White House Confirms: Trump's a Liar
Discussing Gaza, spokesperson confirms that Trump spoke like a person who lies
Feb. 6: Leavitt reveals some of Trump’s Gaza lies … Impeachment articles coming … The hilarious truth about Musk’s buyout goal … Don’t get fooled by the National Prayer Breakfast …
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In her press briefing yesterday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that, discussing Gaza earlier this week, Pres. Donald Trump was bullshitting, shit-talking, and simultaneously both full of shit and yet also pulling shit out of his ass.
Leavitt’s statements about the president were taken as definitive because she announced on her first day that she would never lie.
Here’s a look at portions of Leavitt’s bombshell exposé.
On Tuesday, Trump was asked about sending troops to Gaza. He said he’d do what’s necessary and that the U.S. with its strength would own Gaza:
Q: “Would the U.S. send troops to help secure the security vacuum?”1
Trump: “[Unrelated lies and bullshit] … As far as Gaza is concerned, we will do what is necessary. If it's necessary, we'll do that. We're going to take over that place and we're going to develop it… [blah blah didn’t do the homework blah] So, by the United States with its stability and strength owning it [blah blah his awesome strength blah2] I think we'll be a great keeper of something that is very, very strong, very powerful and very, very good for the area.”
In other words, Trump not only said he’d send in troops if needed to secure the, uh, security in Gaza, he doubled down by talking about how strong the U.S. is and how capable of “owning” and being a “keeper” of Gaza.
So Leavitt explained that no one should get all worked up about it, because Trump was simply lying when he said his plan could mean boots on the ground in Gaza:
“[T]hat does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. … It means Donald Trump, who is the best dealmaker on the planet, is going to strike a deal with our partners in a region.”
Also Tuesday, Trump explicitly used the word “permanently” describing the new homes that he wants (someone) to build (somewhere) for the displaced Gazans his people have said are all terrorists:
Trump: “I hope we can do something where they wouldn’t want to go back … If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people permanently… [never finishes weaving his thought]…
“I think that if we can resettle — and I believe we can do it in areas where the leaders currently say, ‘No.’ [blah blah am I a good boy now, daddy?] — uh, they're going to do a good job.”
Yesterday, Leavitt revealed not only that Trump was lying about this, too, but that he was contradicting himself:
“The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza.”
Regarding Trump’s claim that the U.S. will “own” Gaza, Leavitt implied that was bullshit, too, saying his remark “does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.”
Never mind that Trump also said, “We’re going to take over that place and we’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, revealed that Leavitt’s lie about never lying was a lie — because Leavitt was lying about Trump’s lying about precious, precious U.S. tax dollars:
Rubio: “What he very generously has offered is the ability of the United States to go in and help with debris removal, help with munitions removal, help with reconstruction — the rebuilding of homes and businesses and things of this nature.”
Anyway, the point is, this is why TFN hasn’t really gone nuts over Trump’s latest DisneyGaza fantasies. There is no plan.
Like, literally.
White House insiders revealed to the New York Times that their boss was so full of shit that no one had bothered to do even the normal dress-up prep for making sure a pile of Trump shit is at least sculpted into a shape resembling a plan. From the Times:
“…there had been no meetings with the State Department or Pentagon, as would normally occur for any serious foreign policy proposal, let alone one of such magnitude. There had been no working groups. The Defense Department had produced no estimates of the troop numbers required, or cost estimates, or even an outline of how it might work … senior administration officials were notably short on substantive answers. The reason for their evasiveness soon became clear: No actual details existed.”
In fact, it’s not even clear who’s supposed to live in Gazatopia, or IvankGaza, or whatever he’d call it. Palestinians are out. Trump said no to Jewish settlers. So, what? German tourists?
Of course, first, neighboring countries have to agree to take in those ethnically cleansed Palestinians. Trump addressed the possibility they might say no:
“I don't think they're going to tell me no. I don't think they're going to tell me no.”
Since they have already told him no, Trump was asked about lying whether they might say yes. The only evidence he had was that Mexico and Canada folded:
“I've been saying that with Mexico, having to do with, uh, the border and, and all of the things, and you saw what happened. 10,000 soldiers, and, uh, they're going to do a good job.
“I really believe that, and I believe Canada's going to do a good job also. They said the same thing, and then they did something much different than what you were hearing.”
Of course, as TFN has covered, that was bullshit, too. Revealing exactly how low Trump’s bar is for this latest piece of bullshit.
Plus his tariff dishonesty has undercut his credibility. He’s already being called The Boy Who Cried Wolf of Wall Street. (Okay, only by TFN. So far.)
If Trump tries the same tactic of proposing something insane and then instantly backing down in foreign policy, he could also become known as The Boy Who Cried Wolfowitz. (That’s a deep cut for you Iraq War buffs and, no, that one’s never gonna stick.)
Of course, it wasn’t just that Trump lied this week about Gaza.
He lied throughout his whole campaign about putting America first. Even if he’s fantasizing that the U.S. wouldn’t pay to rebuild in Gaza, the diplomatic engagement alone will be a huge drain on American resources and political capital. Not to mention our presumably still-pending invasions of Greenland, Panama, maybe Mexico?
And, hey, look, it’s fun to focus on these Keystone Kops playing at foreign policy. But it’s worth remembering what your diligent TFN Crimestoppers™ flagged last month: Removing the residents of Gaza is ethnic cleansing.
And ethnic cleansing is a crime. Against humanity. Which is an impeachable offense. So is threatening the use of violence to accomplish ethnic cleansing.
HERE COME THE IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES Rep. Al Green (D-TX) said on the House floor yesterday that he’s going to file articles of impeachment against Trump.
“I rise to announce that I will bring articles of impeachment against the president for dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done…
“On some issues, it is better to stand alone than not stand at all.” [Watch here.]
Green was among the first Democrats to initiate the first of Trump’s two (2) impeachments. (Senate Republicans acquitted Trump both times because then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the courts should take care of it, which will go on McConnell’s gravestone if he ever dies.)
BLAME THE JEWS Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Mulvaney tried to get his ex-boss off the spot yesterday for his stupid Gaza fixation. It wasn’t Trump’s idea, the devout Christian claimed.
“It wasn’t him. It was not his language,” Mulvaney reportedly said. How come?
“The man who worked [sic] for so long to get us out of the forever war in Afghanistan3 was up here behind the podium saying, ‘We’re going to go and occupy this land for the next 10 or 15 years’ … It made no sense to me.”
And what happens when devout right-wing Christians don’t understand or like something? That’s right, Newsfuckers, it means it’s time to play Blame the Jews.
“[I]t sounded to me more like Jared Kushner than it did like Donald Trump.”
Jump ahead two spaces, Mulvaney!
Musk Failing at Government-Buyout Offer
The number of federal employees accepting alleged government official Elon Musk’s buyout offer doubled in one day yesterday, Semafor reports.
The offer was sent to more than two million federal workers. The Trump administration goal was for at least five percent to accept by tonight’s midnight deadline.
As of yesterday the offer had been accepted by an estimated 40,000 people, or about two percent.
Politico reports that some workers don’t believe the buyout offer will come through, almost as if implying that Musk and Pres. Donald Trump had some sort of documented history of promising things they didn’t deliver.
“If you have to send us 10 emails that say this is totally not a scam, then it’s probably a scam,” said Dept. of Labor employee hero David Casserly.
Musk’s political action committee had estimated the federal government could save $100 billion by getting at least five percent to leave. So how to do that?
One former Trump official explained the super-smart strategy behind the finely calculated plan: “You have a glut of Boomers now and they’re reaching retirement age. And if you can force them out of the door, you don’t have to replace them.”
Got that, Newsfuckers? The goal of this brilliant strategizing, and work and energy — and the billions those buyouts would cost — is to offer a massive payout to push at least five percent of workers … already near retirement age … to leave their jobs in a single year.
Sweet, sweet Newsfuckers, that’s how many leave every year.
Your other-news-reading TFN hasn’t read this in other news, but in 2023, the departure rate was higher than what Musk and Trump are struggling to achieve. It was 5.9%. And 2023 was a low year. Look, a chart!
In other words, all this sturm und drang from Sturmp und Muangsk is all a massive effort — at the cost of billions in payouts — to achieve what nature does anyway.
Billionaire genius Elon Musk is working seven days a week and sleeping at offices in a desperate struggle to achieve something that always happens.
And all of the media covering it are so be-jazzled by the majesty and awe of the frantic dervishing that no one seems to have asked, uh, how many usually retire anyway?
And, hilariously, Delonald Trmumpsk’s lack of credibility means no one believes their buyout offer, so they might not even achieve the normal level — instead galvanizing the David Casserlys of the world to stick around and stick it to the man.
Trump Hands Over Insurance for 150 Million People to Elon Musk
Already bored of most of his job, Pres. Donald Trump yesterday let alleged government employee Elon Musk into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The CMS oversees federal health insurance for 150 million people via:
Medicare
Medicaid
The Children’s Health Insurance Program
Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces.
In other words, those 150 million people — most of whom could have voted! — are about to get the most memorable civics lesson they’ve ever had even if they were home-schooled.
The Hill notes that CMS spent more than $1.5 trillion last year on keeping people less sick and less dying. That’s about 22% of the federal budget that Musk has threatened to trim by about, um, gulp, $1-2 trillion.
Yesterday, the day that Musk and his team breached the CMS walls, Musk tweeted that Medicare is “where the big money fraud is happening,” apparently a reference to what he’s doing there.
There were some concerns that Musk lacks the years of experience needed to do real, responsible, sophisticated oversight of such a complex agency, which shouldn’t be handed to an amateur and is instead supposed to be the job of Trump’s highly qualified CMS nominee:
Despite being so stupid that he’s the richest man in the world, Musk was tapped by Trump to bring his putative business acumen into the administration, based on his success in the business world.
Like when he cut health insurance for Twitter employees.
REPUBLICAN LEADERS AGREE MUSK HAS GONE TOO FAR AND TOO BAD THEY CAN’T DO ANYTHING SINCE THEY ONLY CONTROL CONGRESS, A CO-EQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said yesterday that, “There’s no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk far beyond what I think is appropriate.”
As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins wields enormous power over federal spending that she could use as leverage. Also, she will not do that.
Instead, she said, she really hopes the other co-equal branch of government is up to the job she will not be doing: “I think a lot of it is going to end up in court.”
One area where Collins also has leverage is Senate confirmations. For instance, Trump’s choice of budget chief is up for a vote today, so Collins could, in theory says she’ll confirm him.
Five Quickies
Remember when Pres. Donald Trump whipped inflation on day one of his second presidency? Egg prices are now at record highs. And the failures of the White House have now smothered, chopped, and chunked the good folks at the Waffle House. As the Washington Post reports, they just added a per-egg surcharge:
Remember that Republicans have never been a law-and-order party, they’ve been a some-law and a their-order party. Fer instance, Pres. Donald Trump may not yet have defunded the police who police Wall Street, but he did shut them down. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Monday. And the job has proved easy enough for even a hedge-fund guy to do because the CFPB has now stopped doing anything, including its mission of protecting people from banks, financial firms, and other criminal organizations. Feel safer yet?
Democratic voters are getting pissed at Democratic politicians who are getting pissed at Democratic leaders for not doing more to stop Pres. Donald Trump’s illegal and dangerous actions or at least slow them down or at the very fucking goddamn least just fucking depleasantify it a mere fucking tad. Senate Democrats forced an overnight session last night that no one cared about. But House Democrats want to see more from the Senate, where Democrats have more power to gum up the works or, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) put it totally metaphorically, “blow this place up.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is getting a primary challenger, Saikat Chakrabarti. He’s the former chief of staff to Ocasio-Cortez. “Watching Trump and Elon freely unleash chaos in their illegal seizure of government, it’s become clear to me that the Democratic Party needs new leadership,” Chakrabarti said. While it may seem like political suicide to take on Pelosi, if the 84-year-old former speaker doesn’t run, Chakrabarti is now well-positioned to pursue the nomination.
The National Prayer Breakfast was today. I didn’t watch it, but I probably will. I didn’t see any big headlines out of it, but some of the people covering it wouldn’t know news if they read it in The Fucking News, so I’ll check. In the meantime, if you Newsfuckers are curious about what it is, and don’t wanna be misled by the almost-always misleading corporate-media coverage, I did a primer last night over on the Jonathan Larsen Substack.
TCB
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Go get ‘em, kids. Remember, they’re bad at doing things.
The transcript actually says “Did the U.S. send troops…” but that makes no sense and Trump didn’t answer as if that’s what the question was, so I changed it.
Here’s the Trump stuff I cut out about Trump’s awesome strengthitude that he started stroning while Pres. Joe Biden was still a weak president: “…especially the strength that we're developing and developed over the last fairly short period of time, I would say really since the election…”
And didn’t finish the job and then blamed Pres. Joe Biden for finishing the job.
TFN is my "go to" news first thing as I delete multitudes of bullshit
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