Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?

[Thad]

“You Can’t Go Any Lower”: Inside the West Wing, Trump Is Apoplectic as Allies Fear Impeachment

Until now, Robert Mueller has haunted Donald Trump’s White House as a hovering, mostly unseen menace. But by securing indictments of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, and a surprise guilty plea from foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, Mueller announced loudly that the Russia investigation poses an existential threat to the president. “Here’s what Manafort’s indictment tells me: Mueller is going to go over every financial dealing of Jared Kushner and the Trump Organization,” said former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg. “Trump is at 33 percent in Gallup. You can’t go any lower. He’s fucked.”

The first charges in the Mueller probe have kindled talk of what the endgame for Trump looks like, according to conversations with a half-dozen advisers and friends of the president. For the first time since the investigation began, the prospect of impeachment is being considered as a realistic outcome and not just a liberal fever dream. According to a source, advisers in the West Wing are on edge and doing whatever they can not to be ensnared. One person close to Dina Powell and Gary Cohn said they’re making sure to leave rooms if the subject of Russia comes up.

...


Speaking to Steve Bannon on Tuesday, Trump blamed Jared Kushner for his role in decisions, specifically the firings of Mike Flynn and James Comey, that led to Mueller’s appointment, according to a source briefed on the call. When Roger Stone recently told Trump that Kushner was giving him bad political advice, Trump agreed, according to someone familiar with the conversation. “Jared is the worst political adviser in the White House in modern history,” Nunberg said. “I’m only saying publicly what everyone says behind the scenes at Fox News, in conservative media, and the Senate and Congress.”

[Thad]

Course, it bears noting that all the impeachment/25th Amendment talk seems to be coming from Steve Bannon, so it may be a mistake to take any of it seriously. Bannon could simply be paranoid, or making shit up to make Trump paranoid and mistrustful of his cabinet and advisors.

[Mongrel]

This might just be the most Poe's Law example of Poe's Law I've personally seen to date:

Vanity Fair: Paul Ryan Immediately Regrets Asking Trump To Name The GOP Tax Plan

Less than 24 hours before the bill is slated to be revealed, the name of the bill has still not been settled and there is still dispute over the name, according to a senior congressional aide and a senior White House official. The sources said it’s been decided that the Ways and Means Committee will have the final say over the name. Still, behind closed doors, there has been back-and-forth between House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady about the name of the bill, including multiple phone calls in the past week. Ryan initially kicked the naming over to Trump because of his penchant for branding, according to a senior Hill aide. . . . Ryan and Brady have pushed back on the name of the bill. However, Trump has held firm. . . . Trump has been insistent that the bill be called “The Cut Cut Cut Act.”

Is this real? I don't know. I read it three times... I still don't know!

[Thad]

It's real, though they finally settled on Tax Cuts and Jobs or some similar bland game of GOP Mad Libs.

[Mongrel]

Also, I can't believe there's corporate Twitter account called "Twitter Government".

[Mongrel]

(Yes I know this is old)

[Mongrel]

As one of the comments says "Can you imagine if Obama had said this?"

[François]

"I believe in checks and balances. You won't find anyone else in the world who believes in checks and balances more than I do. I'm the biggest checks and balances guy you'll ever meet. You do some work for me, I don't write you a check, and the balance in my account remains high. Everybody wins. Well, I mean, I win. But that's what really matters, isn't it?"

[Yoji]

One of the President's biggest disappointments in office, by his own account, was discovering that he is not supposed to personally direct law enforcement decisions by the Justice Department and the FBI.

No shit. Cheeto Benito should've stuck to sketchy real estate if he doesn't like playing by the rules.

As one of the comments says "Can you imagine if Obama had said this?"

Every damn day. Just the Green Beret deaths in Niger alone would've been Benghazi all over again.

[Mongrel]

Holyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhit

Donnnnnnniiiiiiiieeeee

Is there footage of Abe's reaction to this?

Because I've never seen a man try and retain a straight face while shitting an entire sailboat.

[Mongrel]

The chiefs explained to Trump that there were regulatory barriers preventing them from getting at their energy. Trump replied: "But now it's me. The government's different now. Obama's gone; and we're doing things differently here. So what I'm saying is, just do it."

There was a pause in the room and the tribal leaders looked at each other.

"Chief, chief," Trump continued, addressing one of the tribal leaders, "what are they going to do? Once you get it out of the ground are they going to make you put it back in there? I mean, once it's out of the ground it can't go back in there. You've just got to do it. I'm telling you, chief, you've just got to do it."

The tribal leader looked back at one of the White House officials in the room — perhaps somebody from the White House Counsel's office — and he said "can we just do that?" The official equivocated, saying the administration is making progress and has a plan to roll back various regulations.

Trump interjected again: "Guys, I feel like you're not hearing me right now. We've just got to do it. I feel like we've got no choice; other countries are just doing it. China is not asking questions about all of this stuff. They're just doing it. And guys, we've just got to do it."

A second source in the room objects vehemently to the suggestion that Trump was asking the chiefs to just start drilling and break federal law. The source said it was unremarkable "Trump speak" and what he meant by "just do it" was he was pushing for removing burdensome regulations from the Obama era.

https://www.axios.com/trumps-government ... 50819.html

[Mongrel]

NBC: Mueller is putting heavy pressure on Flynn and may have information to not only indict Flynn, but his son too

This is pretty interesting. No one really knows if Flynn might've been willing to fall on his sword solo, but he might flip to save his son.

[Joxam]

The chiefs explained to Trump that there were regulatory barriers preventing them from getting at their energy. Trump replied: "But now it's me. The government's different now. Obama's gone; and we're doing things differently here. So what I'm saying is, just do it."

There was a pause in the room and the tribal leaders looked at each other.

"Chief, chief," Trump continued, addressing one of the tribal leaders, "what are they going to do? Once you get it out of the ground are they going to make you put it back in there? I mean, once it's out of the ground it can't go back in there. You've just got to do it. I'm telling you, chief, you've just got to do it."

The tribal leader looked back at one of the White House officials in the room — perhaps somebody from the White House Counsel's office — and he said "can we just do that?" The official equivocated, saying the administration is making progress and has a plan to roll back various regulations.

Trump interjected again: "Guys, I feel like you're not hearing me right now. We've just got to do it. I feel like we've got no choice; other countries are just doing it. China is not asking questions about all of this stuff. They're just doing it. And guys, we've just got to do it."

A second source in the room objects vehemently to the suggestion that Trump was asking the chiefs to just start drilling and break federal law. The source said it was unremarkable "Trump speak" and what he meant by "just do it" was he was pushing for removing burdensome regulations from the Obama era.

https://www.axios.com/trumps-government ... 50819.html

I realize Trump is probably too fucking stupid for this kind of context but one of the most insidious things about this to me is how many times native tribes have been fucked over by some goverment official telling them, "everything will be ok, trust me," and then just fucking them sideways for breaking the law.

[Mongrel]

[Mongrel]

Oh, and apparently Wilbur Ross has been straight up lying and lying about how wealthy he is for years, just so he could make the Forbes 400 list (which does not mean he didn't take any dirty money)?

Perfect for Trump's Commerce Secretary I guess!

[Yoji]

Trump won't eat Japanese food in Japan

*voice drops three octaves*

You. Classless. Unclefucker.

Eat the ramen. It's fucking delicious. Starchy noodles, salty broth, and fatty meats. What more could you ask for?

EDIT: *clears throat, voice returning to normal nasal BS* Now I'm seeing people say that's not entirely true. More like Abe just served Trump his favorite charcoal burgers.

[sei]

The tweet said he eats steak well done. If that's true, do you think he actually likes food?

[Blossom]

The tweet said he eats steak well done. If that's true, do you think he actually likes food?

Trump insisting that his steaks be served well-done, with ketchup, is well-documented.

[Brantly B.]

The fact that he still managed to take Texas that way is probably the most damning thing against Hillary I've heard yet.

[François]

If only she hadn't been caught on camera eating all those abortedfetusburgers that one time.