I traditionally have a thread heading to the election, here we go.

Get out the popcorn for this one.

Quote

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to formally announce next week he is running for president in 2024, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The governor's official entry into the Republican primary field will put him head-to-head with former President Donald Trump, the party's current frontrunner for the nomination. Trump has already spent months treating DeSantis as his primary campaign rival, thrashing him with torrents of criticism over his gubernatorial record, his political skills and his personality.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/18/desantis-plans-to-officially-announce-presidential-run-next-week.html

Tweety said:

I guess having an assassination attempt is good for business.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/07/15/trumps-net-worth-jumps-1-billion-after-assassination-attempt/

Tangentially, trump media shares are selling today for just over $18/share.

 trump media reported total revenue just over $750K with a loss of $58 million in 2023.

Those stratospheric valuations are sounding decidedly Enron-esque.

toomuchbaloney said:

Yeah, I can. 

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/as-a-businessman-trump-was-the-biggest-loser-of-all

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html

He is still spending other people's money......four bankruptcies later and he pleads poverty when a big fine comes to his door.  Why bankers gave him money I could never figure out.  I'm guessing a few were his Epstein buddies:)  What a loser.

subee said:

He is still spending other people's money......four bankruptcies later and he pleads poverty when a big fine comes to his door.  Why bankers gave him money I could never figure out.  I'm guessing a few were his Epstein buddies:)  What a loser.

Well, we know he lied about the value of his collateral - that's been proven in court. US bankers cut him off years ago - that's why he had to go to Europe, including Russia, to borrow.

subee said:

He is still spending other people's money......four bankruptcies later and he pleads poverty when a big fine comes to his door.  Why bankers gave him money I could never figure out.  I'm guessing a few were his Epstein buddies:)  What a 

heron said:

Tangentially, trump media shares are selling today for just over $18/share.

 trump media reported total revenue just over $750K with a loss of $58 million in 2023.

Those stratospheric valuations are sounding decidedly Enron-esque.

Imagine being called a failure after becoming the POTUS, taking a pay cut and downgrading to the WH. Loool. 

Crusades said:

 

Taking a pay cut?  You must not know about the money that Trump raked in during his transactional presidency.  

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-business-got-least-78-mln-foreign-payments-during-presidency-report-2024-01-04/

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/563735-trump-businesses-made-24-billion-during-his-presidency-forbes/

At some point I'm sure we'll talk about Kushners big money deal with the Saudis.  

Crusades said:

 

Imagine monetizing the presidency with hotel a few blocks away from the White House and charging charging the secret service for rooms at your resort, 

toomuchbaloney said:

Taking a pay cut?  You must not know about the money that Trump raked in during his transactional presidency.  

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-business-got-least-78-mln-foreign-payments-during-presidency-report-2024-01-04/

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/563735-trump-businesses-made-24-billion-during-his-presidency-forbes/

At some point I'm sure we'll talk about Kushners big money deal with the Saudis.  

How much did he get paid to be the POTUS ? 

nursej22 said:

Imagine monetizing the presidency with hotel a few blocks away from the White House and charging charging the secret service for rooms at your resort, 

Well with the way the SS protected him, who cares. You don't think the SS pays for it? LOL 

Crusades said:

Well with the way the SS protected him, who cares. You don't think the SS pays for it? LOL 

Well, I care that my tax dollars paid $1.4 million for the Secret Service to stay at Trump properties. Nice defection, though. 

Crusades said:

How much did he get paid to be the POTUS ? 

We don't really know what Trump was paid during his presidency.  We do know that he has not conducted his life in a manner which suggests that he felt at all confined by precedent, policy or actual law. We know that he committed business fraud and defrauded a charity and students in a "university" scam. I think it's reasonable to presume that Trump was bending and breaking all barriers.  

Do you suppose that you know everything that you need to know about the Kushner's unprecedented positions in Trump's administration?  Maybe you do.  

Perhaps in a Harris administration we will have an uncovering of the political and personal corruption that certainly marked the Trump presidency. There are so many of his former cabinet members and high level advisors who earn against another Trump term.  They know.  

 

Crusades said:

Well with the way the SS protected him, who cares. You don't think the SS pays for it? LOL 

What the heck kind of remark is that? Wasting millions of tax dollars on inflated room and amenity rates at Trump properties from 2017 to 2020 has nothing to do with the recent failures of his SS team. 

What we do know is that we watched Trump break typical SS protocol for politically motivated reasons during his presidency. We do know that the SS had been struggling for awhile with some very concerning lapses before the assassination attempt.  What we don't know is if Trump himself adversely affected his SS detail over time.  Trump is a rule breaker who isn't very interested in mundane details.  He bends protocol and precedent.  Trump is a spur of the moment, gut feeling kind of character.  Even after the shooting, he was defiant with their SS protocol to keep the POTUS down and under cover.  I think it's possible that the SS team that staffs Trump's security detail may have been influenced by the influencer and that's why they were inattentive to detail and sloppily communicating with poor follow up.  

nursej22 said:

Well, I care that my tax dollars paid $1.4 million for the Secret Service to stay at Trump properties. Nice defection, though. 

I doubt Trump was in charge of booking rooms

As for your tax money being wasted, you can thank congress and the Obama administration.

"A proposal to exempt the Secret Service from the lodging expense caps was included in President Barack Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2017, which he submitted in February 2016. The government's fiscal years don't coincide with calendar years; fiscal year 2017 started on October 1, 2016, while Obama was still in office.

The proposal, which included suggested language for the appropriations act, likely filtered up to Obama from the Secret Service through its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Assuming the federal budget process followed its usual trajectory, the department would have submitted its funding request to the president's Office of Management and Budget in September 2015. Before that, the Secret Service may have submitted its own funding request to the department as early as Spring 2015, before Trump announced his candidacy for president."

https://www.pogo.org/analysis/how-trump-is-fleecing-the-secret-service-and-how-to-stop-it