Tag: Trump bluster

The Law Finally Got Ahead of Trump

Trump has used the legal system’s inherent slowness to his advantage for years. But in his election battle, it finally wasn’t an advantage.

Donald Trump has been in a footrace with the law for most of his adult life. And for the bulk of that time, he’s been able to outrun it. As James Zirin put it in Plaintiff in Chief, his book about Trump’s business dealings, one of many Trumpian legal tactics dating back to the Roy Cohn era was simply to wait out his legal troubles, either by heaving more money at lawyers, appeals, and more process, or by simply bankrupting or terrorizing his legal opponents. More often than not, time buffed the sharp edges off the legal system, and cushioned its consequences. Trump benefited from the same turtle pace of our legal system throughout his presidency. Whether it was slow-moving litigation over the fact that his close associates—like Don McGahn and, relatedly, John Bolton—ignored valid congressional subpoenas and requests, or the endless lawsuits over Trump’s financial documents that are still bogged down in the chutes and ladders of the federal court system, it’s been occasionally maddening to witness the contrast between the glacial pace of a justice system that demands slow and deliberative consideration of facts and the high-speed mayhem one person can wreak if he is inclined to ignore facts, invent new facts, and thus persistently remain 10 steps ahead of any accountability.

Continue reading “The Law Finally Got Ahead of Trump”

A black PBS journalist just burst Trump’s bubble after he boasted of racial progress — then rudely dismissed herA black PBS journalist just burst Trump’s bubble after he boasted of racial progress — then rudely dismissed her

AlterNet logoAt a press statement on Friday, President Donald Trump bragged that the United States would soon have “the strongest economy in the world” — only to be challenged by PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor when the journalist cited actual economic figures.

The press conference came at a time when the U.S. is being rocked by the coronavirus pandemic and high unemployment as well as large protests in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Despite all that, Trump’s tone was strident rather than empathetic as he bragged, “What’s happened to our country, and what you now see…. is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations, for the African-American community, for the Asian-American, for the Hispanic-American community, for women, for everything. Because our economy is so strong…. We’re going to have the strongest economy in the world. We’re almost there now.”

Then came some fact-checking. PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor asserted asked: “How would a better economy have protected George Floyd?” Then she added: “Black unemployment went up by 0.1%, Asian-American unemployment went up by 0.5%. How is that a victory?” Continue reading.

Trump Has Returned To His 2016 Law-And-Order Rhetoric, But It Might Not Sit So Well In 2020

When President Trump delivered his inaugural address in 2017, it was in an unfamiliar style. Gone was the jokey off-handedness of Trump-on-the-trail. In a stilted, elegiac tone the freshly-minted president spoke of “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones” and “young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge.” The content of the speech was familiar, though: Trump would bring America back from the brink. “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” President George W. Bush called it “some weird shit.”

Trump ran on law and order — “I am the law and order candidate” he helpfully explained — even if empirical evidence suggested nothing was wrong with the law and order Americans were already living under. The country’s rates of violent crime were trending downward when he ran — falling 51 percent between 1993 and 2018 — and the economy was churning along, but Trump tapped into some Americans’ dissatisfaction with the status quo. Law and order was about the restoration of a certain social configuration favorable to white Americans as much as it was a concern with crime.

As the strange election year that is 2020 marches on, Trump has returned to his 2016 rhetoric, but it may register differently. Late Thursday night, Minneapolis residents burned down a police station after the death of George Floyd, a black man in police custody. The president tweeted in response that, “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” Continue reading.

Trump ‘completely blindsided’ Republican officials by threatening to pull GOP convention out of Charlotte

AlterNet logoOne of President Donald Trump’s many targets on Memorial Day Weekend has been North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who he says is moving too slowly on the state’s reopening. Railing against Cooper on Twitter, Trump threatened to pull the 2020 Republican National Conventional out of Charlotte — and CNN is reporting that Republicans involved in the planning of the convention were “completely blindsided” by Trump’s threat.

Trump tweeted, “Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space.”

The president also asserted that Republicans planning to attend the Republican National Convention “must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied.” Continue reading.

Used to Meeting Challenges With Bluster and Force, Trump Confronts a Crisis Unlike Any Before

New York Times logoThe ways he dealt with crises in his business, real estate and even his personal life prove jarring as he leads the government’s response to a pandemic.

WASHINGTON — During his campaign for the White House in 2016, President Trump’s advisers briefly tried to run through with him how he would address a large-scale disaster if he won. What, for instance, would he have done during Hurricane Katrina?

“I would have fixed that,” Mr. Trump replied with certitude, referring to the government’s bungled rescue and recovery efforts, according to a campaign official who was present for the exchange. “I would have come up with a much better response.” How? He did not say. He just asserted it would have been better and advisers did not press him to elaborate.

Mr. Trump is no stranger to crisis. He has spent a lifetime grappling with bankruptcy, fending off creditors, evading tax collectors, defending lawsuits, deflecting regulators, spinning reporters and dueling with estranged wives, usually coming out ahead, at least as he defines it. But these were crises of his own creation involving human adversaries he knew how to confront. Nothing in his background in business, entertainment or multiple marriages prepared him for the coronavirus pandemic now threatening America’s health and wealth. Continue reading.

Trevor Noah Calls BS On Trump’s Threat To Show Up At His Impeachment Trial

He’s like that guy who “tells you what he’d do in a fight” but is too “busy” to actually fight, scoffs “The Daily Show” host.

Trevor Noah mocked President Donald Trump on “The Daily Show” on Thursday over his boast that he was considering showing up at his own impeachment trial in the Senate.

Trump said at a news conference in Davos, Switzerland, that it would be “great” to attend his trial. “I’d love to go. Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” Trump said. “I’d sort of love to sit in the front row and stare in their corrupt faces. I’d love to do it.”

When a reporter asked: “So why don’t you go?” Trump said his lawyers might have a problem with it.

But Noah said he knows better. Continue reading.

Why Trump’s Hit On Iran General May Burn US Intelligence Networks

Trump’s hit on Iran’s powerful military mastermind Qassim Suleimani may have just closed the door on future U.S. monitoring of other high-level Iranians and their efforts to build nuclear weapons.

“The first thing me and a bunch of guys thought was, Trump’s in Florida without the people around him who would try to stop this,” a former senior U.S. intelligence officer speaking on condition of anonymity told DC Report.

“He’s pissed off about the attack on the [U.S.] embassy. He thinks Obama should have gotten rid of Suleimani long ago and he wants to show who’s got the balls. But it wasn’t the smartest move. It’s called a pre-emptive neutralization. Continue reading.

Trump threatens to hit Iranian sites if country retaliates for Soleimani killing

The Hill logoWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump on Saturday said the United States has targeted 52 Iranian sites and was prepared to strike “very fast and very hard” in the event Tehran retaliates for the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

“Iran has been nothing but problems for many years,” Trump tweeted. “Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites… some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!”

Trump said the 52 sites, which he did not specify, were meant to represent the number of Americans held during the Iranian hostage crisis. Intentionally directing attacks against cultural monuments and religious buildings could constitute a war crime. Continue reading.

Trump accuses Democrats of subverting democracy in blistering letter to Pelosi

Axios logoPresident Trump sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday accusing Democrats of “perversion of justice” and condemning them for their handling of impeachment, at one point writing: “More due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”

The big picture: Written on White House letterhead, the letter memorializes Trump’s defense on the eve of his expected impeachment. The House is set to approve articles of impeachment on Wednesday, sending them to the Senate for what is likely to be a speedy trial that ends with Trump’s acquittal.

What he’s saying: Trump rehashed his usual arguments against impeachment, including that Democrats are seeking revenge over their 2016 election loss and that his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “perfect.”

  • “There is nothing I would rather do than stop referring to your party as the Do-Nothing Democrats. Unfortunately, I don’t know that you will ever give me a chance to do so,” Trump wrote.
  • “You are the ones interfering in America’s elections. You are the ones subverting America’s Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish, personal, political and partisan gain,” he added.  Continue reading