Trump or The Onion?

[billvon 2,426]

We have a beer tasting group that gets together to try new beers about once a month, and one of the members always has a "guess if this story is real or not?" question.  Lately they've all been about Trump.

So I figured I'd start a similar thread here.  Is this Trump or the Onion?

During a briefing about the upcoming hurricane season, a staffer explained to Trump the risks and the potential mitigation they could put in place.  Trump replied "I got it. I got it. Why don't we nuke them? They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?" 

[ryoder 1,397]

True

[yoink 321]

11 minutes ago, billvon said:

We have a beer tasting group that gets together to try new beers about once a month, and one of the members always has a "guess if this story is real or not?" question.  Lately they've all been about Trump.

So I figured I'd start a similar thread here.  Is this Trump or the Onion?

During a briefing about the upcoming hurricane season, a staffer explained to Trump the risks and the potential mitigation they could put in place.  Trump replied "I got it. I got it. Why don't we nuke them? They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?" 

As much of a hard-on as he's got for nuclear weapons I've got to think that even he's not that monstrously idiotic.

Plus there's not been any reports of hurricanes that I've seen lately, so given his picosecond attention span it seems unlikely that he would pull this out out of thin air. Threatening to nuke China if they put tarrifs on American goods? I could see him saying that. 

[billvon 2,426]

7 minutes ago, yoink said:

As much of a hard-on as he's got for nuclear weapons I've got to think that even he's not that monstrously idiotic.

Sadly he is.  That came from Axios.  When Axios asked other administration officials about it, they said:

Official 1: "We don't comment on private discussions that the president may or may not have had with his national security team."
Official 2: "His goal — to keep a catastrophic hurricane from hitting the mainland — is not bad.  His objective is not bad."

So there is a confirmation there.  And as a second level of confirmation, Trump denied he said it.

[yoink 321]

6 minutes ago, billvon said:

Sadly he is.  That came from Axios.  When Axios asked other administration officials about it, they said:

Official 1: "We don't comment on private discussions that the president may or may not have had with his national security team."
Official 2: "His goal — to keep a catastrophic hurricane from hitting the mainland — is not bad.  His objective is not bad."

So there is a confirmation there.  And as a second level of confirmation, Trump denied he said it.

Reading that article there are some discrepancies. Some people said that it was the 'use of a bomb' but the word nuclear was never mentioned. That there could be variance in the people saying it happened like that makes me question the truth of it because there's no possible way to verify the story.

I don't know Axios. I've no idea how reliable they are.

 

Either way, I seriously hope it isn't true. 

I can absolutely believe Trump would want to set off a nuclear device during his presidency though. Just to say he did.

Edited August 26, 2019 by yoink

[JerryBaumchen 1,061]

2 hours ago, yoink said:

Just to say he did.

Hi Will,

He's been 'going nuclear' since he first began campaigning for office.

Jerry Baumchen

[wolfriverjoe 1,351]

It's a sad state when it's become hard to tell the difference between reality and an Onion piece. 

 

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR news quiz has a segment they do sometimes, called the "Trump Dump". 

Rapid fire, True/False questions to the panel about Trump.

Transcript from June:
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/15/733018579/panel-questions

[TriGirl 277]

CNN reported this morning that someone who was at the briefing confirmed he said to nuke the hurricane while it was in the Atlantic, because he's heard it can be done.

He probably saw it on TV -- a little production called "Sharknado."

[billvon 2,426]

57 minutes ago, wolfriverjoe said:

It's a sad state when it's become hard to tell the difference between reality and an Onion piece. 

Well, I mean, so far, Trump:

- tried to buy Greenland, then got mad and canceled a diplomatic visit when Denmark informed him it's not for sale

- claimed that the Moon is part of Mars

- said you need voter ID to buy cereal

- said all Mexicans are rapists

- asked his supporters to beat up protesters

- said he could murder someone and not lose any supporters

- claimed the WTC collapsed because of a lack of asbestos, the threat of which is a mob hoax anyway

- claimed LED light bulbs cause cancer and vaccines cause autism

- said he is more popular than Abraham Lincoln

- claimed that the F-35 is literally invisible. "It wins every time because the enemy cannot see it. Even if it’s right next to it, they can’t see it."

- paid porn stars to keep quiet about his sad affairs with them

- said on TV that he enjoys grabbing women by the pussy, but denied all the credible accusations that he actually DID grab them by the pussy

What could he do that's so absurd it HAS to be an Onion article?  Say the border wall is already built and that it won the World Series?  Claim he is a better soccer player than Megan Rapinoe?  Tell people he could pee on the Queen of England and she'd love it?

And even Trump supporters generally can't tell.   Whenever some new absurd claim comes out, a significant fraction of them just automatically start supporting him.  "Well, some people LIKE being peed on!  Don't you understand what 'consent' means?"

 

[ryoder 1,397]

6 hours ago, billvon said:

So there is a confirmation there.  And as a second level of confirmation, Trump denied he said it.

LOL!

I read it in the news yesterday.

[CygnusX-1 42]

I hear there is a tropical storm/hurricane heading for Puerto Rico (and Florida). Maybe we can get Trump to drop a nuke on it and see what happens...

[billvon 2,426]

Trump or the Onion?

At a G7 conference presser, Trump tries to sell rooms at his resort.

"Doral happens to be within Miami. It's a city. It's a wonderful place. It's a very, very successful area of Florida. It's, very importantly, only five minutes from the airport; the airport is right next door.  With Doral, we have a series of magnificent buildings, we call them bungalows.  They each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views. We have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants. And they've done a beautiful job. They've really done a beautiful job.  The ballrooms are among the biggest in Florida and the best. It's brand new."

[wmw999 2,146]

That’s got to be true. 

Wendy P. 

[jakee 1,257]

Hey, remember he produced a whole table full of paper that proved he no longer had anything to do with his businesses. So now if he decides to use his position to promote them it can’t possibly be a conflict of interest

[yoink 321]

3 hours ago, billvon said:

Trump or the Onion?

At a G7 conference presser, Trump tries to sell rooms at his resort.

"Doral happens to be within Miami. It's a city. It's a wonderful place. It's a very, very successful area of Florida. It's, very importantly, only five minutes from the airport; the airport is right next door.  With Doral, we have a series of magnificent buildings, we call them bungalows.  They each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views. We have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants. And they've done a beautiful job. They've really done a beautiful job.  The ballrooms are among the biggest in Florida and the best. It's brand new."

No question. True. Trump is always out for what benefits him. ALWAYS. 

 

He can never not be a salesman.

Anyone remember when the presidency used to have, you know, dignity?

 

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by yoink

[JerryBaumchen 1,061]

3 hours ago, yoink said:

Anyone remember when the presidency used to have, you know, dignity?

Hi Will,

Yes, I do.  However, that ended on 20 Jan 2017.

Jerry Baumchen

[nigel99 144]

5 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi Will,

Yes, I do.  However, that ended on 20 Jan 2017.

Jerry Baumchen

That is utterly impossible, there was a black man in the White House then. An Islamic Kenyan no less!

[ryoder 1,397]

Trump officials say children of US service members overseas will not get automatic citizenship

SMH

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/459190-trump-officials-say-children-of-us-service-members-overseas-will-not

[ryoder 1,397]

Definitely Onion-worthy:

[yoink 321]

20 hours ago, ryoder said:

Definitely Onion-worthy:

Trump State Media, comrade! It's the future!

[BIGUN 1,069]

On 8/28/2019 at 4:45 PM, ryoder said:

Trump officials say children of US service members overseas will not get automatic citizenship

That's not what it says. This is how the fake news bullshit starts. 

It says, "Trump officials say children of SOME service members overseas will not get automatic citizenship"

"USCIS issued a clarification to the rule later Wednesday, explaining that the new rule would only affect three categories of people: Children of non-U.S. citizens adopted by U.S. citizen government employees or service members; children of non-U.S. citizen government employees or service members who were naturalized after the child's birth; and children of U.S. citizens who do not meet residency requirements."

Pretty much the same rules - except the paperwork has changed. 

“The only thing that has changed here is the forms they have to fill out, the process they have to go through to get that child to be a U.S. citizen. That is it. We didn’t change a single person who would or could become a U.S. citizen,” Cuccinelli told the PBS NewsHour.  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-new-citizenship-rules-mean-for-children-of-u-s-personnel-living-abroad

 

 

[wolfriverjoe 1,351]

Given Trump's vitriolic anti-immigrant stance (at least from places other than Norway), can you understand why people heard this and assumed the worst?

And it really wasn't clearly stated to begin with.

[SkyDekker 1,141]

34 minutes ago, BIGUN said:

That's not what it says. This is how the fake news bullshit starts. 

Considering clarification was required due to mass confusion among the people affected it is hard to pin this on the news. Don't want shitty reporting, don't do shitty communicating.

[normiss 622]

3 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

Considering clarification was required due to mass confusion among the people affected it is hard to pin this on the news. Don't want shitty reporting, don't do shitty communicating.

Every story I read explained it clearly.

The catch is, we simply didn't restrict children from non-declared or documented rights.

Children born of Americans have traditionally been accepted as such.

Except Obama.

[JerryBaumchen 1,061]

2 hours ago, BIGUN said:

That's not what it says. This is how the fake news bullshit starts. 

Hi Keith,

I also watched Mr. Cuccinelli on the News Hour.  I thought he explained it quiet well and in detail.  Even with Judy W. doing her best to bait him.

As to what was first put out, I don't really know. 

However, one continuing problem ( IMO ) is that the news folks jump all over a story when they have very little knowledge of the truth.  A perfect example is Mr. O'Donnell putting out the story about Trump having the Russians co-signing for him.

I for one am more than willing to wait a day or so & get the truth.

Jerry Baumchen