# 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:** 62
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1222 "2025-03-27T10:27:22Z")
If by “horror” you mean “makes me feel nauseous:” And there’s not much detail in the article, but it just sounds icky and ominous. > **['I'll be the fertilization president': Trump promises 'tremendous goodies'...](https://www.rawstory.com/trump-fertilization-president/)** > > President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday he would be "known as the fertilization president." At a White House event celebrating women's history, Trump recognized female members of his administration like Attorney General Pam Bondi and attorney Alina... ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1223 "2025-03-27T11:26:30Z")
This is just disgusting. The asshole could not buy a clue, even with his claimed billions of dollars. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1224 "2025-03-27T17:44:51Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > ['I'll be the fertilization president': Trump promises 'tremendous goodies' for women](https://www.rawstory.com/trump-fertilization-president/) Feeling slightly inadequate compared with Musk, at all? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1225 "2025-03-27T20:40:05Z")
His insecurities are mushrooming. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1226 "2025-03-27T23:52:01Z")
Fungal infections are like that. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1227 "2025-03-28T03:57:28Z")
Today he signed an order putting Vance in charge of the Smithsonian and particularly in charge of removing any “woke” ideology. He says he specifically wants to address the Museum of African American History and the planned Women’s History Museum. I suspect he’ll just close the Holocaust museum entirely and maybe give Melania the Hope Diamond.. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2025, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1228 "2025-03-28T04:04:43Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > He says he specifically wants to address the Museum of African American History Any takers on my bet that the Museum of African American History is transformed into the Museum of The Antebellum South? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1229 "2025-03-28T04:11:26Z")
Doesn’t the Smithsonian already have a director?? ---
**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:** [March 28, 2025, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1230 "2025-03-28T04:16:27Z")
Everything one needs to know, ### [The Secretary](https://www.si.edu/about/secretary-lonnie-bunch) Lonnie G. Bunch III is the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian. [https://www.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/grid\_large/public/lonnie\_g\_bunch\_iii\_0117.jpg?itok=f3h1J0ia&c=3b1d9bc6a621e0346adac76d24c9ea6e](https://www.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/grid_large/public/lonnie_g_bunch_iii_0117.jpg?itok=f3h1J0ia&c=3b1d9bc6a621e0346adac76d24c9ea6e) ---
**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:** [March 28, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1231 "2025-03-28T04:22:30Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Any takers on my bet that the Museum of African American History is transformed into the Museum of The Antebellum South? [To nobody’s surprise](https://www.npr.org/2025/03/27/nx-s1-5342914/smithsonian-president-trump-executive-order): > The order includes additional provisions seeking to reinstate public monuments, memorials and statues that were “removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology,” ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1232 "2025-03-28T04:54:08Z")
How long before our history books describe the events of the middle 1800s as “the War of Northern Aggression”? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1233 "2025-03-28T06:36:59Z")
I’ve been saying for years that the North won the American Civil War only if you take a short-term perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1234 "2025-03-28T12:07:09Z")
Well. _That’s_ some messaging, I guess. > > > The White House @WhiteHouse ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1235 "2025-03-28T15:04:39Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > I suspect he’ll just close the Holocaust museum entirely The Christian Zionists will ensure that never happens. Notice that the tariffs and aid cuts always skip Israel? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1236 "2025-03-28T17:46:01Z")
I previously expressed my concern that Trump would withdraw recognition of federal unions. Looks like he has done so for a wide swath of federal workers. > **[Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/exclusions-from-federal-labor-management-relations-programs/)** > > By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 7103(b)(1) of title 5 and Pretty sure my job is safe - for now. But I wonder why he included any limitations in this order? For many affected, the purported “national security” concern is pretty blatant nonsense. ---
**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 28, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1237 "2025-03-28T18:21:09Z")
More: > **[Trump’s order to end collective bargaining for ‘national security’ reasons...](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/unions/2025/03/trumps-order-to-end-collective-bargaining-for-national-security-reasons-impacts-most-agencies/)** > > Multiple federal unions are already preparing to take legal action against Trump’s executive order, calling the move to end collective bargaining illegal. For those keeping score, this is #10 on Lawrence Britt’s [**14 Characteristics of Fascism**](https://secularhumanism.org/2003/03/fascism-anyone/). > **Power of labor suppressed or eliminated** > > Since organized labor was seen as the one power center that could challenge the political hegemony of the ruling elite and its corporate allies, it was inevitably crushed or made powerless. The poor formed an underclass, viewed with suspicion or outright contempt. Under some regimes, being poor was considered akin to a vice. ---
**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 28, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1238 "2025-03-28T18:31:55Z")
I might add that the whole basis of the tariffs on Canadians products, in direct violation of the free trade agreement that the Orange Felon signed himself (hailing it as “the greatest trade deal ever”) is premised on the fiction of a national emergency. It’s an extraordinary abuse of power, and the Republican-majority Congress is just fine with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1239 "2025-03-28T19:04:21Z")
I like this line: “President Trump supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him,” I suspect most employers would agree that they support unions who don’t get in their way and let the employer do whatever they want! 🙄 In the “it would be funny if it weren’t so sad” department, our shop has been reduced to a skeleton staff. It is kinda ridiculous to even think of ourselves as an office. The organizational chart is laughable. Really not a big deal to me personally (tho it definitely IS for the public we serve) because I always have been a pretty high producer. So it isn’t as though I’m going to start churning out a great deal MORE work, putting in unpaid OT or anything, just because some nimrod decided to blindly slash staff. Nor am I going to slack off. At the same time, however, management seems to be stepping up the micromanaging, pointing out individual matters that might not perfectly comply with their arbitrary timelines, or that don’t mesh with whatever “priority” they choose to emphasize at any particular moment. Far be it for me to exercise any judgment reflecting my 39+ years of experience as to how I ought to manage my caseload. 🙄 I’m content to just shift to playing whack-a-mole and collecting my paychecks for as long as they last, rather than doing what I have good reason to believe constitutes doing “a good job”! Just offering one person’s inside experience as to what you all likely imagined was happening. Good luck the next time you expect whatever you consider to be prompt attention for any matter involving the federal government. Of course, the good news is that less and less will be in the purview of the fed - so you’ll be on your own! Hope that works out well for everyone! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1240 "2025-03-28T19:15:23Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Notice that the tariffs and aid cuts always skip Israel? I cannot find mainstream media saying this. Press reports say that no countries were exempted from the steel and aluminum tariffs. Web search is showing that Israel exports roughly [US$15 million](https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/aluminum-articles/reporter/isr) in aluminum to the U.S. annually, which is little but not zero.. I can’t get an amount for steel, since it is grouped with iron, but there may be more there. What I do not think the Israeli government dares do is retaliate. At least – I cannot find articles saying that they have. I do see articles saying that [Israeli diplomats are trying to get an exemption](https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-840358). I just do not see that they have gotten it. Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, are supposed to be free of U.S. tariffs per a free trade agreement. And it looks like aluminum and steel exports, to the U.S., from the Palestinian Authority, are probably a lot more (uncertain because of grouping iron with steel) than those from Israel. Of course, the Trump administration routinely ignores international law on trade. As for money specifically for Israel, from USAID, Israel was getting about $4 million a year during the Biden administration, about half going to [one academic medical center](https://www.foreignassistance.gov/cd/israel/2023/obligations/1). Reports describe this as [now on hold](https://jewishinsider.com/2025/02/usaid-middle-east-funding-pro-hamas-organizations-grants-coexistence/). ---
**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:** [March 29, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/1241 "2025-03-29T00:31:15Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Israel exports roughly [US$15 million](https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/aluminum-articles/reporter/isr) in aluminum to the U.S. annually, which is little but not zero About 0.02% of the US market, it’s not zero … it’s a rounding error. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=61) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=63)