# 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:** 139
**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:** [December 26, 2025, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2766 "2025-12-26T14:26:17Z")
It’s clear he means that the Epstein friends will all be outed, prosecuted, or both during 2026. Those are the people he’s saying will have an unmerry Xmas 2026. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2767 "2025-12-26T15:13:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s clear he means that the Epstein friends will all be outed, prosecuted, or both during 2026. Those are the people he’s saying will have an unmerry Xmas 2026.. Thank you for the clarification. I am running on fumes and have to work all week so my attention to detail is substandard. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2768 "2025-12-26T23:46:40Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > My suspicion is that these “private people” will be genteel pirates, whose only motivation is to politely confiscate the illicit substances… > > … and promptly sell them for massive proft back home. Trump has always admired organized crime, and has tried, in his own small way, to emulate its common practices. Authorizing piracy is a logical step in the same direction (for what is piracy, after all, but ‘mafia on the waves’?) As for the Oval Office: > **[Governor Newsom Press Office (@govpressoffice.gov.ca.gov)](https://bsky.app/profile/govpressoffice.gov.ca.gov/post/3mawehhkv722b)** > > “Merry Christmas to all, including the many Sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein” ---
**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:** [December 30, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2769 "2025-12-30T00:29:31Z")
Every good thing he touches turns to crap. > # More Kennedy Center Performances Are Canceled After Trump’s Renaming > > _A dance company withdrew from two performances next year, and the arts center’s website says two New Year’s Eve jazz concerts have been canceled._ > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/arts/kennedy-center-new-years-eve-concerts-canceled.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.AlA.atp7.sTJdJ5ZoAl76&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/arts/kennedy-center-new-years-eve-concerts-canceled.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AlA.atp7.sTJdJ5ZoAl76&smid=url-share) > A prominent New York dance company on Monday said it was canceling its performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in protest of [the center’s being renamed to include President Trump](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/us/politics/kennedy-center-name.html). > > The decision by Doug Varone and Dancers is the latest by artists who have canceled appearances at one of the nation’s pre-eminent arts centers this month. [An earlier set of withdrawals and resignations](https://www.nytimes.com/article/kennedy-center-cancel-shows-resignations.html) took place in February after the president pushed out members of the board of directors and [replaced them with his supporters](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/arts/music/trump-kennedy-center-board-removed.html). > > On Monday, the Kennedy Center’s website also said that two scheduled New Year’s Eve performances by [the Cookers, a jazz ensemble](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/arts/music/billy-hart-jazz-drummer-just.html), had been canceled. The center had previously promoted the performances as an “all-star jazz septet that will ignite the Terrace Theater stage with fire and soul.” > > **The reason for those cancellations was not immediately clear.** … > … My bold. Oh, really? Next, clear out the main floor and hold a Monster Truck Rally-- that’ll bring in the crowds. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2770 "2025-12-30T00:37:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Next, clear out the main floor and hold a Monster Truck Rally-- that’ll bring in the crowds. This administration is increasingly feeling like _Idiocracy_. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2025, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2771 "2025-12-30T08:58:39Z")
It has frequently been pointed out that President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho was a much better president than Trump is, on the basis that, when faced with a crisis, he 1) understood he didn’t know how to fix it, 2) found the best person to deal with it, and 3) listened to them. Neither Trump nor anyone in his administration are capable of doing any of those. On the Kennedy Center: I don’t know what the cancellation clauses are like, but I assume that whatever money these groups might have been paid wouldn’t measure up to the stain on their reputation for performing there right now. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2772 "2025-12-30T09:03:05Z")
I should know better than to think this, but at least _part_ of all this pushback has to be filtering through that cranium of his, right? Even a minuscule amount penetrating that bowling ball of a skull, all the stories about cancellations, and how displeased the general public is about the renaming _has_ to reach the Everlasting Gobstopper that functions as a brain for him has to at least be marginally aware that people are criticizing this decision. Right? Right? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2773 "2025-12-30T10:12:21Z")
Right, but then, I’m sure that he also says, “People who criticize this decision are disloyal. They’re not patriots.” Followed, undoubtedly, by, “They need re-education. Set up re-education camps.” And that’s a chilling thought. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2774 "2025-12-30T10:24:54Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I should know better than to think this, but at least _part_ of all this pushback has to be filtering through that cranium of his, right? Even a minuscule amount penetrating that bowling ball of a skull, all the stories about cancellations, and how displeased the general public is about the renaming _has_ to reach the Everlasting Gobstopper that functions as a brain for him has to at least be marginally aware that people are criticizing this decision. > > Right? > > Right? The raw information may be penetrating the orange cranium, but nothing can penetrate that immense ego and narcissism. Thus, any artists who cancel and those who criticize his gross mismanagement of the Kennedy Center are crazed radical leftists suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and incapable of appreciating his genius. It’s all very simple once you understand that the man is completely unhinged. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2775 "2025-12-30T12:37:51Z")
It’s just gonna be Ted Nugent and Kid Rock. Night, after night. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2776 "2025-12-30T15:37:02Z")
Reminds me of the title of a song by Ben Folds Five: “The Battle of Who Could Care Less.” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2777 "2025-12-30T15:58:36Z")
Perhaps it should be renamed “Trump’s Idiocracy”. Just like the Kennedy Center got renamed. Hmmm… ---
**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:** [December 31, 2025, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2778 "2025-12-31T14:43:05Z")
The atrocities of this so-called administration are truly emerging from a bottomless well… > # ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires > > _A strategy document shared among immigration officials details plans to use influencers and geo-targeted ads to supercharge their push to hire thousands of deportation officers nationwide._ > > [https://wapo.st/44QrP5j](https://wapo.st/44QrP5j) Check out the recruiting posters: [![](https://i.imgur.com/gkvl4Vc.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/gkvl4Vc.jpeg) > U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning to spend $100 million over a one-year period to recruit **gun-rights supporters and military enthusiasts** through online influencers and a geo-targeted advertising campaign, part of what the agency called a “wartime recruitment” strategy it said was critical to hiring thousands of new deportation officers nationwide, according to an internal document reviewed by The Washington Post. > > The spending would help President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda dominate media networks and recruitment channels, including through ads **targeting people who have attended UFC fights, listened to patriotic podcasts or shown an interest in guns and tactical gear** , according to a 30-page document distributed among officials in this summer detailing ICE’s “surge hiring marketing strategy.” > > The Department of Homeland Security has spoken publicly about its fast-tracked effort to significantly increase ICE’s workforce by hiring more than 10,000 new employees, a surge promoted on social media with calls for recruits willing to perform their “[sacred duty](https://www.instagram.com/p/DRNcD-_ic_7/)” and “[defend the homeland](https://www.instagram.com/p/DQCYfHAkTuW/)” by repelling “[foreign invaders](https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1986828779130409131).” The agency currently employs more than 20,000 people, according to [ICE’s website](https://www.ice.gov/careers/faqs). > > But the document, reported here for the first time, reveals new details about the vast scale of the recruitment effort and its unconventional strategy to “flood the market” with millions of dollars in spending for Snapchat ads, influencers and live streamers on Rumble, a video platform popular with conservatives. Under the strategy, ICE would also use an ad-industry technique known as “geofencing” to **send ads to the phone web browsers and social media feeds of anyone who set foot near military bases, NASCAR races, college campuses or gun and trade shows.** > … My bold. Yeah, let’s arm those people for war and send them out into neighborhoods–yeah, that’s the ticket! 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2779 "2025-12-31T15:01:56Z")
Nice ICE, but you might want to back off the mass murder at the border and show the things ICE actually does like arresting children. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2780 "2025-12-31T15:42:38Z")
But they’re so much easier to catch! ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2781 "2025-12-31T21:49:27Z")
Is the lower right picture in @ThelmaLou’s post supposed to look like a warthog from the videogame “Halo” or is it just me? That has to be a deliberate choice, right? > **[Warthog (Halo)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warthog_(Halo)?wprov=sfla1)** > > The M12 Force Application Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, nicknamed Warthog, is a fictional armoured fighting vehicle that appears in the Halo video game franchise. An anti-infantry military light utility vehicle with a rear-mounted weapon turret, it appears in most major Halo titles as a drivable vehicle. Several working replicas of the Warthog were later created in real life, including by Weta Workshop for use in the cancelled Halo film. Playing an important role in defining the level design a... ETA: Just realized… “Destroy the Flood.” And now I see the ring in the background. Yeah its a Halo reference. In an ICE recruitment ad. That’s kind of disgusting. I wonder about the legality of that? ---
**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:** [December 31, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2782 "2025-12-31T22:25:05Z")
Consider the audience these ads are targeting. Legality? Who cares about that? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2783 "2025-12-31T22:32:54Z")
‘Copy right is the right to copy anything we want to.’ ~ DJT ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2784 "2026-01-06T00:00:35Z")
I’m putting this here because it’s much more general than the immediate invasion of Venezuela matter: [https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/04/schumer-senate-venezuela-authorization-vote-00710205](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/04/schumer-senate-venezuela-authorization-vote-00710205) So Chuck Schumer wants a vote on the invasion of Vensezuela? I have a message for Chuck. **The USA no longer has a functional legislature.** The checks and balances contemplated by the Founders are all shot to hell. It would be astonishing if the Supreme Court overturned any of the thousands of illegal “executive orders” that rule the nation, and even if they did, who would enforce the ruling? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2785 "2026-01-06T00:28:48Z")
Congress is now the functional equivalent of the Russian Duma. They have no authority or power whatsoever. A fig leaf of democracy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=138) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=140)