It’s Friday.
Shitshow’s public schedule for…
Puddle goes to China…
We’re skipping the beginning and heading straight to the return-flight press gaggle aboard Air Force One, where staffers were already trying to duct-tape the narrative back together midair.
This isn’t gonna be a deep dive. I have adulting to do. The husband is off work. So, yeah.
“He made a statement. It might not have been from him.”
Reporter: President, on social, you said that President Xi made a reference to the decline of the US. We didn’t hear him say that. Maybe it was something he said in private. So, what was it first of all that he said?
Puddle:
President, on social, you said that President Xi made a reference to the decline of the US. We didn’t hear him say that. Maybe it was something he said in private. So, what was it first of all that he said?He made a statement. It might not have been from him. It was somebody, but they talked about the decline. But he said today and he said it very publicly. He said the US was declining for the last four years and he said what President Trump has done in the last 15, 16 months has been virtually a miracle.
He said we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. But he said that it was a declining country under Joe Biden. He said we had a declining, seriously declining country, which we did, with people pouring in from all over the world from prisons and everything else.
He said what President Trump has done has been a virtual miracle. It’s the hottest country anywhere in the world. And it is. Yeah.
White House YouTube shitty Autogen transcript. 05/15/2026.
The Lies Social post:
What President Xi said prior to the leaders bilateral meeting:
President Xi:
[Via interpreter]:
Let me say a few words first, and then I’d like to invite you, Mr. President, to deliver your opening remarks. President Trump, I’m very pleased to meet you in Beijing. Welcome back to China after nine years. The whole world is watching our meeting. Currently, transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent.
The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide more stability for the world? Can we, in the interests of the wellbeing of our two peoples and the future of humanity, build a brighter future together for our bilateral relations?
These are the questions vital to history, to the world, and to the people. They are the questions of our times that you and I need to answer as leaders of major countries. This year is the 250th anniversary of American Independence. Congratulations to you and to the American people. I always believe that our two countries have more common interests than differences.
Success in one is an opportunity for the other, and a stable bilateral relationship is good for the world. China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. We should be partners not rivals. We should help each other succeed and prosper together and find the right way for major countries to get along well with each other in the new era.
Mr. President, I look forward to our discussions on major issues important to our two countries and the world and working together with you to set the course for and steer the giant ship of China-US relations, so as to make 2026 a historic landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-US relations.
I will pause here and hand over to you, Mr. President. Thank you.
RollCall.com. 05/13/2026.
Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations?
What is the Thucydides Trap?
The theory, developed by American political scientist Graham Allison, posits that when a rising power threatens an established power, war between the two becomes more likely.
Here’s how former US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry described the Thucydides Trap in 2014:
“It is worth discussing the rise and fall of great powers — the dynamic that occurs historically when the expanding influence and rapid growth of one state actor threatens the interests of the established hegemonic power.
“More often than not, the subsequent competition between the rising and status quo powers results in increasingly bitter conflicts and ultimately ends in all-out war.”
USSC.Edu.Au. 08/01/2014.
The article goes into many details on where the theory came from and how it relates to the current “conflict” between the US and China.
Former prime minister and Asia Society president Kevin Rudd expanded on the idea in his book, The Avoidable War.
He argues that the growth of China’s military and the expansion of Beijing’s strategic reach with allies have created the same unease with the US as was seen in Sparta.
China’s commitment to unification with Taiwan (by force if necessary) is considered a major flashpoint of this dynamic.
ABC.net.Au. 05/14/2026.
Speaking of Taiwan…
Reporter: What did President Xi say to you about Taiwan? And are you still going to approve the arm sale?
Puddle:
So, President Xi and I talked a lot about Taiwan. He thinks they cannot have anything to do with what they’re doing. I mean, he’s against very much what they’re doing. We talked about Taiwan.We talked about Iran and that. And I think we have a very good understanding on both, on Taiwan. He does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation, and I heard him out.
No, I didn’t make a comment on it. I heard him out. I have a lot of respect for him on Iran. It’s very interesting. He feels strongly they can’t have a nuclear weapon. He said that very strongly, they cannot have a nuclear weapon, and he wants them to open up the strait.
But as he said, they closed it and then you closed them with a smile. That’s true. We control the strait and they’ve done no business. Literally, they’ve done no business in the last two and a half weeks, which is approximately $500 million a day. So, we have, we’re doing very well on all fronts.
White House YouTube shitty Autogen transcript. 05/15/2026.
Asked about tariffs on China, Puddle assured reporters they “didn’t discuss tariffs,” which feels like attending a house fire and announcing nobody talked about smoke.
Reporter: Mr. President, did you agree with President Xi to extend that year-long truce on tariffs?
Puddle: We didn’t discuss tariffs. I mean, they’re paying tariffs. They’re paying substantial tariffs, but we didn’t discuss it. You know, before I came along, it was the opposite. We didn’t discuss tariffs. Okay.
Reporter: How come?
Puddle: Wasn’t brought up.
White House YouTube shitty Autogen transcript. 05/15/2026.
And with that, the China portion of the trip started fading into the background and the Iran obsession came roaring back into focus. Because no matter the question, the answer somehow keeps circling back to the administration’s favorite hobby: demanding absolute loyalty while treating basic reporting like an act of sabotage.
NYT’s David Sanger: Repeated bombing. You did it for 38 days.
Puddle: No, we did.
NYT’s David Sanger: And you did not get the political changes in Iran.
Puddle:
No, I got, I had a total military victory. But the fake news, guys like you write incorrectly. You’re a fake guy. And guys like you write incorrectly. We had a total military victory. We knocked out their entire navy. We knocked out their entire air force. We knocked out all of their anti-aircraft weaponry. We knocked out all of their radar. We knocked out all of their leaders, number one, and then we knocked out all of their leaders in the second division, and we knocked out numerous of their leaders in the third division, and they’re very confused.We’ve had a total victory except by people like you that don’t write the truth. You know, you should write. I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write, but you and the New York Times and CNN, I would say, are the worst.
Reporter tries to break-in: But on another war…
Puddle:
You should know better. You know, you’re better. Your editors tell you what to write. And you write it. You should be ashamed of yourself.Same Reporter tries to break-in: Mr. President on another war…
Puddle:
I actually think it’s treason when you write like they’re doing well militarily and they have no navy, no air force, no anti-anything. By the way, we knocked out 85% of their manufacturing for the missiles. We knocked out everything. We haven’t knocked out, other than one bridge, and we did because they misbehaved, but we have bridges we could knock out. We could knock out their bridges and their electrical capacity. Within two days we could knock out the whole thing.And then I read the New York Times and they act like they’re doing well. Everybody knows that. That’s why your subscribers are way down. You know the Times subscribers are way down because it’s fake. Subscribers way down, way down.
White House YouTube shitty Autogen transcript. 05/15/2026.
New York Times (05/06/2026): The New York Times Passes 13 Million Subscribers
The New York Times Company now has 13.1 million subscribers, the company said on Wednesday, after adding about 310,000 digital-only subscribers in the first quarter of the year.
The company has set a goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of next year and appears to be on a pace to meet it. The Times has added an average of 330,000 total subscribers a quarter, including print, since the start of last year.
Total revenue for the quarter was $712.2 million, up 12 percent from a year earlier. Adjusted operating profit hit $117.9 million, up 27.2 percent. Adjusted operating costs increased 9.4 percent year over year to $594.3 million.
Digital-only average revenue per user, a metric used to measure the health of the subscription business, rose 2.4 percent, to $9.77, from the same quarter last year. Digital advertising revenue increased 31.6 percent.
The New York Times Passes 13 Million Subscribers. 05/06/2026.
In August of 2025, the New York Times reported: The New York Times Company on Wednesday reported strong advertising and subscription revenue growth in the second quarter, adding 230,000 paid digital-only subscribers. The Times now has 11.88 million total subscribers to its print and digital products, which include the news report, Cooking, Games, the Wirecutter product review site and The Athletic, a sports news site. The company has said it aims to reach 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027.
Just in case someone shares this with Puddle: going from 11.88 million subscribers in August 2025 to 13 million in May 2026 means subscribers are up, not down. I know math can get tricky when you’re busy declaring journalism treason from a gold-plated flying press room.
American journalist weren’t the only ones Puddled attacked:
I’m not transcribing this video clip.
This is an Open Thread
