Marco Rubio Bans Visas for Officials Who Censor Americans – Such as Marco Rubio and Trump?

After nearly two and half centuries, the American Constitution remains one of the most revered documents of independence and liberty ever written and adopted as the legal foundation of a democratic republic. It defines the basic governing principles for a free society that is truly made of, by, and for the people.

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Donald Trump, Censorship

That said, if there is one thing for which Donald Trump has distinguished himself throughout his occupation of the White House, it is his fervent aversion to the Constitution and especially its prohibitions on abridging freedom of the press and free speech. He has literally taken control over the once independently managed White House Press briefings in order to transform it into a pro-Trump puppet show of pure propaganda.

SEE THIS: Trump Declares Himself King of the White House Press Corps, Will Now Decide Who Can Question Him

On Wednesday Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, accelerated the autocratic aspirations of the Trump regime by issuing a new decree aimed at foreign government officials and other diplomats seeking to visit the United States. Rubio tweeted that…

“For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights.

“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.”

Paging Mr Orwell, Mr George Orwell. Please come to the White courtesy phone.

digby (@digby56.bsky.social) 2025-05-28T18:15:01.190Z

Rubio’s policy specifically references foreign nations and/or persons engaging in the moderation of social media in order to mitigate hate speech, disinformation, and efforts to incite violence. It’s the sort of responsible moderation that was practiced in the U.S. until Trump coerced American tech platforms to discontinue it so that Trump and his cult followers could rabble-rouse uninterrupted.

However, the flaming hypocrisy of Rubio’s decree is impossible to ignore. The Trump administration is the most censorious regime to assume power in America since the 1950’s blacklisting and McCarthyism. Trump has been persecuting Harvard University and other academic institutions who refused to kiss his… let’s say ring. He has been pressuring law firms (not always successfully) to kneel down before him, and even pledge the support of hundreds of millions of dollars in free representation for his MAGA agenda.

Perhaps worst of all, Trump has been threatening the media with billion dollar lawsuits and revocation of broadcast licenses unless they kowtow to him and his fixation on getting the press to lavish him with unflinching adoration.

What’s more, Trump has installed himself as the chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; he has banned the Associated Press from presidential media avails; he appointed Kari Lake to head the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which manages Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Television Martí, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Voice of America (VOA). And Lake has already made some preposterous decisions…

FOR INSTANCE: Trump Flunky Kari Lake Taps MAGA Propaganda Network, OAN, to Be the Voice of Voice of America

On the same day that Rubio issued his decree, Trump’s Re-education Secretary, Linda McMahon, told CNBC that universities must be “in sync” with the Trump administration in order to receive government grants. That will prohibit funding for life-saving research on cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other devastating illnesses.

Trump's Re-education Secretary, Linda McMahon, says that universities must be "in sync with the administration."In other words, they must abandon academic freedom and submit to their government overlords. Because that's what cult leader Trump demands.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-05-28T15:41:30.011Z

If Rubio’s decree were to be fairly enforced, Trump and most of his Cabinet would be unable to get visas to enter the U.S. Their blatant and shameless acts of censorship would fail to meet Rubio’s criteria. So while Rubio and Trump are whining about what they imagine to be censorship by foreigners, they are the worst practitioners of it. Now, if we could only get them to self-deport.

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Trump’s FTC is Investigating Media Matters for Revealing the Noxious Content Next to Ads on X/Twitter

During his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump promised his cult followers that he would exact retribution for whatever imagined wrongs he thought had been waged against him. He swore to get revenge on the organizations and individuals who dared to criticize him and get in the way of his mission to subvert the Constitution and become America’s first dictator. On Fox News they described him as being “out for blood.”

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Donald Trump, Twitter

Now Trump’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is playing its part to fulfill Trump’s promise. They have just announced that they are launching an investigation of the media watchdog organization, Media Matters for America. Media Matters has been a staunch defender of the Constitution’s protections of the free press, and a stalwart opponent of efforts to disseminate ultra-rightist propaganda and to suppress honest journalists.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Prospective CIA Director [Now FBI Director], Kash Patel: We’re Gonna Come After the People in the Media

This latest weaponization of government by Trump is clearly intended to threaten, not just Media Matters, but any critic of Trump or his administration. He has already launched, or threatened to launch, investigations against Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, James Comey, Leticia James, Adam Schiff, Harvard, ActBlue, all news networks, and many more. Now Media Matters has been added to Trump’s Enemies List. As reported by CNN

“The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday sent Media Matters for America a letter demanding communications between the progressive media watchdog and advertising entities as the commission probes whether the watchdog colluded with advertisers to pull funding from Elon Musk’s X.”

The FTC’s action is a malicious attempt to exploit the legal system to punish Media Matters with a fishing expedition in the hopes of finding evidence that they colluded with advertisers to pull their funding from Twitter/X. If successful, it could set a terrible precedent that would handcuff any individual or organization that engaged in political organizing.

One of the issues that Media Matters has reported on for several years is how advertising on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook has often appeared adjacent to offensive content that is racist, or that incites violence, or that is otherwise repugnant and harmful to the advertiser’s reputation. The result has been that some advertisers altered their media buys to avoid such associations.

This was an especially troublesome problem with X/Twitter after Elon Musk bought the company. His policy of tolerating hate speech and restoring the accounts of known white supremacists and neo-Nazis resulted a much higher incidence of ads showing up next to that noxious content. But when Media Matters reported this, Musk sued them alleging that the report was “manufactured,” despite Media Matters delivery of documentation. Media Matters president, Angelo Carasone, responded to the FTC’s letter saying that…

[The Trump administration has been] “abusing the power of the federal government to bully political opponents and silence critics. It’s clear that’s exactly what’s happening here, given Media Matters’ history of holding those same figures to account. These threats won’t work; we remain steadfast to our mission.”

Trump’s Reign of Terror is escalating as his thirst for revenge continues to boil over. And the victims will not just be politicians and political groups. His determination to clamp down on any and all dissent will eventually make victims of everyone who doesn’t kneel before Dear Leader and succumb to his demands. So don’t fool yourself. That could be you.

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Truth Social, Trump’s Pathetic Personal Propaganda Platform, Continues to Bleed Cash

In what may be the least surprising news of the year so far, Donald Trump’s flagship social media enterprise, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) – the parent holding company of his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social – released its annual report on Friday that revealed just how big a failure it is.

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Donald Trump Circling the Drain

Who could have guessed that the convicted felon responsible for bankrupting four casinos, stealing from his own charity, operating a phony university, and shuttering numerous scams hawking everything from steaks, to air travel, to vodka, to magazines, to board games, would now be running a money-losing hustle whose sole mission appears to be raking in cash for himself? As reported by CNBC, TMTG’s fortunes are something less than stellar…

“The company’s revenue declined 12% year over year, according to its annual report. The company saw its net loss widen to $400.9 million from $58.2 million in 2023.”

So in 2024 Trump’s boondoggle lost nearly seven times what it lost in 2023. And 2025 isn’t looking any better. Except, that is, for Trump himself, who is skillfully fleecing his flock of cult disciples, while simultaneously providing a path for parties interested in greasing his palm for political favors. That includes adversarial foreign operatives who are buying influence, not investing. A brief history of TMTG reveals the risk of trusting Trump with your money…

Trump Wants to Run America Like his Businesses – Trump Media and Crypto – That are Crashing
Some analysts predicted that Trump’s businesses would enjoy a surge in value after his reelection. That has not been the case. Trump Media has declined 25% just since his inauguration. What’s more, Trump introduced a crypto coin just days before his inauguration. That has crashed 75% since then.”

Grifter-in-Chief Trump Puts His Truth Social Stock into a Phony Trust Controlled by His Son
A new SEC filing by the company revealed that Trump has transferred his majority share holdings to a revocable trust in an attempt to deceive the public that he is separating himself from financial interest in the enterprise. But like virtually everything else that Trump engages in, it is a thinly disguised scam structured to unscrupulously enrich himself.

LOSER Trump’s Truth Social is Well on its Way to Becoming His Next Bankruptcy
TMTG reported its earning for the second quarter of 2024. And it was not a pretty sight. As reported by Investor’s Business Daily, “Trump Media reported net sales of $836,000, down 30% vs. a year earlier. Operating costs soared to $19.5 million vs. $4.9 million a year earlier.”

Trump’s Truth Social is Shedding Users Like a Miserable Childless Woman’s Mangy Cat
The Donald Trump-controlled Truth Social platform recorded its third straight month of declining traffic. Truth Social attracted 2,112,000 unique visitors, down 38% compared to June 2023 when the site generated 3,407,000 unique visitors. It was the platform’s second worst traffic performance since June 2022 when Truth Social had only 1,891,000 unique visitors.

Trump Crime Syndicate: Investors Arrested for Insider Trading in Failing Truth Social Scam
Trump’s associates in his truthless, anti-social media venture were arrested and charged with insider trading. Reports indicate that “the three individuals together made more than $22 million in illegal profits.”

Truth Social Disease: Ads on Trump’s Twitter Ripoff are Mostly Scams and Trump-Fluffing Merch
Advertisers are afraid of their ads being juxtaposed with hate speech and other noxious content. Consequently, the only advertisers who are willing to shell out are sketchy scammers, conspiracy theorists, and junk peddlers.

If you you’re wondering why Truth Social is doing so badly, it may have something to with the content it offers. It is primarily an outlet for Trump’s malignant narcissism. So most people couldn’t care less. And even Trump’s devotees are likely bored by his relentless self-promotions. On Saturday morning, for instance, he posted 31 comments in nine minutes. They were mostly links to MAGA media like Fox News, Breitbart, and the New York Post, that spewed disinformation and lies.

Although there were also pitiful comments like this: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” Which is pretty much a declaration of his belief that he is America’s dictator and not subject to those pesky legal trivialities that all the rest of us have to abide by.

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Trump is APPALLED at the ‘Large Scale Social Deception’ that His Own Administration Paid For

Donald Trump is notoriously fond of castigating his perceived enemies for offenses that he himself is responsible for. Every time he has falsely accused President Biden of committing crimes, it has been to deflect from his own documented criminality, including 34 felony convictions. Every time he has railed at Democrats for cheating, or attacked liberals as extremists, it has been to cover up his own dishonesty and manic radicalism.

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Trump Lies

Nothing is more predictable than Trump’s displays of pure projection that mirror his worst behaviors. And his feigned blindness to what is obvious to everybody else speaks to the degree of mental deterioration that he must be suffering, and/or his pathological impulse to lie about everything. These may be factors in why Trump’s popularity is wallowing at record lows.

SEE THIS: Trump 2.0 Begins with Approval Ratings that Rank Below Every Other President Dating Back to 1953

Consequently, no one should be surprised that Trump is now unleashing a rancid and utterly unwarranted assault on the media that he despises so thoroughly. Just one day after he brazenly violated the First Amendment rights of the Associated Press (because they wouldn’t kowtow to his preposterous renaming of the Gulf of Mexico), Trump is now making bizarre and unfounded accusations aimed at Reuters. He posted the following harangue on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social

“DOGE: Looks like Radical Left Reuters was paid $9,000,000 by the Department of Defense to study ‘large scale social deception.’ GIVE BACK THE MONEY, NOW!”

What things “look like” to Trump are usually grossly distorted by his perversely warped political baises. And this case is no exception. To begin with, Trump was alerted to this phony atrocity by his unelected co-president and puppet master, Elon Musk, who shortly before Trump’s posting, tweeted that…

“Reuters was paid millions of dollars by the US government for ‘large scale social deception’. That is literally what it says on the purchase order! They’re a total scam. Just wow.”

There a couple of serious problems with these crackpot commentaries. Let’s begin with the fact that the expenditure in question was not one that financed engaging in “large scale social deception.” It was clearly described as a contract to conduct research on nefarious social media operations in order to defend against such threats to national security due to the social media campaigns of foreign adversaries. Naturally Trump is opposed to that because it would put constraints on his BFF, Vladimir Putin, and other tyrants that Trump admires and seeks to emulate.

Furthermore, the expenditures that Trump and Musk are complaining about were made in 2018, during Trump’s occupation of the White House. So he is actually attacking the work of his own administration. And yet, still managing to blame it on “Radical Left[ists]” and demanding repayment of the funds that he paid out. None of this was secret. It was all documented and available online. Mediaite did a quick fact-check and easily found that…

“The contract in question, issued in 2018 during the first Trump administration, was actually awarded to Thomson Reuters Special Services for cybersecurity research. […] The ASED program aims to create scalable systems capable of detecting, analyzing, and mitigating threats to bolster cybersecurity.”

For the record, Thomson Reuters Special Services is a division of the same corporation that owns Reuters News Service, but is not affiliated with it in any working capacity. TRSS has no input into Reuters reporting or editorial practices. It would like saying that Pepsi and Quaker Oats are clandestinely conspiring to alter each others recipes because they are both owned by the same corporation.

The bottom line here is that Trump and Musk are deliberately lying about the pseudo-scandal that they are pretending to have uncovered. And they are demonstrating that they couldn’t care less about the facts that are so readily available. So if anyone still needs more reasons not to trust anything that either of them say (a line that should have been crossed long ago), this should be a convincing closer to that deal. From now on, if you are fooled by these con artists, you want to be fooled. Also, you are in a cult.

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REALLY? Trump Proposes Allowing the US Government (and China?) to ‘Police’ Americans on TikTok

On Monday, January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States of America. It was a day that will live in infamy because he’s also the first convicted felon and adjudicated rapist to occupy the White House.

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Fox News, Maria Bartiromo, Donald Trump

Trump lived up to his criminal inclinations by issuing a tsunami of execrable executive orders, including one that granted pardons to the more than 1,500 January 6th insurrections who stormed the Capitol, assaulted police officers, and threatened members of Congress, in order to help Trump undermine democracy. His inauguration address, and subsequent speech to his cult followers, were testimony to his tyrannical aspirations, and were riddled with lies.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Inauguration Day Rants Affirm that He is a Wannabe Dictator and a Pathological Liar

Further evidence of Trump’s anti-American leanings were revealed during his executive disorder signing ceremony in the Oval Office. There were innumerable comments that exposed his malice and ignorance. But when he was presented with the order to delay the banning of TikTok – as required by law – he volunteered a statement that confirms his aversion to the Constitution…

Passed in Congress, it gives the president the right to make a deal or to close it. And we have 90 days to make that decision. But I could see making a deal where the U.S. gets 50% of TikTok. Polices it a little bit, or a lot. Depends on them.

There’s a lot of derp to unravel in that drivel. Let’s start with the fact that the law does not “give the president the right to make a deal or to close it.” The law requires that TikTok be sold or blocked from U.S. users. There is a 90 period within which a challenge may be filed, but that’s a legal challenge, not the prerogative of the president.

Furthermore, there is nothing in the law that allows the U.S. government to own 50% of the social media app. That would be blatantly improper and illegal. This was previously spelled out when Trump first floated his proposal for “saving” TikTok from the evil American “communists” who seek to prohibit the app run by “friendly” Chinese communists….

Trump seems to think that the U.S. government can be a business partner with a Chinese social media company that is suspected of improperly utilizing data collected from American users. That is wrong on many levels. First of all, it puts the U.S. in the position of collaborating with China to “spy” on American citizens. Secondly, it makes the U.S. government a profit partner in an otherwise private business. And thirdly, it violates the First Amendment by putting the U.S. government in a position to moderate (i.e. approve and/or censor) the speech of U.S. citizens.

The last item in that analysis has now been affirmed by Trump who says that it would be okay if his unlawful joint venture with China “Polices it a little bit, or a lot.” That could not be a more flagrant breach of the First Amendment. It puts the U.S. government in the position of censoring free speech. Even worse, it could also give China the same power over the speech of Americans. But Trump wasn’t through parading his recklessness and ignorance. He also said that…

“I may not do the deal or I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless. Worthless, if I don’t approve it. […] If I do the deal it’s worth maybe a trillion dollars. […] If I do the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half.”

True to form, Trump is making up preposterous numbers to validate his delusional thinking. For one thing, TikTok has value that transcends its U.S. user base. In fact, TikTok has about a billion users worldwide. About 170 million of them (17%) are in the U.S. So while the loss of that audience would be significant, TikTok would still have 83% of its current users.

Also, what the heck does Trump mean by “we should get half.” Who is “we”? What part of the U.S. government would the ownership of TikTok fall into? Would it be run by the White House? The Treasury Department? The Agency for Global Media that oversees the Voice of America? Who knows? And Trump doesn’t say. Also, where does the money go?

These are just some of the questions raised by Trump’s nonsensical meanderings. And finally, it’s notable that Trump’s current support for TikTok is a flagrant flip-flop from his prior position…

As Trump tries to take credit for "saving" TikTok, remember he was the instigator of the ban & bragged about it 2 years ago. The bill he advocated was introduced by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX). Democrats opposed it."Right about everything"? More like right-wing about everything.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-01-19T21:06:04.990Z

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Trump’s Plan to ‘Save’ TikTok is an Illegal, Unconstitutional, Anti-American Grifting Scheme

Any objective observer of Donald Trump has noticed that there are a few predictable constants that are evident in his demeanor and his governing style. They include his capacity for lying without shame, his egotistical exaltations of himself, and his compulsion to malign his critics with unwarranted and infantile insults.

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Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

Another one of Trump’s true constants is his extraordinary ability to manufacture chaos over any subject and on a moment’s notice. It’s a skill that is useful for someone who is perpetually in need of phony controversies to deflect from his frequent inadequacies and grossly abhorrent and unpopular policy proposals. Or sometimes just to draw attention away from some offense to his tender sensitivities.

FOR INSTANCE: Snowflake Trump Blasts Seth Meyers and Threatens Comcast Because Jokes Hurt His Tender Fee Fees

The controversy surrounding the fate of TikTok has recently taken the center point on the media stage. While there is wide latitude for diverse opinions about whether it should be permitted to operate in the United States while owned by a company that is tightly tied to China, there are positions that can exceed the boundaries of propriety and even threaten national security.

Leave it to Trump to take a position that totally ignores those rational concerns and, instead, manages to wrap itself in the best interests of only Trump himself. On his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, Trump posted his views that include his desire for Americans “to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday.” As if there were no other media platforms that will be presenting it. He was also worried about the financial prospects for the social media app, which he exaggerated is “worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.”

More to the point, Trump offered his proposal for “saving” TikTok from the evil American “communists” who seek to prohibit the app run by friendly Chinese communists. He posted that

“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”

To be clear, the only reason that Trump is now concerned about TikTok staying dark is that he recently discovered that he’s getting millions of views of his TikTok videos. However, Trump’s claim that he will issue an executive order delaying the law’s prohibitions is a blatant violation of the law. An executive order cannot override a statute passed by Congress without some urgent national security justification. Watching his inauguration simply doesn’t measure up to that standard. But he was just getting started. Trump continued…

“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. […] Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.”

Trump seems to think that the U.S. government can be a business partner with a Chinese social media company that is suspected of improperly utilizing data collected from American users. That is wrong on many levels. First of all, it puts the U.S. in the position of collaborating with China to “spy” on American citizens. Secondly, it makes the U.S. government a profit partner in an otherwise private business. And thirdly, it violates the First Amendment by putting the U.S. government in a position to moderate (i.e. approve and/or censor) the speech of U.S. citizens.

The U.S. government has no place in such a “partnership” with a Chinese business. Or any other business for that matter. If Trump goes through with this proposal, it must be challenged and rejected by the courts. He doesn’t have the right to structure illegal and unconstitutional business ventures just because they suit him personally. And it’s notable that even that determination on his part was a flagrant flip-flop from his prior position on TikTok…

As Trump tries to take credit for "saving" TikTok, remember he was the instigator of the ban & bragged about it 2 years ago. The bill he advocated was introduced by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX). Democrats opposed it."Right about everything"? More like right-wing about everything.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-01-19T21:06:04.990Z

Whatever happens to TikTok, it should be based on the law. And if the law isn’t clear enough to protect the interests of the American people, it should be amended. The rights of the 170 million Americans who use TikTok also need to be considered. But sanctioning a single company for abusing that data is not a rational solution. All the companies that do so should be barred from that practice, including Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, etc.

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Grifter-in-Chief Trump Puts His Truth Social Stock into a Phony Trust Controlled by His Son

Donald Trump, is notorious for his unprecedented and brazenly corrupt behavior both in and out of office. He remains the only president in modern times to refuse to divest his personal business holdings or to release his tax returns.

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Donald Trump, Twitter

Among the most obvious vehicles for Trump’s financial shenanigans is his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social. Its stock has managed to maintain a preposterously high value despite losing millions of dollars and having a miniscule user base that seems to shrink every month. Nevertheless, it constitutes the largest share of Trump’s net worth.

This week, a new SEC filing by the company revealed that Trump has transferred his majority share holdings to a revocable trust in an attempt to deceive the public that he is separating himself from financial interest in the enterprise. But like virtually everything else that Trump engages in, it is a thinly disguised scam structured to unscrupulously enrich himself. As reported by USA Today

“Trump transferred 114.75 million shares, or 53% of Trump Media & Technology Group’s outstanding stock, to the revocable trust of which he is the sole beneficiary, according to securities filings released Thursday evening. […]

Trump Media, which had a net loss of $19.2 million and earned $1 million in revenue in the latest quarter, is valued at over $7 billion. Trump’s stake in the company was valued at roughly $4 billion based on the stock’s last closing price of $34.71.”

The trust into which Trump transferred his shares cites Trump as its sole beneficiary. What’s more, it is fully controlled by his son, Donald Trump Jr., and there is nothing preventing Trump from intervening in its management. Being “revocable” means that Trump can change the terms, remove the trustee, or scrap it entirely, if it satisfies some greedy motivation on his part.

There are a couple of serious problems with the way Trump is handling this (and all of his other assets, for that matter). First and foremost, he can use the stock as means to collect funds (bribes?) from wealthy pals and corporations seeking favors from the his administration. Even more troubling is that he can do the same with foreign businesses and governments, including those hostile to the United States such as Russia, China, and North Korea, all of whom Trump idolizes and brags about having close relationships with.

Furthermore, Trump can violate his pledge not sell to shares in the company in order to cash in on his scam, while pretending that it was the trust, not him, who sold. That could put billions of dollars into his own pocket at the expense of all the other shareholders, who would see the stock value collapse if Trump – or his phony trust – sells out.

Trump’s refusal to divest of his assets, or place them in legitimate blind trusts, is a pretty good indication that he intends to repeat the unethical misdeeds of his previous administration, wherein he was reported to have earned as much as $160 million dollars from foreign sources – predominantly the Middle East and China. And the misuse of this bogus trust only affirms his determination to profit off of his sleazy business activities. Such as…

And then there’s this…

LOSER Trump’s Truth Social is Well on its Way to Becoming His Next Bankruptcy
TMTG reported its earning for the second quarter of 2024. And it was not a pretty sight. As reported by Investor’s Business Daily, “Trump Media reported net sales of $836,000, down 30% vs. a year earlier. Operating costs soared to $19.5 million vs. $4.9 million a year earlier.”

Trump’s Truth Social is Shedding Users Like a Miserable Childless Woman’s Mangy Cat
The Donald Trump-controlled Truth Social platform recorded its third straight month of declining traffic. Truth Social attracted 2,112,000 unique visitors, down 38% compared to June 2023 when the site generated 3,407,000 unique visitors. It was the platform’s second worst traffic performance since June 2022 when Truth Social had only 1,891,000 unique visitors.

Trump Crime Syndicate: Investors Arrested for Insider Trading in Failing Truth Social Scam
Trump’s associates in his truthless, anti-social media venture were arrested and charged with insider trading. Reports indicate that “the three individuals together made more than $22 million in illegal profits.”

Truth Social Disease: Ads on Trump’s Twitter Ripoff are Mostly Scams and Trump-Fluffing Merch
Advertisers are afraid of their ads being juxtaposed with hate speech and other noxious content. Consequently, the only advertisers who are willing to shell out are sketchy scammers, conspiracy theorists, and junk peddlers.

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The Grifter-In-Chief: Will Donald Trump Divest From His Bribery Platform, Truth Social?

After Donald Trump was elected in 2016, there was a fierce debate over whether he would divest from his many business interests. The potential for unscrupulous persons and/or foreign agents to seek favor from Trump by exploiting those interests was undeniable, and many took advantage of the opportunity.

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Trump Baby on Cash Pile

Trump never did divest himself in his first term in office. Subsequently, it has been estimated that he made millions off of such nefarious dealings. He took in funds from hostile foreign governments with business pending before U.S. government agencies over which he had jurisdiction. Then he lied about doing so.

SEE THIS: Eric Trump Lies that Daddy Gave All Foreign Money Made at His Hotels to the Treasury

An investigation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found that Trump earned as much as $160 million dollars from foreign sources – predominantly the Middle East and China – during is first occupation of the White House…

“Throughout his time in office, President Trump, his family and his Republican allies repeatedly assured the public that his refusal to divest from his businesses wouldn’t lead to any conflicts of interest. Americans were promised that Trump would donate his salary, which he did, until maybe he didn’t — all while siphoning millions from taxpayers that more than offset his presidential pay. When it came to foreign conflicts of interest, Trump and his company pledged to pause foreign business. They did not.”

So what can we expect from Trump as he prepares to reoccupy the White House? Oddly, no one seems to be asking that question. Surely he is not planning to divest from any of the businesses that he didn’t divest from last time. But there is now a new entity that Trump didn’t have before, and that presents an even more troubling prospect for shady dealing.

Trump’s Truth Social, via its parent corporation, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. It is therefore available for any crooked scheme-ster to shovel shiploads of cash into, enriching the other shareholders, of which Trump is the biggest. And the funds can go directly into Trump’s bank account when he sells shares. Is this legal? Or ethical? Does he care?

SEE ALSO: Trump’s Refusal to Sign the Required Ethics Agreement is His Virtual Promise to Violate It

The potential for bribery is not the only value that Truth Social has for Trump. It also serves as his public relations platform where he announces everything from his Cabinet nominees to his hatred for Taylor Swift. There is no precedent for a sitting president to own a media company that is his primary source of communicating with the public. And he already has Fox News, which he doesn’t own financially, but does own ideologically.

What’s more, Truth Social serves as a flea market for Trump’s various merchandise sales. He has hawked all sorts of trashy products, including sneakers, books, gold coins, and NFT collectible cards. And he is still pitching his merch, even after the election. The latest item that he’s peddling is a personalized guitar…

Trump’s scammy social media website is proving to be a valuable PR and marketing venue, even though it’s an epic disaster financially. It can’t attract or retain users or advertisers. It reports losing millions of dollars in every quarterly report. It’s principle executives are embroiled in financial and legal scandals. And it is unable to compete with the other social media platforms that are far bigger.

Nevertheless, Truth Social still has some significant value for Trump. Because it is able to serve as a depository for bribes from nefarious entities. And nobody in the regulatory, legal, or even political fields seem to care. See the following for more…

LOSER Trump’s Truth Social is Well on its Way to Becoming His Next Bankruptcy
TMTG reported its earning for the second quarter of 2024. And it was not a pretty sight. As reported by Investor’s Business Daily, “Trump Media reported net sales of $836,000, down 30% vs. a year earlier. Operating costs soared to $19.5 million vs. $4.9 million a year earlier.”

Trump’s Truth Social is Shedding Users Like a Miserable Childless Woman’s Mangy Cat
The Donald Trump-controlled Truth Social platform recorded its third straight month of declining traffic. Truth Social attracted 2,112,000 unique visitors, down 38% compared to June 2023 when the site generated 3,407,000 unique visitors. It was the platform’s second worst traffic performance since June 2022 when Truth Social had only 1,891,000 unique visitors.

Trump Crime Syndicate: Investors Arrested for Insider Trading in Failing Truth Social Scam
Trump’s associates in his truthless, anti-social media venture were arrested and charged with insider trading. Reports indicate that “the three individuals together made more than $22 million in illegal profits.”

Truth Social Disease: Ads on Trump’s Twitter Ripoff are Mostly Scams and Trump-Fluffing Merch
Advertisers are afraid of their ads being juxtaposed with hate speech and other noxious content. Consequently, the only advertisers who are willing to shell out are sketchy scammers, conspiracy theorists, and junk peddlers.

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Trump’s Election Triggers Big Selloff of His Truth Social Stock – By Company Executives

Among the egomaniacal delusions of Donald Trump is his insistence that whatever he touches turns to gold, and that positive news about anything is only due to his divine intervention. Conversely, he wants people to believe that any catastrophe (Ukraine, Gaza, Hurricanes) would never have happened if he were in charge. It’s a symptom of the malignant narcissism that he has been suffering from for decades.

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Donald Trump Pacifier Fox

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump countered the fact that the stock market was booming by claiming that it was only because investors were anticipating his return to the White House. Never mind that the market hit record highs throughout the four years of President Biden’s administration. Also, unemployment hit record lows, the GDP soared, inflation was cut in half, and numerous other indicators showed gains that Trump could not have had any effect on. He was even called out about this by his Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News…

SEE THIS: Fox News Host Neil Cavuto Interrupts Trump’s Lying to Note ‘He’s Not Entitled to His Own Facts’

However, it would be difficult now for Trump to explain how the perception of his magnificence is turning the putrid pile of manure known as Truth Social into a bouquet of fragrant roses. Since election day on November 5, the stock of Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the corporate parent of Truth Social, has declined about 40%, from an intraday high of $45.00 to it’s current value of about $27.00.

So does Trump now believe that, since the world revolves around him, his election is responsible for the selloff and investors nervousness about its continued viability? Not likely. He is protected by a perverse psychological defense mechanism that is triggered whenever he is exposed to bad news about himself. This makes him immune from harm because all he can perceive is his own greatness.

However, others with actual money on the line obviously feel differently. And those others happen to be principle executives of TMTG who are cashing out before the stock descends to its actual value of next to nothing. CNBC is reporting that…

“The chief financial officer of Trump Media and two other corporate insiders sold more than $16 million worth of company stock in the week following the presidential election, according to new disclosures.

“Most of the stock was sold by CFO Phillip Juhan, who in August adopted a trading plan that revealed his intention to sell 400,000 DJT shares by December 2025.

“Trump Media director Eric Swider and Scott Glabe, the company’s general counsel, each sold fewer shares of the company, whose majority owner Donald Trump was elected president on Nov. 5. […]

“Juhan, who is also Trump Media’s treasurer, sold 320,000 shares on Friday at a price of $30.65 per share, or a total of $9.8 million worth of stock according to a Form 4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“On Monday, Juhan sold another 64,000 shares at $32.97 per share, another $2.11 million worth, the same filing said.”

The CNBC report also noted that TMTG “report[ed] revenue of slightly more than just $1 million in the third quarter of this year,” with “losses of $19.2 million for the quarter.” So the rush to bail out is a smart move by the company’s insiders and other investors. Trump himself, however, insists that he is not selling. We’ll see.

For a some background on the financial and legal disaster that is Truth Social, see the following…

Trump’s Truth Social Scam Crashes as He Brags that It’s Booming Because He’s Winning (He’s Not)
TMTG makes a relative pittance and is losing millions. Were it to be valued according to its earnings it would be a penny stock. Its current value is entirely the result of the rubes who invest because they are indoctrinated members of the Trump cult.

Trump Media is Purging Those Too Weak to Keep Up the Crumbling Truth Social Scam (ProPublica)
An investigation of TMTG by ProPublica has just uncovered yet another example of the company’s corruption. The report found that “people with knowledge of the company” have confirmed that several top executives of the company appear to have been ousted following an internal investigation by a lawyer that the company hired to examine allegations of “mismanagement” and “misuse” of funds by it’s CEO, and Trump flunky, Devin Nunes.

LOSER Trump’s Truth Social is Well on its Way to Becoming His Next Bankruptcy
TMTG reported its earning for the second quarter of 2024. And it was not a pretty sight. As reported by Investor’s Business Daily, “Trump Media reported net sales of $836,000, down 30% vs. a year earlier. Operating costs soared to $19.5 million vs. $4.9 million a year earlier.”

Trump’s Truth Social is Shedding Users Like a Miserable Childless Woman’s Mangy Cat
The Donald Trump-controlled Truth Social platform recorded its third straight month of declining traffic. Truth Social attracted 2,112,000 unique visitors, down 38% compared to June 2023 when the site generated 3,407,000 unique visitors. It was the platform’s second worst traffic performance since June 2022 when Truth Social had only 1,891,000 unique visitors.

Trump Crime Syndicate: Investors Arrested for Insider Trading in Failing Truth Social Scam
Trump’s associates in his truthless, anti-social media venture were arrested and charged with insider trading. Reports indicate that “the three individuals together made more than $22 million in illegal profits.”

Truth Social Disease: Ads on Trump’s Twitter Ripoff are Mostly Scams and Trump-Fluffing Merch
Advertisers are afraid of their ads being juxtaposed with hate speech and other noxious content. Consequently, the only advertisers who are willing to shell out are sketchy scammers, conspiracy theorists, and junk peddlers.

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.

Trump’s Truth Social Scam Crashes as He Brags that It’s Booming Because He’s Winning (He’s Not)

Donald Trump is fond saying that any good news that happens anywhere in the world is due to him or the perception that he is likely to return to power. And conversely, that his not having control of the reins of government is responsible for any bad news. It’s a win-win perversion of reality that feeds his massive, yet fragile, ego.

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Donald Trump Circling the Drain

However, many psychological experts and academics agree that the debilitating severity of Trump’s psychoses make him unfit for any position of authority. His obvious cognitive deficiencies forebode catastrophe were he to reoccupy the White House. A warning was issued recently in “a letter signed by more than 200 mental health professionals” who said that…

“Donald Trump is dangerous because of ‘his symptoms of severe, untreatable personality disorder – malignant narcissism’, which makes him ‘grossly unfit for leadership.’ [and that he poses] an existential threat to democracy. [and that he] shows a lifetime pattern of ‘failure to conform to social norms and laws,’ ‘repeated lying,’ ‘reckless disregard for the safety of others,’ ‘irritability,’ ‘impulsivity,’ ‘irresponsibility,’ and ‘lack of remorse.

Those symptoms were evident in remarks Trump made at his cult rally Thursday in Nevada. Among his diversions from the real world was a detour he took lauding his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social. As usual, he sought to portray everything that he touched as golden, no matter how absurdly misguided (video below). He said that…

“‘Sir. You’ll never get the name ‘Truth,’ sir. That’s a term that you will never get.’ I said I only need five letters, right?. I said ‘Wouldn’t ‘Truth’ be great?’ They said ‘Sir, you won’t get it. You won’t get it.’ I said ‘Check.’ They said ‘Sir, I will, but you’re not gonna get it.’ ‘CHECK!’ And they came back, ‘Sir, it was available and we bought it for $2,000.’ Can you believe it?”

Let’s pause here to note that this is another one of Trump’s wholly imaginary discussions with the voices in his head who always call him “Sir.”. However, the fact is that he did not get the name “Truth” for his website. He got “Truth Social.” The “Truth” dot com domain is currently owned by a hardware business in Owatonna, Minnesota. Undaunted, Trump continued…

“And then it had a little burst. I don’t know what the hell’s going on. So. here’s my friend, he said they deplatform you, they take it all away, they try to destroy you. And you open up something and, as of yesterday it was worth 10 billion crazy dollars. Did you see that? Ten billion dollars, Mr. Senator. And they are going crazy.”

It’s pretty safe to agree with Trump when he admits that “I don’t know what the hell’s going on.” Although he’s also right about the current net asset value of the stock of Truth Social’s corporate parent, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG). However, that value is entirely the result of the rubes who invest because they are indoctrinated members of the Trump cult.

TMTG makes a relative pittance and is losing millions. Were it to be valued according to its earnings it would be a penny stock. However, when the stock recently rose in value, Trump declared that it was because he was beating Kamala Harris in the polls by a lot (he wasn’t), and that investors believed he was going to be the victor in the election. But that would be a preposterous foundation on which to invest. He is more than likely to lose, and the company would still be pretty much worthless if he won.

That said, as Trump was bragging about the value of the Truth Social, it’s value was taking a nosedive. This week it dropped about 46% from its intraweek high. Would Trump now say that the reason for that collapse is that he’s losing in the polls and and investors expect Harris to beat him next week? Not likely. That’s where the defense mechanism of his mental maladies kicks in. His psyche is immune from harm because all he can see is his perceived greatness.

BONUS UPDATE: Trump Media Outsourced Jobs to Mexico Even as Trump Pushes “America First”

In the meantime, here is a brief record of the disastrous existence of Truth Social and TMTG…

Trump Media is Purging Those Too Weak to Keep Up the Crumbling Truth Social Scam (ProPublica)
An investigation of TMTG by ProPublica has just uncovered yet another example of the company’s corruption. The report found that “people with knowledge of the company” have confirmed that several top executives of the company appear to have been ousted following an internal investigation by a lawyer that the company hired to examine allegations of “mismanagement” and “misuse” of funds by it’s CEO, and Trump flunky, Devin Nunes.

LOSER Trump’s Truth Social is Well on its Way to Becoming His Next Bankruptcy
TMTG reported its earning for the second quarter of 2024. And it was not a pretty sight. As reported by Investor’s Business Daily, “Trump Media reported net sales of $836,000, down 30% vs. a year earlier. Operating costs soared to $19.5 million vs. $4.9 million a year earlier.”

Trump’s Truth Social is Shedding Users Like a Miserable Childless Woman’s Mangy Cat
The Donald Trump-controlled Truth Social platform recorded its third straight month of declining traffic. Truth Social attracted 2,112,000 unique visitors, down 38% compared to June 2023 when the site generated 3,407,000 unique visitors. It was the platform’s second worst traffic performance since June 2022 when Truth Social had only 1,891,000 unique visitors.

Trump Crime Syndicate: Investors Arrested for Insider Trading in Failing Truth Social Scam
Trump’s associates in his truthless, anti-social media venture were arrested and charged with insider trading. Reports indicate that “the three individuals together made more than $22 million in illegal profits.”

Truth Social Disease: Ads on Trump’s Twitter Ripoff are Mostly Scams and Trump-Fluffing Merch
Advertisers are afraid of their ads being juxtaposed with hate speech and other noxious content. Consequently, the only advertisers who are willing to shell out are sketchy scammers, conspiracy theorists, and junk peddlers.

Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse
on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and Threads.

And check out my books on Amazon:

Fox Nation vs. Reality:
The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.

Thanks so much for your support.