# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070 "2016-12-07T00:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1074
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21465 "2018-06-13T11:02:42Z")
An interesting article by the New Yorker about Kaiser Wilhelm II, with some interesting parallels to Trump. > **[What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/what-happens-when-a-bad-tempered-distractible-doofus-runs-an-empire)** > > Donald Trump is reminiscent of Kaiser Wilhelm II, during whose reign the upper echelons of the German government began to unravel into a free-for-all. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21466 "2018-06-13T13:29:16Z")
Another excellent [New Yorker article](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/21/trump-vs-the-deep-state)recently is about the administration’s total and complete tumbelweedifying of Washington’s bureaucracy, on par with last year’s comprehensively unsettling Micheal Lewis [Vanity Fair article](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/department-of-energy-risks-michael-lewis) with a lede about the dept. of energy, but then delved into a huge laundry list of all the administrative pieces falling in Washington. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21467 "2018-06-13T15:09:33Z")
ABC News is reporting that Cohen is likely to cooperate. > **[Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen likely to cooperate as his attorneys leave...](https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-cooperate-attorneys-leave-case/story?id=55861988&id=55861988&__twitter_impression=true)** > > His law firm not expected to represent him going forward, source says. > [@](#): > > As attorneys for Michael Cohen rush to meet Judge Kimba Wood’s Friday deadline to complete a privilege review of over 3.7 million documents seized in the April 9 raids of Cohen’s New York properties and law office, a source representing this matter has disclosed to ABC News that the law firm handling the case for Cohen is not expected to represent him going forward. > … > Cohen, now with no legal representation, is likely to cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York, sources said. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21468 "2018-06-13T15:35:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump said that North Korea has great beaches. Looks like he’s scouting for new spots for Trump Beach Hotels. My wife told me about that last night, that they had talked about the potential for resort areas in NK. I’m quite sure this was Kim manipulating Trump, feeding his giant ego by making him think that Kim thinks he has expertise in creating resort areas. One thing for sure is that Kim did his homework, and we know that Trump did none. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21469 "2018-06-13T15:36:06Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I had the same reaction. Trump’s tone conveys this bizarre sense of triumph, as if he had outsmarted Trudeau. ‘_Trudeau had NO IDEA that the televised news conference might be seen by me!!!1!!!_’ > > It’s evidence of Trump’s mental illness. There’s no other explanation. Obviously, no sane person could believe that a televised news conference is a good place to say things you don’t want to be heard. But Trump seems to genuinely think that Trudeau believed his remarks would remain secret. More importantly, Trump seems unaware of how deranged this makes him look. > > (It’s another in the long list of things that Trump’s fans just can’t spin. Their only recourse is to change the subject.) > > Trump’s rant can be heard on the CBS This Morning Twitter feed: > [x.com](https://twitter.com/CBSThisMorning/status/1006460793288880134) Holy fuck! It just never ends. I wish the moron would just disappear down a black hole. But then I would feel sorry for the black hole… ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21470 "2018-06-13T15:36:17Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > ABC News is reporting that Cohen is likely to cooperate. > [Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen likely to cooperate as his attorneys leave case, sources say - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-cooperate-attorneys-leave-case/story?id=55861988&id=55861988&__twitter_impression=true) He probably doesn’t have much choice. Assuming he’s had some shady deals (far fetched, I know) there has to be a ton of evidence they found. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21471 "2018-06-13T15:54:54Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > He probably doesn’t have much choice. Assuming he’s had some shady deals (far fetched, I know) there has to be a ton of evidence they found. You think that the idea that Cohen has had shady deals is farfetched? ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21472 "2018-06-13T15:55:48Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Ivanka tweeted her fortune cookie from last night’s Chinese takeout, and got called on it. And now they have outsourced Mark Twain to China ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21473 "2018-06-13T15:58:48Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > An interesting article by the New Yorker about Kaiser Wilhelm II, with some interesting parallels to Trump. > > [What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/what-happens-when-a-bad-tempered-distractible-doofus-runs-an-empire) Wilhelm died almost exactly 5 years before Trump was born. Anyone here know how long it takes to reincarnate? (with possibly an intervening stint as a dung beetle) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21474 "2018-06-13T16:10:14Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Only a few weeks ago a certain right-wing Dopers genuinely asked [I’m paraphrasing from memory here] “If Trump is a fascist, where are the camps?”. I wasn’t expecting the administration to provide a response quite so quickly… [In terms of incarceration rates, the USA is the worst in the world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate), and is the only first world nation with a civillian death penalty. The USA is the world’s hegemonic military power and is the wealthiest first world nation, but it is not even close to being the “home of the free.” Where are the camps? Have a look at your prisons and jails and prisoners’ graves. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21475 "2018-06-13T16:14:37Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Note that he also seems to have missed the advent of VCRs and other technologies which allow you to watch something after it’s been broadcast. He probably heard of youtube at some point but doesn’t understand what it is. Actually he once had a vlog on youtube. It’s now deleted, because the content is f-ing embarassing, but some people have it all downloaded and occasionally use a clip for “Trump is stupid” commentary. ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21476 "2018-06-13T16:20:47Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I’m trying to get my head around the process that would lead him to believe that Trudeau was unaware that Trump would hear his highly publicized speech criticizing Trump’s bullying behavior. Everything trump has said and done suggests that he thinks if you’re not caught in the act, you’re not caught at all. That’s why he can call fake news even if there’s footage, it just doesn’t count. Same thing with those papers that he rips apart. If they’re taped back together the text in them somehow doesn’t prove anything anymore. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21477 "2018-06-13T16:39:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Dude. You’re like, old and stuff. > > 😛 > > . You, too, if you get the reference. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21478 "2018-06-13T16:48:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You, too, if you get the reference. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21479 "2018-06-13T16:49:14Z")
Just another bit of wonderfulness out of Singapore. > [@Condo Salesman-in-Chief](#): > > “They have great beaches. You see that whenever they’re exploding their cannons into the ocean. I said boy look at that, wouldn’t that make a great condo,” he said at a news conference after the summit in Singapore on Tuesday. “Exploding their cannons”? I think exploding cannons was a real problem during the Napoleonic Wars. He may have been trying to say “launching artillery”. Our Commander-in-Chief, ladies and gentlemen. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21480 "2018-06-13T16:59:45Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Actually he once had a vlog on youtube. It’s now deleted, because the content is f-ing embarassing, but some people have it all downloaded and occasionally use a clip for “Trump is stupid” commentary. Cracked’s Cody Johnston did a public service last year and watched ALL of them: [Why Does Nobody Know About Trump’s Vlog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy-k3cVe3Wc). ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21481 "2018-06-13T17:14:50Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > My wife told me about that last night, that they had talked about the potential for resort areas in NK. I’m quite sure this was Kim manipulating Trump, feeding his giant ego by making him think that Kim thinks he has expertise in creating resort areas. One thing for sure is that Kim did his homework, and we know that Trump did none. “Dear Leader, you’re not gonna believe this guy when you actually sit down with him.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21482 "2018-06-13T17:17:22Z")
Donald Trump single-handedly eradicates North Korea’s nuclear capability overnight and you libtards are still whinging about penny-ante shit? Look, I was skeptical about him too at first, but I’m a big enough man to admit when I’m wrong. Donald— Mr. President— I was a fool to ever doubt you. If you can find it in your heart to ever forgive me… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21483 "2018-06-13T17:18:11Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Wilhelm died almost exactly 5 years before Trump was born. Anyone here know how long it takes to reincarnate? (with possibly an intervening stint as a dung beetle) Seems unlikely. I mean, how badly can a dung beetle fuck up during its life to deserve coming back as Donald Trump? > [@jsc1953](#): > > Just another bit of wonderfulness out of Singapore. > > > [@Condo Salesman-in-Chief](#): > > > > “They have great beaches. You see that whenever they’re exploding their cannons into the ocean. I said boy look at that, wouldn’t that make a great condo,” he said at a news conference after the summit in Singapore on Tuesday. > > “Exploding their cannons”? I think exploding cannons was a real problem during the Napoleonic Wars. He may have been trying to say “launching artillery”. > > Our Commander-in-Chief, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve gotten tongue tied a few times in my life and said the wrong thing. I tend to be pretty forgiving of malapropisms and other verbal slips. But what the fuck is wrong with the leader of the free world when he looks at an oppressive regime showing off their military hardware and thinks “real estate”? That is messed up. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21484 "2018-06-13T17:58:36Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Seems unlikely. I mean, how badly can a dung beetle fuck up during its life to deserve coming back as Donald Trump? Yeah, I feel like I still have quite a bit of leeway. Y’know, I really really didn’t want a President Pence, but I’m warming up to the idea as of late. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1073) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1075)