today. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Aw shucks. /sarcasm

"There will be no Trump china collection due to cost and time, source says"

Quote

(CNN)The Trump administration will not have its own signature collection to display in the White House China Room -- another departure from protocol for the outgoing first family.

Timing and exorbitant cost prevented outgoing first lady Melania Trump from following through on the collection, the patterns and colors for which she had selected, according to a source familiar with the events. Ultimately, the china took too long to make and cost too much, the source said.

Trump pulled the plug on the project at some point during the last six weeks, the source said.

A representative for Melania Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Each administration has the opportunity to design and have made its own official china collection, both for entertaining purposes and for legacy and future administrations to use -- with the exception of few, every administration since George Washington has done so.

The nonprofit White House Historical Association has paid for past official china collections with funds supplied by its donors, but another source involved in the discussions of the Trump china told CNN the association had "concerns" with the price tag and decided it was too expensive an endeavor.

"The White House Historical Association was not involved in an acquisition project related to the Trump china," an official with the association told CNN. The official would not comment on the reason for the lack of involvement. The last administration not to use funds from the association for official china was the Reagan administration.

A full official administration china service is expensive and an endeavor that takes significant time.

The Obama china, planning for which began in 2011, was delivered in 2015, the color inspired by the blue waters off of Hawaii. There were 320-settings of 11 pieces each, costing more than $350,000, paid for by the White House Historical Association.

Laura Bush's china selection totaled 4,500 pieces and cost $492,000, also paid for by the association. Bush ordered an additional, less-formal 75-place settings to use for entertaining in the private residence, which was not paid for by the White House Historical Association.

Trump most commonly opted to borrow place settings from the official Clinton china set for her White House events, the two Trump-hosted state dinners included. There are 300-place settings of apropos ornate, shiny gold plates and dishware selected by Hillary Clinton when she was first lady.

First lady Ellen Wilson created the White House China Room in 1918 to display the china of presidential administrations.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump steps out of the White House and into a company in crisis"

Quote

Donald Trump returns to his company this week as it faces a deepening crisis, with key properties bleeding revenue and its bankers, lawyers and customers fleeing the company.

Financial disclosure forms, filed by the former president as he left office, revealed that his hotels, resorts and other properties had lost more than $120 million in revenue last year, as the pandemic forced long-term closures and kept customers home.

Those losses were worst in the places where Trump could least afford it: His Washington hotel, which has a $170 million loan outstanding, saw revenue drop more than 60 percent. His Doral resort in Miami — also carrying a huge debt load — saw a 44 percent drop.

On Thursday, the company’s troubles grew: One of its banks and one of its law firms said they would cut their ties with the Trump Organization. They are the latest in a string of vendors and customers who severed their relationships with the company after Jan. 6, when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol directly after he addressed them at a rally.

The picture emerging shows the inversion of Trump’s fortunes since 2015, when he entered politics promising to remake the country in the image of his growing, swaggering business.

Now, Trump returns to a business remade in the image of the country he led: beleaguered, indebted and toxically politicized.

“He faces some very serious problems that have been building in recent years and I think are going to come to a head now that he’s left office,” said Bert Ely, a banking consultant who has testified before Congress on financial matters.

Ely said the Trump Organization is a relatively small operation, which relies heavily on the work of others — lawyers and real estate brokers, and investors who paid to have Trump’s name on their buildings. Now, some of those outsiders are pulling away. “He’s done enormous reputational damage to himself,” Ely said.

The Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Trump still owns his company. But it is unclear when — or even if — he will return to his old role as the company’s day-to-day leader. On Thursday, while Trump was seen playing golf at one of his courses in Florida, the Trump Organization’s website still listed Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump as the company’s leaders.

The new financial disclosures, filed routinely by an outgoing president, show that the company is facing one of its darkest hours, as the coronavirus hammers the tourism industry.

Overall, Trump listed specific revenue figures for 47 different companies, including his golf clubs, hotels and New York City park properties. Combined, revenue at those companies declined more than 35 percent last year, according to a Washington Post analysis.

There were bright spots: Revenue at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, a members-only operation in Palm Beach, Fla., that is now doubling as the former president’s home, increased 13 percent. And Trumpstore.com, which sells T-shirts, candles and bath bombs bearing the former president’s name, reported that its income doubled, to $1.9 million.

But there were also sharp declines at three of Trump’s most important properties: his D.C. hotel, his Doral resort in Florida, and his Turnberry resort in Scotland. Their combined revenue fell from $149 million in 2019 to $71 million last year, a drop of more than half.

Trump faces more than $400 million in outstanding loans, including more than $290 million on Doral and the D.C. hotel.

Ironically, the future of those businesses could depend on the man whose victory Trump tried to overturn: President Biden.

That’s because Biden’s success in speeding up vaccinations for the coronavirus will play a major role in determining how fast the hotel and travel industries recover. In addition, because Trump’s D.C. hotel is located in a federally owned building, the Biden administration is his landlord. If Trump seeks to renegotiate his lease, or to get federal approval for a sale of the building, he will be dealing with Biden’s General Services Administration.

On Thursday, White House spokesman T.J. Ducklo declined to comment about how the Biden administration will handle Trump’s hotel.

In the meantime, on Thursday, Trump’s company continued to lose key partners — including banks and lawyers that had stuck with it through the lowest points of Trump’s political career.

“We no longer have any depository relationship with him,” said a spokesperson for BankUnited, a Florida-based bank where Trump had kept more than $5 million in money-market accounts. On Thursday, BankUnited said it was closing those accounts. It declined to say why.

The decision meant that, since the attack on the Capitol, Trump had lost three of the four banks that held his largest deposits. Signature Bank and Professional Bank cut their ties earlier this month. The fourth bank, Capital One, has declined to comment.

Also Thursday, Trump lost one of his best-known law firms: Morgan Lewis, which has represented Trump on tax issues since before he ran for office. One Morgan Lewis partner, Sheri Dillon, had become a well-known defender of Trump, appearing with him in 2017 at a news conference in Trump Tower, next to a pile of papers and folders that were supposed to represent Trump relinquishing control of his businesses.

“President-elect Trump wants there to be no doubt in the minds of the American public that he is completely isolating himself from his business interests,” Dillon said then.

But on Thursday, the firm said that relationship was ending.

“We have had a limited representation of the Trump Organization and Donald Trump in tax-related matters. For those matters not already concluded, we are transitioning as appropriate to other counsel,” Morgan Lewis spokeswoman Emily Carhart said in an email. She declined to give a reason.

Dillon was also involved in the Trump Organization’s handling of an estate called Seven Springs in suburban New York, where the company obtained a $21 million tax break through a “conservation easement” — essentially, a promise not to develop some of the land in exchange for a tax benefit. Now, Trump’s dealings with Seven Springs are the focus of two state-level investigations, by the Manhattan district attorney and the New York attorney general.

The decision by Morgan Lewis marked at least two law firms that have cut ties with Trump’s company since Jan. 6. The first, Seyfarth Shaw, announced its decision last week.

This week, the news site American Lawyer reported that a third firm, Alston & Bird, was also ending its work with Trump’s company. Alston & Bird declined to answer questions from The Washington Post.

In the immediate wake of the attack on the Capitol, the Trump Organization lost two of its real estate brokers, its e-commerce vendor, its chance to host the 2022 PGA Championship golf tournament, and its hopes of hosting another golf tournament, the British Open. Also, New York City said it will end the Trump Organization’s contracts to run a carousel, two ice rinks and a golf course in city parks — contracts that brought the Trump Organization $18 million in 2019.

Elsewhere, two major tenants in Trump’s office building on Wall Street, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York and a tuberculosis-fighting charity called the TB Alliance, said they were seeking to leave the building. The Trump Organization has not said whether it will let them break their leases.

The backlash to Trump’s actions has even hit the smallest of Trump’s business partners, including the organizers of a triathlon — the Tri at the Trump — held at Trump’s golf course outside Charlotte.

“It was all on track before the Capitol,” said Chuck McAllister, the founder of the event, which he expected to attract 450 athletes and 1,000 spectators.

But then, McAllister said, the Capitol attack caused sponsors and vendors to pull out. He had to cancel the event. It was actually the second time he had to cancel the event because of political backlash against Trump: In 2017, he canceled a previous triathlon after Trump said there were “very fine people” among white-supremacist protesters in Charlottesville.

But he came back to Trump, and got burned again.

“It is deja vu. It’s like Groundhog Day,” McAllister said. He said he was unsure whether he would come back in 2022. “The name’s toxic. It’s toxic to some people. That’s never going to change.”

 

[Ozlsn]

On 1/21/2021 at 9:25 AM, AmazonGrace said:

Pompeo, Bannon, Bolton, Azar and others got banned by China. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/china-trump-white-house-sanctions-b1790242.html

 

Yeah the perceived lack of respect towards the Chinese administration over the past four years really paid off for them.

14 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

The president had entered office four years earlier with a huge clamor, and he seemed to be leaving it with a stifled scream

I would have said with muted whinging and unnoticed tantrum myself. 

[Emma]

I remember Andrew Jackson most for the Trail of Tears. Native Americans were forced by the military out of their native lands and moved to reservations further north. Many died of starvation, illness and exposure during the journeys. The Supreme Court said it was illegal but Jackson totally ignored the court and did it I was not surprised that he was Trump’s favorite president.

 

https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears

 

[AmazonGrace]

Toddler-in-chief didn't want a Trump china set because it would be someone else using it.  

 

[AmazonGrace]

Dumpy has an impeachment atty.

Dersh said thanks but no thanks.

[Nothing if not critical]

On 1/21/2021 at 2:01 AM, HerNameIsBuffy said:

can't recall the last time I found a video so well done and compelling.  Nothing flashy, no gimmicks but please watch to the end.  Putting it under a spoiler since I usually skip the videos, but honestly I didn't know how he would end things and it blew me away how well articulated this is.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!

[AmazonGrace]

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

7 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Trump steps out of the White House and into a company in crisis"

 

Thanks for posting this, I find the impact comforting (35% across the board losses is no joke), but I'm baffled...

Trump bath bombs?  One of the happiest items on earth sullied.  A hot bath with a bath bomb, cup of tea, glowing candles, something to read is one of the best experiences in life - who wants to marinate in Trump?

[thoughtful]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Thanks for posting this, I find the impact comforting (35% across the board losses is no joke), but I'm baffled...

Trump bath bombs?  One of the happiest items on earth sullied.  A hot bath with a bath bomb, cup of tea, glowing candles, something to read is one of the best experiences in life - who wants to marinate in Trump?

Do they turn a person orange?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

12 minutes ago, thoughtful said:

Do they turn a person orange?

Ha!  As much as I would love to experiment for science, I will not soak in a vat of liquid Trump to find out.

Ew.   

[AmazonGrace]

 

This Paul dude is the new Kraken for the lawtwitter.

[AmazonGrace]

It was claimed that Biden fired the White House ushers but it was actually Trump before he left:

https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/712163?unlock=FCBVWWPJ84DA0LXS

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[onekidanddone]

5 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

If only it would fade from Congress. Seems the crazies on the Hill still love him. Either that or they just want to appeal to the base. 

[AmazonGrace]

Dumpy's sex trafficking friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/01/jeffrey-epstein-and-donald-trump-epic-bromance

[fraurosena]

I know we're all still supposed to be in the honeymoon phase of his presidency, and I'm excited about the new Biden era just as much as anyone else, but I have to say I'm incredibly disappointed that he hasn't done anything about the kids in cages or the separation policy as one of his very first acts. The memo on immigration he signed earlier does not even mention them. 

I really hope I've missed something and he actually has made a statement about them and has done something about this appalling American policy. 

[Ozlsn]

4 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

It was claimed that Biden fired the White House ushers but it was actually Trump before he left:

https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/712163?unlock=FCBVWWPJ84DA0LXS

 

You would think by this point nothing would shock me, but seriously, the level of sheer pettiness and vindictiveness is apparently bottomless. What an awful way to be, and what a shriveled husk of a soul that man has.