# 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:** 1203
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24045 "2018-08-13T18:26:27Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > So why the hell were they using the Situation Room for a personnel discussion? My theory is that Kelly wanted some place he “knew” was safe from being seen, overheard, or recorded. Because theoretically the Situation Room is the most secure one in that building. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24046 "2018-08-13T18:57:59Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Unless they strip search everybody or have metal detectors at the door, there is no way to stop someone who wants to break the law in this fashion. So, why isn’t there a metal detector? I am very confident the White House could afford a really good one. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24047 "2018-08-13T18:59:39Z")
> [@Celidin](#): > > My theory is that Kelly wanted some place he “knew” was safe from being seen, overheard, or recorded. Because theoretically the Situation Room is the most secure one in that building. > > Oops. It’s just really hard to schedule a conference room - the Situation Room was the only space available. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24048 "2018-08-13T19:10:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > So, why isn’t there a metal detector? I am very confident the White House could afford a really good one. Because I doubt that high-level government officials want to remove their keys and such every time they go into the room. Plus, before this incident with a moron, I doubt the people in charge of securing the room ever envisioned a moron being hired by another moron and then doing moronic stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24049 "2018-08-13T19:20:20Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > So much to enjoy about the Omarosa contretemps, not the least of which is that it’s a 100% self-inflicted Trumpian scandal. No Democrats were harmed in the production of this bullshit; pass the popcorn. My take as well. I can remember clearly the sturm and drang over: Omarosa? The chick from reality TeeVee? He’s hiring her? What the fuck is this idiot doing? So, you know … go figure, huh. What the hell did everybody expect was going to happen? She wouldn’t kick the circus that is the Trump administration into the ridiculous? I expect nothing less from President Camacho. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24050 "2018-08-13T19:24:48Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Because I doubt that high-level government officials want to remove their keys and such every time they go into the room. Every run of the mill SCIF I’ve seen has “high level officials” doing just that. But maybe this room isn’t meant to be all that secure. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24051 "2018-08-13T19:28:25Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Every run of the mill SCIF I’ve seen has “high level officials” doing just that. But maybe this room isn’t meant to be all that secure. You’ve been to run-of-the-mill SCIFs that had metal detectors at the entry to the SCIF? I’ve worked in numerous SCIFs and NONE of them had metal detectors at the entry points. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24052 "2018-08-13T19:29:59Z")
Aides regularly tell Trump not to call foreign leaders at odd hours due to time zones > **[Aides regularly tell Trump not to call foreign leaders at odd hours due to...](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/401508-aides-regularly-tell-trump-not-to-call-foreign-leaders-at-odd-hours/)** > > White House aides must regularly tell President Trump not to call foreign leaders at odd hours due to time zone differences, according to a new Politico report about Trump’s multipl… ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24053 "2018-08-13T19:31:00Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > My take as well. I can remember clearly the sturm and drang over: Omarosa? The chick from reality TeeVee? He’s hiring her? What the fuck is this idiot doing? And his follow-up tweets today are helpful: she’s vicious, stupid and wacky; but let’s keep her around because she says nice things about me! Thank you, Mr. President … that clarifies things nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24054 "2018-08-13T19:37:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Any person willing to break the law in this fashion shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If it puts Trump in prison, I’m prepared to forgive Oma. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24055 "2018-08-13T20:03:55Z")
OTOH I do hold having propelled Omarosa to celebrity status against him. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24056 "2018-08-13T20:18:42Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > [Explaining the complexities of the world to the Dotard-in-Chief:](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/13/trump-world-knowledge-diplomatic-774801) Dumbed down “intelligence” briefings. Group intervention on “How the US Postal Service works” - unsuccessful. Foreign trade official using color coded flash cards to explain international relations. Not understanding “rivers” diverting water to the ocean (he did get the correct ocean). Time zones are harder that he thought. Unclear about the “swamp thing”. Do I fill it or empty it? And a thousand other things noted during this thread. I despair. ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24057 "2018-08-13T20:32:15Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > It’s just really hard to schedule a conference room - the Situation Room was the only space available. Ah, that makes total sense. And fits in with this White House’s lack of knowing anything. Cause doesn’t Kelly have his own office? With like doors that can close and stuff? … ETA: or maybe his office was booked out for Trump’s naptime… ---
**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:** [August 13, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24058 "2018-08-13T20:33:53Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > [Explaining the complexities of the world to the Dotard-in-Chief:](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/13/trump-world-knowledge-diplomatic-774801) > [@](#): > > Several times in the first year of his administration, President Donald Trump wanted to call Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the middle of the afternoon. But there was a problem. Midafternoon in Washington is the middle of the night in Tokyo – when Abe would be fast asleep. > > Trump’s aides had to explain the issue, which one diplomatic source said came up on “a constant basis,” but it wasn’t easy… One of my favorite bits of byplay from twelve years of M_A_S\*H: Col. Henry Blake (MacLean Stevenson): Time zones! Time zones! Why do we even _have_ Time Zones? Radar (Gary Burghoff): Because the world is round and keeps rotating, sir. Blake (Taken aback by the sudden rational explanation): Oh. I thought it was some kind of Army thing. Part of the humor stems from an official being so ignorant of this basic fact of geography. Now that it’s real, it ain’t so funny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24059 "2018-08-13T21:24:35Z")
> [@Celidin](#): > > … Cause doesn’t Kelly have his own office? With like doors that can close and stuff?.. My guess is that Kelly knows that Trump has a recording device in Kelly’s office, and he wanted to go somewhere Trump couldn’t hear him say this: > [@](#): > > Kelly: “So the staff and everyone on the staff works for me not the president.” [https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/08/12/john-kelly-omarosa-tape-meet-the-press-rs-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/omarosa-manigault/](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/08/12/john-kelly-omarosa-tape-meet-the-press-rs-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/omarosa-manigault/) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24060 "2018-08-13T22:01:39Z")
I keep getting this Spock’s Beard vibe. Like I’ve teleported to a parallel universe where it’s a given that United States presidents are greasy real estate crooks who hire reality television personalities and Fox ‘News’ executives and run their administrations in such a way that everyone records everyone and backstabbing is common place as amoral underlings compete to be the most corrupt in an effort to get closer to the boss. And that’s just the way it is, I suppose until I do whatever it was that Kirk did to get back from Crazy Land. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24061 "2018-08-13T22:07:01Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I keep getting this Spock’s Beard vibe. Like I’ve teleported to a parallel universe where it’s a given that United States presidents are greasy real estate crooks who hire reality television personalities and Fox ‘News’ executives and run their administrations in such a way that everyone records everyone and backstabbing is common place as amoral underlings compete to be the most corrupt in an effort to get closer to the boss. > > And that’s just the way it is, I suppose until I do whatever it was that Kirk did to get back from Crazy Land. Well, if they could assassinate each other as means of gaining rank, at least there’d be some entertainment value. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24062 "2018-08-13T22:39:27Z")
I’ve quite a list of people (and others) I’d like to see in the Agony Booth. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24063 "2018-08-13T22:49:33Z")
> [@](#): > > …whatever it was that Kirk did to get back from Crazy Land. Kirk caught Evil Spock with a logical contradiction, which caused his brain to spazz out and provoke a fit of Vulcan mating frenzy, the _zen fooey_. Least, that’s how I remember it. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24064 "2018-08-13T23:00:00Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Kirk caught Evil Spock with a logical contradiction, which caused his brain to spazz out and provoke a fit of Vulcan mating frenzy, the _zen fooey_. Least, that’s how I remember it. Sadly, there’s no chance of that happening here. :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1202) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1204)