The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Atocep]

It sounds like we've reached a peace deal with a country we were never at war with and an agreement to reopen the straight that was open before we didn't go to war with said country and they're going to continue to negotiate on an agreement to give up their highly enriched uranium that they had given up under the agreement Trump previously canceled.

[Thomkal]

Sounds like winning to me?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Atocep

It sounds like we've reached a peace deal with a country we were never at war with and an agreement to reopen the straight that was open before we didn't go to war with said country and they're going to continue to negotiate on an agreement to give up their highly enriched uranium that they had given up under the agreement Trump previously canceled.

Seems like Israel stepped in and is killing it. Surprise!

[Thomkal]

Judge orders Trump's name to be removed from the Kennedy Center-only Congress can declare that, and to stop whatever those sure to be horrible renovations he was planning,

[miami_fan]

The image of Peter Thiel looking around the U.S., seeing a lot of the things he advocated for come to fruition under an administration he helped put in place, then moving his family to Argentina because he is concerned with the current direction of the country is a helluva of a movie scene.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Judge orders Trump's name to be removed from the Kennedy Center-only Congress can declare that, and to stop whatever those sure to be horrible renovations he was planning,

Surprisingly doesn't look like Trump is going to fight for this. Long insane post about how nobody but him could have the vision he had for the Kennedy (Never again Trump) Center and therefore it will now suck and he washes his hands of it. (for now)

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Surprisingly doesn't look like Trump is going to fight for this. Long insane post about how nobody but him could have the vision he had for the Kennedy (Never again Trump) Center and therefore it will now suck and he washes his hands of it. (for now)

It just allows for the Trump version of the Lost Cause Myth in the futre. The United Daughters of MAGA will be force in getting his name and image all over the country. There might even be a carving of his likeness in Stone Mountain if he is lucky.

[JPhillips]

Trump now saying he's just going to hold a rally instead of having artists for Freedom 250. Great way to show it was a MAGA event all along.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Trump now saying he's just going to hold a rally instead of having artists for Freedom 250. Great way to show it was a MAGA event all along.

That whole thing so frustrating when you consider there was a bipartisan comitee that worked on the celebration for ten years, just to have Trump gut it for his own glorification. I am old enough to remember the bicentennial and how big those events were. It is sad we are missing out on that.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

That whole thing so frustrating when you consider there was a bipartisan comitee that worked on the celebration for ten years, just to have Trump gut it for his own glorification. I am old enough to remember the bicentennial and how big those events were. It is sad we are missing out on that.

What's funny is MAGA getting all butt hurt when these artists backed out because they signed on under false pretense.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

What's funny is MAGA getting all butt hurt when these artists backed out because they signed on under false pretense.

Assuming that the artists signed on within the last two years, I would argue that it was not under false pretense at all. At best, they were hoping for the inevitable not to happen. We are in a place of either you are totally in with the current administration or you are all out whether you like it or not. Everyone can have their opinion on who deserves what percentage of the blame for the current state. There is no doubt that the president is going to make sure that participation in these activities are and should be seen as acts of fealty to him. We saw this with the conventions before the last election. We saw this with the inauguration. We saw this with the Super Bowl halftime show and so many other events. I am not saying that Milli Vanilli or Vanilla Ice are MAGA or were not doing the concert series for patriotic reasons. I am saying that they and the other artists were going to be seen as supporting the policies of the current administration most likely by members of the current administration.

[JPhillips]

It was sold to the artists as a bipartisan event, but then they found out it was a MAGA event.

I think Trump would have preferred it to be a big concert for his glorification, but if he can't have that, he's still the center of attention, and that's the main thing.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

It was sold to the artists as a bipartisan event, but then they found out it was a MAGA event.

I think Trump would have preferred it to be a big concert for his glorification, but if he can't have that, he's still the center of attention, and that's the main thing.

Because Trump has been a big salesman for bipartisanship and bipartisan events right?

The artists are free to believe whatever they want to believe. Personally, I don't have an issue with them performing at Freedom 250. It should be a celebration of the nation. It should not be seen as an endorsement for political policies or politicians. It can be and if the artists want to express that, that is on them. The reverse is also true. However as of May 31, 2026, we have enough evidence that says that is not possible with the current administration. Maybe it will change in the future. But we are now almost six years in under a Trump presidency and almost two years under his second term. We know what this is. The artists know what this is. Any shock that performing at such an event is seen as being partisan is ignorance at best until evidence to the contrary is presented. I don't think it is a coincidence that in every article about the event, it was mentioned that the artists who have remained were long time supporters of the President.

For those of us who grew up reading and watching Peanuts content, at some point we stopped talking about how mean Lucy was for pulling the football away every time Charlie Brown tried to kick it and started talking about what a fool Charlie Brown was for keep trying to kick the football.

[JPhillips]

But the artists weren't approached directly and the event wasn't sold to the agents as connected to Trump. There have been 4th of July concerts for decades that attract all sorts of artists regardless of politics and there has been no blowback. There was no reason for an artist to dig into things if their agent came to them with the opportunity and assured them it was a good fit. Martina McBride isn't researching every venue that offers her a job, that's why she has management.

Now if you want to say management should have looked into this more, fine, but I suspect that's why it was full of c-listers to begin with. I doubt Morris Day is working with the industry's best.

[Atocep]

April economic revisions: Inflation revised from 3.6 to 3.8, consumer spending from 1.6 to 1.4, and GDP from 2.0 to 1.6.

I remember this was a scandal when the Biden administration revised numbers.

Also, is there a worse person for trying to sell this economy to the American people than Kevin Hassett? Good fucking god the man is out of touch every time he opens his mouth. He insists mainstream media is the reason people are concerned about gas prices and the economy because they're actually doing pretty well.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

But the artists weren't approached directly and the event wasn't sold to the agents as connected to Trump. There have been 4th of July concerts for decades that attract all sorts of artists regardless of politics and there has been no blowback. There was no reason for an artist to dig into things if their agent came to them with the opportunity and assured them it was a good fit. Martina McBride isn't researching every venue that offers her a job, that's why she has management.

Now if you want to say management should have looked into this more, fine, but I suspect that's why it was full of c-listers to begin with. I doubt Morris Day is working with the industry's best.

Everything you mentioned in the first paragraph WAS true. Again the standard has changed. The politics of the artist does matter now. The politics of the politician (in this case) the event is attached to does matter. In fact, as I researched the story today, this became even more clear.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...cel-rcna347573

One of them, America250, is the nonprofit supporting the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which was established 10 years ago through an act of Congress and is led by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and private citizens. The other, Freedom 250, was established by the Trump administration as a public-private partnership by which to fund and plan events celebrating this summer’s historic anniversary.

Do I have sympathy for any artist and/or their management that thought they were signing up for America250 only to find out that they were signing up for Freedom 250? Sure

However, given that no one is surprised that the current administration would create a separate organization to put on "nonpartisan" events like the totally nonpartisan "Rededicate 250,” that featured Trump administration officials, conservative Christian leaders and musicians that organizers billed it as a chance to “solemnly rededicate our country as One Nation Under God.”, it might benefit artists and/or their management to do a bit of research to make sure they are not being connected with groups they don't want to be connected with.

[PilotMan]

The Project 2025 program that trump called 'very extreme' has seen more than 50% of its plan implemented within 17 months during his presidency. But he totally has no idea who is involved with it or has anything to do with it.

[Atocep]

Trump also said that they've barely touched the Iran military after claiming multiple times it was completely wiped out.

[Lathum]

Trump listing head of federal housing as acting director of national intelligence. He has zero experience in the intelligence community but he went after a bunch of Trumps enemies for mortgage fraud, so I guess that's enough.

[JPhillips]

I'm just glad he's hired on merit and not some DEI pick.

[Ghost Econ]

What, is that the moron who posts on twitter 24/7 and only ever had a job because he inherited his parent's business? Like 2 years ago his only actually job seemed to be giving away $1k every few weeks to pretend he's philanthropic. He literally called me dumb last year because I pointed out something he posted was incorrect and I got upvoted enough for him to notice.

What a fucking loser.

Also, I assume now I'll be investigated by the NSA at some point.

[Atocep]

Michael Flynn is registered as a foreign agent for the Republic of Srpska and getting paid 100k per month. This was Trump's national security advisor and a guy we paid over a million for wrongful prosecution.

[JPhillips]

I think this is real. Click through for the video. For some reason it won't let me copy the embed info.

the current director of national intelligence is a guy who two years ago received a trophy declaring he “Fucks Only The Young” at an (oddly dildo focused) event he organized dedicated to the conspiracy that Bed Bath and Beyond never actually went bankrupt

https://x.com/parismartineau/status/2061865805818548270

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

What, is that the moron who posts on twitter 24/7 and only ever had a job because he inherited his parent's business? Like 2 years ago his only actually job seemed to be giving away $1k every few weeks to pretend he's philanthropic. He literally called me dumb last year because I pointed out something he posted was incorrect and I got upvoted enough for him to notice.

What a fucking loser.

Also, I assume now I'll be investigated by the NSA at some point.

As if you aren't already on the list.

[Passacaglia]

the current director of national intelligence is a guy who two years ago received a trophy declaring he “Fucks Only The Young” at an (oddly dildo focused) event he organized dedicated to the conspiracy that Bed Bath and Beyond never actually went bankrupt

It's a sign of the times that the part of this that I feel the need to learn more about is that people believe Bed Bath and Beyond never actually went bankrupt. I can't find any information about why that is - does anyone else know?

[JPhillips]

Pulte was apparently big into meme stocks. I guess there is(was?) a theory that the BBB shares were still available and could be turned into the next Gamestop run.

[RainMaker]

It was during the meme stock craze. Ryan Cohen became a bit of a celebrity in that circle and there was a cult that formed around him when he bought into Bed Bath & Beyond. They thought it would be the new Gamestop. Once the idiots bought up stock, he sold out from under them for a nice profit.

They were so deep in the cult that they refused to believe that he would sell. They thought the bankruptcy filing was a way to trick people into not buying anymore. That this was all a bunch of misinformation to help short sellers. They are all incredibly dumb people who lost a lot of money.

[RainMaker]

This is pretty insane if it happens. With how toxic giving weapons to Israel has gotten for politicians, the new workaround is to let the Secretary of Defense decide how much to give with zero oversight and zero reporting to the public. So they can decide to give whatever of the $1.5 trillion budget away and you'll never know. Netanyahu came out in support and called it his plan.

Mainstream press can't report on it but military news publications are for now.

https://www.military.com/2027-ndaa-p...ch-integration