# Do you trust Trump and his administration? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546 "2017-02-11T16:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/21 "2017-02-11T20:16:58Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > “promised growth,” that what we always get with lower taxes. What we _actually_ get is often higher deficits. . . . And a higher debt, with higher interest payments on that debt…and those payments transfer money from the poor to the rich. The bastard is trying to turn us into a third-world plutocracy, with the one per cent living in gated communities, and everyone else in barrios. (Ever been to Tijuana? That is the ultimate outcome of these bastards’ agenda.) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/22 "2017-02-11T20:35:58Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > Where does Obama’s dirty laundry fit in all of this? Obama had fewer scandals during his 8 year term than Trump has had in the last 3 weeks. Like, a lot fewer. Also fun is your suggestion that it is risky to criticize Trump, as he’ll crush you like an insect if you do, and so our only hope is to knuckle under. The fact is, Trump really is a pathological liar. Yeah, politicians lie. They lie to escape blame for bad things, they lie to take credit for good things. They lie to further their career, they lie to protect their bosses, they lie to advance an ideological agenda, they lie “for the good of the country”. But Trump lies in such a brazen fashion it’s on another level. His series of Birther tweets is exhibit A. It’s all a list of things that he was going to do, he had all the proof, but it was completely and obviously a fantasy. Most politicians, when they lie, are usually pretty careful to say things that leave a misleading impression but aren’t out and out false. But not Trump. He’ll flatly claim to never have said things that we have video of him saying. This is not the behavior of a normal scheming weasel who lies to get ahead or save his own skin. Trump lies even when lying hurts him, because all he cares about is his feelings at that exact moment. It doesn’t matter if his lie will hurt him down the road, what matters is winning this soundbite. And his lies are so brazen and made so forcefully and without any hesitation that his supporters somehow don’t count them as lies. See, if they lied they’d be ashamed and hesitant. They’d look down at their shoes and mumble. But Trump looks you straight in the eye and lies proudly. And since he doesn’t act like a liar, that means he isn’t one. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/23 "2017-02-11T20:46:46Z")
Trump is a lying sack of shit. Always has been, always will be. If he says something, I assume the opposite is true until I have reason to believe otherwise. It requires less effort to arrive at the facts that way than fact-checking him does. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/24 "2017-02-13T02:06:31Z")
“While on FAKE NEWS @CNN, Bernie Sanders was cut off for using the term fake news to describe the network. They said technical difficulties!” Trump tweeted this earlier. It is, of course, a lie. And it is a lie that is easily confirmed to be a lie. It is things like this which in my mind prove he must be a pathological liar. Here’s the full interview: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5lutF914rcs/hqdefault.jpg "Bernie Sanders rips Trump (Entire CNN interview)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lutF914rcs) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/25 "2017-02-13T03:11:18Z")
I’m hardly a liberal, but come on. Pathological liar. Perhaps even mentally unfit for office. I don’t support Pence, but I don’t think he’s mentally ill. They should remove the President for being unfit and put Pence in. :shudders: Sorry, I really don’t want Pence, but I don’t think he’s insane. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/26 "2017-02-13T03:16:02Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > Same with Obama such as … :dubious: Passed the stimulus package that stopped the job losses of the great recession and started the recovery Passed the ACA that lowered medical inflation and expanded coverage Killed Osama Bin Laden Killed 30,000 terrorists Wall street reform Expanded renewable energy and signed agreements to limit climate change. Bailed out the auto industry, saving 1,500,000 jobs. Far far more than the 300 or 800 jobs Trump brags about every few weeks. Increased medicare’s solvency Credit card reform etc etc ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/27 "2017-02-13T03:25:17Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’m not sure if he’s just lost in a world where he has no idea what truth is, or if he’s actively misleading and misrepresenting. This is honestly the part that drives me nuts. I go back and forth on this all the time. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/28 "2017-02-13T03:27:24Z")
I voted for the first choice because the second didn’t feel strong enough. He’s literally a professional swindler. His casinos were designed to fail and screw over investors. And it’s not like he needs the money. He just likes screwing people over. He is a sadist. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/29 "2017-02-13T03:32:03Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > We don’t have to rely on our _gut feelings_ when there is plenty of factual evidence that Trump and his minions are lying cunts who are not fit to shovel shit from one place to another. Appropriately supervised, maybe they could do that. Well, no, maybe not. A padded room and some old crayons might be best. Trump would be a menace even as a lowly city employee. The one tiny mercy is that least as head of state, the world’s eyes are on him more often. But Og help us, much of the government are following his orders. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/30 "2017-02-13T03:34:21Z")
He’s a con artist, pathological liar, ignorant and irrational; there’s no way I’d trust him to so much as give me directions somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/31 "2017-02-13T05:02:54Z")
I went with the second choice and would include everyone associated with him or his administration. Some Presidents I’ve done that to/for less than others but for this one its going to be every freaking time. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/32 "2017-02-13T05:55:15Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > Same with Obama such as … :dubious: > It’s a battle for what we think. I’m just stirring it up, poor Trump doesn’t seem to have anyone one his side in here. > > One thing I am happy about on Obama is the fence sitting he did on Syria saving thousands of military lives. Jon Cohn does a pretty good takedown of “Trump’s done more in three weeks…” - pointing out that Obama was more productive his first few weeks, signing _actual pieces of legislation_: the Ledbetter Act, CHIP, and the stimulus (that last one was in week 4). [Trump's Advisers Want You To Believe He's The Most Productive President Yet. He Isn't. | HuffPost Latest News](http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_58a0ccf8e4b094a129ec274d)? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/33 "2017-02-13T09:14:24Z")
I think he’s a pathological liar—he would lie when the truth would save his life. I’d like to have a link to the mentioned Trump Twitter archive if possible. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/34 "2017-02-13T10:25:20Z")
It’s not about trust, it’s about a lack of intellectual curiosity, which is a sign of low intelligence and wilful ignorance. He lies because he thinks everyone lies, which in turn he believes justifies his own lies. He thinks he’s being clever and cunning because until now people have let him think that. He has no power, he has intimidation and luck. And from all accounts his parents were just as bad as him. There’s nothing to trust, he’s dead behind his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/35 "2017-02-13T10:31:56Z")
[quote=“BeepKillBeep, post:24, topic:779546”] “While on FAKE NEWS @CNN, Bernie Sanders was cut off for using the term fake news to describe the network. They said technical difficulties!” Trump tweeted this earlier. It is, of course, a lie. And it is a lie that is easily confirmed to be a lie. It is things like this which in my mind prove he must be a pathological liar. Here’s the full interview: [/QUOTE] The disturbing part is, people on the right actually believe that. I’ve seen quite a few people who actually bought into this lie, ignoring completely that Sanders was invited right back on after the commercial break to finish his interview. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/36 "2017-02-13T15:47:24Z")
I don’t trust him as far as I could throw him, upwind. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/37 "2017-02-13T16:07:45Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > The disturbing part is, people on the right actually believe that. I’ve seen quite a few people who actually bought into this lie, ignoring completely that Sanders was invited right back on after the commercial break to finish his interview. John Oliver touched on that last night. People believe Trump and Trump believes himself because people believe him. They show a clip of a congresscritter saying that getting information might soon be the only place to get the truth. So Orwellian. What's amazing to me as a Canadian is that growing up as a child of the cold war, I always had the image in my head of the United States of America as the protectors of freedom and liberty. It is amazing to me that so many Americans are so willing to throw away their freedom. The PPP released a poll indicating that 51% of Trump voters think Trump should be able to overturn decisions made against him. Now I realize that probably translates into maybe 15% of Americans at most, but for the image I had of the USA growing up I'm really quite surprised it isn't 0%. I would have thought that almost every American would have the perspective that you could take their freedom and liberty only through death ("from my cold dead hands") but it ends up that for some all you have to do is lie to them a little. Ironically the types supporting Trump are ones most likely to spout the "from my cold dead hands" line. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/38 "2017-02-13T16:30:57Z")
I genuinely wanted to be charitable and say ‘fact check everything’ but based on his track record he’s earned a ‘assumed to be telling a lie unless proven otherwise’ status. The burden is on the administration to prove they’re telling the truth about anything they say at this point. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/39 "2017-02-13T16:47:36Z")
I’m not sure how the top two options materially differ. Sure, he’s a pathological liar. But I’m going to fact-check anyway… on the off chance he actually tells the truth, I’d like to know! I’m willing to go so far as to say that I don’t think the crazy maelstrom of confusion, doubt and un-truths swirling around DC, Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago are some sort of cagey, well-thought out plan to deceive and bamboozle the American public. More likely, it’s the result of a somewhat crazy POTUS with a predilection for grandiose and false statements, along with a bunch of underlings with their own agendas and not enough oversight from above. I have a feeling sooner or later that shit will get out of hand and Trump and his circus will either rein themselves in, be reined in forcibly by the GOP, or booted unceremoniously by Congress. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546/40 "2017-02-13T16:58:01Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > Keep bad mouthing him and you will be sorry … He’s sending someone around to kneecap his enemies? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-trust-trump-and-his-administration/779546.md?page=3)