The Donald Trump Score Card

An article published in 2015 by Frank Cerabino who has been a resident of Palm Beach and knows that Trump is always waging a new war and using his tactics to get what he wants for himself. One is the leveraging tactic which Trump has used in various forms including leveraged buyouts for his casinos and lawsuits against Palm Beach for his mansion and golf resort.

As President, he's using the leverage tactic again. This time it includes tariffs directed at China, threats to pull out of NAFTA, ending DACA, and termination of aid to various countries and groups.

Compared to his private business practices, it's proving to be more difficult this time in that he has to deal with Congress, the state and federal court systems, and international groups such as the U.N.

His lack of ability and willingness to form coalitions forces him to resort to acting unilaterally and confrontationally, such as trying to use the military to enforce border security or using the 1962 Trade Expansion Act to impose tariffs without Congressional action.


Trump’s war with Palm Beach
For Palm Beachers, watching Trump claw and bluster his way through the Republican primary has a familiar ring.
By Frank Cerabino
9/5/15, 6:21 PM CET
Updated 9/5/15, 8:17 PM CET

https://www.politico.eu/article/trumps-war-with-palm-beach/

excerpt:

"The expansion never came, but Trump sued the airport again this year, this time asking for $100 million from county taxpayers for the sooty residue left by planes flying over Mar-a-Lago.

But if history is a guide, this may not be about the airport at all.

He may be just using it for leverage to get something else he wants, but at the moment, can’t have.

The thing with Trump is that he’s always at war, a man on a mission to get the next thing, whether it’s the biggest pole, the best social gathering of the season, or the idea that the rest of America should be calling him “Mr. President.”

And woe be to those who get in his way."

 

0/10. Occasionally amusing in it's madness, but leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Would not recommend Trump to a friend.

 

Here's that booming economy.

The Stock Market Is Having its Worst Second Quarter Since the Great Depression

This was before China slapped on tariffs this morning and the Dow Crashes 500 points.

 

His current war with Amazon is another example. He says its about Amazon's abuse of the U.S. Postal Service at the expense of the U.S. taxpayers. Of course that makes no sense.
He tweeted:"I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy."
"Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne by the American Taxpayer.". "Many billions of dollars. P.O. leaders don't have a clue (or do they?)!" Problem is, U.S. taxpayers don't subsidize the Postal Service. It operates as a government corporation supporting itself with postal fees. And package delivery is one area that's doing well for the struggling USPS. What is this really about? Trump hates Amazon owner Jeff Bezos because Bezos owns the Washington Post which Trump regards as an enemy. Likewise, Trump’s Department of Justice is threatening to scuttle AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner unless the merged companies dump CNN and Turner, the cable unit that houses CNN. As is well known, Trump regards CNN as another enemy. Like Nixon, Trump is abusing the powers of his office to go after political enemies and try to suppress free speech.

 

That white building thing where they house the president... We really should name that sometime----you know, its been like 200 years...

 

Trump is projecting the bullying tactics he used on Palm Beach onto the national and international world.

Trump has shown that he doesn't understand, among other things, Amazon, the USPS, DACA, the workings of Congress, the appropriations of federal money, the potential consequences of tariffs, the recent history of China's currency, the U.S. trade deficit, and the national debt.

He was also unaware that Putin had already annexed Crimea and said that Putin wouldn't go in there. He tried to cover that blunder later by saying that he meant Putin wouldn't go in there AGAIN.

A person with such a lack of fundamental world knowledge will have a difficult time negotiating effectively outside of Palm Beach.

 

And he likes to eat at McDonald's.

 

It's hypocritical that someone like Trump is blasting Amazon for supposedly having a conflict of interest and not paying enough taxes.

This administration used Kellyanne Conway to blatantly promote Ivanka Trump's clothing business on live national TV from the James Brady press briefing room of the White House, the room Trump has yet to use for its intended purpose of conducting formal Presidential press conferences.

Trump has said that his avoidance of paying taxes means that he is smart.


Donald Trump's tweets rattle markets but find silence from its top target, Amazon
Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY
Published 1:21 p.m. ET April 4, 2018

Donald Trump's tweets rattle markets but find silence from its top target, Amazon

excerpt:

"Companies expect government officials who have an issue with their corporate practices to pursue action through more formal channels such as an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, rather than off-the-cuff tweets, said Erin Browne, head of asset allocation at UBS Asset Management.

"The level of uncertainly about the outcome here and what Trump is trying to achieve is what concerns investors," Browne said.

The country's largest business group, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also has signaled its displeasure.

“It’s inappropriate for government officials to use their position to attack an American company," Neil Bradley, the chamber's executive vice president and chief policy officer, said in statement this week. He did not mention Trump by name.

"The U.S. economy is the world’s most powerful because it embraces the free enterprise system and the rule of law, whereby policy matters are handled through recognized policy making processes," Bradley said. "The record is clear: deviating from those processes undermines economic growth and job creation.”"

 

The latest war that Trump has started with Amazon embodies the attributes of Trump that make him undesirable as a President.


His impulsive, confrontational tweets, often based on something he heard on Fox & Friends, that rattle the markets.

Vague accusations and lack of conciseness of his grievance.

No clear course of action that he thinks should be taken as a remedy.

His lack of use of appropriate, established venues to seek recourse.

His lack of understanding of the details involving his complaint (In the case of Amazon, not understanding how the USPS works)

Afterthought tweets that try to assure the markets that the damage he did is not as bad as it looks.

His limited attention span and loss of interest within a few weeks which is followed by him starting up another war with another person or group.

 

Durbin equates U.S. farmers to DACA recipients.


Farm state lawmakers, including Republicans, blame Trump for new China tariffs
By ALI ROGIN
Apr 4, 2018, 3:08 PM ET

excerpts:

"Senators from major soybean-producing states in the Midwest, including Republicans, are steaming over China’s threat to impose tariffs on U.S. soy exports, blaming President Donald Trump's aggressive actions against China for the trade retaliation that could hit farmers and ranchers particularly hard.

Of the top 10 soybean-producing and exporting states, eight voted for Trump and only two for Clinton.

“Illinois' farmers now join DACA recipients as the latest victims of President Trump’s temper,” Durbin said. “America cannot move forward in a blizzard of tweets and wild threats from this President.”"

 

Almost what you'd expect from a used car salesman. Oh well, at least he's not the Clintons!

 

The Clintons were nothing if not predictable. For the most part, they could, for better or for worse, be depended on to be guided by rational self-interest, with the exception of Bill's peccadilloes. With Hillary, it would have been pretty much business as usual. Trump is a wild man. Lord knows where we'll end up.

 

I'll post the video because fuck Photobucket. He's standing beside the White Rabbit while The President of the United States can't remember the name of the building he resides in.

I woke up Easter, saw this, and assumed I had taken LSD.

 

Even the rabbit seems to be in disbelief.

 

Trump’s easy campaign promises run into the difficulties of reality
By Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker
April 4 at 7:02 PM

Trump’s easy campaign promises run into the difficulties of reality

excerpts:

"An emboldened President Trump is discovering that the policies he once described as easy fixes for the nation are a lot more complicated in reality — creating backlash among allies, frustrating supporters and threatening the pocketbooks of many farming communities that helped get him elected.

The challenge for Trump of trying to deliver on rosy promises is not a new one. Until winning the White House, Trump’s greatest successes have come in arenas such as marketing, entertainment and the presidential campaign, where image is the primary product and big boasts can make the sale. Billy Bush, the former “Access Hollywood” host, who spent years interviewing Trump about his reality show, “The Apprentice,” recently recalled confronting Trump over his serial misrepresentations of that show’s ratings.

“He said, ‘Billy, look, you just tell them and they believe it. That’s it,’ ” Bush recalled on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

The unilateral power of bold assertion, regardless of facts or nuance, has been a central theme of Trump’s presidency. While politicians typically overpromise during the campaign, Trump distinguished himself with the scale and scope of his vows. “I will give you everything,” he said at a campaign event in North Dakota in May 2016. “I’m the only one.”"

 

An impulsive, ill-tempered, impatient, inexperienced, thin-skinned, retaliatory, frustrated narcissist running the country without aides by the seat of his pants full-speed on the slippery, winding road of domestic and international terrain. What could go right?

 

This is an embarrassment to the country. The bunny's expression says it all!

 

His approval rating is pretty high

 

Really? In what alternative universe. See The Magnificent Border Wall, post #173.