Donald ******* Trump

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  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    Apparently, he has made similar demands of French and Danish companies doing business with the American embassies in those countries. Those companies rejected the demands.
  • GwaiGwai Epiphanies Host
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    Gwai wrote: »
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    The Trump Administration has
    ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
    end its DEl programs within 10 days.
    This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.

    Crazy indeed - do you have a safe link?

    Try https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/08/stockholm-rejects-us-letter-urging-city-to-reverse-diversity-initiatives
    I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says. If The Guardian article linked to it, I missed it. I can find lots of articles talking about the letter, and I find lots of characterizations of what it says, but I can’t find the actual text of the letter anywhere.

    I wanted to find that too though I don't find this unbelievable.
    I definitely don’t find it unbelievable. But I also don’t find it unbelievable that news reports get it wrong and mischaracterize what a document says. Experience has taught me that both things are quite believable. And my antennae go up when those news reports don’t quote or provide a link to the document itself.


    Utterly reasonable! I am thinking that Stockholm hasn't made the letter public. Because I see lots of articles quoting Stockholm's comment on the letter, including official people. But zero articles that share the letter. If I'm right, the GOP administration sent the letter to Stockholm without publishing it and Stockholm published an outraged response. That would explain why all the news is primarily about Stockholm's outrage not our demand.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    Gwai wrote: »
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    The Trump Administration has
    ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
    end its DEl programs within 10 days.
    This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.

    Crazy indeed - do you have a safe link?

    Try https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/08/stockholm-rejects-us-letter-urging-city-to-reverse-diversity-initiatives
    I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says. If The Guardian article linked to it, I missed it. I can find lots of articles talking about the letter, and I find lots of characterizations of what it says, but I can’t find the actual text of the letter anywhere.

    I wanted to find that too though I don't find this unbelievable. I can't find the one Stockholm got, but I'm seeing that a copy of the one that some French (companies) received was published Le Figaro. That sai my French isn't good enough to be sure I've found the letter let alone to quote it and Le Figaro has a paywall.

    Other French language sources have now picked this up as well. BFMTV (a French news channel) has a copy of it here. It's written in both French and English.
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Hell Host
    edited May 9
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    The Trump Administration has
    ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
    end its DEl programs within 10 days.
    This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.

    Crazy indeed - do you have a safe link?

    Try https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/08/stockholm-rejects-us-letter-urging-city-to-reverse-diversity-initiatives
    I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says.

    There's an image of the letter here:

    https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/stockholmstoppen-rasar-klapare-som-sitter-i-vita-huset

    I assume the chain of reasoning is that the Embassy is consuming local services provided by the council and as such the council is considered by the State Department to be a supplier to the US government.
  • Thanks @chrisstiles - the article is in Swedish, but the image of the letter shows it in English.

    It's very curt and peremptory.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    The Trump Administration has
    ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
    end its DEl programs within 10 days.
    This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.

    Crazy indeed - do you have a safe link?

    Try https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/08/stockholm-rejects-us-letter-urging-city-to-reverse-diversity-initiatives
    I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says.

    There's an image of the letter here:

    https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/stockholmstoppen-rasar-klapare-som-sitter-i-vita-huset

    I assume the chain of reasoning is that the Embassy is consuming local services provided by the council and as such the council is considered by the State Department to be a supplier to the US government.
    Thanks. So the actual letter/notice/certification says “contractors” must certify they do not have DEI requirements programs that contravene Trump’s executive order. But it doesn’t actually make any explicit demands of Stockholm or Sweden. Presumably the consequence of not providing the certification is to lose the contract.

    I would love to hear the argument that a local planning office is a “contractor” with the Embassy.

    I’m also fairly certain Swedish law will govern Swedish contracts. All the Embassy is doing is shooting itself in the foot, reducing the pool of available contractors to do what the Embassy needs done to zero.


  • Graven ImageGraven Image Shipmate

    .

    It is a cold winter night, and the Embassy water pipes break. What? No one signed the paper. Oh well.

  • HedgehogHedgehog Shipmate
    Ah, Trump has outsmarted them! By refusing any efforts to remediate climate change, he is making sure that there are no cold winter nights!

    This is the same stable genius who looked at international trade and said "they are ripping us off with their cheap goods! We'll teach them a lesson! We will pay MORE for those same cheap goods. Then we won't be ripped off any more!"

    On the positive side, at least now I do understand why so many of his businesses went bankrupt.

    I mean, the man lost money running a casino!
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    The Trump Administration has
    ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to
    end its DEl programs within 10 days.
    This seemed so crazy I checked it out. It appears to be true.

    Crazy indeed - do you have a safe link?

    Try https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/08/stockholm-rejects-us-letter-urging-city-to-reverse-diversity-initiatives
    I would like to see the actual letter, to see exactly what is says.

    There's an image of the letter here:

    https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/stockholm/stockholmstoppen-rasar-klapare-som-sitter-i-vita-huset

    I assume the chain of reasoning is that the Embassy is consuming local services provided by the council and as such the council is considered by the State Department to be a supplier to the US government.
    Thanks. So the actual letter/notice/certification says “contractors” must certify they do not have DEI requirements programs that contravene Trump’s executive order. But it doesn’t actually make any explicit demands of Stockholm or Sweden. Presumably the consequence of not providing the certification is to lose the contract.

    I would love to hear the argument that a local planning office is a “contractor” with the Embassy.

    I’m also fairly certain Swedish law will govern Swedish contracts. All the Embassy is doing is shooting itself in the foot, reducing the pool of available contractors to do what the Embassy needs done to zero.


    Along with championing some jailed anti-choicer in the UK as part of the tariff negotiations, this seems like a meaningless performance designed to give the low-info armchair rambos of MAGA the impression that their hero is just shouting orders around the globe and everyone is fearfully falling into line.
  • Lamb ChoppedLamb Chopped Shipmate
    For what it’s worth (amusement value, then) the stupid letter has a major grammatical error in I think it was the first check box text. Basically there are two main verbs (so two clauses) but the subject of the second clause is missing…
  • @Lamb Chopped I think it's a typo. Where the text has "...laws is material to...", probably ought to be "...laws as material to...".
  • Lamb ChoppedLamb Chopped Shipmate
    Ah! Thank you. Though that’s almost as bad. I mean, don’t they teach them to proofread at villain school?
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    edited May 10
    It is my understanding the big, beautiful trade deal Trump and Steiner agreed to favors Jaguar and Land Rover more than the US Automakers.

    Trump has this knack for negotiating against himself. He is now saying He would go with a 80 tariff with the Chinese. Nothing like telling the Chinese you have a weak hand--which they already knew.

    In other news, thank God we did not stumble into a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. So much for Vance saying it is not our problem.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    And, yes, I intentionally used a sovereign pronoun for the guy who would be king. We Americans still have no king, but we do have a Holy Father.
  • DafydDafyd Hell Host
    I mean, don’t they teach them to proofread at villain school?
    Of course not. They teach them to commit grammatical solecisms and to misplace apostrophe's (sic).

  • Lamb ChoppedLamb Chopped Shipmate
    (slaps head) Duh, LC! Of course they do.

    More seriously, my son and I have settled on Lewis's explanation for the stupidity of this administration--that evil rots the brain.
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    There's a difference between being taught and learning. Those who didn't learn what they were taught end up writing letters filled with grammatical errors, or considering that taxing consumers who buy imported goods is a good thing, or being blind to the massive benefits to society and the economy of migration ...
  • W HyattW Hyatt Shipmate
    (slaps head) Duh, LC! Of course they do.

    More seriously, my son and I have settled on Lewis's explanation for the stupidity of this administration--that evil rots the brain.

    For this administration, I think it's also because compentency is measured solely by the kind of loyalty that leads to unquestioning agreement, which necessarily leads to actual incompetence.
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    Brain???
  • TheOrganistTheOrganist Shipmate
    Everytime he appears I get this little voice in my head repeating Popinjay.
    He's in Saudi Arabia now, boring the a*se off everybody with the usual vainglorious rambling. So far we've had that October 7th wouldn't have happened had he been president, ditto the Ukraine war, that the Houthis were "shooting down ships", plus "Oh, what I'd do for a crown prince".

    According to DJT he's in the Middle East to show the people of the USA that America is now in a golden age, thanks to him.

    Somebody - anybody - make the madness stop.
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Hell Host
    With Qatar poised to give/loan Trump a new plane and the Saudi's ensuring a mobile McDonalds was available for his exclusive use during his visit, it seems that people are working out that the way to get their way is to bribe Trump.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    edited May 13
    With Qatar poised to give/loan Trump a new plane and the Saudi's ensuring a mobile McDonalds was available for his exclusive use during his visit, it seems that people are working out that the way to get their way is to bribe Trump.

    Donnie says he would be a fool not to accept such a big, beautiful plane. Umm, Donnie, no one doubts that.

  • HedgehogHedgehog Shipmate
    With Qatar poised to give/loan Trump a new plane and the Saudi's ensuring a mobile McDonalds was available for his exclusive use during his visit, it seems that people are working out that the way to get their way is to bribe Trump.
    Wasn't one of his earliest Executive Orders to the effect that it allowed bribery?
  • Lamb ChoppedLamb Chopped Shipmate
    He did that the first time around.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    In a grand marble hall adorned with gold-trimmed portraits of himself, Trump—resplendent in a towering powdered wig and an 18th-century gown of royal blue satin—addresses a crowd of bewildered 11-year-old girls.

    “Ladies,” he proclaims, adjusting the delicate lace on his sleeves, “two dolls. That’s it. Maybe three if you have really fantastic parents—truly, the best parents. But we have to make sacrifices! Not me, of course. I’m getting the finest, most luxurious, absolutely incredible 747 from Qatar, which, by the way, everyone says is the best jet. The BEST.”

    The children exchange uncertain glances as a chorus of powdered aides nod dutifully. Behind him, a herald announces his arrival to the private jet: “Make way for the King of DEALS!”
  • The RogueThe Rogue Shipmate
    Gramps49 wrote: »

    Donnie says he would be a fool not to accept such a big, beautiful plane. Umm, Donnie, no one doubts that.

    But he is a fool. So why is he accepting it?
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited May 14
    The Rogue wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »

    Donnie says he would be a fool not to accept such a big, beautiful plane. Umm, Donnie, no one doubts that.

    But he is a fool. So why is he accepting it?

    Because he doesn't realise that he's a fool. All he's interested in is having the bigliest and most beautifullest plane any President has ever had...

    Watching this pathetic geriatric toddler grabbing at toys is not exactly edifying, is it?
  • CrœsosCrœsos Shipmate
    With Qatar poised to give/loan Trump a new plane and the Saudi's ensuring a mobile McDonalds was available for his exclusive use during his visit, it seems that people are working out that the way to get their way is to bribe Trump.

    When you dig into the details of this gift/bribe it looks even worse. For those who don't know the agreement is that the "palace in the sky" is a "gift" to the U.S. Department of Defense for use as Air Force One. A clause stipulates that when Trump leaves office the plane will be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library, presumably for the continued use of Donald Trump. This is pretty clearly a way to give Trump control of the plane without having it officially in his name. Attorney General Pam Bondi signed off on the Constitutionality of Qatar essentially giving the president an expensive gift. Perhaps not entirely coincidentally Bondi's last job before becoming attorney general was as a lobbyist for Qatar.

    Air Force One is not just a fancy passenger jet. It's got all kind of highly specialized (and classified) communications and defensive equipment, so you can't just slot in another 747, even if it does have a gold sheen walls. It will cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to retrofit this "gift" to fit the purpose, and then another similarly capable plane will have to be found in a few years when Trump (presumably) leaves office. A responsible administration would also take it apart down to the nuts and screws to check for listening devices which would also be expensive, but we've already seen that the Trump administration's attitude towards information security is lackadaisical on the best of days so they may just skip that part*. At any rate media reports that the plane will be ready for use as a presidential aircraft by fall seem wildly optimistic. It will either take years or it won't be ready by fall and they'll use it anyway. I can see either of those things happening.


    * "Fun" bit of historical trivia for those who are just tuning in: the biggest issue in the 2016 presidential election that originally brought Donald Trump to power was information security and the American political media solemnly informed us that Donald Trump was way better than his opponent on this issue. No really! Stop laughing!
  • You really couldn't make it up.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    Boeing is already at work retrofitting two planes to replace the existing ones used as Air Force One. Some Russian airline ordered them and then never took delivery because it went bankrupt, so the US bought them. One is supposed to be delivered in 2027, the other in 2028. NBC reports a retrofit of the plane from Qatar would cost $1 billion or more and probably wouldn't be finished before Trump leaves office -- so it would just go straight to his presidential "library."
  • HedgehogHedgehog Shipmate
    Wait until he issues an Executive Order renaming the Library of Congress "the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library."
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    I see that Qatar placed a big order for Boeing jets today. Surprise, surprise.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    The Rogue wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »

    Donnie says he would be a fool not to accept such a big, beautiful plane. Umm, Donnie, no one doubts that.

    But he is a fool. So why is he accepting it?

    Because he doesn't realise that he's a fool. All he's interested in is having the bigliest and most beautifullest plane any President has ever had...

    Watching this pathetic geriatric toddler grabbing at toys is not exactly edifying, is it?

    Fools don't realize they're fools. That's what Dunning-Kruger is all about.
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    edited May 15
    mousethief wrote: »
    I see that Qatar placed a big order for Boeing jets today. Surprise, surprise.

    Yes I saw that. Some news outlets saying that the Qatar government are playing up to Trumps business nature. He understands that more than politics.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    Hugal wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    I see that Qatar placed a big order for Boeing jets today. Surprise, surprise.

    Yes I saw that. Some news outlets saying that the Qatar government are playing up to Trumps business nature. He understands that more than politics.

    And he doesn't even understand that well.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    Mr Small hands has always been obsessed with bigness.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Hedgehog wrote: »
    Wait until he issues an Executive Order renaming the Library of Congress "the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library."

    O the irony of naming a library after someone who's practically illiterate ...
  • A Feminine ForceA Feminine Force Shipmate
    edited May 15
    mousethief wrote: »

    Fools don't realize they're fools. That's what Dunning-Kruger is all about.

    I heard the best description of Dunning-Kruger yesterday.

    You can't convince an idiot he's an idiot because he's an idiot.

    AFF

  • My favourite quote of the week is from that towering example of courage and morality, Josh Hawley. He thought the Qatari gift of a Boeing 747 was nice, but he would have preferred an even nicer Boeing that had been made in the USA. Pure genius.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    My favourite quote of the week is from that towering example of courage and morality, Josh Hawley. He thought the Qatari gift of a Boeing 747 was nice, but he would have preferred an even nicer Boeing that had been made in the USA. Pure genius.

    I posted somewhere that Boeing 747's were made in America, and got derision. God, these people are idiots.
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    Maybe "assembled in America", as many of the components of Boeing aircraft are manufactured elsewhere and shipped to the US for final assembly (eg: many of the engines are produced by Rolls Royce in the UK) - though with tariffs that will increase the costs of producing these aircraft, which could make airlines more likely to look to Airbus and other suppliers not burdened by extra taxes for their aircraft (did Trump think of that?)

    AIUI, the Qatari aircraft may have had the paint job and some of the internal fittings done in Qatar after delivery. But the basic frame of the aircraft including all the avionics and instrumentation that are necessary to do the essential job of flying were all assembled in the US.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    Trump has no forevision of anything. He thinks only for the moment, unless it be of his own enrichment.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    Trump may have moved on from being obsessed with the Palace in the Sky. He has not posted anything about it for 72 hours. In any case, I found this article about the Palace in the Sky entitled "The Joke is on Trump.". Also explains why Boeing is having problems building two new jets.
  • Once again, you couldn't make it up. The Qataris really did see the Orange Oaf coming...
  • The_RivThe_Riv Shipmate
    Trump's Big Beautiful Budget Bull Bill just failed to get out of committee.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    Trump may have moved on from being obsessed with the Palace in the Sky. He has not posted anything about it for 72 hours. In any case, I found this article about the Palace in the Sky entitled "The Joke is on Trump.". Also explains why Boeing is having problems building two new jets.

    He was distracted by Bruce Springsteen.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    Now he is upset with Walmart for telling its customers to expect prices to rise because of tariffs. Oh, and now he is going after people who post 86 47. Now, who in their right mind would do anything like that?
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    86 47?
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    Boogie wrote: »
    86 47?
    “86” is American slang that means to throw someone out of a restaurant or bar, and by extension, to get rid of someone or something. And Trump is the 47th president.


  • CrœsosCrœsos Shipmate
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    Boogie wrote: »
    86 47?
    “86” is American slang that means to throw someone out of a restaurant or bar, and by extension, to get rid of someone or something. And Trump is the 47th president.

    Not just people but also things. For example, if someone wanted their food without onions, the waitstaff would write "86 onions" on the order.

    I once heard of a case where someone got exactly 86 olives on their order because someone in the kitchen was unfamiliar with this term.
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