Trump 2.0

[SirRumpole]

So @SirRumpole you don't like mothers doing all they can to save their sons from being anally and in other forms raped."

I've got no argument with the mother but there is such a thing as corruption of individuals and the justice system, but that's what the US has become apparently.

 

[Knobby22]

Interested to see DBs next post and whether Musk is now the enemy or not. Not sure how the Maga conspiracy lovers will drop.

I have a feeling it will be ignored. It has been so far on this site. Studiously ignored. Too much mental dissonance.

 

[SirRumpole]

Interested to see DBs next post and whether Musk is now the enemy or not. Not sure how the Maga conspiracy lovers will drop.

I have a feeling it will be ignored. It has been so far on this site. Studiously ignored. Too much mental dissonance.

Musk's latest statement was that Trump was in the Epstein files which is why they haven't been released.

I wonder how far that will go.

 

[sptrawler]

Well increasing production in the U.S, by foreign manufacturer's, seems to be slowly getting traction.

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www.reuters.com

TOKYO, April 18 (Reuters) - Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab is considering producing the next version of its top-selling RAV4 SUV in the United States, three people familiar with the matter said, becoming the latest automaker to rethink supply chains to lessen the hit from U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles.

Mazda Just Chose American SUV Customers Over Canadians

Mazda CX-50s allocated for Canada will reportedly be redirected to the U.S.

carbuzz.com

Production of all Canada-bound examples of the CX-50 SUV was due to stop on May 12, according to an official announcement from Mazda on 15 April. This is believed to be a direct response to the ongoing trade war over the Trump administration’s 25 percent auto tariffs. Completed CX-50 models already off the line at Mazda’s manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, will now be redirected to the U.S. as the Japanese marque looks to boost local inventory.

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www.caranddriver.com

Honda currently splits production of the hugely popular CR-V compact SUV between Canada and the United States. However, due to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, Honda is shifting CR-V production to the U.S. The automaker's CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, made the announcement yesterday during a press conference.

Hyundai Steel to Build US$5.8bn Sustainable US Mill

Hyundai Steel invests US$5.8bn in a Louisiana, US EAF steel mill, set to produce 2.7 million metric tons annually, cut carbon emissions and create 1,300 jo

evmagazine.com

Hyundai Steel has unveiled plans for a US$5.8bn investment to establish a state-of-the-art Electric Arc Furnace (EAF)- based integrated steel mill in Louisiana, marking a significant expansion of its global operations. The facility will focus on producing 2.7 million metric tons of steel annually, catering primarily to the automotive industry, and is expected to generate over 1,300 new jobs in the region.

 

[IFocus]

"Zelensky reckons he can end the Trump/Musk war in24 hours."

 

[basilio]

"Zelensky reckons he can end the Trump/Musk war in24 hours."

POTY

 

[basilio]

Game playing the Trump-Musk fallout. Where to from here ?

The Triad

Taking the Trump-Musk War Seriously Special emergency Triad: In chaos there is opportunity.​

Jonathan V. Last
Jun 06, 2025




(Composite / Photos: GettyImages)

1. Strategery​

We’ll get to the schadenfreude in a minute, but let’s start with two big-picture thoughts:

1. This could all go away tomorrow. It is possible that by the time you read this, Musk and Trump will have brokered a peace. Then they say, “Ha-ha, you shitlibs fell for it. We were trolling you for the lulz. That was all kayfabe.”
   There are a lot of stakeholders who desperately need Trump and Musk to end hostilities. Their incentives are strong enough to expend resources making it worth both parties’ whiles to sign a ceasefire.1
2. If it doesn’t go away tomorrow, the Trump-Musk rift creates peril for both Trump’s authoritarian project and the tech oligarchy.

Let’s walk through the strategic implications for all of the players.

---

Donald Trump. There is a scenario in which he emerges from this fight stronger than he is now. If Trump is able to break the richest man in the world, he will have demonstrated a new level of power.

There are reasons to think Trump will subjugate Musk. For starters, Trump may be addled and doddering, but Musk is a man going through a multi-year, drug-fueled nervous breakdown. He is not a canny adversary. He isn’t even all that smart about power. Musk’s singular genius is for leveraging his public-market chip stack in a ZIRP environment—not an applicable skillset for this battlespace.

Also: Trump has tremendous leverage over Musk.

Musk made his primary source of wealth—Tesla stock—hostage to Trump by destroying the company as a consumer product brand. If Trump unpersons Musk, the available consumer market for Tesla goes from terrible to zero.

Trump also has all of the levers of the federal government at his disposal to hurt Tesla: He can rig tax credits against the company; cancel government contracts; reward competitors. This chart might as well be the battleplan of Operation Barbarossa:



There’s more. Musk’s second largest source of wealth is the private market valuation of SpaceX. SpaceX is heavily dependent on state-level international customers. Musk has been using his relationship with Trump to strong-arm governments into contracting with SpaceX. That dynamic could now run in the opposite direction, with Trump threatening countries who do business with SpaceX.

Even more dangerous: SpaceX should not be a private company. Under multiple administrations, the U.S. government essentially privatized the aerospace industry, which runs counter to our national interest. A sovereign government cannot allow a private company to own the top of a gravity well.2

By all rights, SpaceX should be nationalized. The next Democratic administration was going to have to grapple with that problem.

Trump might do it for them.

If Tesla’s stock price implodes and SpaceX gets nationalized, Elon Musk goes from Tony Stark to Kim Dotcom.

Mind you, Trump has skin in the game, too. His project is supported by the tech oligarchy. He is (theoretically) term limited. He knows he cannot trust anyone outside his own family.

If he is unable to subjugate Musk, and Musk succeeds in creating an independent power base around which MAGA can rally, then Trump’s entire project could unravel. And quickly.

Taking the Trump-Musk War Seriously

Special emergency Triad: In chaos there is opportunity.

www.thebulwark.com

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Game playing the Trump-Musk fallout. Where to from here ?
Trump might do it for them.

If Tesla’s stock price implodes and SpaceX gets nationalized, Elon Musk goes from Tony Stark to Kim Dotcom.

How old is Tony Stark when he died?
Tony Stark (Iron Man) died a year ago at the age of 53 -

Elon Reeve Musk, born June 28, 1971
- age 53

spooky

 

[sptrawler]

How old is Tony Stark when he died?
Tony Stark (Iron Man) died a year ago at the age of 53 -

Elon Reeve Musk, born June 28, 1971
- age 53

spooky

Spot on Dona, but as some would say, there's no point worrying about it.

Caim Worry Beads by Jock Zonfrillo

Designed by Jock Zonfrillo, each set of worry beads are a bespoke design made from semi-precious gemstones and natural materials.

www.caimworrybeads.com

 

[basilio]

You can'T miss this. The Fight of the Century

Fears of Worldwide Popcorn Shortage As Musk, Trump Spat Kicks Off​

Popcorn supply chains have been stretched to breaking point after billions of people across the globe settled in to watch Donald Trump and Elon Musk spectacularly fall-out.

“We’ve been swamped,” popcorn supplier Jose Martinez explained. “When Trump threatened to pull Musk’s Government contracts, we received a flurry of orders. Then Musk said he would decommission the Dragon spacecraft and I was cleared out of remaining supplies immediately. There simply isn’t enough popcorn in the world to meet the demand at the moment”.

Families across the world said they have changed plans this weekend to watch the fight unfold. “When Trump threatened to pull Musk’s government contracts I ordered two jumbo popcorns. Then Musk responded by claiming Trump was part of the Epstein files. I increased my order to eight boxes,” one man explained.

Others say they have cleared their schedules for the weekend. “This is better than MAFS,” one woman claimed.

Fears of Worldwide Popcorn Shortage As Musk, Trump Spat Kicks Off — The Shovel

Popcorn supply chains have been stretched to breaking point after billions of people across the globe settled in to watch Donald Trump and Elon Musk spectacularly fall-out.

theshovel.com.au

 

[DB008]

Eye Opening

Joe Rogan Experience #2334 - Kash Patel​

.​

 

[DB008]

​

 

[JohnDe]

 

[sptrawler]

One does have to ask, why Musk would be in favour of tariffs, when he gets quite a lot of product built there.
Not that i'm a fan of either Trump or Musk, both have huge ego's, fed by huge wealth.
So I'm only a fan of the concept of stopping the economic slide of the West, which is actually the only thing that affects me, everyone has a self interest only the degree varies.

Why Elon Musk is breaking with Donald Trump over tariffs

The Tesla CEO has been one of Trump's most outspoken cheerleaders — but Musk is not a fan of the tariffs that have shaken global markets.

www.businessinsider.com

Trump’s tariffs are disastrous for Elon Musk

From Tesla to SpaceX to xAI, Elon Musk’s sprawling global business empire will be slammed by Trump’s tariffs regime. Here’s how.

www.forbes.com.au

Tesla boss Elon Musk criticises US tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

Billionaire makes U-turn over levies, telling Paris tech conference they distort the market and inhibit trade

www.theguardian.com

 

[SirRumpole]

Both Musk and Trump are users of others for their own purposes and when the usefulness of one ends to the other so does the "friendship".

I can't see either of them having really close friends who stand by them no matter what, it's all about self interest on the extremes of politics.

 

[basilio]

I've been thinking about the past week in US politics with quiet dread. Trying to pretend it isn't really that bad and that somehow things will get better.
Just kidding myself really. Jonathan Last pulls it all together and says it out loud.

The Most Dangerous Week in American History (So Far)​

Emergency Triad: It’s happening here.​

Jonathan V. Last
Jun 09, 2025
∙ Pai

I want to apologize if I sound hysterical. I do not mean to. More than that: I am trying, hard, to be measured. The problem is that this week is bringing us closer to the sum of all fears and when you simply describe what’s happening, out loud, it sounds crazy.

---

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/96e98cf9-ac2b-4c50-b207-a3ec21bfc583_3000x1834.jpeg
(Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)

1. Confluence​

Three seemingly unrelated things are happening this week which will combine to take us to a place our country has not seen since Reconstruction. One of these things has already happened. Another is happening right now, today. And the third will happen six days from now.

Walk with me through the latest nightmare scenario.

---

Last Friday the president of the United States broke the richest man in the world.

Everyone was amused by the Trump-Musk feud last Thursday, but as I suspected the president emerged from the episode with even more power. After less than 24 hours of public hostilities, Elon Musk began deleting tweets attacking Trump and making conciliatory noises in response to mutual friends such as Bill Ackman. On Friday morning, Trump toured the media to underscore how little he cared about Musk. Instead of de-escalating, he mentioned Musk’s drug use.

And then he stated that there would be “very serious consequences” if Musk were to give money to Democrats.

Would you like to see the list of tech oligarchs and free-speech absolutists who rallied to Musk’s side after Trump leveled this overt threat? Here you go:



The message had been sent and received. Elon Musk submitted and presented his soft, pink belly. In return, Trump allowed him to slink away. But not before making certain that every other person who thought that their money granted them power or control understood that they no longer live in a liberal society.1

The message is simple: Money has ceased to be power. Only power is power.

---

2. The National Guard​

The second event is Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard in California, against the will of the state’s governor.

It has been clear since Trump won the Republican nomination that if elected he would find a way to deploy military force against American citizens. He has had an unslakable thirst for this idea for at least a decade—and if we’re being honest, he’s probably fantasized about it since he was in his twenties.

In his first term, he had the pretext but was hemmed in by responsible people in the White House and the Pentagon. He learned from this failure. No such people exist in the current administration. It is possible that no such people exist anywhere in the Republican party.

Actually, it’s worse than that: The rest of the Republican party has evolved from active resistance to this project, to mute acceptance of it, to outright hunger for it themselves.

It is terrifying to realize how much of American political life was governed by the fact that when someone said, “You can’t do that,” the people stopped wanting to do whatever that was. But once someone demonstrated that you can, in fact, do that, the people quickly developed a taste for abomination.

---

There does not seem to be a limiting principle on Trump’s mobilization of the guard, either morally, practically, or legally.

The law gives the president extraordinarily broad powers to mobilize the National Guard because the twin assumptions have always been that (a) no president would want to deploy the military against American citizens and (b) if such a depraved individual did come to power, the public would swiftly repudiate him.

Both of those assumptions have been exploded.

Now that this Rubicon has been crossed, I expect Trump will repeat it until this once-unthinkable act is no more onerous than stepping over a brook.

First Trump normalized the use of masked, unidentified secret police. Now he has normalized the mobilization of the military against civilians

---

3. Tanks​

​

The final piece will be Trump’s military parade on June 14. By now you have seen the video of hundreds of tanks arriving in Washington via flatcar.

If this scene strikes you as familiar, that’s because it is. You saw it four weeks ago when Vladimir Putin paraded tanks through Moscow to remind his countrymen of where power emanates from.

Or perhaps you remember it from North Korea’s big parade last year, which featured not just tanks but ICBMs, too.

An American president ordering materiel into the nation’s capital might be, on its own, a regrettable instance of jingoism run amok. In the current climate, there is no way to interpret it as anything other than a show of force.

And this show is meant to be noticed not by America’s enemies—such as Russia, China, and North Korea—but by Donald Trump’s enemies.

Which is to say: This parade is meant for domestic consumption. Peace through strength, as Mike Johnson put it this weekend. Except that the parties Trump means to deter are any Americans who might interfere with his rule.

Immigrants, of course. And activists. Journalists. Businessmen. Governors. Congress. Judges. Lawyers. Uppity oligarchs.

---

We are approaching the sum of all fears—a moment when the president of the United States directs the U.S. military to visit violence on American citizens, en masse. A moment when the presence of tanks in American cities is normalized. A moment when even a man with $400 billion of money armor is not safe.

And it’s all happening this week.

1
It is darkly funny that the oligarchs who sought to use their money to undermine liberalism did not understand that money only granted them power because of liberalism.
For a bunch of supposed geniuses, these men were catastrophically stupid.

The Most Dangerous Week in American History (So Far)

Emergency Triad: It’s happening here.

www.thebulwark.com

 

[IFocus]

Alan Kohler complies the events in the US and writes a damming critique of the risks to Australia given the state of lunacy unfolding in the US.

Definitely required reading..... unfortunately.

America's economic and political chaos has implications for Australia​

"Yesterday's decision to call in the National Guard to put down immigration protests in Los Angeles was equally gripping, but much more serious.

Californian governor Gavin Newsom called it "purposefully inflammatory", which looks spot on. Remember Trump's use of emergency declarations to impose tariffs. Meanwhile, tanks were rolling into Washington DC ahead of the big autocracy-esque military parade on June 14, which happens to be the president's birthday.

America has become a bewildering blend of the ridiculous and the deadly serious, and the implications of this for Australia are profound."

"That 1,038-page bill with its ludicrous official title, and all sorts of unrelated things thrown in so it would be hard for Congress to reject each bit, was an earlier sign that the United States has become a bit of a joke and not a serious country anymore."

The United States has proven itself an incomprehensible and unreliable ally

We've done quite well maintaining a wary, non-trusting trade relationship with China. We need the same with the United States.

www.abc.net.au

 

[finicky]

THe correct attitude

 

[Dona Ferentes]

."

"That 1,038-page bill with its ludicrous official title, and all sorts of unrelated things thrown in so it would be hard for Congress to reject each bit, was an earlier sign that the United States has become a bit of a joke and not a serious country anymore."

hardly new ... called an Omnibus Bill

a wikisnippet :

In the United States, omnibus bills are sometimes known as "Big Ugly" bills.Examples include reconciliation bills, combined appropriations bills, and private relief and claims bills.

Appropriations legislation​

Main article: Omnibus spending bill
Omnibus legislation is routinely used by the United States Congress to group together the budgets of all departments in one year in an omnibus spending bill. For example, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 was designed to help reduce the federal deficit by approximately $496 billion over five years through restructuring of the tax code.

Historical examples​

During the 19th century, there were three notable omnibus bills in the US....

etc etc

 

[basilio]

hardly new ... called an Omnibus Bill

a wikisnippet :

In the United States, omnibus bills are sometimes known as "Big Ugly" bills.Examples include reconciliation bills, combined appropriations bills, and private relief and claims bills.

Appropriations legislation​

Main article: Omnibus spending bill
Omnibus legislation is routinely used by the United States Congress to group together the budgets of all departments in one year in an omnibus spending bill. For example, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 was designed to help reduce the federal deficit by approximately $496 billion over five years through restructuring of the tax code.

Historical examples​

During the 19th century, there were three notable omnibus bills in the US....

etc etc

Yep Omnibus bills are not unknown. And one can add all sorts of things to a bill to get them through.

In this case the extra "things" are poison pills that if passed into law will have quite devastating effects. The two that spring to mind are

1) Crippling Courts from taking action on enforcing Contempt of Court orders. Essentially that mean Court decisions can be safely ignored with no impact on Administration officials or the government. There goes the last bulwark of the Rule of law.

2) Stopping all State from having any influence on AI development fro 10 years. WOW ! That is a HUGE call and not one that should have been sneaked into this Bill.