The Second Term of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States of America

[Shiftless2]

Panama’s President Denies U.S. Claim of Free Canal Passage for American Ships​

Story by Vera Bergengruen, Costas Paris

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had agreed to allow U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal for free, an assertion that has upended the two countries’ talks on the waterway.

“I am incredibly surprised by yesterday’s statement,” Mulino told a news conference in Panama City. “They’re making an important, institutional statement from the entity that governs U.S. foreign policy…based on a falsity. And that’s intolerable.”


Mulino said he had told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the day before that he doesn’t have the legal authority to waive transit fees for anyone, describing the U.S. announcement as “lies and falsehoods.” He said he had asked Panama’s ambassador in Washington to dispute the State Department’s claim.

The announcement came three days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country to meet with Mulino and tour the canal. In a post on X on Wednesday night, the State Department declared U.S. government ships would be able to access the waterway “without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.”

President Trump has called the fees ridiculous and repeatedly threatened to “take back” the Panama Canal, criticizing the influence that he says China has over the waterway.

The U.S. built the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914 as one of the most expensive and complicated infrastructure projects ever. It relinquished it to Panama in 1999 under a treaty negotiated more than 20 years earlier with then-President Jimmy Carter. Trump has long believed the deal was a bad one for the U.S. and wants the canal back under American control ....

CONTINUED

Emphasis added: Remember, Trump believes that any deal where you're not screwing the other guy is a bad one

 

[sear]

"The U.S. built the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914 as one of the most expensive and complicated infrastructure projects ever. It relinquished it to Panama in 1999 under a treaty negotiated more than 20 years earlier with then-President Jimmy Carter." VB #121

Fine.
If so, that means the U.S. had decades to refine the terms of the treaty it ratified, refined to domestic acceptability.
And if within that treaty there's an -oops, I changed my mind- clause, dandy. Proceed.
If not, what can the world conclude, particularly including the many others that also have treaties with the U.S., past, present, and future?

What's the sense of ignoring the stampede of elephants in the living room? President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump flagrantly, recklessly, disgracefully disregards the laws of the nation he represents, along with all the others.

Trump has long believed the deal was a bad one for the U.S. and wants the canal back under American control ....

Evidently.
Does he want it enough to break the treaty?
And is the United States of America prepared to effectively deal with the aftermath, the consequences of such treachery decades into the future?

Schopenhauer may have said it first, but Carnegie said it in English:

"All honor's wounds are self-inflicted." Carnegie

If Trump reneges on our treaty with Panama, will whatever Trump hopes to gain by it justify the consequences to U.S. contractual integrity?

 

[Shiftless2]

If so, that means the U.S. had decades to refine the terms of the treaty it ratified, refined to domestic acceptability.
And if within that treaty there's an -oops, I changed my mind- clause, dandy. Proceed.
If not, what can the world conclude, particularly including the many others that also have treaties with the U.S., past, present, and future?

The only thing the world can conclude is that America's word is only good until the next election.

 

[Shiftless2]

Bondi scraps Biden-era environmental justice enforcement policy​

by Zack Budryk

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a memo Wednesday that the Justice Department will reverse a Biden-era directive to prioritize enforcement of environmental laws in disadvantaged and low-income communities.

Bondi’s predecessor, Merrick Garland, issued guidance in 2022 directing the department to enforce environmental laws with emphasis on communities that have historically been underserved by such enforcement, including those that are low-income and majority racial minority.
On Wednesday, Bondi, who was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, rescinded Garland’s memo, along with any similar guidance for U.S. attorneys “to ensure that the Department engages in the even-handed administration of justice.”

Garland’s original directive was accompanied by the creation of the Justice Department’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ), which The Washington Post reported was disbanded after Trump’s inauguration. The OEJ website now redirects to an error message. The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

The Trump administration has taken aim at a number of Biden-era climate and environmental policies, largely through the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Since taking office, Trump has ordered the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, as he did during his first term, and EPA disbursement of grants under the Inflation Reduction Act has been halted.

Newly confirmed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, following Trump’s declaration of an “energy emergency” on Inauguration Day, this week directed the Interior Department to ....

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5130416-bondi-biden-environmental-justice-enforcement/

 

[sear]

"The only thing the world can conclude is that America's word is only good until the next election." S2 #123

I consider that explanation charitable.

Presidents have wide latitude.
It's a Trump administration betrayal to forfeit the noble reputation the United States has patiently sacrificed over generations to build.
The "author" of the ghost-written volume The Art Of The Deal should understand, to surrender the U.S.' invaluable reputation,
gaining nothing more than Trump / Musk middle-fingers to the most needy on Earth is self-defeating disgrace.

Compounding our national shame, Trump was elected
twice !

“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve” French diplomat and historian Alexis de Tocqueville

This second Trump administration is a disgrace even the death of the electorate that installed Trump again will not absolve,
and a betrayal the 3rd millennium will not soon forget.

 

[Shiftless2]

 

[sear]

"Those were private comments" Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-KY]

Mitch was quite often on the wrong side of important policy issues. BUT !
Even then, McConnell was an effective, sometimes persuasive advocate, rhetorician.

To counter the Democrat push to increase the minimum wage:

- Is it any wonder, if we make employment more expensive,
there will be less of it? - paraphrase of McConnell [R-KY]

 

[sear]

DAVID MARCUS: If USAID is so vital, where is the global outrage?​

By David Marcus Fox News / Published February 8, 2025 12:45pm EST

DAVID MARCUS: If USAID is so vital, where is the global outrage?

Columnist David Marcus writes that only American bureaucrats seem to be outraged over President Trump's war on the United States Agency for International Development. That's a big tell that it isn't really helping foreign countries, and some of their leaders agree.

www.foxnews.com

I couldn't find a bomb-shell revelation here, but the headline alone is worth considering.

 

[Shiftless2]

Mitch was quite often on the wrong side of important policy issues. BUT !

But after voting in Trump's favor over Jan 6th he then publicly stated that Trump was responsible for the insurrection.

 

[sear]

"But after voting in Trump's favor over Jan 6th he then publicly stated that Trump was responsible for the insurrection." #129

The fig-leaf is seldom an attractive accessory, least attractive of all when transparent.

I remember it S2, revolting to teleview, revolting to recall.

President Trump to attend Super Bowl 59, despite long and complicated history with the NFL​

Donald Trump is slated to become the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl come Sunday.​

Jonathan Limehouse / USA TODAY

President Trump to attend Super Bowl 59, despite long and complicated history with the NFL

Here is a look at President Donald Trump's and the NFL's long and complicated history throughout the years.

www.usatoday.com

“I'm gunna be workin' for you. I'm not gunna have time to go play golf.” GOP pres. cand. Trump “8/2/16”

In Trump's defense, while he didn't specify that this campaign commitment applied only to his first 4 year term, we can overlook that detail. And
the super bowl isn't exactly golf,
and Trump isn't actually playing, spectacular good fortune for the NFL.

 

[Shiftless2]

Trump freezes aid to South Africa over controversial land law, claiming discrimination against White farmers​

By Eve Brennan and Alejandra Jaramillo,


US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday aimed at freezing assistance to South Africa over a controversial law that allows the government to seize farmland from ethnic minorities — namely White farmers — without compensation, as well as the country’s stance against Israel and its war in Gaza.

Trump said in the order the United States would no longer support South Africa with foreign aid if such policies, which he claims highlight a “shocking disregard for its citizens” and amount to “human rights violations,” continue, ordering US agencies to stop providing any aid to South Africa unless deemed necessary.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously denied that South African authorities were “confiscating land” and said his country was looking forward to working with the Trump administration “over our land reform policy.”

Trump’s order also directs the United States to assist Afrikaners — an ethnic group descended from European settlers — who are fleeing South Africa due to discrimination, including helping them resettle through refugee programs.

“It is the policy of the United States that, as long as South Africa continues these unjust and immoral practices that harm our Nation, the United States shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa; and the United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation,” read the order.

South Africa’s foreign ministry called the order a “great concern” and said it “(lacked) factual accuracy and fails to recognize ....

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/08/africa/trump-executive-order-freeze-aid-south-africa-intl/index.html

 

[Shiftless2]

 

[Shiftless2]

With the shocking messages about his plans for Gaza and the Palestinians, coupled with his ongoing threats of tariffs and threats to making Canada the 51st state, Pete McMartin of the Vancouver Sun captures what most Canadians are feeling right now. Farewell “My American Cousin”.

“Goodbye, America.

It’s been nice knowing you.

Goodbye New York, and your Jewish delicatessens with corned beef sandwiches stacked as high as your skyline.

Goodbye Detroit, my boyhood neighbour, and so long to Tiger Stadium, the Detroit Institute of Arts and Motown.

Goodbye Bellingham, Seattle and Portland — how I’ll miss my Cascadian cousins with our shared Pacific sensibilities. And while I’m at it, goodbye to the cheap gas and shoreline cottages of Point Roberts, America’s appendix dangling just below the border not a mile from me. What was once so close has never been so far.

Goodbye Stag Leap’s Pinot Noir, Maker’s Mark bourbon, and Hebrew National hotdogs. My tastebuds mourn.

Goodbye to the cowards on both sides of the border who have demonstrated that whatever fidelity to democratic ideals they profess to have extends only so far as their self-interest. They should get a real job, say, in a chain gang.

Goodbye to anyone, again on both sides of the border, who bends the knee to Trump, rather than standing up to him, as any self-respecting person would and should, and telling him to piss off.

Goodbye to a culture that demands we bend the knee.

Goodbye languid vacations in Maui and Palm Springs. My next winter vacation will be in a sunny climate other than any America can offer, and preferably in a country the U.S. has treated as disdainfully as mine. I’ll have more than a few to pick from.

Most painful of all, goodbye to my American friends, some of whom I have known all my life, and some of whom I’ve collected along the way. I can cross your border but no longer wish to: Your Narcissist-in-Chief has decreed that my countrymen and I have the choice of becoming destitute, vassals or enemies. I’m choosing the latter

Meanwhile, your silence and the silence of all Americans in response to this aggression leaves me disheartened. That silence speaks volumes. I — we — have heard you loud and clear how little our friendship as a country means to you.

Goodbye to the image of America I once held dear — the America of Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley and James Brown, of George Gershwin and Aaron Copeland, of Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain, of Martin Luther King and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Goodbye to what I envied as the country that prided itself on encouraging unparalleled innovation in science, art and business. Any good that remains of it has been overshadowed by rapacity, cheap commercialism and egotism.

Goodbye to that ever-present sense of inferiority I once had when considering the relationship between Canada and America. What doubt I had of our own greatness is gone, and in its place is a certitude that Canada is superior to the U.S. in all the ways that matter. I look across the border now and see a violent, burgeoning autocracy now ever on the edge of civil war, and a population that is either cheering on this new brutalism or quaking in fear from it.

Goodbye to tepid patriotism. If Trump has done us any favour, it is awakening us to the fact that we can no longer take Canada’s existence for granted, that the bad actors in the world have begun to look covetously upon our improbably vast land that is laden with riches, that they want those riches and that niceness as a national character is not enough to dissuade them from taking them. Schoolyard bullies don’t want to be buddies. They want your lunch.

And after a long era of living a geopolitical life of convenient economic and military subservience, we’ve awakened to the fact that we are going to have to relearn our independence and fight any way we can to keep it.

Goodbye to living under the American nuclear umbrella, or any form of American hegemony. Goodbye to negotiation, wheedling, genuflecting or feel-good hands-across-the-border fairy tales. The American government has shown that established alliances mean nothing to it now, and so cannot be trusted. In Trump’s new world order, all the old verities are off the table, so let us make new ones.

Do levy tariffs, as we have promised to do, and do grit our way through the inevitable economic pain that will come. Re-arm as if we were on a war footing, because we are on a war footing. Conduct the mother of all public relation campaigns that let Americans know how badly they are perceived in the world, that they’ve gone from the shining city on the hill to just another empire with the same tired territorial ambitions as Russia or China. Do anything to impress upon Americans that their government is without real friends or allies, and that they, in essence, are alone.

So, goodbye America, it’s been nice knowing you, but I don’t know you anymore. I’ve reached that point in our relationship where any admiration I have had for you has been replaced by a new, angry resolve, which is: I won’t consort with the enemy”

========================================================================

As he says, the silence of America speaks volumes ...

 

[sear]

Trump Orders NASA to Purge All Mentions of Women in Leadership On Its Websites​

Frank Landymore / Sun, February 9, 2025 at 7:00 AM EST

[Redacted]​

As President Donald Trump's anti-DEI agenda comes to bear on NASA, we're getting a revealing look at what his administration considers to be too woke: women.
In a directive sent out just days after Trump's inauguration, NASA personnel were commanded to excise all mentions of anything "specifically targeting" women on the space agency's public websites, 404 Media reports.
"Per NASA HQ direction, we are required to scrub mentions of the following terms from our public sites by 5pm ET today," the directive reads. "This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request."
The list of verboten terms includes "DEIA," "accessibility," "indigenous people," "environmental justice," and finally: "anything specifically targeting women," such as "women in leadership, etc."
...
That's funny, because when Petro was the director of the Kennedy Space Center, she said this in a 2021 interview: "At NASA and Kennedy Space Center, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility has been paramount to mission success. The entire NASA leadership team stands behind this commitment," Petro said. "KSC has embraced the link between diverse teams and innovation," she added.

On its surface, these policies might seem to contradict some of Trump's campaign rhetoric. As part of his anti-woke crusade, Trump has frequently vowed to "protect women" by, among other things, cracking down on transgender rights. So is this what protecting women looks like — minimizing any outward gestures about their presence at NASA and elsewhere in government?

Apparently yes. Call it hypocritical, but it's also just plain old paternalism.

Trump Orders NASA to Purge All Mentions of Women in Leadership On Its Websites

[Redacted] As President Donald Trump's anti-DEI agenda comes to bear on NASA, we're getting a revealing look at what his administration apparently considers to be too woke: women. In a directive sent out just days after Trump's inauguration, NASA personnel were commanded to excise all mentions...

news.yahoo.com

Also important to note:
More on Trump: Trump Admin Orders Deletion of Information About Climate Change From Government Websites from the above article
If Trump sincerely believed anthropogenic climate change a hoax, wouldn't the sensible thing be to let the conspiracy undermine itself?
That's not what's reported here. The term used "deletion of information".

 

[Shiftless2]

By June Maffin on Facebook

If you've been following me for a while, you know that the past 16 days, give or take a few, my FB postings on my personal page have been unlike me. I'm usually not political in public or on social media. But since DJT moved into the WH, I found myself speaking out - more and more. I don't see that changing.

https://soulistry.com/those-who-cannot-remember-the-past

And here is why ... in high school, I was a history buff. Mr. Jake Snyder was my teacher and he made history come alive for his students. He was a gifted teacher - passionate about history - a teacher who reinforced the words of George Santayana, the Spanish-American philosopher and author of “The Life of Reason” who wrote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I learned a lot about WW 11 from Mr. Snyder. And then as an adult, I learned about WW11 from … a visit to Dachau in Germany … a visit to Yad Vashem in Israel … a visit to a Florida school of a Jewish friend’s children where we had to enter via a locked door with a security guard behind bullet-proof glass and then use a code to enter the classrooms.

When I married my husband who was much older than I, he told me stories of what he experienced growing up in the Netherlands during WW11. I wish I’d never heard any of them. They were terrifying. At the time, I thought along the lines of “so glad lessons were learned and won’t be repeated.”

One night, before DJT was elected the first time, while watching the news together, my husband became unusually quiet and held his head in his hands. After a few moments, we talked and his words sent a cold shiver down my spine. “It’s happening again. I see it happening all over again.”

He was right. It is. As much as I miss Hans every day, and wish that cancer had not invaded his body and ended his life, I can honestly say that I am grateful he is not alive to experience what is happening. So that is why I speak up, speak out, blog, write letters … to try and encourage those who cannot see what is happening to look, really look … before it is too late.

And if they need a school refresher update, I encourage them to read their high school history book about WW11. It’s history and easily available to research and authenticate. It’s important to remember that when Hitler first took office, he knew he needed more than just laws to stay in control—he needed loyal enforcers who would carry out his agenda without question. While the SS didn’t officially take over in the first two weeks of Hitler’s rule, the seeds were planted.

What we’re seeing now with Trump’s second term is the same playbook. It's called Project 2025. Same focus - white male supremacy ... different century.

Mr. Snyder taught his students well. Not only did he teach us to learn from history, but to speak up when we saw injustice, when we recognized evil, when we knew deep within our gut that things are not right.

So, that’s what I am doing and I encourage you to do the same because those who believe in and support … DJT and his minions in the United States … the Conservatives and Pierre Poilievre in Canada … the far-right National Rally party of Le Pen and figures like Maréchal … the Fratelli d’Italia party in Italy … the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party in Germany … Călin Georgescu of Romania … are underscoring a broader trend of increasing far-right and neo-fascist influence in global politics ... specifically about the future of democratic institutions and civil liberties.

The global surge in far-right movements raises concerns that we must not ignore. We must speak out - resist - speak up - demonstrate - write letters - vote them out of power … not vote them into office.

There are people en route this moment to Guantanamo Bay --- where housing is not yet ready, where children and pregnant women and the disabled and elderly will be housed.

By any other name - a concentration camp.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

 

[Shiftless2]

From FB: Nobody at the Peace Arch border last night. I’ve never seen the border like this ever.



Looks like they've "annoyed the Beaver" but they've seriously pissed off the Frogs

 

[Shiftless2]

Trump revokes security clearances of top Biden-era officials: White House​

Security clearances of former Secretary of State Blinken, former National Security Adviser Sullivan revoked, confirms Washington​

Gizem Nisa Cebi

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump has revoked security clearances of key figures of the previous administration, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, White House officials confirmed Saturday.

The decision follows Trump’s move a day earlier to revoke the security clearance of his predecessor, Joe Biden, effectively cutting off his access to daily intelligence briefings.

The Biden administration's Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who played a central role in the Justice Department's response to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, was also stripped of her clearance.

Additionally, Trump revoked the clearances of New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, both of whom pursued legal cases against him.

The move signals deepening tensions in Washington, where former presidents have historically been allowed intelligence briefings to offer counsel on national security matters.

Past precedents in security revocations

In 2021, Biden had similarly revoked Trump’s security clearance.

More recently, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinded the security clearance and personal security detail of retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Milley, a top military officer during Trump’s first term, became an outspoken critic after his 2023 retirement under the Biden administration.

Trump revokes security clearances of top Biden-era officials: White House

Security clearances of former Secretary of State Blinken, former National Security Adviser Sullivan revoked, confirms Washington - Anadolu Ajansı

www.aa.com.tr

 

[sear]

"Nobody at the Peace Arch border last night. I’ve never seen the border like this ever." #136

Odd that we can be shamed by something we vehemently tried to avoid. None the less ... shame on U
S A.

Trump revokes security clearances of top Biden-era officials: White House #137​

The report I caught of this earlier, Trump revoked Biden's clearance.

I gather in practice current presidents don't consult much with previous presidents. But it seems to me they'd make a valuable policy options resource in a crisis.
If that's the case I suppose this Trump move is inconsequential. But at very least it's embarrassingly spiteful, petty. In short, entirely in character.

 

[Shiftless2]

The report I caught of this earlier, Trump revoked Biden's clearance.

I gather in practice current presidents don't consult much with previous presidents. But it seems to me they'd make a valuable policy options resource in a crisis.
If that's the case I suppose this Trump move is inconsequential. But at very least it's embarrassingly spiteful, petty. In short, entirely in character.

Even if rarely used, institutional knowledge is always good to have available - the "why" of many decisions isn't always clear from the paper trail.

Re 136 and the Peace Bridge - when I first saw that pic my immediate response was to wonder how much of that had to do with the weather. But even tho it's cold as hell out there it doesn't appear that there's any snow on the ground.

And I can say that many of my Canadian friends are posting lists of American products with other non-American alternatives.

Aneela Khan (@whoopsblogger2) on Threads

For my fellow Canadians, this post is for you. Here's a list of American brands to avoid buying as Trump's tarrifs start on Tuesday. I got this through WhatsApp. (my family) Read, repost or save this. Buy the Canadian alternatives instead. I know it's HARD, but let's buy local. CanadianThreads 🇨🇦❤️

www.threads.net

 

[Shiftless2]

Mexican President Claudia Chenbaum addressing Trump:

« So, you voted to build a wall... Well, dear Americans, even if you don't understand much about geography, since America to you is your country, not a continent, it's important that you discover, before the first brick is laid, that there is, beyond that wall: 7 billion people.

But since you don't really know the term "people" we gonna call them "consumers." There are 7 billion consumers ready to replace their iPhones with Samsung or Huawei devices in less than 42 hours.

They can also replace Levi's with Zara or Massimo Duti.

In less than six months, we can easily stop buying Ford or Chevrolet cars and replace them with Toyota, KIA, Mazda, Honda, Hyundai, Volvo, Subaru, Renault or BMW, which are technically better than the cars they produce.

Those 7 billion people can also stop subscribing to Direct TV, and we don't want to, but we can stop watching Hollywood movies and start watching more Latin American or European productions that have better quality, message, cinematic techniques and content.

While it may sound incredible, we can skip Disney and go to Xcaret resort in Cancun, Mexico, Canada, or Europe: there are other excellent destinations in South, East America, and Europe.

And even if you don't believe it, even in Mexico, there are better burgers than McDonald's and have better nutritional content.

Anyone seen pyramids in the US? In Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Sudan, and other countries, there are pyramids with incredible cultures.

Discover where the wonders of the ancient and modern world are... None of them in the US... Shame on Trump, he would have bought and sold it!

We know Adidas exist not just Nike and we can start wearing Mexican tennis shoes like Panam. We know more than you think.

We know, for example, that if these 7 billion consumers don’t buy their products, there will be unemployment and their economy will collapse (within the racist wall) so much that they will be begging us to break down the ugly wall.

We didn't want to but.. You want a wall, you get a wall. With Sincere Appreciation. »