It’s a sunny day in April — a little cold perhaps, but cheerful and spring-like enough to bring forth hopeful dreams of beaches and umbrellas and colorful drinks in whacky containers shaped like coconuts.
Glad you’re feeling better! I remember a tv documentary years ago about Trump and his scheming. They interviewed a number of small contractors whom he scammed with his casinos, including telling them after the work was done that it was unacceptable and he wouldn’t pay. They were too small to fight drawn-out legal battles and it put more than one firm out of business. Our language doesn’t have words to adequately describe the creep.
There was one contractor who tried to collect what he was owed in court, he finally was awarded a fraction of that which took years, paid all the workers he owed first, and then put a bullet through his head.
If that bastard lives long enough, I'd love to see him put in Rikers, even if only for one week. Just one week.
Other than when he dirtied his diaper, I doubt that Trump has spent one minute of his life in discomfort. Yet he poses as the toughest man in America. That nearly half of Americans see him as he sees himself, brave and tough, demonstrates that an awful lot of Americans don't have the brains they were born with. I find it amazing that these people haven't starved to death.
I remember the poor guy who committed suicide. It was a family business that passed down generations. My family spent summers nearby. Atlantic City was failing and Trump was viewed as savior. He stiffed everyone.
Thank you as always for your excellence here. Health first, always. Take care and take time when you need to. It seems that you and Tracy do and that’s wise. Thank you again for today’s post. Always superb.
He won’t lift the tariffs until they have irrevocably destroyed the American economy and brought on a world wide recession, because now it is more about humiliating our allies and trading partners that his profits which are now guaranteed. He even fucked Netanyahu and Israel on the tariffs. He will even throw Elon, who has devastated his businesses by his actions supporting Trump under the bus. He will jerk other countries chains and say a few things that give hope to financial markets, institutions and investors, then he will pull the rug out from under them. It is about satiating his worst traits, his narcissism and being a sociopath. These have always been a major part of his pathology, but they have gotten far worse. I don’t expect him to abandon them anytime soon.
Glad to see you back. Please try to stay well and not injure yourself again. Also, as always, watch your six.
Most of the country knows, or at least should know by now, what you're stating so eloquently LTK, the mystery is how Dumbass Donald's one con works time and time again. Once DD milks this con for tax breaks for he and his billionaire buddys, profit from the bargain stock prices and enough foreign leaders bend a knee, he'll serially brag about all of the great Deals, lift them, and bask in the glow of saving the country. The same people, ordinary hard-working Americans always end up paying for his con.
You are so right about this, Lucian. Of course he's going to do what he always does because he doesn't know how to do anything else. Now we can predict pretty accurately even though his actions seem chaotic. Bravo!
Trump is also stupid, though. Just not with respect to corruption, greed, and cheating his victims. Bribing and extorting. Gangster behavior, in other words.
This is true. But one can hope that the death of the cult leader will cause his cult to dissipate, disperse, weaken, like the Orcs after the fall of Sauron. Anyway, good riddance to bad garbage. Can't come soon enough.
I was googling today how often the "Trump" star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame has been vandalized. It's beyond incredible. And not only normal destruction (graffiti, pickaxes, garbage, urine, feces) but really clever statements like prison walls and golden toilets. Hard to tell, but it's possible that star is going to disappear soon, if not already, because the authorities have given up on the expense of repairing it continually and no private funder has emerged.
I think bc he actually does have a purpose - to wake us up to the corruption, the racism, misogyny and greed that has always infested this country that was founded on genocide and slavery. We need to seriously look at ourselves as Americans and decide how to proceed. I think we need a truth and reconciliation trial like South Africa did. The problem as always is the ignorant racist woman haters that can't abide the truth.
Thank you for this background. After the beach, drinks and a trip Down memory lane, I found I was going in another direction. I have never heard of presidents “making deals” before and….with our money and standing. This is so wrong and cringy. Again, thank you for the post and background. He has not changed except in meanness.
Perfect. Perfect newsletter. I've been wondering about tariffs and crypto. I think you've nailed it.
What do you think is his Presidential Exit strategy? Torture everyone and everything he hates for awhile, stash away +$100 billion, ruin American's retirement and future education. Then pardon himself from any potential crimes and resign.
We'll all be so happy to see his backside no one will try to stop him or go after him.
The adjudicated sexual assaulter will never see the "profits." He's out of his league, as he has always been. But then, it doesn't matter, his "book," Art of the Deal was not written by him. His only ability is to lie. His "hit" show, The Apprentice, was fake from the decor of alleged his office to his the lines he spoke. There is nothing authentic about him. But ready for the kicker? Atlantic County the victim of this nasty bit of phlegm? Guess who they voted for in the 2024 election? You guessed it, the old filthy crook himself. We can all be appalled, but you can't fix stupid.
Re: when he was asked about the four bankruptcies his casinos went through before closing for good, “I took a lot of money out of the casinos with the financings and the things we do. Atlantic City was a very good cash cow for me for a long time.” But with multiple bankruptcies attached to his name. He long ago committed reputational suicide. Now he's busy offing the country.
Of course he would spin it. He had to change careers after the A.C. bankruptcies. After he serves time for his current offenses can he go back to branding?
People, including me, keep labeling Trump an authoritarian, forgetting that in reality he's so much more: an authoritarian mobster. Think Al Capone or a real life Don Corleone with criminal adult children and mostly obedient and criminal allies and employees. Breaking the law is essential for his business, his ego, and his image. And a lot of people who were in on the con are now getting screwed. Is that karma?
It may be the beginning of karma Laurie, karma puts things back in balance and we are a long way from seeing that. I think that once the debt starts being paid the wails will echo for eternity.
A perfect description of Reality America's Scrooge McDuck (without any Disney humor), except for one itty-bitty thing. I'm guessing the bright spring sun in Milford must have reflected off the glass of Pedialyte (or, I hope, something better) on your table and into your eye-brain-typing connection when you wrote about "European leaders with insufficiently bended knees and inadequately pursed ring-kissing lips." T***p doesn't wear any rings on those itty-bitty fingers. For him, a perfectly-bended knee puts someone's perfectly-pursed lips at tuchus level (stern) and schwanz level (bow), to describe his physical features using the vernacular of sailors on an INS (Israeli Navy Ship).
And now the Psychopath asshole is falsely claiming his tarrifs
are supported by Warren Buffett.
There are more than 30 reasons why Trump should not exist.
Glad you’re feeling better! I remember a tv documentary years ago about Trump and his scheming. They interviewed a number of small contractors whom he scammed with his casinos, including telling them after the work was done that it was unacceptable and he wouldn’t pay. They were too small to fight drawn-out legal battles and it put more than one firm out of business. Our language doesn’t have words to adequately describe the creep.
The architect who built the Bedminster clubhouse lost everything he had
There was one contractor who tried to collect what he was owed in court, he finally was awarded a fraction of that which took years, paid all the workers he owed first, and then put a bullet through his head.
If that bastard lives long enough, I'd love to see him put in Rikers, even if only for one week. Just one week.
Other than when he dirtied his diaper, I doubt that Trump has spent one minute of his life in discomfort. Yet he poses as the toughest man in America. That nearly half of Americans see him as he sees himself, brave and tough, demonstrates that an awful lot of Americans don't have the brains they were born with. I find it amazing that these people haven't starved to death.
Rikers is a mere holding cell. He needs to go to prison.
Derek, how well do you think he would fare for a week in Rikers? Think about it.
It is a nice fantasy to think of the Gilded Toadstool in Rikers or any other carceral facility, but it won't happen.
I remember the poor guy who committed suicide. It was a family business that passed down generations. My family spent summers nearby. Atlantic City was failing and Trump was viewed as savior. He stiffed everyone.
He still does. He offers "a deal" to all world leaders to lift or ease tariffs for a price (which is extortion). He stiffs everyone. Everyone.
And they were illegal aliens who were too afraid to go public.
He stiffed EVERYONE not just the undocumented. I don’t think he ever honored a contract.
Thank you as always for your excellence here. Health first, always. Take care and take time when you need to. It seems that you and Tracy do and that’s wise. Thank you again for today’s post. Always superb.
Lucian,
He won’t lift the tariffs until they have irrevocably destroyed the American economy and brought on a world wide recession, because now it is more about humiliating our allies and trading partners that his profits which are now guaranteed. He even fucked Netanyahu and Israel on the tariffs. He will even throw Elon, who has devastated his businesses by his actions supporting Trump under the bus. He will jerk other countries chains and say a few things that give hope to financial markets, institutions and investors, then he will pull the rug out from under them. It is about satiating his worst traits, his narcissism and being a sociopath. These have always been a major part of his pathology, but they have gotten far worse. I don’t expect him to abandon them anytime soon.
Glad to see you back. Please try to stay well and not injure yourself again. Also, as always, watch your six.
Steve Dundas
Trump is a Psychopath not a sociaphah. Much more dangerous. In England Psycopaths are considered criminals.
He's already a criminal--a convicted felon!--he's on the slippery slope of dementia in my opinion.
Can't wait to see him drooling down his chin and soiling his pants....
Steven, you have articulated exactly how I see that horrible excuse for a human being and his motivations.
And by the way, he just shuttered the entire department of justice criminal tax fraud division:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/doge-to-shutter-doj-tax-division/sharetoken/8183ba76-4593-4241-95ce-bd7a05400fd6
of course he did...
Most of the country knows, or at least should know by now, what you're stating so eloquently LTK, the mystery is how Dumbass Donald's one con works time and time again. Once DD milks this con for tax breaks for he and his billionaire buddys, profit from the bargain stock prices and enough foreign leaders bend a knee, he'll serially brag about all of the great Deals, lift them, and bask in the glow of saving the country. The same people, ordinary hard-working Americans always end up paying for his con.
At least this time it will also cost the vile and odious Elon Musk.
You are so right about this, Lucian. Of course he's going to do what he always does because he doesn't know how to do anything else. Now we can predict pretty accurately even though his actions seem chaotic. Bravo!
This doesn’t sound like the behavior of a stupid man, but of a corrupt, greedy EVIL man.
Trump is also stupid, though. Just not with respect to corruption, greed, and cheating his victims. Bribing and extorting. Gangster behavior, in other words.
The Don is waiting for what the countries can do for him financially in order to have their tariffs lifted.
How can a man who is so universally despised still be breathing?
Because air? Thing is, even if he were to drop over tonight, every last body in the line of succession is as horrible as he is.
This is true. But one can hope that the death of the cult leader will cause his cult to dissipate, disperse, weaken, like the Orcs after the fall of Sauron. Anyway, good riddance to bad garbage. Can't come soon enough.
I was googling today how often the "Trump" star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame has been vandalized. It's beyond incredible. And not only normal destruction (graffiti, pickaxes, garbage, urine, feces) but really clever statements like prison walls and golden toilets. Hard to tell, but it's possible that star is going to disappear soon, if not already, because the authorities have given up on the expense of repairing it continually and no private funder has emerged.
I think bc he actually does have a purpose - to wake us up to the corruption, the racism, misogyny and greed that has always infested this country that was founded on genocide and slavery. We need to seriously look at ourselves as Americans and decide how to proceed. I think we need a truth and reconciliation trial like South Africa did. The problem as always is the ignorant racist woman haters that can't abide the truth.
Because he missed 🤬
Thank you for this background. After the beach, drinks and a trip Down memory lane, I found I was going in another direction. I have never heard of presidents “making deals” before and….with our money and standing. This is so wrong and cringy. Again, thank you for the post and background. He has not changed except in meanness.
Perfect. Perfect newsletter. I've been wondering about tariffs and crypto. I think you've nailed it.
What do you think is his Presidential Exit strategy? Torture everyone and everything he hates for awhile, stash away +$100 billion, ruin American's retirement and future education. Then pardon himself from any potential crimes and resign.
We'll all be so happy to see his backside no one will try to stop him or go after him.
The perfect crime.
The adjudicated sexual assaulter will never see the "profits." He's out of his league, as he has always been. But then, it doesn't matter, his "book," Art of the Deal was not written by him. His only ability is to lie. His "hit" show, The Apprentice, was fake from the decor of alleged his office to his the lines he spoke. There is nothing authentic about him. But ready for the kicker? Atlantic County the victim of this nasty bit of phlegm? Guess who they voted for in the 2024 election? You guessed it, the old filthy crook himself. We can all be appalled, but you can't fix stupid.
You sound as though you're better. Good
Re: when he was asked about the four bankruptcies his casinos went through before closing for good, “I took a lot of money out of the casinos with the financings and the things we do. Atlantic City was a very good cash cow for me for a long time.” But with multiple bankruptcies attached to his name. He long ago committed reputational suicide. Now he's busy offing the country.
Of course he would spin it. He had to change careers after the A.C. bankruptcies. After he serves time for his current offenses can he go back to branding?
Once a mobster, always a mobster?
I hope we get to watch. He'll be well into his 80s. The dementia may have advanced enough by then to make all else moot.
By that time he’ll be running his scams in the memory care facility.
"Get your 4 day old bagels here!"
Maybe something with stripes ...
People, including me, keep labeling Trump an authoritarian, forgetting that in reality he's so much more: an authoritarian mobster. Think Al Capone or a real life Don Corleone with criminal adult children and mostly obedient and criminal allies and employees. Breaking the law is essential for his business, his ego, and his image. And a lot of people who were in on the con are now getting screwed. Is that karma?
Gotti is his model, without the Brioni suits.
It may be the beginning of karma Laurie, karma puts things back in balance and we are a long way from seeing that. I think that once the debt starts being paid the wails will echo for eternity.
A perfect description of Reality America's Scrooge McDuck (without any Disney humor), except for one itty-bitty thing. I'm guessing the bright spring sun in Milford must have reflected off the glass of Pedialyte (or, I hope, something better) on your table and into your eye-brain-typing connection when you wrote about "European leaders with insufficiently bended knees and inadequately pursed ring-kissing lips." T***p doesn't wear any rings on those itty-bitty fingers. For him, a perfectly-bended knee puts someone's perfectly-pursed lips at tuchus level (stern) and schwanz level (bow), to describe his physical features using the vernacular of sailors on an INS (Israeli Navy Ship).