Trump and Musk, so it continues

Oreo

MaizieD

I do wish posters wouldn’t keep bringing Hitler into every debate on forums.

Hitler was a populist leader who went on to do very bad things. We have a populist leader in the USA who is doing bad things which will turn into very bad things. We have a populist leader in the UK who is known to have been an admirer of Hitler in his youth and has the same relationship to the truth as does the US president.

It’s not surprising that we see similarities and name them.

There are very many other populist leaders who did extremely bad things but they never get a mention.On forums generally, maybe not on here, mentions of Hitler brought into debates get groans all round.

It is understanding that he gets more mention- because it was right on our doorstep, and other European countries either joined him, supported him or closed a blind eye.

Actually, in recent times, the mention of 1930s Germany and Hitler, seem to really strike a chord with many, and the only groans are from the far right.

Oreo

Whitewavemark2

Oreo

Whitewavemark2

Cossy

Claremont

what makes me even so much more angry, worried and sick- is that so many support them, admire them, want them as leaders. Some right here, on GN.

It’s actually beyond belief and I feel the exactly the same as you! 😢😢

Yes, and I meant the U.K. not USA .

I can remember a time when I simply could not understand how Hitler achieved what he did, because I couldn’t believe that anyone living in a civilised country would give legitimacy to such behaviour.

Now I understand😢😢

What behaviour?
I do wish posters wouldn’t keep bringing Hitler into every debate on forums.
There’s nothing in the UK to compare to Germany in the 30’s even if one of two posters keep trying to make out there is.

I wasn’t talking about the U.K. - what on earth brought you to that conclusion.

I am echoing what is being said by such people as 5 star generals, experienced politicians and academics in the USA .

I’m not convinced that you know better than them.

Err…you state ‘Yes, and I meant the UK not USA’ so naturally I thought you were talking about the UK

I guess we are all guilty of not reading the entire posts leading up to a comment and jumping to the wrong conclusions😊

"Musk and his henchmen are messing with enormous, intricate, IT systems which control all US government spending. They hold data on and make payments to, millions of US citizens, businesses, research labs, and many other institutions."

When he holds the purse string he has total control over all those people and institutions.
Any resistance can be quashed by driving people into poverty.

Oreo

MaizieD

These policies can be reversed when the next President is sworn in.

Trump and his backers don’t intend that there shall be another elected POTUS. They are destroying the US constitution.

I don’t think you quite understand the implications of what is happening in the US if you think that a new regime could reverse it with ease.

I see, I don’t understand the implications but you do😄
You credit DT with too much power, the US won’t stand for anyone, even the President messing with the Constitution.
A new President in four years could if he chose to undo much.

Oreo, Musk and his henchmen are messing with enormous, intricate, IT systems which control all US government spending. They hold data on and make payments to, millions of US citizens, businesses, research labs, and many other institutions.

Can you imagine the consequences to the US if the system crashed because the source code has been altered with no understanding of how the whole edifice was built? Or, even if it didn't crash, how long it would take to bring it back to the state that existed before Musk's minions got their hands on it?

How long do you think it would take to restore agencies such as USAID, or to restart the scientific research projects in multiple fields, from cancer to climate change, which withdrawal of funding has killed?

In comparison, Labour faced a far easier task in the UK last year and look what an utter mess they are making of it...

Rumors are circulating that Elon Musk is spending $40 million on five Super Bowl commercials aimed at exposing government waste discovered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through USAID.

Not sure if this is true. Well it's true that there are rumours about it.

I wonder if ordinary Americans will have any choice about Trump messing with the Constitution.

Everything we've seen so far is that he doesn't play by any rules. If someone disagrees with him, he sacks them and either takes the job himself, appoints an unelected goon like Musk to do the job or hires 'believers'.

Long established organisations which were set up to keep checks on power (e.g. the International Criminal Court, the World Health Organisation are all rubbished and/or binned.

Look how quickly he's changed the weather in terms of diversity and equality.

He's systematically deconstructing all the stops on his power.

Putin changed the constitution so that he can stay in power until 2036. Surely Trump will want a piece of that?

He believes God saved him from death so he can own America and I can only think he's not going to let any man put that asunder.

If reports like these don’t worry us in the UK, then they should!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/08/the-observer-view-vengeful-and-reckless-donald-trump-must-not-go-unchallenged

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/01/23/politics/maga-rule-government-trump-analysis

news.sky.com/story/trump-latest-gaza-trans-israel-president-tariffs-trade-war-china-live-news-13209921

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/02/08/trump-is-saying-wrong-is-right/

Don’t read them all (or any), but I just wanted to show it’s widespread concern from both the US and other countries, including us.

I know worrying about will change nothing, but knowledge is power, so they say.

MaizieD

^These policies can be reversed when the next President is sworn in.^

Trump and his backers don’t intend that there shall be another elected POTUS. They are destroying the US constitution.

I don’t think you quite understand the implications of what is happening in the US if you think that a new regime could reverse it with ease.

I see, I don’t understand the implications but you do😄
You credit DT with too much power, the US won’t stand for anyone, even the President messing with the Constitution.
A new President in four years could if he chose to undo much.

MaizieD

^I do wish posters wouldn’t keep bringing Hitler into every debate on forums.^

Hitler was a populist leader who went on to do very bad things. We have a populist leader in the USA who is doing bad things which will turn into very bad things. We have a populist leader in the UK who is known to have been an admirer of Hitler in his youth and has the same relationship to the truth as does the US president.

It’s not surprising that we see similarities and name them.

There are very many other populist leaders who did extremely bad things but they never get a mention.On forums generally, maybe not on here, mentions of Hitler brought into debates get groans all round.

These policies can be reversed when the next President is sworn in.

Trump and his backers don’t intend that there shall be another elected POTUS. They are destroying the US constitution.

I don’t think you quite understand the implications of what is happening in the US if you think that a new regime could reverse it with ease.

When you say Trump wants to end wars rather than start them Oreo, I don’t think that accurately describes his stance. He wants to control the narrative of war, and for American military not to be involved in conflicts. That only works for countries that accept that his narrative is right, so if he carries on as is, there will be more wars, and America will be involved.

”So many different nationalities have made Australia home and the vast majority get on with each other no matter what religious beliefs , or lack of”

Very much like the UK then nanna

Oreo

Of course Cossy as lots of countries are affected by whoever is President and their decisions, remember the Iraq war! The one thing about DT is that he wants to end wars rather than start them.Probably as they affect trade and business generally rather than other reasons, but still.Biden had no love for the UK neither had Obama, not all Presidents have been great for us.
Like a lot of people am aghast at some of the things DT is doing in his own country so far, but that’s there not here and many Americans are behind him there and you have to realise that.These policies can be reversed when the next President is sworn in.

Yes, I do agree to an extent, but what a waste of time (& I know it happens here too!), all this flipping every 4 or 5 years.

I guess I’ll have to stay on the sidelines and watch.

I have close family and friends in both US and Canada and they are worried and appalled.

I do wish posters wouldn’t keep bringing Hitler into every debate on forums.

Hitler was a populist leader who went on to do very bad things. We have a populist leader in the USA who is doing bad things which will turn into very bad things. We have a populist leader in the UK who is known to have been an admirer of Hitler in his youth and has the same relationship to the truth as does the US president.

It’s not surprising that we see similarities and name them.

Of course Cossy as lots of countries are affected by whoever is President and their decisions, remember the Iraq war! The one thing about DT is that he wants to end wars rather than start them.Probably as they affect trade and business generally rather than other reasons, but still.Biden had no love for the UK neither had Obama, not all Presidents have been great for us.
Like a lot of people am aghast at some of the things DT is doing in his own country so far, but that’s there not here and many Americans are behind him there and you have to realise that.These policies can be reversed when the next President is sworn in.

nanna8

I didn’t know Trump was running for leadership of the UK. That’s news to me.

😁 you could be forgiven for thinking that.

Whitewavemark2

Oreo

Whitewavemark2

Cossy

Claremont

what makes me even so much more angry, worried and sick- is that so many support them, admire them, want them as leaders. Some right here, on GN.

It’s actually beyond belief and I feel the exactly the same as you! 😢😢

Yes, and I meant the U.K. not USA .

I can remember a time when I simply could not understand how Hitler achieved what he did, because I couldn’t believe that anyone living in a civilised country would give legitimacy to such behaviour.

Now I understand😢😢

What behaviour?
I do wish posters wouldn’t keep bringing Hitler into every debate on forums.
There’s nothing in the UK to compare to Germany in the 30’s even if one of two posters keep trying to make out there is.

I wasn’t talking about the U.K. - what on earth brought you to that conclusion.

I am echoing what is being said by such people as 5 star generals, experienced politicians and academics in the USA .

I’m not convinced that you know better than them.

Err…you state ‘Yes, and I meant the UK not USA’ so naturally I thought you were talking about the UK

Oreo

He’s President in the US not here, and whatever you or I think of him, millions and millions of US citizens preferred him to Kamala Harris.

With all due respect I think you are missing the point.

What happens in the US will have an effect on us and many other countries, especially if Trump and Musk end up “upsetting” another superpower.

Personally I think we should all keep any eye on their actions, especially given the (supposed) relationship between Farage and them!

”I can remember a time when I simply could not understand how Hitler achieved what he did, because I couldn’t believe that anyone living in a civilised country would give legitimacy to such behaviour”

Me too WW.

I’m currently watching the series about Mussolini’s rise to power. It’s frightening and eye-opening … a cautionary tale perhaps?

He was a very powerful speaker - could certainly command a room; a bully; power mad; manipulative; a serial adulterer; destroyed anyone who disagreed with him; loved the attention and influence; portrayed himself as a man of the people; ruled by fear; surrounded himself with yes men - his useful idiots; showed no empathy for human life.

Mm, interesting🤔

Whitewavemark2

nanna8

I didn’t know Trump was running for leadership of the UK. That’s news to me.

How’s the election going in Australia then?

I always think every three years is a tad excessive - and of course Australia has its own murky past and present regarding the original people.

There is certainly a good deal of underlying racism isn’t there?

Not particularly racist these days. So many different nationalities have made Australia home and the vast majority get on with each other no matter what religious beliefs , or lack of. Where we live there are very few indigenous people though up north there are a lot more. They do have issues with alcohol and child abuse but there are reasons for this as you know.Social workers are not allowed to place the children with outsiders so they are often sent back to abusive situations. I know this first hand but it is something not spoken of. Like the gangs in the UK I suppose.

We won't make it to the midterms IMO.

Farmers just lost billions of dollars in funding and workers aren't showing up. Food will be scarce at some point.

Musk is trying to put 2 million workers on unemployment.

This is an economic disaster waiting to happen. People have children to feed. When they can't any longer, it will all begin.

His popularity rating is still very high though, which may save him this time.

The mid-terms are more hopeful maybe?

The next big fight is coming. The government is only funded through March 15 I believe.

There is also a special election on April 1st for 3 House seats. Those are republican areas, but if he keeps this up AND shuts down the government, they may flip those seats.

That would give dems control of the House.

Trumps budget should come out before then. We should have a pretty good idea of it's popularity before then. I have seen some of what they want to cut and ot won't be popular even with the Republicans when it happens.

Civil unrest is coming. The problem is, the people all have to be on the same page in order to fix this. And we aren't. And we know it.

There is literally nothing we can do right now to stop this. It is going to have to hurt a whole lot worse in order to get MAGA in the right side of history.

Just disgusted.

I'm expecting civil unrest, but in terms of new Democrat leadership it shouldn't/can't be rushed. There are Democrat states and democrat leaders in both houses of congress of course and margins are small there.

A lot depends on how long all Republicans are prepared to continue to support the monsters.