# 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:** 147
**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 25, 2026, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2926 "2026-01-25T01:34:08Z")
I agree. If the Supreme Court doesn’t overturn his idiotic tariffs, a better hope may be that his toddler brain with the attention span of a gnat and growing dementia may just forget the whole thing. I don’t mean reverse the threat, I mean literally forget that he ever made it. He’ll undoubtedly soon become embroiled in something else that will distract him. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2026, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2927 "2026-01-25T10:47:46Z")
But he’d be looking for some other way to be seen to be sticking it to [whoever] in as headline-grabbing a way as possible - ? No more visas for [whoever] people, or set ICE on to any already in the USA? ---
**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:** [January 26, 2026, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2928 "2026-01-26T02:09:58Z")
This ink came across my FB feed. > **[🔥 BREAKING: TRUMP DARES AN IQ TEST — JIMMY KIMMEL SHATTERS HIS EGO IN 6...](https://northwavenews.com/posts/%F0%9F%94%A5-breaking-trump-dares-an-iq-test-jimmy-kimmel-shatters-his-ego-in-6-seconds-flat-hihi-baongoc/)** > > LOS ANGELES — In the high-wire space where American entertainment and politics increasingly overlap, spectacle often wins by volume. But on a recent episode Unfortunately, there is no link to the video; and my Google Fu is not mighty tonight. Does anyone have a link to the video, or to the whole show? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2929 "2026-01-26T03:30:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Unfortunately, there is no link to the video; and my Google Fu is not mighty tonight. Does anyone have a link to the video, or to the whole show? As far as I can determine, that link is fiction. Truly “fake news”, as it were. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2026, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2930 "2026-01-26T03:51:45Z")
Same. If that was real it would be all over YouTube. It’s not there so I’m sure it isn’t. There’s no way Trump goes on Jimmy Kimmel without it being front page news. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2931 "2026-01-26T11:24:09Z")
I have grown to dismiss such types of post unless it includes actual _continuous_ live-recorded footage (not assembled clips, not voiceovers) with source cite. ---
**Author:** ![Lizzie1210](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Lizzie1210](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizzie1210)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2932 "2026-01-27T17:23:51Z")
What so many people don’t get is that public employees are the workers who keep public assets and agencies operating. Public employees are the people who do the public’s work. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2933 "2026-01-27T18:39:49Z")
Of course. But when your doctrine says that most of what government does is unnecessary or even harmful, then having less of that is an improvement. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2026, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2934 "2026-01-28T02:14:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But when your doctrine says that most of what government does is unnecessary or even harmful, then having less of that is an improvement. Just because they believe it, doesn’t make it true. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2935 "2026-01-28T02:55:34Z")
Of course it doesn’t. But when everyone making decisions is besotted by that doctrine, well, doctrinaire answers are the ones the rest of us are going to have to put up with. And not be surprised about. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2936 "2026-01-28T14:27:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But when everyone making decisions is besotted by that doctrine, well, doctrinaire answers are the ones the rest of us are going to have to put up with. And not be surprised about. Yes. Their beliefs about how government works, and how it _should_ work, are so obviously deranged and farcical, that a lot of us are tempted to think, “Well, it’s all just an act, they don’t really believe the shit they spew!” But we have to realize, a lot of these people are true believers, they _really do_ embrace the farcical notions they espouse. This leads to all these ridiculous actions they take. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2937 "2026-01-28T14:40:14Z")
And the more the media they listen to report that these changes are great successes, the more they come to believe that that shit really does work. There are feedback loops operating here on many levels. All of which lead towards the clown car veering out of control and over the cliff while the occupants (or half of them at least) are cheering wildly. All the way down to impact. _Brawndo: It’s Got What Plants Crave!_ ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2938 "2026-01-28T17:21:59Z")
First question on the I.Q. test should be - What does I.Q. abbreviation stand for. Done. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2939 "2026-01-28T17:23:27Z")
What’s E.T. short for? He only has tiny little legs. ---
**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 29, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2940 "2026-01-29T11:05:56Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > But when your doctrine says that most of what government does is unnecessary or even harmful, then having less of that is an improvement. > > Just because they believe it, doesn’t make it true. There is a sense in which the belief is, in fact, self-fulfilling. Republicans have always tended to create dysfunctional government, and Trump has just taken this to a literally unbelievable extreme, appointing incompetent sycophants to all senior government positions. In their minds, when you see that government isn’t doing anything useful, it only makes sense to reduce its size and cost. Then when the nation goes to hell for lack of essential services and lack of proper regulation and enforcement, find someone else to blame. ---
**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 29, 2026, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2941 "2026-01-29T20:58:46Z")
Senior VP of artistic programming that Trump hired at the Kennedy Center has lasted for 12 days [before resigning.](https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/trump-s-new-kennedy-center-hire-quits-after-less-than-2-weeks-on-the-job/ar-AA1Vd2jB?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=697bc795b46648ba89b24181ff73e772&ei=52) Well, he lasted just a shade over [one Scaramucci](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Scaramucci) anyway. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2026, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2942 "2026-01-29T21:01:57Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Just because they believe it, doesn’t make it true. And just because they say it, doesn’t mean they believe it. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2943 "2026-01-30T15:57:22Z")
They [arrested Don Lemon overnight](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-lemon-in-custody-former-cnn-anchor-sources-say/), charging him in connection with the church protests from earlier this month. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2944 "2026-01-30T17:17:09Z")
Well, I’m sure glad they stopped his reign of terror. Wait, Don Lemon? The Don Lemon? What the fuck? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2945 "2026-01-30T18:26:47Z")
Yesterday Trump posted on Truth Social: [ARREST OBAMA NOW!](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115978022925817001) Not a retweet. That’s his direction, although I do not know to whom. Also yesterday: [Based on the fact that Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 Jets, one of the greatest, most technologically advanced airplanes ever made, we are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada, until such time as Gulfstream, a Great American Company, is fully certified, as it should have been many years ago.](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115980983698005555) Airlines headquartered and flying in the U.S. are as of today still flying the supposedly decertified aircraft. Is this legal? EDIT: What are we to make of the fact that Trump’s orders often fail to be promptly carried out, as with the above. Are they idle threats? Or is it that Trump is a dictator who has not fully consolidated power. I lean towards the latter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=146) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=148)