President Donald Trump's Final Days...

[scoundrel]

I have never heard any sort of public statement from GCHQ before, ever. It isn't that long ago that British governments used to deny that our secret services even exist. For GCHQ to make a public statement to rubbish the serviing US president is quite a departure, I think it is reasonable to infer that Britain's spook community is seriously annoyed.

[ConstantOgler]

Sorry, but no one should give credence to any public statements by a national security service, ever. Not least one accustomed to denying its existence.
The claims by Trump & GCHQ are both about equally useless, for different reasons oc.

Originally Posted by bloke57

Trump has caused a very undiplomatic row by accusing a NATO ally of subterfuge.

Why is it subversive to an ally to monitor a maniac who may gain power, when they themselves are unable to do so?

"Sir, we've learned the Brits are tapping Trump. We could stop it, if it was someone else we would of course. But in this case we have no actual legal duty to intervene. And . .
"I'm sure you're not telling me the whole story here. Might be misleading me. So I'd prefer this conversation never happened."
"Of course."

[scoundrel]

The thing is, I can count the number of times GCHQ has ever had anything to say about anything in public on the fingers of one finger. Mr Trump has made them very very angry if they are prepared to say anything in public at all.

[Arturo2nd]

Well, here we go with more whiffs of overt corruption coming from the Trump team.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fired-us-...183124131.html

I wonder how long it will take for President Trump's proposal to eliminate Section 8 housing subsidies and turn low income housing over to profit making ventures will result in conflict-of-interest and RICO lawsuits. It would seem to be a clear case of a real estate mogul seeking to line his own pockets. A less corrupt Justice Department would likely also be looking at the Chinese government suddenly reversing decades of court rulings and granting Trump titles to patents in that country. Does anyone else find it odd that Trump immediately reversed himself and committed to the "One China policy?"

[monogroover]

Originally Posted by ConstantOgler

Sorry, but no one should give credence to any public statements by a national security service, ever. Not least one accustomed to denying its existence.
The claims by Trump & GCHQ are both about equally useless, for different reasons oc.



Why is it subversive to an ally to monitor a maniac who may gain power, when they themselves are unable to do so?

"Sir, we've learned the Brits are tapping Trump. We could stop it, if it was someone else we would of course. But in this case we have no actual legal duty to intervene. And . .
"I'm sure you're not telling me the whole story here. Might be misleading me. So I'd prefer this conversation never happened."
"Of course."

Well I'm pretty sure Obama got his wish in full there, ie it didn't ever happen.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by ConstantOgler

Sorry, but no one should give credence to any public statements by a national security service, ever. Not least one accustomed to denying its existence.
The claims by Trump & GCHQ are both about equally useless, for different reasons oc.



Why is it subversive to an ally to monitor a maniac who may gain power, when they themselves are unable to do so?

"Sir, we've learned the Brits are tapping Trump. We could stop it, if it was someone else we would of course. But in this case we have no actual legal duty to intervene. And . .
"I'm sure you're not telling me the whole story here. Might be misleading me. So I'd prefer this conversation never happened."
"Of course."

Given the known relationships of Trump intimates with Russian intelligence and military organizations, why wouldn't the CIA, FBI, and NSA be monitoring his communications? If he is/was communicating with Russian intelligence operatives, wouldn't the GCHQ, German Intelligence, and the Mossad all have intercepted communiques as part of their monitoring of the Russians? If indeed, the FBI, CIA, and NSA have ongoing investigations into Trump being compromised by Russian intelligence, would they not want to keep this under wraps until conclusive evidence of criminal activities was found? Do any of us think the compromising of CIA surveillance tools by Russian intelligence giving the documents to Wikileaks is unrelated? How about the FBI pursuing indictments against Russian intelligence officers operating in cahoots with criminal hackers under cover of joint law enforcement activities?

It is quite clear that the Russian government has been actively engaged in seeking to steal trillions of dollars from Western banks, credit card companies, and individual citizens. I believe massive retaliation is in order. Unfortunately, the CIA has repeatedly been shown to be a spectacularly inept organization. Thousands of patriotic Americans have had their efforts wasted by clowns in high places.

[tsunamiSD]

American Conservative - Trump’s Foolish Budget Priorities

There are multiple major humanitarian crises around the world, the worst of which is happening in Yemen, but Trump’s budget proposal would leave the U.N. with far fewer resources to use in addressing them.

Slashing support for aid programs seems especially foolish at a time when the people affected by crises in several countries require far more assistance than they are currently receiving. Yemen is suffering from the worst crisis, but it is hardly the only country threatened by famine. Millions of people in Nigeria, South Sudan, and Somalia are also suffering from malnutrition and starvation. Cutting funding for U.N. aid programs under these circumstances will practically guarantee that all of these crises will get much worse when they don’t have to. That would be the wrong thing to do in any event, but it is even worse when the money is just going to be frittered away on an already bloated military.

Salon - The butcher’s bill keeps coming due: Donald Trump’s Hannibal Lecter budget cannibalizes his own supporters

This guys vitriol against Trump is approaching that of the right-wingers who cast slurs against President Obama, but he does have some points

Donald Trump is the Hannibal Lecter of American politics. But Trump lacks Lecter’s wit, charm, intelligence or cultured manner. Donald Trump’s voters, like Mason Verger in “Hannibal,” have also been drugged — in their case, all too willingly.
Trump’s proposed 2018 budget is another illustration of how the butcher’s bill has come due. It can fairly be described as political cannibalism when it comes to Trump’s most ardent supporters.

As a key part of his overall budget priorities, Donald Trump’s proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act will take insurance away from tens of millions of Americans; punish poor, elderly and other needy Americans by devastating Medicare; give billionaires and millionaires a tax cut; hurt rural America; and force more Americans into bankruptcy as well as premature deaths from lack of access to both preventive, long-term and emergency health care.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised his supporters he would “drain the swamp,” which was understood to mean driving lobbyists and special interests out of Washington. Instead, he is overflowing those fetid waters with financial payoffs for Wall Street and other gangster capitalists at the expense of the American people.

[seany65]

It wouldn't actually surprise me if one of the yank security forces spied on trump, after all, that's what they do:spy on everyone, everywhere, and considering that trump ran for president, then they'd want to know about any 'skeletons in closets' or security risks.

I'd be surprised if they didn't spy on everyone involved in politics, especially the higher echelons.

[martynz]

'That's not how it works': Trump's grasp of Nato questioned after Merkel tweets
President’s claim that Germany owes the US ‘vast sums of money’ shows a lack of understanding, says ex-Nato representative
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...we-money-tweet

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by seany65

It wouldn't actually surprise me if one of the yank security forces spied on trump, after all, that's what they do:spy on everyone, everywhere, and considering that trump ran for president, then they'd want to know about any 'skeletons in closets' or security risks.

I'd be surprised if they didn't spy on everyone involved in politics, especially the higher echelons.

It would most likely be the FBI or Homeland Security, which are charged with domestic surveillance and preventing terrorist attacks within the country. In theory, the CIA seeks to provide intelligence on the plans and capabilities of foreign nations, while the NSA does military intelligence. The CIA and NSA are supposedly legally barred from domestic spying. The National Security Coordinator supposedly collates and coordinates the activities of the three agencies according to my understanding.

BTW, I can't imagine that General McMaster will tolerate being forced to keep a possible Russian mole on his staff very long before concluding that it it is impossible to the job he has been asked to do. He is a battlefield soldier. Will he try to suck it up and do the best he can, have the FBI or NSA investigate Flynn's acolyte, or resign?