# 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:** 20
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/382 "2025-01-20T17:45:39Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I agree it is a grift. One difference is that Trump says, perhaps truthfully, that only 1 billion coins can be issued, of which 80 percent are reserved to businesses he controls. The Mt. Rushmore shop can order an unlimited number of spoons. I’d say another difference is that people buy commemorative spoons, coins, plates, or whatever as mementos they get to keep, trade, and display. They probably get some value from that–similar to collecting baseball cards or stamps. They at least have a physical object. I doubt the downstream suckers that buy Trump’s memecoin are going to be getting any value from 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 20, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/383 "2025-01-20T18:42:24Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > What does Germany know about giving too much power to one individual? Dunno. I don’t think it’s ever come up. ([Obligatory “Family Guy” clip](https://youtu.be/sacn_bCj8tQ?si=JgHVWXb_psM5P_PL)) ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/384 "2025-01-20T21:36:39Z")
Not exactly a “horror” but certainly a very petty thing that makes the Biden pardons seem like a good idea - [Trump White House orders Gen. Milley’s portrait removed from Pentagon.](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/general-mark-milley-portrait.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qk4.ozA1.1TVx_eS-s9B1&smid=url-share) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/385 "2025-01-21T17:03:35Z")
The idea that the value can be this high while the Trump family still own almost all the shares seems dubious to me too because of the way that value is calculated for these things. Let’s say I create a billion of my own coins. And I have 10 fanboys willing to give me $1 for a coin, while I hold the remaining 999,999,990. I’m a billionaire! And if the last guy gives me $2, I just doubled my wealth! (apart from the $9…my crappy dollar holdings didn’t budge) ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/386 "2025-01-22T03:47:31Z")
I am very sorry to hear about your brother and his problems, and I pray that things will turn around for both you. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2025, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/387 "2025-01-22T06:11:45Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > You can also see from my links that that the $Trump and $Melania web sites are a lot different. Could it be that she is real-life competing with her husband by only charging 35 percent to his 80 percent. The only thing that has surprised me about Trump 2.0 is that Melania is around. I really thought that she would nope right out of being First Lady again. No one would have cared. But it seems that she is all-in on the grift and I’m sure that it’s a lot easier with a paid staff to help. I imagine that any public appearance she does will be at least grift-adjacent if not straight up pay for play. ---
**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 22, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/388 "2025-01-22T12:17:17Z")
So, Trump wants to save money, right? So of course he starts off by telling a lot of government workers, “Stop working, but we’re still going to pay you.” Okay, sure, he’s going to try to lay them off while they’re collecting paychecks for doing nothing, but we’ll see how long that takes. > WASHINGTON (AP) — President [Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) ‘s administration moved Tuesday to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal [diversity, equity and inclusion](https://apnews.com/hub/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. > **[Trump administration directs all federal diversity, equity and inclusion...](https://apnews.com/article/dei-trump-executive-order-diversity-834a241a60ee92722ef2443b62572540)** > > Trump has called the diversity and inclusion programs “discrimination” and insisted on restoring strictly “merit-based” hiring. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/389 "2025-01-22T17:32:08Z")
Got it. So everyone that isn’t a white guy, doesn’t have merits. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/390 "2025-01-23T00:55:38Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So, Trump wants to save money, right? So of course he starts off by telling a lot of government workers, “Stop working, but we’re still going to pay you.” Related to this is the hiring freeze of federal workers. I was talking to a guy at a staffing company and he said they were expecting an increased demand for contract workers (who won’t be government employees) in government agencies due to this since positions can’t be directly filled by the agencies. Of course, whatever wage or salary that the staffing company pays the worker is less than what the government is being charged. Maybe the worker earns $50/hour but the government pays $75/hour. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/391 "2025-01-23T01:27:15Z")
> **[Trump Just Revoked Anti-Discrimination Rules Enacted By LBJ In 1965](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-revokes-workplace-discrimination-rules-203613947.html)** > > The new president just unwound a landmark anti-discrimination measure implemented amid the height of the Civil Rights Movement. I’m against preferential policies. But the [LBJ Executive Order Trump just revoked](https://web.archive.org/web/20230306093153/https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html) was pure equal opportunity: > [@](#): > > The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin. P.S. My last link is to an Internet Archive backup in case the original government URL containing Johnson’s executive order is taken down. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/392 "2025-01-23T09:34:06Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I’ve got 10 quadrillion HorCoins, who wants one? I, for one, will take one, please. ---
**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:** [January 23, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/393 "2025-01-23T16:34:27Z")
Me, too! Oh, wait. That’s HorCoin, not Horcrux. Never mind. ---
**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 23, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/394 "2025-01-23T16:41:02Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > HorCoin, not Horcrux HorCoins make excellent Horcruxes, and as there’s 10 quadrillion of them, it’s vanishingly unlikely that anyone will find yours! ---
**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 23, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/395 "2025-01-23T17:18:57Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I’ve got 10 quadrillion HorCoins, who wants one? I’d be careful about actually speaking of HorCoins - it might be misinterpreted. (The one word of Hungarian I picked up on a city break trip to Budapest was the word for thirty - apparently this is “hormints” - again, raising quite a few ideas). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/396 "2025-01-23T20:20:56Z")
One horror maybe averted. There are reasons to think that the forced return-to-office for federal workers currently engaged in telework may not happen: [https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/business/trump-federal-workers-rto-mandate/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/business/trump-federal-workers-rto-mandate/index.html) > Trump’s directive ended with this line: “This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law.” > > To the American Federation of Government Employees, that means the mandate can’t violate contractual obligations negotiated by the union. “[It] would mean honoring any hybrid work arrangements detailed in our ratified contracts. We’ll obviously be watching to see how the order is implemented and will respond accordingly if needed,” said spokesman Tim Kauffman. > > A legal fight over those contracts may be in the offing if Trump follows through on statements he made during his [first post-election news conference](https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/politics/trump-polio-vaccine-key-lines-news-conference/index.html) in December. And the other bit of good news is about birthright citizenship: > **[Judge says he will block Trump’s ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ executive order...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/politics/birthright-citizenship-lawsuit-hearing-seattle/index.html)** > > A federal judge said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship was “blatantly unconstitutional,” and that he was issuing a temporary restraining order to block it. > A federal judge said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship was “blatantly unconstitutional” and issued a [temporary restraining orde](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25502861/tro-on-trump-executive-order-birthright-citizenship.pdf)r to block it. > . > . > . > “I have been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case whether the question presented was as clear,” Coughenour said. > > “Where were the lawyers” when the decision to sign the executive order was made, the judge asked. He said that it “boggled” his mind that a member of the bar would claim the order was constitutional. ---
**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 23, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/397 "2025-01-23T20:28:37Z")
And yet another “so-called judge” makes it onto the Orange Felon’s enemies list! I like this part (bolding mine): > [An attorney for the state of Washington, Lane Polozola] also argued that the Trump administration not only ignored those harms in the filings it has submitted so far in the dispute, **but that harm “appears to be the purpose” of the executive order**. Of course harm is the purpose. It’s the purpose of most of what the Orange Felon does, since he hates everyone who isn’t a boot-licking sycophant, especially brown people. The rest of the things he does are to enrich himself. He has no other mission. ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/398 "2025-01-23T23:06:10Z")
Unable to wait for the Orange Felon’s tariff promises, co-president of the United States Elon Musk **[has decided to impose his own](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-raise-prices-all-cars-canada-feb-1-website-shows-2025-01-23/)**, coincidentally on the exact same date as the felon’s promise. And the increases are hefty indeed – especially on the popular Model 3 – and are completely unjustified and imposed with no explanation. Yeah, I’m gonna run right out and buy a Tesla! 🙄 > Tesla (TSLA.O) will raise prices of all its cars in Canada from Feb. 1, according to notices on its Canadian website, with prices of Model 3 going up by as much as C$9,000 ($6,254.78). > > Model Y variants will see increases of up to C$4,000, while all versions of Model S and X will rise by C$4,000, according to the website. > > Tesla did not provide a reason for the price increase. As if Elmo hasn’t done enough to piss off almost everyone, this should guarantee that Tesla sales in Canada wind down to almost zero. And judging from what I’m seeing on the roads, Tesla has sold **a lot** of cars here. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/399 "2025-01-24T00:03:48Z")
A GOP congressman has introduced a resolution for a Constitutional amendment allowing Trump to run for a third term. That didn’t take long. > **[GOP rep proposes 'third term' constitutional amendment for Trump: report](https://www.alternet.org/gop-rep-trump-third-term/)** > > Less than one week into Donald Trump's second administration, one Republican congressman wants to make another term possible for the 47th president — although US presidents can only serve for two according to the Constitution's 22nd amendment, CNN's... ---
**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:** [January 24, 2025, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/400 "2025-01-24T00:05:02Z")
On the plus side, not only will this not pass, it establishes that even the magacult knows Trump can’t run again without changing the Constitution. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2025, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/401 "2025-01-24T00:28:37Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > A GOP congressman has introduced a resolution for a Constitutional amendment allowing Trump to run for a third term. I’ve got a feeling that he won’t last this entire term. Not because of the 25th Amendment—the only people who could invoke that are his sycophants and toadies, so that’s not going to happen—or because of an assassination, but because he’s so old, and not in the best shape, physically. He eats crap, he doesn’t exercise (golf using a cart doesn’t count), and he’s stumbled a few times on ramps and whatnot. Given that, I don’t think he’s going to make it to Election Day 2028. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=21)