# 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:** 188
**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 27, 2025, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3774 "2025-02-27T20:57:33Z")
As I’m the one who asked, I do apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3775 "2025-02-27T20:58:12Z")
I appreciate the apology, but the comment was moddable even without your request for a cite. ---
**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 28, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3776 "2025-02-28T00:52:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > His brain is mush. He can’t even remember the things he said yesterday. He’s just trolling and loving every second it pisses people off that he’s getting away with it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3777 "2025-02-28T03:32:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > did I say that? I can’t believe I said that Reading just that, I was thinking – you have some real evidence of confusion this time. But then I checked and found a bit more context:: “Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question,” So it sounds like he knew what he was doing, and did it, and intentionally cut off further questioning on why he goes back and forth on insulting Zelensky. No confusion. I’m seeing here a hard-working autocrat consolidating power. He’s learned from his first term how to keep the normie set from dominating him. Dismantling a democracy as well-established as the U.S. is not going to go smoothly, no matter how sharp you are. But he is making great progress, and I believe it is because he is focused on the task. ---
**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 28, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3778 "2025-02-28T03:33:57Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > hard-working I don’t think Trump has ever worked hard at anything. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3779 "2025-02-28T03:56:37Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t think Trump has ever worked hard at anything. He’s talked to the press a lot so far. Not only is he doing governance, he also is also doing work for his business: [Trump is using the presidency to seek golf deals](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/27/trump-pga-liv-saudi-arabia:) > [@](#): > > In his first month in office, [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) destroyed federal agencies, fired thousands of government workers and unleashed dozens of executive orders. The US president also found time to try to [broker an agreement](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/02/20/pga-tour-saudi-pif-trump-white-house/) between two rival golf tournaments, the US-based PGA Tour and the LIV Golf league, funded by [Saudi Arabia](https://www.theguardian.com/world/saudiarabia). ---
**Author:** ![LouMa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/louma/32/19472_2.png) [@LouMa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouMa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3780 "2025-02-28T10:56:49Z")
He is said to have fathered 13 children though… ---
**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 28, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3781 "2025-02-28T18:45:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > hard-working > > I don’t think Trump has ever worked hard at anything. Recall that the election-interference Jack Smith case can be re-brought, should Trump leave office. That gives him a pretty powerful incentive to, you know, not leave office. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3782 "2025-03-02T02:42:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Elon had gotten a penis implant surgery Well, Trump did say _everyone_ was getting transgender operations. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3783 "2025-03-02T02:58:04Z")
Re yesterday with Zelenskyy, Vance and Trump, after seeing it ([text here](https://www.fox10tv.com/2025/03/01/transcript-trump-zelenskyy-vances-heated-argument-oval-office/)), among my many thoughts was that we have a final answer to the thread title question. Answer: NO. Trump is a sharp autocrat. DJT obviously (to me) went to Vance, a guy he doesn’t usually hang with, and told him to find an opportunity to berate Zelenskyy in order to scuttle the signing of a worthless agreement where Ukraine would have given the U.S. rights to minerals that Ukraine probably doesn’t have. So I agree [with Susan Rice in a MSNBC interview:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWbK5gfNYd4&list=RDNSyWbK5gfNYd4&start_radio=1) > [@](#): > > It’s a very sad day and an embarrassment for the United States on the world stage. But let’s step back and analyze what’s happened here. I think there’s no question that this was a setup. You heard Donald Trump say at the end of that clip you played “this is great television” . . . > > I’ve been in countless Oval Office meetings with heads of state, presidents, and vice presidents as National Security advisor [and] as Ambassador and in other roles. I can tell you that the vice president or the Secretary of State or anybody else – they don’t jump in [and] hijack a conversation without the express blessing of the president of United States. So JD Vance did that deliberately. Donald Trump knew what he was going to do. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3784 "2025-03-02T03:01:41Z")
Moderating: > [@Irishman](#): > > Well, Trump did say _everyone_ was getting transgender operations. Did you miss the mod note I gave Smapti for making an unfounded assertion in P&E about Elon Musk’s penis? The mod note applies to Pit-like responses to his comment such as yours. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3785 "2025-03-02T14:14:16Z")
I’m sorry. I will do better. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3786 "2025-03-02T14:48:00Z")
It was definitely a setup. I haven’t seen it, but my dad had been following closely and telling me about it. He’s an article. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/trump-offended-by-zelenskyy-not-wearing-a-suit-in-white-house-13319114](https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/trump-offended-by-zelenskyy-not-wearing-a-suit-in-white-house-13319114) The first thing started when Trump commented on Zelenskyy’s attire. That’s the black shirt and military pants he typically wears. Trump made a sarcastic comment about his well he was dressed. Apparently, knowing how Zelenskyy always dresses, the White House advised him ahead of time to wear a suit. Later, a reporter followed up with a question about Zelenskyy’s attire and why he didn’t wear a suit, and accused him of a lack of respect for America. Zelenskyy explained it is because his country is at war, it’s a sign of solidarity. That reporter, by the way, is Marjorie Taylor Greene’s boyfriend. You think maybe there’s a connection? That helped set the tone for Vance’s run on how Zelenskyy was supposedly being disrespectful. Nobody mentioned Trump’s tirade about his dumb Biden and Obama and Shumer and everybody were. He was far more disrespectful to America than anything Zelenskyy said or did. It’s been pointed out that they didn’t have any complaints when Elon Musk wears a T- shirt and jeans and a baseball cap in the Oval Office. It was all theater. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3787 "2025-03-02T15:59:06Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > It was definitely a setup. It terms of the thread topic, the only question then is who did the setting up. Allegedly confused old man Donald Trump, JD Vance, or some behind-the-scenes villain? I go with the planner being Trump for reasons already given. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3788 "2025-03-02T16:11:16Z")
I’ve realised what this whole brouhaha was reminding me of: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JV-fSs9r0nk/hqdefault.jpg "Haile Selassie pleads for help at League of Nations and receives hostile reception from press (1936)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV-fSs9r0nk) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3789 "2025-03-02T17:02:01Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > It terms of the thread topic, the only question then is who did the setting up. It’s possible Trump is the archetect, but it’s more likely Trump said they needed a way to blow up the deal and make Zelenskyy look bad, and then Vance or Musk conceived the details. I lean toward Vance. Getting Marjorie Taylor-Greene’s boyfriend into it was too cute. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3790 "2025-03-02T17:02:59Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > It’s been pointed out that they didn’t have any complaints when Elon Musk wears a T- shirt and jeans and a baseball cap in the Oval Office. To say nothing about bringing his sprog to wipe boogers on the Resolute desk. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3791 "2025-03-02T17:41:09Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > To say nothing about bringing his sprog to wipe boogers on the Resolute desk. i heard Trump sent the Resolute Desk out for ‘light refinishing’. I hope it doesn’t come back covered in gold leaf. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3792 "2025-03-02T18:18:11Z")
Moderating: Yet again, this thread has devolved into Pit-like discussion. We tried to leave it in P&E, but now I’m closing it. @Dr_Paprika, please let me know if you want it reopened in the Pit. It probably should have been moved there long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/3793 "2025-03-02T18:18:23Z")
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