# Walltalk **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 11, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585 "2019-01-11T11:52:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BenedictusXIV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b19c9b/32.png) [@BenedictusXIV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BenedictusXIV)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/1 "2019-01-11T11:52:04Z")
I must admit that Trump seems to make an effort to live up to his election promises. > **[US election 2020: Has Trump delivered on his promises?](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37982000)** > > Donald Trump made voters a number of promises before they elected him. But has he kept his word? Of course Mrs. Clinton is still on the run, but in general he appears to have a list and work on it if and when he’s actually doing any work (didn’t he also make a promise that he would be less on the golf course than Obama? Don’t see that one on the list). If it was anybody else I would say that is recommendable. It could even justify his childlike stubbornness on the shutdown extortion. Unfortunately we are dealing with Donald John Trump, a man who has a long history of being an unreliable business partner when it comes to finances. I remember an article quoting former associates saying something like “Don’t let him near the money, because he will take it all and run” (must admit, can’t find it anymore). We already see examples of transactions that vary from shady, through unethical to flat out corrupt. Example; money being paid for long expensive stays in Trump resorts, not just by him and his whole entourage, but also by foreign governments in need of “favors”. So when this man demands we give him 5.3 billion dollars (to start with) for a project that serves no other purpose than living up to a campaign promise and maybe please a few of his voters, my bullshit detector goes crazy and my scam radar off the chart. Apart from the whole stupid wall concept (which in recent days has suddenly changed into a metaphor for border security), I feel like we’re being scammed by a man who has built a fortune on lies and bullshit. I am willing to bet my left testicle that this money is earmarked for something other than Mexican blocking or a wall builder stimulus package. The whole thing smells funny…doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/2 "2019-01-11T12:51:25Z")
Just what we need - [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=867613) [more](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868715) [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868413) [about](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868616) [the](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868607) [wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868654). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/3 "2019-01-11T15:05:57Z")
He’s shut down the government because he’s angry at Congress for trying to make him keep his campaign promises. That’s kind of the opposite of what you said. He promised that Americans wouldn’t pay for the Wall, and so Congress said “OK, then, we won’t pay for it.”. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/4 "2019-01-11T15:12:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Just what we need - [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=867613) [more](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868715) [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868413) [about](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868616) [the](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868607) [wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868654). A guy’s allowed to start a thread. If you think it’s too similar to another thread report it for merging. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/5 "2019-01-11T15:15:08Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Just what we need - [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=867613) [more](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868715) [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868413) [about](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868616) [the](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868607) [wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=868654). All in all it’s just another thread on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/6 "2019-01-11T16:03:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > All in all it’s just another thread on the wall. Ha! I had the exact same thought after RTFirefly’s post. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/7 "2019-01-11T16:11:30Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > A guy’s allowed to start a thread. And a guy’s not allowed to say, “wait, don’t we already have a metric ton of live threads on this subject”? (ETA: And my links weren’t even a complete inventory.) > [@](#): > > If you think it’s too similar to another thread report it for merging. I would have been hard pressed to say which one! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/8 "2019-01-11T16:12:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > All in all it’s just another thread on the wall. Well played, sir! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BenedictusXIV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b19c9b/32.png) [@BenedictusXIV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BenedictusXIV)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/9 "2019-01-11T16:31:07Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > All in all it’s just another thread on the wall. This one alone made it worth it. In my defense, the subject is not the wall but rather the funding. If there is another thread on that subject I’ll be happy to continue my point there. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/10 "2019-01-11T16:34:57Z")
And he didn’t just **say** Mexico would pay for the wall, rewind the tape and see for yourself, he \*guaranteed \*it. Repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/11 "2019-01-12T00:44:31Z")
Or our money back? ---
**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:** [January 12, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/12 "2019-01-12T02:37:39Z")
> [@BenedictusXIV](#): > > Apart from the whole stupid wall concept (which in recent days has suddenly changed into a metaphor for border security), I feel like we’re being scammed by a man who has built a fortune on lies and bullshit. I am willing to bet my left testicle that this money is earmarked for something other than Mexican blocking or a wall builder stimulus package. The whole thing smells funny…doesn’t it? I’m sure there’s a scam somewhere in this debacle. Trump has, as you point out, a long history of scamming. But that said, I feel there is probably a wall somewhere in his plan. He’s probably got it set up that his five billion dollar wall will cost the taxpayers ten billion dollars or more. And Trump is planning on pocketing a few hundred million of that. This is the equivalent of Boss Hogg saying Hazzard County needs a new bridge; a boondoggle so a crooked politician can skim money off of it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/13 "2019-01-12T03:07:58Z")
I thought for sure he would proclaim a border crisis today. It being Friday and all. He wants so bad for this to take focus away from the Russian investigation. His supporters are counting on that ‘wall’. Even the ones who are laid off or working with no pay. He’s led that bunch up the garden path, the long way. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/14 "2019-01-12T03:11:18Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I thought for sure he would proclaim a border crisis today. It being Friday and all. Friday news dumps are for news you _don’t_ want people to notice or talk about. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/15 "2019-01-12T03:31:08Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > And he didn’t just **say** Mexico would pay for the wall, rewind the tape and see for yourself, he \*guaranteed \*it. > > Repeatedly. And then got down on one knee _begging_ Mexico to _not_ make him look like a jerk by refusing to pay. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2019, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/16 "2019-01-12T04:03:16Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > And he didn’t just **say** Mexico would pay for the wall, rewind the tape and see for yourself, he \*guaranteed \*it. > > Repeatedly. I’m waiting for him to say that we don’t have a wall. Which means building the wall cost nothing. And Mexico paid us nothing. So technically, Mexico paid for the costs of the wall. Trump wins!!! ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/17 "2019-01-12T05:16:46Z")
> [@BenedictusXIV](#): > > I must admit that Trump seems to make an effort to live up to his election promises. . . I feel like we’re being scammed by a man who has built a fortune on lies and bullshit. I am willing to bet my left testicle that this money is earmarked for something other than Mexican blocking or a wall builder stimulus package. The whole thing smells funny…doesn’t it? With all due respect, I think you’re missing an important point, (and yes, I’ve said the same thing in all the other threads about “the wall”). Trump’s election/campaign promises themselves are bullshit from the start. He just says whatever gets a response–he had no particular interest in a wall itself. For Trump, promises are not real–they’re just things he says to put on a show. His “stubbornness” now isn’t any kind of commitment toward keeping a promise–it’s just more bullshit posing, more of the dog-and-pony show for those people who fell for the wall idea in the first place, to make himself seem “strong” about this fantasy, fictional “crisis.” Sure, yeah, if he can get them to build a wall, he’d like that, but only in as much as it perpetuates this image for his base. And, of course, you’re completely right that–if they were ever to start building this thing–a bunch of Trump butt-licking incompetent sycophants would get the contracts, and it would be rife with corruption. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/18 "2019-01-12T05:35:44Z")
> [@BenedictusXIV](#): > > I must admit that Trump seems to make an effort to live up to his election promises. Has Hillary been locked up yet? How’s the rebuilding of our infrastructure coming along? Did I miss the news that China has been labeled as a currency manipulator? H ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/19 "2019-01-12T07:00:04Z")
Loser Donald feels no obligation whatsoever to keep _any_ promise he’s ever made, campaign or otherwise. What he _does_ care about is being seen as a loser, and if he doesn’t deliver on Wall, that’s what he’s afraid he’ll look like. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585/20 "2019-01-12T07:19:34Z")
> [@BenedictusXIV](#): > > I must admit that Trump seems to make an effort to live up to his election promises. [Really?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1z3Mz8fpE) (First 12 seconds). When did he promise to [stab](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/stab-in-the-back-gun-activist-hard-liners-accuse-trump-of-betrayal-over-bump-stock-ban) the NRA and GOA in the [back](https://wgno.com/2018/12/18/exclusive-trump-administration-to-announce-final-bump-stock-ban/)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walltalk/827585.md?page=2)