Donald Trump Time Capsule

[appleman2006]

My prediction. He will be hounded and harassed to such an extent that he will be almost constantly on the defensive and over time some of his big moral failures may actually come to destroy him. ( See Rob Ford)
As I have said many times before. Your debt problems (and ours) are too great for any one administration to fix. The medicine needed to actually fix it would be far to sour and distasteful to the masses and they will rise up in revolt were he to try. And if he does not try? Then he will be just another president in a line of presidents that will bring you closer to the financial brink.
And no I am not a sour negative old man. I am actually very positive about the future. But it has nothing to do with the future of this old world.

Well I was certainly right on the "hounded and harassed" part.

Two things he has so far done far better in than I was expecting and that is in his dealing with the economy although he still has not dealt with the debt issue at all. But I predicted that part. The other was his dealings with the world in general. I was not expecting him to be nearly as effective on the world stage as he has been so far.

[temporal1]

Page 1, i wrote:

.. “from the tiny amount i'm seeing of news, it appears Trump may not be treated as badly as what we have had going on here in Illinois for 2 years. after all. part of, or a lot of, what has been happening here was an effort to keep the White House.”

WRONG.
however, he responds to it and holds up against it better than anyone i can imagine.
after 2 years in office, he seems to actually LOOK BETTER than he did going into office. i don’t believe any former POTUS has managed that. the office is known for aging men.

i hope what he is enduring will have a lasting benefit for the future office, for politics, for improvement in media reporting, etc. there is certainly room for improvement.

[img]data:L/TCH/dH/AIr0161rm4j6Q2b2se8nWGMon18PPqX4rqo+2Q==[/img]
hmm. ‘guess that meme has been censored. too bad. it was funny.
it was just depicting how obama+w aged in office. nothing scandalous.

Page 2, i wrote:

.. i do not see Trump as more vile, vulgar, or narcissitic narcissistic than the prior admin, or those so vehemently opposing him now (as appleman predicted.) his style is a bit different, perhaps, but, his opposition has nothing to brag about. if they had not been "so awful," Trump would not be POTUS today. they may not have been as brash as he in outward appearances, but, heavens, what awful debauchery they "nicely" put forward. their outward appearances since losing in November have not been at all nice or polite. it's just ugly as sin.

i'm glad i took the view of, "i'm not afraid of Trump as POTUS."
all signs now are that things would be even worse if he were not POTUS.
it's a treacherous world out there.

i’m ok with this. glad i had the sense not to be afraid. i have too many fears.

Page 3, i wrote:

it’s not yet 4 years later .. but, evenso, reviewing input is perty interesting.

ok. looks like this is unfolding as more of an annual thread revisit.

[Robert]

I told my wife today as we drove to the store that I think President Trump will go down as one of the most irritating presidents and one of the most productive ones. She reminded me that history often forgets about the irritating thing.

I she and I are dead on.

[temporal1]

2020: Now into the 4th year.

[RZehr]

I think Donald Trump will win re-election in 2020, and will abuse his power, and break more laws at a greater magnitude and boldness, even than his first term.
I think there will be good things done by him for this nation too, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him him impeach and removed from office after the 2022 elections due to a combination of falling popularity and actions so egregious the Congress actually removes him.

[Bootstrap]

2020: Now into the 4th year.

OK, let's do a reset. Last time, I had no predictions, I wasn't sure I knew how to read him. This time I think I probably do. So how about we follow RZehr's lead, make our predictions for 2020, and later we can each say what we think we got right and what we got wrong.

Once again, let's please not criticize other people's predictions here, and let's not use this for general commentary on Trump or his Democratic rivals, just make predictions here. But it's totally OK to say "here are some things I am watching to see how to interpret what is going on".

[Dan Z]

Whatever "high ground" politically involved conservative Christians who support Trump once had (I remember their moral outrage at the vile behavior of the philandering Democrat Bill Clinton) has been cashed in. No matter how they argue for their cause in the future, because of their alignment with Trump, they have given up their right to credibly critique their political opponents on things like "family values" and "personal integrity." I agree with Perigrino - perhaps as their man eventually flames out in disgrace, some Christians on the right will come to see that the idea of a morally superior political party is a sham (a lesson partisans on the Christian left have had ample opportunity to learn by now as well).

Not much has changed in my perception from 2 1/2 years ago, so I'll just repost this.

My main additions would be:

• 1) Some good things have come out of the Trump presidency so far - including continued economic growth, abortion restrictions, judicial appointments, regulatory rollback, trade deals, and some important rulings related to religious liberty. By and large, Trump has been better than most at following through on his political promises (not so much on his predictions).
  2) If Trump win's in 2020, he will be even more unfettered in relationship to the moral and legal restraints on the presidency - which feels somewhat dangerous to me.
  3) I think I was wrong that Trump might "flame out in disgrace." He might flame out, but disgrace and shame are not a possibility for DJ Trump.
  4) Evangelical's have made their deal with power, and as a result their moral voice and credibility outside of their political tribe is shot. They have chosen a path that will limit their voice and reach for decades to come.
  5) I'm still hoping for Kingdom Christians to have their eyes opened to the ways political tribalism (of any type) changes them and their way of thinking. I'm more disappointed than ever in how many of my beloved fellow Conservative Anabaptists have been sucked in to the Trump phenomenon and the worldview that goes with it. IMO, we're betraying our heritage in this regard. The good news is that those (mostly younger) Conservative Anabaptists who have not bent the knee to the political tribalism and ideologies of the day are beginning to find each other, and it is possible that a refined and energized movement might emerge from this fellowship as a Christ-centered light in the darkness.

[Grace]

I will predict that Trump wins in 2020 and the media and the Democrats will hound him relentlessly. Pride always comes before a fall. From 2008 to 2016 we saw a very proud Democratic party, and in 2016 that all fell.

It is my opinion that the Lord is preserving Trump for now, because he is pro-Israel and supports life. However Trump is also a proud arrogant person, and he will fall sooner or later. Whether that will be when he is still in office or afterwards I don't know.

[temporal1]

2016, Page 1:

A reminder:

No debate, please, and please do not quote what anyone else says. Just make your own predictions. No more than one post per person per day.

If Robert has good backups, we will revisit this in four years.

This part has been hard-to-impossible. Not typical for this discussion forum.
i guess this is my 2nd post for today, and, i’ve quoted the OP. Yikes. Bad girl.

2020 reset:

2020: Now into the 4th year.

OK, let's do a reset.
Last time, I had no predictions, I wasn't sure I knew how to read him. This time I think I probably do.

So how about we follow RZehr's lead, make our predictions for 2020, and later [?]
we can each say what we think we got right and what we got wrong.

Once again, let's please not criticize other people's predictions here, and let's not use this for general commentary on Trump or his Democratic rivals, just make predictions here.

But it's totally OK to say "here are some things I am watching to see how to interpret what is going on".

Does “later” mean after the November election? 4 years later, 2024? or .. ??

My prediction for 2020:
Very different from 2016, when i was CONVINCED DJT had no serious interest in serving as POTUS.

i could not imagine DJT as POTUS in 2016.
i hope he wins in 2020.

i now believe he is willing to continue, altho i am sorry he feels he needs to. It’s a HARD job, often thankless, and far worse than merely thankless.

i’m not sure he will win. i’m not sure he won’t be assassinated.

if he wins, i expect he will continue to work hard under extreme efforts of sabotage.
i do not expect a “ticking up” of power (like we experienced with obama, post 2012).

[i’m starting a new thread in Homestead for commentaries.]
Time Capsule Homestead COMMENTARY
http://forum.mennonet.com/viewtopic.php ... 626#p80626

[barnhart]

On another thread, soon after the whistleblower, I predicted that the President would be impeached by the house but not removed by the senate and would go into the 2020 election with a 50/50 chance of re-election. I still hold his re-election at 50%, there is a lot of time between now and then for something truly egregious. If he does win, it will lead to an Icarus event where he pushes boldly into new territory, unaware that the scale of his support has tipped slightly against him, and down he will come. As my mother always said, "what goes up must come down," and I don't see him coming down painlessly. The most likely senario in my mind is he will make some move internationally, probably involving the military, and the state department and military brass will object, and he will claim a coup de gras, but it will be a step to far for the old school senate Republicans and they will pull the plug on him.

Or maybe he will peacefully retire to Florida to play golf and create a circuit of rally style events he is so fond of.

Edit to add another option:
It seems to me he follows popularity, so if the nationalist/populist/fascist friendly wing of the GOP shows promise and growth, he may lean more that way and lead a split with the old conservative/elitist/libertarian friendly wing, once he has no more national elections to consider.

Maybe Twitter will eventually be pushed too far and pull his account. Then he would be robbed of his bully pulpit to fight back.