# 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:** 1371
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27405 "2018-11-22T16:44:40Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Bravo, John Roberts. More people need to slap that orange bastard down. I envision something like [this](https://youtu.be/FNkpIDBtC2c?t=19). ---
**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:** [November 22, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27406 "2018-11-22T18:59:17Z")
Trump mistakes Thanksgiving Day call to the troops for a political rally, attacking federal judges and migrants and bragging about his trade policies. > **[Trump politicizes Thanksgiving call with troops to attack migrants, judges |...](https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/11/22/politics/trump-troops-border-thanksgiving-teleconference/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F)** > > President Donald Trump struck a nakedly political tone during a Thanksgiving call with US service members stationed around the world as he steered the conversation toward controversial political topics. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27407 "2018-11-22T19:05:35Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Trump mistakes Thanksgiving Day call to the troops for a political rally, attacking federal judges and migrants and bragging about his trade policies. > > [https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/11/22/politics/trump-troops-border-thanksgiving-teleconference/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F](https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/11/22/politics/trump-troops-border-thanksgiving-teleconference/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F) :smack: There really is no bottom to this pit that the country is in. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27408 "2018-11-22T19:24:44Z")
And then after the call to the troops, he proceeds to tell reporters how thankful he is for the tremendous difference he’s made for the country. And how impressed world leaders say they are with America’s newfound strength. > **[Trump says he’s thankful for making a ‘tremendous difference in this country’](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/417982-trump-says-hes-thankful-for-making-a-tremendous-difference-in-this/)** > > President Trump said Thursday that he is thankful “for having a great family and for having made a tremendous difference in this country.”Trump made the comment when asked by reporters … The pit is bottomless. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27409 "2018-11-22T19:35:29Z")
From his own envisioned [Thanksgiving Day Massacree,](https://www.normantranscript.com/cnhi_network/trump-issues-thanksgiving-threat-to-close-us-mexico-border/article_d59b02ec-bc78-545d-a80f-d6451e90a859.html) > [@From Article](#): > > "Trump asserted that there are “fistfights all over the streets” in Tijuana, Mexico, and that “these are not like normal, innocent people.” > > “These are people you talk to them and they start a fistfight,” he said. “I don’t want that in this country.” > > The people of Tijuana “opened up with wide arms” to welcome the caravan, Trump said, and “now they’re going crazy to get them out … because bad things are happening.” ---
**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:** [November 22, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27410 "2018-11-22T19:45:51Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > And then after the call to the troops, he proceeds to tell reporters how thankful he is for the tremendous difference he’s made for the country. And how impressed world leaders say they are with America’s newfound strength. > > [https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/417982-trump-says-hes-thankful-for-making-a-tremendous-difference-in-this](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/417982-trump-says-hes-thankful-for-making-a-tremendous-difference-in-this) > > The pit is bottomless. So HE is what we should be thankful for, eh? Maybe he’s going to issue an Executive Order renaming it “Trumpsgiving.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27411 "2018-11-22T19:50:03Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > So HE is what we should be thankful for, eh? Maybe he’s going to issue an Executive Order renaming it “Trumpsgiving.” :dubious: It would be a “ThanksTrumping” ---
**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:** [November 22, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27412 "2018-11-22T19:51:41Z")
According to a snippet my daughter sent me, he was on his way to “deliver sandwiches to the Coast Guard.” Guess he was out of paper towels. ETA: > [@running\_coach](#): > > It would be a “ThanksTrumping” To be celebrated with strumpets and violence. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27413 "2018-11-22T20:30:34Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > According to a snippet my daughter sent me, he was on his way to “deliver sandwiches to the Coast Guard.” > > Guess he was out of paper towels. > > ETA: To be celebrated with strumpets and violence. Were they at least turkey sandwiches? Sounds like a fine feast. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27414 "2018-11-23T00:54:21Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Were they at least turkey sandwiches? Sounds like a fine feast. Tuna fish, since they obviously like seafood. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27415 "2018-11-23T04:44:54Z")
Remember the good old days when a president would spend thanksgiving at an army base, handing out turkey, saying a few platitudes, thanking the troops and it would barely make the news? I miss those days. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27416 "2018-11-23T06:57:01Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Remember the good old days when a president would spend thanksgiving at an army base, handing out turkey, saying a few platitudes, thanking the troops and it would barely make the news? I miss those days. Me, too. But these bad new days has a president who is a turkey, who is keeping soldiers away from their base and thus their families on Thanksgiving, who is tweeting nonsense, and who is not even thanking anyone at all other than himself. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27417 "2018-11-23T07:01:53Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Again, this president doesn’t respect the law, the rule of law, the Constitution, and he doesn’t even respect democratically-held elections. We’re in a state of national emergency: the greatest threat to the country since the period between 1850 - 1876. Some people, most famously Bill Maher, have worried aloud that even if Trump is defeated for reelection, he will not actually leave in January 2021. I have always thought this fear was overblown; but I think stories like these show definitively that there is pretty much zero risk of this happening. A president who has the law-enforcement and intelligence gathering services against him, and who pisses off the military, has no ability whatsoever to cling to his powers after noon on January 20, 2021. They will carry him out if they have to. Something, by the by, I would dearly love to see! > **[Trump tries to deflect blowback after attacking admiral](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-tries-deflect-blowback-attacking-admiral-200313747.html)** > > The president had criticized retired Admiral William McRaven over the time it took U.S. forces to find and kill Osama bin Laden. If we ever get a Trumplike figure who more savvily gets those ducks lined up behind him, that’ll be the time to really worry. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27418 "2018-11-23T07:45:38Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Me, too. But these bad new days has a president who is a turkey, who is keeping soldiers away from their base and thus their families on Thanksgiving, who is tweeting nonsense, and who is not even thanking anyone at all other than himself. I completely forgot about this bit, but just saw the headline on AOL: [Trump Says He’s Thankful for Himself](https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/11/22/trump-says-hes-thankful-for-himself-this-thanksgiving/23597499/). Next thing you know, he’s going to issue an executive order making worship of him the state religion. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27419 "2018-11-23T07:47:49Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Some people, most famously Bill Maher, have worried aloud that even if Trump is defeated for reelection, he will not actually leave in January 2021. I have always thought this fear was overblown; but I think stories like these show definitively that there is pretty much zero risk of this happening. A president who has the law-enforcement and intelligence gathering services against him, and who pisses off the military, has no ability whatsoever to cling to his powers after noon on January 20, 2021. They will carry him out if they have to. Something, by the by, I would dearly love to see! I’d dearly love to see that, also! Another point is that the only reason he’d last in office to noon on January 20, 2021 is that the military and law enforcement personnel, unlike him, take their oaths seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27420 "2018-11-23T09:20:46Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I completely forgot about this bit, but just saw the headline on AOL: > > [Trump Says He’s Thankful for Himself](https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/11/22/trump-says-hes-thankful-for-himself-this-thanksgiving/23597499/). The money quote: > [@](#): > > When I see foreign leaders they say, ‘We cannot believe the difference in strength between the United States now and the United States two years ago.’ Yes, President Stopped Clock, yes they do. Not usually to your face though. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27421 "2018-11-23T11:42:58Z")
Oh, I’m reasonably sure a lot of them say they can’t believe the differences. Which of those differences are considered positive and by whom is a different matter. I mean, look at that anecdote Spanish Minister of the Interior told of Trump telling him to build a wall across the Sahara. If the same had been said about any previous US president (about the immense majority of country leaders in History, in fact, and I’m including people like Caligula who were bastards but not imbeciles), the Minister would have left the room in the company of a couple of people who’d be talking soothingly to him while another stuck the sedative in. But Trump makes what should be an incredible tall tale believable as told! It’s fucking nuts! ---
**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:** [November 23, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27422 "2018-11-23T15:29:10Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > But Trump makes what should be an incredible tall tale believable as told! It’s fucking nuts! But believable only to his base, though, so - no, not really believable. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27423 "2018-11-23T16:42:26Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If we ever get a Trumplike figure who more savvily gets those ducks lined up behind him, that’ll be the time to really worry. The time to worry is now, before things get worse. If they get worse, it’ll be too late to worry. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27424 "2018-11-23T16:50:29Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I don’t disagree, but what do you make of the illegal order being signed by Kelly instead of by Trump? Trump isn’t one to let someone _else_ get the credit for the "shoot the brown people’ implications of the illegal order—he’d want that credit all to himself. I don’t know what to make of Kelly’s signing the order, only that it’s a disturbing order and series of actions coming out of the White House, with most of the Republicans in the Senate barely batting an eye. What concerns me is that his behavior leads me to believe he’s looking to create some kind of national emergency as an excuse to expand his powers, which he’s attempting to do already even absent of such an emergency. From the appointment of Whitaker as AG to his declarations on asylum to his use of the military along the border, Trump is going full-on autocrat. The president is governing by decree, and more significantly, the current Congress, which remains in power for another 2 months, is doing nothing to stop him. John Roberts’ comments signal that he might be the ‘swing’ justice when it comes to stopping Trump. That fact only makes the health of Ruth Bader Ginsburg all the more important. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1370) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1372)