What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Razgovory]

"I HAVE NO IDEA HOW BRIGHT HE IS": TRUMP HIRES PERPETUALLY WRONG TV PUNDIT TO RUN THE ECONOMY

Larry Kudlow, come on down.

BY BESS LEVIN
MARCH 14, 2018 6:25 PM

In the ongoing joke that is the Trump administration, where the press secretary is fielding questions about an alleged affair with a porn star, the secretary of state is getting fired via social media, the secretary of education is flunking quizzes on national television, and the boss is spending his days getting into one-sided Twitter feuds with everyone from members of his own party to professional athletes to the Academy, it's tough to come out looking more ridiculous than the day or hour prior. If the last year has taught us anything, however, it's that this group of people always rises to the occasion. And on Wednesday, they outdid themselves, hiring a Reaganite TV economist who blew the financial crisis—along with virtually every other call he ever made—as the president's top economic adviser.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump has definitively asked Larry Kudlow to replace Gary Cohn as National Economic Council director, and Kudlow has accepted. The White House confirmed the report on Wednesday afternoon, and a formal announcement is expected on Thursday. In Kudlow, Trump apparently saw a track record that was too good to pass up, what with Kudlow's time in the Reagan administration espousing trickle-down economic theories that have never once worked; his years at Bear Stearns when he allegedly had a $100,000-a-month cocaine habit and was eventually forced to resign (he reportedly gave up drugs not long after); and his time hosting The Kudlow Report on CNBC, during which he published blog posts with predictions like, "I'm going to bet the economy will be rebounding sometime this summer, if not sooner," just months before the global financial crisis. For a president who apparently gets his national security news not from daily briefings but from the gang at Fox & Friends, Kudlow is the perfect guy to dole out economic advice.

Paul Krugman
✔
@paulkrugman
OK, so it's Kudlow for top economic adviser. At least he's reliable -- that is, he's reliably wrong about everything. We all make mistakes, but if Kudlow says it, you know it won't happen http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2018/03/larry-kudlow-is-usually-wrong.html ...

David Rothkopf
✔
@djrothkopf
Only a president who views everything through the lens of TV could think Larry Kudlow was suitable to be National Economic Advisor.  Because he's not an economist in any sense of the word, he just plays one on television.  Fake experts for fake advisory roles.  Trumptopia.

1:58 AM - Mar 15, 2018

Wall Street, however, isn't sold. As my colleague Bill Cohan, a former investment banker, told me, "While I respect Larry for his political and economic insights, I would have preferred if Trump had chosen someone less wed to the ideas of trickle down economics. I am old enough to remember that that didn't work the first time a President listened to Larry 35 years ago." Even people who like Kudlow have their doubts. "Larry is a very congenial guy, he's a gentleman," said Westwood Capital Managing Partner Daniel Alpert. "But I go back to my time in the middle of the crisis, when we were on TV together quite a lot, and he's really a virulent Tea Partier who believes the government has absolutely no place in the economy. I like him personally . . . but he's really horribly opposed to government influence of any sort."

Earlier this year, Kudlow actually sounded momentarily sane when he came out against the president's tariff plan. But it appears that Trump has already begun to beat that urge out of him, telling reporters yesterday that Kudlow "has come around to believing in tariffs." Nevertheless, some on Wall Street are apparently looking on the bright side. "People here think it's good news that he loves capitalism and corporations and profitability," a senior executive at a large investment bank told me. "He knows that business isn't evil." That said, "I have no idea how bright he is or if he has good predictive skills."

Seeing as he got such a great reaction when he announced plans to slap steel and aluminum imports with 25 percent and 10 percent import tariffs respectively, Trump is now apparently considering imposing tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports, going after the technology and telecommunications sectors in particular. According to CNBC, penalties could also include restrictions on investments and visas for Chinese travelers. In an interview this afternoon, Larry Kudlow said he believed a tougher approach toward China was warranted, just before the Dow closed, down 248.91 points, with the S&P 500 dropping to 2,749.48.

Bess Levin quotes David Rothkopf and Paul Krugman that replacing Garry Cohn with Larry Kudlow is a bad idea.  That's an awfully Jewish article.

[HVC]

Mueller subpoenas Trump Organization.


https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/15/politics/robert-mueller-donald-trump-organization-russia/index.html

[Kleves]

McMaster is out. Are there any adults left in the administration?

President Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, according to five people with knowledge of the plans, preparing to deliver yet another jolt to the senior ranks of his administration.

Trump is now comfortable with ousting McMaster, with whom he never personally gelled, but is willing to take time executing the move because he wants to ensure both that the three-star Army general is not humiliated and that there is a strong successor lined up, these people said.

The turbulence is part of a broader potential shake-up under consideration by Trump that is likely to include senior officials at the White House, where staffers are gripped by fear and un­certainty as they await the next move from an impulsive president who enjoys stoking conflict.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-decides-to-remove-national-security-adviser-and-others-may-follow/ar-BBKh907?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=ientp

[Razgovory]

Trump admitted to lying to Trudeau.

[11B4V]

McMaster is out. Are there any adults left in the administration?

President Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, according to five people with knowledge of the plans, preparing to deliver yet another jolt to the senior ranks of his administration.

Trump is now comfortable with ousting McMaster, with whom he never personally gelled, but is willing to take time executing the move because he wants to ensure both that the three-star Army general is not humiliated and that there is a strong successor lined up, these people said.

The turbulence is part of a broader potential shake-up under consideration by Trump that is likely to include senior officials at the White House, where staffers are gripped by fear and un­certainty as they await the next move from an impulsive president who enjoys stoking conflict.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-decides-to-remove-national-security-adviser-and-others-may-follow/ar-BBKh907?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=ientp

Mattis will follow

[Ed Anger]

Trump admitted to lying to Trudeau.

Nothing of value was lost.

[HVC]

Trump admitted to lying to Trudeau.

Ivanka must be so disappointed. She has a huge crush on Trudeau

[Ed Anger]

McMaster is out. Are there any adults left in the administration?

President Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, according to five people with knowledge of the plans, preparing to deliver yet another jolt to the senior ranks of his administration.

Trump is now comfortable with ousting McMaster, with whom he never personally gelled, but is willing to take time executing the move because he wants to ensure both that the three-star Army general is not humiliated and that there is a strong successor lined up, these people said.

The turbulence is part of a broader potential shake-up under consideration by Trump that is likely to include senior officials at the White House, where staffers are gripped by fear and un­certainty as they await the next move from an impulsive president who enjoys stoking conflict.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-decides-to-remove-national-security-adviser-and-others-may-follow/ar-BBKh907?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=ientp

Mattis will follow

Your next NSA:

[11B4V]

We're doomed.

[Admiral Yi]

I think Mattis has a good chance of sticking around because there are fewer chances for the Secretary of Defense to disagree with the president over policy.  Or dumabass presidential whims. 

Course he could always bail if he gets tired of being associated with a buffoon.

[jimmy olsen]

Lol
https://twitter.com/tomgara/status/974409796211367936?s=20

tfw your debt collectors have spent years trying to locate a con artist who owes you an $800,000 court judgement but then he surfaces as a senior advisor to a cabinet secretary.

[The Minsky Moment]

Brad DeLong on the Kudlow appointment:

The right way to view this appointment is, I think, as if Donald Trump were to name William Shatner to command the Navy's 7th Fleet.

[Eddie Teach]

Has Kudlow passed the Kobayashi Maru test?

[saskganesh]

Bolton won't be hired because mustache. Trump hates those.

[crazy canuck]

We're doomed.

You knew that on page 1 of this thread.