# Donald Trump announces presidential run **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 16, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679 "2015-06-16T16:35:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/381 "2015-07-22T20:13:16Z")
I swear to Og he’s a Democratic mole. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/382 "2015-07-22T20:44:58Z")
TPTB start to circle the wagons and slip in the shiv. “Friends” of Rupert Murdoch “reveal” to the NYT that Murdoch considers Trump to be [a phony](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/us/politics/titans-clash-as-donald-trumps-run-fuels-his-feud-with-rupert-murdoch.html). But hey, Ailes runs Fox News. Whadya gonna do? It will be interesting to see whether Trump’s Fox appearances take a hit: I’m guessing this is all a head fake. FCC releases financial disclosure form. Trump has assets of at least $1.4 billion, but as the magnate noted earlier, these forms simply aren’t designed for someone of Trump’s massive wealth. TEN BILLION DOLLARS!!! [INDENT][INDENT]Mr. Trump’s net worth is a source of consternation: in a legal deposition, he once declared that it can fluctuate with his feelings. [/INDENT][/INDENT] I’m sure it does. [Donald Trump's Income and Wealth Are Shown in Filing but Are Hard to Pinpoint - First Draft. Political News, Now. - The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/07/22/f-e-c-releases-donald-trumps-financial-disclosure-statement/) * * * Ok, let’s look at the beneficiaries of this troll: Hillary and the Democrats - because he makes the GOP field look ridiculous. GOP Presidential crazies - because Trump makes them look sane by comparison. Overton window! Jeb Bush - because he is the frontrunner and Trump (a nonviable candidate) absorbs the media oxygen of his challengers. Lindsey Graham - because he’s gotten attention by being Trump’s foil. h/t adaher. (Oh no!) Trump’s ego - +1000000x Trump’s short term net worth - no, that one is a negative so far. I have no idea how the 3 year plan works though. Fox News - because they get extra ad dollars from other candidates desperate for attention. The media in general - because they love eyeballs. Shapeshifting reptilians - because they _always_ win. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/383 "2015-07-22T21:19:59Z")
Interesting. [Rupert Murdoch can’t get Fox News to stop positively covering The Donald.](http://www.salon.com/2015/07/22/rupert_murdochs_donald_trump_nightmare_he_cant_control_the_monster_fox_news_created/) Ailes like Trump too much. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/384 "2015-07-23T03:17:52Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Ok, let’s look at the beneficiaries of this troll: > > Hillary and the Democrats - because he makes the GOP field look ridiculous. > > GOP Presidential crazies - because Trump makes them look sane by comparison. Overton window! > > Jeb Bush - because he is the frontrunner and Trump (a nonviable candidate) absorbs the media oxygen of his challengers. > > Lindsey Graham - because he’s gotten attention by being Trump’s foil. h/t adaher. (Oh no!) > > Trump’s ego - +1000000x > > Trump’s short term net worth - no, that one is a negative so far. I have no idea how the 3 year plan works though. > > Fox News - because they get extra ad dollars from other candidates desperate for attention. > > The media in general - because they love eyeballs. > > Shapeshifting reptilians - because they _always_ win. You forgot one: The U.S. - because he put illegal immigration on the table front and center Don’t mention it. I’m here to help. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/385 "2015-07-23T04:02:47Z")
Nate Silver pointed out that trolls can suck up a lot of short term media attention, but they never win nominations. > **[Donald Trump Is The World’s Greatest Troll](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-is-the-worlds-greatest-troll/)** > > “A troll,” according to one definition, “is a person who sows discord … by starting arguments or upsetting people … with the deliberate intent of provoking … ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/386 "2015-07-23T04:53:22Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > You forgot one: > > The U.S. - because he put illegal immigration on the table front and center > Don’t mention it. I’m here to help. Thank you for demonstrating why the GOP needs Trump. Your support not only made him possible, it made him necessary, and now the GOP leadership will be very aware of what the rank-and-file membership wants out of the party and the candidates the party runs. This will have far-reaching effects on the Republican Party as a whole in a way which will be greatly beneficial to the entire country. Making the GOP the party of “Are You Angry, Fellow Citizen?” will be Trump’s crowing achievement. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/387 "2015-07-23T08:31:58Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > You forgot one: > > The U.S. - because he put illegal immigration on the table front and center > Don’t mention it. I’m here to help. Trump is doing for illegal immigration what Lester Maddox did for civil rights. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/388 "2015-07-23T08:49:11Z")
Trump has definitely not helped that cause. As always, Fox is much better at this type of thing. Their choice to make a big deal out of the Steinle story was brilliant, if derivative of how the police abuse stories have been covered. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/389 "2015-07-23T11:21:32Z")
Did I see a video of Graham smashing his own cellphone, or did I dream that? \ [Oh God, it really happened](https://www.yahoo.com/politics/watch-lindsey-graham-destroy-his-cell-phone-after-124770719626.html). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/390 "2015-07-23T21:34:21Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > You forgot one: > > The U.S. - because he put illegal immigration on the table front and center > Don’t mention it. I’m here to help. The undocumented immigrants – because yeah, Trump did do that, and in a way that made the issue look mean-minded and ridiculous and not worth anyone’s time. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/391 "2015-07-24T01:12:50Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > But Troy says that it’s foolish to try and predict Trump’s next move. In fact, Troy says he can envision a scenario where Trump loses the GOP’s nomination to someone like Jeb Bush, but instead of throwing his support behind the Republican nominee, ends up backing Hillary Clinton “just because she’s a more famous name and it’ll get him more headlines.” Well, I just watched an NBC interview with Trump in which he went on at length about how Mrs. Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in US history (no reason given, she just was), and how she’d make a “terrible President”. So I’d say that particular patch of earth appears to be well and truly scorched. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/392 "2015-07-24T01:55:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Trump has definitely not helped that cause. As always, Fox is much better at this type of thing. Their choice to make a big deal out of the Steinle story was brilliant, if derivative of how the police abuse stories have been covered. Brilliant? More like bigoted racist bullshit. There are plenty of people killed by non “illegal aliens” with guns in this country. Why isn’t the focus on how this guy got the gun and ammo he used? I understand it was a federal agents gun. I thought they weren’t supposed to leave their weapons in their cars to be stolen. It is reprehensible that they are using this tragedy in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/393 "2015-07-24T03:21:49Z")
What if The Donald ran as an independent? Probably bad news for the GOP: [http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/politics/donald-trump-third-party/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/politics/donald-trump-third-party/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/394 "2015-07-24T05:11:29Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Well, I just watched an NBC interview with Trump in which he went on at length about how Mrs. Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in US history (no reason given, she just was), and how she’d make a “terrible President”. So I’d say that particular patch of earth appears to be well and truly scorched. Nah, you’re just assuming that The Donald has to be consistent. This is the guy who in 2012 accused the GOP of being [“mean-spirited” towards illegal immigrants](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/donald-trump-knows-mean-spirited/2012/11/27/008cf4b4-3821-11e2-a263-f0ebffed2f15_blog.html)! He has the temperament and mental age of an 8-year-old and is surrounded by sycophants who reinforce it, so he has no more use for consistency than he does for facts. This is the same guy who told us in the 2012 election cycle that we “wouldn’t believe” the horrible, incredible things that his investigators were uncovering in Hawaii regarding the truth about Obama’s real birthplace. As with any taunt from an 8-year-old, we never heard any more about it. The Donald is fine with this mode of operation since he assumes that everyone is even stupider than he is. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/395 "2015-07-24T05:30:15Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Brilliant? Yes, a brilliant way to draw votes from the mainstream GOP in a way that makes it very difficult for the mainstream GOP to counter without alienating what they still consider to be key members of their base. Let’s go down a list: **Southern-Strategy-style race-baiting through the use of dog whistles to provide a bare fig-leaf of plausible deniability?** Check. "But they’re breaking our laws… " which is an attempt to side-step or preempt any question about why we should be so all-fired concerned about these laws, and then only when brown people break them. **Guns as an unquestioned solution?** Check. Guns cannot be questioned, so you’d better be able to cast aspersions on the person using the gun. Trump is, in other arenas, hitting other classic Populist GOP points, including the idea that America has fallen and needs to be redeemed, and that he’s the only one to do it, because he never backs down and he’s successful as measured by a bank account. Trump is disgusting. He might well make you sick to your stomach and, in large doses, may make your hair fall out. He is, however, precisely what the GOP needs right now, so it can finally excise the elements of itself which are otherwise going to kill it, slowly but surely. As toxic as he is, he might be the cure the GOP needs right now. If he isn’t it, it’s hard to imagine what would be, and time is running out. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/396 "2015-07-24T06:19:30Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Brilliant? More like bigoted racist bullshit. There are plenty of people killed by non “illegal aliens” with guns in this country. Why isn’t the focus on how this guy got the gun and ammo he used? I understand it was a federal agents gun. I thought they weren’t supposed to leave their weapons in their cars to be stolen. > > It is reprehensible that they are using this tragedy in this way. The focus of the story is that he was deported five times and the sanctuary city policy meant he wasn’t handed over to the feds as requested. Now I don’t care what side of the immigration debate you’re on, no one should be able to get into the country five times illegally. So we can’t secure our border to prevent that? Fine. Re-entry after deportation is a felony. Why wasn’t he put away in federal prison? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/397 "2015-07-24T15:19:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Nah, you’re just assuming that The Donald has to be consistent. Right. I don’t see any reason he can’t just continue with his bomb-throwing, then ignoring the bomb ways. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/398 "2015-07-24T16:26:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The undocumented immigrants – because yeah, Trump did do that, and in a way that made the issue look mean-minded and ridiculous and not worth anyone’s time. Yeah. We can see that from the sharp drop in his popularity. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/399 "2015-07-24T16:28:16Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The focus of the story is that he was deported five times and the sanctuary city policy meant he wasn’t handed over to the feds as requested. > > Now I don’t care what side of the immigration debate you’re on, no one should be able to get into the country five times illegally. So we can’t secure our border to prevent that? Fine. Re-entry after deportation is a felony. Why wasn’t he put away in federal prison? Maybe ask **BrainGlutton**. Evidently he thinks that would mean-spirrited". ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/400 "2015-07-24T16:57:42Z")
Very little, politically speaking, has made me as happy since the 2012 election as Trump’s popularity. I want to donate, except that he probably doesn’t need donations. I can’t wait for the debates, and I can’t wait for the primaries. This is going to be so much fun – I’m not sure which would be better: Trump actually winning primaries and threatening to win the nomination, or Trump being ganged up on and running third party. Go Trump go! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679.md?page=21)