TRUMP 3.0? … SURELY NOT

Perhaps the most frightening development to emerge from the Trumposphere came this week when he started testing the water on a possible run for a third term.

Trump would be 82 at the end of this term but he’s been dropping hints that he may run again in 2028.

This comes despite the fact that it would be in direct contravention of the 22nd Amendment to the US constitution, introduced in 1951 after FDR had been elected four times in a row.

The amendment is clear: “No person shall be elected to the office of president more than twice.”

Trump claimed American voters would support a third term because of his popularity. He claims to have “the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years”.

As with so many of his claims, this is false. George W Bush hit a 90% approval rating after the 9/11 attacks and his father, George H. W. Bush, reached 89% after the Gulf War in 1991.

Trump’s highest approval rating in this term has been 47%, despite his claims to have hit the high 70s “in the real polls”.

As always, facts in the Trump world don’t matter. The real concern is that he may be serious in his designs on a third term.

Some are suggesting he may try to circumvent the constitution by having Vice President JD Vance run for the top job then hand it to Trump.

But academic experts believe that tactic would be defeated by the 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, that states: “No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice president of the United States”.

Let’s hope Trump’s posturing is aimed at projecting strength at home and abroad to alleviate the problems of presidents in their last term, when they’re regarded as ‘lame duck’ leaders.

If it’s not, and he’s serious about another run, America and, more importantly, its allies, should be not only alert but genuinely alarmed!

OUR LEADERS MUST LEAD ... IMPLEMENT THE SUICIDE ROYAL COMMISSION’S RECOMMENDATIONS

One of the most urgent priorities of our next Federal Government must be to reinvigorate our Defence Force.

While Europe’s defences gear up for a world without American support and China roams the Pacific with intent, the Australian Defence Force has dropped from 62,000 in 2022 to 59,000 today.

This has occurred while the number of Defence bureaucrats has risen by 17%.

The recent Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide provided the blueprint and the recommendations needed to address the issues that have led to us losing a veteran to suicide every five days for the last 30 years.

The Chair of that Royal Commission, Nick Kaldas, reported on what he called “a catastrophic failure of leadership” across the board in the Defence ecosystem.

Around 6000 written submissions attested to this conclusion.

At every level, and right to the top, failures in leadership contributed to and, in some cases, actually prompted veterans to take their lives. Many felt abandoned by their leaders and the institutions to which they had devoted their lives.

Until we address the root causes of this disastrous situation by implementing the Commission’s recommendations, we will continue to lose our veterans.

And we will struggle to entice future generations to follow in the footsteps of those who have preserved our liberty.

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS ...

SENDING THE WRONG SIGNAL …

The calibre of the Trump administration has been brought into sharp focus by the latest revelations in The Atlantic Magazine about the catastrophic Signal text message App scandal.

In a move that must have realised all the worst fears of those in the bunkers of America’s Five Eyes partners, the top echelon of the US Security and Military apparatus casually shared information on their phones about a planned attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Somehow, the chat group, which included National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, shared details of the attack and its aftermath with the Editor of The Atlantic Magazine, Jeffery Goldberg, who had been innocently added to the Signal chat list by Waltz.

Hegseth posted a running commentary on the raids, giving precise times for two waves of planned attacks, the weapons to be used and, later, the results.

Once Goldberg published the story in The Atlantic, the least-qualified Secretary of Defence in US history, led the response.

And it was exactly the response you would have expected: Hegseth reverted to his macho man-child persona, denied there was any security breach and attacked the only innocent party in the entire communication catastrophe, Goldberg.

It's a response straight out of Trump’s playbook (as inspired by his mentor, the late Roy Cohn): never admit anything, deny everything and attack the accuser.

When Hegseth categorically denied any classified material had been shared, Goldberg responded by publishing the texts, clearly revealing a litany of breaches that, in the wrong hands, could have cost lives.

Trump’s apologists have since resorted to semantics, claimed memory loss and pointed out that the Signal App was encrypted.

But security experts countered that the texts were shared via the participants’ phones and they were the weak link, under constant hacking attacks by Russia, China and many other bad actors.

All the while, Trump himself was playing golf in Florida.

The whole sorry episode highlights the underlying lack of seriousness of the administration and the appalling lack of judgement and mendacity of those in charge of America’s defence and security.

Every Five Eyes member surely must have now resolved never to share any intelligence of consequence with the Unites States while these clowns are in charge.

VENGEANCE AS AN ART FORM

Vengeance is an essential element of Trump 2.0. It’s centred on his fascination with personality, his legendary grudge-holding and his obsession with payback for perceived slights.

Trump’s recent revocation of the security clearances of his predecessor Joe Biden, former opponent Kamala Harris and other adversaries is unremarkable in itself.

Some are painting it as payback for Biden’s move to remove Trump’s clearance in 2021 for what he then described as Trump’s ‘erratic behaviour’.

But, actually, it’s common for former officials to lose their clearances once they leave office.

Of course, usually it’s done without fanfare and both expected and accepted by the individuals involved. Not with Trump. The Trump Reality TV Show requires it done with his absurd showbiz live signing and portrayed as some kind of retributive victory.

But, behind the scenes, Trump’s supporters are hellbent on far more sinister vengeance.

They are quietly hunting down all those involved with what they see as the victimisation of Trump through the many court actions against him, including the non-political cases related to Trump’s personal behaviour.

Not content with firing those who led the investigations and prosecuted the cases, Team Trump is trying to take legal action against the officials personally.

This should be deeply concerning to anyone who values a democratic system where the judiciary is independent from the executive arm of the government.

IS IT TIME FOR MORE AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS?

Just a thought: maybe electing more independents to our parliaments will protect us from the excesses of MAGA-Trumpism and its pathetic local copycat, Clive Palmer’s dog’s breakfast, Trumpet of Patriots.

At first glance, the rise of independents seems to foreshadow a confused, hung parliament that would slowly strangle good governance and planning and make it more difficult to innovate.

But, looking at what Trump has been able to achieve in such a short time under the American two-party system, it may be time to reconsider the value of independents.

Should we have an Australian version of the current American scenario: a craven Republican Party and a shell-shocked and toothless Democratic Party, we could see our system dismantled like America’s.

Strong independents, like David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie, and many others standing for the next Federal election, will act as an insurance policy against the regimented capitulation we’re seeing in America.

I’m thinking of genuine independents, not Clive and his playthings with their mindless MAGA mantras.

We need candidates with character, ability and policies aimed at bettering the lives of their constituents.

They speak without fear of party backlash and they are ever mindful of representing their core supporters rather than the party line.

Maybe it’s time to truly value independent voices and to give them the chance to hold both the major parties to account and to protect our democratic structures. We must choose carefully.

RATS FROM A SINKING TESLA ...

Do the board members of Trump’s chief tech thug Elon Musk’s Tesla know something that the rest of us don’t?

While Musk continues to divide America with his ham-fisted cost slashing and job cutting as the spokesperson for DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), his fellow directors at Tesla have been voting with their wallets.

Rupert’s less favoured son, James Murdoch, recently exercised stock options worth $US13 million and immediately sold them.

Tesla chairwoman, Australia’s Robyn Denholm, unloaded $US75 million worth in November and December, then another $US43 million in February and a further $34 million in early March.

Another board member, Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, has sold more than $US100 million worth of her shares since last November.

Even Musk’s younger brother, Kimbal, sold $US 28 million on February 4 and the company’s CFO, Viabhav Taneja, sold $US2.5 million worth on March 3.

JP Morgan is forecasting that this quarter will be Tesla’s worst for car deliveries since 2022. Tesla’s new vehicle registrations halved year-on-year in January. And, JP Morgan says Tesla’s situation in Europe is even worse.

Overall, JP Morgan said: “We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly.”

And things don’t look like turning around any time soon. According to a CNN poll this week, the proportion of Americans who hold a negative view on Musk has grown from 35% to 53%.

Against this background, Musk is continuing his appeal against a Delaware court which rescinded his proposed pay package of $US56 billion. Delaware is where Tesla is incorporated.

THE CONVERGENCE OF CORRUPTION

Clearly, America’s chief tech thug, Elon Musk, is feeling the impact of the almost 50% drop in the value of his Tesla shares since the Trump Reality TV Show hit the airwaves.

 While Tesla owners across the nation were trying to disguise the marque with fake badges, the Presenter of the United States turned the White House driveway into a Tesla showroom to try to help his favourite billionaire stop the rot.

 Trump then pretended to buy a top-of-the-line shiny red Tesla, a Model S Plaid in deep red, costing about $US80,000.

 Even after the Tesla market falls, Musk’s personal fortune is still estimated at $US325 billion. He’s still the richest man in the world, ahead of Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, who is at $US215 billion (and Vladimir Putin, estimated to be worth as much as $US200 billion).

 (No wonder Trump is such a fanboy of Russia’s oligarch-in-chief. Vlad Putin, the career public servant has amassed his vast wealth while on an official salary of around $US140,000 a year.)

 Meanwhile, Tesla is the worst performing S&P 500 listed company, dropping 45% this year. Musk owns 12.5% of its shares, worth roughly $US116 billion, about a third of his total wealth.

 Trump’s cheque is apparently in the mail.

MUSK'S TECH THUGS WIELD THE CHAINSAW

I checked and this is apparently true.  In their crazy doctrinaire rush to unravel (and to eliminate) what they believe to be America’s lurch to the left in diversity, Elon Musk’s young tech thugs have taken their digital chainsaw to the Pentagon, America’s Defence Department.

They have announced that they plan to bulk erase 26,000 websites and images because they contain content that “highlighted diversity, equity or inclusion”.

In making their selection, they searched the entire Pentagon database for references to “gay” and then ordered them to be deleted.

That meant a photo of a Sergeant-Major named A. C. Gay, from the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, was marked for destruction.

It also meant that an image of General Paul Tibbets standing in front of his plane, was also to suffer the same fate. Tibbets was photographed in front of the ‘Enola Gay’, named after his Mum, Enola Gay Haggard Tibbets.

It was the B-29 bomber he piloted when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, hastening the end of World War Two.

How long will this insanity continue?

Will the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where the Enola Gay is on permanent display, have to double its guards in case the tech thugs try to destroy the plane itself?

'FIVE EYES' ALLIANCE UNDER THREAT

Perhaps the most concerning latest episode of the chaotic Trump Reality TV Show is the emerging talk that some of his henchmen are calling on Trump to expel Canada from the Five-Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance as part of his pressure play against his nearest neighbour.

The Five-Eyes alliance is the most important top-level intelligence partnership in the world - between the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It arose from the collaboration between American and British codebreakers in WWII and grew to include Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Cold War in 1956.

The rumours gain weight coming after Trump actually withdrew intelligence access to Ukraine following his recent dummy spit at President Zelensky.

The Financial Times fingered Trump’s senior counsellor on trade and manufacturing, Peter Navarro, as advocating Canada’s eviction from Five Eyes.

Navarro served prison time for refusing to testify when called before the congressional commission investigating the January 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol. But last December Trump rehabilitated him by naming him as a senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing.

Navarro has subsequently tried to backtrack on the issue but the fact that the suggestion has even seen the light of day should send shockwaves through the western intelligence community.

Surely Trump cannot be serious in his musings that Canada should be America’s 51st state?

With allies like Trump’s America, who needs enemies?

THE PRESENTER OF THE UNITED STATES ...

Here’s a stunning surprise: the overhyped $TRUMP meme coin’s price has plummeted 83% since its launch in mid-January.

It started trading at $US0.18, before surging to its peak of $US75.35 on January 19. Yesterday it was languishing at $US12.25, a fall from its peak of $US63.10 in 45 days.

The $TRUMP coin has no utility. It’s a pure collectible, a digital version of football cards or Pokemon. (It doesn’t even allow the owner to play a game!)

Trump’s operatives have retained 80% of the $TRUMP coins. Only 20% is in circulation. The backers apparently plan to gradually roll out the balance starting this month as they cash in on the project. That should provide even greater downward pressure to the price.

The $TRUMP coin is a perfect emblem for Trump and his method of operation: it’s designed to make a tiny group of billionaires even richer, leaving the vast majority as losers, while Trump himself invests nothing but clips the ticket.

It’s all about branding. Just as Trump doesn’t own the buildings with his name emblazoned on them, so Trump the meme coin promoter simply lends his name to it, taking no risk except to his reputation. And that’s worth about as much as his coin.

The Golden Age of Corruption under the Presenter of the United States continues …