What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[HisMajestyBOB]

I had no idea the President could just order us what to call things. I guess I thought Congress had to be involved somehow.

If you want to stay in His Majesty's good graces, then you need to call things by whatever name His Grace deems appropriate.

[viper37]

Trump is really pushing for Taiwan to be annexed by China and lose their edged in advanced military power.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/trump-to-tariff-chips-made-in-taiwan-targeting-tsmc

[The Minsky Moment]

I had no idea the President could just order us what to call things. I guess I thought Congress had to be involved somehow.

This gets to Yi's point. Congress did legislate on this issue; they establish a Board of Geographic Names which brings together representatives from agencies and is supposed to make recommendations in a non-political way.  However, the ultimate power of decision is given to the Secretary of the Interior. Congress no doubt assumed that the Secretary would defer to the Board.  But no assumption is safe in Trump land.  As I read it, if the Secretary wants to rename Delaware Bay to Let's Go Brandon Bay, there's nothing to stop him from doing so.

The next question is why Google, a company that operates worldwide, would automatically adhere to the U.S. Geographic Names System as opposed to internationally accepted usage.

[Barrister]

Trump is really pushing for Taiwan to be annexed by China and lose their edged in advanced military power.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/trump-to-tariff-chips-made-in-taiwan-targeting-tsmc

So like many things, Trump is a little bit right, but mostly wrong.

Having so many of the world's computer chips manufactured in Taiwan  is a security concern for the US and the rest of the world, given the threat of invasion Taiwan is constantly under.

But Trump is hardly alone in realizing that - thats why Biden pushed for the CHIPS Act - to expand US production.

But yet again he shows that all he knows these days is "tariffs".  Putting tariffs on Taiwan could certainly be seen as a lack of support for Taiwan, which could encourage PRC military adventurism and thus increase, not decrease, the very security concern I just mentioned.

[Syt]

The next question is why Google, a company that operates worldwide, would automatically adhere to the U.S. Geographic Names System as opposed to internationally accepted usage.

They might show info depending on your IP. My Indian co-worker says he gets different borders for India when he's in India, instead of the multitude of dotted lines in disputed territories between India/Pakistan or India/PRC we get here.

[The Minsky Moment]

The way that Congress has operated since the 1930s when legislating in a significant area is to pass a law that sets forth broad principles and priorities but then delegates the details to the Executive Branch.  There are obvious practical advantages to proceeding in this way.  But there have always been critics - mostly conservative - that sees this as an abdication of Congress' constitutional responsibility and as the original sin that sparked the growth of the administrative state.

What we may see in Trump II are people on the left rallying to this critique, not from the perspective of seeking to control the size and influence of government, but as a check on the unreasonable and dictatorial exercise of Presidential power.

[Barrister]

The next question is why Google, a company that operates worldwide, would automatically adhere to the U.S. Geographic Names System as opposed to internationally accepted usage.

You can see what they're doing though.

They don't want to get on the bad side of Trump (or MAGA), and clearly refusing to call it "Gulf of America" would clearly do so.  So instead they're using both terms.

I just checked - if yo go to the Middle East, the big gulf inbetween Saudi Arabia and Iran is labeled "Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf)".  In Northern Ireland you find Londonderry, with Derry written beneath it (no brackets).

Gulf of Mexico remains unchanged, at least for today.

[grumbler]

I had no idea the President could just order us what to call things. I guess I thought Congress had to be involved somehow.

Renaming things is a popular presidential activity.

[Valmy]

I had no idea the President could just order us what to call things. I guess I thought Congress had to be involved somehow.

Renaming things is a popular presidential activity.

Sure but the Gulf of Mexico isn't even something within our borders. Can he declare Germany is now Beerland or something?

Or can he force New York to be the state of Trumpistan?

[grumbler]

Sure but the Gulf of Mexico isn't even something within our borders. Can he declare Germany is now Beerland or something?

A fair chunk of the Gulf of Mexico lies within US territorial waters and EEZ.

But can the President require all US official documents to call Deutschland "Beerland" (or even "Deutschland")?" I believe that he can.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Both Trump administrations have been very educational about the extent of the president's powers.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid this term will see the full realization that the true limit on the President's powers is simply what the rest of government lets him get away with.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

The next question is why Google, a company that operates worldwide, would automatically adhere to the U.S. Geographic Names System as opposed to internationally accepted usage.

You can see what they're doing though.

They don't want to get on the bad side of Trump (or MAGA), and clearly refusing to call it "Gulf of America" would clearly do so.  So instead they're using both terms.

I just checked - if yo go to the Middle East, the big gulf inbetween Saudi Arabia and Iran is labeled "Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf)".  In Northern Ireland you find Londonderry, with Derry written beneath it (no brackets).

Gulf of Mexico remains unchanged, at least for today.

Yeah, Google has long had a policy of localizing map names and showing alternate names for the same location or feature.  If Google is going to do this, then the names for a given locality should correspond to what that locality's official naming body (if one exists) says.  I'm assuming for non-Americans the Gulf of Mexico will be presented as "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)".

[Barrister]

The way that Congress has operated since the 1930s when legislating in a significant area is to pass a law that sets forth broad principles and priorities but then delegates the details to the Executive Branch.  There are obvious practical advantages to proceeding in this way.  But there have always been critics - mostly conservative - that sees this as an abdication of Congress' constitutional responsibility and as the original sin that sparked the growth of the administrative state.

What we may see in Trump II are people on the left rallying to this critique, not from the perspective of seeking to control the size and influence of government, but as a check on the unreasonable and dictatorial exercise of Presidential power.

I feel like the administrative state is a big chunk of the problem, but not the entire story.


As I understand it, there are numerous powers that Congress has given to the President in case of "emergency".  Which again is understandable - in an emergency you don't have time for Congress to sit around and act.  We saw this in full effect during the pandemic (and of course this is now the one area where I believe congress may act to limit the President's emergency powers - sigh).

Trump of course has discovered there's no real check on declaring an emergency, or what constitutes an emergency, so he can unlock those powers just by saying so.


The other one, potentially even scarier, is the President's war powers as Commander in Chief.  Other Presidents have figuratively declared things like "War on Poverty" or "War on Drugs" - but if Trump literally treats illegal immigrants as enemy aliens and says the US is under invasion he can use the military seemingly without limit.

[viper37]

It would seem Americans have lost their Medicaid as of yesterday night:
https://bsky.app/profile/wyden.senate.gov/post/3lgt2ng5xms2o

The portals are down in all 50 States, given the funding freeze.

[viper37]

And the real reason why the GOP does not want any immigrant in the country:
Republican congressman suggests some children receiving free school lunches should work at McDonald's instead