# The current second Trump administration: a compendium of horrors **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774 "2024-11-06T09:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 124
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2466 "2025-10-23T01:57:52Z")
Ah, that we may never know. Or maybe we can find out after (the future, optimistically speaking) investigation. Hmm, I answered a question you didn’t ask. Whatever he says it will be a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2467 "2025-10-23T02:00:08Z")
Do we know if this money was given to the government, as opposed to being a personal gift to Trump? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2468 "2025-10-23T02:10:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who is paying for this? It’s moot. I suspect he doesn’t plan on paying anyone. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2469 "2025-10-23T02:13:54Z")
The answer that I’ve seen several times is that the money is from private donors. I think we need to see the list of these “private donors”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2470 "2025-10-23T02:17:55Z")
For a gift that size, isn’t it pretty much required? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2471 "2025-10-23T02:20:46Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > 50 percent cost overrun before they’ve even started excavating the foundation: Which is what you’d expect when you have a modern day “Boss” Tweed building his own Tammany Hall. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2472 "2025-10-23T02:26:09Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Is this fixed price, cost-plus, or something else? The term you are looking for is “bullshit”. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2473 "2025-10-23T02:26:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > The answer that I’ve seen several times is that the money is from private donors. I think we need to see the list of these “private donors”. [Trump wants a White House ballroom. These companies are funding it.](https://wapo.st/47kAFbU) Much is coming from government contractors. WaPo implies it is probably tax deductible. I cannot see Trump’s IRS challenging such a deduction. So we pay with higher government contracting costs and lost tax revenue. Then, as cost overruns mount, donations are likely to be insufficient. At this point, Trump may want donors to switch to the Arch. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2474 "2025-10-23T02:52:28Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > A jolly fascist would turn the ballroom into a lockup for Trumpers. Your proposal sounds to me like normal dictator stuff. My administration will do both. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2475 "2025-10-23T03:54:02Z")
This is all a 4-D chess move in preparation for attacking Canada. They can’t burn down the white house again if it has already been demolished. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2476 "2025-10-23T04:15:55Z")
And of course we the taxpayers will be responsible for maintaining this monstrosity in perpetuity, until and unless a future President tears it down. (Which probably won’t happen even if we get a future sane President because it would be a waste to throw good money after bad to replace it.) ---
**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:** [October 23, 2025, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2477 "2025-10-23T05:48:13Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > JFC, has he ever been asked to explain how a goddamn circumcision could possibly be responsible for autism? I would dearly love to hear his explanation. My understanding is that he says it’s because of [giving Tylenol for any pain](https://www.factcheck.org/2025/10/rfk-jr-s-inaccurate-claims-about-tylenol-circumcision-and-autism/). I don’t know what his explanation is for autism in females (Tylenol for period pains?) ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2478 "2025-10-23T06:06:10Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > “As the subject premises have already been demolished, Plaintiff’s claim is hereby deemed moot and accordingly dismissed for lack of standing.” Correction: lack of a standing wall! ---
**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:** [October 23, 2025, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2479 "2025-10-23T06:13:17Z")
While I am pissed off at the destruction of the east wing, it’s a building and can be rebuilt. Trump’s damage to the Federal government’s programs, state sovereignty, our treaties with other countries, and peoples’ trust in their own government – to name but a few – are not so easily repaired. It will take generations. This is assuming, of course, we get the will to try and repair them in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2480 "2025-10-23T12:13:34Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > The answer that I’ve seen several times is that the money is from private donors. I think we need to see the list of these “private donors”. We’ve got the list. It’s called the census. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2025, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2481 "2025-10-23T12:19:16Z")
Actually, I’d believe they are in fact donations. And then by a fantastic coincidence the company who made it lands a lucrative government contract or a merger that has been hanging fire for months suddenly gets approved. It’s called a bribe in most countries. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2482 "2025-10-23T12:34:17Z")
> [@robby](#): > > And of course we the taxpayers will be responsible for maintaining this monstrosity in perpetuity, until and unless a future President tears it down. > > (Which probably won’t happen even if we get a future sane President because it would be a waste to throw good money after bad to replace it.) Not just a waste of money. A President, who isn’t a dictator, would have to get such a big project through Congress. And you are unlikely to get 60 votes in the Senate for destroying a key legacy of of one of our two major political parties.parties. Figuring out how much of Trump 47 can be undone, without a future Democratic president turning into another dictator, will be challenging. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2483 "2025-10-23T13:20:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “I was just following orders” has a long and sordid history. The American version will be, “I was just doing what I was paid to do.” They hired private contractors to do the demolition, and no one in security at the White House tried to stop them, so the demolition got done. They never stopped to ask if it was a good idea, they just saw the paycheck and got on with it. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2484 "2025-10-23T13:42:15Z")
So, the Pentagon has a new gang of idiots _reporters_ as its “Press Pool”: > **[Pentagon’s new press corps is the stuff of nightmares](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/22/2349917/-Pentagon-s-new-press-corps-is-the-stuff-of-nightmares?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_3&pm_medium=web)** > > The Trump administration announced Wednesday that a group of far-right media outlets have been given press access to the Pentagon.� > > The announcement comes a week after actual ... > Among the Pentagon’s new pool of outlets is Timcast, [conspiratorial racist](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/22/2318083/-Trump-White-House-welcomes-bigoted-podcaster-to-push-immigration-lies) Tim Pool’s podcast > … > Similarly, MyPillow founder and [election conspiracy theorist](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/30/2346192/-The-MyPillow-guy-can-t-stop-losing) Mike Lindell’s outlet, LindellTV, will now regurgitate Hegseth’s nonsense to the public. > … > Gateway Pundit, the conservative blog founded and operated by Jim Hoft, also received Pentagon credentials. Now, sure, these people are all Trump Loyalists, and so we’d expect them to follow the new rules concerning “soliciting” information that hasn’t been approved for publication by Hegseth, et al. But, at the same time, they’re all grifters, and their ultimate allegiance is to themselves and their own profit. So, I’m taking bets on how long it is before one of them is caught breaking the rules in hopes of finding a lucrative “scoop” they can use to make money. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2485 "2025-10-23T13:44:23Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > I know right? This is pissing me off almost more than anything else. I’m not sure why, but _enraging_ is at minimum of the way I feel about this _ **Despoiling** _ of our house. Maybe it’s the symbolism of it all, or maybe it’s the smug in your face screw you feel. Grrrr!. I am having the same response. It’s the visual destruction that hits me viscerally in a way I had not anticipated. I am quietly enraged. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=123) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=125)