Trump's world....

[Slotback Right]

12 hours ago, DBP66 said:

....this was going to be the big gift for their supporters...getting rid of him....it was a high priority....guess not....wonk...wonk...more egg on their faces...🙄...maybe they can pass the Border bill in the Senate now...like he W.S.J. said they should??

Great Idea! Wish we thought of it. The Senate DOES need to pass a border bill...NOT an illegal immigration facilitation bill like the one they tried to slip past us this week. It shouldn't be too hard to do since the House already showed them how (HR 2).

If they don't, forget the Ukraine funding, and Joe Biden's ratings will stay in the crapper, while Texas, supported by 25 other states, will continue to show the country how it's done, keeping the number of illegal crossings way down.

[golfaddict1]

11 hours ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

Defend this! Can you imagine him up against Iran, Putin, Xi?

can’t wait for your reply @World Citizen  @GoBigBlack @golfaddict1

 

The vid seemed to pause when Biden was speaking, so not sure what he even replied with and not sure what that had to do with a SB visit. 

Here’s “another” Dementia Donnie example with a vid that didn’t pause.  
 

https://x.com/7veritas4/status/1754867147241644097?s=46&t=Ub_4ZB--blmAW22AUOdwqQ

…it’s supply chain, not change.  🤡  

[golfaddict1]

14 hours ago, DBP66 said:

Another failure for the Republicans....wonk...wonk...

House vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas fails, thwarted by Republican defections

LISA MASCARO

Updated Tue, February 6, 2024 at 6:48 PM EST·6 min read

2.9k

 

 

Mayorkas Interview

FILE - Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on threats to the homeland, Oct. 31, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. As Republicans in the House of Representatives threaten to make Mayorkas the first Cabinet official impeached in nearly 150 years, Mayorkas says, in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, he is “totally focused on the work" that his agency of 260,000 people conducts and not distracted by the politics of impeachment. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a dramatic setback, House Republicans failed Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, forced to shelve a high-profile priority — for now — after a few GOP lawmakers refused to go along with the party’s plan.

The stunning roll call fell just a few votes short of impeaching Mayorkas, stalling the Republicans’ drive to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border. With Democrats united against the charges, the Republicans needed almost every vote from their slim majority to approve the articles of impeachment.

The House is likely to revisit plans to impeach Mayorkas, but next steps are highly uncertain.

 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who could lose only a few Republicans from his slim majority, said he personally spoke to the GOP holdouts acknowledging the “heavy, heavy” vote as he sought their support.

“It’s an extreme measure,” said Johnson, R-La.. “But extreme times call for extreme measures.”

Not since 1876 has a Cabinet secretary faced impeachment charges and it's the first time a sitting secretary is being impeached — 148 years ago, Secretary of War William Belknap resigned just before the vote.

The impeachment charges against Mayorkas come as border security is fast becoming a top political issue in the 2024 election, a particularly potent line of attack being leveled at President Joe Biden by Republicans, led by the party's front-runner for the presidential nomination, Donald Trump.

Record numbers of people have been arriving at the southern border, many fleeing countries around the world, in what Mayorkas calls an era of global migration. Many migrants are claiming asylum and being conditionally released into the U.S., arriving in cities that are underequipped to provide housing and other aid while they await judicial proceedings which can take years to determine whether they may remain.

The House Democrats united against the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, calling the proceedings a sham designed to please Trump, charges that do not rise to the Constitution's bar of treason, bribery or “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

“A bunch of garbage,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. He called Mayorkas “a good man, a decent man,” who is simply trying to do his job.

Even if Republicans are able to impeach Mayorkas, he is not expected to be convicted in a Senate trial where Republican senators have been cool to the effort. The Senate could simply refer the matter to a committee for its own investigation, delaying immediate action.

The impeachment of Mayorkas landed quickly onto the House agenda after Republican efforts to impeach Biden over the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, hit a lull, and the investigation into the Biden family drags.

The Committee on Homeland Security under Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., had been investigating the secretary for much of the past year, including probing the flow of deadly fentanyl into the U.S. But a resolution from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Trump ally, pushed it to the fore. The panel swiftly held a pair of hearings in January before announcing the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas.

Unlike other moments in impeachment history, the arguments played out to an almost empty chamber, without the fervor or solemnity of past proceedings.

Greene, who was named to be one of the impeachment managers for the Senate trial, rose to blame Mayorkas for the “invasion” of migrants coming to the U.S.

Republican Rep. Eli Crane if Arizona said Mayorkas had committed a “dereliction of duty.”

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Mayorkas impeachment vote was a stunt designed by Republicans to sow “chaos and confusion" and appease Trump — rather than to govern.

“No reasonable American can conclude that you're making life better for them by this sham impeachment,” Jeffries said.

A former federal prosecutor, the secretary never testified on his own behalf, but submitted a rare letter to the panel defending his work.

Tuesday's vote arrives at a politically odd juncture for Mayorkas, who has been shuttling to the Senate to negotiate a bipartisan border security package, earning high marks from a group of senators involved.

But that legislation, which emerged Sunday as one of the most ambitious immigration overhauls in years, is heading toward instant defeat in a Wednesday test vote. Trump sharply criticized the bipartisan effort, other Republicans are panning it and Speaker Johnson says it's “dead on arrival.”

One Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Ca., announced his opposition saying the charges “fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed.”

The conservative McClintock said in a lengthy memo that the articles of impeachment from the committee explain the problems at the border under Biden's watch. But he said, “they stretch and distort the Constitution.”

Another Republican, retiring Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, also said he was against impeaching Mayorkas.

Impeachment, once rare in the U.S., has been used as both a constitutional check on the executive and increasingly as a political weapon.

The House Republicans have put a priority this session of Congress on impeachments, censures and other rebukes of officials and lawmakers, setting a new standard that is concerning scholars and others for the ways in which they can dole out punishments for perceived transgressions.

Experts have argued that Mayorkas has simply been snared in a policy dispute with Republicans who disapprove of the Biden administration's approach to the border situation.

Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley said impeachment is not to be used for being “a bad Cabinet member.” Lawyer Alan Dershowitz wrote, "Whatever else Mayorkas may or may not have done, he has not committed bribery, treason, or high crimes and misdemeanors."

Scholars point out that the Constitution's framers initially considered “maladministration” as an impeachable offense, but dropped it over concern of giving the legislative branch too much sway over the executive and disrupting the balance of power.

Three former secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano and Jeh Johnson, said in a letter Tuesday that impeaching the Cabinet official over policy disputes would “jeopardize our national security.”

Senators have shown little interest in a potential impeachment trial. “I don’t think the House should do anything that’s dead on arrival in the Senate,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

Trump as president was twice impeached — first in 2019 on abuse of power over his phone call with the Ukrainian president seeking a favor to dig up dirt on then-rival Biden, and later on the charge of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. He was acquitted on both impeachments in the Senate.

 

[I AM IRONMAN]

10 minutes ago, golfaddict1 said:

The vid seemed to pause when Biden was speaking, so not sure what he even replied with and not sure what that had to do with a SB visit. 

Here’s “another” Dementia Donnie example with a vid that didn’t pause.  
 

https://x.com/7veritas4/status/1754867147241644097?s=46&t=Ub_4ZB--blmAW22AUOdwqQ

…it’s supply chain, not change.  🤡  

Ya just can’t go tit for tat here.  Countless proof of Joe more then showing his age and America knows….maybe if he has the mental capability to debate Trump he’ll prove me and most of America wrong 🤔

[golfaddict1]

7 minutes ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

Ya just can’t go tit for tat here.  Countless proof of Joe more then showing his age and America knows….maybe if he has the mental capability to debate Trump he’ll prove me and most of America wrong 🤔

👌🏻 

[tommygun58]

[DBP66]

38 minutes ago, Slotback Right said:

Great Idea! Wish we thought of it. The Senate DOES need to pass a border bill...NOT an illegal immigration facilitation bill like the one they tried to slip past us this week. It shouldn't be too hard to do since the House already showed them how (HR 2).

If they don't, forget the Ukraine funding, and Joe Biden's ratings will stay in the crapper, while Texas, supported by 25 other states, will continue to show the country how it's done, keeping the number of illegal crossings way down.

yea...and we also forget funding for Israel....something the republicans wanted yesterday....you guys demanded a border bill...you got one the Republican Senate wanted....and then Donny said no....and the clown squad put their tails between their legs and backed down like little children...so all the bitching about the border 24/7 from the right for years isn't an issue anymore because Trump said so??...we'll turn a blind eye until the election because Donny said so......how bad/sad is that??....😪

[I AM IRONMAN]

29 minutes ago, golfaddict1 said:

👌🏻

Presley looks like Trump 🤣

this vs Biden dementia……I’ll take the Elvis look alike

[I AM IRONMAN]

13 minutes ago, DBP66 said:

yea...and we also forget funding for Israel....something the republicans wanted yesterday....you guys demanded a border bill...you got one the Republican Senate wanted....and then Donny said no....and the clown squad put their tails between their legs and backed down like little children...so all the bitching about the border 24/7 from the right for years isn't an issue anymore because Trump said so??...we'll turn a blind eye until the election because Donny said so......how bad/sad is that??....😪

Obviously you didn’t read the bill, or even the abridged version.  It does very VERY little to secure the borders.  Don’t surpass 5,000. Ok the cartels will just spread those numbers to beat the system.  You must love having those cop beating flipping off America dreamers.  Those poor immigrants!

[DBP66]

9 minutes ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

Obviously you didn’t read the bill, or even the abridged version.  It does very VERY little to secure the borders.  Don’t surpass 5,000. Ok the cartels will just spread those numbers to beat the system.  You must love having those cop beating flipping off America dreamers.  Those poor immigrants!

it doesn't matter what I read or didn't read...real Republicans in the Senate wanted to pass it....until Donny said no and threw the entire country under the bus so he can run on soft borders...beautiful!!....🙄

[I AM IRONMAN]

10 minutes ago, DBP66 said:

it doesn't matter what I read or didn't read...real Republicans in the Senate wanted to pass it....until Donny said no and threw the entire country under the bus so he can run on soft borders...beautiful!!....🙄

This is all political….now dementia Joe can mumble “ it’s there fault, I tried”. Yeah you tried during an election year, what about the other 3 years?🤔🤔 and opening the border wide open his first day in office.  

[DBP66]

3 minutes ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

This is all political….now dementia Joe can mumble “ it’s there fault, I tried”. Yeah you tried during an election year, what about the other 3 years?🤔🤔 and opening the border wide open his first day in office.  

so waiting until Nov. makes the most sense at this point???....10 more moths of "open borders" is a good thing because Donny said so??....😪

[golfaddict1]

50 minutes ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

Presley looks like Trump 🤣

this vs Biden dementia……I’ll take the Elvis look alike

Elvis in the later years vs Trump?  
Sure, I’ll approve similarities in body fat and they also shared close proximity to a doc who enjoyed dishing out narcotics like candy.  

[golfaddict1]

18 minutes ago, DBP66 said:

so waiting until Nov. makes the most sense at this point???....10 more moths of "open borders" is a good thing because Donny said so??....😪

Nothing political about being 🐑 to a con man and just voting “off the table”.  👍🏻

Why ruin the polls pct gain on immigration?  Who cares about the border numbers in 2024 prior to the election… we got this!  

 

[golfaddict1]

https://x.com/scottcrates/status/1755240481020387574?s=46&t=Ub_4ZB--blmAW22AUOdwqQ
 

Mike Lindell, new RNC Chairman?  🤔 😂 

 

[DBP66]

Dysfunction Reigns in Congress as GOP Defeats Multiply

Catie Edmondson

Wed, February 7, 2024 at 7:44 AM EST·5 min read

6.8k

 

 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) takes questions during the weekly Democratic Party luncheon news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Anna Rose Layden/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress suffered a humiliating series of setbacks Tuesday on critical elements of their agenda, turning the Capitol into a den of dysfunction that has left several major issues, including U.S. military aid to Ukraine and Israel, in limbo amid political feuding.

As Republicans in the Senate torpedoed a border deal they had demanded, the bid by their counterparts in the House to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, collapsed amid Republican defections.

Then came one last bruising blow. Minutes after Republicans fell one vote short of impeaching Mayorkas — a punishment the party has promised its base ever since winning the majority — the House defeated legislation they put forward to send $17.6 billion in military assistance to Israel. The measure fell to opposition from Democrats who called it a cynical political ploy to undermine efforts to pass a broader foreign military aid bill including Ukraine. They were joined by a clutch of hard-right Republicans, who opposed the measure because the money was not paired with spending cuts.

Taken together, the events that unfolded on Capitol Hill on Tuesday offered a vivid portrait of congressional disarray instigated by Republicans, who are bent on opposing President Joe Biden at every turn but lack a large enough majority or the unity to work their will.

They have sought to kill bipartisan efforts to send more military aid to Ukraine and to forge a compromise to secure the border against an influx of migrants, proposing instead to help only Israel and to push for the removal of Biden’s top immigration official. The back-to-back defeats Tuesday showed that while they are adept at thwarting action on critical issues, they are hard-pressed to address any.

The paralysis left the fate of aid to Ukraine and Israel in peril, closing off what had been seen as the best remaining avenue on Capitol Hill for approval of critical military assistance to U.S. allies. A broad measure that includes both is expected to fail in a Senate test vote Wednesday, raising immediate questions about whether Congress could salvage the emergency aid package — and if so, how.

And it amounted to a disastrous day for Speaker Mike Johnson roughly 100 days into his speakership, highlighting his razor-thin majority and the unwieldiness of his conference.

In a statement, Johnson blamed Democrats for opposing the aid to Israel, which he said sent a “rebuke to our closest ally in the Middle East at their time of great need.” He said Republicans had only unveiled an Israel aid bill devoid of spending cuts as “a major concession” given “the gravity of the situation.”

But he left the Capitol without addressing what appeared to be a calamitous miscalculation on the impeachment vote, which had been little more than a political exercise given that the Democratic-led Senate would be all but certain to acquit Mayorkas.

Instead of a show of Republican unity for impeaching Biden’s top immigration official, the vote devolved into an extraordinary scene of chaos on the House floor that highlighted GOP disarray, as leaders scrounged for the support to push through the charges against Mayorkas but were thwarted by their tiny majority.

They vowed to try again as soon as Wednesday.

“House Republicans fully intend to bring Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas back to the floor when we have the votes for passage,” Raj Shah, a spokesman for Johnson, wrote on social media.

Tuesday’s failure underscored Republican divisions over the impeachment. Three GOP lawmakers opposed the resolution, warning that it would set a dangerous precedent of impeaching administration officials for policy differences.

In a dramatic denouement, Democrats brought out Rep. Al Green of Texas, still in a hospital gown from having undergone emergency surgery, to vote against the bill after he had missed previous votes. That deadlocked the tally, dooming the impeachment effort, which required a simple majority to pass.

Hard-right Republicans were livid, and expressed bafflement that their leaders did not seem to know exactly what their vote count would be on a major vote.

“I would have thought that they would know that,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. “It isn’t that hard.”

Norman laughed when asked how he could explain the vote to his constituents.

“The conservative base is going have a real problem with this,” he said. “And they should.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has led the charge for impeaching Mayorkas, said she expected House GOP leaders to hold the vote again in coming days after calling Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican, back to Washington. Scalise had been away from the Capitol recovering from treatment for multiple myeloma.

Greene predicted that the Republicans who sunk the measure would “be hearing from their constituents.”

The dysfunction is set to continue Wednesday in the Senate when Republicans are expected to block a bill tying a border compromise to aid for Israel and Ukraine, after most of their members — even those who led the charge to negotiate it — turned against the package that House Republicans refused to consider amid opposition from former President Donald Trump.

“Joe Biden will never enforce any new law and refuses to use the tools he already has today to end this crisis,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican. “I cannot vote for this bill. Americans will turn to the upcoming election to end the border crisis.”

[golfaddict1]

1 hour ago, DBP66 said:

it doesn't matter what I read or didn't read...real Republicans in the Senate wanted to pass it....until Donny said no and threw the entire country under the bus so he can run on soft borders...beautiful!!....🙄

 

1 hour ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

This is all political….

https://x.com/repraskin/status/1755262863533384059?s=46&t=Ub_4ZB--blmAW22AUOdwqQ

[golfaddict1]

28 minutes ago, DBP66 said:

Dysfunction Reigns in Congress as GOP Defeats Multiply

Catie Edmondson

Wed, February 7, 2024 at 7:44 AM EST·5 min read

6.8k

 

 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) takes questions during the weekly Democratic Party luncheon news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Anna Rose Layden/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress suffered a humiliating series of setbacks Tuesday on critical elements of their agenda, turning the Capitol into a den of dysfunction that has left several major issues, including U.S. military aid to Ukraine and Israel, in limbo amid political feuding.

As Republicans in the Senate torpedoed a border deal they had demanded, the bid by their counterparts in the House to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, collapsed amid Republican defections.

Then came one last bruising blow. Minutes after Republicans fell one vote short of impeaching Mayorkas — a punishment the party has promised its base ever since winning the majority — the House defeated legislation they put forward to send $17.6 billion in military assistance to Israel. The measure fell to opposition from Democrats who called it a cynical political ploy to undermine efforts to pass a broader foreign military aid bill including Ukraine. They were joined by a clutch of hard-right Republicans, who opposed the measure because the money was not paired with spending cuts.

Taken together, the events that unfolded on Capitol Hill on Tuesday offered a vivid portrait of congressional disarray instigated by Republicans, who are bent on opposing President Joe Biden at every turn but lack a large enough majority or the unity to work their will.

They have sought to kill bipartisan efforts to send more military aid to Ukraine and to forge a compromise to secure the border against an influx of migrants, proposing instead to help only Israel and to push for the removal of Biden’s top immigration official. The back-to-back defeats Tuesday showed that while they are adept at thwarting action on critical issues, they are hard-pressed to address any.

The paralysis left the fate of aid to Ukraine and Israel in peril, closing off what had been seen as the best remaining avenue on Capitol Hill for approval of critical military assistance to U.S. allies. A broad measure that includes both is expected to fail in a Senate test vote Wednesday, raising immediate questions about whether Congress could salvage the emergency aid package — and if so, how.

And it amounted to a disastrous day for Speaker Mike Johnson roughly 100 days into his speakership, highlighting his razor-thin majority and the unwieldiness of his conference.

In a statement, Johnson blamed Democrats for opposing the aid to Israel, which he said sent a “rebuke to our closest ally in the Middle East at their time of great need.” He said Republicans had only unveiled an Israel aid bill devoid of spending cuts as “a major concession” given “the gravity of the situation.”

But he left the Capitol without addressing what appeared to be a calamitous miscalculation on the impeachment vote, which had been little more than a political exercise given that the Democratic-led Senate would be all but certain to acquit Mayorkas.

Instead of a show of Republican unity for impeaching Biden’s top immigration official, the vote devolved into an extraordinary scene of chaos on the House floor that highlighted GOP disarray, as leaders scrounged for the support to push through the charges against Mayorkas but were thwarted by their tiny majority.

They vowed to try again as soon as Wednesday.

“House Republicans fully intend to bring Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas back to the floor when we have the votes for passage,” Raj Shah, a spokesman for Johnson, wrote on social media.

Tuesday’s failure underscored Republican divisions over the impeachment. Three GOP lawmakers opposed the resolution, warning that it would set a dangerous precedent of impeaching administration officials for policy differences.

In a dramatic denouement, Democrats brought out Rep. Al Green of Texas, still in a hospital gown from having undergone emergency surgery, to vote against the bill after he had missed previous votes. That deadlocked the tally, dooming the impeachment effort, which required a simple majority to pass.

Hard-right Republicans were livid, and expressed bafflement that their leaders did not seem to know exactly what their vote count would be on a major vote.

“I would have thought that they would know that,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. “It isn’t that hard.”

Norman laughed when asked how he could explain the vote to his constituents.

“The conservative base is going have a real problem with this,” he said. “And they should.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has led the charge for impeaching Mayorkas, said she expected House GOP leaders to hold the vote again in coming days after calling Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican, back to Washington. Scalise had been away from the Capitol recovering from treatment for multiple myeloma.

Greene predicted that the Republicans who sunk the measure would “be hearing from their constituents.”

The dysfunction is set to continue Wednesday in the Senate when Republicans are expected to block a bill tying a border compromise to aid for Israel and Ukraine, after most of their members — even those who led the charge to negotiate it — turned against the package that House Republicans refused to consider amid opposition from former President Donald Trump.

“Joe Biden will never enforce any new law and refuses to use the tools he already has today to end this crisis,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican. “I cannot vote for this bill. Americans will turn to the upcoming election to end the border crisis.”

It was literally word for word the same message from Rick Scott on Bloomberg TV this am as what Barrasso is quoted stating in the article.  

They are saying the quiet parts out loud now.  It’s all they have left.  

Wait until the commercials start flooding in from democratic pacs and politicians about the change of tone from the right and why.  🧐  #boomerangtossed

#farright  #viktororbangreatleader

 

 

[World Citizen]

2 hours ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

Obviously you didn’t read the bill, or even the abridged version.  It does very VERY little to secure the borders.  Don’t surpass 5,000. Ok the cartels will just spread those numbers to beat the system.  You must love having those cop beating flipping off America dreamers.  Those poor immigrants!

You are wrong of course about what you think is in the bill but that aside, the Border Patrol Union supports the bill.  I'll tell you another thing, Republicans will NEVER get a bill as fucked up as this one and the fact you all refuse it just proves solving the immigration problem was never a priority.  In fact, it was a priority to NOT fix the border.  If it were fixed you would have zero to complain about.  Except the other made-up outrages like crime, drag shows, and being taught history.

Do you love those cop beating Jan 6 terrorist flipping off America and shitting in the People's house?  Do you support Trump when he talks about killing American generals?  Or when the Jan 6 losers screamed to hang Pence?  They even built something to hang him with for fucks sake.  

And a debate is the last thing Trump wants to do.  He is what you say Biden is.  You projecting won't help him.  

Almost forgot to put the link to border patrol union story. 

Border Patrol union backs Senate immigration bill despite House GOP opposition - ABC News

 

[DBP66]

Trump has the mentality of a 2 year old and his cult loves him for it...a bunch of "fake Americans"...this is sickening....what a POS he is...

Trump says he would encourage Russia to do ‘whatever the hell’ it wants to Nato allies who don’t pay up

Our Foreign Staff

Sun, February 11, 2024 at 12:49 AM EST·3 min read

202

 

 

Donald Trump at a rally in Conway, South Carolina - Getty Images

Donald Trump said on Saturday that as president, he warned Nato allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances.

Speaking at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Mr Trump recounted a story he has told before about an unidentified Nato member who confronted him over his threat not to defend members who fail to meet the trans-Atlantic alliance’s defence spending targets.

But this time, Mr Trump went further, saying had told the member that he would, in fact, “encourage” Russia to do as it wishes in that case.

 

“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’” Mr Trump recounted saying. “‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.’”

Nato allies agreed in 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, to halt the spending cuts they had made after the Cold War and move toward spending 2pc of their GDPs on defence by 2024.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded, saying that: “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged – and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home.”

 

'You gotta pay your bills', Mr Trump said - Getty Images

Mr Trump’s comments come as Ukraine remains mired in its efforts to stave off Russia’s invasion and as Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical of providing additional aid money to the country as it struggles with stalled counteroffensives and weapons shortfalls.

They also come as Mr Trump and his team are increasingly confident he will lock up the nomination in the coming weeks following commanding victories in the first votes of the 2024 Republican nominating calendar.

Earlier on Saturday, Mr Trump called for the end of foreign aid “WITHOUT ‘STRINGS’ ATTACHED”, arguing that the US should dramatically curtail the way it provides money.

“FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, ARE YOU LISTENING US SENATE(?), NO MONEY IN THE FORM OF FOREIGN AID SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ANY COUNTRY UNLESS IT IS DONE AS A LOAN, NOT JUST A GIVEAWAY,” Mr Trump wrote on his social media network in all-caps letters.

During his 2016 campaign, Mr Trump alarmed Western allies by warning that the United States, under his leadership, might abandon its Nato treaty commitments and only come to the defence of countries that meet the alliance’s guidelines by committing 2pc of their gross domestic products to military spending.

Mr Trump, as president, eventually endorsed Nato’s Article 5 mutual defence clause, which states that an armed attack against one or more of its members shall be considered an attack against all members.

But he often depicted Nato allies as leeches on the US military and openly questioned the value of the military alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades.

As of 2022, Nato reported that seven of what are now 31 Nato member countries were meeting that obligation — up from three in 2014. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has spurred additional military spending by some Nato members.

Mr Trump has often tried to take credit for that increase, and said on Saturday that, as a results of his threats, “hundreds of billions of dollars came into Nato” - even though countries do not pay Nato directly.

[Warrior]

UPDATE:

2/11/2024 - DJT still not convicted of a crime. (most of the BS indictments are falling apart)

Tuesday Nov. 5th 2024 - President DJT will win in a historic landslide.

11/5/24 - DBP’s 219 pages of TDS goes to waste. 

[GoBigBlack]

1 hour ago, Warrior said:

most of the BS indictments are falling apart)

Congratulations, you’ve tested positive for an extra chromosome.

[Warrior]

15 minutes ago, GoBigBlack said:

Congratulations, you’ve tested positive for an extra chromosome.

I’m sure that was funny in your head

[concha]

1 hour ago, Warrior said:

I’m sure that was funny in your head

 

I find it hilarious how the party that shat themselves at the thought of a border wall and which began advertising "sanctuaries" to the world (starting in earnest when Trump took over, BTW) is pointing fingers at the right.

That same party is pushing a bill that limits border crossings to 5k a day and THEN they'll do something. FYI, 5k/day is equivalent to 3x-4x what was happening under Trump.  Why not enforce at 0K/day? Answer: Because Democrats want the flood.

 

[GoBigBlack]

9 minutes ago, Warrior said:

I’m sure that was funny in your head

There’s no bigger indicator that you either are mentally incapable of joining the rest of the world in reality or you’re completely ignorant to anything actually happening in these cases than stating “the BS indictments are falling apart.” 

I don’t want to sell you short, though. It could definitely be both.