His third. #alternativefacts (is that still a thing?)

I am glad he's made it illegal to do honor killings in the US, that was such a scourge before. I hope he goes after unicorn sex next.

Not really.

Yes, Donald Trump really went to an Ivy League school - The Washington Post

When I go running, I wear an ID bracelet with contact info on it.

I just took a picture of my drivers' license and have that on my phone. Even though I always have a good tan, I assume cops won't stop me.

So this could drag on for another week if someone tells him that Brady got bigger standing ovations than Peyton, right?

This is from a public library a couple of towns over. :D

Well, to borrow from Ben, I don't think he's thought it out in this 3D chess sort of way.

I think that he sincerely and honestly thinks that that's how the Presidency works. You are the boss. You say things, and people do them. And if they don't, you fire them and get new people. That's how his life has worked ever since he started owning his own companies.

That's how he campaigned. I will fix it. I will make it better. Trust me. He didn't say things like "I will work with Congress and the existing administrative state to solve these problems."

dola:

so the endgame might be as you say. But that is not the plan at this point.

He will claim that the Brady ovations were really for him, because everyone knows Brady is his friend.

I give it about 45 minutes until all he pulls all federal funds from public libraries.

That would have been rather foolish on the campaign trail since neither of those things work particularly well very often. Although, technically, the use of executive orders IS part of "the existing administrative state".

Here's the thing: he's already gone against all convention as a candidate, and that turned out rather well. I'm very fine with an unconventional approach to his Presidency.

I agree with this. For the half of the country that supported him, his approach makes sense and is expected. He would lose some of that base support if he suddenly started acting like the negotiator-in-chief.

I doubt that fazes the Administration at all. If anything, that's welcome news. They don't have to bother to fire most of these people. They have no blood on their hands and now put people in their place that they feel are more appropriate for the position.

While the prevailing headline is "resigns", this from _CNN_ national security guy Jim Sciutto


Assuming those are the same people (as opposed to being four more people) interesting to see the different slant from within the same new organization

There you go. Actually, that makes far more sense. Trump is never one to avoid blood on his hands. Makes far more sense that he was going to have them fired and they said, "Fired? Nope, I resign!"

Keep fucking that chicken fellas.

A very Trump-esque posting tactic. Well done.

The America First theme is something I could get behind, if American, but I did love the phrase 'clean, beautiful coal'!

I just dont see how anyone who watched the interview or read the transcript doesnt go "holy shit I cant believe we elected that guy". And then worse - defends the stuff he vomits. Liberals, conservatives, populists, rednecks, hippies, immigrants, Missourians - anyone

Looking at the executive orders thus far, I don't really much care if he gives his interviews in Klingon.

He has exceeded my (admittedly limited) expectations thus far.

Quite the contrary. I haven't defended much of what he SAID at all. I judge a president on his actions. Thus far, I've found little to complain about. He's repealed Obamacare, he's called out big business on overseas trading, he's cleaning house in federal department positions, and he's building a wall on the southern border along with additional enforcement resources (Mexico isn't paying for it, but anyone who thought that they would is a true idiot). I also like some of the other things he's proposing regarding the economy.

He doesn't appeal to me at all as a person, but I really don't care. I didn't vote for him anyway. I just want him to make good decisions that benefit our country. He's generally done that so far IMO.

He's done nothing with Obama care yet. He signed an empty executive order. He doesn't have the power to repeal Obamacare. I'm not denying that Republicans are going to chip away, but he can't just sign an executive order and make it happen. BTW, I would have loved to be in the meeting when that was explained to him.



I honestly think a lot of presidents could come up with good economic policy and ideas if they could completely ignore the budget and future debt.

Speaking of being in meetings with him...

https://imgur.com/a/TSrPJ

@WhitehouseLeaks - Twitter Search

(I do not know if that is the same person as the first iteration, or if any of this is for real. But it's good reading, and is certainly plausible.)

The federal hiring freeze also has a direct impact on me. My wife is on orders to PCS to another duty station here in the US and until the freeze is lifted I can't transfer.

20% tax on Mexican imports... I guess we can say goodbye to tableside guac.

So Sorry. It's always normal folks who get caught in the cross-fire in these stupid symbolic stunts.

We're splitting hairs here. Obamacare is gone once they put together a replacement plan. If you're disputing that, you're delusional.

It's not splitting hairs when we're talking about the difference between something being done and something being several months if not a couple years away from really happening.

Trump doesn't have the power to repeal Obamacare. You said he repealed it.

not sure if anyone has seen this yet

And the "once they put together a replacement," could be a while given the lack of one for over six years.

To be fair, Congress is always the kids in class who does his homework when he gets dropped off for school in the morning.

About the State Department firings/resignations, isn't that normal when a new President comes into office, especially from the other party? So, that's basically much ado about nothing?

I think you've said it well for me. I think he has maybe/good ideas but he goes over the top with weird statements/misdirections/exaggerations/lies etc.

Wanting to stifle the press, very American.

Trump Strategist Steve Bannon Says Media Should ‘Keep Its Mouth Shut’

Thanks for clearing that up, cuervo. I read in an old Sports Illustrated article from 1984 about the USFL that Trump was first in his class.

That's amazing... you go back over three decades and you still see Trump throwing up smoke and mirrors and exaggerations, if not lies.

You mean alternative facts?

The people that voted for him thought that.

Yeah and the extra 5 pounds I put on over the holidays is gone once I start eating better and exercising. How is it splitting hairs? He hasn't done it yet and doesn't have a replacement plan.

If we're talking about his actions and policies only, I also like a lot of them. I'm glad he's challenging big business on overseas trading, killing off TPP, cleaning house, and doing something to reinforce the wall on the border (which already exists, by the way, albeit not very secure). As for Obamacare, if he and the Republicans have a replacement that is going to provide insurance for everyone - not "provide access", but actually give it to everybody, which would be a massive improvement over Obamacare - I'm all for it.

HOWEVER... did he have to do all of that other crap (offend Mexicans and Muslims, make fun of a disabled reporter, throw out unsubstantiated claims about 3 million people illegally voting, exaggerating/lying about other things, etc., etc., etc.)? If he just promoted his policies without being a jerk, I would have been alright with him being in office. Just do the job without all that extra stuff.

Oops... thanks for fixing that for me. :)

AFAIK, everyone in a position that is appointed by an administration (President, members of his Cabinet, etc) hands in a letter of resignation. The new administration can choose to not accept the resignation and keep them on.

What seems to be out of the ordinary here is that even when the resignation is accepted, the person in the role will stay on until a new person is appointed/confirmed/etc. That isn't happening. These people were all shown the door and it could be weeks, if not months, before the positions are filled again.

Even if Trump wanted to do that, there's no way in hell Ayn Rand lover Paul Ryan would let it happen. The GOP replacement plan is going to be based around competition across state lines and severely underfunded high risk pools.

Here's what could be a horrible analogy, but it seems to fit:

Let's say the last eight years is a car.

It transitions to a new model, and it changes things around. A lot. It's not what the traditionalists like, but for some people, it's better. But then folks at the factory start gumming up the works because they want to go back to the way things were. So they start throwing small monkey wrenches in the works. And they start ranking each other on who can throw the most blatant monkey wrench in the works while it still works.. (barely).. then comes in a hotshot mechanic who promises that he can make the car just like the good old days. He can fix everything. He can make the car great again. Day One. You bet!

Then on Day One, He tries to throw the transmission in gear, and there's nine million monkey wrenches in the works and the whole car promptly shits itself and drops itself on the floor like the Bluesmobile at the end of the Blues Brothers

That's what I see it as.. They've been the party of No for so long, and didn't have to come up with a plan, and the victory came as such a surprise (and the candidate such a loose cannon) that they have no clue what to do. So Trump's trying to do his agenda, Ryan and Crew are trying to shoot the Obamacare hostage while they can (because once the ACA is all gone, they can make the Dems come to them for the replacement), except Trump is making grandiose promises that the replacement will be at the same time).. the defense hawks want a bigger budget, the wall needs to be built, the deficit hawks are screaming..

Wait...So you consider it a forgone conclusion that four individuals conspired together to "stick it to the man" and quit their jobs for some altruistic message that 48 hours from now nobody will remember except the families of these poor folks?.....Ok.

I don't think there's four people in Washington- much less the State Department- willing to fall on their swords like that.....I think I mean that sincerely.

...By the way- just for clarification- I am no raging fan of Trump; He comes across a spoiled simpleton who several in this thread have analogized quite accurately already. I voted for Trump, but mostly for my outright disdain for Hilary and her utter disconnect with the values I hold. Having said that- and as others have alluded, I don't care if he's a raging windbag as long as his actions reflect his campaign promises. When was the last time a President did that- this quickly?

I also have this nagging feeling he won't make it twelve months without doing something so colossally stupid he gets himself impeached. Here's hoping I'm pleasantly surprised.

See- it's generalizations like that that got Trump elected. Smart enough to know what I'm thinking- and that I'm an idiot. Why weren't you on the ballot?

I didn't call them idiots, MBBF did. And yes, my generalization is that voters of a candidate take them at their word for what they promise. That's not a huge stretch.

Trump has the lowest approval ratings of any incoming president. To say this is working for him is ignoring the only data we have.

Now, none of this really matters in terms of 2020. He'll either have fulfilled his promises and win or he won't and he'll lose. A reelection is a referendum on that candidate. Assuming the Dems run someone of even average capability, the race will be almost solely on what Trump has accomplished.

You kept using that same logic during the election. How'd that work out?

Did Trump promise Mexico would build the wall- or that a wall would be built? Because most voters took Trump at his word that he would build a wall -I agree. If he promised Mexico would pay for it I missed it; either way I would have dismissed that part under political rhetoric- as I think most did- as MBBF I think was implying.