# 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:** 1376
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27505 "2018-11-26T17:50:26Z")
Another example of Trump’s business acumen: **Trump is suddenly obsessed with the ballooning federal deficit after his signature legislative victories caused it to explode** > **[Trump is suddenly obsessed with the ballooning federal deficit after his...](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-federal-debt-deficit-gop-tax-law-budget-2018-11)** > > President Donald Trump is suddenly focused on the federal deficit, despite helping to add billions of dollars in new debt over the past two years. > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump is suddenly very interested in reducing the federal deficit, which is on the rise after two years of debt-adding policies pushed by the president. > > According to a new report from The Washington Post, Trump has demanded that Cabinet officials work on a way to reduce the federal deficit. He has apparently repeatedly expressed concern over the past few weeks regarding the growing amount of debt the federal government is taking on. > > … > > The impetus for the concern, according to the Post, was the Treasury Department’s report in October that showed the federal deficit grew to $779 billion in fiscal year 2018 (which ran from October 2017 through September 2018). That was the highest annual budget deficit since 2012. > > … > > The new focus is a major departure from Trump’s previously dismissive attitude toward the deficit. For instance, the Post story confirmed an anecdote first mentioned in journalist Bob Woodward’s book, “Fear: Trump in the White House.” > > When former economic adviser Gary Cohn first brought the issue to Trump’s attention, the president suggested that _the US could simply print more money_ to pay off the debt and did not appear fazed by the possibility of rising deficits. My italics and link to that story: **Bob Woodward book: Gary Cohn was ‘astounded at Trump’s lack of basic understanding’ about the federal debt** > **[Bob Woodward book: Gary Cohn was 'astounded at Trump's lack of basic...](https://www.businessinsider.com/bob-woodward-book-trump-federal-debt-printing-money-2018-9)** > > President Donald Trump was confused about the basics of the federal deficit, the debt ceiling, and other economic issues, according to Bob Woodward's new book, "Fear: Trump in the White House." ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27506 "2018-11-26T17:55:03Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Huddled masses yearning to breathe free except for the tear gas. Free tear gas, or does Trump want the victims to pay for it? Or, Mexico will pay for it! ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27507 "2018-11-26T18:05:03Z")
Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, the Swan King, Mad Ludwig, etc., also suggested printing more money when he spent way too much of the treasury. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27508 "2018-11-26T18:25:53Z")
Well if all those guys suggested it, how bad of an idea could it be? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27509 "2018-11-26T18:28:12Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > I’ve only read the details sporadically, but this seems to have been the Trump strategy all along. Close or otherwise obstruct the normal point of application (which I believe is required to be there by international law), then call people animals and use force when they try to enter through another point. That’s pretty much it. And this has consequences, not just for the asylum seekers, and not just for America’s moral status in the world. Not sure if people outside the border zone realize it, but slowing or closing the San Ysidro point of entry also has a massive impact here in the Tijuana/San Diego area. This is the world’s busiest land border crossing, and thousands of those who make the trip across the border every day do so for work. It’s not just asylum seekers and vacationers. There’s a lot of economic activity relying on that border crossing. When I made a trip to the airport a few weeks back, my Uber driver was a US citizen who lives in Tijuana, but comes across the border to drive. There’s a tamale seller in our neighborhood who lives in TJ. That’s just two of the thousands of examples of people who need the crossing to be open just to make a living. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27510 "2018-11-26T18:31:38Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, the Swan King, Mad Ludwig, etc., also suggested printing more money when he spent way too much of the treasury. But differently to Trump, he had style. Hey, we got a set of nice castles out of his follies. (though they all were really just facades and none of them completed) ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27511 "2018-11-26T18:47:18Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > But differently to Trump, he had style. Hey, we got a set of nice castles out of his follies. (though they all were really just facades and none of them completed) He had good taste in music, too. I didn’t know that part of [Neuschwanstein](http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/index.htm) was unfinished. Hell, he could’ve just printed some more money. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27512 "2018-11-26T19:02:02Z")
What is to be done? My instinct is to help, to shelter, to assist. Trouble with that is, the level of desperation rampant in Central America means that to offer even a glimmer of hope is to exacerbate the problem. God help us, we dare not offer them hope. Even now, with damned little hope of welcome, they surge north out of fear and desperation. Even in the face of a US Administration that will seize their children. - Sophie’s Choice\*, the wretched reboot. In Spanish, now. How many of the parents who were seperated have chosen to walk away? Their children are at least safe in America, however unwelcome. How many of them have already accepted that heartbreaking choice, how many more will do so? Maybe somebody smarter than me has a humane and sensible option. Trouble is, I’m pretty damn smart and haven’t a clue. Doing the right thing is hard, its even harder when you can’t think of one. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27513 "2018-11-26T19:13:53Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Another example of Trump’s business acumen: > > **Trump is suddenly obsessed with the ballooning federal deficit after his signature legislative victories caused it to explode** > > [Trump Focus on Federal Debt, Deficit After GOP Tax Law Caused Jump](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-federal-debt-deficit-gop-tax-law-budget-2018-11) > > My italics and link to that story: > > **Bob Woodward book: Gary Cohn was ‘astounded at Trump’s lack of basic understanding’ about the federal debt** > > [Bob Woodward Book: Trump Confused About Federal Debt, Printing Money](https://www.businessinsider.com/bob-woodward-book-trump-federal-debt-printing-money-2018-9) I don’t understand why Donald didn’t simply order the Treasury Department to re-write the report. Boom, problem solved. ---
**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 26, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27514 "2018-11-26T20:35:13Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The United States government, yesterday, fired tear gas into another country. At toddlers. Wave your hands however you want, but we are the only villains in that story. Trump is scum, and his demagoguery about the caravan has been despicable, even for him. But we cannot allow gate-crashing. Those tear-gassed people were not in Mexico if they had already climbed one fence. That article even says the Mexican government is deporting the fence-rushers for being “violent”. Last I checked, the Mexican government does not carry water for Trump, so that means something. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27515 "2018-11-26T20:58:54Z")
It means they are caught between a rock and Trump’s heart. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27516 "2018-11-26T21:01:37Z")
I had believed the group of would be immigrants to be ignorant of current affairs and the opinions of the President and his followers. I saw pictures of a person in the group with a cell phone. They are aware that a great many people do not want them in the United States-they just do not want them entering illegally, they do not want them to enter the country at all-and they keep coming. The hope of desperation. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27517 "2018-11-26T21:14:50Z")
Former Republican Party Congresswoman Mia Love took time during her concession speech to criticize Trump in particular and the national Republican Party in general. [Mia Love slams Trump in concession speech | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/mia-love-donald-trump-concession/index.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27518 "2018-11-26T21:16:14Z")
I heard someone describe the plight of the refugees as fleeing a burning building to confront an army of guns pointed at them as soon as they exit. I thought it was apt. You know, you’d still leave the building and hope for the best. I am sad for what my country has become. Absorbing these poor people is akin to accommodating the population of a couple of urban high schools. It’s nothing to a country purported to be made up of migrants from other nations – as most of our millions already here, in fact, are. Until we address the cause of their migration, we will continue to battle the symptoms. To address the cause requires humanitarian efforts to provide aid to address the gang violence that has taken over in the countries of origin. Good luck with that with the sociopath now in the White House. Every time I read about our cruel response at the border, I involuntarily recall the cartoon of a shrieking elephant quavering on her tippy-toes on a stool, as she stares down in horror at the tiny mouse on the floor. I mean, for fuck’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27519 "2018-11-26T21:24:22Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Former Republican Party Congresswoman Mia Love took time during her concession speech to criticize Trump in particular and the national Republican Party in general. > [https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/mia-love-donald-trump-concession/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/mia-love-donald-trump-concession/index.html)? > [@Mia Love](#): > > But now, I am unleashed, I am untethered and I am unshackled, and I can say exactly what’s on my mind. Maybe if you hadn’t waited to be “unleashed,” “untethered,” and “unshackled,” you’d be accepting McAdams’s concession and congratulations today, so chew on that. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27520 "2018-11-26T21:35:28Z")
[HIJACK] > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I had believed the group of would be immigrants to be ignorant of current affairs and the opinions of the President and his followers. **I saw pictures of a person in the group with a cell phone.** They are aware that a great many people do not want them in the United States-they just do not want them entering illegally, they do not want them to enter the country at all-and they keep coming. The hope of desperation. (bolding mine) This is how much the world has changed in the past 10 years: people still think that “poor” people don’t have cel phones. [In fact](https://www.statista.com/statistics/274774/forecast-of-mobile-phone-users-worldwide/), more than 4.57 billion people have cel phones (that’s about ⅔ of all humans). A means to communicate is by far the single most helpful survival and life enrichment tool available, and the cost is now negligible. The world is a very different place than it was just a few years ago; not all the old suppositions are valid anymore. [/HIJACK] ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27521 "2018-11-26T21:50:20Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I heard someone describe the plight of the refugees as fleeing a burning building to confront an army of guns pointed at them as soon as they exit. … That’s because Trump “tells it like it is!” and is “tough on crime!” and is “a dishonest amoral con man!” Wait, scratch that last one… MAGA! ---
**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 26, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27522 "2018-11-26T21:55:09Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Former Republican Party Congresswoman Mia Love took time during her concession speech to criticize Trump in particular and the national Republican Party in general. > [https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/mia-love-donald-trump-concession/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/mia-love-donald-trump-concession/index.html)? Pfff, she has a choice. She can pretend that the party is salvageable despite all the evidence that it’s not, or she can abandon the party as an independent and encourage people like John Kasich to reconstitute American conservatism into something else. But their party is fucked for good. And for the good of the country, it’s time to admit it and help the party formerly known as the GOP to drive itself into extinction. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27523 "2018-11-26T21:58:41Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Pfff, she has a choice. She can pretend that the party is salvageable despite all the evidence that it’s not, or she can abandon the party as an independent and encourage people like John Kasich to reconstitute American conservatism into something else. But their party is fucked for good. And for the good of the country, it’s time to admit it and help the party formerly known as the GOP to drive itself into extinction. Out of curiosity, why would you think they would do that? They have the Senate, the Supreme Court, the Presidency. Economy is doing good. Unemployment is down. What would make you believe that their party is fucked for good? I’m not a Republican, but if I was, I could look at the country and just say “Hey, we are doing pretty well, why change anything?” ---
**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 26, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27524 "2018-11-26T22:07:21Z")
God only knows how many times we’ve posed the question “Is this the beginning of the end of the Trumpanzee?” but I think it’s fair to say that he was rattled by the midterm elections. Although I still think he still has enough of the chess pieces on the board to do some serious damage to American democracy if he wants to go that route, it’s clear that he is psychologically unwell - so much so that I’m wondering how well he’s actually processing what’s going on around him. In the initial hours after the midterms were behind him, he fired Sessions and promoted Whitaker. That’s been the last move of his that seemed in any way remotely strategic or ‘rational’. Since then it’s been nothing but a steady stream of emotional outbursts. He doesn’t look like he’s having a hell of a lot of fun right now. In fact I’m beginning to wonder if he isn’t approaching Nixonian levels of momentary madness (which was some scary shit, by the way). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1375) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1377)