ANATOMY OF A "TRUTH DECAY"
I like to share for illustration a Facebook post by someone from the legal profession and you can see how truth decays. The post contents are in italics, followed by my comments.
"I have this feeling that America might just implode under the leadership of Trump. And he is only into his (mid-) second year of his second term.
Widespread division, which is blatantly obvious at this stage, is one thing, but are his supporters over there really that numbed to the in-your-face shenanigans of Trump?
In fact, he is not covering up his questionable acts anymore, since he is more than happy to do it openly as if he is teaching his minions how to take whatever you fancy from the national coffers as long as the people still love and support you, for whatever reason. Go figure."
This is his opinion which I have no quarrels with. Trump is many people's punching bag, but note the use of "shenanigans" and "take whatever from the national coffers" is an invitation for a defamation suit in other circumstances.
"The latest free-for-all for Trump was his breach of the disclosure rule for trading in stocks estimated to be between $220m and $750m in market value in the first three months of this year. He was given a slap on the wrist, a fine of $200."
Firstly, there is no "breach of .. disclosure" . The writer was referring to a media report of Trump's SEC filing of securities trading for 2026 Q1. The Q1 filing was late. Late filing is very common and no big deal, breach of disclosure is a criminal offence.
Secondly, there is a legal difference between fine and penalty. A fine is a specific type of monetary punishment imposed by a court or authorized authority for breaking a law or rule. A penalty is a broader term encompassing any adverse consequence or punishment for non-compliance, which can include fines but also imprisonment, license suspensions. The $200 was a late filing penalty.
You can judge for yourself how sloppy this paragraph is for a legal hand. The "slap on the wrist" tries to turn a nothing-burger into scandal.
"The point is that a sitting president shouldn’t engage in trading, but the WH is claiming that it was his financial advisers who are managing his funds. He had stayed out of it.
Surely the article conflates investments and trading? Billionaires of the world all use professional wealth managers to handle their investments. Trump is known to have a few accounts managed by different wealth managers. Some wealth agencies mange accounts on a discretionary basis. Such accounts mean the manager takes total control and responsibility on what to buy and sell. We don't know if Trump's accounts are discretionary. Some of the SEC forms show active turnover of buying and selling which is a clear indication of discretionary accounts.
"Believable? For a man who sells Trump watches, mobile handphones and Bibles as a sitting president? At some point, you have to give the people more credit, right?"
Another sloppy writing. This is carelessly amplifying stuff one sees in social media. Watch how truth decays. Trump never sells watches, Bibles or mobile handphones..
It's common knowledge the master of the "Art of the Deal" licences his name for various products like hotels, golf courses, prestige commercial buildings, etc. using his licencing company CIC Ventures LLC. Trump name is trade-mark registered in Singapore. There is a condominium at Kembangan called "The Trumps" but I doubt this is licenced, probably the copyright did not cover the category residential buildings.
TheBestWatchesOnEarth LLC licenced the Trump name for their watches. The owners remain unknown as the company was filed under a registered agent in Feb 2024. It seems there is no physical store-front, selling only online.
There is no Trump Bible. It's official registered trademark is titled after Ron Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA Bible". This was a conservative project by Ron Greenwood with his business partner, Hugh Kirkpatrick. In 2021, their marketing firm, Elite Source Pro, tried to arrange a manufacturing and publishing contract with HarperCollins Christian Publishing (specifically its subsidiary, Zondervan). However, after public pushback, HarperCollins officially backed out and refused to publish or print the book. That's fear of woke cancel culture - the Left is so threatening as to frighten off a Christian company from publishing a Bible! They then pivoted from using the copyrighted New International Version translation to the public-domain King James Version (KJV). A private, uncredited entity took over the layout and typesetting, which is legally credited in the book only to a firm called GQ Design. To this day, the core team keeps the identity of the specific company printing and binding the text completely anonymous. Shipping documents indicate the printing was done by a press in China. Trump name was licenced and embossed only on some specialty editions. Trump endorsed and helped market it actively selling in the political campaigns where it's customary for political parties to sell promotional items to raise funds. Trump obviously took a great opportunity to energise his Christian base.
Trump Mobile was part of a decades long process on ways to create social media space to protect free speech for the conservative base. One has to remember how the Liberal Left practically controlled the whole free speech ecosystem with Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, all legacy media (except Fox News), and tech companies including Apple, Amazon. The president's sons Donald J Trump Jr and Eric Trump registered Trump Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator, in Feb 2024. The company licenced the Trump name. There have been false starts, but as of todate, no mobile phone has been launched.
"Be that as it may, that does not explain how the DOD has recently awarded Dell a $9.7b contract when Trump had in Feb 2026 acquired between $1m and $5m of Dell stock. I suppose his stock portfolio in Dell jumped to millions in market value with that DOD contract, and more in the future."
This is the most serious sting in the post. Unfortunately, once again it reflects sloppiness and media headline amplification without serious research or having no skin in the investment info world. Let me go a bit deep here and you can assess for yourself.
First and foremost, Trump's acquisition would probably be at average price of $150. Today it is about $427, a gain of $277. So he bought between 6,666 to 33,333 shares of Dell with capital gains between $1.8m to $7.6m. Why limit himself to 33,333 shares, why not make a market kill and buy a million shares?
Secondly, this is selective reporting. In the Q1 SEC report, Trump purchased a host of other counters -- Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Oracle, Broadcom, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Alphabet (Google), AND, Tesla, Netflix, Comcast, Disney, Palantir, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, Costco, Walmart, JPMorgan, Airbnb, Doordash, Micron, Dell, Coinbase, Strategy. Why select on Dell, why not the several others whose prices didn't do well?
Thirdly, Dell's award is a 5 year contract for $9.7b and it is not a bombshell report. It is not something that blind-sided market analysts. This deal has been an ongoing negotiation for years across 2 administrations and written about in financial circles. Dell itself has made reports on and off. In investments there is a saying about "Buy on the rumour; Sell on the news" The Pentagon deal has already been priced in long ago. On the day when news broke, May 27 and 28 started a serious climb On May 29 after QI earnings report, it skyrocketed. Did the price move on the announcement of the deal? Sure it did to some extent. But the Pentagon deal is not the reason why Dell price hit the roof. You need to understand something else.
Fourthly, the Pentagon deal is a software procurement and licensing consolidation deal. Dell produces nothing for Pentagon. Mircosoft is the software provider. Dell is the distribution, integration and contract vehicle. Dell has a long-standing US federal systems integration business. This deal is of course absolutely positive for Dell as it validates Dell's federal position, reinforcing it as a key US government procurement gateway, and seal its sticky enterprise relationship.
Fifthly, we are in the AI era and AI-related tech stocks are at different stages of repricing according to which stack they are in. To understand the AI boom, look at them as structurally in 7 layers :
(1) Chips (the Brain) -- Nvidia
(2) Hyperscalers (Cloud owners - the AI capex machines) -- Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta
(3) Servers (the Builders of AI hardware) -- SMCI, Dell, Hwelett-Packard, Lenovo
(4) Networking (Infrastructure backbone) -- Arista, Broadcom, Cisco
(5) Semiconductor (the Foundries - AI enablers) - AMD, Intel, TSMC
(6) Memory/Storage (explodes with memory bandwidth demand) -- Micron Tech, Western Digiter, Seagate
(7) Power (Supporting ecosystem - the picks and shovels of AI infrastructure ) -- Vertiv, Schneider Electric, Eaton.
Fully-priced or near peak narrative expansion where the AI story is already deeply embedded in valuation -- Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon. These are quality compounding AI infrastructure cores, not early repricing models.
Mostly repriced but still with selective upside which are in the middle phase, already rerated but still cyclical upside possible -- Meta, Broadcom, AMD (AI GPU alternative to Nvidia).
Partially repriced but still room for narrative expansion, the classic second wave AI infrastructure zone -- SMCI, Dell, Hwelett-Packard.
I left out the ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers) so as not to clutter. These are contract manufacturers such as Quanta, Wistron.
Early under-appreciated AI infrastructure layers which are still structurally under-owned relative to importance. This is the infrastructure bottleneck layer, often late-cycle winners. -- Arista networks, Micron Tech, Vertiv, TSMC.
And lastly, let's focus on Dell. While investors understood about the coming repricing, timing is key. Dell has transformed from a traditional PC manufacturer into an enterprise AI infrastructure powerhouse. Capitalizing on the global demand for compute power, Dell pivoted by supplying high-performance, GPU-accelerated servers and data center systems used to train and run massive artificial intelligence models. Dell has an AI backlog of US$50b. This is not CEO talk, but contracts signed, by big time customers like CoreWeave, xAI, Samsung, Honeywell, US government (before the Pentagon deal). CoreWeave (AI cloud infra player) is huge. It's own backlog is enormous, something like US$100b.
If Dell's US$50b AI backlog, whilst positive to support share price, didn't cause a share price boom, the idea that Pentagon's US$9.7b (non-AI) deal caused the price to hit above US$400 needs convincing. The market is expecting a share repricing as Dell is structurally building it's AI business segment. So the AI story has been in play for a while but the AI narrative confidence level is not there yet. The reason for the share price jump has to be something else. While it is good that Dell locks in future volume, it is earnings data that moves prices.
On May 29 after market closed, Dell announced its Q1 earnings. It's year-on-year revenue grew 88%. It's AI server segment grew 757% to US$16.1b. This is the confirmation the market was waiting for. The gate opened and Dell share price took off.
Dell's share price rerating is the AI narrative playing out, not because Trump approved the Pentagon deal for Microsoft software consolidation. Emotional hate-driven sloppy messaging amplifies Menon's "hate decay" This is where we are with the accusation of Trump insider trading on Dell reflecting the Facebook post knows nothing about the market. The AI narrative is playing out at level 3 of the AI stack. SCMI hit its rerating bull run in early 2024 before retreating due to some governance and internal control issues. The issues were resolved and SMCI had its second wave rerating in mid 2025-2026. Dell has also been in play for a repricing but how the narrative moves depends on confidence. The Q1 earnings report is when the rubber hits the road for Dell.
"And I am not even talking about the time he sued his own government for disclosing his taxes, and in a private settlement with, well himself, he secured a billion-dollar Slush Fund for his Jan 6 posse."
This does not pass the unbiased test. A fair treatment of any claim presents both sides of the argument.
The US has a history of being sued for illegal disclosure of tax payers confidential information. There is a two year time limitation to sue and Trump filed the case on the last day which happens to be during his own presidency. The Internal Revenue Code 7431 sets out how compensation is computed so Trump's US$10b claim is not out of the blue.
Trump's own DOJ chose to settle. In Singapore jurisdiction, the lawyer-writer of the FB post would accept ownself-settle-ownself without question, but he objects to Trump's case.
Hundreds of Trump supporters suffered immensely in the J6 incident in what the writer waves off as "pose". Trump haters think J6 protestors are insurgents (obviously the article writer thinks so too) but others think the Biden DOJ and activist Liberal judges persecuted Trump supporters, together with the J6 Congressional Inquiry, to create a picture of massive lawlessness by the Right, the purpose was to influence 2020 Election. I can pen pages of instances of injustice by the Biden admin, but that would clutter this blog post. Just to say there were issues of wrong charges, excessive sentence (some serve jail terms 3 times longer than murderers), witness tampering, destruction of records, etc.
The fund is not just for J6 claimants, but includes those conservatives who had been wrongly prosecuted by the Biden admin. These include people like professor Eastman, "My Pillow" CEO Lindell, Carter Page, General Mike Flynn, etc.
There will be many conservatives wrongly prosecuted who will ironically sue the Trump admin for deeds perpetrated by Biden admin. Trump's DOJ will most likely settle most of these claims if ever they proceed, baring evidence. My view is that the slush fund of US$1.776b is a trade-off for the amount of resources that will be needed to process the suits that's coming. Take for example Flynn and Lindell have already won their cases when moved out of Liberal leftist judges courts. However, in light of mounting push-back by both Houses, and a court order, the Anti-Weaponisation Fund has been frozen, proving there is no fascist, Trump can be stopped.
"How about the ballroom debacle or obsession? That $400m Qatari private jet and the hidden favours extended? The Mar a Lago’s invitation where people are forced to pay and pay. Or weaponizing the FCC and DOJ to silence people who speak negatively about him? Some are even saying he is selling pardons. And whether it’s true or not, does it matter anymore?
I guess in the Trump era, no one is above the law, except the chosen one, and those who are unquestionably loyal to him will enjoy the best years of their lives during his term. Membership does have its privilege.
Is anyone even listening? Do we even care? Maybe, when the band is playing so loudly, one can hardly hear anything.
Yes, Trump may not be taking a penny in salary from the WH, but the way he is enriching himself and his family, it is more than worth every penny of it forgo.
I guess the god he is subscribing to, and at the same time, supported by his unwavering religious right, is indeed blessing him, most abundantly.
The irony is, Trump was given the keys to the worldly kingdom, and it was an opportunity for him to show the world that he is different. That is, he will do right by the people.
That was supposed to be a sacred responsibility, a position that could go down in history in a glowingly positive way. A legacy like a city of the hill, shinning brightly.
But Trump, like most leaders smitten by wealth, power and fame, will have none of that. He took the road many had travelled, causing many to follow him blindly, and leaving the road less travelled empty, silenced, and dead calm. He embodied the swamp in the valley.
Anyway, wishful thinking aside, Trump is true to form and substance. I can’t say I (or many of us) did not expect it though."
There is a huge amount of ranting and rhetorics, not worthy of comment.
"I once wrote that the presidency could be Trump’s worst nightmare, a curse in disguise. This may just be the way things are going after the political circus, where Trump is the one and only risen star, is finally over. When they are cleaning up the mess, that is usually where the stale shit hits the fan, literally."
Trump has basically killed the old way of uni-party politics where it doesn't really mattered which party wins the presidency. The old establishment families on both sides of the aisle will debate and argue policy matters for public consumption, but behind closed doors they shake hands and trade horses, damn their constituents. Trump's MAGA is about returning control back to the people. A government for the people. Of course there are millions of people who disagree with him. Who are these?
Let's review some of the things Trump has done or are works-in-progress. I will just mention some -- arrest and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records, cut wastage, persecute massive frauds, rebuild a demoralised effeminate military force that cannot even achieve its annual recruitment drive and turn it back into a real fighting force, secure electoral process by demanding voter ID checks, eliminate DEI and pivot back to meritocracy, reshoring manufacturing and bring jobs back, have allies increase their own defence spending and relief US tax payers funding them, bring God back into the government, promote family values, ban men in women sports, dismantle globalist elite power stranglehold on the economy, weed out ideology-driven employees embedded in the bureaucracy (clear the swamp), stop abortion by demand (it's not women's right but babies' right), bring accountability to those who breached laws in the previous admin, bring back law and order, etc, etc. That is a heck of "some", imagine a complete list.
What Trump is doing is cleaning up the mess created by the previous admin. What the article and Trump haters want is for the next admin to revert to all the mess.
Trump is cleaning the mess which was the reason he won the votes, the same kind of mess in the UK which is winning votes for opposition Reform Party, and similar mess that is driving the Province of Alberta to a Referendum to secede from Marxist-like Canada.
"Let me end with how blazenly unrepentant Trump is.
He has called for a US 250th birthday celebration (it was his 80th birthday too) and he has made it all about him. No surprises there.
As performers are backing out of it, he decided to conveniently convert the nation’s/personal birthday celebration to a political celebration to embrace the magnitude of ME, that is, ME-GA - Make ME Great Again.
True to form, the ego-in-chief (who is hellbent on putting his face on a $250 bill), wrote: “We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY for 250, instead of having over-priced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain, cancel it.
So I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime…and the man who some say is the Greatest President in history (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists””
I cannot believe what a whopper of sloppiness here.
I don't know which 250th birthday celebration the article refers to. America250 is a bipartisan initiative of Congress which started 10 years ago. It will take place on 4th of July. Freedom 250 is a public-private initiative which will have many events spread out from Jun 28 to Jul 10. The article outright lied because none of the events will take place on Jun 14 which is Trump's birthday.
America250 is fully government funded. Freedom 250 is funded by private individual and corporate sponsorship, philanthrophy, and some federal agencies. Because Freedom 250 is a White House + some organisations linked to the Republicans, Democrats are not inclined to participate. It naturally became a partisan project.
The concert is just one of many other events of Freedom 250. Several performing artistes were invited which many have said was a 3rd-rated list. Bret Michaels, Martina McBride, Young MC, Morris Day & The Time, The Commodores, Milli Vanilli have backed out. If you don't recognise the names, that's because they are 3rd rates. McBride used to be big decades ago. The article makes it seem 100 performers have backed out. Michaels cited threats to himself and family. The others claimed they didn't know it was political involvement and backed out when they realised it. That's fair for their position because of cancel culture either way. None of them indicated they pulled out because of Trump but the article framed it as if that was the reason. Due to the controversy, the White House distanced themselves from the concert event and Trump has indicated the concert event may be cancelled.
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