What does President Trump do NOW?

[2dimes]

Huh, you might be right kizkiz, he can't deport all of them like some think.

The wall though.. Certainly he'll build the border wall and make Mexico pay for it.

[jusplay4fun]

I am okay with most of Trump's Cabinet and staff appointments, so far, based on what Iittle I know about most of these folks. I think it is interesting that Trump appointed a woman (the first time) as his Chief of Staff. I think Trump knows more qualified people for many jobs in the Federal Government and for key positions.

However, I think that Pete Hegseth is not well-qualified for the appointment as Secretary of Defense. I think Trump went for loyalty, having a mouthpiece, and getting rid of DEI out of the military over being well-qualified.

‘Who the f--k is this guy?’: Defense world reacts to Trump’s surprise Pentagon pick
“Hegseth is undoubtedly the least qualified nominee for SecDef in American history,” one veterans’ advocate said.

President-elect Donald Trump’s Tuesday night surprise pick of a conservative commentator and television host as his Pentagon chief shocked Washington, which had expected the nominee to be a seasoned lawmaker or someone with defense policy experience.

National security officials and defense analysts had braced for surprises from Trump after experiencing his first four years in office. But even grading on that curve, they say the announcement of Fox News host and decorated Army veteran Pete Hegseth caught them totally off-guard.

“[Trump] puts the highest value on loyalty,” Eric Edelman, who served as the Pentagon’s top policy official during the Bush administration, said in an interview. “It appears that one of the main criteria that’s being used is, how well do people defend Donald Trump on television?”

One assessment was more blunt. “Who the f*ck is this guy?” said a defense industry lobbyist who was granted anonymity to offer candid views. The lobbyist said they had hoped for “someone who actually has an extensive background in defense. That would be a good start.”

The pick will do little to quell fears inside the Pentagon and beyond that Trump, who jousted with his own defense secretaries, plans this time to install a loyalist who will unquestioningly carry out his policies. Trump’s campaign trail rhetoric has primed fears that his second term could see a swift and divisive overhaul at the Pentagon.

Trump’s return is expected to bring a collective rollback of Biden administration policies, likely reinstating a ban on transgender troops, ending abortion travel policies, reigniting battles over bases named for Confederate figures, slashing diversity programs and the use of troops on U.S. soil against civil unrest and his political enemies.
(...)
“Hegseth is undoubtedly the least qualified nominee for SecDef in American history. And the most overtly political. Brace yourself, America,” Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Independent Veterans of America, said in a post on X Tuesday night.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/12/defense-world-reacts-to-trump-pick-pete-hegseth-00189221

He will shake things up, but I am not sure he has the experience needed. He was a Captain or MAJOR (I thought I heard that on the news), and that is not that high a rank.

He returned to active duty in 2012 as a captain. He deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard and acted as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Hegseth

[saxitoxin]

I'm not happy so far but not quite to the point of being unhappy.

-Hegseth at Defense: No opinion. I like that he's not connected to the Military Industrial Complex. He's obviously a bright guy and has military experience. However, he doesn't seem to have any experience in complex management. Two Rand Paul staffers have commented that he's more of a Realist and Non-Interventionist than some people believe, which makes me cautiously optimistic. The fact Ben Shapiro likes him makes me very pessimistic. I'm curious to see who is Deputy Secretary.

-Gaetz at Justice: Cautiously optimistic. He is a supporter of Lina Kahn, Biden's best appointment, which means -- hopefully -- Trump will not dismiss her from the FTC and there'll be some major anti-trust busting happening. That said, I don't like the idea of putting bomb throwers into the cabinet. We can have a president who is a bomb thrower or cabinet members who are bomb throwers, but not both.

-Rubio at State: HARD OPPOSE. Hoping that this is just a ploy to get him out of the Senate and he'll be fired in six months.

-Gabbard at DNI: Most enthusiastic about this one, though, I'm not clear what her actual qualifications are to head DNI, though she did sit on the foreign affairs committee so cautiously optimistic here. I don't think this is a position you can really mess up, though. You don't actually run anything, you just collate and report information collected by other agencies.

- Tom Homan for Borders: Good.

- Musk and Ramaswarmy at Government Efficiency: I'm all for government efficiency but Musk is basically a 12 year-old autistic savant. He should be nowhere near the government. That said, I saw someone said this is just an advisory blue ribbon appointment to give him something to keep him busy on the sidelines with little or no actual power.

[saxitoxin]

I've previously said that Donald Trump is the president America needs, not the president America deserves. I'm prepared to be extremely disappointed by what's coming in the next four years and still maintain that a hard reset from the Biden administration was needed.

[mookiemcgee]

I'm not happy so far but not quite to the point of being unhappy.

-Hegseth at Defense: No opinion. I like that he's not connected to the Military Industrial Complex. He's obviously a bright guy and has military experience. However, he doesn't seem to have any experience in complex management. Two Rand Paul staffers have commented that he's more of a Realist and Non-Interventionist than some people believe, which makes me cautiously optimistic. The fact Ben Shapiro likes him makes me very pessimistic. I'm curious to see who is Deputy Secretary.

-Gaetz at Justice: Cautiously optimistic. He is a supporter of Lina Kahn, Biden's best appointment, which means -- hopefully -- Trump will not dismiss her from the FTC and there'll be some major anti-trust busting happening. That said, I don't like the idea of putting bomb throwers into the cabinet. We can have a president who is a bomb thrower or cabinet members who are bomb throwers, but not both.

-Rubio at State: HARD OPPOSE. Hoping that this is just a ploy to get him out of the Senate and he'll be fired in six months.

-Gabbard at DNI: Most enthusiastic about this one, though, I'm not clear what her actual qualifications are to head DNI, though she did sit on the foreign affairs committee so cautiously optimistic here. I don't think this is a position you can really mess up, though. You don't actually run anything, you just collate and report information collected by other agencies.

- Tom Homan for Borders: Good.

- Musk and Ramaswarmy at Government Efficiency: I'm all for government efficiency but Musk is basically a 12 year-old autistic savant. He should be nowhere near the government. That said, I saw someone said this is just an advisory blue ribbon appointment to give him something to keep him busy on the sidelines with little or no actual power.

We should start a Liz Truss style poll thread once a few more names comes in...

Musk just wants a say, and he craves a bit of spotlight. I don't think Donald minds him having a say, but if Musk steals too much spotlight they are gonna have a messy breakup. I'm guessing Ramaswarmy is there to actually run the thing? I think I read it's like a 2 year deal and then the 'DOGE' is dissolved.

I think I might vote Marco Rubio as first head to roll though, and I'm not entirely convinced Gaetz will get confirmed. If Trump wants it bad enough he can make it happen, but does he actually want to use the political capital do push him through resistance in his own party this early? I don't know anything about Tom Homan at all so no opinion.I think Gabbard might last the longest of these names.

[KoolBak]

I've previously said that Donald Trump is the president America needs, not the president America deserves. I'm prepared to be extremely disappointed by what's coming in the next four years and still maintain that a hard reset from the Biden administration was needed.

Completely agree with your Biden statement.

[saxitoxin]

I've scored everyone on a scale of 1-3 on the only two foreign policy categories I care about. If they're a 3 they qualify for my support. If they're a 1, they don't qualify. If they're a 2, I'm withholding judgment or don't have enough information. I'm using "Non-Zionist" instead of "Anti-Zionist" as I don't expect anyone appointed to a high-level USG post to be actively Anti-Zionist.

My cautious disappointment at this juncture can be alleviated by putting Elbridge Colby somewhere important as he'd score a 5, potentially a 6. Also, Ric Grenell would be a 4 or 5. I'm just not sure what's left for them.

GAETZ - 4
3 - Non-Interventionist
1 - Non-Zionist

GABBARD - 4
3 - Non-Interventionist
1 - Non-Zionist

HEGSETH - 3
2- Non-Interventionist
1 - Non-Zionist

MILLER - 3
2 - Non-Interventionist
1 - Non-Zionist

WALTZ - 3
2- Non-Interventionist
1 - Non-Zionist

RUBIO - 2
1 - Non-Interventionist
1 - Non-Zionist

[saxitoxin]

Roger Stone needs some official position, merely for this ...

Why do people take almost instantaneous dislike to @SenTedCruz when they first meet him? They are only saving time. I told you what he was in 2016, why does his breath smell of George W. Bush's d*ck? #FatDracula

https://x.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/1855917547515682874

Admittedly, Cruz's face is less offensive since he got the beard, but he's not any less annoying.

[2dimes]

Biden seems pleasant enough and he has a nice 'vette but a cat might have been just as good as president.

[jusplay4fun]

I'm not happy so far but not quite to the point of being unhappy.

-Hegseth at Defense: No opinion. I like that he's not connected to the Military Industrial Complex. He's obviously a bright guy and has military experience. However, he doesn't seem to have any experience in complex management. Two Rand Paul staffers have commented that he's more of a Realist and Non-Interventionist than some people believe, which makes me cautiously optimistic. The fact Ben Shapiro likes him makes me very pessimistic. I'm curious to see who is Deputy Secretary.

-Gaetz at Justice: Cautiously optimistic. He is a supporter of Lina Kahn, Biden's best appointment, which means -- hopefully -- Trump will not dismiss her from the FTC and there'll be some major anti-trust busting happening. That said, I don't like the idea of putting bomb throwers into the cabinet. We can have a president who is a bomb thrower or cabinet members who are bomb throwers, but not both.

-Rubio at State: HARD OPPOSE. Hoping that this is just a ploy to get him out of the Senate and he'll be fired in six months.

-Gabbard at DNI: Most enthusiastic about this one, though, I'm not clear what her actual qualifications are to head DNI, though she did sit on the foreign affairs committee so cautiously optimistic here. I don't think this is a position you can really mess up, though. You don't actually run anything, you just collate and report information collected by other agencies.

- Tom Homan for Borders: Good.

- Musk and Ramaswarmy at Government Efficiency: I'm all for government efficiency but Musk is basically a 12 year-old autistic savant. He should be nowhere near the government. That said, I saw someone said this is just an advisory blue ribbon appointment to give him something to keep him busy on the sidelines with little or no actual power.

I basically agree with Saxi on most of his assessments. I do disagree about Rubio; I find him a good Senator and potentially good at the Cabinet appointment.

I think Gaetz is a HUGE MISTAKE. He is ONLY a flame thrower.

Hegseth is a lightweight, as I said already. BUT maybe we need someone LESS connected to the Military Industrial Complex. BUT come on, a Captain ordering around Generals? He will not get much respect and thus be ineffective in many areas. Yes, his deputy/deputies will be very important here to make up for his lack of experience and connections. He too is basically a flame thrower, but has some credentials.

Gaetz has few, if any, credentials, except he was investigated by DOJ and thus has an axe to grind, an axe TRUMP LOVES.

[saxitoxin]

I'm not happy so far but not quite to the point of being unhappy.

-Hegseth at Defense: No opinion. I like that he's not connected to the Military Industrial Complex. He's obviously a bright guy and has military experience. However, he doesn't seem to have any experience in complex management. Two Rand Paul staffers have commented that he's more of a Realist and Non-Interventionist than some people believe, which makes me cautiously optimistic. The fact Ben Shapiro likes him makes me very pessimistic. I'm curious to see who is Deputy Secretary.

-Gaetz at Justice: Cautiously optimistic. He is a supporter of Lina Kahn, Biden's best appointment, which means -- hopefully -- Trump will not dismiss her from the FTC and there'll be some major anti-trust busting happening. That said, I don't like the idea of putting bomb throwers into the cabinet. We can have a president who is a bomb thrower or cabinet members who are bomb throwers, but not both.

-Rubio at State: HARD OPPOSE. Hoping that this is just a ploy to get him out of the Senate and he'll be fired in six months.

-Gabbard at DNI: Most enthusiastic about this one, though, I'm not clear what her actual qualifications are to head DNI, though she did sit on the foreign affairs committee so cautiously optimistic here. I don't think this is a position you can really mess up, though. You don't actually run anything, you just collate and report information collected by other agencies.

- Tom Homan for Borders: Good.

- Musk and Ramaswarmy at Government Efficiency: I'm all for government efficiency but Musk is basically a 12 year-old autistic savant. He should be nowhere near the government. That said, I saw someone said this is just an advisory blue ribbon appointment to give him something to keep him busy on the sidelines with little or no actual power.

I basically agree with Saxi on most of his assessments. I do disagree about Rubio; I find him a good Senator and potentially good at the Cabinet appointment.

I think Gaetz is a HUGE MISTAKE. He is ONLY a flame thrower.

Hegseth is a lightweight, as I said already. BUT maybe we need someone LESS connected to the Military Industrial Complex. BUT come on, a Captain ordering around Generals? He will not get much respect and thus be ineffective in many areas. Yes, his deputy/deputies will be very important here to make up for his lack of experience and connections. He too is basically a flame thrower, but has some credentials.

Gaetz has few, if any, credentials, except he was investigated by DOJ and thus has an axe to grind, an axe TRUMP LOVES.

Hopefully Gaetz gets KO'ed by the Senate and we get someone serious in there. I'm for cleaning house, not burning the house to the ground.

Hegseth might work if they get a really strong Deputy SecDef. To be honest, I was hoping Chris Miller would be SecDef. I'm not sure he'd take the Deputy job after he was already Acting.

With some of these I'm starting to wonder if Trump isn't putting forward people he knows can't get confirmed simply to give the Senate a chance to reject a few? On the armed services committee you have a couple senators-for-life like Ernest and Fischer on the GOP side who may block Hegseth but don't have the political capital to block his replacement without being denounced as obstructionists. Trump might know that and already have someone like Miller waiting in the wings.

[jusplay4fun]

I'm not happy so far but not quite to the point of being unhappy.

-Hegseth at Defense: No opinion. I like that he's not connected to the Military Industrial Complex. He's obviously a bright guy and has military experience. However, he doesn't seem to have any experience in complex management. Two Rand Paul staffers have commented that he's more of a Realist and Non-Interventionist than some people believe, which makes me cautiously optimistic. The fact Ben Shapiro likes him makes me very pessimistic. I'm curious to see who is Deputy Secretary.

-Gaetz at Justice: Cautiously optimistic. He is a supporter of Lina Kahn, Biden's best appointment, which means -- hopefully -- Trump will not dismiss her from the FTC and there'll be some major anti-trust busting happening. That said, I don't like the idea of putting bomb throwers into the cabinet. We can have a president who is a bomb thrower or cabinet members who are bomb throwers, but not both.

-Rubio at State: HARD OPPOSE. Hoping that this is just a ploy to get him out of the Senate and he'll be fired in six months.

-Gabbard at DNI: Most enthusiastic about this one, though, I'm not clear what her actual qualifications are to head DNI, though she did sit on the foreign affairs committee so cautiously optimistic here. I don't think this is a position you can really mess up, though. You don't actually run anything, you just collate and report information collected by other agencies.

- Tom Homan for Borders: Good.

- Musk and Ramaswarmy at Government Efficiency: I'm all for government efficiency but Musk is basically a 12 year-old autistic savant. He should be nowhere near the government. That said, I saw someone said this is just an advisory blue ribbon appointment to give him something to keep him busy on the sidelines with little or no actual power.

I basically agree with Saxi on most of his assessments. I do disagree about Rubio; I find him a good Senator and potentially good at the Cabinet appointment.

I think Gaetz is a HUGE MISTAKE. He is ONLY a flame thrower.

Hegseth is a lightweight, as I said already. BUT maybe we need someone LESS connected to the Military Industrial Complex. BUT come on, a Captain ordering around Generals? He will not get much respect and thus be ineffective in many areas. Yes, his deputy/deputies will be very important here to make up for his lack of experience and connections. He too is basically a flame thrower, but has some credentials.

Gaetz has few, if any, credentials, except he was investigated by DOJ and thus has an axe to grind, an axe TRUMP LOVES.

Hopefully Gaetz gets KO'ed by the Senate and we get someone serious in there. I'm for cleaning house, not burning the house to the ground.

Hegseth might work if they get a really strong Deputy SecDef. To be honest, I was hoping Chris Miller would be SecDef. I'm not sure he'd take the Deputy job after he was already Acting.

With some of these I'm starting to wonder if Trump isn't putting forward people he knows can't get confirmed simply to give the Senate a chance to reject a few? On the armed services committee you have a couple senators-for-life like Ernest and Fischer on the GOP side who may block Hegseth but don't have the political capital to block his replacement without being denounced as obstructionists. Trump might know that and already have someone like Miller waiting in the wings.

I am not convinced that Trump himself is that politically astute to play that type of chess game. Some of his advisors may be at that level, however. Other than his Chief of Staff, I do not know enough about most of them, and I barely know her. I think Trump is going for flame throwers, like himself, without his apparent innate political instinct.

I think it interesting that apparently Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, does not seem involved. He may be "behind the scenes" but I do see him as that connected now politically.

What gives me hope is that Trump does love this country. I hope that (and perhaps his new spiritual insight by surviving his assassination) will over-ride ("trump" ) his desire for revenge.

[saxitoxin]

Just saw this ...

A source in room where House Republicans are waiting to start leadership elections says there were audible gasps when Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was announced as President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4987 ... -election/

If the common swine Republicans in the House are letting out "audible gasps" hearing Gaetz get nominated for AG, I'm presuming it was 10x worse in the Senate. I'm betting against confirmation.

[jusplay4fun]

Good Summary of Trump's aides and others here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-names-four-to-white-house-senior-staff/ar-AA1u1eJI?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=de2b3e3c710f4238faf63a55bd72dca4&ei=30

[Dukasaur]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-confirms-plan-declare-national-emergency-military-mass/story?id=115963448

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday confirmed he would declare a national emergency to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.

Overnight, Trump responded to a social media post from Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, who said earlier this month there are reports the incoming administration is preparing such a declaration and to use "military assets" to deport the migrants.

"TRUE!!!" Trump wrote.

ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz recently reported from California on the impact Trump's immigration and mass deportations plans could have on the American agriculture industry.

"If you took away my workforce, you wouldn't eat. If you go into the San Joaquin Valley and you start doing what you're saying, it's over. The country will stop, literally stop because the food system won't move," said Manuel Cunha Jr., the president of the Nisei Farmers League.

Have fun eating roasted turds on the barbie!

[saxitoxin]

New Trump 47 Teaser Trailer just dropped - "DARK MAGA ASSEMBLE!"

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday confirmed he would declare a national emergency

NICE! Campaign promises fulfilled!

"If you took away my workforce, you wouldn't eat. If you go into the San Joaquin Valley and you start doing what you're saying, it's over. The country will stop, literally stop because the food system won't move," said Manuel Cunha Jr., the president of the Nisei Farmers League.

The ABC story was so far detached from reality it was funny. It presupposed that 100% of the 900,000 agricultural workers are illegals and they'll -- somehow -- all be deported in a space of 24 hours and there's absolutely zero plan in place beyond that.

In fact, only 50% are illegals. Moreover, Trump has said that -- in Year 1 -- deportations will only hit criminal aliens. And, during that time, they'll expand the guest worker program to legally regularize the remaining 50% of the agricultural workforce before continuing deportations to non-criminal illegal aliens. They'll also be redirecting the Department of Commerce's Economic Adjustment Assistance grants program into prioritizing deployment of new agricultural automation technologies to decrease the number of humans needed for harvesting altogether.

So, the ABC News story was a falsehood built on a falsehood.

[jusplay4fun]