r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 16h ago

Soft Paywall Obama Breaks Silence on Trump’s ‘Unimaginable’ Presidency - “Imagine if I had done any of this,” the former two-term president said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obama-breaks-silence-on-trumps-unimaginable-presidency/
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11.5k

u/innosins Kentucky 16h ago

He's fucking right. They'd be blowing the damn roof off the place if anyone else was pulling this bullshit.

892

u/alextheruby 15h ago

He would’ve been a$$assinated

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u/BigBoyYuyuh 14h ago

You know…typically the only time rich people get punished is when they lose other rich people’s money. He’s losing everyone money. Lew Squeegee

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u/DimbyTime 14h ago

Rich people will still come out even better after all of this. Tanking the economy will allow them to buy up more and more land, homes, and other assets that working class folks Will no longer be able to afford

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u/meowfknmeow 14h ago

This, the 1% will have a short term loss, but a long term gain as a result of this. The general population on the other hand… not so much

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u/Majestic_Spinach7726 14h ago

unless they make things so bad they bring the French Revolution to America

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

hurry up before we collapse

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u/Prudent_Research_251 14h ago

There's been hundreds of years worth of checks and balances/psyops to ensure we're all too keen on bread and circuses to revolt

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u/atoolred 10h ago

Not to mention that even if we did get rowdy, protection against popular uprising was planned for in the US constitution, having been drafted immediately after Shays’ Rebellion

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u/Prudent_Research_251 8h ago

Can you please elaborate on this a little?

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u/BoundinBob 14h ago

That's how the French do it, Americans seem to be happy to sit on their collective arse's and watch tv or something. The only time modern Americans did anything close to the French revolution was when Trump told them to.

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u/Ok_Effort9915 14h ago

Never gonna happen. Americans are too lazy and stupid to do anything

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u/Majestic_Spinach7726 5h ago

the french had 16 kings named Louis before, never say never

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u/Witty_Jaguar4638 12h ago

Won't happen until the opium stops flowing

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u/israfildivad 10h ago

The opium being social media, movies and TV, sports, 24 hour news, fast food, videogames, the next life (religion selling point), copium....and actual opium.

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u/userseven 13h ago

1% in us is like $700,000 per year. I think you mean the top 0.1%

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u/ayuntamient0 12h ago

Plus all the boomers are SUPER fucked that he crashed the market as they retire.

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u/man_gomer_lot 14h ago

People keep saying this, but a falling tide lowers all the ships

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u/MunkyPants 14h ago

But if most people drown, when the tide comes back up it won't matter than others had to temporarily go lower.

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u/n0radrenaline 14h ago

Not how low tides work but otherwise you're right

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u/britishninja99 14h ago

Good things it’s a metaphor and not an explanation on how the tides function.

Yay for being deliberately obtuse!

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u/AnabolikinSkywalker 14h ago

….. get stuck in the mud, perhaps?

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u/polacy_do_pracy 14h ago

think a little

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u/man_gomer_lot 14h ago

I've thought about it a little and remembered that yes, people will attempt to save face and pretend something doesn't hurt them as it would anyone else.

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u/Hans-Wermhatt 14h ago

That also is assuming Trump's circle of billionaires who were briefed on these plans are taking it on the nose like we are. I'm sure insider trading is less in the Trump admin than previous admins lol.

People with the means and the knowledge that a lower tide is coming might prepare for it...

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u/man_gomer_lot 13h ago

The world is a more sensible place through the lens of a conspiratorial mindset. It's not comforting to know that we aren't the rational beings we imagine that we are. Our true talent is making sense of the senseless.

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u/Hans-Wermhatt 10h ago edited 10h ago

For this to be a conspiracy, I think it has to be illegal or they have to try to hide it. Elon Musk isn’t part of the government, Donald Trump is above the law in almost all circumstances according to the Supreme Court. How is billionaires preparing for an upcoming they heard about a conspiracy? That’s just business.

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u/man_gomer_lot 9h ago

Hanlon's Razor: Don't attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity and ego causes massive stupidity.

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

not quite

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u/man_gomer_lot 13h ago

Quite. Ego is one hell of a drug and it's more rampant than fentanyl these days

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u/AedemHonoris New Mexico 14h ago

That’s such a fucking cool metaphor I’m stealing it

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u/Short-Ticket-1196 14h ago

They have all the money already, this is about their relative wealth compared to us.

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u/Icy_Help_8380 14h ago

Doesn’t matter, they’re too greedy to see it in those terms. He’s in trouble

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

the Gen Pop is going to the poor house and won’t have the money left to dig themselves out their retirement their money set aside for the kids and grandkids is going or gone and what does the king say oh it’s a short term loss ya for the billionaires it’s nothing 🤬🤬all that work saving making the right choices all gone with the stroke a cruel dictators pen

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u/beardeddragon0113 13h ago

Just like during Covid where the average person lost in real wages and net worth, but every billionaire increased their wealth by more than what 10,000 people make in a lifetime.

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u/Truestorydreams 10h ago

This is why the politicians are allowing it. They are expecting a favour or a doggy treat for ignoring.

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u/Lower-Acanthaceae460 14h ago

they're the cockroaches of humanity

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u/Kind_Dream_610 14h ago

I believe the same thing. I'm positive Trump is tanking it on purpose so he and his rich worshippers can grab all the stocks they want as others sell them off. Then he'll do a policy change that will make other want to buy, buy, buy. At which point he's a trillionaire.

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u/Pyro1934 14h ago

I don't think so, that's too long term and Trump won't last that long. I don't think he'd give a shit about his "friends" or family past his life.

I can't quite figure it out because it doesn't make much sense with Russian orders either, but that seems more likely perhaps?

It very well just could be raw ego and he thinks he knows best.

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u/SerGT3 14h ago

The world is going to be a VERY different place in a couple generations. Think past the old man dying and focus on the families behind him that will rule the US if the plan goes through.

They are purposely destroying America to control what's left and leave it vulnerable to its enemies.

Democrats should be ashamed of themselves.

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u/Pyro1934 14h ago

I understand that, I just don't think he's doing that willingly as he doesn't care about anyone but himself.

He could very well be getting manipulated into those scenarios though which would also explain some of the angst at some of his actions.

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u/SerGT3 14h ago

He's doing it because for the last...entire life of his, he has been in debt to everyone. He is likely controlled by many, he is also incredibly easy to manipulate, because he is a sociopathic moron. He is easy to hate so they throw him up on the front stage while the other billionaires steal food out of your mouth.

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u/Pyro1934 14h ago

Yeah manipulation and control I could understand, but it also does still seem a bit weird. Given his health and age I don't see him lasting long and if you're POTUS you're pretty damn protected at the time.

It's definitely something he believes is benefitting him though, he would not take any of these actions without direct benefit to himself even for his own kids.

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

doubtful

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

Democrats the Republicans could stop it now right now and impeach this whole admin but they don’t have the balls to do it they are raking in to much money

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u/yesrushgenesis2112 13h ago

There will be nothing to control if America is left vulnerable to its enemies. Control is just a word, in practice it means ownership with a monopoly on force to maintain that ownership. Without a non-fiat currency they will not be able to maintain whatever they do acquire. It’s a bad, bad plan.

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u/The_Ashgale 14h ago

There's also the fact that he's been nursing grievances against, well, everyone (except Putin) and just simply loves being the center of the universe.

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

? power and ego

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u/Kind_Dream_610 13h ago

It won't need to be that long term. Those people who worship him have very very short term memories. Goldfish mentality.

You are 100% right about the raw ego bit.

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u/VT_Squire 14h ago

What genius buys high and sells low?

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u/Kind_Dream_610 13h ago

That wasn't the point I was making. Exactly the opposite. If he tanks it then share prices WILL be low, at which point he grabs every bit he can (probably using all the money Musk is stealing from government funds), while other sell off because they can't afford to lose everything. Then he'll do the policy change and watch his stolen shares skyrocket. It's a double edge sword, making others poorer while making himself richer.

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u/VT_Squire 12h ago

while other sell off because they can't afford to lose everything

Allow me to reiterate my question.

What genius buys high and sells low?

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u/Kind_Dream_610 11h ago

You can reiterate all you want, you've still got my point completely the wrong way round.

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u/VT_Squire 7h ago

Not at all. I'm just talking about everyone else.

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u/Ok_Breadfruit4176 14h ago

…. some bastards will try to copy it all-over the world.

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u/JabberwockySupafly 13h ago

The largest transfers of wealth to the rich were the banking crisis then COVID now this

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u/PersonalWasabi2413 13h ago

Absolutely. When will the levee break?

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u/israfildivad 10h ago

The levee is built from millions of empty skulls. Its really massive, very dense,, and quite resilient.

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u/Accomplished_Fun6481 13h ago

It’s already happening under many people’s noses

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u/No-Document-8970 14h ago

I’ve been saying that for years. It’s the Republican way.

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u/Indigocell Canada 14h ago

This is what happens every time. The ultra-rich win at the end either way, whether the economy is thriving or crashing. It's everyone else that suffers.

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u/panickedindetroit 14h ago

They can pay their own bills for a change. We shouldn't have to float people who have enough money to buy the White House for a demented lunatic.

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u/General_Bumblebee_75 14h ago

Yes, that is the plan. You will have no safety net, and will need to subsist on air to pay exorbitant rents.

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u/contextswitch Pennsylvania 14h ago

It only takes one that isn't used to having their feathers ruffled

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u/daxophoneme 14h ago

Who buys stocks during a crash? 🤨

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u/DimbyTime 14h ago

Google the definition of assets

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

the 1%

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u/grammernOtgood 14h ago

I remember a conspiracy theory back in 2008/9 that was the same Maybe it's just a coincidence that the multi millionaires and billionaires have exponentially grown their wealth since then by buying cheap assets - and now they'd like to do it again with "their president".

Tax the rich.

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u/joseph4th 14h ago

Exactly. The housing allowed corporations and private equity to buy up so much "crashed property." And when things recovered they were well on their way to owning larger and larger percentages of the housing market. As a result, prices and rent goes up. Fewer new homes are built (because that would compete with their market for rentals) and we are all fucked.

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u/Muted-Ad-5503 13h ago

That's spot on. Not only they will be richer but somehow the working class will be to blame

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u/boldbrandywine 8h ago

This is the goal, to remove the middle class.

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u/slabby 14h ago

But only the very rich. The medium rich will just become upper middle class. They cannot be happy about that.

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u/DimbyTime 14h ago

The only “rich” you should be concerned about is the 1%

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u/Rosso-q 14h ago

their not stopping him

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u/yesrushgenesis2112 13h ago

There is a hard limit to this, unless they plan to move back to the gold standard. Buying land on the cheap is useless if everyone is too poor to afford rent. Or, for agriculture, if no one will come labor upon it. And with a fiat currency, that value is only ever held with the backing of the state.

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u/luigi-all-of-them 14h ago

💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥

Reload

💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥POW💥

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u/LaissezMoiDanser 14h ago

Your username bruh 💀

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u/dunkolx 14h ago

I'm lovin' it

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u/MaryLMarx 11h ago

Loving it while it lasts!

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u/omgpuppiesarecute 10h ago

Clearly you are quoting the hit song Paper Planes by MIA!

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u/Intensive 9h ago

DLC when?

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u/thegreatbrah 14h ago

Lou ouiji 

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u/Sapaio 14h ago

Have you heard of the French revolution.

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u/hamletswords Pennsylvania 14h ago

The only way any of this makes sense is it's a planned crash. Rich people are in it for the long haul and end up far richer because of the opportunities a crash gives them.

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u/maryconway1 14h ago

Not yet.

If the big billionaires all know that the plan is:

- Drop it low enough, and for long enough, that they can buy up their medium-sized competitors at a discount

- Buy more stock before the "no more tariffs!" reversal date (which Trump 's team will share.. for a price no doubt)

...then they come out very very much ahead.

The problem is, all this assumes people trust the U.S. going forward after this. And clearly, the world no longer does either way. So, it's a short party whatever it will be (if that is part of the plan, in addition to paying for the uber-rich tax cuts)

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u/civildisobedient 8h ago

Everyone aren't billionaires. i.e., he's not losing the right people's money. If the market tanks the only people losing money are the ones that have it locked up in 401Ks that have been instructed to sit and watch as it steadily falls every day this bullshit continues.

Warren Buffett sold his entire SPY holdings in Q4 of last year. The truly wealthy are sitting in oodles of cash on the sidelines, salivating as the stock prices drop and the bubble deflates and the PE ratios rationalize once again. Waiting for the bargains.

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u/_TheAfroNinja_ 12h ago

He’s losing everyone money

Everyone outside his inner circle. Trump intelligence is questionable, but he's not stupid enough to let the market completely crash.

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u/BigBoyYuyuh 12h ago

Dude looked at the sun. Told us to drink bleach. I’m starting to think he is that stupid. The only people stupider than him are those that voted for him.

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u/NeoMaxiZoomDweebean 12h ago

They are using the tariffs to replace income taxes and almost all taxes the rich and corporationg pay.

This is a regressive tax scheme and a wealth transfer to the rich.

The rich are over the moon. Why would they give a fuck?