Trump McDonald’s stunt: Darcy cartoon excerpt: "The photo-op was set up at the Trump campaign’s request thru Jim Worthington, a Trump supporter-fundraiser and chair of the Pennsylvania delegation to the RNC Convention. The owner of the McDonald’s franchise in Feasterville-Trevose, Derek Giacomantonio, was then approached with the request for Trump’s visit by Worthington, who also owns a business nearby."
It looks like the leaders of El Salvador and Argentina will be at Trump's presidential inauguration. It's expected that Orban of Hungary will attend. Putin wasn't invited. China's president was invited but apparently has declined to attend. Leaders of countries typically don't attend U.S. presidential inaugurations but rather send a dignitary to represent them.
GOP is shocked that the filling of federal judge vacancies can be political. Senate GOP Surprised, Saddened To Discover That Filling Judicial Vacancies Can Be Political excerpt: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) brought his irritation with the first retirement reversals to the Senate floor earlier this month — a cartoonish achievement in hypocrisy by the man who blocked Democrats from filling a Supreme Court seat. “Looking to history, only two judges have ever ‘un-retired’ after a presidential election ― one Democrat in 2004, and one Republican in 2009,” McConnell said. “But now, in just a matter of weeks, Democrats have already met that all-time record. … It’s hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship.”
McConnell blocked many of Obama's federal judge nominations by not permitting a vote on the Senate Floor plus he blocked Obama's Supreme Court nominee. After doing that, Mitch McConnell is upset about three Democrat judges changing their minds about retiring after the 2024 election. Article from 2019. Mitch McConnell laughs about stopping Obama hiring judges, allowing Trump to fill courts with conservatives excerpt: "In the last two years of Mr Obama's term, only 28.6 percent of his judicial nominees were confirmed. Mr Trump has selected nearly as many federal appeals judges in his three years in office than Mr Obama did in his entire two-term presidency — Mr Trump's 48 compared to Mr Obama's 52. Mr McConnell most famously blocked Mr Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland — the former president's pick to fill the seat left open by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016 — from even receiving a confirmation hearing."
Trump now wants more than an investigation. Trump threatens more lawsuits against the press. He says he will sue the Des Moine Register newspaper that reported a poll showing him losing the 2024 election. https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/media/trump-threaten-news-media-lawsuits-abc-settlement/index.html excerpt: On Monday, Trump said he has a new target: The Des-Moines Register newspaper, which he said he plans to sue “today or tomorrow” over its final poll of Iowa voters that showed him losing the November election to Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump made the comments during a wide-ranging press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where he said he’d bring the lawsuit against the storied Iowa newspaper because he believed the poll “was fraud and it was election interference.”
Trump threatens to fire federal workers who continue to work from home several days per week. Trump says federal workers who don't want to return to the office are "going to be dismissed" excerpt: Musk then claimed on social media earlier this month that "almost no one" who is employed by the government works in-person, leading to "thousands of empty buildings not just in America, but around the world, paid for with your tax dollars!"
Trump is stirring up trouble with Canada over trade and mocking Trudeau and his finance minister who resigned after his visit to Mar-a-Lago. Trump mocks Trudeau after trip to Mar-a-Lago leaves his government on brink of collapse | Daily Mail Online excerpt: "Trudeau swiftly named longtime ally and close friend Dominic LeBlanc, the public safety minister who recently joined him at dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, to replace Freeland. Freeland did not go on the trip to Florida. After being sworn in, LeBlanc told reporters he and Trudeau are focused on the cost of living facing Canadians and on finding common ground with Trump on border security and economic issues."
Trump threatened CBS news and later sued them over the Harris interview. https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-sues-cbs-over-kamala-harris-interview-2024-10-31/
Once cocksure about ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours as president-elect, Trump post-election sounds as ambiguous and ambivalent as Melania. Trump promised he'd end war in Ukraine before taking office. Now? He 'might.' | Opinion excerpt: "President-elect Donald Trump made plenty of promises on the campaign trail this year. One stood out as his most audacious vow – he would swiftly end the war between Ukraine and Russia, even before being inaugurated. Trump, now five weeks away from taking the oath of office again, was asked about that Monday. And it became immediately clear that the former and future president had moved on from audaciousness to a mix of ambiguity and ambivalence."
Trump tariffs - Wikipedia excerpt: "A May 2019 analysis conducted by CNBC found Trump's tariffs are equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in the U.S. in decades.[20][21][22] Studies have found that Trump's tariffs reduced real income in the United States, as well as adversely affecting U.S. GDP.[23][24][25] Some studies also concluded that the tariffs adversely affected Republican candidates in elections.[26][27][28]"
What Trump could do on day one in the White House excerpt: "Trump’s plan includes imposing tariffs on imported goods, especially those coming in from China, arguing that these taxes would keep manufacturing jobs in the US. "I'm a big believer in tariffs. I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they're beautiful. It's going to make us rich," the Republican said on Meet the Press. It’s still unclear how widespread these tariffs will be, but Trump has raised the prospect of at least a 10% across-the-board tariff on imported goods, as well as a 60% import tax on goods from China."
GOP targets Liz Cheney for alleged witness tampering. FBI should probe 'potential' Liz Cheney 'witness tampering' in Jan 6 matter, House Republicans say excerpt: "Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge," the report, which was provided to Fox Digital, found.
They don’t have much of anything but technicalities to go off of, at this point. Wasting more time trying to cover this thing up and pointing fingers the other way. Refueling the big lie.
Cheney's response. Liz Cheney rips GOP report calling for her to be criminally investigated excerpt: "January 6th showed Donald Trump for who [he] really is — a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave," Cheney's statement said. "The January 6th Committee's hearings and report featured scores of [R]epublican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump's own White House, campaign and Administration."
Liz Cheney rips GOP report calling for her to be criminally investigated excerpt: Representative Bennie Thompson, who chaired the January 6 select committee, said in a statement: "His so-called 'report' is filled with baseless, conclusory allegations rather than facts. That's because there's no escaping the reality that Donald Trump bears the responsibility for the deadly January 6th attack no matter how much Mr. Loudermilk would love to rewrite history for his political purposes."
Republican Schmitt blocks legislation to protect civil servants from Trump. Senate Republican blocks bill to protect civil service
If Trump really believes it, he can impose heavy tariffs on clothing imports and see what happens to the clothing import businesses that he and his daughter own. It would impose on Trump the need to start manufacturing clothing products in the U.S. and at a higher price than can be imported, like in the pre-1990's era before the U.S. started importing significantly from China. Why Trump thinks that approach will make people rich is not clear. He's become rich off of importing clothing very cheap and selling at a very high price. During his first term in office, Trump was asked why he doesn't produce clothing in the U.S. for his clothing import businesses. Trump's response was that there aren't any factories to do it in the U.S. On the David Letterman who when Letterman pointed out Trump's Made In China ties that he sells, Trump defended it by saying that foreigners have to work too (out of line with his America First mantra).
Trump's rash remarks about middleman companies supposedly being the cause of high drug prices causes market slide. Trump says ‘we’re going to knock out the middleman’ and eliminate pharmacy benefit managers who he claims are jacking up drug prices
Trump is an ideal example of a middleman increasing prices to an exorbitant level. He and his daughter import clothing from places like China and Bangladesh, mark up the price to a very high level, and sell the items at luxury places like Macy's.