Master Trump Thread

[Guest]

2 hours ago, sithgirlix said:

So how do you expect people to notice the flaw in the system?

By complaining about it consistently. Consistent outrage. Not just when Trump wins due to it.

 

Many want to help the homeless. But put a shelter in their neighborhood, and the outrage pours in. 

 

2 hours ago, sithgirlix said:

"Meh, it helped us here so who cares?"

50 used to complain about the gap between the rich and the poor in his early beginnings. 

 

Now that he's rich, do you honestly think he gives a shit about it? 

[Guest]

Trump is a sorry loser. Its a problem if it's in his way. It helps? Perfect. He liked it from the start.

[RoseGoesToYale]

Trump called off an airstrike? Trump averted war? Trump? TRUMP???

 

Personally, I think he's a coward (thank goodness). He blusters and tries to make the US military sound scary, but he wouldn't really want to start war because that's waaay too much stress and responsibility for him, and even he knows that.

 

But apparently he called it off after hearing how many casualties there'd be. Since when did Trump care about lives that aren't white and American?

[iff]

3 hours ago, daveb said:

In my opinion he isn't a salesmen; he is a conman. The difference having to do with legitimacy and legality and ethics. A "salesman" who sells you a "bill of goods", as they say, shouldn't be "dignified" with that term.

 

No, we shouldn't be complacent and assume he will lose. The Democrats should work as hard as they can to defeat him. We need determination, not despair.

 

Of course, that's just my own opinion as a layperson and voting citizen, not as an expert.

Trump is, to me, a Snake oil salesman

 

24 minutes ago, RoseGoesToYale said:

Trump called off an airstrike? Trump averted war? Trump? TRUMP???

 

Personally, I think he's a coward (thank goodness). He blusters and tries to make the US military sound scary, but he wouldn't really want to start war because that's waaay too much stress and responsibility for him, and even he knows that.

 

But apparently he called it off after hearing how many casualties there'd be. Since when did Trump care about lives that aren't white and American?

In 2011 - 2013, he was tweeting quite a lot that Obama would attack Iran as

A) to show how tough he was

B) re election bid

 

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5d0c6a60e4b0a394186014e6?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADvRTrkIkqKxHbQw6hnAzTFn-IoWku3D8Hp--cXlKG7fPLYU9kyRRpWozI9S9-ri3lxrrmRrKn4omk7Dcq5dUHT62QRGwU5Yb8W91RG3jRlNOLgqOcd14NVtJLh9PQARPI7bSqWsZl78zPiL4j88QDGAD7QiA_U5B8daShkh3kcs

[Sally]

If it's really true that he called off a strike 10 minutes before it was to happen (and with this President you don't believe anything he says), that's appalling.  He should have been consulting with the Pentagon and coming to a measured, decisive opinion.  Instead he was talking with Bolton, who has been wanting an Iran war for decades, and then at the last minute, after he'd told the military to make the strike (which they didn't want), he said "Stop", throwing everything into confusion.

 

The man has no maturity.  We have 20 pretty decent Dems candidates; they will be winnowed out somewhat by the first debates on June 26-27.  Except for Biden, I would trust any one of them to be a good President.  

 

And no, Trump  isn't a salesman.  His financial stupidity cost his businesses the backing of every bank but Deutsche Bank, to whom he owes god knows what.  He's not a billionaire.  He's upset the whole world with his trade wars, he's laughed at and reviled in Europe.  He aspires to be a Strong Man, but those leaders he admires have him twisted round their fingers.   He's an idiot.  

 

And we wiill vote  him out.  

[Guest]

18 hours ago, RoseGoesToYale said:

But apparently he called it off after hearing how many casualties there'd be.

I think he did it to sound generous and like a hero. So was more self-centered.

 

Would have been a catastrophic miscalculation on his end, to launch the strike after an unmanned aircraft was shot down. 

 

It's one of those "pick your battles wisely" type of situations. 

 

He made the right move (whether people want to give him that or not), but bragging about it afterwards is kind of overkill. 

 

He wants praise for everything, in a job where you're the lightning rod for criticism for everything that goes awry. 

 

17 hours ago, iff said:

In 2011 - 2013, he was tweeting quite a lot that Obama would attack Iran as

A) to show how tough he was

B) re election bid

That's the beauty with narcissists. They are scary predictable if you understand their quirks. That's also part of their weakness. 

 

The above, is him mirroring. Essentially, him lambasting a foe by telling you what they would do. Only issue, is they often tend to blurt out what they themselves would do in such a setting. 

 

I've worked with highly narcissistic people, and this at least allowed you in on their minds, to assess how big of a threat they would be when terminated. Easily exploited weakness, with heavy praise. 

 

That's the scary part. Possibly why so many US enemies have developed an affection for the guy. 

 

[Guest]

I'm more surprised as to why some are shocked that the guy is so likeable to his base or anyone that thinks like it. 

 

I mean, his nicknames to foes on their own, are worth millions in donations with the headlines that they grab. He generated free advertisement for himself with them, every time. 

 

"Crooked Hillary", "Low Energy Jeb", "Pocahontas". 

 

He in one nickname, put those people names on the map, globally where they likely other than Hillary would have been unknowns outside of their country. 

 

The guy is taking a page out of the media playbook. 

 

Manufacturing fear and outrage, for high ratings. The irony in the media crying fowl for him using their own tricks on them, is also why he is loved. 

 

People need to stop underestimating him (and his knack and ability to generate ratings, thus eyes and ears listening to his message), or it will be a long 4 years post the 2020 elections. 

 

 

[daveb]

So BLOTUS went off half-cocked and loaded. 

Ignorance and impulsiveness can be a dangerous thing when you have that kind of power.  

[Sally]

No one is shocked, and no one underestimates anything that's happening now.  People in the US have had some knowledge of Trump before he ran for the Presidency.  He's been making (awful) headlines for decades.  

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, Sally said:

No one is shocked, and no one underestimates anything that's happening now.

Correct, but they did until he won the election.

[RoseGoesToYale]

I just want to say... if Trump gets reelected, I'll eat an orange. Sprinkled with cumin. And I'll wash it down with coca-cola.

[Sally]

6 hours ago, Perspektiv said:

Correct, but they did until he won the election.

Umm...I said no one underestimates what's happening now. They couldn't have done that before the election, could they.  

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Sally said:

Umm...I said no one underestimates what's happening now.

Correct. I pointed out, they did prior and even post election. This can be seen, in the many protests that occurred, until people well--sort of had to accept they'd have to deal with this guy for 4 years.

 

Hard to be shocked, when desensitized for 4 years almost.

[Gentle Giant]

When I see clips of Trump speaking at his rallies and other places he makes me so angry. He’s still talking about Hilary and her damn emails. Demonizing democrats or anyone else he has a problem with. Saying the woman who accused him of rape/sexual assault is “not his type” and just look at her, why would he be interested in her, type comments. I don't know how anyone can sit there and listen to all his garbage!

 

When someone is talking about Trump on TV I wish they would keep the camera on the speaker instead of showing clips of him while they talk. If I’m on my iPad I hold my hand over his ugly mug so I don’t have to look at him.

[Nick2]

President Carter said it best..."Trump is a illegitimate president".

[Guest]

On 6/27/2019 at 10:45 AM, Gentle Giant said:

he makes me so angry.

That's actually why he is so successful. 

 

Him opening his mouth causes outrage, and thus high ratings. 

 

He doesn't even need donors. The news give him free coverage.

 

The media ranting about him just gives him more ammo to play the victim to his base. 

 

It's made all the more effective, since all attempts to put him in deep water have failed, exonerating him to that very base and fortifying his victim stance. 

 

This is how he grows his base and why it is still as strong as it is.

[daveb]

30 minutes ago, Perspektiv said:

This is how he grows his base

From what I have seen (polls and news and focus groups and such) his base hasn't been growing. He seems to have a core group that is not a majority of voters, who seem to stick to him no matter what (so far - there may yet be things that drive some of them away, but I'm not holding my breath). That core group is stronger in some places than others, which is probably a big part of why he was able to win the electoral college while being so far behind in the popular vote. Anyway, I think the key won't be that core group, but rather the "swing voters".

 

Of course, the Democrats shouldn't be complacent about the election. They need to fight every inch of the way, and not take anything for granted. I hope they also do something about winning more Senate seats, because if the Republicans retain control there I expect to see continued obstructionism if the Democrats do manage to win the White House. Even if the Democrats manage a majority in the Senate I expect the Republicans will continue to obstruct as much as possible, but at least they would have less power to do so.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, daveb said:

From what I have seen (polls and news and focus groups and such) his base hasn't been growing.

He has grown his base using his current tactics. This is how he built it.

 

His unconventional ways, gave hope to a base sick of the current political machine. I don't blame them for considering him, considering the other option which would have left that very machine unchanged.

 

Sometimes you must be careful for what you wish for. 

 

Four years in office, will create an expectation of results. His lack of current growth isn't attributed to his tactics. He lacks the results. 

 

This is why it's a huge risk for him to tackle the upcoming elections with the same old. 

 

You can't deny its effectiveness the first time around in the movement he created. 

 

He will be hard pressed to repeat however, without a better strategy. 

 

Mind you, this is a man who has made a career of thriving on the unexpected.

[Sally]

I agree with Daveb: his base is definitely not growing, and in fact has been slipping.  To win again, he will have to pick up some of the undecideds.   

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, Sally said:

his base is definitely not growing

He has grown it into a movement that catapulted him into the political discussion when all others saw him as a joke, and not a legit threat to sit as a president.

 

Hard to grow a base further with a promise, and no results. His promise alone, gave him power.

 

He needs a political win, and will sway further votes. Without it, he doesn't stand a chance. Main reason his unchanged approach is a gamble, considering he has nothing to show for holding onto that savior aura he first preached. 

 

He knows this, and will try to get that W in China, in North Korea or in a high profile manner which he will use to pump his own tires and toot his own horn.

 

He's up against quite high odds, but then again competed against a shoo in candidate and is the president. So anything is possible.

 

[Zagadka]

Well, that is why he is tripling down on immigration. His wall was blocked, so he's doing everything possible to make it look like things are happening. A lot of his base see the outrage happening on the border as effective solutions, like we're now stopping all of the illegals. Imagine, all of those people would sneak in and steal jobs without Trump!

 

Plus, the economy is doing very well (on paper). That is his best card, and the Dems can't really campaign against it without doing a lot of stuff on income inequality, which will just fan his base more. Attacking the rich never works against that segment of the population, no matter what their own economic situation.

 

He doesn't have to produce results. He just needs to make it look like he did. People are very forgiving to politicians they support and will cheer on the bare minimum.

 

I've seen a lot of people on the left being very overconfident.

[iff]

In 2016, I feel the vote was really a referendum on Hillary Clinton.

In 2020, the vote is a referendum on trump.

 

Maybe trump's base supporters are hardening but to be reelected, it is the soft support that he needs to retain, the ones who voted not for him but against Clinton.

 

All the playing to the hard base will affect the support from the soft support.

[pickles.]

I agree with @daveb and @Sally; his base has stayed at pretty much the same number over the years, according to the majority of news articles and polls.

 

8 hours ago, daveb said:

Of course, the Democrats shouldn't be complacent about the election. They need to fight every inch of the way, and not take anything for granted.

1 hour ago, Zagadka said:

I've seen a lot of people on the left being very overconfident.

I feel the opposite of complacent or overconfident.  To me it seems like it will be very tough to beat President Spanky McLiarface.

 

[Skycaptain]

I'm still intrigued by his love-in with North Korea. Is he trying to curry favour with South Korea, China or both? I doubt its trade or some vital commodity or resource they have. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I'm still intrigued by his love-in with North Korea. Is he trying to curry favour with South Korea, China or both? I doubt its trade or some vital commodity or resource they have. 

He desperately needs a win in China. The lack of which, with the jobs he's affected due to it, will cost him votes. He knows it. 

 

Same with North Korea. Him just getting another strong PR win with empty promises is good enough for his base. All it would take is a handshake.

 

Not sure this equates more votes, but he probably does. 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Perspektiv said:

Same with North Korea. Him just getting another strong PR win with empty promises is good enough for his base. All it would take is a handshake.

Mission accomplished:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Trump is a master of spinning things to his base. He's likely betting on this ability, to win new votes. All he needs is another "win" in China with the tariffs.

[Sally]

1 hour ago, Telecaster68 said:

He and Kim get on because they're both authoritarian narcissists who are feeding each other's egos. Trace everything back to Trump protecting his vast yet fragile ego and it all makes sense. It's not much to do with political calculation.

There's no calculation at all involved.  Trump wants to do  things that he feels that former Presidents -- especially Obama -- didn't have the balls to do.  He's a showman,not a politician.  He doesn't do things for logical, or even political, reasons.  Yes, he does enjoy being with brutal dictators who lack a sense of morality, because he has none and thus he feels comfortable with them.  

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Sally said:

Trump wants to do  things that he feels that former Presidents -- especially Obama -- didn't have the balls to do.

This impromptu meeting is a smashing success with that in mind in its historic nature.

 

Nobody can take this away from him. He negotiates a better deal for the US via tariffs in China, and this gives him unprecedented levels of showmanship with actual substance to back it up.

 

The moment he obtains any substance to his promises made, and its a wrap on the 2020 election.

[Zagadka]

What bothers me most (well, not really, what bothers me a lot) is that Trump's method of negotiation - with foreign powers, with friends, with enemies, with congress, with pretty much ANYONE - is primarily made up of threatening to blow everything up unless everyone capitulates. He is the political equivalent of when Leia threatened Jabba with a thermal detonator.

 

And when people do let him have his way, then Boba Fett nods in respect because he won despite almost killing everyone in the building. It is a game of chicken that, if he loses, would be a disaster, but no one is willing to stand up to that insanity.

 

if Obama bowed to Kim like Trump does, people would lose their minds about paling around with enemy dictators. And he hasn't negotiated squat beyond photo ops (his favorite kind of event) with no substance at all (like the "agreement" with Mexico that had literally no actual terms beyond "do better")

[Sally]

1 hour ago, Perspektiv said:

This impromptu meeting is a smashing success with that in mind in its historic nature.

 

Nobody can take this away from him. He negotiates a better deal for the US via tariffs in China, and this gives him unprecedented levels of showmanship with actual substance to back it up.

 

The moment he obtains any substance to his promises made, and its a wrap on the 2020 election.

There is no substance, and there will be no substance.  He has achieved nothing of any substance in 2.5 years, and he doesn't care abou substance because his base doesn't demand substance.   But his base is smaller than it was a year ago, so there will be no "wrap" on the election.