Trump, May 2017: 100 days of [unintelligible]

And this wouldn't surprise me at all

I can independently confirm reporting that President Trump has been sounding people out about removing Sean Spicer as Press Secretary. 1/2

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) May 11, 2017

Hahah

Spicer on phone to WaPo: 😡

"I was not IN the bushes!

I was AMONG the bushes!"

Editor: 🙄

Social media manager: 😎 pic.twitter.com/o8TJUsEPRy

— Prof Dynarski (@dynarski) May 11, 2017

And I missed this from earlier

Jason Chaffetz asks DOJ Inspector General to expand probe to include the decision to remove James Comey. pic.twitter.com/3q4blmMSn0

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 11, 2017

Some good stuff from Costa this evening

Why did Schiller deliver Comey letter to FBI? He was nearby--and Trump trusts him. It was a 'Hey, Keith can do it' moment, per one official.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 11, 2017

Again and again today, in talks w/ WH insiders, I was told to pay attn to McGahn. WH conduit to Sessions, shared POTUS fury about Comey.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 11, 2017

Why McGahn matters: Trump listens intently to him. Not only WH counsel but an aide with political capital due to Gorsuch, discretion, etc.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 11, 2017

When you're attacking FBI agents because you're under criminal investigation, you're losing https://t.co/SIoAxatCjp

— Sarah Huckabee (@SarahHuckabee) November 3, 2016

On the lighter side, oh for the days for when this would be the worst thing achieved by the administration in any given week...

http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/05/mike-pence-accidentally-hit-a-kid-in-the-face-yesterday.html?mid=facebook_nymag

Is there a way of removing Pence before 45 implodes? Him lying about not knowing about Flynn until the last moment wouldn't carry enough weight would it? Or his own email on unsecured connection use. Or anything?
Who is next in succession after him are they as bad?

Also would love to see McConnell trip himself up and get ejected. Is public outcry for an independent prosecutor going to outweigh him?

Paul Ryan is next in line

Mass assassination til somebody decent came in would mean how many? Is it assholes all the way down?

Mattis is 6th in line, but he's an asshole of a different sort.

Who is our King Ralph

Good [unintelligible]!

he's already in the oval office, i think xp

http://www.economist.com/Trumptranscript - not sure if this URL is wise, maybe he'll talk to them again, a very classy paper you know.

Okay the entire thing is a treat, but this shines:

But beyond that it’s OK if the tax plan increases the deficit?

It is OK, because it won’t increase it for long. You may have two years where you’ll… you understand the expression “prime the pump”?

Yes.

We have to prime the pump.

It’s very Keynesian.

We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world. Have you heard that expression before, for this particular type of an event?

Priming the pump?

Yeah, have you heard it?

Yes.

Have you heard that expression used before? Because I haven’t heard it. I mean, I just… I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It’s what you have to do.

It’s…

Yeah, what you have to do is you have to put something in before you can get something out.

We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world

*citation needed

if he actually really appoints trey fucking gowdy director of the fbi

haaaahahahahahahahahaha

jesus god that interview is a nightmare

might be the first time i've seen trump be properly questioned about his thinking and the reporter might as well just be morse-code-tapping his questions on the side of president brainstem's jar for all the sense the answers make

how the fuck is this circle gonna get squared

We want a provision at the right time, we want people that are coming in and will commit to not getting… not receiving any form of subsidy to live in our country for at least a five-year period.

We also want farm workers to be able to come in. You know, we’re going to have work visas for the farm workers.

only the most financially independent farm workers welcome!

unbelievable, but once again what's more unbelievable is people voted that in

lol i just noticed that the economist is also running a followup editorial titled 'why trumponomics won’t make america great again'

'trumponomics' is a really horrible coinage btw

A deeper problem is that Trumponomics draws on a blinkered view of America’s economy. Mr Trump and his advisers are obsessed with the effect of trade on manufacturing jobs, even though manufacturing employs only 8.5% of America’s workers and accounts for only 12% of GDP. Service industries barely seem to register. This blinds Trumponomics to today’s biggest economic worry: the turbulence being created by new technologies. Yet technology, not trade, is ravaging American retailing, an industry that employs more people than manufacturing (see article). And economic nationalism will speed automation: firms unable to outsource jobs to Mexico will stay competitive by investing in machines at home. Productivity and profits may rise, but this may not help the less-skilled factory workers who Mr Trump claims are his priority.

yeah no shit

tired old men in 'not understanding the concept that the world is changing' shocker

We also want farm workers to be able to come in. You know, we’re going to have work visas for the farm workers.

OK this is awesome

how much of this is all just really, 'hey, we're christian, the russians are christian; we're white, the russians are white -- let's fight those mooselimb terrorists like hussein obama together!'?

not much, I don't think. I think this is mainly about money.

It sounds like you’re imagining a pretty big renegotiation of NAFTA. What would a fair NAFTA look like?

Big isn’t a good enough word. Massive.

Huge?

It’s got to be. It’s got to be.

What would it look like? What would a fair NAFTA look like?

No, it’s gotta be. Otherwise we're terminating NAFTA.

What would a fair NAFTA look like?

I was all set to terminate, you know? And this wasn’t like… this wasn’t a game I was playing. I’m not playing… you know, I wasn’t playing chess or poker or anything else. This was, I was, I’d never even thought about… it’s always the best when you really feel this way. But I was…

Ugh these incoherent babbling infuriate me tho

trump clearly doesn't know what's 'unfair' about nafta in the first place so how's he gonna tell u what a fair nafta looks like

Big isn’t a good enough word. Massive.

Huge?

dying

how did the reporter keep a straight face, honestly

fake measurements

'mr president, would you mind extending your arms to indicate just how massive this is'

Oooh, I'm going to sit and really savor this nightmarish work of dystopian nonfiction at the weekend.

he is such a blithering fucking idiot

at this point reporters should just start asking him like 'what colour is the size of the trade deficit' or 'what flavour is your relationship with the chinese premier'

'can you whistle a melody about your plans to cut taxes'

at this point reporters should just start asking him like 'what colour is the size of the trade deficit' or 'what flavour is your relationship with the chinese premier'

― PROFESSOR JIGGLY is loose in the Cat Room (bizarro gazzara),

"How big is the FBI director's deficit?"

'what grade of sandpaper best represents your feelings about james comey'

"if the trade deficit was Harry Potter slash which country would be Malfoy?"

Insurance is, you’re 20 years old, you just graduated from college, and you start paying $15 a month for the rest of your life and by the time you’re 70, and you really need it, you’re still paying the same amount and that’s really insurance.

this is basically...universal healthcare?

And I said to them, “What do you think the good plans are going to look like?” He said, “Mr President, we’re going to have so many plans. We’re going to have the low version, the high version”, he used the word Cadillac. I won’t tell you what car he used for the low version because I don’t want you to write it because they happen to be friends of mine, you know, the head people. [Goes off the record.]

This country has wasted $6trn in the Middle East. Wasted. Like taking it and throwing it right out that window. Right in to the Rose Garden. See that beautiful Rose Garden? Look at those very nicely dressed people. It’s religious liberty out there. [NB. Immediately after this interview, President Trump was due to sign an executive order promoting religious liberty.]

Insurance is, you’re 20 years old, you just graduated from college, and you start paying $15 a month for the rest of your life and by the time you’re 70, and you really need it, you’re still paying the same amount and that’s really insurance.

Does he think this is what the AHCA is??????

my favourite ('favourite') thing about trump is the stopped-clock effect that occurs when his word-salad occasionally rearranges itself into a truth bomb

a word salad covered in old mayo, brown celery, and maggots.

you mean an old lunch?

$15 a month for the rest of your life?

I have employer insurance and cover MYSELF ONLY and I haven't paid less than $100 a month in over ten years.

(which I mean, my coverage rules, so I'm not complaining, but lord, rich guy out of touch or what)

Does he think that means you don't use the insurance until you're 70?

i promise you he'd never had that thought before and he'll never have it again