Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

MILWAUKEE — In the days since he survived a would-be assassin’s bullet, Republicans who have observed and spoken with former President Donald Trump say they have detected a new softness to the man whose brand has been anything but.

There have been many moments since Trump first entered the presidential conversation in 2015 that political observers have predicted a pivot in his fundamentally bombastic political persona — after his election in 2016, after his first speech to Congress in 2017, or at points during the Covid pandemic. And at this particular juncture, Republicans would seem to have a vested interest in projecting Trump as a more reflective, subdued version of himself, after his polarizing rhetoric during his presidency turned off many swing voters.

But GOP allies, in roughly a dozen interviews, used words like “emotional” and “serene” — even “spiritual” — to describe Trump in the days since the attempt on his life. A person close to the former president’s family described him taking on “humility, in the biblical sense.” In moment after moment at the Republican National Convention this week, Trump’s usual resting face — a scowl with squinted eyes — was replaced by a more subtle expression. One Republican who spoke with Trump, granted anonymity to describe private discussions, said he seemed “existential.”

A question remains of whether Trump’s personal response to his near-death experience will last — and if his calls for national unity will mark any real, enduring shift within the GOP.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/18/trump-shooting-mood-elections-00169413

Oh, that was definitely noticeable today

a kinder, gentler asshole

a more subtle expression

"Sources close to the former president report that he's been working on maudlin poetry while listening to The Joshua Tree on repeat..."

a kinder, gentler asshole

increasingly assholated

nothing i want more from a president than s/he be 'existential'

I’m looking forward to him being “post-existential”

Being and Slime

the funniest thing about this is that this is the single most substantive answer I have ever seen Trump give on any political matter. he correctly references that the literature suggests VP picks don’t tend to matter electorally, even notes LBJ being a bit of an aberration… https://t.co/bplYFyg9gH

— Armand Domalewski Thinks It Is Good Kamala Swears (@ArmandDoma) July 31, 2024

This is probably on the level:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/08/02/trump-campaign-egypt-investigation/0M cash withdrawal drove secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt

Bah

Bah

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/08/02/trump-campaign-egypt-investigation/0M cash withdrawal drove secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt

Well, I don't know what's going on with my link.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/08/02/trump-campaign-egypt-investigation/

Links don't seem to work with text containing dollar signs.

(I've run into this a couple of times before.)

I had a feeling that might be the issue

feel like anyone seeing story is like “lol of course he did that” and then ignores it. partially and sadly because now we are all in trumplandia where if youre not criming youre not trying, so a.b.c.

Wow @ "if you're not criming, you're not trying"

https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-congratulates-vladimir-putin-on-great-hostage-swap/

Breaking:

The US supreme court has declined to halt Donald Trump’s upcoming sentencing for his conviction in state court in New York on felony charges involving hush money paid to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels, and a related gag order until after the 5 November election.

Trump is set to be sentenced on 18 September in Manhattan. He was found guilty in May of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

wriggle

declined

a reverse wriggle

SCOTUS thinks he needs a path out of the election just like Biden

I still figure the judge is gonna toss the convictions himself based on the Supreme Court ruling, but I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised

but if the crime predates his presidency?

They don't though.

The crime was lying about what the check to Cohen was for. That was done while he was President.

part of his presidential duties

Donald Trump with his new custom Cybertruck from Adin Ross. pic.twitter.com/AAdyKe7JAb

— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) August 5, 2024

weird

I hope he starts driving that thing all over town

hope it backs him into a lake while on autopilot

I doubt that Trump even has a current driver's license.

Is Trump gearing up to kick that dude in the nuts

Did Trump lose weight in his legs?

Also: Jojo wore it better

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-04/4/12/asset/a56c076654a1/sub-buzz-6182-1712234682-1.png

Thought he hated EVs

Goddamn Bidenflation, what can you do

Trump hikes Mar-a-Lago membership to $1m, raising concerns of selling access

The $1m cost of each membership, which will open for applications in October, exactly one month before the presidential election, also represents a 43% hike from the current initiation fee of $700,000

TIL

Former presidents can't drive on public roads or go anywhere alone

The Former Presidents Act of 1958 was passed to keep them safe and guard the secured information they have

fucking Teddy Roosevelt went canoeing on an unmapped river in the Amazon, he didn't give a shit

didn't his son write a book about that trip? i want to read that. they both almost died.

Assassinated by Mosquito Lee Malaria.

wow, never knew that about the "no driving or going anywhere alone" thing!

must be awkward when you have diarrhea

It would have been so much cheaper to equip former presidents with an implanted cyanide capsule in a hollowed out tooth they could bite down on if captured.

Thought he hated EVs

https://fortune.com/2024/08/05/donald-trump-elon-musk-tesla-endorsement/

that headline 'Donald Trump admits EV flip-flop was a quid pro quo to secure Elon Musk’s support'

"The Kamala Crash," in case you were wondering.