Project 2025: How to Start a Fascist Takeover in 180 Days!

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Even back in the interwar period when the British Empire was still a thing everybody knew that in any hypothetical UK-USA war Canada would fall quickly.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

It gets worse

President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s selected former Democratic congresswoman-turned Trump supporter Tulsi Gabbard as his pick to be director of national intelligence.

The selection of Gabbard is sure to set off a major confirmation fight.

Gabbard, an Army National Guard veteran, unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020 as a Democrat but said she was leaving the Democratic Party in 2022. She campaigned with Trump and served on his transition team.

In many ways, the transformation of Gabbard from isolationist, Democratic iconoclast to MAGA darling has been a gradual evolution, culminating in her announcement before the November election that she was joining the Republican Party after she had endorsed Trump.

She has long espoused the same seemingly contradictory attitude towards the US military as Trump: reverent of its might but skeptical of its use.

And like Trump, she has frequently appeared to take positions more favorable to foreign leaders widely considered not just American adversaries, but in some cases, murderers, including the presidents of Syria and Russia.

How influential Gabbard will be, however, remains an open question. The institutional impact of the director of national intelligence — nominally the top post overseeing the 18 agencies that make up the Intelligence Community but which has existed only since 2005 — has varied between administrations. Intelligence officials say that the CIA — with its vast collection and analysis capabilities — remains the heavyweight inside the IC. Trump has tapped a former director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, to run the CIA.

Trump praised Gabbard in a statement announcing her selection, saying: “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength.”

Gabbard helped Trump in his debate prep before his September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“If I can be helpful to President Trump in any way, it really is just sharing the experience that I had with her on that debate stage in 2020, and frankly helping to point out some ways that Kamala Harris has already shown that she’s trying to move away from her record, move away from her positions,” Gabbard said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

She has ties to Trump allies like Steve Bannon, who said in a statement to CNN: “I brought Colonel Gabbard to meet President Elect Trump in November 2016 for a role in the Administration. It did not work out then, but now we have one of the strongest America First proponents nominated to take charge of an out of control and destructive intelligence community.”

When Gabbard ran for president in the 2020 campaign, she touted herself as an Iraq War vet with an anti-interventionist foreign policy. Gabbard and Harris had several notable exchanges during the 2020 Democratic primary debates, where Harris criticized Gabbard for her foreign policy views while Gabbard challenged Harris’ record on criminal justice.

The former Hawaii congresswoman has taken stances that have been at odds with US foreign policy, including meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Syria in 2017, and saying in 2019 that he was “not an enemy of the United States.”

“When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so because I felt that it’s important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we’ve got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we can achieve peace,” she said after her 2017 meeting.

Even as a Democrat, Gabbard shared some of Trump’s isolationist instincts, supporting a withdrawal of US troops from Syria — even as she declared during one of the Democratic primary debates that “Donald Trump is not behaving like a patriot.”

In early 2022, she parroted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rationale for its invasion of Ukraine, pinning the blame not on Moscow but on the Biden administration’s failure to acknowledge “Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO” — a popular strain of thought in some right-wing circles.

“This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border,” Gabbard wrote on X in February 2022.

During Gabbard’s presidential bid in the Democratic primary in 2019, Hillary Clinton suggested in an interview that the Russians were “grooming” her to run as a third-party candidate.

Trump has recruited a Russian spy as his intel chief

[Tribble]

Even back in the interwar period when the British Empire was still a thing everybody knew that in any hypothetical UK-USA war Canada would fall quickly.

True, although IIRC it wouldn’t have been as nearly as lopsided as it is now (IIRC Americans were actually expecting Canadians to put up a fight versus today we probably wouldn’t last an hour). Believe it or not Canadians actually had an invasion plan of their own just incase they needed to do a preemptive strike to try and slow down an American attack. Never going to win, but they figured they could give a good bloody nose on the way out I suppose.

Not that it needs to come to a conventional war - between the total economic dominance and the ability to lend heavy support to whatever faction they desire, it wouldn’t be that hard to install a puppet regime. Well, I mean more of a puppet regime than we have right now anyways.

Only reason why I can think of why there would be a potential conventional war between Canada and the US is if Trump decided he wanted to flex the US military might and show off by pounding a defenceless “socialist” neighbour into the ground. I mean, Trump being Trump it’s not an impossibility with him, but not very likely either. Much easier just to install a puppet.

[LadyTevar]

Even back in the interwar period when the British Empire was still a thing everybody knew that in any hypothetical UK-USA war Canada would fall quickly.

True, although IIRC it wouldn’t have been as nearly as lopsided as it is now (IIRC Americans were actually expecting Canadians to put up a fight versus today we probably wouldn’t last an hour). Believe it or not Canadians actually had an invasion plan of their own just incase they needed to do a preemptive strike to try and slow down an American attack. Never going to win, but they figured they could give a good bloody nose on the way out I suppose.

Not that it needs to come to a conventional war - between the total economic dominance and the ability to lend heavy support to whatever faction they desire, it wouldn’t be that hard to install a puppet regime. Well, I mean more of a puppet regime than we have right now anyways.

Only reason why I can think of why there would be a potential conventional war between Canada and the US is if Trump decided he wanted to flex the US military might and show off by pounding a defenceless “socialist” neighbour into the ground. I mean, Trump being Trump it’s not an impossibility with him, but not very likely either. Much easier just to install a puppet.

He's more likely to go after Mexico. That's where all the "Brown People" and Immigrants are coming from, after all. Plus, he can point out that Mexico is lawless with all the murders and drug cartels in power.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Even back in the interwar period when the British Empire was still a thing everybody knew that in any hypothetical UK-USA war Canada would fall quickly.

True, although IIRC it wouldn’t have been as nearly as lopsided as it is now (IIRC Americans were actually expecting Canadians to put up a fight versus today we probably wouldn’t last an hour). Believe it or not Canadians actually had an invasion plan of their own just incase they needed to do a preemptive strike to try and slow down an American attack. Never going to win, but they figured they could give a good bloody nose on the way out I suppose.

Not that it needs to come to a conventional war - between the total economic dominance and the ability to lend heavy support to whatever faction they desire, it wouldn’t be that hard to install a puppet regime. Well, I mean more of a puppet regime than we have right now anyways.

Only reason why I can think of why there would be a potential conventional war between Canada and the US is if Trump decided he wanted to flex the US military might and show off by pounding a defenceless “socialist” neighbour into the ground. I mean, Trump being Trump it’s not an impossibility with him, but not very likely either. Much easier just to install a puppet.

He's more likely to go after Mexico. That's where all the "Brown People" and Immigrants are coming from, after all. Plus, he can point out that Mexico is lawless with all the murders and drug cartels in power.

That could be fun to watch if he decides to go after the cartels

[Solauren]

Only reason why I can think of why there would be a potential conventional war between Canada and the US is if Trump decided he wanted to flex the US military might and show off by pounding a defenceless “socialist” neighbour into the ground. I mean, Trump being Trump it’s not an impossibility with him, but not very likely either. Much easier just to install a puppet.

Nah.
Just feed money to the PC Party at the Federal level (and possibly Province level)

Let the North America Free Trade deal collapse/cancel it.
Talks of a new Free Trade deal between Canada and the US escalate to unification talks.

Not that hard. No need for puppets, just like minded people and time will do it.

[bilateralrope]

Elon Musk may already be overstaying his welcome in Trump's orbit

Musk has been a near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, where he has sat in on important meetings and calls.

Musk has been a near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, where he has sat in on important meetings and calls.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk was handed a major win Tuesday evening when President-elect Donald Trump announced that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO would co-lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” with Vivek Ramaswamy.

The announcement reinforces the closeness Musk has managed to achieve with Trump, even after the election. But for some people in Trump’s orbit, Musk’s presence has felt overbearing.

Musk has been so aggressive in pushing his views about Trump’s second term that he’s stepping on the toes of Trump’s transition team and may be overstaying his welcome at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, according to two people familiar with the transition who have spent time at the resort over the past week.

The sources said Musk’s near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago in the week since Election Day had begun to wear on people who’ve been in Trump’s inner circle longer than he has and who see him as overstepping his role in the transition. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

“He’s behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it,” one of the people said.

“And he’s sure taking lots of credit for the president’s victory. Bragging about America PAC and X to anyone who will listen. He’s trying to make President Trump feel indebted to him. And the president is indebted to no one,” this person added.

Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In a statement, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said: “Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again. Elon Musk is a once in a generation business leader and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency.”

In another statement, a separate Trump-Vance spokesperson, Anna Kelly, said: "Elon Musk is a genius, an innovator, and has literally made history by building creative, modern, and efficient systems. Elon Musk has dedicated himself to America’s future by offering to serve with President Trump to ensure our government works more efficiently and uses America’s taxpayer dollars effectively."

Musk traveled to Mar-a-Lago to watch the election returns come in last week, and he has been there much of the past week, the two sources said. They said he is there at all hours, sitting with Trump and joining calls and meetings.

Musk has been involved in sensitive conversations, even before his role in the administration was announced, including having briefly joined a phone call last week between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The second person said that Musk has an “opinion on and about everything” and that he shares them so forcefully that he has begun to pester Trump insiders.

“He wants to be seen as having say in everything (even if he doesn’t),” this source said.

The person said some Trump advisers said they were concerned that Musk didn’t understand one key to being effective in Trump’s world: keeping a low profile. Musk’s engagement has been overly aggressive and may hurt his standing in the long run, the source said.

The second source also said Musk appeared to be pushing his own agenda, instead of focusing on Trump’s. They said that while Musk is clearly a smart and capable person, the transition is about ensuring those loyal to Trump will be the ones carrying out government policies.

“Appointing people because they are loyal to Elon doesn’t work,” the source said.

In a meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday morning, Trump spoke fondly of Musk, according to two lawmakers in the room, praising him for his time and dedication to the election. Trump said Musk set aside his own business interests for the campaign and didn’t ask for anything in return. At one point, Trump joked about Musk’s continued presence in his orbit, saying: “Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him.” The lawmakers insisted the statements were made in jest.

Musk has been among Trump’s most energetic supporters. His super PAC spent more than $152 million to elect Trump and other Republican candidates, with much of the money coming from Musk himself. He held rallies for Trump in battleground state Pennsylvania, offered $1 million daily giveaways for registered voters and turned his social media app, X, into a megaphone for Trump.

In posts on X in the past week, Musk has pushed various policy ideas, including deporting immigrants and slashing government spending.

“Very productive day of work by the transition team,” Musk posted Monday night in a response to Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, one of the two advisers leading the transition.

Musk has also shared photos from Mar-a-Lago, including a photo with him and the extended Trump family. On Sunday, one of Trump’s grandchildren, Kai Trump, posted a photo on X of herself with Musk, writing that he was “achieving uncle status.”

Musk’s private jet landed in West Palm Beach, near Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday of last week and was there for about 24 hours, according to the @ElonJet account on Bluesky, which uses publicly available flight data. The plane took off from West Palm Beach last Wednesday and headed to Austin, Texas, where Musk has a home, but then it landed again in West Palm Beach on Friday and has been there for the four days since then, according to the account. It’s not clear whether Musk was on the jet for every flight.

The relationship between Musk and Trump has been rocky over the years, despite their recent alliance. Musk said in 2022 that Trump should “hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,” prompting Trump to hit back at the time that Musk would be “worthless” without government subsidies.

There has been intense speculation about the long-term viability of the relationship, given the ambitions and personalities of the two men, with many people on social media predicting an eventual falling-out.

But Musk has already gained since the election in one respect: Tesla’s share price has risen more than 15% from last Wednesday’s opening price, outpacing the 1.8% growth in the S&P 500 over the same period.

It's going to be amusing if Musk manages to get himself kicked out of Trump's inner circle before inauguration.

As for competence:
Elon Musk's new 'department' seeks 'super high-IQ' staff for unpaid jobs

Musk said “compensation is zero” for the “revolutionaries” who will advise on cuts to the federal budget.

Nov. 15, 2024, 8:26 AM GMT+13
By David Ingram

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s new commission to slash government spending began soliciting applications for staff jobs Thursday, saying it wants to hire “revolutionaries” who score highly on IQ tests.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting,” the so-called Department of Government Efficiency said on X.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants,” the post said.

Musk said separately that the jobs would be unpaid but that they would “greatly help America.”

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero,” he wrote. “What a great deal!”

President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was appointing the two businessmen to jointly head up the advisory board to suggest spending cuts, target regulations for elimination and put forward ideas to restructure federal agencies. Musk and Ramaswamy have called for sweeping changes to federal programs, such as mass layoffs and deep cuts.

Musk is the CEO of SpaceX, which has $3.8 billion in contracts with federal agencies this year, according to government data. It’s not clear whether that spending is on the table for possible cuts. He is also the CEO of Tesla and the owner of X.

On Wednesday, Musk called for cutting grant money to nonprofit groups.

“‘Government-funded non-governmental organizations’ is obviously a contradiction in terms,” he wrote on X. “They are just an illegal arm of the government.”

Ramaswamy is a former biotech company executive who lost to Trump in the Republican presidential primaries this year.

The panel, which is called DOGE for short in a nod to an internet meme and cryptocurrency, won’t be an official federal department unless Congress passes a law to create it. Trump set a deadline of July 4, 2026, for the commission to complete its work.

Thousands of people have been replying to the DOGE account on X, some with suggested spending cuts. The DOGE account said Thursday that it was grateful to people for expressing interest in helping and that now it needs full-time staff members.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators,” the account said.

It’s not clear who is writing the account’s posts, though Musk has reposted its statements in an apparent signal of their authenticity.

This is how you guarantee that everyone working for DOGE has a major conflict of interest. That they are only working at DOGE because their employer wants to make sure that DOGE leaves the employers funding alone.

[Solauren]

Oh, how I hope that Musk gets booted by Trump, and then Trump orders the DOJ to 'go to town' on him.

[bilateralrope]

There is no need for Trump to give that order. All he needs to do is let the SEC continue their investigation to its conclusion. The one where Musk just refused to show up to one deposition.

[Solauren]

There is no need for Trump to give that order. All he needs to do is let the SEC continue their investigation to its conclusion. The one where Musk just refused to show up to one deposition.

I was more thinking Trump going "that's a good start...", then having the DOJ go after him for anything they even have a remote change of convicting him of.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Having won the election I can easily imagine Trump deciding Musk had outlived his usefulness, especially as Musk's idea of saving money is not paying the bills. I can see how that would quickly lead to a government shutdown

[Raw Shark]

Having won the election I can easily imagine Trump deciding Musk had outlived his usefulness, especially as Musk's idea of saving money is not paying the bills. I can see how that would quickly lead to a government shutdown

Donny Jingles' idea of saving money is also not paying the bills. Now, I only got a B+ in Physics, but I seem to recall that a negative and a negative repel...

[bilateralrope]

Having won the election I can easily imagine Trump deciding Musk had outlived his usefulness, especially as Musk's idea of saving money is not paying the bills. I can see how that would quickly lead to a government shutdown

Donny Jingles' idea of saving money is also not paying the bills. Now, I only got a B+ in Physics, but I seem to recall that a negative and a negative repel...

The difference is that Trump pays enough of his bills that it's not worth the cost of suing for the rest of what he owes. Musk just refuses to pay anything.

[Raw Shark]

[double]

[Raw Shark]

The difference is that Trump pays enough of his bills that it's not worth the cost of suing for the rest of what he owes. Musk just refuses to pay anything.

Look, man. All I've got left to hope for is that those two douchebags manage to destroy each other. Please don't take this away from me. I am literally begging you. I know I talk some big talk about legging it, but I'm old now. Just let me have this wish. I honestly doubt I have it in me to go full off the grid rebel now. Maybe twenty years ago, but now? Fuck that. I'd probably just take the coward's way out if it came down to brass tacks. I own a perfectly operational firearm, and I try to maintain some kind of hope every day.

[Raw Shark]

Y'know, just reading what I just wrote makes me feel ashamed. Am I really going to just shoot myself in the mouth on the toilet? Probably not. I'm not that guy. If I go out, it will be spectacular. I am smart, I am capable, I am angry, and I am hopeless. That's the chemistry for a newsworthy happening.

I'm not gonna use my gun for that, though. I'll try to make it funny for you guys. That's how I want to be remembered: "Damn, that was fucked-up. But it was funny!"

[Raw Shark]

It will go down in history as the Great Apple Pie Incident of 2025. Colleges will teach a class about it, about how society came to the point of the Apple Pie Incident. If that is to be my legacy, I'll own it.

"There was some guy named Matt - He'd had enough.
So he made an apple pie; he got all the stuff.
And he baked it, but nobody knew,
Exactly what that apple pie would do..."

This isn't a bomb threat. I'd probably just put confetti in it or something. But it'll be funny!

[bilateralrope]

The difference is that Trump pays enough of his bills that it's not worth the cost of suing for the rest of what he owes. Musk just refuses to pay anything.

Look, man. All I've got left to hope for is that those two douchebags manage to destroy each other. Please don't take this away from me. I am literally begging you.

I'm just saying that Musk's bill avoidance strategy is stupider than Trump's. From memory, only one of them has tried to claw back money that was paid to lawyers. Take that stupidity, add in that X and Truth Social are competing social media platforms and them getting into a major fight seems inevitable.

[Ralin]

I'm just saying that Musk's bill avoidance strategy is stupider than Trump's. From memory, only one of them has tried to claw back money that was paid to lawyers. Take that stupidity, add in that X and Truth Social are competing social media platforms and them getting into a major fight seems inevitable.

I've said this before, but if nothing else Trump has proven that he is capable of running a successful grift. There is a very real possibility that he is smarter than Elon Musk.

[LadyTevar]

I'm just saying that Musk's bill avoidance strategy is stupider than Trump's. From memory, only one of them has tried to claw back money that was paid to lawyers. Take that stupidity, add in that X and Truth Social are competing social media platforms and them getting into a major fight seems inevitable.

I've said this before, but if nothing else Trump has proven that he is capable of running a successful grift. There is a very real possibility that he is smarter than Elon Musk.

More devious, and luckier, but I doubt smarter.

After all, as Pres-Elect, Trump is expected to talk to other World Leaders.
However, Elon has been talking to Iran's leadership on his own.

[Ralin]

I don't see any particular connection between those things

[bilateralrope]

More devious, and luckier, but I doubt smarter.

Being smarter doesn't mean that Trump is smart. It's a low bar.

Another example that comes to mind is after each of them have exhausted every legal option to avoid being deposed. From memory, Trump then turned up and plead the fifth to every single question. While I've already linked to Musk giving a very transparent lie and then not showing up.

[Raw Shark]

After all, as Pres-Elect, Trump is expected to talk to other World Leaders.
However, Elon has been talking to Iran's leadership on his own.

Trump talking to other World Leaders, depending on who it is, has a strong tendency to go like:

"Donny. Suck my dick."
"Do you want me to play with your balls too, Daddy?"

[LadyTevar]

I don't see any particular connection between those things

One is prefectly legal, a future leader talking to foreign leaders.
The other is a private citizen talking to foreign leaders, which is called "conspiracy with foreign powers" and considered 'spying'.

[Batman]

A distinction that is meaningless in a situation where the government refuses to enforce the law as long as it's republicans breaking it.