Want to understand what Trump is doing? Part 3

I see Harvard is to sue the Trump administration.

Keep an eye on Pete Hegseth. His No Good Very Bad Day is about to turn into his No Good Very Bad Week. And may turn into a No Good Very Bad Trip to Unemployment. Except I think Trump shut down unemployment for fired Federal workers?

Insiders are getting ready to squeal this week. What we have seen is just the tip of the iceberg apparently.

So we have lost:
Gaetz = an accused pedophile
Hegseth = alcoholic ex Fox News host

I wonder if Noem will be next to get caught? She has made some pretty serious mistakes and is the face kidnapping people off the street. She can't last forever.

He had bankrupted 6 companies and the rest of them are successful because of his shady business practices. My husband works construction industry and his company refuses to do business with Trump companies on the East Coast because he does not pay contractors.

He has no idea what he is doing.

Trump is no economist, that's certainly true. I understand that he's trying to find a way to sack Powell, who is an economist and with whom most other economists agree. Trump seems determined to crash the US economy and take many countries with him.

Trump is also lying about the cost of goods being down.

Eggs have come down slightly. Gas has not. I tried to buy berries at the grocery store yesterday at it was $10 for a small bowl containing about 1 1/2 cups of berries.

For those who read this thread or lurk, here is the truth about what happened in the US.

Jermone Powell, the.man appointed by Trump in 2018, has no authority to "print money" at any time. The stimulus was passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump. Congress wanted a lesser amount, Trump insisted on more.

Biden spent the better part of 4 years turning that payout into the strongest economy in the world, only for Trump to crash it again in 3 months.

The only reason Trump wants the interest rates lowered is because he has crashed our stock market with his tariffs and now wants the blame the "fed" for not saving his ass because all his billionaire friends and economists are mad at him right now.

Contrary to what Trump and his supports spout.

FGT Surely the extra money printed was part of quantitive easing and most countries did that to prevent their economies collapsing.

Chocolatelovinggran

Thank you Norah: an impressive man, indeed.
Mr Hegseth is a man who shouldn't be employed as a school caretaker. His shocking incompetence, sadly, seems well matched by others in Mr Trump's cabinet.
I saw a splendid meme - A Houthi friend request to Mr Hegseth...

Indeed, splendid memes.

Re the markets … the Fed got it completely wrong with printing money during the pandemic, caused inflation, then belatedly raised rates once inflation has blown up to around 9%; now the Fed's engaged in a kind of punishment beating of the US economy, keeping rates too high for too long, as if they're trying to say the inflation wasn't their fault. (Like Andrew Bailey did with our BoE). When it very obviously was.

The Fed can see the turbulence of Trump's actions. It has a duty to protect the stability of the US economy and it should do so immediately with rate cuts.

It is nice to see a country following the law in terms of deportations instead of just kidnaping them off the street and putting them on planes.

Stocks are down again and the dollars value is plunging. It is now Jerome Powells fault () the economy is tanking apparently, because he won't lower interest rates.

Once again Trump creates a problem, refuses to accept responsibility for it and blames others, then gets mad when people tell him the consequences of his actions.

Like a toddler.

Thank you Norah: an impressive man, indeed.
Mr Hegseth is a man who shouldn't be employed as a school caretaker. His shocking incompetence, sadly, seems well matched by others in Mr Trump's cabinet.
I saw a splendid meme - A Houthi friend request to Mr Hegseth...

It's reported that their pentagon is quite distressed with Hegseth's second signal chat regarding sensitive matters.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/21/hegseth-second-signal-chat-pentagon

I hope that there are enough Senator Wornocks in America to get the country back on track. Thank you for the link Norah.

Whats not to like?

Get your hankies out before you watch.

One in five children in the USA is food insecure and billionaires are getting tax breaks. Good points on how weaponising despair and uncertainty favours the current status quo (indeed, I believe it to be deliberate)

Elegran

I don't think that Trump (or any of his regime) are aware of how the discrimination he is imposing on minorities is likely to cause the strength of their culture and their solidarity with one another to increase in proportion to his tyranny. He believes that he can get rid of them and remove their influence, but history has shown that trying to sweep away a whole demographic just radicalises the ones who remain - and you can never deport or imprison them all.

Agreed. Daughter2 sent this round to my computer.

I like Senator Raphael Wornock's way of explanation.

There is a click to avoid adverts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6P_qphV4l4

I don't think that Trump (or any of his regime) are aware of how the discrimination he is imposing on minorities is likely to cause the strength of their culture and their solidarity with one another to increase in proportion to his tyranny. He believes that he can get rid of them and remove their influence, but history has shown that trying to sweep away a whole demographic just radicalises the ones who remain - and you can never deport or imprison them all.

Wyllow3

You are conflating two things FGT.

1. Access to work and education (one debate)

2. The Trump attempt to crush the many and varied and colourful and rich histories of different groups and backgrounds in a whole society of immigrants (anther issue, and the one akin to "burning books" and restricting access to knowledge and life's meanings.

👏👏👏

The detail

Take Murray, the Irish (EU) citizen

"In March, Murray received another, much longer letter from the Berlin Immigration Office.

The letter, which NPR has reviewed, reads: "If you do not voluntarily leave the country by April 21, you are hereby threatened with deportation to Ireland

ie threatened with due process to happen.

P/nut is either ignorant of the cases and assuming, or deliberately producing a pro-Trump piece of propaganda.

They have not deported them FGT, they have had residence permits withdrawn and legal challenges are taking place.

www.npr.org/2025/04/20/g-s1-60984/germany-deportation-protesters

there are two from Ireland, one from Poland and one from the United States. Could be interesting to see if the USA will accept their citizen back.....

From the Pnut:

“Germany is following the U.S.’s lead… by deporting four people for participating in pro-Palestinian protests. The state’s victims are 3 E.U. citizens and one American who have been accused of – but not officially charged with – participating in a protest at Berlin’s Free University that caused “property damage including graffiti,” according to a spokesperson for the Berlin Immigration Office. “We haven't even seen the files yet,” said one of their lawyers, “so we don't even know what exactly our individual clients are accused of doing that day.”
If you know anything about Germany’s policy on Israel, this isn’t surprising. Multiple generations of German politicians have described unequivocally defending Israel as their country’s Staatsräson, or “reason of state.” Over the past two years, Germany has violently cracked down on pro-Palestine protests, given schools the right to ban Palestinian headscarves and flags, and even made uttering the pro-Palestinian slogan “From the river to the sea” a criminal offense.”

He does seem to fire people to cover up his own very serious blunders, there seems to be almost no one capable left in the department, and as for including his family in top security briefings? Clearly a "watch this space over the week"

Pete Hegseth is about to have a bad day.

His Pentagon is a mess and he just got caught leaking war plans on Signal again.

www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/04/20/pentagon-chaos-ullyot-hegseth-00205594

Great U tube video shows actions across the country

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOkpSTcogtY&t=150s

3 million! Thats impressive.

Once 50501 figures out how to come together against 1 single cause, they will make a difference. Right now it is very grassroots and peacemail.

They still got over 3 million on Easter weekend. I would say that is a successful way to share the message.

Happy Easter!