does anyone else think that the President-elect might just be overplaying his hand at this point? I mean, he's already made (even more of) an enemy of the media, scared the crap out of many Americans with his extreme administrative picks, and insists on living like a king on the taxpayer's dime going forward...and he's still two months from inauguration. Sure the trump-droolers love it, but he's *got* to be putting off others in large numbers at this point, and at this rate he's sure to accelerate the process. When, if ever, will this come back to bite him? I wonder if it might not be right around the time he rides on Air Force One for the first time. After all, he won a VERY close race (well, you know...one he actually lost bigly, truth be told, but he did win on a technicality) , one in which his opponent totally sucked (lucky for him!). Such a 'victory' does NOT translate to the American people suddenly fawning over him, particularly not with this gestapo routine he's come up with. It's almost as if he's trying to scare the people into submission, but as far as I know he still doesn't really have all that much power, and the voice of the people can still carry a lot of weight. Thoughts?
Trump has basically gotten away with every sketchy (at their mildest), lousy and morally bankrupt (worse) and probably illegal (at their worst) thing he's ever done. His entire life. And there are a boatload of them. At worst (for him), he's had to pay money to make problems go away (as he just did with Trump University) and consider it a cost of doing business. Most things he's simply gotten away with. I think he assumes he can continue to do so. He's pretty clearly not intending to divest himself of his business interests, and the potential for corruption there is enormous. He may even assume he can get away with even more bigly things because now he'll have the power of the government at his disposal. History tells us, though, that hubris tends to lead to a fall, and Presidents who thought they were immune to scrutiny find out they're not. It's up to the press, the Congress, and US to hold him accountable and stand up to his inevitable bullying.
Don't all Presidents pretty much "live like a king on the taxpayer's dime"? When you have a full-time security detail and have to be monitored at all times, I don't think there's much of an option to keep a low profile and act as a commoner Not that there aren't a boatload of other reasons to be concerned about Trump, but that one doesn't strike me as being any different from any previous President
Most Presidents do not require the Secret Service have to secure a high traffic building in the middle of Manhattan because 2/3rds of the First Family isn't living at the White House for at least 5 months following the election. Nor do most President plan to be in DC 5 days a week and NYC on the weekends. Apparently, Bess Truman chose to stay in Missouri most of the time, but different era. The Bushes spent a lot of time either in their compounds in Kennebunkport or Texas or Reagan at his ranch in CA, but they were either their for weeks at a time, and they could dial security back when they weren't there. Where the Trump plan's frequency of movement, seems to require both sites are secure 24/7 whether they are there or not. And there is the little add on that Trump probably hasn't paid a dime in federal income tax in how many years? Every other President, you could at least say, "one way or another they paid for it."
I'm just going to flat-out say this, and I know it won't go over well with some here, but here goes anyway: Y'all really need to be following David Frum on Twitter. He's got Trump's number, 100%. Short version: Trump's just going to keep throwing out distractions for the media to chase while he uses his new position to become the richest guy on the planet. So far it's working swell. The good news, such as it is, is that it probably means he isn't serious about the Alt-Right thing. They're just one of the distractions. I'm about to start pestering the hell out of all my congresscritters, both parties, about our new President-elect. BY PHONE. Go ye and do likewise.
Yeah, we're going to see who really is interested in proper governance and proper journalism the next four years. The People, I have no faith in. They will grow weary of all the "scandals" and therefore decide that none of them are. The lawyers, well I guess we'll have to see what happens to the Justice Dept. The next G7 Summit is in May. First for Trump and PM May. That should be interesting. So far the Brits and the Japanese have turned into an extremely leaky sieve in regards to our President-Elect. He may think he can get an upper hand on the US media, but he has no way to exert any control over what the rest of the world says.
I admit that I haven't been following the whole saga super close, but which 2/3 are these? If it's some of the assortment of adult kids, how much Secret Service supervision do they really need? I believe that each of Obama's kids gets one agent to accompany them when they're at school or visiting friends. If Trump's family decides that they don't need to be primarily in DC, then I have to wonder how much obligation the Secret Service has to protect them. If they don't want to be a part of the game, let them go I have to assume that will change once he starts getting into it and "discovers" that being president is a 7-day a week job. I suspect he's also in for a rude awakening when he gets a proper rundown on how complicated it is to travel, and that it really can't just be done on a whim It's cute that he thinks he'll be able to maintain his lifestyle and just do this President thing on the side. Just like how it's cute that he thinks bopping off to NYC every weekend reinforces the idea that he understands that plight of us lowly commoners
Already on it. But we have a Democrat Congressman and Senatewoman so it consists mostly of, "Stand your ground, don't back down and block them the way they planned to block Hillary."
Immediate family, Melania and Barron are staying in NYC at least until Barron finishes his term. Donald plans to commute.
Well, we all saw how well that worked for him to become the most powerful man in the world. It only follows that he would deploy the same methods to become the richest man in the world as well. And his followers, the same ones who want to throw Hillary in jail for allegedly encouraging people to make charitable contributions in order to get access to the Secretary of State, won't think twice about Trump using his position to enrich himself, his family and his friends (assuming he has any). They will say, "he was already rich so....." Meanwhile, some young, aspiring dictator is watching and taking notes.
Trump tells the New York Times presidents ‘can’t have a conflict of interest’ There you go.....nothing to worry about then
We're bound to see the ultimate test on whether Republicans will put country over party. There's no way there won't be some pretty clear conflict of interest scandals. And it will soon be clear, if it already isn't, that his platform (such as it was) was all bull@#^%. Will there be enough Republicans who will have the conscience to impeach him? I'm guessing "no". Their track record isn't very good here. But maybe Trump is such a disaster that some will have a hint of ethical behavior.
Or maybe Trump will be such a disaster as president that in 2018 all the energy and anger will be on the left (as in 2006). and the Democrats will re-take control of the house. And then they'll impeach his ass. I find that more likely than the current Republican crop finding a conscience.
Perhaps I didn't phrase it well. Yes, I *was* referring to the multiple secret service details (added expense), the demand that he be allowed to reside wherever he pleases among multiple localities (added expense), and all the travel expenses that go with that (and Obama can't go to Hawaii for a week without getting flak for it) - but more to the point, I really meant what I said. He plans to live (and act) like a king. As in not working very much, and just basking in the glory of it all, while minions do his bidding.
Well, that assumes he really cares about doing a good job though, right? If not, he can just refer all matters to the V.P. office and/or Priebus, and tell the lot to get lost. Of course there will be *some* matters he can't ignore, but look at Bush and Katrina. Then imagine a president about 9/10ths less engaged. I read in more than one place that the point of the NYC thing is quite the opposite. That he's doing this precisely to cause maximum vexation to the city by lording his new status over those who never liked him much to begin with.
Well MY magic 8 ball predicts that Trump will be impeached by the Republicans, if (and only if) it turns out he has no interest in furthering (or at least, not impeding) their agenda. Remember ... if they impeach him, they get Pence. I can't help but think that most of them would consider that a big plus. I don't think that's going to turn out to be the case. Even since the election he's been tweeting condolences re: tragedies that weren't even that much in the news. Either he, or someone on his team, seems to believe that it's a good gimmick to at least play at being empathetic - and they're right. Of course with Scott Baio in charge of FEMA, not much of substance will get done. But what do the rubes care about substance?
My magic 8 ball predicts that, certainly at first, their agendas will dovetail enough for Congressional Republicans to be happy enough. Arguably, the #1 domestic priority for both Ryan and Trump is massive tax cuts for the wealthy. So that will almost certainly go through. And the deficit will go through the roof, with very little improvement for the economy as a whole (that hasn't already been set in place by Obama, under whom we're finally seeing some improvement for the middle class). We've seen this movie before. I also think that Trump has very little interest in the hard work associated with governing, or the patience to do things like really think through a budget. Ryan will simply hand him one, and perhaps after a little haggling for show (and the haggling could indeed be part of the "show"), he'll sign it. Which leads to the question: what part of the GOP Congress's agenda would Trump NOT have an interest in advancing? Maybe repealing Obamacare, which some ideologues really do seem to want to do, but which Trump seems to understand (at least as of last week) has some good provisions and that yanking it away would hurt real people. THAT could be a struggle, potentially, but I don't see them impeaching Trump for it. I agree that many of them would be happier with the less mercurial and more predictable Pence as President. But I also think most of them would be loathe to impeach a guy from their own party, considering what an embarrassment to the party that would be. He'd have to do something that would be an absolute no-brainer for impeachment. Which is very possible, of course! But if it's even remotely borderline, I just don't see GOP congresscritters having the stones to do it. I think we'll have to wait until (hope hope hope hope hope hope) the Democrats re-take the House.
I disagree with the framing of the question, in that you're implying that "Trump's interest" has anything to do with anything, other than what's going on in Trump's head at any given moment. In other words, this could go in any direction. Impossible to predict, says me, but I think it's very possible that the relationship could deteriorate really fast. Or not.
