Can Trump pay his big bill?

Donald Trump doesn’t have the cash he needs to stop the state of New York from potentially seizing his assets. He’s asking the court — an institution he’s shown little but contempt for — for a bit of mercy. In a court filing, Trump’s lawyers laid out the stark economic reality facing the leading Republican candidate for president. His team spent “countless hours” negotiating with some 30 entities that could finance the roughly half-a-billion-dollar bond he’s on the hook for. But none would take the deal.

If Trump doesn’t pony up the $500 million or so he needs to set aside, pending his appeal of last month’s order against him for ill-gotten gains on his properties, Judge Arthur Engoron says the judgment may be enforced, and New York Attorney General Letitia James can start seizing Trump’s properties and selling them to pay down what he owes.

The New York attorney general’s office has filed judgments in Westchester County, the first indication that the state is preparing to try to seize Trump’s golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, known as Seven Springs. State lawyers entered the judgments with the clerk’s office in Westchester County on March 6, just one week after Judge Arthur Engoron made official his $464 million decision against Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization.

The judgment is already entered in New York city where Trump’s properties including Trump Tower, his penthouse at Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, his hotel abutting Central Park, and numerous apartment buildings are located.

Trump invoked a dual loyalty trope by claiming Jews who vote for Democrats hate Israel. “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,” Trump said in an interview with Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump administration official, on Gorka’s web show. “They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves, because Israel will be destroyed,” Trump continued, going on to discuss Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The remarks echoed a trope that American Jews have split loyalties to the U.S. and Israel.

[He is aiming at the Jewish population because 70% of voters in the 2020 elections voted for President Biden. Notice that he hasn’t gone after other minorities like this – although he hasn’t gone after Muslims in a little while.]

[And to add to the craziness….]

“President Trump is right — the Democrat Party has turned into a full-blown anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist cabal,” Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

[She really has been drinking the Kool-Aid after losing her election in the House elections in 2022 and before that working as an intern for Fox.]

Trump warned hat if he were to lose the 2024 election, it would be a “bloodbath” for the US auto industry and the country. “We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected,” Trump said during a rally in Ohio. “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it.”

[So Trump is getting desperate? Threatening an industry? Where would he threaten next? Does he think other countries won’t do the same on American made goods?]

On the morning of January 6, 2021, in a last-ditch bid to overturn his election loss, Trump told then-Vice President Mike Pence that his decision to uphold his constitutional duty and certify the results later that day would be “a political career killer,” according to an unnamed witness who overheard part of the call.

Trump came a step closer to reaping a major windfall from his social media firm after investors in a blank-check acquisition company approved a tie-up currently worth about $5.7 billion. The deal values Trump’s majority stake in the company that holds his app Truth Social at about $3.3 billion. The windfall could prove vital as Trump grapples with the financial fallout of a string of legal cases against him.

[However, while Trump will have that stake, it will be quite a while before he actually has it all.]

It is a bit bad when Nikki Haley, who is not a candidate for the Republican party anymore, garnered 108,000 votes [18%] in the Arizona primary. No response from the Trump campaign.

Trump is expected to enlist Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager he pardoned, as a campaign adviser later this year.

[No one will be shocked if he hires others who have been convicted and I’m sure some who never were in politics.]

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. refused to delay prison time for Peter Navarro, a former senior aide to Trump, as he appeals his conviction for refusing to testify before Congress about his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Roberts, who oversees emergency requests from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, said he saw no basis to disagree with an appeals court ruling that Navarro must serve time while his appeal is underway. Navarro was sentenced in January to four months after a jury convicted him on two counts of contempt of Congress.

Trump suffered arguably his worst loss[es] in any criminal matter recently when, in his New York trial for alleged falsification of business records, Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled against him in virtually all of his motions to exclude evidence.

US District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ordered the defense lawyers and the prosecutors in the case to file submissions outlining proposed jury instructions based on two scenarios, each of which badly misstates the law and facts of the case, according to legal experts. She has given the sides two weeks to craft jury instructions around competing interpretations of the Presidential Records Act, often referred to as the PRA. While the law says presidential records belong to the public and are to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of a presidency, Trump’s lawyers have argued the PRA gave Trump the right to keep classified materials as his personal property.

Trump filed yet another lawsuit against the news media, accusing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos of defamation over assertions the anchor made in a combative interview. In an interview on “This Week,” Stephanopoulos pressed Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a rape survivor, over her continued support of Trump after a jury found he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $88 million for battery and defamation. Stephanopoulos asserted multiple times in the interview with Mace that Trump had “raped” Carroll. “You endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony that we just saw?” Stephanopoulos asked Mace. The South Carolina Republican defended her support of the former president, arguing that the jury decision was merely in a civil case.

According to February 2024 statistics, Truth Social has so far had 8.9 million sign-ups, of which Trump has 6.7 million followers. X, by comparison, has more than half a billion monthly users, according to Elon Musk.

A pro-Trump lawyer, Stefanie Lambert, who tried to overturn the 2020 election was arrested after a court hearing about her recent leak of internal emails belonging to Dominion Voting Systems. There was an existing arrest warrant for Lambert stemming from her failure to appear at recent court hearings in her separate criminal case in Michigan, where she was charged with conspiring to seize voting machines after the 2020 election.

The Wealthiness of Trump

Remember when Donald Trump said he was worth $10 billion net, then other high amounts?

As expected, all lies.

At one point, he was estimated to have $400 million in liquid assets. I guess not.

According to one expert, if he sold seven New York City area properties at “fire sale values”, he would have enough to pay his $464 million bill and have a bit left to pay his lawyers. 🙂

Over the years he has pissed off so many potential loaners with lawsuits and bad deals that they don’t want to touch him. [I wonder what his credit rating is.]

The Trump Organization’s payment history shows it pays an average of 26 days beyond terms (DBT), compared to the national average of 12 DBT.

There is even talk he could even declare bankruptcy. Not new to him as he has been bankrupt 4 times previously. As a presidential candidate, going bankrupt wouldn’t look good.

Finally, where are the MAGA donors? They don’t mind supposedly voting for him but won’t support him. Maybe because their donations may end up being used to pay his legal bills and not to get him elected.

Pence doesn’t endorse Trump

Former Vice President Mike Pence said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, a stunning repudiation of his former running mate and the president he served with. “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence said.

[“…at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years.” Huh? There is little to no difference between Trump’s first reign and what he is proposing. At “press time”, no response from Trump but if Trump follows his usual response, he will mention disloyalty as well as something like he did a bad job as Vice-President.]

The judge, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case dismissed some of the charges against Trump and others, but the rest of the sweeping racketeering indictment remains intact. The judge wrote in an order that six of the counts in the indictment must be quashed, including three against Trump. But he left in place other counts — including 10 facing Trump — and said prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed.

Trump suggested he was open to making cuts to Social Security and Medicare after opposing touching the entitlement programs. These two programs for senior citizens are generally consider untouchable by almost all politicians. Trump campaign spokeswoman later said that Trump was “clearly talking about cutting waste, not entitlements.” That same spokeswoman says it is Biden who won’t protect entitlement programs when Biden has already said prior “Not on my watch” about cutting them.

[Trump seems to have quite a few spokespeople. I wonder if some need time off after all the running around to clarify statements Trump have said in a day.]

When Trump was president, his administration’s budget proposals included spending cuts to Social Security, primarily by targeting disability benefits, and Medicare, largely by reducing provider payments. Trump also signalled in an interview with CNBC in 2020 that he was open to cutting federal entitlements to reduce the federal deficit.

Without any changes, Social Security’s combined trust funds are set to run dry in 2034, at which time the program’s continuing income from taxes will only be able to cover 80% of benefits owed. Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund, known as Medicare Part A, will only be able to pay scheduled benefits in full until 2031.

Attorneys for Trump want to delay the start of his upcoming New York criminal trial until the US Supreme Court weighs in on presidential immunity, according to a new motion – a ruling that may not come until late June. The criminal trial related to hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels is scheduled to begin with jury selection on March 25.

[Unsure what has got to do with the other. Trump was never the president at any time during the trial or now. So immunity isn’t related.]

Recently, Trump met with the parents of a nursing student whose alleged killer was an undocumented immigrant. Trump has suggested hard-line immigration proposals, including a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

[Unsure, but would of Trump visited the parents if they were Republicans? Current statistics said that undocumented immigrant are not a large factor in the number of murders in the US. Between that and pushing Republicans in Congress to vote against the border deal, Trump and his cronies will still put the blame on the Democrats. Remember that Trump said no deal is better that the deal the Democrats put forward. Do you think Republican voters will remember this in November?]

“He [Trump] thought [Vladimir] Putin was an OK guy and Kim [Jong Un] was an OK guy — that we had pushed North Korea into a corner,” retired Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trump’s chief of staff, said. “To him, it was like we were goading these guys. ‘If we didn’t have NATO, then Putin wouldn’t be doing these things.’”

Trump said, “Well, but Hitler did some good things.” Kelly said, “Well, what?” And Trump said, “Well, [Hitler] rebuilt the economy.” But what did he do with that rebuilt economy? He turned it against his own people and against the world. Kelly said, “Sir, you can never say anything good about the guy. Nothing.”

“There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán,” Trump said of the Hungarian president who visited Mar-A-Lago recently, adding, “He’s the boss and he’s a great leader, fantastic leader. In Europe and around the world, they respect him.”

[I don’t think many respect him. He’s another authoritarian leader like Trump.]

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Trump and his allies ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis may continue with the prosecution but only if Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor she appointed and had a romantic relationship with, exits the case. The judge wrote that the defendants “failed to meet their burden” in proving that Willis’s relationship with Wade — along with allegations that she was financially enriched through trips the two took together — was enough of a “conflict of interest” to merit her removal from the case. Wade resigned later on.

Trump asked Elon Musk last summer whether the billionaire industrialist would be interested in buying Trump’s failed social network Truth Social.

Trump, who is only a few years younger than President Biden, has said several times that he doesn’t think Biden is “too old” to be president but he did recently release a digital only add poking fun at Biden with comments Biden has said about his age.

[As you know Trump is the one to talk. Saying Mercedes instead of his wife’s name Melania. How could he mix that up? He’s also said the wrong name (maybe on purpose) for others including Nancy Pelosi. Also note that Trump doesn’t have a lot of campaign cash on hand. Some going to his legal defence. Maybe he will use his own money…. Hah!]

Trump mocked Biden’s stutter at a campaign rally in Rome, Ga., the latest in a series of insults he has hurled at his rival but one that disability advocates regard as a demeaning form of bullying.

[Do you ever see Biden knock any physical characteristics of Trump like being orange or overweight or his little hands? His mental capacity is a different story. And just what group hasn’t Trump demeaned except Christian whites?]

The Republican National Committee began laying off dozens of staffers, days after Trump’s handpicked team took the reins of the organization. The layoffs affect staffers across multiple departments. The cuts also go beyond senior staff to vendors and mid-level employees. Vendor contracts will likely be cut as well. Some staff who were asked to resign could reapply for jobs at the organization.

“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” Trump said in a post on his platform, Truth Social, racistly referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He called Facebook “a true enemy of the people” but didn’t explain his reasoning. While in office, Trump wanted to expel TikTok from the US [because they are owned by ByteDance of China]. Now that Biden is pushing to expel them, Trump is having second thoughts.

“The thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media,” Trump told CNBC before US markets opened. Meta [owner of Facebook] stock dropped 5% at one point. “I think Facebook has been very dishonest. I think Facebook has been very bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections.”

[I’m on Facebook. I really didn’t see anything on the platform that was directed more at Trump or the Republicans than the Democrats. It’s not like you will see something like huge banner saying “Vote for Biden” or “Down with Trump” on every page. Another lie.]

TikTok is one of the world’s most popular social media apps and is used by roughly 170 million Americans.

Kellyanne Conway [remember her?] is a lobbyist for TikTok. Trump also supposedly has a major donor who owns a small chunk of TikTok.

[That major donor would be a good reason why Trump did an about face and now supports TikTok.]

In the House of Representatives, Trump “lost” the vote as 352 voted for a TikTok ban and just 65 were against [50 Democrats, 15 Republicans]. It may be harder in the Senate.

Trump said last month he would consider imposing a tariff upward of 60% on all Chinese imports if he regains the presidency. As president, Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on $50 billion of Chinese goods in June 2018.

[Trump’s buddy, President Xi won’t be too happy.]

US Supreme Court allows Trump on the ballots, too bad

The US Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump should appear on the ballot in Colorado in a decision that follows months of debate over whether his GOP nomination violated the insurrectionist clause included in the 14^th Amendment.

[I wasn’t really surprised with the one. It didn’t really matter much after Super Tuesday.]

Trump compared Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for the state house in 2024 as Martin Luther King, Jr. “on steroids”. Lets just say black leaders weren’t happy.

Now former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley suggested she’s no longer bound by a Republican National Committee pledge to support the eventual nominee, saying that she’ll “make the decision I want to make” when asked whether she would endorse Trump if he secures the nomination.

[It’s not like he agreed to be bound by a pledge to support the eventual nominee if it wasn’t him. See farther down for more about her.]

Trump has already said that once elected, he will do some major changes in many department including dumping government workers who may be disloyal and hire people who would be loyal to him. He would also weaponize the Department of Justice and the FBI and other departments.

[The big question will be how many new employees actually are qualified to do their new job. There were stories (for example) of judges who had little experienced in court becoming judges. Just like in 2016, there will be a mass exodus of government employees (including judges) and it took a long while before replacements were hired.]

Reacting to his big wins during Super Tuesday and Haley conceding, Trump said, “It was announced that 325,000 people were flown in from parts unknown. Migrants were flown in — airplane — not going through borders, not going through that great Texas barrier.” He claims that they were secretive but is known. The US Customs and Border Protection vetted all the people who came in and they all had sponsors from US citizens. Trump received this information from the anti-immigrant think tank Center for Immigration Studies. [Very unbiased. Right?]

[I’m sure he would also suggest that all of these people will be required to vote for Biden in the next election. Maybe even send them to swing states. Only US citizens (not in prison) can vote.]

“Look, I hate seeing what’s happening. Again, it would have never happened. This attack on Israel and likewise Israel’s counterattack, which is what it is, would’ve never have happened if I was president,” Trump said recently, avoiding a direct answer.

[And exactly how would he tell Hamas not to attack last October 7? It was a surprise attack. US and Israeli intelligence didn’t expect it and/or failed to notice something was building up. I’m sure if he was president he’d also stop the wicked weather that is happening in the US and send it all to a country he dislikes. Plenty. Take your pick.]

The firm friendship between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Trump was in office has since soured, largely driven by animosity Trump held for Netanyahu ever since the prime minister publicly acknowledged that Biden won the 2020 election.

[What would a leader of another country do other than acknowledge a new leader’s win in an election unless it is a country with a history of troubling elections.]

Trump accused Netanyahu of disloyalty and said “F*** him.” Very classy.

[What else would Trump do? If you aren’t loyal to Trump, you are an enemy of his.]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Trump for president after years of acrimony between them, cementing Trump’s continued hold on the Republican Party.

Trump secured a bond for more than $91 million to cover the judgment in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case while he appeals. A document was posted in federal court memorializing Trump’s agreement with Chubb, the insurance giant that underwrote the bond to cover the $83.3 million in damages that a jury awarded to Carroll in January for defaming her in 2019, when Trump was in office. The bond still has to be approved by the judge overseeing the case, US District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan – which is just a formality. Trump also faces a March 25 deadline to put up another $454 million in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case.

The Republican National Committee formally elected Trump’s choices of Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, the Trump’s daughter-in-law who was accompanied at the meeting by her husband, Eric, as its two highest-ranking officers at a meeting. They are co-chairs of the party. The RNC’s operations will be run by a top adviser to Trump’s campaign, Chris LaCivita. After being elected by a unanimous voice vote, Whatley pledged to expand efforts to deploy poll watchers, workers and judges as real-time monitors wherever ballots are cast and counted. The outgoing RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel, resigned on the same day.

Before McDaniel spoke, Arizona RNC member Tyler Bowyer — a frequent critic — asked to add business to the agenda but was rejected by a voice vote. Bowyer said he wanted to discuss holding Haley accountable for her pledge to support the nominee, including a possible censure if she doesn’t endorse Trump.

[It seems Bowyer is trying to use Trump’s playbook.]

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, first won power through a democratic election, then proceeded to weaken the institutions of that democracy by eroding the legal system, firing civil servants, politicizing business, attacking the press and intimidating opposition parties and demagoguing migration. Trump has left no doubt that he’d try something similar in the United States if he wins a second term.

Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician turned GOP congressman, regularly touts his successful military career. “As a retired US Navy Rear Admiral with nearly three decades of military service I understand the commitment and sacrifices made by servicemen and servicewomen to serve our country,” the two-term Texas representative writes on his congressional website, posted to a page listing his work on veterans issues. But Jackson is no longer a retired admiral. The Navy demoted him in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector general’s report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician. He’s now a retired captain.

The service took unspecified action against Jackson in the wake of the 2021 inspector general’s report, which found that Jackson berated subordinates in the White House medical unit, “made sexual and denigrating statements” about a female subordinate, consumed alcohol inappropriately with subordinates and consumed the sleep drug Ambien while on duty as the president’s physician.

According to AP VoteCast surveys of the first three head-to-head Republican contests, two in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters would be so disappointed by Trump’s renomination that they would refuse to vote for him in the fall.

Recent polling from Quinnipiac University found that about half of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters who supported Haley would vote for Trump, while 37 percent would vote for Biden. Twelve percent said they would abstain, vote for someone else or hadn’t yet decided what to do.

[Of course this is polling. Good luck on Biden getting anywhere near that percentage.]

Haley bows out, doesn’t kiss Trump’s ring

As you are probably aware, Nikki Haley has “suspended” her campaign today.

Of course, in most cases, suspending really means shutting down the campaign completely – Democratic candidate, Marianne Williamson, suspended her campaign and then strangely renewed it.

Haley has still not endorsed Donald Trump. During the campaign, she was harshly criticizing Trump – possibly more than President Biden.

But if Haley doesn’t endorse Trump, chances of trying another presidential run in 2028 will be slim. She will not get much support from the Trump base and that is a big chunk of the party.

If she does kiss his ring while bowing [or on one knee] and endorse Trump, it still may not help her political career. She could hope for a cabinet position which could repair her political career.

Or maybe she can go back to state politics unless she tries for the House of Representatives or Senate. At least with those, it will be the voters who pick you.

Or maybe just retire and go back to what she did prior to politics.

Where will he get the money?

Donald Trump, his adult sons, and two former Trump Organization officials have appealed the $464 million judgment entered against them in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case. The Trumps filed a notice of appeal with the court, the first business day after Judge Arthur Engoron made the judgment official. Donald Trump is personally on the hook for $454 million, including interest payments. If he does not provide all those dollars then that interest is going to keep ticking throughout the entirety of the case.

Trump must come up with the full amount to cover the $454 million verdict in the civil fraud trial, an appeals court Associate Justice Anil Singh ruled. Singh lifted a ban on Trump’s ability to obtain loans from New York regulated financial institutions, which could allow him to access the equity in his assets to back the full bond amount. Singh denied Trump’s request to delay his obligation to post $454 million until a full appellate panel hears his motion to stay enforcement of that judgment until his appeals of the civil fraud ruling are over.

Trump could post the cash amount to cover the judgment. But if he decides to secure a loan, his lawyers told the judge, he would need to raise more than $550 million. Bond underwriters charge about 120% of the judgment and often require cash and other easy-to-sell assets like stocks or bonds as collateral.

Trump has asked the judge overseeing the defamation case with writer E. Jean Carroll to postpone enforcement of that judgment or allow him to post a smaller amount until all post-trial arguments are over. The judge has not yet ruled.

Trump sought to appeal to Black voters night in South Carolina by repeatedly citing the 91 felony charges he faces and comparing them to unfair treatment from the criminal justice system toward minorities in America. Funny.

[This is the same joker who claims that New Yorkers will leave the state after that recent $355 million judgment.]

A bipartisan ethics panel in Wisconsin has recommended felony charges against one of Trump’s fundraising arms in relation to an alleged scheme that it says was meant to circumvent campaign finance laws to take out a powerful GOP lawmaker who has turned against Trump. The Wisconsin Ethics Commission found probable cause that Trump’s Save America committee, a state lawmaker and multiple local Republican officials committed felonies and recommended six district attorneys investigate and prosecute them. The commission’s investigation centers on the 2022 primary race between Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, one of the most influential Republicans in Wisconsin, and Adam Steen, a political newcomer who embraced Trump.

The conservative Koch group has decided to pull funding for Nikki Haley after her showing in South Carolina. They originally decided to back Haley late last fall because they didn’t like what they see in Trump. They are now backing Republicans in tight races.

The co-founders of Trump’s media company, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, filed a lawsuit, claiming that Trump and other leaders had schemed to deprive them of a stake in the company that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The case could complicate a long-delayed bid by Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of the social network Truth Social, to merge with a special purpose acquisition company called Digital World Acquisition and become a publicly traded company. That merger deal, which could value Trump’s stake in the company at more than $3 billion.

The two’s attorneys allege in the motion that Trump has recently attempted to “drastically dilute” the partnership’s stake as part of what they called an “11th hour, pre-merger corporate manoeuvring” tactic designed to increase the amount of authorized stock, from 120 million shares to 1 billion shares. They would get a watered down of under one percent instead of 8.6 percent.

From a speech at the Texas-Mexico border Trump repeated his familiar story about how migrants are supposedly arriving in the US after having been deliberately freed by foreign leaders from prisons and mental health facilities.

[Has he been watching the movie Scarface with Al Pacino too many times? That was 40+ years ago!]

From a CPAC speech:

• Trump claimed, as he has on numerous previous occasions, that although he was told it would take “four years” to defeat the ISIS terror group, “I knocked it out in four weeks.” The ISIS “caliphate” was declared fully liberated more than two years into Trump’s presidency, in 2019 after two additional years when President Obama made major progress. Even if Trump was starting the clock at the time of his visit to Iraq in late December 2018, as he suggested later in a speech, the liberation was proclaimed more than two and a half months later.

[Trump, of course, ignored the Kurdish forces who did much of the ground fighting. Do anyone really believe he did it in four weeks?]

• “Remember I used to say a long time ago, ‘Don’t go into Iraq. Don’t do it!’” claims Trump. In his 2000 book, “The America We Deserve,” Trump argued a military strike on Iraq might be necessary. In a September 2002 interview whether he is “for invading Iraq,” Trump responded, “Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly.” Trump began criticizing the war in 2003, after the invasion.

• Trump said, “And then you wonder why we have a $2 trillion deficit. If you look at it now, it’s gotten to a level that nobody can even believe; it’s so bad under Biden.” The US has never had a $2 trillion annual trade deficit. The overall deficit, which includes trade in both goods and services, was about $773 billion in 2023, down from a record high of about $951 billion in 2022.

• Trump said, “We built 571 miles of border wall.” An official report by US Customs and Border Protection, written two days after Trump left office said the total number built under Trump was 458 miles [including both wall built where no barriers had existed before and wall built to replace previous barriers].

[And if you remember, some of the walls were made so bad that supposedly the wind tipped over a section of the wall that was made.]

• Trump also claimed “I ended Nord Stream” [actually Nord Stream 2 pipeline] and that “I stopped it, it was over.” While he did approve sanctions on companies working on the project, that move came nearly three years into his presidency, when the pipeline was already around 90% complete – and the state-owned Russian gas company behind the project said shortly after the sanctions that it would complete the pipeline itself.

• Trump claimed that, as president, he had threatened that he would cut off all US business with China if China bought even “one barrel of oil from Iran.” China’s oil imports from Iran did briefly plummet under Trump in 2019, the year the Trump administration made a concerted effort to deter such purchases, but they never stopped – and then they rose sharply again while Trump was still president.

• Then Trump said, “I’ve been indicted more than Alphonse Capone,” even though Capone was a notoriously vicious gangster. Trump has been indicted four times. Capone was indicted at least six times.

[Maybe he just watched the movie The Untouchables and thought that was it.]

In the Republican South Carolina exit polls:

• 54% preferred Haley over Trump. This is typical as more educated people prefer anyone but Trump.
• Two thirds of independent voters prefer Haley. Same for moderate/liberal voters.
• 55% of non-White evangelical Christians voted for Haley.
• With 61% of voters believed that Biden didn’t win the election, 87% were Trump voters
• 60% of votes would still vote for Trump if convicted – almost all are Trump voters.
• 31% are unsure if they’d vote for Trump if he is the Republican nominee with most are independent and moderate/liberal voters.

Pro-Russia and ignoring cases

In this past week, Donald Trump continues to spin things and then ignores the facts that things he has said are already at different courts to be decided or have already been denied.

More than 72 hours after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in an Arctic penal colony, Trump mentioned him by name for the first time in a post on his social media site that focused not on Navalny, but his own legal woes. President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 47-year-old’s death, responding with anger and demands for answers. But Trump made no mention of Putin or Navalny’s family in the post that instead cast himself as a victim and continued to paint the US as a nation in decline.

“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country. It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians…. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024.” [I removed the usual whining comments from his post.]

Trump’s reference to Navalny’s “sudden death” was notable. Prison officials allegedly told Navalny’s mother when she arrived at the penal colony hat her son had perished from “sudden death syndrome.” The previous time when someone saw him alive, just within 48 hours, he was alive and looked well. At one point Trump compares Navalny’s time persecuted by the Russian regime him being persecuted by the Biden government.

[Navalny death was listed by Russian authorities as natural causes. You just don’t collapse and die from natural causes.]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the merger proposal of Trump’s media start-up with a special purpose acquisition company, a critical step for a long-delayed deal that would make the owner of Trump’s website Truth Social a publicly traded company and unlock $300 million in investor funds. The approval is a victory for Trump, who will hold more than 78 million shares in the post-merger company, a filing shows — a stake that, at current prices, would be worth nearly $4 billion. Trump, who would own between 58 and 69 percent of the company.

[Being worth $4 billion is not the same as selling at that price.]

Trump could be at risk of losing some of his prized properties if he can’t pay his staggering New York civil fraud penalty. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million — and the amount is going up $87,502 each day until he pays. New York Attorney General Letitia James said that she will seek to seize some of Trump’s assets if he’s unable to cover the bill from Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling. Under state law, he is being charged interest on that amount at an annual rate of 9%. Any appeal requires a 10% bond on the judgment. So to appeal the $355 million ruling, he will need a $70 million bond.

Engoron has denied Trump’s request to delay the judgment for a month. Once the judgment is officially entered, it will start the 30-day clock for Trump to file an appeal. During that period, Trump will need to put up cash or post bond to cover the $355 million and roughly $100 million in interest he was ordered to pay the state.

So with Trump having a big bill to pay, he could use his Super PAC contributions but after spending $50 million in 2023 on legal matters, he has just over $5 million in the piggy bank. He needs money to pay his legal bills but also needs it for his campaign.

So what is he doing? He is selling Trump branded running shoes called “The Never Surrender High-Tops”. They go for $399 each pair. [We will assume it is a pair! You never know!] He is also dishing out perfume and cologne for $99 each. [Did he rip off a perfume or cologne manufacturer? Or maybe just filled up the containers with water and some smelly chemical.] He announced the running shoes at [get this] Sneaker Con in Philadelphia.

Trump urged a Florida judge to dismiss the criminal case charging him with illegally retaining classified documents, claiming in part that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution even as that sweeping argument has so far in failed in federal appeals courts in a separate case. Trump’s lawyers wrote that the classified documents charges turn on his alleged decision to designate the papers as “personal” records under the Presidential Records Act, and argued that he cannot be prosecuted since that was an “official act” made while he was still in the White House.

[Just like with everything else, his lawyers push for something that has already been decided elsewhere. You can’t dis miss a case when the validity in presidential immunity is still in question. And those documents were supposed to be returned to the government in January 2021 but were not and much of it was left unsecured.]

Washington’s federal appeals court in its decision this month was unsparing in its repudiation of Trump’s novel claim that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity for actions that fall within their official job duties. But Trump’s lawyers argued that the appeals court’s decision was wrong, telling US District Judge Aileen Cannon she should not follow the court’s “poorly reasoned decision” in the classified documents case.
[Wow! It was a poorly reasoned decision. OK. So Trump should be off the hook. Not.]

Trump’s lawyers argued that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of special counsel Smith to investigate Trump was “unlawful” and grounds for dismissing the documents case. They also are attacking the law Trump is accused of violating as “unconstitutionally vague” as applied in his case.

[Might as well just say the case should be dismissed because the floors were not clean or they ran out of cappuccino at a nearby coffee (covfefe!) shop.]

The Supreme Court declined to revisit sanctions levied against two pro-Trump attorneys who filed frivolous lawsuits challenging the outcome of the 2020 election in Michigan. Sidney Powell and Lin Wood filed separate appeals asking the justices to review sanctions imposed by a US district court in 2021. The Supreme Court denied both appeals without offering any comment on the case.

Trump said that he supports women having access to in vitro fertilization in response to the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling and called on Alabama lawmakers to “act quickly to find an immediate solution” to keep the procedure available in the state.

[I wonder if Trump has enough clout to get Alabama to reverse or modify its position.]

Trump’s campaign has released an ad attacking rival Nikki Haley over her supposed stance on the state’s gasoline tax when she served as governor. But the Trump ad leaves out critical context about Haley’s position on the gas tax, omitting key comments to make her sound like the unequivocal tax-hiker she never was. In her speech, Haley said “Let’s increase the gas tax by 10 cents over the next three years” but the ad failed to include “when coupled with the 30% income tax cut, it still represents one of the largest tax cuts in South Carolina history.”

In a recent survey conducted by a panel of experts specializing in the American presidency, President Biden was ranked the 14th-best president, while his likely 2024 presidential opponent Trump found himself at the very bottom of the list. From 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, President Obama is ranked 7th [was 15th last year]. However, a noticeable partisan split emerged in the rankings for Obama and Biden, with Democrat respondents placing them at an average of sixth and 13th, while Republicans ranked them at 15th and 30th, respectively.

In 2021, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell offered $5 million to anyone who could disprove his claim that he had data showing voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Now, he must pay a 64-year-old from Nevada that award, a federal judge ruled. Lindell, a prominent election denier and staunch supporter of Trump, claimed to have data showing Chinese interference in the 2020 race.

Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert who voted for Trump twice, did just that, a federal judge in Minnesota determined Wednesday, upholding a previous ruling from a private arbitration panel. Zeidman is owed the $5 million payout plus interest, Judge John Tunheim wrote in his ruling.

Abraham Josephine Riesman, author of the 2023 unauthorized biography of WWE’s Vince McMahon, said a young Trump has been watching McMahon family wrestling since he was a child in the 1950s. Riesman says Trump took his “showmanship” from how the WEE has evolved into not just wrestling. McMahon and his wife are major donors to Trump’s campaign.

[McMahon has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct over the years. He remains under federal investigation, and he has not commented publicly on millions of dollars in hush-money payments he reportedly made to several women at WWE. McMahon, who is 78, resigned last month as executive chairman of TKO, pro wrestling’s parent company, after being sued by a former employee who says she was sexually abused and trafficked by McMahon to other men at WWE. I guess fitting. Trump hangs around with Jeffrey Epstein and McMahon.]

18% of Americans believe in the Taylor Swift election conspiracy theory – that is she was secretly involved with the Biden administration to get him re-elected. It jumps to 32% for Republican voters! In comparison 12% think the moon landing was faked and 10% believe the earth is flat.

[Seriously. Why is it that these whack job crazy conspiracy theories seem to comes from the right. It is fitting that some of them are liars (Trump, George Santos, Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, etc.)]

First trial scheduled for March

Aside from Donald Trump’s civil trial there is actually other news in Trumpland.

Trump’s hush-money trial will go ahead as scheduled with jury selection starting on March 25, Judge Juan Manuel Merchan announced, turning aside requests for a delay from Trump’s defence lawyers. The judge took advantage of a delay in a separate prosecution in Washington charging Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. That case has been effectively on hold pending the outcome of an appeal from Trump.

The decision means that a case centred on years-old accusations that Trump sought to bury stories about extramarital affairs that arose during his 2016 presidential campaign will be the first of the four criminal prosecutions against Trump to proceed to trial. Trump’s attorneys blasted the decision to keep the March date, complaining that Trump will have to stand trial in New York at the same time as he is attempting to sew up the Republican nomination. “It is completely election interference to say `you are going to sit in this courtroom in Manhattan,” said his lawyer.

Special counsel Jack Smith urged the US Supreme Court to let Trump’s 2020 election interference case proceed to trial without further delay. Prosecutors were responding to a Trump team request from earlier in the week asking for a continued pause in the case as the court considers whether to take up the question of whether the former president is immune from prosecution for official acts in the White House. Two lower courts have overwhelmingly rejected that position, prompting Trump to ask the high court to intervene.

The NATO leader warned that Trump was putting the safety of US troops and their allies at risk after Trump said Russia should be able to do “whatever the hell they want” to alliance members who don’t meet their defense spending targets. The alliance has “Article 5” which states that an act of war on one member is an act of war on them all. Since campaigning in 2015, Trump has constantly bemoaned about the lack of countries paying their share [2% of their GDP]. Some countries have increased that. He claims that he was the only president to actually get the “delinquent” countries to pay more.

Trump also claimed that he had a conversation with an un-named NATO leader where Trump claims that he was asked about NATO spending when this he mentioned the comment above regarding Russia invading.

[If you remember in the 2020 election campaign, he would says something like farmers were crying when they met him. In the next campaign rally, it is not farmers but some other group. There was never any proof he actually met any group.]

“NATO remains ready and able to defend all allies. Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”

[Trump, not being much of an economist [or anything for that matter], forgets that when some country are at war, they could affect the world’s economy. Russia threatened to cut off gas shipments to Europe as pipelines go through Russia. This caused prices to rise. Airlines had to change their routes around the Ukraine-Russian war to have their airliners avoid getting shot down. That added extra fuel, man hours, etc.]

Trump again is asking the US Supreme Court to extend the delay in his election interference trial, saying he is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss. Except, the status of his immunity hasn’t been decided. Already one court says he doesn’t have any.

“Without immunity from criminal prosecution, the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, repeating arguments that have so far failed in federal courts. The Supreme Court has previously held that presidents are immune from civil liability for official acts, and Trump’s lawyers have for months argued that that protection should be extended to criminal prosecution as well.

[That’s laughable. If you don’t do anything illegal, you don’t need immunity.]

If Trump were to defeat President Joe Biden, he could potentially try to use his position as head of the executive branch to order a new attorney general to dismiss the federal cases he faces or even seek a pardon for himself.

[But that would also look very suspicious. It would be something like a judge asking the district attorney not to charge him with some count from illegal activity.]

Trump used a rally in South Carolina to attack rival Nikki Haley in her home state — and to mock the absence of her husband, who is deployed overseas in the military. “Where’s her husband? Oh, he’s away. … What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone.” Michael Haley is deployed in Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard in support of the United States Africa Command.

[What is Melania’s excuse? Shopping? At her divorce lawyer’s office. To attack someone serving in the South Carolina Army National Guard while in South Carolina is not a good idea. But, his loyal base at the rally didn’t seem to care. Allegiance to Trump over their state. Just remember that Trump has previous attacked those in the military including the late Senator John McCain, a Vietnam wart hero. I wonder how those in the military and the veterans can side with him.]

The day before the Senate is set to begin voting on a $95.3 billion foreign aid package that would provide for Israel and Ukraine, Trump said the US should stop providing foreign aid unless it is structured as a loan. “We should never give money anymore without the hope of a payback, or without “strings” attached. the United States of America should be “stupid” no longer!” Trump posted. [Note: Post was originally was in all capitols.]

[Wonder how well that will fly with the Republican Party. Knowing Trump, he’d charge huge interest rates.]

Trump has claimed that with a win in November, within days of becoming president [or dictator] he would force Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to cave in and let Russia take over the country.

Trump insulted Haley by using his derisive nickname for her, “Birdbrain,” and lavished praise on South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, who endorsed him early. Trump claims he would have had McMaster as governor and Haley as lieutenant-governor in 2017 when he picked Haley for UN Ambassador.

[He has previously said that those who went against him after working for him did a bad job. As I said previously, if they did a bad job, why did they keep them in their position for so long? If you run as company, (for example) you fire employees who aren’t doing their job well.]

Haley, 52, has called throughout her campaign for mental competency tests for politicians, a way to contrast with 77-year-old Trump and 81-year-old Biden. “Why do we have to have someone in their 80s run for office? Why can’t they let go of their power? … They are grumpy old men. … American can do better than two 80-year-olds for president,” Haley said.

Trump said that his recent mixing up of names was intentional. “When I purposely interposed names, they said I didn’t know Pelosi from Nikki,” Trump said at a rally. He said calling Obama the current president was sarcasm, not a gaffe. “I’m a great speaker,” Trump said.

[And if you believe him, I got a piece of land to sell you on the moon. Complete with a lake and a mansion.]

Trump said that he wants his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and one of his top aides [Chris LaCivita] to take prominent roles at the Republican National Committee as his team attempts to exert control over the party. His preference is Michael Whatley, the chair of the North Carolina GOP, as the new chairman of the party to replace Ronna McDaniel, a longtime ally he has recently soured on.

Just before the Super Bowl, Trump attempted to pressure Taylor Swift, saying that she would be “disloyal” to him should she elect to endorse a Biden presidency. This after a poll said nearly a third of Republican voters think Swift is involved in a government conspiracy to keep Biden in office.

[Disloyal? What does that mean? Start a coup d’etat? You really don’t hear of any conspiracy theories by the Democrats.]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would prefer to see President Biden win a second term, describing him as more experienced than Trump.

Notable Fox News chief liar, Sean Hannity, claimed over the past year that President Biden and his son, Hunter, have taken $10 million bribery scheme to enrich themselves and sell out America. The tale, as it goes, claimed that an executive at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid for access to then-Vice President Biden to improperly wield his influence and help squash an investigation led by a Ukrainian prosecutor into the company. He said the allegations so many times of Fox News that Republican lawmakers/Neanderthals like James Comer and Jim Jordan believed him or were on the conspiracy theory.

Hannity himself had a FBI informant. Hannity indicated to his millions of nightly viewers that Biden had been “compromised,” using the informant claims to declare the president was “very credibly accused of public corruption on a scale this country has never seen before.” Except the informant, Alexander Smirnov, made the whole story up was arresting at an airport in Las Vegas. The special counsel charged Smirnov with lying to the FBI and falsifying records. Smirnov provided “false derogatory information” about Biden to the law enforcement agency. His “story to the FBI was a fabrication, an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings,” it said.

Trump to pay by the nose

Judge Arthur Engoron found Donald Trump liable for issuing false financial statements, falsifying business records, and conspiracy, all part of a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The judge has ordered Trump and his companies to pay nearly $355 million in a ruling in the New York civil fraud case. He is also barred from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in the state for three years, and he cannot apply for loans from any financial institution registered in New York for three years. Add possibly another $100 million in interest.

Meanwhile, his adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have been ordered to pay $4 million for their personal profits from the fraud and are barred from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for two years. A Trump lawyer has already said they’d appeal.

“A crooked New York judge working with the very corrupt attorney general of New York State, who ran on the basis of ‘I will get Trump’ before knowing me — before even knowing anything about me — just ruled that I have to pay a fine of $355 million based on absolutely nothing… No victims. No damages. Great financial statements, with full disclaimer clauses, only success.”

“This is a witch hunt where the judge ruled against me before he even saw the case,” Trump said, noting that Engoron “strongly stated that said Mar-a-Lago was worth $18 million- when it is worth anywhere from 50 to 100 times more than that.” If that place is worth up to $1.8 billion…
Trump also said Engoron has “already been overturned on this case four times — a record” which did not happen.

“I built a great company and now this whacked out clubhouse politician judge bars me for three years” and Engoron “is a political hack working in conjunction with a crooked attorney general in the greatest case of election interference anyone has ever seen in this country.” Everything is the greatest or fantastic.

“I answered the questions very directly and the financial statements speak for themselves — they are fantastic financial statements.” He didn’t answer according to the judge. Who do you believe?

“My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud,” New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov, testified. Trump’s financial statements, he said, “were not materially misstated.” I wonder how long Bartov will keep his job.

“He is just a clubhouse politician… This country is becoming worse than Russia ever was.”

“They are doing this because I am beating Biden in the polls by so much… They are trying to stop me, but they will not be successful.” He claimed that he was winning Biden by 20 points. Where?

“Great cash. Great buildings…” in New York City and then he claims citizens of New York City will leave the city because of this ruling. I’m not joking.

Trump also repeated about his usual enemies: Department of Justice, President Biden, the greatest hoax ever, … You know them.
For the major US news site, only Fox News [surprised?] didn’t have the story at the top of their web site.

There’s is never a quiet week

Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency to reverse the 2020 election results, a federal appeals court of three judges said. The ruling is a major blow to Trump’s key defense thus far in the federal election subversion case brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump had argued that the conduct Smith charged him over was part of his official duties as president and therefore shield him from criminal liability.

“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defences of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution,” the court wrote. “Here, former President Trump’s actions allegedly violated generally applicable criminal laws, meaning those acts were not properly within the scope of his lawful discretion,” they wrote, meaning that existing case law “provide him no structural immunity from the charges in the Indictment.”

Trump suggested that he thought there would likely be changes at the Republican National Committee, which is led by Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. Why is he doing this? Because he is spending more money to battle Nikki Haley when if he was the actual party nominee the money could be aimed at fighting President Biden. McDaniel has remained loyal to Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign, calling for Haley to drop out after her defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The RNC had just $8 million in the bank at the end of December, the lowest figure since it reported about $5 million in cash on hand in 2014. The committee was outraised by the Democratic National Committee, which raised about $40 million to its GOP counterpart’s $20 million during the fourth quarter of last year.

[It just feels like you can run for the party’s nomination but don’t expect the party to back you unless you somehow with the nomination. Which is unlikely. This is why the RNC declared Trump the nominee and then pulled the announcement. Very democratic.]

Back in November, Trump and his fellow Republicans stated that they would not accept any border bill without including support for Ukraine in the bill.

Guess what? Trump is against the bill saying the bill should just be about the border – nothing else. He and his buddies can’t make up his mind. As usual.

GOP Sen. James Lankford leads a group trying to push a new bill to curtail migrants coming into the US. Trump dislikes the bill and wants to scuttle it as he wants what there currently is used as an election issue. He has therefore took aim at Lankford including claiming that he never endorsed Lankford. He did.

[The bill is supposed to be the largest sweeping bill in decades, closing loopholes and making it more difficult for migrants to stay in the US. Of course, Trump doesn’t want this and has stated previously no bill is better than this bill. Of course he does.]

Quite a few MAGA supporters in the Senate and House didn’t even bother to read the bill. They just took Trump at his word. Lankford has said that when a few did read it, they actually liked the bill while previously said they’d reject the bill.

In the mean time, the House Republicans tried to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

[It’s hard to do your job when the opposition party is stopping, for example, a bill to help ease the border “crisis”.]

Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Trump’s motions for a mistrial in the defamation case brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll saying Trump’s arguments had no “merit” and are “entirely pointless.”

To show you how mixed up [I’m being nice here] the Republican Party is, the Nevada GOP will have both a primary and a caucus.

The Republicans are ignoring the outcome of Tuesday’s primary — one taking place without Trump on the ballot. Instead, the state GOP opted to award its delegates to the winner of party-run caucuses being held Thursday evening. The fractured process is the result of a 2021 state law that scrapped Nevada’s presidential caucuses in favor of government-run primaries.

The Nevada Republican Party — which is led by Trump loyalists — opted to hold caucuses this year anyway and award the state’s delegates to the Republican National Convention based on those results. It also warned candidates who participated in the primary that they would not be eligible for the caucuses or to receive any delegates.

Haley and some presidential contenders like Haley filed to run in the primary. Trump did not. So Trump is the only contender in the caucus and automatically wins.

[I am surprised, at this time, that there is no lawsuit or something filed by Haley’s campaign.]

After Haley’s loss in Nevada in the primary which had no other candidates, Trump said, “Watch, she’ll soon claim Victory!”

“We always knew Nevada was a scam,” Haley said in an interview. “Trump had it rigged from the very beginning. … We didn’t spend a day or a dollar there. We weren’t even worried about it.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson says “I am calling the shots” and not Trump. Ya. Sure. Anything you say.

Haley has requested to have the Secret Service with her after threats against her and her family.

[Raise you hand if you think the threats were coming from other right wing people. That many….]

As if they don’t get crazier, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner claims that the CIA stole the 2020 election in support of Biden, and he accused the FBI of covering it up. Warner said the federal agencies at the table “need to clean up” their “own houses” to “restore confidence in our elections.”

[Probably with nothing but (far) right wing people. West Virginia seems to be home to fringiest of fringe people around.]

Trump said he would consider imposing a tariff upward of 60% on all Chinese imports if he regains the presidency. His remarks come at a time of high economic and other tensions between the US and China. As president, Trump slapped tariffs of 25% on $50 billion of Chinese goods in June 2018. Beijing countered with its own tariffs, and the spiral continued until the two countries arrived at an agreement in 2020.

[This may push Americans to buy non-Chinese items but can your typical American afford to pay extra. If you buy 20 items (excluding food), how many of them are made in China? Trump has already said he would raise tariffs on Canadian wood but that would be an issue because of the free trade agreement he brought in. When he tried it under his reign, there were quite a few complaints by American businesses as (for example) Canadian wood is used to build homes in the US.]

Trump is further proposing 10% across the board. The Tax Foundation claims that Trump’s latest tariff proposals would act as a $300 billion tax on most of us plus costing jobs, lowering growth and depressing American wages. He may still add another10% across the board.

Some of those getting prison terms in their part of the Trump Insurrection are betting everything on Trump starting his second reign and they would be pardoned.