The Reign of Trump

[Ralin]

Does the USA have a similarly worded treaty with Denmark to what they have with Cuba?

Do ya think it really matters?

[vakundok]

They want better logistics for the "Cold War of the North Pole".

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Nice bit of politics there.

No expiry date, making it a lease until both say it's not. Meaning that Cuba can't legally kick them out without violating the entire treaty.

Sneaky.

Here's the best part- the USA only pays $4,000 a year and does it by cheque... which Cuba never cashes... so in effect the base is rent-free

[LadyTevar]

Here's the best part- the USA only pays $4,000 a year and does it by cheque... which Cuba never cashes... so in effect the base is rent-free

What do you mean they've never cashed any of the checks? Seriously?!

[Solauren]

I can believe it. Probably because they're afraid the cheques will bounce, and they'll be hit by chargebacks! (rimshot).

But, seriously, that doesn't surprise me. It lets them refer to the US base as an invasion if need be.

[Ralin]

Here's the best part- the USA only pays $4,000 a year and does it by cheque... which Cuba never cashes... so in effect the base is rent-free

What do you mean they've never cashed any of the checks? Seriously?!

Yeah. Because that would mean acknowledging that the military base and torture prison the US refuses to remove from their territory is legit and something they consent to.

Perhaps other countries should have taken a hint from that before hosting US bases of their own.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Here's the best part- the USA only pays $4,000 a year and does it by cheque... which Cuba never cashes... so in effect the base is rent-free

What do you mean they've never cashed any of the checks? Seriously?!

Yeah. Because that would mean acknowledging that the military base and torture prison the US refuses to remove from their territory is legit and something they consent to.

Perhaps other countries should have taken a hint from that before hosting US bases of their own.

If you believe the late Fidel Castro, the one time they did was due to confusion back in 1959, and the Cuban government has not deposited any other lease check since that time.

[bilateralrope]

Democrats’ win in Wisconsin court race also is a big loss for Elon Musk

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and THOMAS BEAUMONT
Updated 7:10 PM NZDT, April 2, 2025

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Judge Susan Crawford preserved liberals’ narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday by defeating conservative Brad Schimel, but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk.

Musk and his affiliated groups sunk at least $21 million into the normally low-profile race and paid three individual voters $1 million each for signing a petition in an effort to goose turnout in the pivotal battleground state contest. That made the race the first major test of the political impact of Musk, whose prominence in President Donald Trump’s administration has skyrocketed with his chaotic cost-cutting initiative that has slashed federal agencies.

Crawford and the Democrats who backed her made Musk the focus of their arguments for holding the seat, contending he was “buying” the election, which set records for the costliest judicial race in history.

“Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court,” Crawford said in her victory speech. “And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale.”

Trump endorsed Schimel as the race turned into a proxy fight over national political issues. The state’s high court can rule on cases involving voting rights and redistricting in a state likely to be at the center of both next year’s midterm elections and the 2028 presidential contest.


But Musk’s involvement dialed those dynamics up to 11: “A seemingly small election could determine the fate of Western civilization,” the billionaire said Tuesday in a last-ditch call to voters on his social media site X. “I think it matters for the future of the world.”

Notably, America PAC, the super PAC backed by Musk, spent at least $6 million on vendors who sent door-to-door canvassers across the state, according to the non-partisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. It was a reprise of what the group did across the seven most competitive presidential battleground states, including Wisconsin, which were carried by Trump in November.

But the end results this time were not good for Musk. Despite the millions he spent on Schimel, as of late Tuesday night the Supreme Court candidate was losing by four percentage points more than the other Republican-backed statewide candidate, Brittany Kinser, who also fell short in her bid for superintendent of public instruction.

Musk’s court race defeat wasn’t only because of crushing Democratic margins in deep blue cities like Madison and Milwaukee. Crawford’s margins were higher in places where the Musk-backed group America PAC had been active, including Sauk County, just north of Madison, which Crawford was carrying by 10 points after Trump won it by less than 2 points in November.

In Brown County, the home of Green Bay where Musk headlined a campaign rally with 2,000 people on Sunday, Crawford beat Schimel. Trump won the county by 7 percentage points last year.

Overnight, Musk posted on his X platform that “The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary.” In another comment, he seemed to take solace from voters’ approval to elevate the state’s photo ID requirement from state law to constitutional amendment. The platform was rife with criticism from Trump opponents for his involvement in the race.

“Please send @elonmusk to all the close races!” Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, wrote.

“Elon Musk is not good at this,” J.B. Pritzker, Illinois’ Democratic governor and a billionaire himself who donated to support Crawford, posted on X.

Voters definitely had Musk on their minds.

“There’s an insane situation going on with the Trump administration, and it feels like Elon Musk is trying to buy votes,” said Kenneth Gifford, a 22-year-old Milwaukee college student, as he cast his ballot on Tuesday. “I want an actual, respectable democracy.”

Others may not have had their vote decided by the billionaire but were all-too aware of the money pouring into their state.

Jim Seeger, a 68-year-old retiree who previously worked in communications and marketing, said he voted for Schimel because he wants Republicans to maintain their outsized majority in Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, which could be at risk if Crawford wins and the court orders the maps redrawn. But, he added, he was disappointed the election had become a “financial race.”

“I think it’s a shame that we have to spend this much money, especially on a judicial race,” Seeger said as he voted in Eau Claire.

Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General, Josh Kaul, sued to bar Musk from making his payments to voters if they signed a petition against “activist judges.” The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to rule on the case over a technicality.

Musk swooped into the race shortly after Trump’s inauguration. Republicans were pessimistic about being able to win the seat. They lost a longtime conservative majority on the state high court in 2023, and Democrats have excelled in turning out their educated, politically tuned-in coalition during obscure elections such as the one in Wisconsin.

Musk duplicated and expanded on some of the methods he used in the final weeks of last year’s presidential race, when he spent more than $200 million on Trump’s behalf in the seven swing states, including Wisconsin.

This time, in addition to the $1 million checks, Musk offered to pay $20 to anyone who signed up on his group’s site to knock on doors for Schimel and posted a photo of themselves as proof. His organization promised $100 to every voter who signed the petition against liberal judges and another $100 for every signer they referred.

Democrats were happy to make Musk a lightning rod in the race.

“People do not want to see Elon Musk buying election after election after election,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said Monday. “If it works here, he’s going to do it all over the country.”

Trump's reaction should be interesting.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

He's calling it "Liberation Day" when he's expected to announce more tariffs on US imports.

[bilateralrope]

I wonder if he's going to go through with the rumors of tariffs on countries with sales taxes.

[Zwinmar]

So basically a tariff on everyone but Russia...figures.

[bilateralrope]

Someone at Reddit attempted to figure out where Trump's claims of "tarriffs charged to the US" came from. Mostly it's from their trade deficit.

But it's stupider than that.

US tariffs take aim everywhere, including uninhabited islands

Washington (AFP) – The world's remotest corners couldn't hide from US President Donald Trump's global tariffs onslaught Wednesday -- even the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands.

Issued on: 03/04/2025 - 00:53
Modified: 03/04/2025

The Australian territory in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean was slapped with 10 percent tariffs on all its exports, despite the icy archipelago having zero residents -- other than many seals, penguins and other birds.

Strings of ocean specks around the globe, including Australia's Cocos (Keeling) Islands and the Comoros off the coast of Africa, were likewise subjected to 10 percent new tariffs.

Another eye-catching inclusion in the tariffs list was Myanmar, which is digging out from an earthquake that left nearly 3,000 people dead, and whose exports to the United States will now face 44 percent in new levies.

Britain's Falkland Islands -- population 3,200 people and around one million penguins -- got particular punishment.

The South Atlantic territory -- mostly famous for a 1982 war fought by Britain to expel an Argentinian invasion -- was walloped with tariffs of 41 percent on exports to the United States.

The Falklands' would-be ruler Argentina only faces 10 percent new tariffs.

According to the Falklands Chamber of Commerce, the territory is ranked 173 in the world in terms of global exports, with only $306 million of products exported in 2019. This included $255 million in exports of mollusks and $30 million of frozen fish.

[bilateralrope]

Elon Musk's disclosure of planned Social Security fraud arrest troubles top law enforcement officials: Sources

Musk seemed to boast of advance knowledge of the arrest during a tele-rally.

ByKatherine Faulders, Will Steakin, and Alexander Mallin
April 2, 2025, 8:04 AM

Tech billionaire and senior Trump adviser Elon Musk appeared to boast of advance knowledge of a planned arrest related to alleged Social Security fraud during an appearance on a live stream Monday night promoted to his more than 200 million social media followers, frustrating top law enforcement officials, multiple sources told ABC News.

"Yes. In fact, I believe someone is going to be arrested tomorrow," Musk said in response to a question about whether U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi would prosecute fraud found within the Social Security system.

Musk made the comments during a live streamed tele-rally in support of conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel.

Musk, discussing the alleged planned arrest, said, "This is someone who actually stole 400,000 social security numbers and personal information from the Social Security database, and was selling social security numbers and all of all the identification information in order for people to basically steal money from Social Security."

Musk did not say how he came to know about the alleged planned arrest, but sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that Musk was referring to an ongoing federal investigation, and that his public disclosure of the matter disturbed top law enforcement officials with knowledge of the probe.

Previewing an arrest before it takes place would conflict with standard practice intended to protect potentially sensitive law enforcement operations and those involved in carrying them out.

A White House spokesperson referred ABC News to the Justice Department for comment.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.

Musk, whose government-slashing Department of Government Efficiency has been working inside the Social Security Administration for several weeks, later reiterated, "And yes, we are going to be prosecuting people. The Attorney General is taking action."

His comments came a day after he held a campaign rally in Wisconsin, where he appeared with longtime ally and former Tesla board member Antonio Gracias, who has also been working with DOGE at the Social Security Administration.

Gracias told the crowd that, amid their review of systems inside the SSA, the team had referred to law enforcement targets for prosecution.

Gracias alleged that they had identified and reported undocumented immigrants improperly receiving Social Security and registering to vote -- allegations that ABC News has not verified.

"The defaults in the system, from Social Security to all of the benefit programs, have been set to max inclusion, max pay for these people, and minimum collection. That's what's happening. We found 1.3 million of them [undocumented immigrants] already on Medicaid, as an example," said Gracias.

"We actually just took a sample and looked at voter registration records, and we found people here registered to vote in this population, yes, and we found some by sampling that actually did vote, and we have referred them to prosecution at the Homeland Security investigation service already," Gracias said.

Obstruction of justice or Musk lying ?

[Solauren]

Probably both.
Said stuff he shouldn't have (Obstruction), and stuff that's not true.

[LadyTevar]

And the Stock Market closed with the biggest losses since 2020.

[Solauren]

And the Stock Market closed with the biggest losses since 2020.

I can imagine it will get worse as counter tariffs are issued.

[bilateralrope]

And the Stock Market closed with the biggest losses since 2020.

I can imagine it will get worse as counter tariffs are issued.

Meaning more retaliation from Trump. Until nobody is willing to trade with the US.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

And the Stock Market closed with the biggest losses since 2020.

I can imagine it will get worse as counter tariffs are issued.

Meaning more retaliation from Trump. Until nobody is willing to trade with the US.

Trump doesn't seem to realise that's the end result of isolationism, where the rest of the world ends up boycotting the USA.

[Solauren]

I think isolationism, in the short term, is what Trump wants.

He wants to cause economic instability and downturn, to lower interest rates, so he can get Americas Debt restructured, after cutting tons of costs via DOGE.

In short, Trump is trying to do one of his 'bankruptcy business finance resets' for the United States.

He can then lower taxes on the US population, while maintaining cashflow by leaving the Tariffs in place. Still taxing US citizens, and his vote based BELIEVING they are not being taxed.

Also, I'm willing to bet as share prices drop, his rich friends are gobbling up stocks cheap to expand their own portfolios for the 'inevitable return to normal.

[Ralin]

I think isolationism, in the short term, is what Trump wants.

He wants to cause economic instability and downturn, to lower interest rates, so he can get Americas Debt restructured, after cutting tons of costs via DOGE.

In short, Trump is trying to do one of his 'bankruptcy business finance resets' for the United States.

He can then lower taxes on the US population, while maintaining cashflow by leaving the Tariffs in place. Still taxing US citizens, and his vote based BELIEVING they are not being taxed.

Also, I'm willing to bet as share prices drop, his rich friends are gobbling up stocks cheap to expand their own portfolios for the 'inevitable return to normal.

No he's doing it because he thinks it'll supercharge the economy and make the rest of the world pay tribute in the form of tariff taxes and all the other stuff he's been saying since the fucking 80s and just didn't have the ability to act on.

Seriously at this point should be clear Trump doesn't play 5D chess when it comes to these things.

On that note, saw a couple posts saying that the tariff targets and numbers work out to exactly what ChatGTP and similar AIs would spit out if asked how to fit a trade deficit. And that the uninhabited islands targeted correspond to top level internet domains or something like that.

[bilateralrope]

I think isolationism, in the short term, is what Trump wants.

He wants to cause economic instability and downturn, to lower interest rates, so he can get Americas Debt restructured, after cutting tons of costs via DOGE.

In short, Trump is trying to do one of his 'bankruptcy business finance resets' for the United States.

He can then lower taxes on the US population, while maintaining cashflow by leaving the Tariffs in place. Still taxing US citizens, and his vote based BELIEVING they are not being taxed.

Also, I'm willing to bet as share prices drop, his rich friends are gobbling up stocks cheap to expand their own portfolios for the 'inevitable return to normal.

If that's the case, it's going to fail badly. DOGE cuts are increasing costs. DOGE claims $115 billion in savings, with questionable math. The IRS is estimating a $500 billion loss of tax revenue because of the cuts there.

The best case is that Trump is doing this to manipulate stocks for himself and his 'friends'. Or maybe only his friends are going to profit while Trump believes what he's saying. If that's the case, we will know soon because the tariffs will be removed after they have been in place long enough for the people trading stocks. Maybe a few rounds of tariffs going up and down until the markets stop coming back up quickly.

That's the best case. If Trump thinks this will help the US, or is following the orders of someone else, he's going to stay the course and make things worse.

[Zaune]

The upshot of all this being that a lot of very wealthy and influential people are very annoyed right now, so I give it until the midterms before the knives come out.

[Ralin]

The upshot of all this being that a lot of very wealthy and influential people are very annoyed right now, so I give it until the midterms before the knives come out.

If they can. Even Trump learns things eventually. Does anything they're doing now seem like the actions of a party that intends to answer to the electorate ever again?

There has to be a plan to steal the midterm elections. It might be a shitty plan but they'll be more prepared than they were in his last term

[EnterpriseSovereign]

The upshot of all this being that a lot of very wealthy and influential people are very annoyed right now, so I give it until the midterms before the knives come out.

If they can. Even Trump learns things eventually. Does anything they're doing now seem like the actions of a party that intends to answer to the electorate ever again?

There has to be a plan to steal the midterm elections. It might be a shitty plan but they'll be more prepared than they were in his last term

If not try to do away with them entirely- the way things are there's a blue wave coming and Trump gets to spend the rest of his second term as a lame duck.

[Solauren]

The upshot of all this being that a lot of very wealthy and influential people are very annoyed right now, so I give it until the midterms before the knives come out.

If they can. Even Trump learns things eventually. Does anything they're doing now seem like the actions of a party that intends to answer to the electorate ever again?

There has to be a plan to steal the midterm elections. It might be a shitty plan but they'll be more prepared than they were in his last term

If not try to do away with them entirely- the way things are there's a blue wave coming and Trump gets to spend the rest of his second term as a lame duck.

If there is a large enough blue wave, Trump may not even get to finish his second term. I can imagine a Democrat controlled Senate and Congress would quickly impeach him, and Vance, to remove them from office.

I could also see Musk arrested on espionage charges for all the government data he's been able to access without getting clearance via proper channels. (Really, if I was Musk, I'd make sure I was out of the United States during midterms in a country that has limited extradition to the United States and that doesn't like Interpol). Same with DOGE.

I can see alot of people facing legal problems in the event of a Democract controlled Federal Government removing Trump and Vance.

Of course, the big question would be - would that be enough, followed by the removal of Tariffs, to start to repair the US's damaged relationships?
That the US citizens realized how badly things had been screwed up in such a short period, and moved to legally remove the problem as quickly as possible.