# 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:** 1310
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26185 "2018-10-03T15:26:08Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I think you’re right, but exactly HOW will this happen? Who has the authority and the balls to … to WHAT? Arrest him? Demand his tax returns? Is it the IRS. Is there someone at the IRS with the cojones to bust into the Oval Office and slap the cuffs on him? > > This tax stuff in the NYTimes seems pretty big to me… and I’d really like someone to spell out who or what agency will use it to “bring him down”? Not sure what I mean by “bring him down.” Arrest him? Remove him from office? Can he be prosecuted for tax fraud while still in office? > > I’m up-to-here with metaphors and expressions and euphemisms. Someone throw me/us a bone: precisely how can this information be used and by whom (for real) to rid us of this boil on the ass of the United States? Ok. This might amount to something. “N.Y. tax agency weighs probe after report that Trump family built wealth through tax-avoidance schemes and fraud” > **[N.Y. tax agency weighs probe after report that Trump family built wealth...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-york-tax-agency-weighs-investigation-after-report-that-trump-family-built-wealth-through-tax-avoidance-schemes-and-fraud/2018/10/02/5119f24e-c680-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html)** > > An attorney for President Trump called the New York Times investigation “100 percent false, and highly defamatory.” > [@](#): > > New York state’s tax agency said it is considering an investigation into allegations detailed in a New York Times story that President Trump participated in “dubious tax schemes” that allowed his father to pass him more than $413 million while minimizing tax payments. > … ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26186 "2018-10-03T15:36:06Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I mentioned something similar in another thread somewhere about an anti Claire McCaskill ad running in Missouri (the heart of Trump country). They were accusing her of voting for subsidies that her husband’s business took advantage of to rake in millions. And my thought was, isn’t ripping off the government what the current administration is all about? I think that particular ad mentions it was paid for by “The Senate Leadership”. The ad her opponent has in heavy rotation emphasizes that McCaskill has “gone Washington”, which is even worse since (1) Washington currently _is_ Republicans (President + Congress), so why are they implying that is a bad thing? and (2) anyone who is at all familiar with Hawley’s career is going to be aware that he _desperately_ wants to “go Washington” himself so that _he_ can rake in those millions. However, it’s Trump country as you note, so the local yokels just aren’t that capable of comprehension to realize this. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26187 "2018-10-03T16:33:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I can see tax evasion being what ultimately brings Trump down, since it seems no amount of personal failure of himself or his staff or his appointees seems to matter one bit to his supporters. But the statute of limitations has passed on any charges of tax evasion, so all we’re left with is the public’s reaction to his misdeeds, and as we’ve been seeing for the last three years, his supporters just don’t give a shit, and there are enough of them that the Republicans in Congress are scared of them. I used to say “this one has to be it - no one could support him after _this_,” but he just continues on again and again. I don’t say that anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26188 "2018-10-03T16:58:03Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > I used to say “this one has to be it - no one could support him after _this_,” but he just continues on again and again. I don’t say that anymore. During the campaign he did claim he could publicly shoot somebody and his base would still support him. It was one of the few of his statements I thought was credible and on point. There are a few abhorrent things he could maybe do to lose support. I imagine the public raping of a baby or revelation of a longstanding gay relationship would do it but even then the evidence would have to be airtight or his adoring throngs would simply claim videos were faked and witnesses lying. Even in the case of absolute evidence, many would simply deny it. So probably not even then. The solution that will ultimately work is he leaves office. Bush 43’s public popularity even with his base fell drastically within a year of leaving office, despite many (including some on this board) claiming he’d be remembered as one of the US’s greatest Presidents. Absent the Rapture or some other earth shattering event, I imagine much the same will happen with Trump and they’ll simply move onto their next imagined savior and a good number may even publicly admit that maybe he wasn’t the greatest President ever. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26189 "2018-10-03T17:05:18Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > But the statute of limitations has passed on any charges of tax evasion, so all we’re left with is the public’s reaction to his misdeeds, and as we’ve been seeing for the last three years, his supporters just don’t give a shit, and there are enough of them that the Republicans in Congress are scared of them. > > I used to say “this one has to be it - no one could support him after _this_,” but he just continues on again and again. I don’t say that anymore. > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > During the campaign he did claim he could publicly shoot somebody and his base would still support him. It was one of the few of his statements I thought was credible and on point. > > … Yes, yes, and sadly, _yes_. And we have this to look forward to: second verse same as the first, only worse. > [@](#): > > President Trump is increasingly fantasizing in public and private about his 2020 campaign, using midterm rallies to talk as excitedly about his own re-election in 2020 as he does about the 2018 races that are just 34 days away. > > What he’s saying: Last night in Mississippi, he even promised “we will do a landslide” in 2020, after a razor-thin electoral victory (and substantial popular vote loss) in 2016. “Who the hell’s gonna beat us? Look! Who’s going to beat us?” Trump asked, after amping up his frequent riff about former Vice President Joe Biden as a lightweight he’d love to crush. > > A former aide told us: “The greatest moment in Donald Trump’s life was when Hillary Clinton called and conceded the 2016 election. Nothing about actually being the president has ever lived up to that.” > > ``` > "It was the ultimate validation for someone who’s been searching for it his whole life," the former aide continued. "That’s why he relives it constantly in conversations and during rallies. So it’s no surprise that he wants to reach that validation high again, which is why 2020 is never far from his mind." > > ``` > > … > [Cite](https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-2020-presidential-election-biden-warren-b3373114-970e-4b41-ac28-2a24c5905356.html) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26190 "2018-10-03T17:14:34Z")
Wow. He is going to be \*so \*disappointed when he starts losing primaries to Jeff Flake. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26191 "2018-10-03T17:34:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yeah, he keeps topping himself. Wait…what? Probably this, I imagine: [https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/politics/trump-mocks-christine-blasey-ford-kavanaugh-supreme-court/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/politics/trump-mocks-christine-blasey-ford-kavanaugh-supreme-court/index.html) > [@National Disgrace](#): > > Before the crowd Tuesday night in Southaven, Mississippi, Trump imitated Ford during her testimony, mocking her for not knowing the answers to questions such as how she had gotten to the high school party where she says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. > > “I had one beer. Well, do you think it was – nope, it was one beer,” Trump said, mimicking Ford’s testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee. > > “How did you get home? I don’t remember. How’d you get there? I don’t remember. Where is the place? I don’t remember. How many years ago was it? I don’t know.” ---
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26192 "2018-10-03T17:49:58Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > But the statute of limitations has passed on any charges of tax evasion Have they? Darn, I was hoping the criminal activity extended to recent history or, better yet, was demonstrably ongoing. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26193 "2018-10-03T18:17:37Z")
I’m sure it is! Let’s hope those looking into it dig deep. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26194 "2018-10-03T18:23:28Z")
I can’t imagine a tax-evader of his magnitude suddenly saw the error of his ways and stopped his financial criminality between the 90s and now. Organized crime bosses don’t just clean up their acts and go straight one day. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26195 "2018-10-03T18:55:54Z")
It is difficult to believe that the government puts such a short time on tax evasion. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26196 "2018-10-03T19:13:50Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It is difficult to believe that the government puts such a short time on tax evasion. I would bet the really high-end tax evaders have good lobbyists. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26197 "2018-10-03T20:05:41Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Trump will care that they challenged the myth of his fortune. (Self made) Everything he has or ever had, he was handed by Daddy and/or the Russians. And he burned through a fair piece of all that because he is such a LOUSY SHITTY INCOMPETENT “businessman”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26198 "2018-10-03T20:10:02Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > The NYT revelations make this seem like an appropriate moment in time for Republicans to…call for abolishing the IRS. Because they’re the real problem. They’re part of the Clinton/Obama globalist deep state. Hail Hydra. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26199 "2018-10-03T20:13:30Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > But the statute of limitations has passed on any charges of tax evasion, so all we’re left with is the public’s reaction to his misdeeds, and as we’ve been seeing for the last three years, his supporters just don’t give a shit, and there are enough of them that the Republicans in Congress are scared of them. > > I used to say “this one has to be it - no one could support him after _this_,” but he just continues on again and again. I don’t say that anymore. I doubt he suddenly decided to just STOP all of a sudden one day. Like his phony “charities” and whatever money he raked/rakes off the political handouts he keeps getting and his Emoluments money. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I can’t imagine a tax-evader of his magnitude suddenly saw the error of his ways and stopped his financial criminality between the 90s and now. Organized crime bosses don’t just clean up their acts and go straight one day. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26200 "2018-10-03T20:56:49Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > (2) anyone who is at all familiar with Hawley’s career is going to be aware that he _desperately_ wants to “go Washington” himself so that _he_ can rake in those millions. I was very happy to see a McCaskill ad reprising Hawley’s ladder commercial about people just using one office to get to another. And here he is, not even two years later, running for a higher office. It won’t bother the solid R supporters, but hopefully it will affect a few waverers. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26201 "2018-10-03T21:05:08Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Also, the short-fingered vulgarian went FAR beyond the pale last night with his mockery of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. “That wasn’t mockery!” - [Sarah the Huckster](https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/03/politics/white-house-trump-ford-defense/index.html) ---
**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:** [October 3, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26202 "2018-10-03T21:09:06Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Everything he has or ever had, he was handed by Daddy and/or the Russians. And he burned through a fair piece of all that because he is such a LOUSY SHITTY INCOMPETENT “businessman”. I don’t think he even tries to be a good businessman; he tries to buy assets (real estate) and tries to generate cash. But he burned through probably the vast majority of his family’s fortune. He was just fortunate that banks saw enough value in the Trump brand to convince themselves not to completely liquidate. He generates cash because he knows how to draw attention to himself. He knows people love a good spectacle. The Russians (and perhaps Deutsche Bank) have him now. DB was one of the few banks that would actually do business with him, and one can only speculate as to why they’d agree to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26203 "2018-10-03T21:25:36Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I doubt he suddenly decided to just STOP all of a sudden one day. Like his phony “charities” and whatever money he raked/rakes off the political handouts he keeps getting and his Emoluments money. Hey, he **needs** that Emoluments money. According to [Forbes (link is from CNN)](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/trump-forbes-400-spot-tumbles-as-net-worth-declines.html), it turns out presidentin’ isn’t near so lucrative as he’d thought. While on the topic of Puke’s money, anyone ever heard anything about whether he’s paid any part of the $25 million Trump University settlement? [The lawsuit webpage]([http://www.trumpuniversity](http://www.trumpuniversity) [litigation.com](http://litigation.com)) hasn’t been updated in quite a while, and is still pretty much saying that people should be patient, they’ll get their money. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26204 "2018-10-03T21:30:31Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Have they? Darn, I was hoping the criminal activity extended to recent history or, better yet, was demonstrably ongoing. The report in the NYT was based on old documents, namely his dad’s tax returns (I don’t know how they got those) and associated documents from businesses. The writers of the report have said that if they had access to his recent tax returns, there would be much more work to be done. So let me modify my earlier statement: the statute of limitations has expired on the particular cases of fraud outlined in the report. But it does seem like a competent tax fraud prosecutor could take the old info to justify looking into his more recent tax returns, and therefore find misdeeds that the statute of limitations hasn’t expired on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1309) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1311)