What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Josquius]

Come on army. Defend the constitution.

[grumbler]

I loved that he felt the need to paraphrase Vegetius to fucking general officers.

I think that he single-handedly reduced the chances of the military supporting a coup by 98%

[garbon]

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5534532-poll-shutdown-trump-republicans-blame/

More Americans blame Trump, Republicans for shutdown than Democrats: Survey

Close to half of Americans blame President Trump and Republicans for the current government shutdown, according to a new poll.

In the poll from The Washington Post, 47 percent of respondents said "Trump and Republicans in Congress" are "mainly responsible for the federal government partially shutting down," while 30 percent pinned the blame on "Democrats in Congress" for the shutdown.

In the survey, 66 percent of respondents said they are either "very" or "somewhat" concerned over the shutdown, while 34 percent said they are "not too" or "not at all" concerned.

The Post poll took place Wednesday, featuring 1,010 people and a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

The federal government formally went into a shutdown at 12:01 a.m. EDT Wednesday in the wake of congressional leaders being unable to come to a deal over a stopgap spending bill, leaving lawmakers struggling over how to move forward.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday evening he had not heard from the White House since a sit-down with Trump and other congressional leaders.

"We haven't heard from the White House since the White House meeting on Monday. The president has been behaving, you know, somewhat erratically and in [an] unconventional fashion in the context of the government shutting down," Jeffries told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead."

"Clearly, they wanted to shut the government down, unfortunately," he added. "We're ready to work together to bring it back open, but to do it in a way where we enact a spending agreement that's bipartisan, that meets the needs of the American people, while at the same time addresses the Republican health care crisis that is devastating everyday Americans all across the country."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill, "I think there are a lot of Democrat people who are looking for a way out. They want an off-ramp here.

"There's a good amount of outreach going on and conversations being held. We'll see where it goes."

[HVC]

Who do the other 23% blame?

[garbon]

Who do the other 23% blame?

You.

[Jacob]

I think that he single-handedly reduced the chances of the military supporting a coup by 98%

Good to hear.

I hope the senior leadership are taking notes and (considered) actions to increase the resilience of the forces against anti-democratic subversion.

Though, I'm sure elements of the MAGA leadership recognize that it is a long term project to get the military to back (or at least not move against) a potential coup.

[Jacob]

"The Republican health care crisis" seems on point.

[The Minsky Moment]

The more serious concern is that in the midst of what is arguably a revolution in military affairs, with implications for US tactics, operations, strategy, force structure, etc., civilian leadership is completely asleep at the wheel, obsessing over trivialities.

[grumbler]

The more serious concern is that in the midst of what is arguably a revolution in military affairs, with implications for US tactics, operations, strategy, force structure, etc., civilian leadership is completely asleep at the wheel, obsessing over trivialities.

Building a battleship in the 21C would be revolutionary.

[Tonitrus]

I loved that he felt the need to paraphrase Vegetius to fucking general officers.

Name sounds woke. 

[HVC]

I loved that he felt the need to paraphrase Vegetius to fucking general officers.

Name sounds woke. 

Makes me think of

[The Minsky Moment]

The more serious concern is that in the midst of what is arguably a revolution in military affairs, with implications for US tactics, operations, strategy, force structure, etc., civilian leadership is completely asleep at the wheel, obsessing over trivialities.

Building a battleship in the 21C would be revolutionary.

Paying for it with money from an imaginary "tariff shelf" - even more so.

[Tonitrus]

This will surprise no one....

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/03/business/trump-coin-treasurer-250-anniversary

$1 Trump coin draft is 'real,' US Treasurer says



A portrait of President Donald Trump may be featured on a commemorative $1 coin issued by the United States Mint in honor of America's 250th birthday in 2026, according to first drafts of the images confirmed by the US Treasury.

"No fake news here," US Treasurer Brandon Beach post on X in response to images of the coin on X. "These first drafts honoring America's 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real. Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over."

[Syt]

https://apnews.com/article/trump-hegseth-venezuela-drug-cartels-unlawful-combatants-1848b02febe08acacb82979d7da47dfb

Hegseth announces latest strike on boat near Venezuela he says was trafficking drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that he ordered another strike on a small boat he accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, expanding what the Trump administration has declared is an "armed conflict" with cartels.

In a post on social media, Hegseth asserted that the "vessel was trafficking narcotics" and those aboard were "narco-terrorists." He said the strike killed four men but offered no details on who they were or what group they belonged to, following the U.S. designation of several Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

President Donald Trump said in his own social media post that the boat was "loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE" and implied it was "entering American Territory" while off the coast of Venezuela.

It is the fourth deadly strike in the Caribbean and the latest since revelations that Trump told lawmakers he was treating drug traffickers as unlawful combatants and military force was required to combat them. That assertion of presidential war powers sets the stage for expanded action and raises questions about how far the administration will go without sign-off from Congress.

"Blowing them up without knowing who's on the boat is a terrible policy, and it should end," said Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a consistent and harsh critic of the U.S. strikes.

The Trump administration laid out its justification for the strikes in a memo obtained by The Associated Press this week.


"The President determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations," according to the memo sent to Congress. Trump directed the Pentagon to "conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed conflict," the document says.

Sen. Jim Risch, Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the president had the authority to go after the cartels without further authorization from Congress under "his general powers under the Constitution as the commander in chief."

"What could be a bigger defense of this country than keeping out this poison that's killing thousands of Americans every year?" Risch said Friday.

Paul said only Congress has the authority to declare war and characterized the memo as "a way to pretend like" the administration is notifying lawmakers with a justification for the strikes.

"If they want to declare war, come to Congress and say they want to declare war," he told the AP. "But you can't just say it yourself and say, Oh, well, we sent them a note and now we're at war with unnamed people who we won't even identify before we kill."

Hours after Hegseth announced the latest strike, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the "warlike aggression" by the U.S. affects the greater Caribbean, not just Venezuela.

"We see it and feel it, as they murder our countries' citizens in summary extrajudicial executions," she said during a conference in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, focused on colonialism in the West.

Meanwhile, President Nicolás Maduro did not explicitly mention the strikes, but he told conference attendees that his country is ready to defend itself.

"Venezuela has the right to peace, to sovereignty, to existence, and no empire in this world can take it away," he said. "And if it is necessary to move from an unarmed struggle to an armed struggle, this people will do so. ... Colonialism no more."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist leader who has clashed with the Trump administration, accused the U.S. of committing "murder" and urged the victims' families to "join forces."

"There are no narco-terrorists on the boats," he posted on X after the strike was announced. "Drug traffickers live in the U.S., Europe and Dubai. On that boat are poor Caribbean youth."

Video of Friday's strike posted online showed a small boat moving in open water when it suddenly explodes, with water splashing all around it. As the smoke from the explosion clears, the boat is visible, consumed with flames, floating motionless on the water.

With it, at least three of the strikes have now been carried out on vessels that U.S. officials said had originated from Venezuela. The strikes followed a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean unlike any seen in recent times.

The Navy's presence in the region — eight warships with over 5,000 sailors and Marines — has been pretty stable for weeks, according to two defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations.

In a post about the first strike last month, Trump claimed the vessel was carrying members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Posts about all the subsequent strikes, including Friday's, have not provided any details about what organizations have been targeted. The four strikes have killed 21 people, the administration says.

Pentagon officials who briefed senators on the strikes this week could not provide a list of the designated terrorist organizations at the center of the conflict.

Officials in the Pentagon, when asked for more details about the strike, referred The Associated Press back to Hegseth's post.

[Sophie Scholl]

Sounds like the Pentagon wants absolutely nothing to do with this criminal bullshit.