Donald Trump SPEAKS

EXCLUSIVE-Trump adviser proposes new tiered system for NATO members who don't pay up​

February 13, 2024 — 05:08 pm EST

...well several EU nations were ( in the past ) capable of making their own weapons systems , they aren't actually forced to buy over-priced US systems

if Trump is trying to force more purchases of US weapons systems ( that the US have their own issues with ) , he is making a mistake

noirua said:

EXCLUSIVE-Trump adviser proposes new tiered system for NATO members who don't pay up​

February 13, 2024 — 05:08 pm EST

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/exclusive-trump-adviser-proposes-new-tiered-system-for-nato-members-who-dont-pay-up

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Sounds like a protection racket to me.

basilio said:

Sounds like a protection racket to me.

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has been for years
we will put these lovely military bases on your soil to protect your ( our national ) interests

ask Okinawa what the local residents think about US bases

Then let EU countries do what they "promised" they would.
Spend 2% of GDP on defence budgets

bk1 said:

Then let EU countries do what they "promised" they would.
Spend 2% of GDP on defence budgets

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what the real GDP or the official GDP , it isn't only the US tweaking official data in recent years

divs4ever said:

ask Okinawa what the local residents think about US bases

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Don't need to. The U.S was about as benevolent a conqueror as you could imagine.
How did the Okinawans fare under the militaristic pre-war Japan? I don't know, but suspect it would not have been too great - look how Japan treated other ethnic groups. Japan has obviously flourished since the U.S occupation and political reconstruction.
I watch videos about the Okinawans because of their longevity, diet and lifestyle. They always give the impression of having great lives with the reservation that their young people have adapted to American junk food and less physical activity. I have no doubt that the U.S bases have contributed to the local economy, to business and employment. Maybe it's just activists who would prefer they go?

finicky said:

Don't need to. The U.S was about as benevolent a conqueror as you could imagine.
How did the Okinawans fare under the militaristic pre-war Japan? I don't know, but suspect it would not have been too great - look how Japan treated other ethnic groups. Japan has obviously flourished since the U.S occupation and polifical reconstruction.
I watch videos about the Okinawans because of their longevity, diet and lifestyle. They always give the impression of having great lives with the reservation that their young people have adapted to American junk food and kess physical activity. I have no doubt that the U.S bases have contributed to the local economy, to business and employment. Maybe it's just activists who would prefer they go?

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they still despise Japan as well , in fact i am surprised they haven't risen up against a weakened Japan

basilio said:

Sounds like a protection racket to me

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Trump is being consistent and personally I suspect it's a kind of bluff. When you go into negotiations if you're Trump, you go in talking tough to get the best deal. He won't let Russia advance on NATO allies imo, no matter how delinquent they are. But why really should America take on more risk of paying in blood and treasure for those that won't contribute as agreed to the alliance? Trump is against the U.S being taken advantage of and getting spit in the face by every ingrate.

"A protection racket" - A racket is a kind of theft, Trump is demanding they pay legitimate bills into the alliance kitty. He's not going to 'blow the shop up' which is the subtext intended in a protection racket. The threat is to withdraw protection against a third party.

finicky said:

Trump is being consistent and personally I suspect it's a kind of bluff. When you go into negotiations if you're Trump, you go in talking tough to get the best deal. He won't let Russia advance on NATO allies imo, no matter how delinquent they are. But why really should America take on more risk of paying in blood and treasure for those that won't contribute as agreed to the alliance? Trump is against the U.S being taken advantage of and getting spit in the face by every ingrate.

"A protection racket" - A racket is a kind of theft, Trump is demanding they pay legitimate bills into the alliance kitty. He's not going to 'blow the shop up' which is the subtext intended in a protection racket. The threat is to withdraw protection against a third party.

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I think you are being far too kind with regard to Donald Trumps views on US support for European countries.

If he truly was wanting to support independent countries from being invaded by Russia he would be supporting Ukraine and not fluttering eyelashes at The Great Putin.

In any case he has raised European concern about the role of NATO in depending Western Europe. He is not trusted or believed. He is an isolationist.

finicky said:

Trump is being consistent and personally I suspect it's a kind of bluff. When you go into negotiations if you're Trump, you go in talking tough to get the best deal. He won't let Russia advance on NATO allies imo, no matter how delinquent they are. But why really should America take on more risk of paying in blood and treasure for those that won't contribute as agreed to the alliance? Trump is against the U.S being taken advantage of and getting spit in the face by every ingrate.

"A protection racket" - A racket is a kind of theft, Trump is demanding they pay legitimate bills into the alliance kitty. He's not going to 'blow the shop up' which is the subtext intended in a protection racket. The threat is to withdraw protection against a third party.

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but a third party certain sections in the US continually provoke

basilio said:

I think you are being far too kind with regard to Donald Trumps views on US support for European countries.

If he truly was wanting to support independent countries from being invaded by Russia he would be supporting Ukraine and not fluttering eyelashes at The Great Putin.

In any case he has raised European concern about the role of NATO in depending Western Europe. He is not trusted or believed. He is an isolationist.

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but Trump ( officially ) delivered the Javelin missiles ( which were secretly being delivered before hand .. see 'the perfect call' )

March 12, 2024.

Donald Trump said he would hit cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies with a 100% tariff, double the levy he has previously said he would put on automobiles made south of the US border.

Trump addressed Chinese President Xi Jinping directly during a rally speech in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday when threatening the tariffs.

Trump is out of his mind and desperate​

His speech today in Ohio shows it​

Friends,
At a rally today outside the Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, Trump warned that “if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a blood bath … for the country.”

He also warned that if he didn’t win, “I don’t think you’re going to have another election, or certainly not an election that’s meaningful.”
In the rest of the speech he repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, which have been utterly discredited.

He praised the people serving sentences in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol — calling them “hostages” and “unbelievable patriots,” commending their spirit, and promising to help them if elected in November.

He cast migrants as threats to American citizens — claiming without evidence that other countries were emptying their prisons of “young people” and sending them across the border. “I don’t know if you call them ‘people,’ in some cases,” he said. “They’re not people, in my opinion.” He later referred to them as “animals.”

Trump is clearly desperate. He knows that his future freedom and his fortune both depend on winning in November. He has no qualms about turning Americans against Americans to achieve this goal.

This past week, Trump’s own former Vice President, Mike Pence, had enough integrity to refuse to endorse Trump. If other current and former Republican officials had an ounce of integrity, they would do the same. Today’s disgraceful performance should be a wakeup call, if they still need one.

The rest of us must do everything in our power to ensure that this monster never again comes close to the Oval Office.

basilio said:

Trump is out of his mind and desperate​

His speech today in Ohio shows it​

Robert Reich

View attachment 172897​

Friends,
At a rally today outside the Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, Trump warned that “if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a blood bath … for the country.”

He also warned that if he didn’t win, “I don’t think you’re going to have another election, or certainly not an election that’s meaningful.”
In the rest of the speech he repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, which have been utterly discredited.

He praised the people serving sentences in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol — calling them “hostages” and “unbelievable patriots,” commending their spirit, and promising to help them if elected in November.

He cast migrants as threats to American citizens — claiming without evidence that other countries were emptying their prisons of “young people” and sending them across the border. “I don’t know if you call them ‘people,’ in some cases,” he said. “They’re not people, in my opinion.” He later referred to them as “animals.”

Trump is clearly desperate. He knows that his future freedom and his fortune both depend on winning in November. He has no qualms about turning Americans against Americans to achieve this goal.

This past week, Trump’s own former Vice President, Mike Pence, had enough integrity to refuse to endorse Trump. If other current and former Republican officials had an ounce of integrity, they would do the same. Today’s disgraceful performance should be a wakeup call, if they still need one.

The rest of us must do everything in our power to ensure that this monster never again comes close to the Oval Office.

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This is peppered with fake news. Double check or post his actual speech.

Excellent analysis on how Donald Trump uses humour to "normalise" what he does.

In on the Joke: The Comedic Trick Trump Uses to Normalize His Behavior​

His supporters love it. Critics call it a sign of his autocratic tendencies.


POLITICO illustration by Emily Scherer/Photos by AP, iStock
By Michael Kruse
03/17/2024 05:00 AM EDT

Michael Kruse is a senior staff writer at POLITICO and POLITICO Magazine.

“I’ve been indicted more times than Alphonse Capone,” Donald Trump said from the stage in Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina. “It’s true,” he said. It’s not. But what mattered the most was that here he was, late last month, uncorking an especially lively version of what has become a routine rally riff — and one that never fails to send ripples of giggles through the crowds he commands. “My parents are looking down. They’re saying, ‘I never thought this could happen to my son — he’s been indicted!’” he said, hands out, head up, reveling in the hoots on cue.

The audio track of the traveling Trump carnival is by now reliable to the point of ritualistic. Lee Greenwood to start, the odd, QAnon-coopted sort of liturgical dirge to close, the apocalyptic assessments of the condition of the nation and the prompts to harass the press and the jeers and the swears from the throngs in between. I could shut my eyes and know precisely where I was. For me, though, there’s one sound that’s come to stick out more than any of the many others.

It’s the laughter.

These signature set pieces are an utter engine, of course, of Trump’s stubborn and undeniable appeal, and humor’s always played a part, from repeated ridicule of his rivals to more impromptu and innocuous asides to physical pantomimes — the resulting laughter a consistent and key piece of their cadence and pull. This isn’t new, and Trump, obviously, is far from the first president or pol with some capacity for comedy. But over the past few months, at events of his that I’ve been to — in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — it’s felt to me particularly conspicuous. His destabilizing rhetoric has gotten even more dark. It’s what’s made the laughter all the more stark.

His allies and aides suggest it’s a big part of the reason the former and maybe future president still registers as relatable, managing to maintain the useful reputation as a politically incorrect outsider despite his obvious insider status as the leader of the GOP.

His critics along with experts in rhetoric and nationalist and populist movements and leaders say it helps him turn his opponents into not just enemies but jokes. They say it helps him recast his own liabilities as laughing matters and desensitizes his supporters to his most outrageous comments and proposals — the undermining of institutions, the abandonment of allies, mass deportations and all but outright invitations for Russian invasions and so on. They say the mirth masks the menace.

Back to the Ohio speech. The kind people at the Lincoln Project did a quick summary. The finish is bracing..

Take it to the satire thread bas.
You are "nudge theory" personified