• Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
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    42 minutes ago

    Didn’t ask about the 400M jet from Qatar, so what’s the deal now? Theatrics, knowing full well youre getting nowhere but wasting time from the real issues like EPSTEIN

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      5 minutes ago

      Bet they’re kicking themselves now. They gave him a fucking plane, and all Switzerland needed to do was give him a watch and a gold bar.

      Probably didn’t even need to do that. Suck up to the guy for 10 minutes and tell him how great he is, and he’ll agree to anything.

  • Binturong@lemmy.ca
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    1 hour ago

    Global extortion racket goes brrrrrr. There will be no recovery until his and his regime are removed from power and jailed, he will not leave by any other process aside from just dying, and even then I wouldn’t put it past the administration to use his image and AI to continue their assault on America.

  • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.uk
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    16 minutes ago

    Trump’s love of lavish gifts bribes is well known and many are displayed in the Oval Office

    Is it so hard to call out blatant corruption in front of your face?

  • TheSeveralJourneysOfReemus@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    He can’t be that cheap. A rolex isn’t all that expensive, considered the money involved in geopolitics. In fact it’s spare change for diplomatic events. And neither is a single gold bar.

    • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      The conspiracy brain tells me some swiss diplomat pulled these from Trump’s own safety deposit box as a “we have the skeletons from your closet”-statement and handed them to him as a “diplomatic gift” when it actually was just a threat that he caved to.

      • Surprisingly ‘watch diplomacy’ is as old mechanical artefacts are…some famous examples include the Breguet ‘king Farouk’, some beautiful sets of pocket watches made for the emperor of China, pre revolution of course. Other arteafcts include Faberge’s ‘eggs’ and jewelry that belonged to the Romanov family… All swiss and european gifts of course.

        You can now buy the ‘king Farouk’ breguet model, but both faberge’s eggs and the Chinese emperor’s collections are in museums.

    • mcv@lemmy.zip
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      3 hours ago

      But it looks expensive and has a reputation for being expensive. That’s what matters to him. Do you think he can handle actual money?

  • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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    3 hours ago

    I think the world is starting to find out that co-operation is the preferred way forward for the earthly citizens, rather than the current destructive dying beast that is capitalism.

        • hector@lemmy.today
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          10 minutes ago

          This open corruption is new. From the post war years to the 70s were the golden years, not perfect, slow regression since then with sudden drop offs, like citizens united, scotus allowing corruption unless absolutely explicit, then electing the gangster king here.

  • alpha1beta@piefed.social
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    14 hours ago

    It’s about time Congress woke the fuck up. The only option here is to impeach - this is textbook corruption that would make Senator Menendez blush.

  • kersploosh@sh.itjust.works
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    20 hours ago

    US Constitution Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8, “Titles of Nobility and Foreign Emoluments”:

    No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

    It’s literally unconstitutional. In the past, foreign gifts to presidents were typically turned over to the National Archives to avoid breaking the law. If Congress was a functional governing body they would rake him over the coals for this, among the hundred other laws Trump has casually flaunted.

    • unphazed@lemmy.world
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      17 minutes ago

      They’ve proven the Constitution is just toilet paper to them. He’s a felon who will never see prison. That act alone stripped him from any future accountability. He’s untouchable, and he knows it.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      18 hours ago

      Clearly, it doesn’t mean things like airplanes, watches, and gold bars. It’s written right there, anybody can see it, it’s just that Libz can’t read because of their public school education. They don’t even make emoluments any more, that was an olden days thing, like Laudanum.

      • whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        17 minutes ago

        The US senate has been severely broken since at least 1972/75 when filibuster reforms allow senators to block legislation with no debate and no physical filibuster requirement because other business can continue instead of blocking all floor activity. If I’m getting kickbacks from a developer or foreign country to prevent protection of say a natural springs & wildlife area in South Dakota I can block the debate and vote unless 2/3 (60 senators) can overrule me and I don’t have to say one word to justify my position. Neither party will fix this because aside from insider trading it’s how they all become millionaires from legal bribes via PACs and billionaire funded lobbyists.

  • Tilgare@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    None of us could afford to, but DAMN is it cheap to buy Diaper Don (relatively speaking). The tariff revenue that Americans would generate on Swiss imports FAR exceeds the value of a watch and a bar of gold.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      12 hours ago

      Because he doesn’t give a flying hoot about the American people. Or to be honest really his party. This is all just a grift for him.

      Europe strategy seems to be more to just threaten him, it’s unclear with what but he seems to have backed off tariffs in the EU, but I guess Switzerland felt that they needed to go the bride route. I don’t know why because I guarantee Trump thinks Switzerland is in the EU

    • Einskjaldi@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      Bribing politicians is cheap, it’s generally millions for billions and more like 100k to billion for small politicians.

    • tempest@lemmy.ca
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      15 hours ago

      I mean Washington has been like that for a while but usually “campaign donations”

      Most of Trump’s bullshit is just saying the quiet part out loud. He is especially brazen about it and it doesn’t make suck less.

    • UnspecificGravity@piefed.social
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      20 hours ago

      Good think our system actually predicted this and its illegal even if it WEREN’T a bribe:

      No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

      • Supervisor194@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        without the Consent of the Congress

        I mean, he’s a sack of shit for certain, but Congress has the power to stop this and will not, so it is implicit consent.

        • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          Congress has the power to stop this and will not, so it is implicit consent.

          That is not what consent is

        • NewSocialWhoDis@lemmy.zip
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          17 hours ago

          First, I agree with you. But, even if Congress opposes him accepting it, they can’t enforce it. Pretty sure Congress wrote into law that we were supposed to have the Epstein files a month ago.

          • Supervisor194@lemmy.world
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            15 hours ago

            Congress can impeach and convict for any offense at all, which would remove him from the presidency. Short of that, a president may do as he pleases, because the courts have no similar analog. Sad to say it, but it’s true.