The Trump Presidency - Part 2


I don’t usually smile at Trump troll posts as I generally don’t think he’s very funny (a lot of people do, for some reason), but this had me grinning from ear to ear out of sheer ridiculousness. What the feck is even going on.
 
I don’t usually smile at Trump troll posts as I generally don’t think he’s very funny (a lot of people do, for some reason), but this had me grinning from ear to ear out of sheer ridiculousness. What the feck is even going on.
I had got to the point that I thought nothing he said or did could surprise me and then there’s this! WTAF? This is a whole new level of batshittery even for him.
 
I don’t usually smile at Trump troll posts as I generally don’t think he’s very funny (a lot of people do, for some reason), but this had me grinning from ear to ear out of sheer ridiculousness. What the feck is even going on.

Free money and a cabin on a superyacht for everyone!
If this is a peek into the inner workings of Trump's brain then that is a scary place.
 
I don’t usually smile at Trump troll posts as I generally don’t think he’s very funny (a lot of people do, for some reason), but this had me grinning from ear to ear out of sheer ridiculousness. What the feck is even going on.
Looks like a GTA vice city trailer .

Also interesting how there aren’t any brown people there either.
 



The bar is so low. Using the fecking Oval Office to grift, advertising his shitty merchandise, throwing a cap at a reporter, telling the reporter to always say yes to anything Trump says or asks whilst making crude innuendo all on camera.

@Damien gotta keep the post count up, amirite? :lol:

Who's that snivelling "Always say yes to the President!" prick.
 
I don’t usually smile at Trump troll posts as I generally don’t think he’s very funny (a lot of people do, for some reason), but this had me grinning from ear to ear out of sheer ridiculousness. What the feck is even going on.
Not entirely sure he's trolling. Considering his love for both gold and himself, he might be serious about the statue.
 
A large number of novel drugs start as concepts in academic labs or academic screening centers. The researchers then either sell the IP directly to big pharma or spin out small companies to conduct further drug development and then partner with, or are acquired by, big pharma.

Those labs get the vast majority of their funding from NIH grants.

Big pharma doesn’t get government grants. I presume he’s talking about academic medical research. State funding for research done at universities or public hospitals.

I don’t pretend to know anything about that system, but I wouldn’t categorise academic research as “corporate handouts” so it seems like a goalpost shift from the original point anyway.
 
I don’t pretend to know anything about that system, but I wouldn’t categorise academic research as “corporate handouts” so it seems like a goalpost shift from the original point anyway.

It looks that way, yeah. And medical research is the only area I know about, personally. Governments invest in research which can end up monetised by corporations but corporations have to pay to use the IP developed by state funded research. Maybe that’s happening in other areas too? And perhaps that’s being interpreted as a “corporate handout”?

I don’t really understand what a “corporate handout” is anyway? Governments just giving away huge sums of money to corporations for nothing in return? Sounds unlikely. Any specific examples of this practice?
 
That AI Gaza video is fecking insane. What a deplorable freak he is.
 
What I find crazy is that with all the money that he is getting from other countries, tech bros, oil companies and others and grifting the markets with his decisions that probably gets him hundreds of millions of dollars, he does something so crass like petty marketing
Brcause he owes 100's of milions to banks
 
Big pharma doesn’t get government grants. I presume he’s talking about academic medical research. State funding for research done at universities or public hospitals.
Indeed I am though big pharma does get some, most of it goes to the places you mention
 
Indeed I am though big pharma does get some, most of it goes to the places you mention
With one big caveat, related to @Pogue Mahone post, that the federal government see almost NONE of the money that is spent on IP acquisitions of federal funded research. The universities get the lions share and the researchers less so (although this is negotiable). I have always wondered why the NIH never required a small percentage of all royalties/fees/etc. paid for government funded IP. They could self fund the grant system by doing so.
 
With one big caveat, related to @Pogue Mahone post, that the federal government see almost NONE of the money that is spent on IP acquisitions of federal funded research. The universities get the lions share and the researchers less so (although this is negotiable). I have always wondered why the NIH never required a small percentage of all royalties/fees/etc. paid for government funded IP. They could self fund the grant system by doing so.
I can't speak to that, my point was Government generally rather than specifically the US
 
Not sure if the "gold card" as part of the budget deal was discussed yet but holy feck can Trump's comments be even more concerning at this pt??

Asked whether a Russian oligarch might be eligible for a gold card, Mr. Trump seemed amused. “Yeah,” he replied. “Possibly.”

He added, “Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are nice people. It’s possible.”

Mr. Lutnick began to chuckle as Mr. Trump continued, “They’re not as wealthy as they used to be.” Starting to laugh himself, the president added, “I think they can afford five million dollars.”


He predicted that the gold card program would be a moneymaker for the government, reasoning that many companies would pay the $5 million fee to bring in skilled workers.

“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that,” Mr. Trump said. “If you add up the numbers, they’re pretty good.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/us/politics/trump-gold-card-immigration.html
 



The bar is so low. Using the fecking Oval Office to grift, advertising his shitty merchandise, throwing a cap at a reporter, telling the reporter to always say yes to anything Trump says or asks whilst making crude innuendo all on camera.

@Damien gotta keep the post count up, amirite? :lol:


That bootliker behind him that says "always say yes to the President".

People who work in and around him seem to enjoy debasing themselves.
 
I don’t usually smile at Trump troll posts as I generally don’t think he’s very funny (a lot of people do, for some reason), but this had me grinning from ear to ear out of sheer ridiculousness. What the feck is even going on.
Guess he didn't notice it has cross dressers in it. Unless women in that region have beards.
 
I don’t usually smile at Trump troll posts as I generally don’t think he’s very funny (a lot of people do, for some reason), but this had me grinning from ear to ear out of sheer ridiculousness. What the feck is even going on.
Best for someone to murder him if this is even half-serious. God won't mind.
 
It looks that way, yeah. And medical research is the only area I know about, personally. Governments invest in research which can end up monetised by corporations but corporations have to pay to use the IP developed by state funded research. Maybe that’s happening in other areas too? And perhaps that’s being interpreted as a “corporate handout”?

I don’t really understand what a “corporate handout” is anyway? Governments just giving away huge sums of money to corporations for nothing in return? Sounds unlikely. Any specific examples of this practice?

Government grants and subsidies, yes. “In return for nothing” is debatable, it’s often in return for things like where a company chooses to base a factory or offices or whatever, with the argument being it creates jobs or whatever other trickle down bullshit they’ll crow about whilst the CEO makes his billions.
 
Not sure if the "gold card" as part of the budget deal was discussed yet but holy feck can Trump's comments be even more concerning at this pt??

Asked whether a Russian oligarch might be eligible for a gold card, Mr. Trump seemed amused. “Yeah,” he replied. “Possibly.”

He added, “Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are nice people. It’s possible.”

Mr. Lutnick began to chuckle as Mr. Trump continued, “They’re not as wealthy as they used to be.” Starting to laugh himself, the president added, “I think they can afford five million dollars.”

He predicted that the gold card program would be a moneymaker for the government, reasoning that many companies would pay the $5 million fee to bring in skilled workers.

“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that,” Mr. Trump said. “If you add up the numbers, they’re pretty good.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/us/politics/trump-gold-card-immigration.html

What a load of bullshit. The same man that wants to end birthright citizenship also wants to let the richest people pay $5mil for a "gold card" and then a path to citizenship.

Is it for oligarchs or for US companies to bring in skilled workers?

There is a number of ways that US companies can bring in skilled workers already. This is how I came to move to the US.

Lets say a company does pay $5mil for your "gold card". What do you owe them in return? Lifelong employment for you and your kids?
Some US companies now want you to pay visa and legal fees associated with sponsorship should you leave within x number of years. A

Not sure about his maths either. According to this there are 8.4 mil people with a net worth of over $5bil..
https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2023/12/how-many-millionaires-are-there

I think it is safe to assume that half are already in America.

So how many of the 4.2mil with a net worth of $5mil, have $5mil to spend on a US Visa, or the desire to do so?
Not sure "“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that,”

As with every Trump policy, this is obviously driven by the last person who was in his ear.
 
Government grants and subsidies, yes. “In return for nothing” is debatable, it’s often in return for things like where a company chooses to base a factory or offices or whatever, with the argument being it creates jobs or whatever other trickle down bullshit they’ll crow about whilst the CEO makes his billions.
Whilst that's certainly true for subsidies, grants for research are not the same thing, the former is mostly an incentive to do as you describe, the latter is to fund something that likely doesn't happen at all otherwise
 
As with every Trump policy, this is obviously driven by the last person who was in his ear.
Or just an idea that popped in to his head and he just blurts it out without thinking about it. Or he's floating the idea to see what public support he would get if he brought it in. It's all about money and his approval ratings.

The idea is ridiculous for so many reasons but the main two are that people with that much money wouldn't need to buy a green card anyway and that the system is wide open to corruption.

Trump and co could profit from it themselves or even worse the cards could be purchased by the cartels or sex traffickers etc. Crime bosses around the world would be tickled pink thinking of numerous ways to use a system like that to their advantage.
 
It's still astounding that so many American's saw this loon as a better option than Kamala.
 


I think everyone saw this one coming. I honestly can't pretend to know how the Supreme Court will vote on it. They have done the right thing a few times on important issues over the last two terms, we can only hope they do the right thing againnif it gets to the courts.
 
Jaysus, first abortion banned in many states now this. Murica regressing at some speed.
Only one thing I hope for is that it will convince more skilled employees to want to live in states that align with their values better. Downside is that many of the companies providing the jobs will prefer to be in states that are hostile to worker and individual rights. A trend that has already kind of started before.
 
So Trump is doing a minerals deal with Ukraine. Wouldn't that be amazing for the US and terrible for Europe and Ukraine. Well we still need to wait for the details but not looking great.
 
What are the odds on America having something resembling a fair election in 26 and 28?
 
What are the odds on America having something resembling a fair election in 26 and 28?
It’s going to be an absolute shit show the next couple of years and there’s going to be huge protests and favourability ratings by independent pollsters will be down in the dumps.

Republicans will comfortably increase their majority in both the house and senate.
 
What a load of bullshit. The same man that wants to end birthright citizenship also wants to let the richest people pay $5mil for a "gold card" and then a path to citizenship.

Is it for oligarchs or for US companies to bring in skilled workers?

There is a number of ways that US companies can bring in skilled workers already. This is how I came to move to the US.

Lets say a company does pay $5mil for your "gold card". What do you owe them in return? Lifelong employment for you and your kids?
Some US companies now want you to pay visa and legal fees associated with sponsorship should you leave within x number of years. A

Not sure about his maths either. According to this there are 8.4 mil people with a net worth of over $5bil..
https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2023/12/how-many-millionaires-are-there

I think it is safe to assume that half are already in America.

So how many of the 4.2mil with a net worth of $5mil, have $5mil to spend on a US Visa, or the desire to do so?
Not sure "“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that,”

As with every Trump policy, this is obviously driven by the last person who was in his ear.

Not to mention that if you have 5 million to spare (so many millions more), why you would choose the US.
 
Not to mention that if you have 5 million to spare (so many millions more), why you would choose the US.
Because it'll be a tax haven for them, and a de-regulated paradise. It'll be the ideal place for a wealthy person to get even wealthier (at the expense of ordinary folk, but since when has that stopped them).