# 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:** 48
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/942 "2025-03-01T16:05:04Z")
Agreed. I’d like to point out to every single Congressman that you have conservative prosecutors at the DOJ resigning rather than drop charges against Adams, and these cowards won’t even risk facing an opponent in an election. We constantly hear from people inside Congress that privately most of them know what Trump is. This is cowardice like I have never seen. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/943 "2025-03-01T21:24:26Z")
This web site was new to me, but it seems legitimate, and the journalist has a strong resume (Politico and National Journal): [Exclusive: Hegseth orders Cyber Command to stand down on Russia planning](https://therecord.media/hegseth-orders-cyber-command-stand-down-russia-planning) > [@](#): > > Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions, according to three people familiar with the matter. > > Hegseth gave the instruction to Cyber Command chief Gen. Timothy Haugh, who then informed the organization’s outgoing director of operations, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, of the new guidance, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. . . . > > The implications of Hegesth’s guidance on the command’s personnel is uncertain. If it applies to its digital warriors focused on Russia, the decision would only affect hundreds of people . . . However, if the guidance extends to areas like intelligence and analysis or capabilities development, the number of those impacted by the edict grows significantly. Maybe they’ll switch to planning attacks on Mexico, Panama, Canada, and Greenland ☹ ---
**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:** [March 1, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/944 "2025-03-01T21:32:35Z")
Pretty sure I saw the same story on mainstream media, possibly CNN, so probably legit and certainly par for the course. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/945 "2025-03-01T21:43:27Z")
Worth mentioning this story’s prior appearance here: > [@Trump's disgusting shakedown of Zelensky](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-disgusting-shakedown-of-zelensky/1014940/65): > > Operation Deep Shame is in full swing. There’s no doubt this was all a coordinated attack on Ukraine planned from the start. Pretty much as any reasonable person would’ve expected. You know what’s crazy? If Ukraine had taken the 50% mineral deal, Trump still would’ve done all of this to fuck them over, but we’d hold the mineral rights in our hands anyway. They were just trying to extort a little more profit before they crushed them. ---
**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, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/946 "2025-03-02T02:00:20Z")
Kari Lake’s confirmation, to head the Voice of America, is still a work in progress, but the administration isn’t waiting for that: [‘Treasonous’: Trump investigates public media reporters for criticizing his administration](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/treasonous-trump-investigates-public-media-reporters-for-criticizing-his-administration/ar-AA1A1xgQ) > [@](#): > > one longtime journalist at Voice of America (VOA) — which is funded by Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (AGM) — had been put on an extended “excused absence” pending a human resources investigation following a tweet flagged by Trump advisor Richard Grenell. VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman said the investigation was meant to determine whether his “social media activity has undermined VOA’s audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operations.” > > In the tweet, Herman [quoted a nonprofit leader](https://x.com/W7VOA/status/1887667531638247915) who criticized Trump’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development as making Americans “less safe at home and abroad.” Grenell called Herman’s tweet “treasonous.” ---
**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, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/947 "2025-03-02T23:53:03Z")
I was expecting that the Trump administration would fake economic statistics to hide the damage they are doing, and it’s starting: [The Trump administration may exclude government spending from GDP, obscuring the impact of DOGE cuts](https://apnews.com/article/trump-gdp-economy-government-spending-lutnick-7414ba1bd441bd4bf64620bfd66923b2) > [@](#): > > “If the government buys a tank, that’s GDP,” Lutnick said Sunday. “But paying 1,000 people to think about buying a tank is not GDP. That is wasted inefficiency, wasted money. And cutting that, while it shows in GDP, we’re going to get rid of that.” Building a tank we can’t use — or that our adversaries can easily destroy — is apparently what makes for real GDP. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/948 "2025-03-03T09:32:16Z")
It looks like the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled, “Legislative Reforms to End Lawfare by State and Local Prosecutors” > **[Legislative Reforms to End Lawfare by State and Local Prosecutors](https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/legislative-reforms-end-lawfare-state-and-local-prosecutors)** > >   It’s very difficult to read that as anything other than, “Reforms to prevent criminal repercussions for anything I do while in office.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/949 "2025-03-03T13:08:10Z")
“Lawfare”? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/950 "2025-03-03T14:04:27Z")
It’s Republican for, “Defund the police.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/951 "2025-03-03T14:55:26Z")
Trump already defunded the police [back in 2020](https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-safe-policing-safe-communities/?utm_source=link&utm_medium=header) while blaming Biden for planning to do it. I assume that he was trying to grab the black vote and figured that there’d be limited reporting on it outside of that community. (Which seemed to pan out.) But no, I’d assume that this is something to do with campaigning and election integrity. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/952 "2025-03-03T15:34:57Z")
It seems like they are really going to implement tariffs on Mexico and Canada tomorrow. I was beginning to believe it was all bluster, but > **[US tariffs on Canada and Mexico will happen on Tuesday, says commerce chief](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn48q3150dxo)** > > Donald Trump has threatened 25% blanket tariffs against his two neighbours. I would like to see GM and Ford show some guts and immediately idle a couple of factories. But instead they will probably declare tariffs wonderful, tell Trump they’re going to add some jobs in the US, and ask for an exemption. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/953 "2025-03-03T15:54:27Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > It’s Republican for, “Defund the police.” I’m not entirely sure of the term. Does it conflate welfare or warfare. I thought the latter, as they complained of the “weaponization” of the legal system. Gotta hand it to them - they aren’t weaponizing the legal system so much as simply ignoring it and doing whatever the fuck they want! ---
**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:** [March 3, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/954 "2025-03-03T15:59:05Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > “Lawfare”? WTF? > [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’m not entirely sure of the term. Does it conflate welfare or warfare. I thought the latter, as they complained of the “weaponization” of the legal system. I believe you are correct. (Did the world really need another obscure pseudolegal term? 🙄) Google search: > What is meant by lawfare? > > **AI Overview** > > Lawfare is the use of legal processes to achieve political goals, or to damage an opponent. It can involve using the law to intimidate or hinder an opponent, or to delegitimize an enemy. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/955 "2025-03-03T16:43:40Z")
As always, it’s nothing but projection with Trump. You know those horrible, awful, irreversible, unamerican things that Biden is alleged to have done to the US? He didn’t. None of them. Not one. But Trump has, Trump does, and Trump will. And he’s not even being coy about it at this point. Never forget: with Trump, every accusation is actually an admission. And the only more stunning example than “Lawfare” is probably “rigged election.” ---
**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:** [March 3, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/956 "2025-03-03T16:52:11Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > It’s Republican for, “Defund the police.” It’s more “Defund the prosecutors”. They don’t mind having cops around to arrest regular people, but they hate it when the DoJ or States Attorneys start looking at them and their Republican buddies. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/957 "2025-03-03T16:56:07Z")
And it needs to be said… > Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. –Frank Wilhoit (the composer, NOT the political scientist) ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/958 "2025-03-03T17:03:53Z")
Are we able to make predictions? I looked for a “Predict the Next Trump Horror” thread but didn’t see one. We’ve seen many places where what Trump is doing is straight from an autocrat’s playbook, including things such as spreading lies, identifying scapegoat groups, purging neutral civil servants and replacing them with loyalists, seizing control of the military, muzzling the press, and so on. What we haven’t seen yet, but I expect we will, is arrest of opposition leaders. We saw a glimpse of it with “lock her up!” but no actual arrests on spurious charges yet. Yet. I predict we will. Any guesses on which Democratic leader will be first and for what? I’m guessing AOC (a woman AND a minority!). For what, not sure; slander, maybe (mouthing off about God-King Trump and his annointed demigods) or incitement of unrest (sharing her opinions) or unpaid parking tickets, whatever. But I predict we will and before too many more weeks have passed. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/959 "2025-03-03T17:20:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Google search: > > > What is meant by lawfare? > > > > **AI Overview** > > > > Lawfare is the use of legal processes to achieve political goals, or to damage an opponent. It can involve using the law to intimidate or hinder an opponent, or to delegitimize an enemy. The AI appears to be giving a new, corrupted form of the word. Until recently, I’ve only ever seen the word as meaning using the legal system to achieve foreign policy goals as an alternative to warfare (which matches the portmanteau). I see that someone has modified the top of the Wikipedia article to give the same definition as your AI (presumably, that’s where the AI got it from) but, if you read the rest of the article, there’s no such example of the usage and - again - it demonstrates that the history is as an alternative to warfare. > **[Lawfare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawfare)** > > Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter an individual's usage of their legal rights. The term may refer to the use of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, wasting their time and money (e.g., strategic lawsuits against public participation), or winning a public relations victory. Alternatively, it may describe a tactic used by repressive regimes to label and discourage civil soci... I’d assume that the word was deliberately attacked due to the Lawfare Blog, run by the Brookings Institute, which was started by a group of largely GW Bush lawyers who had chased the Clintons for corrupt activities in their heyday, and who supported the legal investigations of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/960 "2025-03-04T00:31:34Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > But no, I’d assume that this is something to do with campaigning and election integrity. It has to do with Trump being mad that he’s had to face state and local charges for his various misdeeds. This will be his payback. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/961 "2025-03-04T01:37:04Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Gotta hand it to them - they aren’t weaponizing the legal system so much as simply ignoring it and doing whatever the fuck they want! Well, not yet. They have to trash the country a lot more before they start show trials about who is to blame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=47) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=49)