Donald I, emperor of the world.

[ebikeerwidnes]

Just watching Trump and Vance, with Zelensky live on BBC News. Trump and Vance are bags of shite, that is being generous.

Among other things they were saying that Ukraine were having difficulty conscripting soldiers to fight, I assume Trump and Vance are too young to remember draft dodgers during Vietnam war.

I think Trump remember draft dodgers - something about bone spurs I think

But basically that was the rudest most disrespectful and downright disgusting way to treat a visiting President
or a visitor of ANY kind


what a rude pathetic specimen of the dregs of the species that orange moron is

Just clearly shouting down the other person and refusing to listen to even a single word
just shouting and - at time - pretty well pushing Zelensky

basically a bully


I thought my opinion of his could not sink any lower
but he continues to surprise me

 

[icowden]

I listened on the radio. It was a planned ambush with Trump and his bully sidekick, taking turns to shout at him.

It's jaw dropping TBH - video here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cdel2npwe50o

 

[Psamathe]

My suspicion is that had Trump spoken with Zelenskyy suggesting US investment and help in realising Ukraine's mineral wealth and potential through joint ventures then he probably end up with way more than the 100 bn that the US gave. But try to extort vastly more than given, accuse the Ukraine's President of being a dictator refusing elections, start trying for 500 bn ... and of course it would get nowhere.

So much for this great deal maker. Maybe he should read the book with his name on the cover that he didn’t write

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

My suspicion is that had Trump spoken with Zelenskyy suggesting US investment and help in realising Ukraine's mineral wealth and potential through joint ventures then he probably end up with way more than the 100 bn that the US gave. But try to extort vastly more than given, accuse the Ukraine's President of being a dictator refusing elections, start trying for 500 bn ... and of course it would get nowhere.

So much for this great deal maker. Maybe he should read the book with his name on the cover that he didn’t write

I think this IS how he makes deals

He makes sur ethe other person is vulnerable and needs him
then he asks for a huge amount and bullies them until they give in

If they don;t give in then he bullies other people in not dealing with them in revenge and do whatever he can to destroy them

 

[All uphill]

The 'deal' looked like Putin gets the East of Ukraine and the US gets the assets of the West with no liabilities.

How could Zelensky go with that?

 

[stowie]

My suspicion is that had Trump spoken with Zelenskyy suggesting US investment and help in realising Ukraine's mineral wealth and potential through joint ventures then he probably end up with way more than the 100 bn that the US gave. But try to extort vastly more than given, accuse the Ukraine's President of being a dictator refusing elections, start trying for 500 bn ... and of course it would get nowhere.

So much for this great deal maker. Maybe he should read the book with his name on the cover that he didn’t write

The irony is that the Ukraine doesn't have much in the fabled "rare earth metals" in the first place and even less in their hands and not on occupied land. $500bn is insane - the global rare earth market is something a bit less than $20bn. I suspect Trump was directed by the MAGA inner circle to go for infrastructure (ports) as well as a bunch of other stuff and that would be the final straw for Zelensky who even if he would accept, it probably wouldn't last in the Ukraine parliament - what with it being a democracy and not a dictatorship and all.

I think Trump's coterie wants Zelensky out and a Putin puppet installed, and this could have been the plan all along.

For those hoping this is 4 years max and then things get sensible, JD Vance was an utter unhinged c*nt at that meeting. If MAGA lasts then it could easily get worse.

 

[Beebo]

I have rewatched it, with less emotional involvement.
Zalensky probably does try to push back against Trump a bit too hard, which is something that very rarely happens.
But, neither Trump or Vance have anything constructive to add and just repeat nonsense in increasingly louder voices. What they say doesn’t make any sense and is often not even meaningful sentences. They also appear to have zero understanding of the human involvement of an innocent country being invaded and destroyed.
It was just bully boy tactics and very eye opening. You can only imagine what used to happen in the 1980s when a small local concrete supplier wanted to get paid on a Trump job. This is no way to run a business, and certainly no way to run the world.

 

[BoldonLad]

I have rewatched it, with less emotional involvement.
Zalensky probably does try to push back against Trump a bit too hard, which is something that very rarely happens.
But, neither Trump or Vance have anything constructive to add and just repeat nonsense in increasingly louder voices. What they say doesn’t make any sense and is often not even meaningful sentences. They also appear to have zero understanding of the human involvement of an innocent country being invaded and destroyed.
It was just bully boy tactics and very eye opening. You can only imagine what used to happen in the 1980s when a small local concrete supplier wanted to get paid on a Trump job. This is no way to run a business, and certainly no way to run the world.

I wonder if Trump (and Vance) would have the balls to treat Putin like that?

 

[Beebo]

I wonder if Trump (and Vance) would have the balls to treat Putin like that?

Putin would never be interviewed like that in front of an open press conference.

 

[CXRAndy]

Putin would never be interviewed like that in front of an open press conference.

Exactly, Zelensky was up for a fight, in front of the press. Had he been a tad more diplomatic, this would have been slogged out in private. Then we would have heard there's been a delay in signing the deal. We would be all wondering what's going on.

Now we know front and centre. Much better this way

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have rewatched it, with less emotional involvement.
Zalensky probably does try to push back against Trump a bit too hard, which is something that very rarely happens.
But, neither Trump or Vance have anything constructive to add and just repeat nonsense in increasingly louder voices. What they say doesn’t make any sense and is often not even meaningful sentences. They also appear to have zero understanding of the human involvement of an innocent country being invaded and destroyed.
It was just bully boy tactics and very eye opening. You can only imagine what used to happen in the 1980s when a small local concrete supplier wanted to get paid on a Trump job. This is no way to run a business, and certainly no way to run the world.

But he thinks it is

He thinks it is a very good and successful way to run a business
and hence to run HIS country

 

[Ian H]

But he thinks it is

He thinks it is a very good and successful way to run a business
and hence to run HIS country

To be fair, he has managed to float past various bankruptcies and criminal charges.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

To be fair, he has managed to float past various bankruptcies and criminal charges.

I imagine that if you looked closely enough then things like the famous
"He managed to go bankrupt running a casino"
things actually ended up making money for him overall and then he just made the company go bankrupt so he could take the profit and draw a line under it
The fate of everyone else was not a factor to him

IMO - clearly
but the concept that he has been very unsuccessful as a businessman might well be only if you view it in business terms
in himself he has often made money from apparent failures

now he is doing the same to a whole country

 

[icowden]

I imagine that if you looked closely enough then things like the famous
"He managed to go bankrupt running a casino"
things actually ended up making money for him overall and then he just made the company go bankrupt so he could take the profit and draw a line under it

Nope - he's not that clever. His only cleverness is that it is never "his" money that gets used. It's always other investors.

IMO - clearly
but the concept that he has been very unsuccessful as a businessman might well be only if you view it in business terms
in himself he has often made money from apparent failures

He *says* he has made money - but most, if not all of his money us debt. When you have a big enough debt it stops being a problem because you can't default on it. What bank wants to default on a billion dollar loan?

 

[Bazzer]

IRS bars Musk ally Gavin Kliger from accessing taxpayer database.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/us/politics/irs-doge-gavin-kliger.html
Kliger is a software engineer who has given online support to mysogynists and the far right including the likes of white supremacist Nick Fuentes.