# Is Trump confused? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 24, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589 "2024-01-24T13:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 186
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2025, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3734 "2025-02-08T18:49:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “there’s some outside problem with eggs maybe” And why the fuck does he keep saying groceries is an old fashioned word? It it because he never, ever goes grocery shopping like all the rest of us have to do? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3735 "2025-02-08T18:52:10Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Be careful, Mr. Trump. Accepting anything golden doesn’t have a great track record for dictators. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3736 "2025-02-08T21:43:44Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > And why the fuck does he keep saying groceries is an old fashioned word? It it because he never, ever goes grocery shopping like all the rest of us have to do? I’m sure he has never, ever set foot in a grocery store. He loves the word because he just learned it several months ago and since he had never heard of it, it must be some old thing and he is impressing everyone by bringing it back. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2025, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3737 "2025-02-08T21:44:31Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Anything Trump has expertise in usually can be found in the Penal Code [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qDsx7JUEWME/maxresdefault.jpg "Kentucky Fried Movie - Penal Codes") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDsx7JUEWME) ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3738 "2025-02-09T03:34:33Z")
Thinking about the water egain, I think that he was teaching the military a lesson: This is no longer Trump 45. In Trump 47, you have to do what I say, no matter how much you disagree with it. That it wouldn’t help California made it even more important that his order be obeyed. It may take until the next Woodward book comes out to confirm this analysis, but if correct – he is, if anything, less confused than he was eight years ago, when generals could control him. There are many confused people in Trumpworld – just not DJT. Those are his supporters, the people who genuinely think Trump is on their side. This article demonstrates said confusion: [Trump dumped these farmers’ water. They’d rather not talk about it.](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/06/trump-california-water-policy-farmers-00202751) > [@](#): > > Zack Stuller, a farmer with citrus and almond orchards he irrigates from the reservoirs and president of the Tulare County Farm Bureau in the state’s arid Central Valley, said the situation “definitely was a little nerve-wracking for a while.” > > But, he said, “I’m a farmer. I have a conservative mindset. I encourage the trigger-pulling attitude, like, ‘Hey, let’s just get stuff done.’” . . . > > “We’re excited that we have a president that’s engaged in California water policy and maximizing the coordination of the systems,” Rep. Vince Fong, a GOP representative whose district includes the affected farmers, said in a brief interview Wednesday. That’s confused. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3739 "2025-02-09T04:28:16Z")
I think he’s a terrible communicator to anyone who isn’t in his base. I also think he’s so utterly out of touch with anything outside of his scheming, that he can’t speak intelligently about anything else. One trick pony. He’s not confused about all the shit he’s doing and saying, he’s apathetic. Ends justify the means. I’ll even give him credit for being a good negotiator; he just chooses to negotiate extremely stupid, harmful deals. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3740 "2025-02-09T12:28:41Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > There are many confused people in Trumpworld – just not DJT. Those are his supporters, the people who genuinely think Trump is on their side. This article demonstrates said confusion: If you spend time reading MAGA sites, you quickly realize that among the hardcore supporters, it really is a cult. And I’m not being hyperbolic. The same people who were making racist comments about Indians were suddenly calling American workers lazy and saying we needed these Indians one day later when Trump came out in support of H1Bs. I am sure there are plenty of Trump voters who aren’t like this. But his core base? 100% ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3741 "2025-02-09T20:19:42Z")
I would guesstimate that half of the people who voted for Trump this time around are reasonably decent people but were gullible enough to trade their birthright for the promise of cheaper eggs. We’re buying some chickens come spring – got the [Murray McMurray](https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html) catalog and everything. By the time you expense everything out the eggs won’t be cheaper but the quality is higher and the supply steady. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3742 "2025-02-09T20:23:33Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I would guesstimate that half of the people who voted for Trump this time around are reasonably decent people but were gullible enough to trade their birthright for the promise of cheaper eggs. So, which voters go in the _other_ one, if you put ‘eggs’ in that basket? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3743 "2025-02-09T21:22:26Z")
“I just signed a bill allowing for women not to have to be punished by men in sports.” > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lhrjhe5p6c25)** > > Asked what he's doing to try to bring the country together, Trump goes on a rant that culminates in him saying that "I just signed a bill allowing for women not to have to be punished by men in sports." BAIER: When do you think families would be able to feel prices going down? TRUMP: I think we’re gonna become a rich-- look, we’re not that rich right now. We owe $36 trillion. That’s because we let all these nations take advantage of us. > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lhrj6slifs25)** > > BAIER: When do you think families would be able to feel prices going down? > > TRUMP: I think we're gonna become a rich-- look, we're not that rich right now. We owe $36 trillion. That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3744 "2025-02-09T22:07:30Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Thinking about the water egain, I think that he was teaching the military a lesson: This is no longer Trump 45. In Trump 47, you have to do what I say, no matter how much you disagree with it. That it wouldn’t help California made it even more important that his order be obeyed. Yes, I agree that a big part of the ‘order to waste reservoir water’ incident was to get the military used to carrying out orders no matter how bad/stupid/wrong they may be. I don’t know to what extent I credit Trump with thinking that up, though. He has fully-fascist advisors who are, no doubt, always thinking of ways to forward the day of fully-totalitarian rule. But I would guess that once it was suggested, Donald _did_ see the value of sticking it to both the military and California in this way. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > It may take until the next Woodward book comes out to confirm this analysis, but if correct – he is, if anything, less confused than he was eight years ago, when generals could control him. I don’t know about this. His failure to achieve full autocracy in 2017-21 was more about his surprise at being in the seat of power and his lack of utterly-power-driven advisors during those years. I don’t think his performance during those years can be put down to confusion. It’s probably a fair guess that during 2017-21 Donald was less-mentally-acute than he was during earlier decades of his life. But it also seems fair to guess that he’s even further from mental acuity now than he was during that first term. The notes on his appearance several have made here seem relevant. His rambling in speeches as well as in online posting seems…worse. This thing with President Musk trending has to be eating away at him, even if technically Musk is doing things to make Donald richer. Donald must be wondering if all the information Musk has stolen will help increase _Donald’s_ power—or _Musk’s_ power. That cannot be working to keep him mentally sharp; stress usually **accelerates** mental deterioration, rather than the reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3745 "2025-02-10T05:19:22Z")
Reporter: Why do you want to be chairman of Kennedy Center board? Trump: Some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace. Reporter: Have you seen any shows there? Trump: No, I didn’t go. > **[Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3lhs5eove2s2s)** > > Reporter: Why do you want to be chairman of Kennedy Center board? > > Trump: Some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace. > > Reporter: Have you seen any shows there? > > Trump: No, I didn’t go. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3746 "2025-02-10T12:35:15Z")
That seems far more coherent than much of his speeching. He wants to change their agenda to be more to his liking. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3747 "2025-02-10T13:53:32Z")
Quoting the article: > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > But, he said, “I’m a farmer. I have a conservative mindset. I encourage the trigger-pulling attitude, like, ‘Hey, let’s just get stuff done.’” . . . “I encourage the trigger-pulling attitude” says man directly in front of the gun. > [@](#): > > “We’re excited that we have a president that’s engaged in California water policy and maximizing the coordination of the systems,” Rep. Vince Fong, a GOP representative whose district includes the affected farmers, said in a brief interview Wednesday. “We’re excited that we have a president that’s engaged in the planning of Thanksgiving dinner” says the head of the National Union of Turkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3748 "2025-02-10T14:27:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Trump: Some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace. > > Reporter: Have you seen any shows there? > > Trump: No, I didn’t go. Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3749 "2025-02-11T01:11:52Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > says the head of the National Union of Turkeys. [Bob Newhart] Turkey, huh? They got that named right. [/BH] ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3750 "2025-02-11T12:49:32Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > This thing with President Musk trending has to be eating away at him, even if technically Musk is doing things to make Donald richer. Donald must be wondering if all the information Musk has stolen will help increase _Donald’s_ power—or _Musk’s_ power. Makes me wonder where the tipping point between Trump’s greed and his ego is. Sure, Trump’s raison d’être is to line his pockets with other people’s money–it always has been, but I agree that the President Musk thing must dig at his self-conceit. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3751 "2025-02-11T14:04:46Z")
You know, it’s possible that someone has got it into Trump’s head that taking the troll bait is exactly what the trolls want, and the best course is to ignore this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3752 "2025-02-11T14:33:43Z")
Maybe, but Trump’s not exactly known for his impulse control or thinking things through. There’s a lot of instant ego gratification with him. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3753 "2025-02-11T22:56:42Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Maybe, but Trump’s not exactly known for his impulse control or thinking things through. There’s a lot of instant ego gratification with him. . Yeah, Donald is just going to Bannon Musk one of these days. (He fired Bannon from his White House post in term 1, after Bannon got his picture on the cover of Time Magazine…) Look at Donald seething while Elon goes on and on in today’s Oval Office press conference (video posted in this): > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lhwmuxhhtr23)** > > Elon Musk on spreading misinformation about condoms for Hamas: "Some of the things that I say will be incorrect." Some might say that Donald is looking sour due to the fact that the questioner, a WOMAN, is daring to, well, question his Administration. (Plus she has a ferrin accent.) But I don’t think he’s enjoying that all eyes are on Elon. (And Elon’s son Kevlar. (Joke stolen.)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=185) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=187)