President Shitshow’s First 100 Days; Day 59

March 21, 2025 12:53 pm EDT Tiff Editorial (Open Thread) Comments Off on President Shitshow’s First 100 Days; Day 59

It’s Friday.

President Shitshow’s public schedule for…

Friday, March 21 2025
9:00 AM
In-Town Pool Call Time
The White House 
In-Town Pool
11:00 AM
The President and the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth deliver remarks
Oval Office 
White House Press Pool
3:40 PM
Out-of-Town Travel Pool Call Time
Joint Base Andrews 
Out-of-Town Travel Pool
5:00 PM
The President departs The White House en route Joint Base Andrews
South Lawn
 Open Press
5:10 PM
The President arrives Joint Base Andrews
Joint Base Andrews
 Out-of-Town Travel Pool
5:20 PM
The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Morristown Municipal Airport
Joint Base Andrews 
Out-of-Town Travel Pool
6:10 PM
The President arrives Morristown Municipal Airport
Morristown Municipal Airport
 Out-of-Town Travel Pool
6:20 PM
The President departs Morristown Municipal Airport en route Trump National Golf Club Bedminster
Morristown Municipal Airport 
Out-of-Town Travel Pool
6:30 PM
The President arrives Trump National Golf Club Bedminster
Trump National Golf Club Bedminster 
Closed Press

Taking a stroll through “Lies Social”

03/20/2025 (11:00 PM D.C., time):

03/21/2025 (7:26 AM D.C., time):

Pentagon Set Up Briefing for Musk on Potential War With China (New York Times; 03/20/2025; updated 03/21/2025; gift link):

The Pentagon was scheduled on Friday to brief Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China, two U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Another official said the briefing would be China focused, without providing additional details. A fourth official confirmed Mr. Musk was to be at the Pentagon on Friday, but offered no details.

Hours after news of the planned meeting was published by The New York Times, Pentagon officials and President Trump denied that the session would be about military plans involving China. “China will not even be mentioned or discussed,” Mr. Trump said in a late-night social media post.

[snip]

The chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, initially did not respond to a similar email seeking comment about why Mr. Musk was to receive a briefing on the China war plan. Soon after The Times published this article on Thursday evening, Mr. Parnell gave a short statement: “The Defense Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is just visiting.”

Pentagon Set Up Briefing for Musk on Potential War With China (New York Times; 03/20/2025; updated 03/21/2025; gift link).

An hour later:

Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegshit also posted on Twitter:

30 minutes later:

Musk Set to Receive Top-Secret Briefing on U.S. War Plans for China (Wall Street Journal; 03/20/2025 gift link):

Elon Musk is scheduled to receive a briefing Friday on the U.S. military’s top-secret war plans for China, according to two U.S. officials, giving the wealthy businessman and presidential adviser insight into one of the Pentagon’s most closely guarded operational blueprints.

Musk is expected to be briefed on how U.S. forces would fight in a potential China war, including maritime tactics and targeting plans, the officials said. China will be one of several topics to be discussed at the Defense Department, one of the officials said.

[snip]

Musk, according to one person familiar with the arrangements, is receiving the briefing because he asked for one. He has a security clearance but isn’t in the military chain of command or known to be a military adviser to Trump.

[snip]

Adm. Sam Paparo, the head of the Indo-Pacific Command, said last month in remarks at a defense forum in Hawaii that the U.S. has “war-winning advantages” in any possible conflict with China in space and cyber capabilities, as well as a “generational advantage” in submarines. 

Paparo is expected to participate in the Musk briefing with Hegseth, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg and Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The National Security Council and Indo-Pacific Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in Asia, declined to comment on the Pentagon briefing for Musk, which was earlier reported by the New York Times.

[snip]

Musk has made positive comments about China in recent years, leading Beijing to hope he could be a conduit to Trump. In 2023, Musk said he was “kind of pro-China” during a conversation about whether Beijing would be helpful in writing global rules about artificial intelligence. “I have some vested interests in China, but honestly, I think China is underrated and I think the people of China are really awesome and there is a lot of positive energy there,” he said.

Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a close partner of China, the country that has supported Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. During one of their conversations, Putin asked Musk not to activate a Starlink internet satellite above Taiwan as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Musk Set to Receive Top-Secret Briefing on U.S. War Plans for China (Wall Street Journal; 03/20/2025 gift link).

President Musk posted his own denial tweet (I’m unsure what time zone he’s in, but the tweet was sent at 2:56 AM D.C., time):

If it’s false information it is not a leak; it is disinformation, but no crime has been committed.

It’s 2025, I know exactly who President Shitshow, President Musk, and their supporters are, but I’m still taken aback by how much they wish to see fellow Americans and human beings tossed in prisons.

The New York Times went on to say; The meeting had been set to be held not in Mr. Hegseth’s office — where an informal discussion about innovation would most likely take place — but in the Tank, a secure conference room in the Pentagon, typically used for high-level meetings of members of the Joint Chiefs, their senior staff and visiting combatant commanders.

This part from The New York Times made me cringe:

Mr. Trump has already proposed that the United States build a new system the military is calling Golden Dome, a space-based missile defense system that recalls what President Ronald Reagan tried to deliver. (The so-called Star Wars system Mr. Reagan had in mind was never fully developed.)

Perceived missile threats from China — be it nuclear weapons or hypersonic missiles or cruise missiles — are a major factor that led Mr. Trump to sign an executive order recently instructing the Pentagon to start work on Golden Dome.

Even starting to plan and build the first components of the system will cost tens of billions of dollars, according to Pentagon officials, and most likely create large business opportunities for SpaceX, which already provides rocket launches, satellite structures, and space-based data communications systems, all of which will be required for Golden Dome.

Pentagon Set Up Briefing for Musk on Potential War With China (New York Times; 03/20/2025; updated 03/21/2025; gift link):

Golden Dome…

For as easily as they are to buy into conspiracy theories shouldn’t the Dome be Silver?

Toward the end of the article that is both fake, but leaked, they say this:

Separately, Mr. Musk has been the focus of an investigation by the Pentagon’s inspector general over questions about his compliance with his top-secret security clearance.

The investigations started last year after some SpaceX employees complained to government agencies that Mr. Musk and others at SpaceX were not properly reporting contacts or conversations with foreign leaders.

Air Force officials, before the end of the Biden administration, started their own review, after Senate Democrats asked questions about Mr. Musk and asserted that he was not complying with security clearance requirements.

The Air Force, in fact, had denied a request by Mr. Musk for an even higher level of security clearance, known as Special Access Program, which is reserved for extremely sensitive classified programs, citing potential security risks associated with the billionaire.

[snip]

In public, Mr. Musk has avoided criticizing Beijing and signaled his willingness to work with the Chinese Communist Party. In 2022, he wrote a column for the magazine of the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s censorship agency, trumpeting his companies and their missions of improving humanity.

That same year, the billionaire told The Financial Times that China should be given some control over Taiwan by making a “special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable,” an assertion that angered politicians of the independent island. In that same interview, he also noted that Beijing sought assurances that he would not sell Starlink in China.

The following year at a tech conference, Mr. Musk called the democratic island “an integral part of China that is arbitrarily not part of China,” and compared the Taiwan-China situation to Hawaii and the United States.

Pentagon Set Up Briefing for Musk on Potential War With China (New York Times; 03/20/2025; updated 03/21/2025; gift link).

Destruction of Property might land American’s in El Salvador Prison…

03/20/2025 (11:08 PM D.C., time):

03/21/2025 (7:43 AM D.C., time):

From the DOJ:

Attorney General Pamela Bondi Announces Severe Charges Against Violent Tesla Arsonists

Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced charges against three individuals responsible for the violent destruction of Tesla properties. All three defendants will face the full force of the law for using Molotov cocktails to set fire to Tesla cars and charging stations.

“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”

Attorney General Pamela Bondi Announces Severe Charges Against Violent Tesla Arsonists. 03/20/2025.
  • One defendant, also armed with a suppressed AR-15 rifle, was arrested after throwing approximately eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership located in Salem, Oregon.
  • Another was arrested in Loveland, Colorado after attempting to light Teslas on fire with Molotov cocktails. The defendant was later found in possession of materials used to produce additional incendiary weapons.
  • In Charleston, South Carolina, a third defendant wrote profane messages against President Trump around Tesla charging stations before lighting the charging stations on fire with Molotov cocktails.
  • Each defendant faces serious charges carrying a minimum penalty of five years and up to 20 years in prison.

The Department of Justice is committed to ending all acts of violence and arson directed at Tesla properties and otherwise.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi Announces Severe Charges Against Violent Tesla Arsonists. 03/20/2025.

Before I read the worst ever announcement of criminal charges against people, ever. I saw this tweet:

And because my brain is somewhat broken, I read the replies…

I think they should face charges for their crimes; I don’t think threatening to send American’s or selling them to El Salvador to rot in prison there is a good thing.

Yeah, I’m not sure Dawn knows what sarcasm means…

Right, cause “perhaps” totally changes that the President of the US, mused out loud that American criminals should be sent to a foreign prison where they can be abused at will.

There were also replies like this:

I’ll admit my first thought was Jan 6th., too.

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

If you pardoned the above of their crimes, miss me with the shit, that harming Telsa’s makes one a domestic terrorist, and not just a fucking asshole, that should go to jail for their crimes.

During his remarks this morning; covered down thread, he said this…

He says that firebombing Tesla’s is much much worse than Jan 6th.

Bragging about lower prices while celebrating prices going up…

03/20/2025 (11:47 PM D.C., time):

He really really wants zero interest rates!

03/21/2025 (8:01 AM D.C., time):

Yesterday, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported that 600 Iron Range Steel Workers will be out of a job as mines that supply the struggling auto industry go offline…

More than 600 Iron Range steelworkers out of work as auto industry cuts orders because of tariffs

More than 600 Iron Range steelworkers will be out of a job as mines that supply the struggling auto industry go offline.

Cleveland-Cliffs will temporarily idle two Minnesota operations: Hibbing Taconite Co. in Hibbing and the Minorca Mine in Virginia. The Ohio-based company, North America’s largest producer of flat-rolled steel, has notified the state of the upcoming layoffs, according to a statement Thursday.

“These temporary idles are necessary to rebalance working capital needs and consume excess pellet inventory produced in 2024,” the statement said. “We remain committed to supporting our employees and communities while monitoring market conditions.”

While Cleveland-Cliffs executives say they expect President Donald Trump’s tariff plans to shift the industry in their favor, tariffs are shaking up the U.S. auto industry and could have downstream effects on American-made steel.

After a 60-day period under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, 630 employees will be laid off, according to the company. The two plants produce steel pellets used in automobile manufacturing.

More than 600 Iron Range steelworkers out of work as auto industry cuts orders because of tariffs

They went on to say:

Meanwhile, new tariffs on imported goods from Canada, Mexico and China are throwing a wrench in the American auto industry, which is largely unprepared to shift production to home soil. Earlier this month, Trump granted U.S. automakers a one-month exemption on tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada.

“It’s my position that strategic, smart tariffs on critical industries that protect our domestic supply of things like steel are really critical,” said state Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown. “My fear is that, while I do support tariffs on targeted areas, perhaps what we are doing is having reverberations that go far beyond what we were thinking.”

More than 600 Iron Range steelworkers out of work as auto industry cuts orders because of tariffs. 03/20/2025.

Not related to the steel industry, but related to the tariffs Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins said this morning that the “voters” knew what they were getting when they voted for the Shitshow…

On that tweet I found this reply…

Lower prices ultimately?

Yes, when we are in a recession with more supply than demand, things will cost less for a period of time.

More jobs?

No.

Higher wages?

No.

Tariffs are designed to protect an industry from being pushed out of the market.

Blanket tariffs are designed to create isolationism forcing consumers to relay on locally sourced products.

I’ve made no secret of my disdain for tariffs; they don’t work.

But, I’ve also explained that measured tariffs can work for a short time to allow an industry to catch up with other countries same industries.

Blanket tariffs impact all sectors of our economy, our capitalistic country needs money to flow at all times. If the money doesn’t flow at all times, we can enter a recession and what’s worse than a recession a depression.

His remarks from this morning…

The big Oval Office announcement was that Boeing would be constructing our new “warfighter jets” the “F-47″…

Yeah, I feel total confident that Boeing will make solid fighter planes that our military will use…

Alright, so, I got flipped upside down by this remark…

Reminder about the so called murderous people sent to El Salvador:

1/ Quite the admission in a government Declaration submitted late last night in the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) case: "It is true that many of the TdA members removed under the AEA do not have criminal records in the United States." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us…

[image or embed]

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw.bsky.social) March 18, 2025 at 5:42 AM

2/ This does not instill confidence that the Government has accurately or properly identified individuals under the Alien Enemies Act: Government declaration: "[T]he lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose." Full context:

[image or embed]

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw.bsky.social) March 18, 2025 at 5:54 AM

He also says the law is on his side, that he can deport people without having to show the court evidence as to why they were deported…

Narrator: There is no law that says the President is King…

This was also said…

Show more =’s TRUMP: You have that artificial line that looks like it was drawn by a ruler. I don’t mean a ruler like a king, I mean a ruler like a ruler. It’s just an artificial line … is it liberal? Maybe.

I will continue to say; this is not fucking normal behavior from the leader of the “free” world.

My brain is now roasted and toasted so we will stop there…

I’ll cover the Department of Education nonsense on Monday plus whatever Shitshow does over the weekend…

This is an open thread

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About Tiff 3049 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.