Want to understand what Trump is doing?

Whilst we are mentioning TRIP can I also recommend the "Leading" series that they do. I have just listened to them interviewing Uzi Arad, the ex head of Mossad. It is to their credit that they often do in depth interviews with people who hold different views to their own and allow them to talk freely and frankly, which tbh is rare these days. Fascinating informative podcast for people who want to try to understand more than one POV which, when thinking about the Israel/Gaza war, is essential.

I will second that foxie48. Some of the best interviews - or conversations - I've ever heard.

I am not a POTUS Trump fan however, he is acting (quickly) on his many election promises.

Those who voted for him, I assume agreed with his vision for the USA.

Whether or not he manages to get all through congress and senate, who knows?

Trump and Starmer. One extreme to the other. Would we could have decent moderate politicians who listen to their people and serve them. I wouldn’t trust either of them. Looking forward to 4 years time when they both move on.

Fortunately you live in neither country Nanna8. Are Australian politicians any better?

I assume Nonnato's post was deliberately goading.
It certainly worked!
I watched that video Foxie. It is alarming when you put it trump's plans all together.

Let's hope there's enough uneasiness amongst the thinking and
compassionate people, both in America and beyond, to prevent him turning America into a terrifying dystopian land.

nanna8

Trump and Starmer. One extreme to the other. Would we could have decent moderate politicians who listen to their people and serve them. I wouldn’t trust either of them. Looking forward to 4 years time when they both move on.

Do you think Starmer is an extremist? Not that I'm a fan - but when you compare the two men ???

I think you are looking for a statesman of the 'old-school', they've either died or - particularly in the Tory party - been shunted off into the sidings. So to speak.

We seem to want showmen in politics these days - 'characters' who aren't "boring". Maybe that's why we ended up with Boris Johnson back in whenever it was. But he was without substance. His promises to fix this-and-that didn't even get off the ground.

We'll certainly "move on" in 4 years time, but I'm not sure you will be satisfied with the replacements.

GG13 Regardless of whether anyone approves of Trump, many of his executive orders are clearly unconstitutional and are being challenged eg US Nationality is given to people born in the US regardless of who their mother is or why she is in the US, this is enshrined in the US constitution, the one concerning TikToc has already been voted on in Congress and passed through the Supreme Court.
Do you approve of the Jan 6th pardons? He's pardoned all of them including people who committed extreme acts of violence including attacking police.
I don't think this shows anything other than a cavalier attitude to the law and the constitution that he swore to uphold when he took his presidential oath. His bitcoin meme launch provides the perfect vehicle for concealing money paid to him to secure his approval ie bribery and corruption. I find this really worrying as he's not known for his honesty.

foxie48 I said I am not a fan of POTUS Trump.

I do not approve of the majority of the things he is doing.

The point of my post is, those who voted for him knew his intentions, and he has hit the ground running in trying to implement them.

Whether or not they are lawful is down to the USA judiciary along with the senate and congress, to decide.

I do not know enough about the workings of USA law and politics to decide what is lawful and what isn’t.

I am very much pro-choice on all women’s healthcare, nd I am appalled that the USA appears to be running backwards on this.

It's the 14th amendment that states that anyone born in the USA is given citizenship regardless of where the mother is from.
How many more amendments will Trump try to break.

Trump has appointed R F Kennedy as health secretary. He has been known to be anti-vax and anti abortion.
Bad news for the women if America in particular.

White House rescinds memo on freezing federal grants and loans

The White House says it has rescinded a memo authorising a federal freeze on hundreds of billions of dollars in grants and loans, which sparked widespread panic among millions of people who rely on government aid.
It comes after a judge temporarily halted the order on Tuesday, only hours after it was signed by President Donald Trump and the memo announcing it was issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The judge paused the order until next Monday, after a lawsuit was filed by a group of organisations representing grant recipients.
The new letter issued on Wednesday states "OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded."

"We are glad that this memo has been rescinded. The chaos unleashed by the uncertainty and lack of adequate notice yesterday should never have happened," said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of National Council of Nonprofits - one of the groups suing the White House over the order.

Nonprofit organizations throughout the country and the people they serve can breathe a sigh of relief now that the White House has, at least for now, backed off its reckless and harmful plan to halt all federal funding for critical programs from homelessness and housing assistance, to disaster relief and rebuilding, to rape crisis centers and suicide hotlines," her statement on Wednesday added

In an earlier press conference on Tuesday, Ms Yentel said that if implemented, the order would severely impact food and housing programmes for military veterans, shelters for survivors of domestic violence, childcare assistance.

Citizens are waiting to see what plans emerge next.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyv48540n4po

Hmm. In the wake of the dreadful air crash in Washington yesterday, I read in Huff Post that Trump's order to suspend all government agencies' workings, in order to weed out DEI employees, has left the aviation authority in charge of airport safety and security without personnel...

Not a comforting prospect

(though, of course, this might have been rescinded by now, as per this article Trump went for Shock and Awe, Now He's Mopping Up'

www.politico.com/news/2025/01/29/trump-rescind-funding-freeze-fallout-00201350 )

Oh, beaten me to it, Wyllow

Trump is simply cleaning up the mess which his predecessors have made. All this Neo-liberalism was a bit of a social experiment. 'Let's try this and see what happens'.
Unlike most politicians, Trump has been completely upfront about his plans. People knew what they were voting for. Now they want him to deliver.
Of course, he should stick to putting America to rights. All this talk of buying other countries is nonsense. Starmer please note!

Grandmabatty

Fortunately you live in neither country Nanna8. Are Australian politicians any better?

No, they’re not much good but slightly better, perhaps. Not as controversial. We have a good foreign minister, though, in Penny Wong. She got an invite to the inauguration even though she is quite a lefty. Easier to talk to and deal with perhaps. Australia is a very small player,though ,so it doesn’t matter so much.

mum2three

Trump is simply cleaning up the mess which his predecessors have made. All this Neo-liberalism was a bit of a social experiment. 'Let's try this and see what happens'.
Unlike most politicians, Trump has been completely upfront about his plans. People knew what they were voting for. Now they want him to deliver.
Of course, he should stick to putting America to rights. All this talk of buying other countries is nonsense. Starmer please note!

According to TRIP’s a lot of the things he has done so far were not mentioned b him prior to the election so, no, he has not been up front about everything he is doing. I’ll try to find time to relisten to it to point out which things they referred to.

Yes there is no mandate for a lot of what he is doing.

MayBee70

It said in the podcast that even Hitler found reasons for what he was doing, even if he fabricated them himself, but that the phone call Trump made to the PM of Denmark was without historical precedent. And the sort of action he threatens would mean that other countries could just take over other countries purely because they had the power to do so.

Like Putin is trying

Oh, and things he boasted about doing eg stopping the war in Ukraine on day one have not happened have they?

It will matter to Australia if he starts another World War

GrannyGravy13

I am not a POTUS Trump fan however, he is acting (quickly) on his many election promises.

Those who voted for him, I assume agreed with his vision for the USA.

Whether or not he manages to get all through congress and senate, who knows?

It's interesting to see how different people interpret his decisions based on their own values and beliefs.

While some may agree with his vision, others might be concerned about the implications of his policies. Some of his decisions already suggest a shift away from democracy towards a possible dictatorship; a destruction of the constitution.

I do understand that around the world more people currently seem to want what they percieve as a benevolent dictatorship. Sadly, unlike getting rid of a government, getting rid of a dictatorship usually means bloodshed.

What specific promises would you think are most important to keep an eye on to check his move towards either democracy or dictatorship?

Nonnato2

He won. Get over it.

A blinkered and totally unhelpful comment.

The fact that he won says a lot about his supporters, very few of whom seem to have had any real understanding of his intentions and how his actions are now appearing to affect them. They fell for the idea of removing or reducing federal funding for things like healthcare so now many people on lower incomes can't get their Medicaid and people on better incomes are seeing vast increases in their health insurance. He's deporting people who are criminals only because they entered the country illegally, and at the same time releasing convicted violent criminals, including those who assaulted and killed police officers. Some of his executive orders have been paused by the courts and we can only hope that there will very quickly be a realisation that this "winner" is dangerous and needs to be, at the very least, controlled in his actions. People's jobs are disappearing so that Trump can manipulate the workforce in certain areas. Try telling these guys to "get over it".

Any comparison between Trump and his administration and Starmer and the Labour government is ridiculous.

I also am far more afraid of Chairman Starmer, Nonnato2. Most of the 'fascism' list applies to Starmer, (communism and fascism being two sides of the same totalitarian coin. ) Instead of 'rampant sexism' we have 'rampant transgenderism', instead of nationalism we have the opposite - the doctrine of multiculturalism, 'don't dare be nationalist or we'll brand you racist and quite possibly lock you up'. And little or no national security - instead open border ideology. Instead of 'religion and politics intertwined' read 'Ideology and politics intertwined'. The arts? - they are fine as long as they support (enforce?) transgender and woke beliefs.
I do not deny Trump is dangerous and not to be trusted but I do not think we should dive so deep into the 'Love to hate' narrative that we fail to notice our own shark-infested waters.

Oh, and yes, Starmer released rapists and other dangerous criminals so people could be jailed for three years for social media posts