What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Syt]

Bets be careful when planning road trips and the likes.

https://nypost.com/2025/04/21/us-news/german-teens-traveling-to-us-jailed-and-deported-over-loosely-planned-vacation-being-found-suspicious/

German teens traveling to US jailed and booted after loosely planned vacation deemed 'suspicious'

Two German teenagers planning to explore the US on vacation were thrown in jail and then booted from the country after Customs and Border Protection found their loosely planned trip "suspicious."

Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on March 18, with plans to travel around the islands for five weeks before heading to California and then Costa Rica after their high school graduation, according to the German outlet Ostsee Zeitung.

However, the teens made the mistake of not booking their accommodations for the entire duration of their stay in Hawaii, which raised a red flag for US Customs and Border Protection, despite both of them having obtained an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

"They found it suspicious that we hadn't fully booked our accommodations for the entire five weeks in Hawaii," Pohl told the outlet.

What was supposed to be a fun, lengthy expedition quickly turned into a nightmare.

The teens said they were questioned at Honolulu Airport for hours before they were allegedly subjected to full-body scans and strip searches, according to the outlet.

They were then given green prison uniforms and placed in a holding cell with long-term detainees, some of whom were reportedly accused of serious crimes.

The young travelers said they allegedly had to sleep on thin, moldy mattresses and were warned by guards to avoid expired food.

The next morning, the teens were told they were being booted from the country and taken back to Honolulu Airport, where they requested to be sent to Japan.

The German Foreign Office informed the outlet that it was involved in Pohl and Lepere's case and provided consular support following their experience.

The office also stated that what happened to the girls should serve as a reminder to travelers that having an ESTA — which allows citizens of certain countries to travel to the US without a visa for short stays — does not guarantee entry into the United States. The decision to allow travelers into the US is always left to the discretion of CBP agents.

There has been a significant decrease in European travelers visiting the States over the past few months, despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio's efforts to ease concerns among foreigners wanting to travel to America.

"I would say that if you're not coming to the United States to join a Hamas protest or to come here and tell us about how right Hamas is or to tell us about — stir up conflict on our campuses and create riots in our street and vandalize our universities, then you have nothing to worry about," Rubio said earlier this month.

The German travelers are not the only foreigners detained and then kicked out while trying to enter the US over recent months.

In March, former Canadian actress Jasmine Mooney said she was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the southern border while trying to obtain a work visa after her previous one was revoked in November.

Mooney, 35, claimed she was nabbed at the San Ysidro border between Mexico and San Diego on March 3 and held in "inhumane" conditions for 12 days before being released.

The former actress described being kept in a cold room for three days at the world's busiest land border before she was arrested by ICE and thrown into San Diego's Otay Mesa Detention Center.

"I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days," Mooney said.

Mooney, a co-founder of the health-focused tonic drink brand Holy! Water, said she went to the southern border — where she obtained her first work visa — on the advice of her lawyer, and came prepared with a new job offer and her visa paperwork in hand.

[Solmyr]

I was hoping to visit New York at some point, but I guess I won't be doing so.

[Duque de Bragança]

I wonder if he's going to come after trans fats next?

If only. 

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Wait till he figures out that a lot of legacy government code is Fortran.

If he and his cronies really are trying to privatize the government, that will all probably be replaced by JavaShit in a few years anyway.

[HVC]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI9JQLvOrt2

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Found a site that purports to track resistance and capitulation to the Trump administration by institutions.

[crazy canuck]

I think that is useful to let institutions who are resisting know they are not alone.

[viper37]

US Treasury secretary says trade war with China is not 'sustainable'

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday speech that the ongoing tariffs showdown against China is unsustainable and he expects a "de-escalation" in the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

But in a private speech in Washington for JPMorgan Chase, Bessent also cautioned that talks between the United States and China had yet to formally start. U.S. President Donald Trump placed import taxes of 145% on China, which has countered with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods. Trump has placed tariffs on several dozen countries, causing the stock market to stumble and interest rates to increase on U.S. debt as investors worry about slower economic growth and higher inflationary pressures.
Details of the speech were confirmed by two people familiar with the remarks who insisted on anonymity to discuss them.



"I do say China is going to be a slog in terms of the negotiations," Bessent said according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press. "Neither side thinks the status quo is sustainable."

Oh that's nice.  Send the stock market tumbling, then realize you had no fucking idea what you were doing.

That last thing is just him talking to his boss, trying not to hurt his feelings.  China has sent an big fuck you to Trump so far.  Trump wants to meet Xi personally to negotiate.  Xi answers was to basically fuck off and meet the underlings first.

[Valmy]

Xi will never meet with Trump after he saw what he did to Zelensky. The Chinese have no interest in being disrespected and being made a spectacle.

[HVC]

Xi will never meet with Trump after he saw what he did to Zelensky. The Chinese have no interest in being disrespected and being made a spectacle.

Trump might actually bend to Xi. Bullies don't react well to be stood up against.

[Valmy]

On one hand the economy is on the verge of disaster...on the other hand the economy collapsing might be all that might save us from Trump's fascist policies.

Very mixed feelings about Trump reversing his disastrous China policy.

But we'll see.

[Valmy]

I was hoping to visit New York at some point, but I guess I won't be doing so.

Don't.

At least not now. Don't do anything to help this regime.

[grumbler]

I was hoping to visit New York at some point, but I guess I won't be doing so.

Not in the next four years. There may be only a five percent chance of ending up i8n jail or even prison (though likely not an El Salvadorian prison), but why take a chance?  The US is no longer a land of law.

[frunk]

The US is choosing to destroy its economy and alienate its allies, why would China want us to stop?

[The Minsky Moment]

Leading stories today indicate capitulation by Trump on all major economic fronts:
1) Trump backed off firing Powell
2) Bessent and Trump both made statements about de-escalating the China trade war
3) Elon said he would be cutting DOGE work and focusing more on Tesla.

S&P up 2.5% on the day; still well below "Liberation Day" and far below the Feb Trump Bump high.