Trump, May 2017: 100 days of [unintelligible]

50 Shades of Pence

It takes three books for him to work up the courage to sit down to dinner with a woman who isn't his wife. But it's soooooo hot when he finally does.

Rampant enthusiasm!

Corker asked if Trump can still be trusted with classified info. Pauses, shrugs, "sure."

— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) May 16, 2017

relevant to ilx's interests

http://68.media.tumblr.com/2a4722d3035e9683a992e884cf096e6a/tumblr_oq23jvDQLf1vjcb7vo1_1280.jpg

a modicum of good news: Cornyn has withdrawn from consideration for FBI director, so unless Trump picks Rogers his choice won't be NAKEDLY political.

having said that, he'll probably just say fuck everything and pick Giuliani.

chuck norris or gtfo

I have a feeling more and more of the potential candidates have been looking at the last few days and going "Um...maybe not."

That won't make the upcoming trip there awkward at all!

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 1:40 PM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nor will this http://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-member-of-trump-team-said-to-tell-israelis-western-wall-is-not-your-territory/

last ep of the President Show was masterful - maybe that doesn't belong here but idk the bit of him throwing a tantrum about having to leave the kids' class photo op was something everyone should see. could be I just thought it was funny as a parent of a toddler but still

once j-kush sorts out the whole israel-palestine thing we'll all look back and laugh at this

clip at the bottom of this article: http://time.com/4777035/the-president-show-kids/

xp

obama alum running for MD gov

https://twitter.com/AlecJRoss

looks like barry pepper playing a rich defendant on svu

he's probably ok but that's my take

he looks like Eric Trump!

i know you have rep as ilx's meano to keep up but damn

he really does xp

just needs to slick that hair back a lil more

ilx's meano

this seems like a high bar to clear but idk

it's true I make no bones about wishing death on certain celebrities oh what a meanie I am. I try to be p nice to other posters tho

lol joeks man

i think he looks like what eric trump thinks eric trump looks like

ha, otm

lol yes

Ah, Sean

"Of course, no one would ever want that-" Spicer says, then stops, in response to a question about damaged credibility.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 16, 2017

it was israel's intelligence.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-trump-classified-intelligence-russia.html

You know, part of me would be A-OK with the US/Israel relationship, which has been really, really fucked up and toxic for a whole lot of years, being permanently ruptured by this asshole and his asshole team's relentless assholishness.

this is the guy Israel wanted, don't forget

27th dimensional chess: now to make the special relationship whole again, trump will offer to do something for israel so godawful that only bibi could think of it

From a (per Twitter bio) "Senior Knesset Reporter for The Jerusalem Post. Proud Zionist.":

Government sources are speculating to me that Trump's visit may be canceled. https://t.co/PLRop3qbOv

— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) May 16, 2017

i keep thinking that team trump's chaotic and amateurish default setting is to deny everything and say that something never happened and that's the kind of thing that really come back to haunt you. in a court of law kind of way.

this story about an angry trump staffer telling the israelis that the western wall isnt part of israel is some shit. I dont even know where to start.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-member-of-trump-team-said-to-tell-israelis-western-wall-is-not-your-territory/

too bad the courts move so slow

xp

or even in a congress/senate kind of way. congress/senate hates being lied to because it reminds them of high school and everyone lying to them about where the party was.

x-post

I presume Adelson's trying to place a call or two right about now.

like theyre basically pulling out all the stops so netanyahu doesnt disrupt trumps photo op? pretty sure they need someone there to make sure he doesnt take a piss on the wall or burn the motherfucker down.

https://frinkiac.com/video/S16E15/tSokSA4aELzdOFDYuZxIdlo6Q1I=.gif

Marco with this generation's profound wisdom:

Marco Rubio on White House issues: "Certainly it’s less than ideal, but it is what it is."

IT IS WHAT IT IS

hat tip @KilloughCNN

— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) May 16, 2017

Hahah

Spicer is hedging on question of whether it's ever ok for a public official to lie to the American public. "No," Spicer says finally.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 16, 2017

And speaking of Haberman, another beaut from her and Thrush:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/white-house-staff.html

Mr. Trump’s appetite for chaos, coupled with his disregard for the self-protective conventions of the presidency, have left his staff confused and squabbling. And his own mood, according to two advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has become sour and dark, turning against most of his aides — even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — and describing them in a fury as “incompetent,” according to one of those advisers.

Adelson just went into McConnell's office https://t.co/I9XlBeAJ06

— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) May 16, 2017

Hahah but of course.

More from that NYT story:

As they struggled to limit the fallout on Monday, Mr. Spicer and other Trump aides decided to send Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, to serve as a surrogate.

They realized that selecting such a high official would in some ways validate the story, but they wanted to establish a credible witness account exonerating the president from wrongdoing — before the barrage of Twitter posts they knew would be coming from Mr. Trump on Tuesday morning.

I mean...if this is what they're essentially admitting now.

Oh man, some real meat in the middle of that piece:

In his comments to reporters on Monday, Senator Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican close to some in the White House, was explicit about the situation.

“They are in a downward spiral right now,” he said, “and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening.”

A dozen of Mr. Trump’s aides and associates, while echoing Mr. Trump’s defiance, privately agreed with Mr. Corker’s view. They spoke candidly, in a way they were unwilling to do just weeks ago, about the damage that was being done to the administration’s standing and the fatigue that was setting in after months of having to defend the president’s missteps, Twitter posts and unpredictable actions.

And the kicker:

There is a fear among some of Mr. Trump’s senior advisers about leaving him alone in meetings with foreign leaders out of concern he might speak out of turn. General McMaster, in particular, has tried to insert caveats or gentle corrections into conversations when he believes the president is straying off topic or onto boggy diplomatic ground.

This has, at times, chafed the president, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation. Mr. Trump, who still openly laments having to dismiss his first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, has groused that General McMaster talks too much in meetings, and the president has referred to him as “a pain,” according to one of the officials.

In private, three administration officials conceded that they could not publicly articulate their most compelling — and honest — defense of the president: that Mr. Trump, a hasty and indifferent reader of printed briefing materials, simply did not possess the interest or knowledge of the granular details of intelligence gathering to leak specific sources and methods of intelligence gathering that would do harm to United States allies.

so is McMaster getting fired soon or what

this is the guy Israel wanted, don't forget

p sure they wd've been equally fine with Her Cravenness.

Sen Burr to me and @seungminkim pic.twitter.com/WJcHFXNwan

— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) May 16, 2017

@seungminkim Burr added “I hopefully can cover this in a telephone conversation vs. a transcript, but I’ll go that route if I need to. Let me get lunch.”

— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) May 16, 2017

was just on my way here to post those final three paragraphs of haberman's nyt piece ned posted, lolsobbing all the way

"I've been trying to get it all morning" "That's what s/he said!"

someone get sergey lavrov on the phone so he can fill burr in on the deets

p sure they wd've been equally fine with Her Cravenness.

yes, israel was 100% behind the idea of four more years of obama thinking iirc, you're quite correct

mcmaster? i barely knew her!