Going down fast

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Oooh, that's a big one," the newly inaugurated US president said as he approved the document after arriving back at the White House. It was one of dozens of executive actions he put his signature to on day one in office.

This marks the second time Trump has ordered the US be pulled out of the WHO.

Trump was critical of how the international body handled Covid-19 and began the process of pulling out from the Geneva-based institution during the pandemic. President Joe Biden later reversed that decision.

  MSN

President Donald Trump will withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal, the White House said on Monday.

The announcement is part of Trump's broader agenda to boost U.S. oil and gas production, and to 'drill baby drill!'

Trump also withdrew the U.S. from the Paris deal during his first term in office, although the process took years and was immediately reversed by Joe Biden in 2021.

America's second withdrawal is likely to take less time, perhaps as little as a year, because Trump will not be bound by the deal's initial three-year commitment.

  MSN

[In his inaugural address, Trump] announced the Gulf of Mexico was to be renamed the "Gulf of America" under hisadministration.

[...]

He is expected to sign an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico in one of his first moves as he retakes the White House.

  MSN

Bananas.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 07:32 am:

President Trump said early Tuesday his staffers are "actively in the process of identifying and removing" over a 1,000 presidential appointees from the Biden administration, including retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley and celebrity chef José Andrés.

[...]

Trump said on Truth Social his Presidential Personnel Office is targeting appointees from the previous administration "who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again."

  Axios

Chef Andrés???

What Trump means is anyone who is not aligned with his Nazification of the country.

Trump identified four people in the post, whom he said he's issuing a notice of dismissal with "many more" to come soon.

"Jose Andres from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and [former Atlanta Mayor] Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President's Export Council — YOU'RE FIRED!" Trump wrote.

Jesus, what a juvenile POS.

And so much more.  From the Whitehouse:

In other words, whatever Joe Biden signed, Trump revokes.

Also, if you ask me, and I understand you didn't, Executive Orders are out of hand, but maybe that's because Congress abdicated its responsibilities a long time ago.

The King decrees:

MAGA  is now in the "find out" phase.

Tackling the climate crisis

Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders to a virtual summit on the climate crisis, the White House said in a statement on Friday.

Heads of state, including Xi Jinping of China and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, have been asked to attend the two-day meeting meant to mark Washington’s return to the front lines of the fight against human-caused climate change, after Donald Trump disengaged from the process.

[...]

The start of the summit on 22 April coincides with Earth Day, and will come ahead of a major UN meeting on the crisis, scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland.

Biden’s event is being staged entirely online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

[...]

The return [to the Paris Climate Agreement] of the world’s largest economy and second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide [the USA] became effective on 19 February and means almost all countries are now parties to the agreement signed in 2015.

[...]

The US has invited the leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which includes the 17 countries responsible for about 80% of global emissions and GDP, as well as heads of countries that are especially vulnerable to climate impacts or are demonstrating strong climate leadership.

The US president has placed global heating at the heart of his agenda and has already made waves domestically by pledging to make the energy sector emissions-neutral by 2035, followed by the economy as a whole by 2050.

He has also placed a hold on new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and offshore and is expected to soon seek a $2tn infrastructure package from Congress that would serve as the engine of future economic growth.

Biden dispatched his climate envoy, the former secretary of state John Kerry, to prepare the ground for the summit in meetings with European leaders earlier this month.

[...]

In an assessment of pledges made in recent months by around 75 countries and the European Union, UN Climate Change said that only about 30% of global emissions were covered in the commitments.

  Guardian

And there we go

As the world burns

The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists.

“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” it states. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.”

[...]

The statement is published in the journal BioScience on the 40th anniversary of the first world climate conference, which was held in Geneva in 1979. The statement was a collaboration of dozens of scientists and endorsed by further 11,000 from 153 nations. The scientists say the urgent changes needed include ending population growth, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, halting forest destruction and slashing meat eating.

  The Guardian

Simultaneously...

The US has begun the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, notifying the UN of its intention to leave, as other countries express regret and disappointment at the move.

The notification begins a one-year process of exiting the global climate change accord, culminating the day after the 2020 US election.

The US government says the deal puts an "unfair economic burden" on Americans.

  BBC

Unfuckingbelievable. I bet the rest of the world feels sorry for us.

There has been widespread international condemnation of the US move.

I guess not.

However, hundreds of local governments, businesses and organisations in the US have joined the We Are Still In movement, pledging to cut emissions and move to renewable energy.

[...]

The withdrawal is still subject to the outcome of next year's US presidential election - if Mr Trump loses, the winner may decide to change course.

More reason to oust the motherfucker.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

House passes climate change bill

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed its first climate change bill in nearly a decade, voting 231-190 to require the Trump administration to keep the United States as a party to the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Climate Action Now Act would require President Donald Trump to develop a plan for the US to meet the goals it committed to in the Paris agreement to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide and block federal funds from being used to advance the formal US withdrawal from the pact.

[...]

The bill, which passed as expected along party lines, with three Republicans backing the measure, was meant to signal to the international community that many Americans support the Paris agreement regardless of Trump's decision to abandon it.

[...]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will not take up the legislation, dismissing the bill as "political theatre" by Democrats.

  alJazeera

I would like to know which Republicans voted for it. Roll Call is on the case:

Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Vern Buchanan of Florida voted with the Democrats. Four Republicans — including Florida’s Francis Rooney, who’s been an outspoken Republican voice on the dangers of climate change — did not vote. He’s in Florida recovering from knee replacement surgery.

[...]

Many of the moderate House Republicans who wanted to act on climate change are no longer in Congress. Nearly half of the Republicans in the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus lost in last fall’s midterms.

[...]

While more Republicans, especially younger voters, now say they believe in climate change, the party’s lawmakers largely remain concerned about the economic impact of climate regulations.

  Roll Call

And, rather than admit that, they're willing to look like idiots by claiming there's no problem? Honestly, I don't know why in this day and age Republicans still pretend.

Also, the final vote results for HR 9 on the House website lists the other Republicans not voting as Abraham, Crawford, and Loudermilk. It doesn't list where they're from. And seven Democrats didn't vote. What's their problem? Adams, Fudge, Hastings, Rouda, Thompson (MS), Titus and Vargas.

And, oh yeah, Ditch Mitch.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

In case you missed it the first time?

He's retweeting himself.







Hint:  Don't override my veto.

Earlier:



He's just making shit up.  Unless he's talking about the list of bad for the environment, and I don't think we're at the top of that yet.

Also, he's blaming the protests in France on the Paris Accord???  I'm guessing those are the only two things he knows about Paris, so he's put them together.  Or has he been watching Lou Dobbs or somebody just as clueless?

Loony toons.



Oh, shit.  He's gonna have Meghan McCain spittin' mad on The View again.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



UPDATE:  She hits back.

"No one will ever love you the way they loved my father.... I wish I had been given more Saturday’s with him. Maybe spend yours with your family instead of on twitter obsessing over mine?" [Meghan McCain] tweeted.

  The Hill

Ouch. That bit about no one ever loving him has to hit a sore spot.

Left behind

The US was not part of this.



Not all governments, unfortunately, and I wouldn't call it euphoria exactly, but that's not to say they aren't pleased.

Representatives from nearly 200 countries agreed Saturday on a set of guidelines to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The decision came on the final day of the 24th Conference of the Parties or COP24 conference held in Katowice, Poland, the Associated Press reported.

[...]

The newly adopted Paris Accord Work Programme describes how countries are required to count their greenhouse gas emissions and how they will report them to the rest of the world. It also requires them to reveal what they are doing to reduce emissions.

  Weather.com

I think I hear a Trump-sounding voice saying, "You're not the boss of me."

But another rather odd note was that the conference was held in Poland, which gets nearly 80% of its energy from coal, and sponsored in part by coal companies.

Trying to signal to Trump that Poland still loves him?  Odd.

The next handshake will be like the first

Six more US-based scientists have been selected to take part in French President Emmanuel Macron's call to "Make our Planet Great Again," which was announced in response to President Donald Trump pulling the US out of the Paris climate agreement.

[...]

The US-based scientists are part of a larger group of 14, and come from a variety of universities like Yale, MIT and Florida State, among others.

In December, another group of scientists won similar grants and an invitation from the French government.

[...]

"I am sure one day, the US will come back and join the Paris agreement." Macron said [when he addressed Congress while visiting the United States last week].

  CNN

Not while Trump is in office. And especially not now.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Kiss and tell

After all the public display of "affectionate gamesmanship", Macron is telling the world what he really thinks.

Emmanuel Macron conceded he had probably failed in his attempt during a three-day trip to Washington to persuade Donald Trump to stay in the Iran nuclear deal, describing US flip-flopping on international agreements as “insane”.

[...]

“My view – I don’t know what your president will decide – is that he will get rid of this deal on his own, for domestic reasons.”

Noting that Trump had also pulled the US out of the Paris climate change accord – another commitment of the Obama administration – Macron said such frequent changes in the US position on global issues “can work in the short term but it’s very insane in the medium to long term”.

  Guardian

In this country, we don't do long term.

Over the course of a 50-minute address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, the French president said he was “sure” the US would one day return to the Paris climate change accord, and vowed that France would not abandon the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA).

We'll return to the climate agreements when Trump is gone. That is, if we still exist.

More broadly, Macron presented himself to the US legislature as an unabashed advocate of the liberal world order of global institutions and free trade – the very opposite of the America First nationalism that fuelled Trump’s rise to the White House. The speech – delivered in English – was interrupted by frequent standing ovations, many from both sides of the aisle.

“We will not let the rampaging work of extreme nationalism shake a world full of hopes for greater prosperity,” Macron said.

Trump will have to wait for Sean Hannity to explain Macron's speech before he can tweet about it.

“Personally, if you ask me, I do not share the fascination for new strong powers, the abandonment of freedom and the illusion of nationalism,” Macron said, in remarks that could easily be seen as a rebuke for Trump’s enthusiasm for some of the world’s most autocratic “strongman” rulers.

Macron also made a full-throated argument for global action to combat climate change, built around the 2015 Paris accord, which Trump announced in June he was walking away from.

“What is the meaning of our life if we [are] destroying the planet while sacrificing the future of our children?” the French president asked. “Let us face it. There is no planet B.”

[...]

He had an even more direct rebuke for his host’s resort to tariffs as an instrument of trade policy. Macron said that the right way to correct trade imbalances and overcapacity was to negotiate through the World Trade Organisation.

“We wrote these rules. We should follow them,” the visiting president said.

[...]

He called for respect for the sovereignty of Iran and its ancient civilisation, and urged the west not to “repeat past mistakes”, an apparent reference to the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Both the US and France endorsed the JCPOA, he pointed out, adding: “We should not abandon it without something more substantial in its place.”

In a tweet after his speech to Congress, Macron added: “We decided with President [Trump] to work on a new comprehensive deal” which would address Iranian missiles and its regional role, and make limits on Iranian nuclear activities permanent.

If the "we" he is referring to is Trump, he can expect that as soon as the "insane" one watches Fox News, he'll be doubling down on his earlier decisions to scrap the Iran deal.

The head of the state department planning office, Brian Hook, disparaged the nuclear agreement.

“It has no signatures. It has no legal status. It is a political commitment by an administration that is no longer in office,” Hook told National Public Radio, although the JCPOA is enshrined in a UN security council resolution.

And that last reason - that Obama signed onto it - is the problem for Trump.

In Geneva on the same day, the assistant secretary for international security, Christopher Ford, said: “We are not aiming to renegotiate the JCPOA or reopen it or change its terms,” seemingly in clear contradiction of multiple presidential statements.

I wonder how long Mr. Ford will have his job.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Drip, drip, drip

Trump tells people Amazon has gotten a free ride from taxpayers and cushy treatment from the U.S. Postal Service. His real estate buddies tell him — and he agrees — that Amazon is killing shopping malls and brick-and-mortar retailers. [“He’s obsessed with Amazon,” a source said. “Obsessed.”]

"Per two senior administration officials, Trump continued to rail privately about the omnibus bill, and has become convinced of things that aren’t true about it," the N.Y. Times' Maggie Haberman tweeted yesterday.

Trump's conviction that the Paris climate deal is "killing" the U.S., when in reality it's a voluntary and pretty toothless agreement.

Trump officials like Gary Cohn who favor free trade have felt like "Groundhog Day" trying to explain trade deficits to him.

  Axios

Perhaps a big factor in why Cohn is leaving. Tired of trying to work for a "fucking moron" knowing his own name is on the record as the bottom line.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Lord, what an ignorant idiot

“The ice caps were going to melt, they were going to be gone by now, but now they’re setting records,” Trump said in excerpts of an interview with Piers Morgan on the U.K. television network ITV that will be broadcast later on Sunday. Trump didn’t specify the data behind his statement about setting records.

  Bloomberg

I guess not. When you're spouting stupid shit, it's hard to come up with corroborating data.

“The Paris accord, for us, would have been a disaster,” Trump said in excerpts of an interview with Piers Morgan on the U.K. television network ITV that will be broadcast later on Sunday. “Would I go back in? Yeah, I’d go back in. I like, as you know, I like Emmanuel” Macron.

Typical Trump: business decisions on who he personally likes. One of the reasons his businesses all failed. It would have been a disaster, but he likes "Emmanuel", so what the hell.

A note on the Paris Climate Accord. While I am all for it, I'm a bit concerned about its value after having watched a "Dirty Money" episode on Netflix about Volkswagen's fraudulent gizmo that allowed their autos to cheat the emissions test. They weren't putting out just a little pollution over allowances, but hundreds of times. And this episode revealed that other car manufacturers are doing the same thing in Europe where it's almost impossible to regulate.

Apparently, while the EU has set strict limits, each country is allowed to enforce it according to their own desires. Car manufacturers shop for the countries with the most lenient regulations and enforcements, so each country competes with the others to win the factories. In other words, they're polluting like crazy.

That's a really interesting episode. (Hard NOx) Volkswagen didn't just knowingly create the cheat, it promised to fix it and created a deeper cheat instead. The proper response from the US would have been to refuse Volkswagen to sell in this country for a certain number of years. Of course, that's not what happened.

But, I digress.

“There is a cooling, and there’s a heating,” [Trump] said. “I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming. That wasn’t working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.”

No, you fucking idiot, it didn't work too well because idiots like you couldn't understand the term and thought cold temperatures were disproving it.

Trump’s comment was consistent with one he made on Twitter in late December as the eastern U.S. shivered through a brief cold snap. “Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!”

Chalk one up for Trump. He's consistently stupid.

In 2014, less than a year before he entered the 2016 presidential race [...] Trump said on Twitter that the “POLAR ICE CAPS are at an all time high, the POLAR BEAR population has never been stronger. Where the hell is global warming.”

Where in god's name does he hear this shit?  Voices in his head?

On ice caps specifically, NOAA, in its annual Arctic Report Card published in December, said the amount of the Arctic Ocean frozen over in the coldest points of winter set a record low in 2017 and is declining faster than at any time in the past 1,500 years.

The cost of natural disasters hit records in the U.S. in 2017, straining the U.S. budget. NOAA tallied 16 major billion-dollar-plus storms, fires and floods in 2017, including Hurricanes Maria and Harvey, which devastated Puerto Rico and Houston, respectively. The price-tag for damage from those weather and climate events was $306 billion.

Where the hell was Trump? Tossing paper towel rolls and getting his picture taken.

Asked if he thought Prime Minister Theresa May was in a good position in the [Brexit] negotiations, he responded: “Would it be the way I negotiate? No. I wouldn’t negotiate it the way it’s being negotiated.”

“I would have had a different attitude,” he went on, “I would have said the European Union is not cracked up to what it’s supposed to be. I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out.”

[...]

Trump said that he would visit the U.K. twice in 2018 with one a full state visit, which involves meeting the queen. “Yeah. I’ll be there. She [May] just invited me. Twice. State and working. One is a State, October.”

What happened to, "if she promises not to let people protest my visit"? He's not going.

We know exactly how he would have "negotiated".  He'd have tweeted nasty comments about the EU and leaders of all the other countries from his room, stuffing his face with the comfort of a cheeseburger and diet Coke.

Meanwhile, in Russia, about which he hasn't uttered a word, protesters are being jailed, along with an opposition candidate for the presidency, who was roughly snatched off the street and subsequently released. Oh, yeah and one oppo candidate was killed.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Paris Climate Agreement Will He or Won't He

Stay tuned to the Trump channel to find out.

How about clean air and water in the future?  Fewer super storms?  Would that benefit the American people?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Jesus Frederick Christ

Trump, standing alongside Macron at a news conference, said the two nations have "occasional disagreements" but that would not disrupt a friendship that dates back to the American Revolution. He remained non-committal about the United States eventually rejoining the global climate agreement that bears Paris' name, telling Macron, "if it happens that will be wonderful, and if it doesn't that will be OK too."

  SF Gate

The essence of Donald Trump. He doesn't give a shit about anything but his celebrity. The world? Pffft. If it makes it, okay. If it doesn't, meh.

And what does he mean "if it happens"?  Isn't he the one who took us out of it?  Presumably that means he's the one who could put us back in.  Does he not know that?  I don't think we can underestimate Mr. Trump or his knowledge.

Great leader you've got there, US.

There's an interesting addendum to the story:

Nowhere in the story is there anything about Jules Verne. And, wouldn't it be grand if he were atop the Eiffel Tower?

I take it they mean the restaurant.  Still, it's not mentioned in the story.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump in Desperate Need of Good Press

At the urging of President Donald Trump, U.S. officials have reversed course and decided to allow into the United States a group of Afghan girls hoping to participate in an international robotics competition next week, senior administration officials told POLITICO on Wednesday.

  Politico

Seems fair since it was Trump's "urging" that made them deny them entry in the first place.

The decision followed a furious public backlash to the news that the six teens had been denied U.S. visas. That criticism swelled as details emerged about the girls’ struggle to build their robot and get visas.

Unless Fox News or CNN reported it, he probably didn't even know. They must be casting about in a fury to find good press for the tRump. And what fortunate timing for him to go to Paris, at the invitation of Macron, to celebrate Bastille Day with US armed forces. Hope he doesn't blow it.

Hey, I have an idea! He could let Macron talk him into getting back on board the Paris Climate Agreement. That would get him some good press.

“The State Department worked incredibly well with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that this case was reviewed and handled appropriately,” Dina Powell, Trump's deputy national security adviser for strategy, said in a statement. “We could not be prouder of this delegation of young women who are also scientists — they represent the best of the Afghan people and embody the promise that their aspirations can be fulfilled. They are future leaders of Afghanistan and strong ambassadors for their country.”

So why were the banned in the first place?

And now do the Gambian kids get to come?*

In this case, it was determined there was a significant public benefit to letting the girls in, the officials said.

And by significant public benefit, they mean significant presidential benefit.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

*Looks like they already got permission.

Fatoumata Ceesay, one of the engineering students, told Al Jazeera that although she and her peers weren’t told the reason behind the reversal of the decision, the second interview differed a lot from the first one.

"It was very nice and sensible compared with the last one," 17-year-old Ceesay said. “The questions were related to the robotics. We had an interesting conversation and they were friendly."

[...]

"The [first interview] we weren’t even allowed to submit the vital documentation," Darboe said. "The kids were asked one or two questions each. It was not detailed enough to give a definitive conclusion."

  alJazeera

Let's think of some of the questions asked on the first interview.

 First, let's have a look at the kids.

Life Must Go On

In fact, the 21st Century Motto is: Let Us Move On.

Six months ago, world leaders were reeling at the news of Donald Trump's election, wondering how they would deal with such a new, unpredictable force in the White House.

[...]

Apart from lashing out at Washington's NATO partners for failing to help the US share the financial burden of the military alliance, Trump angered G7 leaders by telling them he planned to ditch the Paris accord on climate change to which 153 nations had signed on. He did so shortly thereafter.

[...]

But, as this week's Group of 20 summit of major economic powers in Hamburg showed, the world seems to be learning how to face up to the New York billionaire.

[...]

"We can achieve more together than by acting alone," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday after she successfully steered the G20 summit around the various road blocks thrown up by Trump as he sought to impose his nationalist economic agenda on the meeting in Hamburg.

[...]

But, during the last few days in Hamburg, the world leaders now appeared to have sized up Trump, joining together to successfully stand up to him on climate change and reaffirming their strong commitment to free trade.

In their communique, the G20 acknowledged that more needed to be done to share the benefits of globalization and "the role of legitimate defence instruments in trade."

But they insisted they would "continue the fight against protectionism, including all unfair trade practices."

The other 19 of the G20 leaders appeared even less inclined to be intimidated by Trump's move last month to bail out of the 2015 Paris climate change accord, simply saying they took note of the US decision to withdraw from the agreement.

The 19 told the president they also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the Paris agreement and planned to press on swiftly with its full implementation, according to the summit’s final text.

They also rebuffed a call by Trump to renegotiate the Paris accord, saying its members believe the agreement is "irreversible."

That simple word drew cheers from some corners.

[...]

The world has passed the first Trump climate test," said Klaus Milke, speaker of the F20, an alliance of organizations watching the proceedings at the G20 and chairman of the German organization Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit (Foundation for Sustainability).

"It is a strong sign of unity that all but one of the major economies – some of whom were previously antagonists in the UN climate negotiations - have jointly committed to implementing the Paris Agreement."

  DPA International

In other words, we may have to invade Europe.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

California Signs Climate Agreement with China

Can they do that?

China and California have signed an agreement to work together on reducing emissions, as the state’s governor warned that “disaster still looms” without urgent action on climate change.

[...]

Communist party leaders pledged that greenhouse gas emissions would peak no later than 2030 under the Paris pact, and start to fall after that. They have cancelled the planned construction of more than 100 new coal-fired power plants and plan to invest at least $360bn in green energy projects by the end of the decade.

The nation’s consumption of coal fell in 2016 for a third consecutive year, but rebounded slightly in 2017. It could meet its 2030 target a decade early.

  Guardian

Clueless

Rex Tillerson arrived in wet and windy Wellington [New Zealand] for an eight-hour visit on Tuesday, with his motorcade greeted by middle fingers and thumbs-downs.

Fairfax Media reported that the US media contingent were surprised by the hostile reception from members of the public.

[...]

Greenpeace New Zealand referred to Tillerson as Trump’s “henchman”.

[...]

“I’ve never seen so many people flip the bird at an American motorcade as I saw today,” the New York Times’ Washington correspondent, Gardiner Harris, told Stuff.co.nz.

  Guardian

Another reason tRump won't be going to London, much less anywhere in the Western World, for a very long time. He's too cowardly to face the reality of how traditional allies feel about him.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Is Trump Losing the Capitalists?

CEOs grow skittish about public association with a leader who likes to describe himself as the most business-friendly president to ever sit in the Oval Office. This is especially true for executives at big public companies, who have to take into account how both employees and shareholders will respond to interactions with an unpopular and controversial president.

[...]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Disney CEO Bob Iger quit as outside advisers to President Donald Trump following his rejection of the Paris climate accords. Dozens of other executives also publicly rebuked the White House over the decision, including Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein—a former colleague of many top administration officials—used his first-ever tweet to criticize the Paris decision, calling it a “setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world.”

Chief executives and senior corporate lobbyists are also dismayed that the administration’s big Capitol Hill agenda – including repealing Obamacare and passing massive tax cuts – appears stalled. And the White House is now engaged in a very public fight with itself over how and when to raise the debt limit, a terrifying prospect for Wall Street and the rest of corporate America.

[...]

In response to a request for comment on the wave of public critiques from CEOs, a White House spokesman repeated Trump’s argument that the Paris accord would slow the U.S. economy. “The President is keeping his promise by working for a new or better deal for America,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Defenders of the administration note that CEOs quitting Trump’s outside advisory panels thus far are Democrats from blue states like California.

  Politico

So that makes it okay? Are we really okay with being a deeply divided nation?

Actually, it seems to me that Trump is happiest when he's got someone to go up against, when he can exercise power. He seems more like a president who will gladly divide the nation and play to his "base". He's a pugnacious asshole, uninterested in bringing people together, and instead, eager to sue or fire somebody.

The White House is planning a day-long summit of technology CEOs at the White House for June 19 to discuss modernizing government systems, an effort led by Trump’s son in law and top adviser Jared Kushner. But Musk has already quit as an outside adviser and Apple CEO Tim Cook and other tech titans also criticized the Paris decision.

The tech meeting is now seen as a key barometer for whether more CEOs will put distance between themselves and the White House.

[...]

Alienating corporate executives and lobbyists could reduce Trump’s ability to raise money for an eventual re-election campaign and for other Republicans in the upcoming midterms. It could also make pushing through tough legislative items like corporate tax reform harder.

Changing corporate tax law always creates winners and losers and the White House will need to ensure that any industries who might take an initial hit from any final bill don’t organize to stop what could turn out to be the administration’s biggest first term initiative.

[...]

“If an administration wants something to happen and corporate America doesn’t believe in it, it’s pretty much dead in the water,” said Charles Geisst, a business historian at Manhattan College.

But if he gives them the tax breaks he's promising, they'll get over their aversion on climate change.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Bucking the Butthead

Will he pull some other petty, yet destructive, act in retaliation to these defiant states and cities?

We Never Liked the French Anyway

On Thursday, the White House had tweeted, "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for Americans," and linked to a video which said the agreement "undermines" US competitiveness and jobs, was "badly negotiated" by former president Barack Obama and "accomplishes little." In its surprise response on Friday, France's foreign ministry tweeted, "We've seen the @WhiteHouse video about the #ParisAccord. We disagree - so we've changed it."

[...]

In the new video, statements such as "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for America" are changed to "Leaving the Paris Accord is a bad deal for America - and the world."

The video also refers to major companies such as ExxonMobil and Microsoft which "disagree" that the accord will "undermine" US jobs. It also quotes the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions.

The tweet includes a now-popular hashtag "Make Our Planet Great Again" - a cheeky adaptation of the nationalist slogan used by Trump on his election campaign trail.

[...]

Macron, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, also released a statement saying that the agreement cannot be renegotiated, as Trump had demanded.

The three leaders said they took note "with regret" the US decision, but added that they regard the accord as "a cornerstone in the cooperation between our countries, for effectively and timely tackling climate change".

  alJazeera

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.