Donald Trump

[AndrewJB]

Given more time, the naked idiocy of claiming Trump is a good president will also extend to those defending our PM.

[fatboy47]

I’d try the Reichstag

worth the entrance money on its own!!

[BurningBeard]

I just like the truth and get totally sick of people who don’t live in the US believing every word written by the corrupt press. Some of what you say is correct but a lot is pure bs. Sadly America is a very divided country and China will surely use that up its advantage.

This coming from someone who supports a president who's turned making false, misleading and exaggerated statements (a matter of public record) into a competition sport. Trump undoubtedly fosters and contributes to the division you speak of. He's dangerous.

If you'd said Trump had imposed travel restrictions on non US citizens over a number of weeks this would be demonstrably true. Trump has 'banned flights' is a demonstrably false statement, but as a soundbite it may appear to some people as being stronger when in reality it's just mugging people off.

BTW, I'm acutely aware that I'm 'not getting in' having had a vacation to Southern California cancelled last month and being resigned to another one to the Pacific Northwest in August being cancelled also.

[Erasmus]

I would think that even Trump's supporters know what a worthless, incompetent individual he really is, but they will continue to support him because he is a nationalist, who is anti-abortion, who wants to stop immigration, and has shown signs of racist tendencies in his failure to condemn neo-Nazis. He also claims to be a Christian, though I don't see many Christlike qualities in the man. There is a good section of US society that will vote for anyone who takes that line, however low he sinks at a personal level.

And when I read Uwe's rather bizarre post, it did occur to me that if the polls continue to move in Biden's favour, I wouldn't put it past Trump to declare a state of emergency and cancel this year's election. It would go against everything the US has stood for with regard to democracy, but just when you think Trump can't get any more awful, he gets more awful.

[BurningBeard]

I would think that even Trump's supporters know what a worthless, incompetent individual he really is, but they will continue to support him because he is a nationalist, who is anti-abortion, who wants to stop immigration, and has shown signs of racist tendencies in his failure to condemn neo-Nazis. He also claims to be a Christian, though I don't see many Christlike qualities in the man. There is a good section of US society that will vote for anyone who takes that line, however low he sinks at a personal level.

And when I read Uwe's rather bizarre post, it did occur to me that if the polls continue to move in Biden's favour, I wouldn't put it past Trump to declare a state of emergency and cancel this year's election. It would go against everything the US has stood for with regard to democracy, but just when you think Trump can't get any more awful, he gets more awful.

If this does come to pass, let's see if they exercise their 2nd Amendment rights. It's what it's there for after all.

[Stayingup]

I would think that even Trump's supporters know what a worthless, incompetent individual he really is, but they will continue to support him because he is a nationalist, who is anti-abortion, who wants to stop immigration, and has shown signs of racist tendencies in his failure to condemn neo-Nazis. He also claims to be a Christian, though I don't see many Christlike qualities in the man. There is a good section of US society that will vote for anyone who takes that line, however low he sinks at a personal level.

And when I read Uwe's rather bizarre post, it did occur to me that if the polls continue to move in Biden's favour, I wouldn't put it past Trump to declare a state of emergency and cancel this year's election. It would go against everything the US has stood for with regard to democracy, but just when you think Trump can't get any more awful, he gets more awful.

Actually as an Asian associate of mine said to me yesterday Trump will get votes because he puts America first and has seen right through rogue regimes like China, Russia and Iran.

[Swizzlestick]

Actually as an Asian associate of mine said to me yesterday Trump will get votes because he puts America first and has seen right through rogue regimes like China, Russia and Iran.

Fair play if you typed ‘Russia’ with a straight face.

[Erasmus]

But not rogue regimes like Israel, Saudi Arabia or North Korea. It might be said that they saw right through him.

[Bordeauxclaret]

I would think that even Trump's supporters know what a worthless, incompetent individual he really is, but they will continue to support him because he is a nationalist, who is anti-abortion, who wants to stop immigration, and has shown signs of racist tendencies in his failure to condemn neo-Nazis. He also claims to be a Christian, though I don't see many Christlike qualities in the man. There is a good section of US society that will vote for anyone who takes that line, however low he sinks at a personal level.

And when I read Uwe's rather bizarre post, it did occur to me that if the polls continue to move in Biden's favour, I wouldn't put it past Trump to declare a state of emergency and cancel this year's election. It would go against everything the US has stood for with regard to democracy, but just when you think Trump can't get any more awful, he gets more awful.

The more worrying thing if he starts slipping behind is that he decides to start playing with some of America’s toys and starts a war.

[FCBurnley]

Very damning report on the China cover up released today. It is a leaked intel doc from the 5 eyes intel agency. The 5 countries involved in 5 eyes are US. UK. Canada Australia and NZ. Suggest you all read it very carefully. You might find coverage difficult to find as main stream don’t print what they don’t want you to read. Maybe the whole report is completely false who knows. The most comprehensive article is on Daily Telegraph Australia. The UTC Communist party will of course ignore it

[Zlatan]

Very damning report on the China cover up released today. It is a leaked intel doc from the 5 eyes intel agency. The 5 countries involved in 5 eyes are US. UK. Canada Australia and NZ. Suggest you all read it very carefully. You might find coverage difficult to find as main stream don’t print what they don’t want you to read. Maybe the whole report is completely false who knows. The most comprehensive article is on Daily Telegraph Australia. The UTC Communist party will of course ignore it

Oh do be a good chap and post a link, there’s a good fellow

[FCBurnley]

Dailytelegraph.com.au. Try that Mr lazy

[FactualFrank]

Oh do be a good chap and post a link, there’s a good fellow

Just Google: Daily Telegraph Australia China cover up

[Zlatan]

Just Google: Daily Telegraph Australia China cover up

I did, but when someone (FCBumley) makes a statement it’s usually prudent to link to the info

[grapidianclaret]

I would think that even Trump's supporters know what a worthless, incompetent individual he really is, but they will continue to support him because he is a nationalist, who is anti-abortion, who wants to stop immigration, and has shown signs of racist tendencies in his failure to condemn neo-Nazis. He also claims to be a Christian, though I don't see many Christlike qualities in the man. There is a good section of US society that will vote for anyone who takes that line, however low he sinks at a personal level.

And when I read Uwe's rather bizarre post, it did occur to me that if the polls continue to move in Biden's favour, I wouldn't put it past Trump to declare a state of emergency and cancel this year's election. It would go against everything the US has stood for with regard to democracy, but just when you think Trump can't get any more awful, he gets more awful.

Ironically,should Trump successfully postpone the election,the speaker of the house becomes president.
A war is much more likely. But that would depend on the Republicans sinking to a new low.
Oh dear.

[Erasmus]

I didn't realise that, Grapidian. Thanks for the information. In that case, Trump probably won't suspend the election to let Nancy Pelosi take charge; it would be a pleasant irony though if it were to happen.

[Devils_Advocate]

Dailytelegraph.com.au. Try that Mr lazy

Do us a favour and if you've found a link to the 15 page dossier please stick it on here as Im genuinely interested to see what it says

Ive looked myself on google and Twitter and all I can make out is one Journalist claiming they have access to this report and what it supposedly contains and every other story is just based on that.

The claim sounds pretty confident so there must be something there but its hard to judge at the moment

[FCBurnley]

I didn't realise that, Grapidian. Thanks for the information. In that case, Trump probably won't suspend the election to let Nancy Pelosi take charge; it would be a pleasant irony though if it were to happen.

Sadly for you guys Grapidian is incorrect. Pelosi would only become President should Trump and Pence both die. If the election is postponed then the congress will choose the next President. The process is very complicated. Do your research. Oh and Trump cannot simply cancel the election.

[grapidianclaret]

Sadly for you guys Grapidian is incorrect. Pelosi would only become President should Trump and Pence both die. If the election is postponed then the congress will choose the next President. The process is very complicated. Do your research. Oh and Trump cannot simply cancel the election.

President and vice poodle terms end on the 20th January. No matter what. If an election is not held then speaker of the house becomes president.
He or she is president until an election can be held.
I never said Pelosi.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
Whoever that may be after the 3rd of January as that is the date for the new Congress to convene.

I accept your apology on advance F.C. if you are still conversing with me at this point.
Not everything is political mate

[FCBurnley]

From what I read when I researched this morning. It said that in the event of an election being cancelled then Congress will choose the next President. At no point did it say that the Speaker would become President. You are correct that Trumps term ends on 20 January. By the way unless I missed something Pelosi is sadly still the speaker and also sadly everything in this country is political. So as usual we will agree to disagree

[Damo]

If you google the terms quoted, it gives you pretty much word for word what the dossier says.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but to dismiss it because it's not a pdf file is a bit weird.
Not exactly outlandish is it?
In fact, change "china" to "the trump administration" and some of you would have a completely different view on its legitimacy

[IanMcL]

From what I read when I researched this morning. It said that in the event of an election being cancelled then Congress will choose the next President. At no point did it say that the Speaker would become President. You are correct that Trumps term ends on 20 January. By the way unless I missed something Pelosi is sadly still the speaker and also sadly everything in this country is political. So as usual we will agree to disagree

The speaker would just be interim, to oversee the internal appointment of a president. There would be no delay.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Is there actually anyone who thinks China are squeaky clean on this one?

[Devils_Advocate]

If you google the terms quoted, it gives you pretty much word for word what the dossier says.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but to dismiss it because it's not a pdf file is a bit weird.
Not exactly outlandish is it?
In fact, change "china" to "the trump administration" and some of you would have a completely different view on its legitimacy

I looked all over the internet and Twitter for any reputable people / news sources picking this up and running with it either for or against.

There is nothing but a story from an Australian paper regarded as the most untrustworthy and owned by News Corps who have form around putting out stuff like this.

Everything else is just right wing propagandist's who's job it is to spread misinformation to people like FCBurnley who will believe and spread anything that suits their view

From the odd expert who has bothered to comment on this it looks to me that the majority of the claims they are making about China is already in the public domain and has been since Feb. Also there is still nothing to show the virus was man made and the view of the western worlds intelligence is that it was not man made

Its strange how the news story paraphrases the whole report when it would be just as easy to share the report or sections of it and provide direct quotes from the report. Again this practice feels really dodgy in that the report (if it exists at all) is just a summary of intel that is already out there and has and is being acted on

Some of the intel out there already is very damning to China and they have questions to answer but lets stay away from the David Icke style conspiracy theories and lets not create a dangerous new cold war era because that is not helpful

I'll continue to keep my eye on this and keep an open mind as I in no way trust China about this but until then I'll treat it for what it is.

To put it in perspective this story would be like The Morning Star claiming they had seen a dossier that Johnson and Cummings were happy for the poor to die to protect the economy but not actually sharing anything and then a load of left wing accounts just sharing it across SM with no evidence but for someones claims. Just have a think how much credence you would give that

I know you have Twitter and are willing to look at stuff and draw honest conclusion so although theres not much out there cos nobody serious is giving it the time of day Ive found a few things that directly or indirectly challenge the story

About the claims being nothing new

https://twitter.com/emilyrauhala/status ... 9452808192

https://twitter.com/WilliamYang120/stat ... 2342942726

https://twitter.com/Justin_Ling/status/ ... 1826200576

About the likelihood of it being man made

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-cor ... ?r=US&IR=T

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s- ... lab-theory

The default position should not be that anyone can say and claim anything and it should be believed until it is proved otherwise. The onus needs to be on those making the claims to prove its truth and validity.

[TheFamilyCat]

Is there actually anyone who thinks China are squeaky clean on this one?

Probably not but "not being squeaky clean" ranges from germ warfare to lying about their death rates and everywhere in between.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Probably not but "not being squeaky clean" ranges from germ warfare to lying about their death rates and everywhere in between.

I’d completely agree.
Seems to be a lot of whataboutery from Donnies fans.
Don’t look at the mess I’m making, look over there.

[2 Bee Holed]

I don't get all this anti-Trump stuff.

He is a perfectly sane, rational, sensible and responsible person.
He also takes full responsibility for his own actions and he is never
afraid to admit when he has made a mistake. If he has made an error
he then quickly apologises.

He will walk the next election, we and the Americans had better get used to it.

Go on Donald, make America great again!

[keith1879]

Is there actually anyone who thinks China are squeaky clean on this one?

Not me....but I guess in many situations where something new emerges the default position is to not quite believe it. In most areas of human endeavour everything is viewed through the lens of what is already known and understood. It looks highly probable that the Chinese government did delay international understanding of this thing, but if something like this turned up in a fish market in Grimsby there would still be a delay in understanding and publicising it. Hopefully less of a delay (and hopefully it won't happen anyway).

[TheFamilyCat]

Not me....but I guess in many situations where something new emerges the default position is to not quite believe it. In most areas of human endeavour everything is viewed through the lens of what is already known and understood. It looks highly probable that the Chinese government did delay international understanding of this thing, but if something like this turned up in a fish market in Grimsby there would still be a delay in understanding and publicising it. Hopefully less of a delay (and hopefully it won't happen anyway).

Codvid-19?

[keith1879]

Codvid-19?

That should be disallowed due to the seriousness of the situation.......but I confess that I nearly spat out my coffee.

[FCBurnley]

I looked all over the internet and Twitter for any reputable people / news sources picking this up and running with it either for or against.

There is nothing but a story from an Australian paper regarded as the most untrustworthy and owned by News Corps who have form around putting out stuff like this.

Everything else is just right wing propagandist's who's job it is to spread misinformation to people like FCBurnley who will believe and spread anything that suits their view

From the odd expert who has bothered to comment on this it looks to me that the majority of the claims they are making about China is already in the public domain and has been since Feb. Also there is still nothing to show the virus was man made and the view of the western worlds intelligence is that it was not man made

Its strange how the news story paraphrases the whole report when it would be just as easy to share the report or sections of it and provide direct quotes from the report. Again this practice feels really dodgy in that the report (if it exists at all) is just a summary of intel that is already out there and has and is being acted on

Some of the intel out there already is very damning to China and they have questions to answer but lets stay away from the David Icke style conspiracy theories and lets not create a dangerous new cold war era because that is not helpful

I'll continue to keep my eye on this and keep an open mind as I in no way trust China about this but until then I'll treat it for what it is.

To put it in perspective this story would be like The Morning Star claiming they had seen a dossier that Johnson and Cummings were happy for the poor to die to protect the economy but not actually sharing anything and then a load of left wing accounts just sharing it across SM with no evidence but for someones claims. Just have a think how much credence you would give that

I know you have Twitter and are willing to look at stuff and draw honest conclusion so although theres not much out there cos nobody serious is giving it the time of day Ive found a few things that directly or indirectly challenge the story

About the claims being nothing new

https://twitter.com/emilyrauhala/status ... 9452808192

https://twitter.com/WilliamYang120/stat ... 2342942726

https://twitter.com/Justin_Ling/status/ ... 1826200576

About the likelihood of it being man made

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-cor ... ?r=US&IR=T

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s- ... lab-theory

The default position should not be that anyone can say and claim anything and it should be believed until it is proved otherwise. The onus needs to be on those making the claims to prove its truth and validity.

All very interesting but the question I would ask is why have the mainstream media have totally ignored a damning 15 page report compiled by the intelligence agencies of UK Canada NZ Australia and USA. ? It is not like it has been written by a discredited British spy lol

[Devils_Advocate]

All very interesting but the question I would ask is why have the mainstream media have totally ignored a damning 15 page report compiled by the intelligence agencies of UK Canada NZ Australia and USA. ? It is not like it has been written by a discredited British spy lol

Yes thats what I asked myself and after extensive searching and reading at the moment it looks that report doesn't exist or is nothing like what the news stories are claiming it to be

As i've said it sounds like they are trying to repackage old news already in the public domain and in the process they are trying to sensationalise it like it is something new and shocking whist adding some unproven claims.

Im very open to new info and intel in this area but I cant see any from what is being shared. If you have anything more substantial than the unsupported news story please share it on here

If this was in anyway credible it would be a major story for the mainstream and reputable left, right and centre press but nobody wants to go near it cos there are more important real issues to talk about

If the info changes my mind will change with it but I very much doubt your opinion will change regardless of what is or is not proven.

[FCBurnley]

I find it hard to believe that any media organization would make up a report and claim it to be from National intel agencies. That would be unimaginable and totally corrupt. But hey if it’s ok for the Obama admin and the FBI to do then I suppose it’s ok for the Aussie press

[Devils_Advocate]

So you believe a US president and the FBI could do something like this but not a right wing Murdoch newspaper.

Your criteria for believing something is 'does it fit my beliefs' rather than 'is it true' and thats a big problem with a lot of political discussion these days.

Im sure a lot of the intel in this report is real but if the report is just repackaging old intel that is already known and has been released then the report as it is being presented in this news story is rubbish.

Also one of the big claims about it being made in a lab is being categorically denied by western intelligence so someones lying and I know who I trust and believe at this stage

[FCBurnley]

Let’s see what The Durham Report concludes. As for the Intel report then everybody has their opinion. Ours are polar opposites so again we will need to agree to disagree.

[Pstotto]

I saw a bumper sticker:

'Smell gas? Call Trump'

[Devils_Advocate]

Australian intelligence seems to back up my view that the 'dossier' is just a research report based entirely on open source material and that there is absolutely no evidence that the virus was created in a Chinese lab

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal ... 54pk3.html

[FCBurnley]

Not seeing any claims of it being CREATED in the lab but it certainly appears that it escaped from the lab. Still no satisfactory explanation why the Chinese stopped all domestic flights but allowed International flights to continue

[Quicknick]

Some TDS posts on here.

[IanMcL]

Trump will either walk the election or be charged with genocide, following his latest actions.

[tiger76]

It's all about reelection for Donald,no matter how much it damages the American people.It's a gamble but it could pay off,we'll find out how much the famed “It's the economy, stupid.”catchphrase matters or not.

Analysis: Trump's political calculus is clear

Anthony Zurcher

BBC North America reporter

Is a task force with different people and a different focus still the same task force?

This sounds like a philosophical question, but it is one that has very real implications for the direction of US coronavirus policy.

On Tuesday, Vice-President Mike Pence confirmed the White House was considering winding down its coronavirus task force, perhaps as early as the end of May, shifting public health responsibilities to subsidiary agencies.

Donald Trump walked that back a bit on Wednesday morning with his tweet that the current task force would continue "indefinitely" - but the bottom line is the same.

The group's members may change, and its priorities will shift.

However the president wants to dress it up, it is clear that even while the virus continues to spread throughout the nation, the White House urgently wants to prioritise addressing the economic fallout of the pandemic.

The state of the economy, after all, frequently determines the fate of a president seeking re-election.

And if Trump cannot pull the nation out of its fiscal nosedive soon, his November general election outlook appears grim.

The public health wisdom of the White House's move may be debatable, but the political calculus is clear.

[Uwe Noble]

It's all about reelection for Donald,no matter how much it damages the American people.It's a gamble but it could pay off,we'll find out how much the famed “It's the economy, stupid.”catchphrase matters or not.

Analysis: Trump's political calculus is clear

Anthony Zurcher

BBC North America reporter

Is a task force with different people and a different focus still the same task force?

This sounds like a philosophical question, but it is one that has very real implications for the direction of US coronavirus policy.

On Tuesday, Vice-President Mike Pence confirmed the White House was considering winding down its coronavirus task force, perhaps as early as the end of May, shifting public health responsibilities to subsidiary agencies.

Donald Trump walked that back a bit on Wednesday morning with his tweet that the current task force would continue "indefinitely" - but the bottom line is the same.

The group's members may change, and its priorities will shift.

However the president wants to dress it up, it is clear that even while the virus continues to spread throughout the nation, the White House urgently wants to prioritise addressing the economic fallout of the pandemic.

The state of the economy, after all, frequently determines the fate of a president seeking re-election.

And if Trump cannot pull the nation out of its fiscal nosedive soon, his November general election outlook appears grim.

The public health wisdom of the White House's move may be debatable, but the political calculus is clear.

What about the 'economic health wisdom" of this decision? Where does that fit in?

[Uwe Noble]

Some TDS posts on here.

Plenty, mate. Trump says "black", they'll reply "white". Logical argument don't really penetrate their delusions.

[Uwe Noble]

Australian intelligence seems to back up my view that the 'dossier' is just a research report based entirely on open source material and that there is absolutely no evidence that the virus was created in a Chinese lab

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal ... 54pk3.html

There is no length he will go to avoid admitting Trump may just be right. He thinks that the Chinese Communist Party are more credible than the American President. Think about that ...

[Bordeauxclaret]

Yes think about that.

[Taffy on the wing]

All very interesting but the question I would ask is why have the mainstream media have totally ignored a damning 15 page report compiled by the intelligence agencies of UK Canada NZ Australia and USA. ? It is not like it has been written by a discredited British spy lol

Because it's just some more **** stirring from Rupert 'the racist' Murdoch.

[Taffy on the wing]

There is no length he will go to avoid admitting Trump may just be right. He thinks that the Chinese Communist Party are more credible than the American President. Think about that ...

Get back under your rock!

[KateR]

YAWN

I thought you were sleeping the irony of the Welsh Bat is amazing but he's always good for a laugh

[keith1879]

Plenty, mate. Trump says "black", they'll reply "white". Logical argument don't really penetrate their delusions.

If Trump says "black" then logic tells you that the answer could very well be "white".

[tiger76]

What about the 'economic health wisdom" of this decision? Where does that fit in?

Of course it's a consideration,as it is for all countries,the difficulty is finding the right balance,between protecting the vulnerable,and trying to mitigate the long term economy damage,the difference with Trump is he's not interested in whether it's good for the American people,he only cares about getting back into the WH. Now whether a sitting Democrat president would act any differently isn't a anybody has the answer to,they might well have taken the same decision to prioritise the economic recovery,ultimately the choice rests with the American electorate,and they'll deliver their verdict in November.