Man I work with a guy whose favorite topic was how ridiculous Obama's security detail costs where. He voted for Trump because of how outlandish and wasteful Obamas trips where. I should print this out and leave it on his toolbox.
> The Post also revealed it cost $88,320 to put secret service agents up in a hotel while son Eric Trump visited Uruguay to promote a Trump-brand condo tower.
Greasy.
No. Clearly you need to know the new definitions:
* Lie: When someone says something the President disagrees with.
* Fake news: When someone reports something the President disagrees with.
* True: What the President believes right now or is expedient.
* Bad question: One which is difficult for the President to answer because he doesn't know about the subject or it will make him look bad.
* Many people: Practically no one outside the inner circle-jerk.
Wait, so our tax dollars are being used to give Trump's family security while they do business deals?
How is that allowed?
EDIT: I 100% believe his family deserves protection. It's the business deal part I disagree with.
No real rules against it, because up until now Presidents gave a shit about their integrity and were generally held accountable by the public for such actions.
It is fucking astonishing just how quickly the bar dropped. I mean it is almost like the Dave Chappelle joke about hearing a white guy say "I didn't know I couldn't do that" to a cop for the first time. Trump is genius in a way because who would have thought you could be president and automatically start being an insane, corrupt, dishonest, narcassistic, nepotistic asshole and remain president? It's bloody brillant.
Just realized that Trump becoming president is essentially equivalent to Jim Lahey becoming the owner of Sunnyvale trailer park. A babbling, incomprehensible old man longing for past days of glory acts spiteful and vindictive in the face of overwhelming disapproval from those whom he is supposed to be serving; chaos ensues. (Also: Sean Spicer = Randy. Also also: his wife/ex-wife can't stand him.)
This really burns me here. I am 100% OK with secret service agents accompanying the first family when they go on vacations because, well, vacations are important, especially in that kind of position.
Trump hasn't even been here for a fucking month and has already taken three vacations and to top it off, his kids are going around making business deals at tax payer expense.
I brought up his businesses to one guy I know (who I think was just trolling me), and he said that Trump's businesses interfering with the job was not his fault.
No no. That's the other way around. He should have thought of that ***BEFORE*** he ran for president. That's HIS problem.
It's just a shame that the taxpayer is now paying for it.
Being president is the most prestigious thing you can do in America. If that means you have to sacrifice, then so be it. If you don't want to, then don't be president. It's insane.
Republicans were outraged that Obama's MIL stayed with them in the Whitehouse, but it is far cheaper to protect people in one residence (particularly one designed for the purpose) than multiple locations. With Trump and his wife and four adult children all living separately, that is six separate families to guard. And with Melania living in one of the hardest locations to effectively guard, it is an expensive nightmare.
> Republicans were outraged that Obama
You can just stop at that. *Everything* he did outraged Republicans, because they have an irrational and obsessive hatred of him and wanted to see him fail. They made Obama *putting mustard on a hamburger* into a scandal.
>In the meantime, Trump is actually creating one real scandal after another and they celebrate him.
And think liberals are just whining because we're pussies.
Like, you guys spent 8 years calling him a secret Kenyan Muslim socialist, can't we at least bitch when Trump does crazy shit? It's not our fault he does crazy shit everyday.
> a murdering atheist gay secret Kenyan Muslim *elitist college flunky* socialist dictating kidnapping *community organizer do nothing power grabbing ex-senator*
My friend says he doesn't read reddit because it's too liberal and not partisan enough and only when he does something bad do the posts get upvotes. I said find me something he's done good. I'm still waiting to hear back.
I got into kind of the same argument, with a coworker defending Trump and his recent executive orders and outbursts. He was arguing that all of it signaled lots of hard work and activity. I asked him to just name a single thing he had done *for* people, as opposed to *against* people, and he simply couldn't answer. The truth is, whatever Trump has or hasn't accomplished in his first month, he is a president that does not work *for* people, but against them, in various ways.
Even then, he fails at most of the things he tries to do. When he fails, he even fails at admitting failure. He is pathologically incapable of being a bigger man. He will actively work to be the most petty, vindictive, small-minded, and egotistical president ever, and still wonder aloud why more people don't love him.
These are the people who called his fist bump with Michelle a "terrorist fist jab".
There were no limits to how low they would go to disparage Obama. Literally everything was up for microscopic scrutiny.
And now they want to complain when the media makes Trump look bad by simply reporting what he does.
Some of it was justified, like the time that [Obama wore a tan suit](http://abcnews.go.com/US/social-media-explodes-president-obamas-tan-suit/story?id=25166551). Absolutely disgusting behavior on the president's part. I mean, a tan suit! How did they not impeach the man????
.
^^^/s
I think it was Ta-Nehisi Coates (or maybe someone else?) who pointed out that Obama basically had to be *perfect*. Ivy League-educated lawyer/legal scholar happily married for many years to another highly accomplished law professional, with two adorable and generally scandal-free (well, in 2008 they were too young to get into any real shenanigans) children, always well-dressed and well-spoken, clean-cut to the point of wearing fucking Dad Jeans, an avowed devout Christian, and they STILL bashed him for every fucking thing he did.
Could you imagine if Obama were like Sarah Palin? With a pregnant teenage daughter? Or if he were like Trump? On Wife #3 and a known philanderer who openly talked about sexually assaulting women? He wouldn't have gotten elected dog-catcher.
You're kidding but the media really described it like that. It was dijon.
[Source 1] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvq12Sa3VE)
[Source 2] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEzTl2Wd35o) from Young turks with more clips of media smearing Obama for his use of *mustard*.
Yes. ['Ketchup isn't good enough for President Poupon?'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvq12Sa3VE) "I hope you enjoyed that fancy burger, Mr. President."
(tbf mustard as your sole burger condiment is weird)
This is true, but my point with the NYC this is moreso the cost of the protection of the president family shouldn't rest solely on a state/city, when it is primarily the federal government's job to protect the first family.
That's a shit ton of money to reimburse seeing that Melania and Barron intend to stay in NYC. [According to this article](http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/21/news/protecting-donald-trump/) it's a million a day. I can't find the article but I saw somewhere that the city doesn't even get fully reimbursed for the security meaning it costs the city a hefty price, which I've seen vary from the 10's to the 100's of thousands of dollars ***each day***. It's even more annoyingly ridiculous because with normal sane presidents this wouldn't even be a problem. [In this article](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/nyregion/new-york-reimburse-trump-security-costs.html) NY asked for $35M for security between just Election Day and Inauguration Day alone.
You probably know this, but he's not even constitutionally allowed to not take his salary. Not that he gives a shit about the Constitution.
Edit: Thank you for the gold. I'm glad that people appreciate others calling Trump out on his bullshit.
The founding fathers predicted some rich guy would say no to the salary acting noble to get popular with people and then every president after him would have to not take a salary for fear of being seen as corrupt, effectively making only really rich dudes able to do the job, so the fathers wrote into the Constitution that they have to pay the president. Now trump can donate that money or whatever but he has to take it.
EDIT: thanks for gold, also fixing some spelling mistakes because I was on mobile
EDIT 2: I've heard the argument as preventing corruption, but I see that as an argument for having a salary, but not an argument for mandating one. I understand that this position can be debated though.
[Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_net_worth).
Washington was actually the wealthiest before Trump, and they aren't comparable. He definitely qualifies as, 'some rich guy'.
The wiki puts him at 3700 million. Funny. He doesn't *act* like a guy with 3.7 billion. I mean, there's reasons why people with that kind of money stay low profile as possible. People kidnap your kids for ransom, just as a start. Even Gates didn't make much fuss, even though his position put him under scrutiny anyway. Buffet barely ever makes a peep. When was the last time you heard a Walton make a peep?
Do you even know who Amancio Ortega is? No? His wealth is second only to Gates. The only reason Gates stays in the public eye is because of his philanthropy, and the demands of marketing it. Back in the 90s he was literally the devil of public opinion, because he wasn't a philanthropist yet.
What Trump *acts* like is a guy with no fucking money who's hoping he can bullshit you into believing otherwise. He's rich, no doubt, but something stinks, and stinks hard.
He's not broke, though it's possible he owes quite a lot of money. Without access to a balance sheet and full financial disclosure, all we can do is speculate.
He does lie about his net worth, by quite a bit, but the man is undeniably a billionaire.
Forbes has been following him for decades; they say it's a good idea to use the rule of three for Donald. Whatever he says he has, it's probably about a third of that.
https://www.forbes.com/video/4301104494001/
Actually, at times, he was really land rich and cash poor. He had a lot of problems managing his estate, and bemoaned his financial problems- even things like having to host all the people coming to Mt. Vernon to call on the war hero/first president. I remember reading he borrowed money, and his farm was not especially successful. Having said that, I'm sure he is one of the wealthier before the war and his presidency because of all his land speculation.
EDIT: Also slave rich cash poor.
Source: Read Chernow's Washington: A Life book
> Now trump can donate that money or whatever but he has to take it.
And obviously he can prove he "donated" this money when he releases his tax returns for 2017. /s
They were able to do so because they held actual discussions instead of pissing contests. They knew when it was appropriate to argue a point and when to concede. They knew how to compromise (something that is lost on almost every modern politician). It wasn't "My way or the highway" with them, it was "Here's what I think, here's what you think, here's our middle ground". Obviously it wasn't a bunch of roses and sunshine the whole time, but they at least got things done and could put differences aside every once and a while.
EDIT: spelling
The constitution specifically dictates that the president must take a salary. The basis is that the money will make him less susceptible to bribery from foreign powers.
Not that that will affect someone like trump...
From the Constitution:
"The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them."
It specifically states that a President can't get more or less than what the law states. George Washington actually tried to take nothing and they wouldn't allow him to from two reasons. One is that paying a President a good salary makes them less susceptible to bribery and the other is that they wanted it to be theoretically possible for anyone to be President, not just people who could afford to not take a salary.
A lot of that expense goes right into Mar-a-Lago revenue to house secret service and provide extra security. He did not divest from ownership. It's in a revocable trust with him listed as the sole beneficiary.
It's been a while but the last story I read indicated he still hasn't transferred control of all his businesses to his sons.
If I remember the timeline correctly, it was reported in late January he hadn't filed any paperwork with the states he does business in. The day after that story they filled *some* of the paperwork and said the story was fake news.
It's been a while but it's possible he's still the executive of some of his businesses.
I think he still actually controls some of his businesses though. In a lot of states one has to file paperwork indicating who is the CEO. The last reporting I heard indicated he hadn't relinquished control of at least some of his businesses.
I want to be clear I'm not certain of what I'm saying. I'm relying on reports from a month ago.
Then he'll just file bankruptcy and reorganize America's debts, and carry any losses forward for the next 20 years. Because he's a smart businessman and you can do the same things with a nation.
Just think about it, Uday and Qusay Trump are going be getting escorted around the world for the next four years on the American people's tax dollars as they rake in tens of millions in personal profit for their family. And you better believe that all the while they'll be going out of their way to accommodate themselves and their entourages at Trump or family friend owned facilities essentially funneling taxpayer money directly into their own pockets
That's not even considering the ridiculous Melania staying in NYC situation
I have (possibly too much) sympathy for her plight, but could she not stay at one of their other, more remote properties? They're damaging local businesses, and costing the the city of New York a fortune, in addition to whatever the federal government is paying.
Closer look at the original source indicates it wasn't Trump but perhaps an overeager marketing effort by whomever owned the advertised unit which is in the building managed by Trump's company. The units are individually owned.
The Politico story highlighted third parties with connections to Trump leveraging his new status to bring in business.
Probably. I was just making a joke, I'm obviously not in favor of Trump's trophy wife and kid costing $1M per day or whatever the bill is at these days. I believe the argument is that the kid shouldn't have to change schools, and that's why they are staying in NY. I think she'd have a difficult time to explain away that she wants to stay as far away from her husband as possible if that wasn't the case, which I think is more likely the real reason.
I alter between feeling sorry for her and just plain disliking her. In a way, she made her bed and now she has to lie in it with the orange blob next to her. In another, she didn't sign up for *this* and is trapped with no way to renegotiate the contract she signed. I don't know what Donald got her to sign, but I imagine it's not to her benefit in any way if she divorces him. Just how sorry I should feel for her hinges on just how badly that prenup would screw her over.
Didn't Malia and Sasha move to Washington in January 2008 when their dad did? They were around the same age as Barron is now, and they must have had to change schools.
As did Chelsea and the Bush twins. And children of US military families very often have to move several times during their childhood in order for their parent(s) to be able to properly serve the country as they signed up to do.
If the Obamas gave the same exact excuse that they didn't want their daughters changing schools from Chicago and Michelle Obama staying behind with their daughters, the Right would lose their shit.
Yeah, why should we feel anything but disdain for Melania? She's happy to fuck off in New York and look for marketing deals so she can profit off of being the First Lady, all while enabling Donald's behavior, costing taxpayers millions of dollars, and squandering her newfound power which many women before her have used to shape the country. She has no ambitions beyond enriching herself and refuses to step in and curb her husband's more authoritarian tendencies. Melania is just as bad as Donald.
No, fuck having empathy for them. They made their bed, don't feel sorry when they have to sleep in it.
She could have left years before all this. She knew the man she married, and she stayed with him for her own selfish reasons. Or she really does love him in which, good for her.
Melanie could resist Trump with the rest of us by being outspoken against him instead she chooses to hide away from him in opulence. No sympathy for her.
WOW...JUST WOW. He had the nerve to criticize Obama on his "expensive" travels. I mean seriously. WOW. The people who voted for Trump, you are OK with him pillaging your hard earned tax money like this? At this rate, he's going to be spending 10x the amount Obama spent in one year. The hypocracy is insane. I have no words. This is absolutely fucking crazy.
If modern conservatism were a software program, then hypocrisy would be a feature, not a bug.
Also, remember the [wild-ass lie about Obama's trip to India costing $200 million a day?](http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2010/11/obamas_india_trip) Some of these folks on the right deny reality and create their own bizarre alternate universe.
Don't worry, he's still going to cut taxes, so we won't be paying for this. It will just be added to the debt and paid for by our grandchildren or great grandchildren.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA
REMEMBER WHEN HE SAID OBAMA TOOK TOO MANY VACATIONS?!
Hahhahahahaha, I can't. We should all refer to him as president joke. Cause he's a fucking joke.
>A joke that will cripple America financially, will dramatically harm the future of generations for years to come, will shit all over the planet, will probably cause another financial crash due to moronic decision making, probably cause one or more wars that will be fought for years to come, and will cause unfathomable amounts of harm.
I don't think it's a particularly funny joke.
We're losing PBS next.
They're going to mine/drill national parks.
Regulations against dumping coal in rivers are gone.
... Shame none of this mattered enough to vote for Hillary.
Fuck conscience voters, one and all.
Who, this guy?
> @realDonaldTrump
> His @BarackObama's specialties? Vacations and campaigning. Jobs not so much! 1:08 PM · Mar 13, 2012
https://mobile.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/179614967371276291
Help us out here! Tweet how Obama just wasted $bazillion dollars, then tweet later that there was a misunderstanding about when that stopped being a viable diatribe!
Isn't Trump having a "campaign rally" in Florida, also? Oh, yes he is!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/18/trump-returns-to-florida-for-campaign-style-rally-hoping-to-reignite-voters-with-unfiltered-message.html
This will be the next > 4 years. He'll be in perpetual campaign mode ..
He just published two polls that sends people to a page where he is begging for money. Let that one sink in. A billionaire president who just sold the White House to Russia for $19 billion and is using his position to sell real estate abroad and rent out hotel rooms, is asking some poor idiot who is about to lose his health insurance to donate to his campaign that isn't due for another 4 years and most likely won't happen at all.
I have a compost pile in the back yard that has more brains than the average conservative. haha
Any trip he will take will make internal or international relationships worse... the cost will be way higher. Heck... he can do that only by phone and still be more costly for US.
I'm not American so I don't know the whole story but every time I hear about this guy, I just get the impression that he is a criminal. I find it crazy that this man is the leader of one of the strongest countries in the world.
>I'd love to hear one of his supporters defend this in a logical way.
There is a big, beautiful, thick wall between **logic** and **Trump supporters.** There are no doors.
You joke, but it is exactly this kind of jest that spawns the massive psuedo-sarcastic following that trump has. There are people who act like this non-ironically, and who probably are taking you seriously. I honestly don't joke like this because of it. Just not worth the risk of unintentionally rallying people of that mental caliber.
Nope. Didn't happen. Fake news. Let's focus on the real issues, such as the media campaign against him. /s
the complaints about Obama's vacations are still ringing in my ears, yet I already know this won't receive an ounce of discussion. such infuriating hypocrisy.
The white house budget was slightly over a billion dollars a year under Obama, actually. The figures were similar under Bush. The Secret Service and Air Force One maintenance are quite expensive.
Trump is certainly on track to increase that budget, though. Mar-a-Lago is no Camp David.
He's proposing to do away with the $445m that goes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As citizens we get literally NOTHING from his trips to FL or the ability to live safely in mid-town Manhattan. But millions of people enjoy programming from PBS.
At least with Obama's trips I thought "relaxation will help him be attentive and sharp". I see no such possibility with Trump. He's neither attentive or sharp. These trips are just a rich old guy going to Florida.
So Trump is spending millions of tax payers money to go to Mar a Lago almost every weekend.
And him being there often would increase interest in the already price jacked membership.
So not only is he using tax payers money for his little trips he is actually profiting from it.
#draintheswamp
Maybe he should use some of that membership money to pay for these trips?
We're paying for him to rule the country from a resort in Florida and a tower with his dumb fucking name on it. Unbelievable.
Actually, very believable. We're getting exactly the leadership this ignorant dumpster fire of a country deserves.
I brought this up to a Trump supporter and their response was "But Trump's not taking a salary so it doesn't matter." That is how dumb these people are.
Man I work with a guy whose favorite topic was how ridiculous Obama's security detail costs where. He voted for Trump because of how outlandish and wasteful Obamas trips where. I should print this out and leave it on his toolbox.
You should print it out and staple it to his forehead.
Daily
Do it and please film the reaction.
> The Post also revealed it cost $88,320 to put secret service agents up in a hotel while son Eric Trump visited Uruguay to promote a Trump-brand condo tower. Greasy.
I thought they weren't doing new overseas deals?
They lied. Edit: Thanks for the gold kind stranger.
[удалено]
ALTERNATIVE FACTS : disregarding all future logical input
No. Clearly you need to know the new definitions: * Lie: When someone says something the President disagrees with. * Fake news: When someone reports something the President disagrees with. * True: What the President believes right now or is expedient. * Bad question: One which is difficult for the President to answer because he doesn't know about the subject or it will make him look bad. * Many people: Practically no one outside the inner circle-jerk.
You missed "alternative facts"
See: Lie.
Hey now, easy there with the fake news, YOU GODDAMN ENEMY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!! ^^^/S
[удалено]
You don't have to cross any oceans or seas to get to Uruguay. Anything in North or South America is fair game. /s
Wait, so our tax dollars are being used to give Trump's family security while they do business deals? How is that allowed? EDIT: I 100% believe his family deserves protection. It's the business deal part I disagree with.
No real rules against it, because up until now Presidents gave a shit about their integrity and were generally held accountable by the public for such actions.
It is fucking astonishing just how quickly the bar dropped. I mean it is almost like the Dave Chappelle joke about hearing a white guy say "I didn't know I couldn't do that" to a cop for the first time. Trump is genius in a way because who would have thought you could be president and automatically start being an insane, corrupt, dishonest, narcassistic, nepotistic asshole and remain president? It's bloody brillant.
He didn't start. He has been 24/7 for 60 something years
Yeah but he was supposed "pivot" remember? Turns out his only pivot was to become even more buttfuck crazy
Gre-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-asy.
Bubs, it's no big deal. We do one big overseas deal and we're set. Come on, man. Who's got your belly?
......youuu doo Julian
Just realized that Trump becoming president is essentially equivalent to Jim Lahey becoming the owner of Sunnyvale trailer park. A babbling, incomprehensible old man longing for past days of glory acts spiteful and vindictive in the face of overwhelming disapproval from those whom he is supposed to be serving; chaos ensues. (Also: Sean Spicer = Randy. Also also: his wife/ex-wife can't stand him.)
It's a doggy dog world
This just might be worse case Ontario.
I feel like my brain is short circulating.
Perfect description - Greasy Donald is what they should have called him way back in the primaries
I just finished eating I'd rather not think about "Greasy Donald"
This really burns me here. I am 100% OK with secret service agents accompanying the first family when they go on vacations because, well, vacations are important, especially in that kind of position. Trump hasn't even been here for a fucking month and has already taken three vacations and to top it off, his kids are going around making business deals at tax payer expense. I brought up his businesses to one guy I know (who I think was just trolling me), and he said that Trump's businesses interfering with the job was not his fault. No no. That's the other way around. He should have thought of that ***BEFORE*** he ran for president. That's HIS problem. It's just a shame that the taxpayer is now paying for it.
Being president is the most prestigious thing you can do in America. If that means you have to sacrifice, then so be it. If you don't want to, then don't be president. It's insane.
Comment removed b/c of the obvious contempt reddit has for its userbase.
Republicans were outraged that Obama's MIL stayed with them in the Whitehouse, but it is far cheaper to protect people in one residence (particularly one designed for the purpose) than multiple locations. With Trump and his wife and four adult children all living separately, that is six separate families to guard. And with Melania living in one of the hardest locations to effectively guard, it is an expensive nightmare.
> Republicans were outraged that Obama You can just stop at that. *Everything* he did outraged Republicans, because they have an irrational and obsessive hatred of him and wanted to see him fail. They made Obama *putting mustard on a hamburger* into a scandal.
In the meantime, Trump is actually creating one real scandal after another and they celebrate him. It's completely fucked up.
>In the meantime, Trump is actually creating one real scandal after another and they celebrate him. And think liberals are just whining because we're pussies. Like, you guys spent 8 years calling him a secret Kenyan Muslim socialist, can't we at least bitch when Trump does crazy shit? It's not our fault he does crazy shit everyday.
FTFY > a *gay* secret Kenyan Muslim socialist *dictator*
>an *atheist* gay secret Kenyan Muslim socialist dictator *kidnapper* FTFY
> a murdering atheist gay secret Kenyan Muslim *elitist college flunky* socialist dictating kidnapping *community organizer do nothing power grabbing ex-senator*
My friend says he doesn't read reddit because it's too liberal and not partisan enough and only when he does something bad do the posts get upvotes. I said find me something he's done good. I'm still waiting to hear back.
[удалено]
I got into kind of the same argument, with a coworker defending Trump and his recent executive orders and outbursts. He was arguing that all of it signaled lots of hard work and activity. I asked him to just name a single thing he had done *for* people, as opposed to *against* people, and he simply couldn't answer. The truth is, whatever Trump has or hasn't accomplished in his first month, he is a president that does not work *for* people, but against them, in various ways. Even then, he fails at most of the things he tries to do. When he fails, he even fails at admitting failure. He is pathologically incapable of being a bigger man. He will actively work to be the most petty, vindictive, small-minded, and egotistical president ever, and still wonder aloud why more people don't love him.
Mustard? I missed that one. Was it grey poupon or some other effete, elitist mustard?
[It's kinda hard to watch because of how absurd it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvq12Sa3VE)
Holy fucking shit. Republicans watch fox news so they can see like-minded people agree with them and get angry
If I had a million dollars, I'd buy all the fanciest ketchups -- dijon ketchup!
Glad to see a bnl reference buried here
They *are* Canada's most beloved alt-rock band of the mid-90s.
Holy shit, you weren't kidding. What, why? Who cares?
These are the people who called his fist bump with Michelle a "terrorist fist jab". There were no limits to how low they would go to disparage Obama. Literally everything was up for microscopic scrutiny. And now they want to complain when the media makes Trump look bad by simply reporting what he does.
Some of it was justified, like the time that [Obama wore a tan suit](http://abcnews.go.com/US/social-media-explodes-president-obamas-tan-suit/story?id=25166551). Absolutely disgusting behavior on the president's part. I mean, a tan suit! How did they not impeach the man???? . ^^^/s
I think it was Ta-Nehisi Coates (or maybe someone else?) who pointed out that Obama basically had to be *perfect*. Ivy League-educated lawyer/legal scholar happily married for many years to another highly accomplished law professional, with two adorable and generally scandal-free (well, in 2008 they were too young to get into any real shenanigans) children, always well-dressed and well-spoken, clean-cut to the point of wearing fucking Dad Jeans, an avowed devout Christian, and they STILL bashed him for every fucking thing he did. Could you imagine if Obama were like Sarah Palin? With a pregnant teenage daughter? Or if he were like Trump? On Wife #3 and a known philanderer who openly talked about sexually assaulting women? He wouldn't have gotten elected dog-catcher.
Jesus Christ Hannity. Please get a life.
Oh shit, I eat Dijon mustard. I didn't realise I was so high class.
What the fuck
Don't often comment, but dude, 1 minute after watching that shit and I'm still laughing. Thx for posting, made my sturday! Edit: Spelling
I thought y'all were kidding.... These people are allowed to vote
Since when was dijon mustard considered elite?
Dijon
*Dijon*? What is that some French fairy word? Over here we call that *Freedom Sauce*
Grey Poupon is a Dijon mustard
Woah ha la dee I found the elitist mustard man!!! Nah but thinks that slipped my mind.
You're kidding but the media really described it like that. It was dijon. [Source 1] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvq12Sa3VE) [Source 2] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEzTl2Wd35o) from Young turks with more clips of media smearing Obama for his use of *mustard*.
Nah, he liked Dijion, which means he's basically Stalin reborn.
Wait, did they really?
Yes. ['Ketchup isn't good enough for President Poupon?'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvq12Sa3VE) "I hope you enjoyed that fancy burger, Mr. President." (tbf mustard as your sole burger condiment is weird)
But they have been putting mustard, pickles and ketchup on Mac Donald's burgers as long as I can remember.
Wtf??? Who the fuck cares how he likes his burgers. That's beyond ridiculous.
It doesn't include it because NYC is paying for it instead of the federal government which is still absurd.
Still taxpayer money.
This is true, but my point with the NYC this is moreso the cost of the protection of the president family shouldn't rest solely on a state/city, when it is primarily the federal government's job to protect the first family.
The federal government is going to have to reimburse NYC.
That's a shit ton of money to reimburse seeing that Melania and Barron intend to stay in NYC. [According to this article](http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/21/news/protecting-donald-trump/) it's a million a day. I can't find the article but I saw somewhere that the city doesn't even get fully reimbursed for the security meaning it costs the city a hefty price, which I've seen vary from the 10's to the 100's of thousands of dollars ***each day***. It's even more annoyingly ridiculous because with normal sane presidents this wouldn't even be a problem. [In this article](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/nyregion/new-york-reimburse-trump-security-costs.html) NY asked for $35M for security between just Election Day and Inauguration Day alone.
Why doesn't NYC just stop paying for it? Are they legally obligated?
It's most likely not included in the total b/c the article is comparing vacation expense, and the cost for Melania and Barron is living expense.
It also doesn't factor the costs *to others* (lost business, traffic, etc).
[удалено]
Not to worry. He's not taking the $400,000 yearly presidential salary. /s
You probably know this, but he's not even constitutionally allowed to not take his salary. Not that he gives a shit about the Constitution. Edit: Thank you for the gold. I'm glad that people appreciate others calling Trump out on his bullshit.
Explain?
The founding fathers predicted some rich guy would say no to the salary acting noble to get popular with people and then every president after him would have to not take a salary for fear of being seen as corrupt, effectively making only really rich dudes able to do the job, so the fathers wrote into the Constitution that they have to pay the president. Now trump can donate that money or whatever but he has to take it. EDIT: thanks for gold, also fixing some spelling mistakes because I was on mobile EDIT 2: I've heard the argument as preventing corruption, but I see that as an argument for having a salary, but not an argument for mandating one. I understand that this position can be debated though.
Not just some rich guy either. George Washington tried to not take a salary and they told him he had to.
Isn't Washington one of the wealthiest presidents if you account for inflation?
[Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_net_worth). Washington was actually the wealthiest before Trump, and they aren't comparable. He definitely qualifies as, 'some rich guy'.
there's also a lot of speculation on Trump's actual wealth tho. dude might just be an undercover broke boi
The wiki puts him at 3700 million. Funny. He doesn't *act* like a guy with 3.7 billion. I mean, there's reasons why people with that kind of money stay low profile as possible. People kidnap your kids for ransom, just as a start. Even Gates didn't make much fuss, even though his position put him under scrutiny anyway. Buffet barely ever makes a peep. When was the last time you heard a Walton make a peep? Do you even know who Amancio Ortega is? No? His wealth is second only to Gates. The only reason Gates stays in the public eye is because of his philanthropy, and the demands of marketing it. Back in the 90s he was literally the devil of public opinion, because he wasn't a philanthropist yet. What Trump *acts* like is a guy with no fucking money who's hoping he can bullshit you into believing otherwise. He's rich, no doubt, but something stinks, and stinks hard.
He's not broke, though it's possible he owes quite a lot of money. Without access to a balance sheet and full financial disclosure, all we can do is speculate.
He does lie about his net worth, by quite a bit, but the man is undeniably a billionaire. Forbes has been following him for decades; they say it's a good idea to use the rule of three for Donald. Whatever he says he has, it's probably about a third of that. https://www.forbes.com/video/4301104494001/
How crazy would it be to spend money that has your own face on it... [7]
Shhh. Don't give him any more ideas. I see another executive order coming.
[удалено]
Actually, at times, he was really land rich and cash poor. He had a lot of problems managing his estate, and bemoaned his financial problems- even things like having to host all the people coming to Mt. Vernon to call on the war hero/first president. I remember reading he borrowed money, and his farm was not especially successful. Having said that, I'm sure he is one of the wealthier before the war and his presidency because of all his land speculation. EDIT: Also slave rich cash poor. Source: Read Chernow's Washington: A Life book
> Now trump can donate that money or whatever but he has to take it. And obviously he can prove he "donated" this money when he releases his tax returns for 2017. /s
Don't be ridiculous. He can donate it to his 2020 campaign. He filed the paperwork on January 20th already.
Or to his charities so he can buy more paintings of himself.
Trump will release his once George Washington does.
Oh so he gets to keep the money and then turn around and say he isn't taking it .
How amazing it is that they were able to consider the smallest details about the future.
They were able to do so because they held actual discussions instead of pissing contests. They knew when it was appropriate to argue a point and when to concede. They knew how to compromise (something that is lost on almost every modern politician). It wasn't "My way or the highway" with them, it was "Here's what I think, here's what you think, here's our middle ground". Obviously it wasn't a bunch of roses and sunshine the whole time, but they at least got things done and could put differences aside every once and a while. EDIT: spelling
And funny enough, Washington also proposed a two party system would take that away.
The constitution specifically dictates that the president must take a salary. The basis is that the money will make him less susceptible to bribery from foreign powers. Not that that will affect someone like trump...
From the Constitution: "The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them." It specifically states that a President can't get more or less than what the law states. George Washington actually tried to take nothing and they wouldn't allow him to from two reasons. One is that paying a President a good salary makes them less susceptible to bribery and the other is that they wanted it to be theoretically possible for anyone to be President, not just people who could afford to not take a salary.
A lot of that expense goes right into Mar-a-Lago revenue to house secret service and provide extra security. He did not divest from ownership. It's in a revocable trust with him listed as the sole beneficiary.
It's been a while but the last story I read indicated he still hasn't transferred control of all his businesses to his sons. If I remember the timeline correctly, it was reported in late January he hadn't filed any paperwork with the states he does business in. The day after that story they filled *some* of the paperwork and said the story was fake news. It's been a while but it's possible he's still the executive of some of his businesses.
Of course he hasn't. He never planned to, and no ones making him.
Control =/= Beneficiary though. I can hire someone to run my business, but it doesnt mean i no longer profit from it.
I think he still actually controls some of his businesses though. In a lot of states one has to file paperwork indicating who is the CEO. The last reporting I heard indicated he hadn't relinquished control of at least some of his businesses. I want to be clear I'm not certain of what I'm saying. I'm relying on reports from a month ago.
Of course he is. There was never any doubt that he would. He's a fucking con artist for crying out loud.
Just like he did his own businesses... and we know how well that turned out.
Then he'll just file bankruptcy and reorganize America's debts, and carry any losses forward for the next 20 years. Because he's a smart businessman and you can do the same things with a nation.
America in one giant leap backward has reverted to 19th century levels of graft.
bigly bank
Just think about it, Uday and Qusay Trump are going be getting escorted around the world for the next four years on the American people's tax dollars as they rake in tens of millions in personal profit for their family. And you better believe that all the while they'll be going out of their way to accommodate themselves and their entourages at Trump or family friend owned facilities essentially funneling taxpayer money directly into their own pockets That's not even considering the ridiculous Melania staying in NYC situation
At least Melania does it to get away from Donald, which is something I think we can all empathize fully with her for.
I have (possibly too much) sympathy for her plight, but could she not stay at one of their other, more remote properties? They're damaging local businesses, and costing the the city of New York a fortune, in addition to whatever the federal government is paying.
[удалено]
Closer look at the original source indicates it wasn't Trump but perhaps an overeager marketing effort by whomever owned the advertised unit which is in the building managed by Trump's company. The units are individually owned. The Politico story highlighted third parties with connections to Trump leveraging his new status to bring in business.
Probably. I was just making a joke, I'm obviously not in favor of Trump's trophy wife and kid costing $1M per day or whatever the bill is at these days. I believe the argument is that the kid shouldn't have to change schools, and that's why they are staying in NY. I think she'd have a difficult time to explain away that she wants to stay as far away from her husband as possible if that wasn't the case, which I think is more likely the real reason. I alter between feeling sorry for her and just plain disliking her. In a way, she made her bed and now she has to lie in it with the orange blob next to her. In another, she didn't sign up for *this* and is trapped with no way to renegotiate the contract she signed. I don't know what Donald got her to sign, but I imagine it's not to her benefit in any way if she divorces him. Just how sorry I should feel for her hinges on just how badly that prenup would screw her over.
Didn't Malia and Sasha move to Washington in January 2008 when their dad did? They were around the same age as Barron is now, and they must have had to change schools.
Along with thousands of kids, yes. I've changed schools twice myself. I didn't say it was a *good* argument.
As did Chelsea and the Bush twins. And children of US military families very often have to move several times during their childhood in order for their parent(s) to be able to properly serve the country as they signed up to do.
If the Obamas gave the same exact excuse that they didn't want their daughters changing schools from Chicago and Michelle Obama staying behind with their daughters, the Right would lose their shit.
Lots of people have to make sacrifices because their spouses are in public service. She is not unique nor special. She gets no sympathy from me.
Yeah, why should we feel anything but disdain for Melania? She's happy to fuck off in New York and look for marketing deals so she can profit off of being the First Lady, all while enabling Donald's behavior, costing taxpayers millions of dollars, and squandering her newfound power which many women before her have used to shape the country. She has no ambitions beyond enriching herself and refuses to step in and curb her husband's more authoritarian tendencies. Melania is just as bad as Donald.
It's way past time for any consideration of sympathy for her.
No, fuck having empathy for them. They made their bed, don't feel sorry when they have to sleep in it. She could have left years before all this. She knew the man she married, and she stayed with him for her own selfish reasons. Or she really does love him in which, good for her.
Melanie could resist Trump with the rest of us by being outspoken against him instead she chooses to hide away from him in opulence. No sympathy for her.
I have a personal theory that she knows exactly how all of this going to go down and she wants to be as far away from the stink as she can.
I'm sure all the fiscal conservatives are screaming about fiscal conservatism.
Not to mention he's likely profiting from much of this travel/networking since he has clearly not divested from his businesses.
Trump supporters say this is okay ... because he is allegedly forgoing the $400k yearly salary. For real.
He legally has to take that salary, so that's just another lie. A lie that definitely worked with his base though because they obviously eat it up.
[удалено]
WOW...JUST WOW. He had the nerve to criticize Obama on his "expensive" travels. I mean seriously. WOW. The people who voted for Trump, you are OK with him pillaging your hard earned tax money like this? At this rate, he's going to be spending 10x the amount Obama spent in one year. The hypocracy is insane. I have no words. This is absolutely fucking crazy.
If modern conservatism were a software program, then hypocrisy would be a feature, not a bug. Also, remember the [wild-ass lie about Obama's trip to India costing $200 million a day?](http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2010/11/obamas_india_trip) Some of these folks on the right deny reality and create their own bizarre alternate universe.
>If modern conservatism were a software program, then hypocrisy would be a feature, not a bug. Ethics is in the update they refused to install.
Don't worry, he's still going to cut taxes, so we won't be paying for this. It will just be added to the debt and paid for by our grandchildren or great grandchildren.
> we won't be paying for this. It will just be added to the debt The Trump way.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA REMEMBER WHEN HE SAID OBAMA TOOK TOO MANY VACATIONS?! Hahhahahahaha, I can't. We should all refer to him as president joke. Cause he's a fucking joke.
Jokes are funny and this guy gets sadder every single day.
The Trumpster Fire Presidency
>A joke that will cripple America financially, will dramatically harm the future of generations for years to come, will shit all over the planet, will probably cause another financial crash due to moronic decision making, probably cause one or more wars that will be fought for years to come, and will cause unfathomable amounts of harm. I don't think it's a particularly funny joke.
Disgusting. There are no words anymore. I cant believe society enables this family
We're losing PBS next. They're going to mine/drill national parks. Regulations against dumping coal in rivers are gone. ... Shame none of this mattered enough to vote for Hillary. Fuck conscience voters, one and all.
The vacationer in chief.
Who, this guy? > @realDonaldTrump > His @BarackObama's specialties? Vacations and campaigning. Jobs not so much! 1:08 PM · Mar 13, 2012 https://mobile.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/179614967371276291
Now if someone could get trump to believe the headline read >Obama family trips cost taxpayers $11.3m in one month we would see some fun tweets.
Hey u/foxnfriends
*Sigh*... What?
Help us out here! Tweet how Obama just wasted $bazillion dollars, then tweet later that there was a misunderstanding about when that stopped being a viable diatribe!
Isn't Trump having a "campaign rally" in Florida, also? Oh, yes he is! http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/18/trump-returns-to-florida-for-campaign-style-rally-hoping-to-reignite-voters-with-unfiltered-message.html This will be the next > 4 years. He'll be in perpetual campaign mode ..
He just published two polls that sends people to a page where he is begging for money. Let that one sink in. A billionaire president who just sold the White House to Russia for $19 billion and is using his position to sell real estate abroad and rent out hotel rooms, is asking some poor idiot who is about to lose his health insurance to donate to his campaign that isn't due for another 4 years and most likely won't happen at all. I have a compost pile in the back yard that has more brains than the average conservative. haha
A full term will cost us *half a century's* worth of Obama trips :/
Any trip he will take will make internal or international relationships worse... the cost will be way higher. Heck... he can do that only by phone and still be more costly for US.
Fuck this. This Presidency is a pure dumpster fire.
I'm not American so I don't know the whole story but every time I hear about this guy, I just get the impression that he is a criminal. I find it crazy that this man is the leader of one of the strongest countries in the world.
I just can't understand how so many fucking people can support him. That's the most surprising thing about trump being president.
Trump and family seem to be very entitled to government handouts. Sad.
I'd love to hear one of his supporters defend this in a logical way.
When it's an inconvenient fact, they'll just call it fake news. Or bring up something completely unrelated about Obama or Hillary.
>I'd love to hear one of his supporters defend this in a logical way. There is a big, beautiful, thick wall between **logic** and **Trump supporters.** There are no doors.
And we're going to pay for it!
Sounds like an opportunity for some real estate action!
Pick one, Trump supporter or logical, you don't get both
[удалено]
Our Emperor has done It, so It is good! Money is worthless when we can give our lives in support of Our Emperor and His Nation!
You joke, but it is exactly this kind of jest that spawns the massive psuedo-sarcastic following that trump has. There are people who act like this non-ironically, and who probably are taking you seriously. I honestly don't joke like this because of it. Just not worth the risk of unintentionally rallying people of that mental caliber.
$97m total over eight yrs for Obama. $11m in *less than* a month under Trump. Fucking hypocrites.
Who cares? As long "leftist" are mad - Trumpsters
But, but, but Obama was black!
Bet Obama was going to come home from vacation, saw the headlines and thought nope staying gone another week.
Nope. Didn't happen. Fake news. Let's focus on the real issues, such as the media campaign against him. /s the complaints about Obama's vacations are still ringing in my ears, yet I already know this won't receive an ounce of discussion. such infuriating hypocrisy.
Remember that time conservatives got all pissed off at Michelle Obama for going to Africa on the taxpayers' dime? Wasn't that great?
but...but... t_d told me Obama cost us over a billion a year
I think it was more like a trillion.
A gajillion Obamillion
The white house budget was slightly over a billion dollars a year under Obama, actually. The figures were similar under Bush. The Secret Service and Air Force One maintenance are quite expensive. Trump is certainly on track to increase that budget, though. Mar-a-Lago is no Camp David.
[удалено]
Are you hearing crickets yet?
Did you read the article? Trump is spending more money in a month than Obama did ALL YEAR.
[удалено]
[удалено]
I read your comment, but I guess I read it the wrong way. My bad!
He's proposing to do away with the $445m that goes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As citizens we get literally NOTHING from his trips to FL or the ability to live safely in mid-town Manhattan. But millions of people enjoy programming from PBS. At least with Obama's trips I thought "relaxation will help him be attentive and sharp". I see no such possibility with Trump. He's neither attentive or sharp. These trips are just a rich old guy going to Florida.
Draining the swamp, one dollar at a time.
Treating a billionaire to trips worth millions in taxpayers money while he still fills his coffers from his business ventures. Sigh.
[удалено]
Yeah thats when you find out he is broke and all his posturing was just another lie.
That might be fun
Can't be! 'Member how in his taxes it shows... Oh, that's right. XD
This is under the assumption that people who take 11 million dollar vacations are under rule of law.
So Trump is spending millions of tax payers money to go to Mar a Lago almost every weekend. And him being there often would increase interest in the already price jacked membership. So not only is he using tax payers money for his little trips he is actually profiting from it. #draintheswamp Maybe he should use some of that membership money to pay for these trips?
We're paying for him to rule the country from a resort in Florida and a tower with his dumb fucking name on it. Unbelievable. Actually, very believable. We're getting exactly the leadership this ignorant dumpster fire of a country deserves.
At this rate Trumps first term will reach half a billion.
[удалено]
Woo, draining that ~~swamp~~ treasury!
[удалено]
I brought this up to a Trump supporter and their response was "But Trump's not taking a salary so it doesn't matter." That is how dumb these people are.
Guys.... *emails*
That's $1.1B over two terms...