OFFICIAL: Donald Trump thread.

[Motorcity Cobra]

Rudy: Yes, Trump paid Cohen back the $130k.
Hannity: But wait, the President didn't know about.
Rudy: Well ... pic.twitter.com/4ltYwBZwh2

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 3, 2018

Rudy Giuliani told me that while @realDonaldTrump reimbursed Cohen for the $130k SD payment, POTUS didn’t know what the money was used for. Giuliani says Cohen merely told the President he had “expenses” for which POTUS reimbursed him.

— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 3, 2018

[Motorcity Cobra]

Trump has caused it and it just goes to show what a ****ing idiot he is

Half the world doesnt care whether he ****ed a **** star and the other half expects it of him so why the continual stream of BS?

Because that's what Trump does

This would be a complete non-story if he simply admitted what everyone knew years ago

They'll find a way to blame someone else. It's never Trump's own doing, it's always somebody else at fault. But the sad part is they know he's lying but they don't care

Yes, they think President Trump's lying about Stormy Daniels. And no, they really do not care.

Americans who voted for the president say they don't believe his denial of the adult film star's claim that she had a 2006 affair with Trump, the same year that Melania Trump gave birth to their son Barron. But that hasn't tempered their sky-high support for the president. Neither has the Russia investigation into possible collusion tied to Trump, which they see as an increasingly transparent charade that's wasting tax dollars and distracting from his agenda.

That's according to the USA TODAY Trump Voter Panel, a free-floating focus group of 25 people nationwide who cast ballots for the president and now weigh in on the his performance every few months.

At 16 months into his presidency, many call December's sweeping tax overhaul his biggest achievement. About as many peg the GOP's failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act as Trump's biggest defeat, a prime example of the bipartisan opposition they believe has so far hamstrung his presidency.

The legal maelstroms tied to Russia and the alleged affair don’t help, they say.

“I’m not in the man’s pants. I don’t know what he did when he pulled them down," Monty Chandler, a disabled veteran from Church Point, La., says of Daniel's claims. "The only evidence is her, the hush money. We’re human. We all sin. And he tried to cover it up."

He's equally dismissive of the Russia-related allegations, echoing Trump's descriptor of the investigation as a "witch hunt."

Trump enjoys an approval of 90% among Chandler and others on the panel, made up of respondents to a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll in December 2016. That's yet to waver through six check-ins — a stability that, if reflected in supporters nationwide, suggests a political security for a president remaking the GOP in his own image.

Already, Republicans running for re-election largely refuse to criticize Trump, and supporters on the panel have seemed to dig in as the man they backed faces legal challenges on seemingly every side.

"Once you’re a believer and supporter, you stay with who you believe is going to do everything correct," says JoAnne Musial of Canadensis, Penn. "He’s going through hell, I’ll tell you that: I know of no other human in office who could go through what he’s going through.”

Others aren't so sure.

“I’m certainly trying to approve, but he’s making it increasingly difficult," says Pat Jolliff of Rochester, Ind. "I’m still hanging on with him, but it’s getting frustrating."

An affair? ‘That’s what powerful men do’
When it comes to Daniels, who filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against Trump, men largely expressed a lack of shock. Trump, an affair? Par for course.

“We know he's no angel, and he didn't become a multi-billionaire because he's a nice guy,’ says John Moon of Kamas, Utah. “I got over the shock of presidential affairs after Kennedy and Clinton.”

Fifteen of the respondents say they think Trump had a tryst with Daniels, with three saying he did not and three still unsure. Four did not respond. Of the panel’s seven women, six belive Trump stepped out on his wife, with several chalking it up to “boys will be boys” behavior.

“That’s what powerful men do,” says Deidra Brady in Broadway, N.C.

“This is typical behavior of a lot of men in powerful positions,” says Margie Chandler of Old Monroe, Mo.

“I hate to say this, but it’s a male thing,” laments Patricia Shomion of Mount Gilead, Ohio. “I think he’s mostly lying to himself, that he can’t bring himself out to say, ‘Well, I did, but it’s gone.’”

And while most believe Trump had an affair over 10 years ago, virtually none find that relevant to his presidency: Just one claimed the scandal had put a dent in their support.

‘Collude? No. Won’t believe it’
They’re equally dismissive of the investigation by Robert Mueller, the special counsel examining Russian interference, possible Kremlin collusion with Trump’s campaign and possible obstruction of justice by Trump himself. Nineteen called the probe mostly partisan. The same amount think no collusion occured at all.

“Given the resources and time put into the investigation, it is time to conclude and report out,” says Barney Carter, a medical device account manager from St. Marys, Ga. “The longer it goes on and the further it drifts from anything to do with Russia, the more it shows itself as a political attack on President Trump.”

“Once more, he’s a businessman,” says Musial. “You think he's not going to have talked to Russians? Come on. Did he collude? No. Won’t believe it for a moment.”

Just two say the Russia scandal has hampered their support, including Duane Gray, a truck driver from Boise and the only panelist who thinks some collusion took place.

“If there wasn’t something to look after, he wouldn't be so defensive — firing people, replacing them and still landing in trouble,” Gray says. “That makes me question the whole situation ... It’s just strange.”

He said they were so brainwashed he could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and he wouldn't lose supporters

[Zaroku]

If Trump gets a Nobel peace prize people are going to lose their ****!!

You are keeping it real...

[1bad65]

Why do people care about the stormy Daniels thing.. in the grand scheme of things, it’s absolutely meaningless.

It’s like bill Clinton getting a bj. Who cares

Much bigger things to care about it than ****ing some hoes

Exactly

Dude, they're all celebrating like they won something, and the reality is it means nothing.

Trump paid some pron star he nailed a decade to keep quiet about it when he was running for President. That's no crime.

Other than Trump having a little egg on his face, he still sits in the Oval Office, presiding over a growing economy, and seeing the North Koreans already making concessions.

[Motorcity Cobra]

Yup.

That's what effective leadership brings.

So the 10 prisoners released from N. Korea under Obama was also effective leadership? What about the killing of Bin Laden. Was that effective leadership?

[Motorcity Cobra]

Exactly

Dude, they're all celebrating like they won something, and the reality is it means nothing.

Trump paid some pron star he nailed a decade to keep quiet about it when he was running for President. That's no crime.

Other than Trump having a little egg on his face, he still sits in the Oval Office, presiding over a growing economy, and seeing the North Koreans already making concessions.

It's not that he ****ed Stormy Daniels. It's just another case of Trump lying. Over and over and over again. He lies about the smallest most insignificant things and the biggest things.

I just don't understand how his constant lying doesn't bother ya'll.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

It's not that he ****ed Stormy Daniels. It's just another case of Trump lying. Over and over and over again. He lies about the smallest most insignificant things and the biggest things.

I just don't understand how his constant lying doesn't bother ya'll.

No stalking, no ****


What dude doesn’t lie about banging some broad?

It was stupid when they went after Clinton for it and it’s stupid now.

Trump for the most part has kept his campaign promises, unlike nearly every other politician.
You might not like his policies, but you can’t say he didn’t tell you exactly what he was going to do was in office.

[STREET CLEANER]

Michael Caputo tells @mkraju "it's clear" Mueller investigators focused on Russia collusion. He says House and Senate are "net fishing" while Mueller is "spearfishing" https://t.co/qvR1zCBPz5

— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) May 2, 2018

Yet you didn't post any concrete facts. It all based on opinion and vague statements.

“They knew more about my schedule in 2016 than I did.” They knew the answers to all the questions they asked him already, he said

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 3, 2018

Yet you didn't post any concrete facts. It all based on opinion and vague statements.

[1bad65]

So the 10 prisoners released from N. Korea under Obama was also effective leadership? What about the killing of Bin Laden. Was that effective leadership?

Yup.

Though it was too bad North Korea didn't give back all the hostages, but Trump appears to have fixed that.

[1bad65]

It's not that he ****ed Stormy Daniels. It's just another case of Trump lying. Over and over and over again. He lies about the smallest most insignificant things and the biggest things.

I just don't understand how his constant lying doesn't bother ya'll.

Who gives a ****, other than his wife and D superfans?

I have news for you, most married guys who screw around, yeah, they lie about it.

And we all know Trump screws around on his wives.

This isn't an epiphany here.

Nor is it a crime.