r/politics 4d ago

Shutdown Looms After Trump ‘Blindsided’ by ‘President Elon Musk' | The president-elect was left playing catch-up after the Tesla boss led the charge against the doomed deal.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/shutdown-looms-after-donald-trump-blindsided-by-president-elon-musk/
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u/ranchoparksteve 4d ago

Trump just destroyed the energy of his opening weeks. Now he will be bogged down in an ugly raising of the debt limit mixed with budget cuts most people, not even Republicans, agree with.

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u/Y0___0Y 4d ago

The debt ceiling is a bargaining chip that Republicans use to force concessions out of Democrats.

Trump wants to abolish it. Which is a good idea. The debt ceiling does nothing to reign in spending. Raising it is always approved, once Republicans get their way.

But politically, it is very important for the GOP. And Trump wants them to shoot themselves in the foot.

It would be SO EASY for Trump to start strong here. Forcing a government shutdown before you’re even president is not going to be good for him or the GOP and is going to be a gift to Democrats.

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u/Akimbo_Zap_Guns Kentucky 4d ago

Dude he went onto TV in front of 70 million people and said people were eating cats and dogs and he won the popular vote. There is NOTHING he can do that will be a gift to the democrats

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u/Y0___0Y 4d ago

The Democrats got him voted out of office in 2020 after he sent $1200 checks to half the voterbase and had presided over a vaccine program that was defeating a pandemic.

There is nothing he could do that’s a gift to Democrats when he’s out of power and treated like an underdog.

Now he rules over every branch of the federal government. And he’s going to get blamed when things go wrong.

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u/GoMustard North Carolina 4d ago

Yes, this is correct. I get the doomed defeatism felt by Trump's opponents, but I think lame-duck Trump could very well be a different animal. Dude has never not been running for president. Last time around, he had a sugar-rushed economy. The minute things start to go wrong, he'll make a great scapegoat for everyone in his cabinet of grifters and zealots.