William Lindsey 

"When ... 'strongmen' realize their weakness is becoming more apparent, their misguided and ignorant policies are backfiring, and their malfeasance is unpopular, it triggers the intense fear they all have of people hating them, turning against them, conspiring to take them down."

~ Ruth Ben-Ghiat

#Trump #Hegseth #PamBondi #strongmen #Iran #Epstein #ballroom #bunker
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https://lucid.substack.com/p/why-autocrats-need-bunkers-david

Why Autocrats Need Bunkers; David Pepper on Fallout from Trump's Recklessness

Sat. 8pmET Live with Anat Shenker-Osorio; Lucid 5th Anniv Discounts

Lucid
Apr 3 at 1:39pmWeb
Show threadWilliam Lindsey 5d ago

"It’s then that they start firing their officials, blaming them for their failures. It is then, too, that such a leader might just feel the compulstion to announce in public that his beloved ballroom —which is an extension of his ego, his need to recreate the world in his own image— will have a 'massive' military complex underneath it."

#Trump #Hegseth #PamBondi #strongmen #Iran #Epstein #ballroom #bunker
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Show threadWilliam Lindsey 5d ago

"Meaning the ballroom is a very expensive front for an exit strategy: a place to hide when the disasters he is provoking every day come to pass.

Every dictator broods about such scenarios."

#Trump #Hegseth #PamBondi #strongmen #Iran #Epstein #ballroom #bunker
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Show threadHakeemG5d ago

@wdlindsy

It's really a stretch to call Trump a dictator, he certainly wants to be a dictator, but 77 million people voted for this clown and another 90 million stayed home.

I know it's not popular but the American voter really did this to themselves. It's not like they weren't warned, Kamala warned them, Biden warned them, even Obama came back and warned everyone.

Show threadWilliam Lindsey 5d ago
@HakeemG I'm not one who has to be convinced that we need to note that many American voters did this to ourselves. I think the word "dictator" can have a fairly elastic meaning, too.
Show threadJames Tweedie5d ago
@wdlindsy In other words his Bunker.
He obviously does not 'do' history.
Show threadNicole Parsons5d ago

@wdlindsy

Trump's announcement about the military facilities under his proposed ballroom are also a threat plus a revenue opportunity.

The public corruption & bribery between Republican officials & donors is immense.
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/ice-detention-centers-warehouses-corruption-trump-no-kings-rally

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/freed-syrian-prisoners-describe-the-horrors-they-faced-under-assad

Every despot has torture chambers & detention cells under their palaces.

Another consideration: the east wing's basement also contained secure facilities for intelligence & national defense.

1/

Why is Trump’s DHS wildly overpaying for ICE warehouse detention centers?

Rachel Maddow highlights allegations of corruption after Trump's DHS overpaid for warehouses to convert into ICE detention centers.

MS NOW
Show threadNicole Parsons5d ago

2/

The type of oversight that caught Trump extorting Ukraine & Mike Flynn colluding with the Russians.

Trump's regime needed that impartial surveillance decommissioned using any pretext.

Trump wants that surveillance system put his personal use. Think of the insider trading opportunities from surveillance on every visitor's devices.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-building-massive-military-complex-beneath-white-house-ballroom-what-to-know-11754692

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/19/politics/east-wing-secret-bunker-construction-details

Trump Building ‘Massive’ Military Complex Beneath Ballroom: What To Know

President Donald Trump has said the new White House ballroom “essentially becomes a shed for what's being built under.“

Newsweek
Show threadNicole Parsons5d ago

3/

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-technology-the-trump-administration-could-use-to-hack-your-phone

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/14/government-planes-mimic-cellphone-towers-to-collect-user-data-report

https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/five-things-to-know-about-nsa-mass-surveillance-and-the-coming-fight-in-congress

https://www.thedailybeast.com/officials-evidence-of-cellphone-surveillance-devices-found-near-white-house/

When the FBI caught Mike Flynn, they also caught others.
https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/30/trumps-doj-hands-1-2-million-payout-to-his-former-national-security-advisor-mike-flynn/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/us/politics/michael-flynn-kislyak-calls.html

https://theintercept.com/2021/06/27/qanon-michael-flynn-digital-soldiers/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/02/14/why-flynn-was-undone-by-a-phone-call/

https://www.newsweek.com/why-flynn-russia-affair-troubling-trump-559132

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/michael-flynn-contacts-russia-campaign-robert-mueller/

https://www.fastcompany.com/40563108/trump-dials-up-cell-use-as-phone-spy-devices-spotted-around-dc

No wonder every tech oligarch is funding the ballroom.
https://www.wired.com/story/hemisphere-das-white-house-surveillance-trillions-us-call-records/

The Technology the Trump Administration Could Use to Hack Your Phone

Western democracies have been roiled by the use of spyware to target politicians, journalists, and other vulnerable groups. Could it happen here? Ronan Farrow reports.

The New Yorker
Show threadNicole Parsons5d ago

4/

No-bid contracts for state surveillance systems are incredibly lucrative, privatized espionage & spying even more so.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-the-transcripts-of-michael-flynns-calls-with-russian-diplomat

https://abcnews.com/Politics/timeline-michael-flynns-interactions-russia-cost-job/story?id=45456031

Jeff Bezos's attitude towards phone hacking is now "if you can't beat them, join them" it seems.
https://www.theverge.com/amazon/667916/jeff-bezos-amazon-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/01/jeff-bezos-reported-phone-hack-billionaires/605308/

https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-phone-hacked-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-report-explained-2020-1

Read the transcripts of Michael Flynn’s calls with Russian diplomat

John Ratcliffe declassified documents that allies of the president say bolster their contention that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was wrongly pursued.

PBS News
Show threadNicole Parsons5d ago

5/

Chris Collins was bycatch from the Mueller investigation. There were many others.

https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnr/date/2018-08-08/segment/05

https://www.ms.now/transcript/2018-08-08-msna1132766

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/09/chris-collins-used-campaign-funds-to-pay-insider-trading-legal-bills.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Collins_(New_York_politician)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/19/mueller-mysteries-1283775

It remains to be seen if others became targets of Trump extortion because of white house surveillance systems.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/mueller-mystery-what-are-12-criminal-referrals-n996166

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/mueller-prosecutions-cohen-criminal-referrals.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_charges_brought_in_the_Mueller_special_counsel_investigation

The same systems, but new & improved, that Trump wants under his ballroom.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/05/justice-department-trump-russia-investigation-2016-election-interference

CNN.com - Transcripts