This exchange, via pool (Trump surveying hurricane destruction):

[demmiblue]

Link to tweet

[Stallion]

1. Finders/Keepers

[lapfog_1]

2. Have we declared that North Carolina is now part of the ocean?

That would be the ONLY way I know for the home owner to obtain the boat that landed in his yard.

But even if he did own it, it might cost more to repair the boat and store it someplace other than the backyard than the boat is now worth (depending on the damage).

[Dave Starsky]

14. Ha ha. It is now!

Maybe it's salvage.

[getagrip_already]

21. salvage doesn't xfer ownership... only a claim for costs

It's complicated but it's all a part of maritime law. Just because you find/save/recover a boat/ship or it's contents, you don't own it. You can file a claim against the owner or their insurance company under certain circumstances, but not if it ends up in your yard. If you safely remove it to a storage location, you can make a claim, but you don't own it.

If it becomes abandoned property, you have to go through the courts to try to establish a claim to it, just like you would for a car or a piece of property.

There are no finders keepers laws to support this.

[Dave Starsky]

31. I was kidding.

But I thank you for your response. I have never really understood that part of maritime law. So your boat motor fails at sea and you are set adrift. And somebody comes and tows you to shore. So now you owe them the value of your boat, which could very well be the boat itself (if you have nothing else to satisfy that debt)? What kind of law is that?

I mean, car tow companies don't ask you for the value of your car if they have to tow it to the shop. Car tows are expensive as hell, but they're not going to demand $40,000 from you because they carted your Lexus to the dealership.

[getagrip_already]

41. well, there is a little more to it....

Just towing you in doesn't establish a salvage claim. To claim a salvage, the vessel must be in "immediate" danger. So if you just ran out of gas, or were soft grounded, or had a mechanical issue but otherwise there was no risk to life or property, there could be no claim for salvage.

But if you are taking on water, or have a fire, or are "hard" aground, or heading for the surf line; then a boat providing assistance could make a salvage claim against your boat. You also have to escort it to a safe harbor. So if you surrender your prize before it is out of danger, you get bubkis. In some cases, they can have your boat arrested (held in a secure location) as collateral to satisfy the claim.

A maritime court would be responsible for assessing the claim, and awarding compensation. By tort, compensation can be up to 2/3 the value of the vessel or it's cargo.

These laws were created in an age when the average citizen didn't own a boat. They were used for commerce and they would have a large value. Saving one in peril meant putting life and limb at risk, so the rewards were made very sweet for anyone who was crazy enough to go out into a hurricane and throw a line on a ship.

The laws haven't quite kept pace with the times, and insurance companies frequently end up writing huge checks to tow companies like sea tow and towboats usa.

[Dave Starsky]

42. Thanks for that.

That is a great explanation. The laws need to be updated in the face of the modern world.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Admiralty law applies, I am sure.

Check to see if it's registered in the Cayman Islands.

[3Hotdogs]

15. I hope the boat is registered to a particular orange asshole in Mar a Lago --- or a Secretary of Ed.

Then let Finders, keepers apply.

[getagrip_already]

26. more commonly called maritime law.....

It predates the constitution in many areas. And yeah, trump is an idiot.

It doesn't matter where it is flagged. There is no finders keepers clause.

[spanone]

4. trump has no idea how insurance works or why this isn't the homeowners boat

[demmiblue]

9. Sigh... Trump has no idea how life works. n/t

[spanone]

12. you're right, specificity is not required.

[Duppers]

33. His blatant, unapologetic IGNORANCE

Is almost unbelievable. He thinks like a very young child.

[cyndensco]

5. I hope the homeowner is a trump supporter

and he sees firsthand what a loser his vote helped put in office.

[tarheelsunc]

13. They probably ate his words right up. Eom

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

6. He thinks "finders keepers" is law.

n/t

[getagrip_already]

22. he also thinks they have no idea whose boat it is... idiot

that's like saying they have no idea whose car it is. They have registration numbers on them that can be easily traced.

More than likely, the insurance company will own it very shortly..

[unblock]

7. not just an indication of his stupidity and ignorance, but also of his sense of ethics.

[magicarpet]

30. That is similar to his concept of going to war...

..... the victor of war is permitted to take as spoils any item or natural resource for his own. That is the God given right for the winner to take what ever he wants,.. it is the reward for having won the war.

The same must apply here. This man fought the storm. The man survived the storm without having been killed. Now as this man surveys the storm damage and finds the yacht in his backyard property. The spoils of the storm - the yacht now becomes this man's property. Registration of the proper owner of the boat means nothing to trDump. The jungle laws of trDump's making is now the laws that prevail.

This man should not be the President of the United States of America,... he should not be the manager of the local Jiffy Lube.

[bdamomma]

8. oh he is not well mentally at all.

just does not give a fuck about anyone, he just does not have any insight into anything.

[rurallib]

28. amen to that

just opening his mouth and letting the shit fall out.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. Trump never disappoints a chance to disappoint us. nt

[gratuitous]

11. I hope someone's taking notes

In the last 24 hours, we have learned from President that water is wet and that boats either move about on their own accord or perhaps they float. The thing about the boat is probably going to need more scrutiny to figure out how it "just came here."

[C_U_L8R]

16. What an idiot.

I don't know why but his stupidity never ceases to amaze. Gah !

[The Polack MSgt]

17. Ruben Bolling is clairvoyant

https://boingboing.net/2018/01/31/trumps-new-lawyer-harvey-ri.html

[maryellen99]

18. He also told a storm victim to "have a good time"

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/09/watch-reporter-gasps-trump-tells-storm-victim-good-time/

[Rorey]

25. Eventually something unpleasant WILL happen to him.

And our response really should be: "Have a good time."

Impeached? "Have a good time."

Going to prison? "Have a good time."

Heart attach from all that fatty food? "Have a good time."

Ruined financially? "Have a good time."

[Fritz Walter]

34. What?!? Was he out of paper towel rolls to throw at him?

Not even “thoughts and prayers”? Yes, I know: he’s incapable of either action!

[maryellen99]

35. He also said this to Harvey victims as well nt

[Solly Mack]

19. Idiot. Clueless, socially inept, callous fool.

[TNNurse]

20. Blithering idiot.

[getagrip_already]

23. go ahead - name the insurance company!

And while you are at it, explain how republican legislation makes it easier for insurance companies to deny claims for damage to homes caused by water, or why federal programs to provide affordable flood insurance no longer exist.

Or maybe why flood maps are not being updated to reflect the affects of global climate change?

[grantcart]

24. Did he make an offer on the boat?

I am sure he was thinking about it

[Pacifist Patriot]

27. Dissociated from both reality and morality simultaneously.

[elmac]

29. what an f'ing moron, fool

and that goes for anyone who voted for the idiot.

[procon]

32. Trump doesn't know the difference between home insurance and flood insurance.

Like a child, he imagines himself to be a pirate, claiming anything he see as his booty.

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. OMG.

[lunatica]

37. What a sweetheart. I'm sure that made the man feel so much better!

[Texin]

38. Common exchanges like that one fully display what a low IQ this idiot actually has.

He has absolutely zero understanding of how things work on an everyday, common basis for the majority of human beings walking around on planet Earth at any given time. I'd say it's unbelievable, but that's been surpassed daily for the past three or so years on now and counting. Jeebers. Dotard makes Chauncey Gardener look like he could work alongside Einstein as his colleague and hold his own by comparison.

[gibraltar72]

39. Maybe Betsy is down to nine.

[MontanaMama]

40. No launching of paper towels???

[Grammy23]

43. Dumbo Donnie has the intelligence of a gnat

When it comes to speaking with people in a disaster situation. He simply has no idea what the right or appropriate thing to say is. It is not because he has not ever been in a bad situation himself. No one lives as long as he has without having been through grief or loss. It is because the part of his brain that gives you the capacity for compassion and understanding for someone else’s pain is nonexistent or poorly developed in tRump. He just doesn’t get it. So he stumbles through these kind of events saying inappropriate and in some cases insulting things that are supposed to be comforting or supportive.

One would think that as often as he is called upon to speak to victims of disasters and other tragic events he would have at least been coached on what he should be saying. He might not be sincere, but at least the right words would come out of his mouth. However, we have been told repeatedly by people who know tRump that he rarely listens to people who try to school him on all kinds of matters from politics to diplomacy or economics. So he may have been scripted on the correct/polite things to say but just wasn’t listening or didn’t care enough to retain it. Sad either way for victims having to interact with this fool.