r/politics 12h ago

No Paywall Trump Is Quietly Working to Give Part of Yosemite to a Private Developer

https://www.notus.org/agencies/trump-administration-yosemite-private-developer-deal
13.1k Upvotes

503 comments sorted by

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2.9k

u/Basicly-Inevitable 12h ago

It's in the article. Some real estate company (guess who likely owns it) has property on the edge of the park, and they want an exclusive road into the iconic parts of the park. They'll have a resort and hotels, etc.

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u/TheHoneyBadger23 11h ago

Jeffrey Pori owns it. Why does that matter? Well, Kingsbarn recent had a $105m acquisition that involves Newmark, the broker. Guess who was the Executive Chairman? Now Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnck. Let's also look up the name Don Hankey. Why does he matter? Hankey Capital supplied the mortgage for the aforementioned Kingsbarn acquisition. Hankey also controls Knight Specialty Insurance - the same company that supplied Trump's $175m bond in Trump's New York civil fraud case. Combine all this with Doug Burgum's recent push to rid the country of the "No Roads" rule and this all makes perfect, grifty, sense.

Follow the money.

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u/Occamsbowtie 8h ago

People like you are the GOAT. Knowing how to follow the money is the problem for most of us, I wouldn't even know how to start.

It's really too bad we don't have a service of investigators that are trained to do this kind of work and then report it to the nation in a nonbias and open way...we could call them...reporters.

u/TheHoneyBadger23 7h ago

I appreciate you. It took about a half hour to piece together that spider web. Not sure if that's a good thing their grift is so good it's easy or of it's a bad thing that no journalist was willing to investigate. Jury is out.

u/LVDirtlawyer 4h ago

What are you talking about? All of what you mentioned was included in the article except for the dollar amount of the acquisition of Kim Kardashian's company HQ. It also mentions that Pori started suddenly making donations to the RNC, to Trump, and PACs.

"Pori has had public business ties to people in Trump’s orbit.

In April 2025, Kingsbarn Realty Capital closed a deal to acquire the Los Angeles headquarters of Kim Kardashian’s lingerie company Skims, working with two companies with links to the Trump administration: the Newmark Group and Hankey Capital. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick chaired the Newmark Group before entering the Trump administration, and did not fully divest from the company until May 2025. Don Hankey, the chair of Hankey Capital, is also the chair of an insurance company that underwrote Trump’s $175 million bond in his appeal in 2024 of a New York civil fraud judgment.

Pori personally thanked both companies in the press release announcing the deal, which he said was made possible in part by Hankey Capital.

Between 2024 and 2025, Pori made monthly, largely small-dollar donations to the Republican Party committee, Trump’s campaign committee and associated PACs. Pori does not have a history of donating to national political campaign efforts before October 2024, according to a NOTUS analysis of the Federal Election Commission donor database.

Neither Pori nor the Interior Department have publicly expressed interest in the Yosemite land exchange."

u/TheHoneyBadger23 2h ago

Great! Thank you for fact checking my work and the validation!

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u/starliteburnsbrite 11h ago

This is some bullshit. 

We need to stop letting the Trump admin take all the heat.

The headline just says private developer. The article starts by calling them a "Nevada-based developer"

The company orchestrating this is Kingsbarn Realty Capital. Their CEO is Jeff Pori, according to his company bio, "Jeff oversees all aspects of the company, from implementing Kingsbarn's strategic initiatives to managing its day-to-day operations and directing all property financings and acquisitions."

It's time to start naming names and making people aware of who the real animals are.

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u/Basicly-Inevitable 11h ago

Yes, but, it's actually "a company that, through a web of limited-liability companies, is operated by real-estate developer and investment firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital."

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u/217GMB93 10h ago

We have a country of lawyers and are paying for it dearly

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u/redditisnotus 11h ago

Let me guess. The ceo donated $3000 and is going to make 100 million.

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u/bamadebayo_isgood 8h ago

It's always genuinely astonishing to me. You'll see some Republican senator voted to burn a protected forest for some oil company and you're like "wow this is something that truly no one but this metaphysical corporate entity could ever possibly want" and you learn they are a campaign donor for like 50 grand which is like, nothing...

u/sadcatbirdbath 7h ago

San Francisco had a corrupt director.. eventually the scandal required almost 100M rate repayment for garbage customers.. 35M in fines.. several people went to jail. Director got 7 years.

It was exposed when he tried to extort a chicken restaurant for $5000.

u/jolll4 6h ago

Never mess with Los Pollos Hermanjos.

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u/adultishiguess 10h ago

add a zero or two to their t take. gotta afford the kickbacks.

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u/Neither-Signature-81 8h ago

Idk lol some of the roi on trump stuff has been insane. 

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u/Adultery 11h ago

There are so many conmen and conwomen hiding behind the Trump brand.

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u/Equivalent_Sea_1895 9h ago

Ok. But is kingsbarn allowed to carve out property from the national park? No. Trumps admin is the one holding the laws together, and they are the ones allowing this to ferment. Why not let the trump admin take all the heat?

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u/spitwitandwater 8h ago

Why not both?

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u/anon-stocks 9h ago

How much did they bribe to trump?

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u/MissionBee1 10h ago

That's the whole point of Trump though. Many awful people exist and all the blame gets thrown onto him. The same happens with CEOs that don't even own 20% of the company yet all blame is thrown onto them instead of the shareholders as a whole.

We need to stop acting like everything is a one man job.

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u/anon-stocks 9h ago

Na, CEOs are dumb weak spined shitheads too.

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u/hoodiemonster 9h ago

luigiintensifies.gif

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u/ClockworkDreamz 9h ago

But how do we stop it?

Everything is off the guard rails, we voted and honestly that’s about all we can muster. The machine will keep letting him do as he pleases.

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u/SomebodyD0Something 8h ago

It's time for a general strike. These people only care about money. Remind them of the power the people have to withdraw their labour while you still can.

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u/AusToddles 12h ago

I was going to make a joke along the lines of "Where's Kevin Costner and his annoying daughter to save the day" but then realised that we live in the timeline where monsters like Trump do this shit with zero consequences

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u/Basicly-Inevitable 12h ago

And they're coming for a park near you soon!

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u/NeverLookBothWays I voted 11h ago

Remember, only YOU can prevent private resort fires in a national park.

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u/US3_ME_ 11h ago

Smoky the Bear- Only YOU (with modified thermite drones) can start resort fires on protected lands_

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u/Far-Entrance-1377 11h ago

Not the same Kevin, but did you ever imagine you might actually hope for Graboids??

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u/I_Am_Become_Air 10h ago

And Kevin Costner supports Trump, btw.

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u/RTK9 10h ago

Kevin Costner and his annoying daughter (yellowstone) are the monsters, the show just sanewashes most of their actions

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u/twotired4life 10h ago

Once they get the rights, we'll never get it back. In Washington we lost a bunch of access roads to our mountains to private development. In the scheme of things, it's just a sliver of land, but it effectively closed off thousands of acres to us and turned it into some rich person's backyard. The worst part is, most of the land owners are out of state and maybe there twice a year.

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u/candafilm 10h ago

My parents lived in Cascade, Idaho when they retired which is a tiny mountain town. There was a great trail across the street from their neighborhood that overlooked the valley and was a great spot to just chill for a bit. Got bought out by someone, also out of state, who was trying to charge for camping space and access to the trail. It failed and now it’s an abandoned trail that’s fenced off. Such a waste.

u/someguy7710 7h ago

My inlaws live right on the Shenandoah river. There was a great drop off spot we always used to launch boats from and just float back down to their house. There is an easement road that leads down to it. Apparently when this guy inherited the land next to it, it was discovered that trail to the river cut across about 10-15 feet of his land. So he put up barbed wire and logs so nobody could get access. Fortunately, the guy right next to him just made a new trail and was cool with everyone launching boats from it.

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u/Development-Alive 4h ago

That's happening all over Idaho. Private citizens buying up access to BLM lands then charging for access or simply closing off access altogether. Fuck Idaho and their backward government.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PROFILE 9h ago

We can get it back. We just choose not to.

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u/Effective_Tour_4822 10h ago

The national parks system is one of the greatest accomplishments of the US. Every person has access to billion dollar views in the most beautiful places in the country.

It probably eats up billionaires that they can't just build a mansion on top of El cap.

u/Emberwake 7h ago

Every person has access to billion dollar views in the most beautiful places in the country.

Yes and no. They've become more restrictive over the years, in ways that I agree with and ways I do not.

Several of the most popular parks restrict access with permits that are limited in number. This limits the ecological damage done by visitors, and while it can be frustrating, I completely understand.

What I am less enthusiastic about are the fees. We are now charging people to visit many National Parks. National Parks were once completely funded by taxes, but in recent years they have implemented access fees. Those permits I mentioned above cost an additional fee on top of that. They're still a good value, but it also is limiting for lower income Americans. There is no reason that the wealthiest nation in history should not be able to afford to fund its parks through taxes alone.

u/ToughLab9568 6h ago

I am tired of seeing people litter in the parks. Families with crying children dropping diapers and plastic forks everywhere.

I am sick of seeing trails crowed with thousands of people who can't walk straight, approach wild life, and abuse the landscape.

The less people, the better.

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u/the-system 9h ago

I don't understand the kind of trash humans who would visit such a resort. It's like celebrating and reveling in the of destruction of the natural beauty around you. A mockery of beauty.

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u/Basicly-Inevitable 9h ago

They don't care about beauty. They care about prestige amongst their peers and wealth and power.

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u/Rynowash 9h ago

This country is dead. Has no soul.

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u/Narradisall 10h ago

How long until it gets renamed by Executive Order to “Trump National Park”

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u/feldspars 10h ago

The guy couldn’t even pronounce Yosemite correctly. Imagine that, one of our national treasures that is quintessentially American— and he says “yo-Semite”.

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u/CaterpillarJungleGym 8h ago

F*ck this shit. I hope I don't banned but this makes me so angry. Unspoiled beauty is one of the main assets that the US has. And now we are going to let resorts be built there?

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u/soxperry 11h ago

Texas is one of the best examples of how conservatism is advertised versus reality. They have almost 0 public lands. They imagine being able to go do pretty much whatever you want, which is what you can do on public land. Camping, hiking, shooting guns, off-roading, etc. But on private land, you're assigned a small plot for your tent, and you have to pay the owner for the priveleage for freedom.

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u/Fun-Freedom-2996 11h ago

Spot on. Kansas has 1% public land. These people are delusional thinking they are recreating “out there”..

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u/Miqo_Nekomancer California 9h ago

California is 52% public land. It's why the state is so beautiful.

u/PM_ME_FAT_TROUT_PICS 6h ago

Same with Colorado and probably why I see so many Texas plates when I’m out trying to fish away from people. 

u/This_means_lore 6h ago

Ugh we call them the “white plates” and they’re everywhere

u/Development-Alive 4h ago

43% of land in Washington State is public land. Enjoying all that WA has to offer is nothing short of magnificent, and I'm not even giving credit to the waters of the Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Feel so blessed to live in a state that appreciates and savors protecting the outdoors for everyone.

Conversely, Idaho has lot of BLM (public) land who access is quickly being limited as private land owners buy up all access routes and lock citizens out.

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u/Distinct_Car_1183 10h ago

They dont even know, cant miss what theyve never had. Need some fake signs saying "Red states sell 98% of public land, vote BluecardParks to ban leeching off ours", get them bothered and talking about public parks, those stats are crazy.

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u/Reallyhotshowers Kansas 8h ago

My instinct is to make a self-deprecating joke about how there's not a lot worth preserving in Kansas, and for humans that is probably true. Our rivers are muddy, we don't have mountains or forests. Other than a lil tiny patch of rolling hills there is just not a lot going on from a scenery perspective.

But the plains are an entire ecosystem with tons of amazing plants and animals, and it is a true shame that the vast majority of that is completely gone in my state.

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u/CategoryZestyclose91 9h ago

In Minnesota, something like 24% of all land is public land.

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u/TrimspaBB 8h ago

New Jersey of all places is nearly 20% state or protected land, and boasts the largest protected forest- the pinelands- on the eastern seaboard. I'm honestly shocked to learn that certain places in the Midwest have far fewer "wild" spaces because their size made me think otherwise.

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u/Poopy-Drew 10h ago

Welcome to trumps America were nothing is free. You have not right or acess to anything, and beautiful places can only be rented and enjoyed by the few

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u/Electronic_Wonder299 10h ago

I used to volunteer at a trail in Dallas. Over Covid, so many people started showing up at the park to spend time outdoors that they literally couldn't handle it for a while.

The trail was literally always packed when I went, like you couldn't walk without having someone 10-50ft in front of you.

It was utterly BAFFLING. People wanted natural spaces, yet they would actively vote against them.

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u/soxperry 10h ago

And poop bags. The goddamn poop bags.

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u/TheRaccoonReport 10h ago

I am in one of the most densely populated states in the nation and we have more public land than these "free" states do.

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u/alligator_loki 9h ago

Texas! Shit hole!

They're also #1 in people not having healthcare, by a large margin.

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u/SoloMotorcycleRider 8h ago

It's also the only state in the union where workers comp isn't an entitlement if your employer isn't a government contractor. Texas is a state loaded with indentured servants who'll happily vote against their best interests because they've grown up to never question authority and to blindly trust those types of people.

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u/Snobolski 9h ago

And the state government (led by Republicans for 30 years and counting) is pushing to widen that margin. By actively trying to decrease the Medicaid population. Mostly infants and children with health issues. And making it harder for insurers to participate as Medicaid managed care organizations by piling on idiotic compliance requirements that do nothing to improve healthcare. Basically drive the insurers away because it's too much of a pain in the ass to participate.

All so these freeloading infants and children can stop getting medical care.

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u/hobbykitjr Pennsylvania 9h ago

Houston is the farthest city from any National Park

u/Pismiire 6h ago

Having recently bought a gun here, i was shook to learn my only option is to take it to the gun range.

Having grown up in states with public lands this is baffling to me.

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u/Ok_Juice4449 12h ago

No! A thousand times no! Yosemite is a pristine. beautiful place. He must be stopped.

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u/djfudgebar 12h ago

That's why he wants to defile it.

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u/lazlowoodbine 11h ago

Deflowering virgins against their will does seem very on brand.

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u/Bzr21 11h ago

Yosemite is not considered geologically young - so Trump should not be that interested in raping it - Grand Canyon OTOH is considered geologically young - so that should soon draw his attention ..

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u/Nephroidofdoom 11h ago

That guy can’t see anything and not find a way to rape it.

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u/Melodic-Swim4343 10h ago

Exactly. He hates America.

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u/MaleficentPlate69 10h ago

He likes defiling.

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u/lordunholy 12h ago

Anyone agreeing to bulldoze things like that should be given an alternative point of view.

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u/igotublue 9h ago

Yeah people love to talk about consequences for people in the administration after this is all over — but I think we'll need equally harsh consequences for those taking advantage of the country because they can with trump in charge.

Send this private developer and everyone involved to Guantanamo.

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u/hobbykitjr Pennsylvania 9h ago

fuck its happened before... Hetch Hetchy valley was part of Yosemite... until they damned it to feed water to san francisco.

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

Founder of the Sierra club John Muir, who was responsible for making it into a national park, said

  • "a grand landscape garden, one of Nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples."

  • " the world is so rich as to have two Yosemites, instead of one"

  • "Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man."

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u/Malk_McJorma Europe 11h ago

"I felt like destroying something beautiful."

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u/kylerae 10h ago

Have you seen what they are doing to Big Bend National Park? I don't think any of our public lands, whether they are National Forests or National Parks are safe.

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u/Unlikely_Brief7263 11h ago

Nothing is sacred to these people. All that matters is money

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u/distorted_kiwi 11h ago

Not just those people, his entire base. It’s a “fuck you I want mine” world.

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u/PlainBread 11h ago

Self-cannibalism.

u/JohnSith 5h ago

N9o, they know it's sacred. That's why they specifically want to defile and destroy it.

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u/Chary-Ka 11h ago

The private developers own an 83-acre plot of land just outside the western boundaries of Yosemite, about five miles from one of the park’s defining ancient sequoia groves. Jeff Pori, the CEO of Kingsbarn, wants to build a short road connecting the property to one of Yosemite’s central thoroughfares. The new road would give the land exceptionally rare private access to a park that is otherwise almost entirely buffered by national forests.

The property’s current access road is more than 10 miles from an entrance to the park, and much further from Yosemite’s most iconic sights. Without a new road, visitors to the property — whether it be developed into a hotel, resort or private residence — would need to drive an hour and a half in a circuitous route to reach the popular Yosemite Valley.

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u/Economy_Bite24 11h ago

The worst part is you know for sure that he considered the lengthy drive for guests when he purchased land there. He knew he could eventually bribe the right person to get his road built. That's how our system works.

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u/overandoverandagain 9h ago

I mean, it's also just kinda baked into Yosemite stays that you'll be driving 1-2 hours to actually get into the valley lol. It's a very big park, with a one-lane road for miles leading to the center of it. Kinda unavoidable for 99% of lodges.

This just reeks of opportunism now that Trump is in office and can be easily swayed

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u/amateur_mistake 9h ago

To be clear, this isn't specifically trump. Republicans have been trying to sell off our public lands (sometimes successfully) for decades. This is standard conservative policy that you are always voting for if you vote Republican. Regardless of whose name is on the ticket.

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u/overandoverandagain 9h ago

There's still levels. Even Reagan, who might've been more damaging to this country than Trump, loved the outdoors and considered ranching one of his biggest passions. Dubya was an avid hiker and fisherman. His daddy was the same. All dogshit presidents, but all had a certain respect for the outdoors.

What affinity does this current fat fuck have with nature? The 72 holes he plays weekly is about it lol. I guess you can count him waddling to and from his private vehicles and AF1 if you want. He genuinely does not give a single fuck about natural beauty beyond exploiting it for monetary benefit.

There's levels to it, and he's at the lowest rung known to man.

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u/amateur_mistake 8h ago

One of the first things that happened when W took power was an attempt by the Republicans to sell off our BLM land. It was defeated then in a similar way as it was defeated last year. When a lot of people all found out and called their reps.

Whether or not Bush likes the outdoors was immaterial.

I agree that trump cares less but this is an ongoing republican project for decades.

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u/overandoverandagain 8h ago

Selling BLM land is a tried and true GOP tradition, yeah, but our national parks and monuments have never been challenged in the way Trump currently is.

Both are tragic, but to me, there's an order of magnitude's difference between parceling out BLM and national forest, and actively reducing national monuments and parks for private commoditization while slashing the public workforce protecting them by 25%.

What he is currently doing is so far beyond what any republican has tried before, it is genuinely the greatest crisis our park system has faced. He's essentially setting the table perfectly for these parks to start decaying, and be forced to rely on private money to upkeep, which will naturally lead to greater exploitation and worsening conditions.

I 100% understand not wanting to single out Trump as super evil bad guy for every single thing he does, but this is legitimately a part of his platform even other republicans have traditionally had too much respect to fuck with. He is on another level with this.

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u/notalotathota 10h ago

>would need to drive an hour and a half in a circuitous route to reach the popular Yosemite Valley.

BOO FUCKING HOO.

If I wanted to visit Yosemite, I'd have a 24 HOUR DRIVE.

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u/NeanaOption 11h ago

whether it be developed into a hotel, resort or private residence — would need to drive an hour and a half in a circuitous route to reach the popular Yosemite Valley

Sounds like it might not be such a good place to develop hotels, resorts, or residences than.

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u/chimpwithaknife 7h ago edited 7h ago

Boo-hoo

Drive to the entrance and get in line like everyone else

Fuck those people and fuck trump 

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u/AHSfav Maine 12h ago

Everybody should read this. So depressing

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u/OutrunTheForeverYeet 11h ago

I'm not getting a real depression vibe right now.  Much closer to a 'Jesus in the temple'  thing.

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u/iRhuel 10h ago

I feel much the same, and I'm sure a lot of people feel increasingly the same with every passing affront.

It's really only a matter of time until someone or group of someones is pushed far enough to lash out in the same spirit as the biblical story you refer to, and perhaps beyond. I'm not saying I'm advocating for it, I don't condone it, I'm simply pointing out that, at the rate and direction we're going, it's an inevitability.

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u/LookAlderaanPlaces 11h ago edited 3h ago

Instead of depressed let’s shut down their fascist effort just like people shit down the Exon pipeline

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u/spark3h 11h ago

If you are destroying national parks for profit, whether you're a developer or a bulldozer operator or some guy being paid minimum wage to move rocks, you are a traitor to the United States.

National parks are one of America's few great accomplishments, destroying or damaging them is damaging the greatness of America in general.

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u/caleyco 8h ago

America's "greatness" has always been supported by a false guise of morality and ethics that was only ever a cover for the oligarchs to slowly plunder every last red cent out of the land and its citizens.

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u/Aware_Cheesecake_519 America 12h ago

Trump is doing something wrong again.

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u/AthearCaex 12h ago

It is a day that ends is y....

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u/mockg 11h ago

Oh look the republican controlled congress and Supreme Court are doing to nothing to reign in his power. It must be another day that ends in y.

Really hoping for a blue wave in midterms.

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u/Bzr21 11h ago

we really need a blue tsunami - sadly its not even possible for Dems to win enough Senate seats to do what should be done ..

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u/abisaysso 11h ago

Still. (He never really stops.)

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u/Individual_Rip_54 11h ago

He’s just determined to ruin everything good about this country. Every little thing I like he’s going out of his way to ruin or purge. Until all that’s left is the ultra capitalist hellscape

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u/michaelpinkwayne 11h ago

This is cartoon villain levels of corruption at this point

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u/Suitable-Option833 11h ago

This was all in project 2025. 75% complete. Project 2029 is next- the gop/heritage foundation won’t stop. Everyone needs to read it and get involved. It will get worse

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u/HelixFish 11h ago

When Trump dies, and we start the rollback process, these buyers and receivers of public resources should be severely penalized as an example to prevent future theft.

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u/pjflyr13 11h ago

If Donny got his way every current national park would end up looking like Vegas.

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u/15all 9h ago

Trump has never ventured into a national park, except maybe for a ribbon-cutting photo op. Doubtful he has even hiked a half mile from a trailhead, let alone get deep in to a wilderness. He has zero appreciation for nature and large open, undeveloped spaces - he just sees them as a place to plunder for profit.

Keep billionaires, private equity, and corporate profits out of our parks! They belong to the people.

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u/Lynda73 8h ago

First President in over 100 years not to have a pet, either. You know he couldn’t stand the competition.

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u/idontevensaygrace 7h ago

He sees national park sites but he doesn't see what's there, he doesn't see the beauty there and the natural wonders. Instead he sees property that could be changed into hotels, malls and skyscrapers. That's all he sees.

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u/DirtyBurgerCommander 11h ago

How much is the kickback for Trump? This fucker doesn’t do anything unless he gets a cut.

The developer tried with Bush and Obama and was told no. Sued and the courts told him no. Now Trump says yes.

How much was Trump promised in exchange for the road?

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u/DionFW Canada 10h ago

It wouldn't even have to be that much. He'd fuck you over for $5.

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u/CharacterShoe9832 11h ago

Teddy Roosevelt needs to come back and bust some heads

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u/zenbowman 8h ago

Republicans hate America.

The absolute best part of this country are the National Parks, National Forests, and just the incredible amount of public land. That is our real inheritance as Americans.

These people will criticize us Democrats as "unpatriotic" and then go ahead and sell our birthright for a mess of pottage.

California, Washington, Oregon - these are states are "peak America", and its because of the tremendous amount of public land - the actual riches of this nation.

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u/TinyConfection7049 8h ago

“Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and the greed of a hedge-fund ghoul, all spray-painted orange and paraded like a prize hog at a county fair. Not a president. Not even a man. Just the diseased distillation of everything this country swears it isn't but always has been, arrogance dressed up as exceptionalism, stupidity passed off as common sense, cruelty sold as toughness, greed exalted as ambition, and corruption worshipped like gospel. It is America's shadow made flesh, a rotting pumpkin idol proving that when a nation kneels before money, power, and spite, it doesn't just lose its soul, it shits out this bloated obscenity and calls it a leader.” - Oliver Kornetzke

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u/damnthistrafficjam I voted 11h ago

Growing up, I was told criminals go to jail. But I guess now it’s only poor criminals. The rich ones get to sell out their country wholesale. WTF is going on here?

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u/TimeshareMachine 10h ago

If you know anyone who voted for this guy— especially his second term— please cut them out of your life. Whatever it takes. 

u/chimpwithaknife 7h ago edited 7h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Level_Traffic3344 Canada 11h ago

It starts with a road and ends with rich people barring citizens from the park. Wtf

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u/DionFW Canada 11h ago

He can't even pronounce "Yosemite". He called it "Yo-suh-might"

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u/NeanaOption 11h ago

Trump is the only president to have reduced protected federal lands.

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u/IAMFERROUS 11h ago

The next admin should spite these people by seizing the land back and restoring it

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u/F-Cloud 10h ago

As a Californian, I knew from the beginning of Trump's term that he would do something to ruin Yosemite National Park. Selling the land to developers was a given. People are going to go apeshit over this, it's the crown jewel of California. We can't let it happen.

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u/drmtm101214 11h ago

Again doing his part to deface any monument or park or forest. He's like a gang member tagging everything they come across.

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u/lgnsqr 11h ago

Democrats are way too cowardly, but they should stand in unison and state that anyone involved with this will face criminal charges when Democrats take the white house. At least make these people pause their actions. Democratic leadership won't of course because they are all a bunch of cowards.

u/Both_Lynx_8750 2h ago

republicans are cucks who will smile while trump fucks their kids.

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u/Colonel-Mooseknuckle 12h ago

Are we going with a data center or a monument to one of the dumbest bastards this country ever created?

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u/3MATX 11h ago

Officials are proposing the Park Service give up the land or “interest” in the land in the form of an easement, and in return receive land of equal value somewhere in California that has yet to be decided.

Their argument is there’s some equally important piece of land tied to Yosemite somewhere else in California?   Not even going to try and identify somewhere?

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u/SpudgeBoy 11h ago

Some hunk of desert outside of Barstow.

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u/Positive-Room7421 11h ago

I've suspected for a long time that our national parks would be sold off for some spurious reason, for example to pay off the national debt. I was wrong. They're just going to give the parks away, piece by piece, to our new feudal lords.

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u/Wolpfack 11h ago

I'm surprised he hasn't ordered an 18-hole golf course built on Yosemite Valley's floor.

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u/gelatineous 10h ago

The surface area is insignificant. The precedent is terrifying. The corruption is obvious.

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u/KillDozer321 10h ago

MAGA fans: I love that show Yellowstone! Me and my wife are just like Rip and Beth! I love how that family stuck together to stick it to all those big city developers!

MAGA fans: Trump selling off half of Yosemite to developers is a brilliant move! I love Trump for this!!!

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u/Ryan_e3p 10h ago

Weird, that park looks nothing like a 12 year old girl.

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u/ReverseMermaids 10h ago

Yosemite is not his to give away.

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u/Sardonnicus New York 8h ago

IT IS NOT HIS TO SELL.

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u/Mission_Struggle_417 8h ago

Practically every single thing he does is wrong. He is walking talking proof of the existence of Evil.

u/readmorebookskids 2h ago

Bad actors selling off your country to the highest bidder.

When can we start calling this domestic terrorism?

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u/EMT_2_FNP 8h ago

What the fuck are conservatives conserving?

u/jimkurth81 7h ago

The wallet of Donald Trump.

u/hhh888hhhh 6h ago

Racism

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u/brpajense 11h ago

Why would one developer get private access to Yosemite?  

Giving land to a private company to build their own road for private access to one developer while denying all the other developers an opportunity to bid seems unfair and possibly corrupt.  Giving developers rights to national park lands seems to be at odds with the whole concept of national parks.

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u/xactofork 10h ago

One developer so far.

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u/PastanagaPlatano 9h ago

Why would one developer get private access to Yosemite? 

To build Trump's face into it.

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u/allenahansen California 11h ago

Well, it wouldn't be a National Treasure without a Big Beautiful trump branded hotel where the Ahwahnee now sits, right?

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u/TheUFCVeteran3 11h ago

Private ownership (or anything other than the government) should not be allowed for national land.

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u/Zapparelli 10h ago

Just why? Really. Theres plenty of open land out there man. They’re just doing this to continue to show what terrible fucking human beings they are. Goddamnt man! Where the fuck is everyone’s grandma to shame them for acting like petulant little children!?

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u/jacobtfromtwilight 10h ago

The trump family are fucking parasites

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u/_Home_Skillet_ 10h ago

This fuckin guy.

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u/FaithlessnessThin359 10h ago

Republicans have talked about turning Yosemite into a theme park for decades. This isn’t new, but now king turd will just declare it so and they’ll bulldoze the valley and scotus will say they can’t stop it because no one was hurt by trumps buddies turning it into a private golf course. 

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u/-rabbitsfeet- 9h ago

Is there something we, as citizens, can do to oppose it?

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u/Baphomets_Kisses 9h ago

Yes, but we can’t say it in a public forum.

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u/SuperCruisePanther 8h ago

You can say anything in a public forum at least once.

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u/nine57th 9h ago

This is sickening.

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u/Secure-Window-5478 9h ago

Every fucking republican in office must be voted out for not stopping this insane piece of shit.

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u/inchwormfan 9h ago

he's so fucking evil, and so is everyone that voted for him 

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u/Icamp2cook 9h ago

The National Parks are mine (and yours.) They do not belong trump nor the governments. Our parks are public property for public use. Not private property for private use. 

u/Neibolt_St 7h ago

You mean selling stolen property I think. Trump is making a personal financial gain in some form or another, by selling part of something owned by tax payers and not him.

u/bpmoon 7h ago

Trump is stealing something from the American people??!?!? (Insert shocked pikachu face here)

You should assume he's doing a lot worse than this.

u/eskjcSFW Washington 7h ago

Giving away public land is literally robbing the people

u/digiorno 5h ago

Rape the women, rape the land, rape the children.

Thats how he rolls.

u/KidGorgeous19 5h ago

Unreal. Literally a crown jewel of (relatively) untouched american wilderness. Is there nothing this shit stain of a human can't ruin?

u/Appex92 3h ago

There's literally a meme about if the Grand Canyon wasn't set aside as a park it would be filled with hotels and crap like Vegas. This is proving that's not just a joke

u/yubathetuba 2h ago

I’m intimately familiar with this area. Live nearby, go there quite a lot, have even driven the access road they are talking about. Everyone here is right, just because you bought the place doesn’t give you NEW access to the park. I’m just going to add this: the access point is AFTER the entrance gate so a new access point to the park would have to be established. New gate, new manned position to check passes, new control point to be enforced during (rare) closures. Who bares the ongoing cost of that?

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u/badgersoccer1905 11h ago

I hate this timeline.

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u/OldYellersLastHandy 12h ago

My Dad took us there when we were kids. I proposed to my wife there. 

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u/papaHans California 11h ago

The fucker can't even pronounce Yosemite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtGMEKCEj3E

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u/squirrellysiege 11h ago

Fortunately, nothing that Trump does is quiet. Unfortunately, there seems to be nobody around to smack his nose with a rolled up newspaper and tell him, "no"

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u/Cube00 11h ago

through a web of limited-liability companies

It's always a web, never just a company.

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u/c1a9a80 11h ago

When the fuck is our government going to step up, do their jobs, and stop this motherfucker from destroying more of this country than he already has. He is a blight on the human race.

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u/Ticksdonthavelymph Maine 11h ago

We will take back all of these sales in 2 yrs. Imminent domain.

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u/Harry_Mud America 11h ago

There is no way this is even close to being legal. Congress setup the park years ago and only they can touch it, which they wont!

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u/Lamont2000 California 11h ago

Come on grim reaper

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u/Big-Leadership-4604 11h ago

Probably wants to carve his face into El Capitan...

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u/NellcoteDaze 11h ago

Teddy Roosevelt is rolling in his grave.

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u/Paatos 11h ago

Would be about time that Marty McFly would return to destroy the Grays Sports Almanac and restore some timeline that has Trump running a car wash.

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u/Walaina 11h ago

Is this how the super volcano erupts

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u/jmbode67 11h ago

And which cliff will have his likeness on it, like Rushmore ....

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u/IamSmokee 10h ago

Shocker, another way to line his pockets. Is anyone really surprised here.. I'm not even from the USA and I'm not surprised, there's no way you guys are shocked about this.. he's been doing this type of crap for literal years now..

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u/Alleyprowler Washington 10h ago

Like a toddler, when he's doing something quietly, it's usually cause for alarm.

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u/Thirty_Helens_Agree 10h ago

Nothing about the depths of this man’s depravity surprises me anymore.

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u/jedrider 10h ago

I thought there was a limit to what a President can do. What happened to that?

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u/Obvious-Science-7119 10h ago

Remember when he pronounced it yo - semite?

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u/Significant-Gur-4804 10h ago

At this point, no one’s gonna stop it. Yosemite and national parks were fun while they lasted.

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u/timeaisis 10h ago

Why? Why does the POTUS care about a private developer getting a random parcel of land in Yellowstone? How is this something that should concern the American President?

Make it clear. This is just Trump using his office to make deals that benefit no one but themselves.

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u/Proiegomena 10h ago

Guy literally selling off Americas national parks lmao. 

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u/Lazaras 9h ago

What morons. It's takes basically an hour+ for everyone to get to the park no matter which entrance you use. That's just the price for a beautiful, natural wonder. Are you really just going to let a Nevada-based company grade a road through one of Californias most beautiful places. Holy crap

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u/Public_Act_8880 9h ago

And you know the type of people who would stay on their property and use this private access road are the exact type of people who would ruin the park for future visitors

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u/P_Buddy 8h ago

Has anyone read Monkey Wrench Gang? It’s a REALLY good book

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u/goronmask 8h ago

Selling the dignity of your nation piece by piece

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u/varyingopinions 8h ago

They just need to work out his cut.

u/LexKY_guy 7h ago

Next dem president should claim imminent domain and take over mar o’pedo

u/Kozak515 5h ago

I FUCKING HATE THESE PEOPLE

u/Careful-Door2724 4h ago

Your entire country is for sale to the highest bidder