# 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:** 1380
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27585 "2018-11-27T22:57:57Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > I figure eventually it’ll go down like this: the tariffs will keep negatively affecting Americans until the grumbling from his own base starts to become unbearable. At which point, Trump will declare that we have “won the trade war” and remove the tariffs because we are victorious, despite no supporting evidence. And his followers will crow about the glorious victory, even though we accomplished nothing other than shooting ourselves in the foot for a while. As I pointed out in a past post, trade wars aren’t something that can be just turned off. Other countries adjust to the current situation and establish new production and trade patterns. The business that America is losing because of Trump’s trade policies won’t automatically be restored when he declares he’s made his point and wants to go back to the way things were. ---
**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 27, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27586 "2018-11-27T22:58:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Because they’re practicing Ponzi politics. They’re going for whatever works in the short term while ignoring the long term consequences. This x 1,000. It’s also like a “win now” team that trades away a bazillion future draft picks to get a few aging stars. > [@catflea12](#): > > Yeah, it was like that too at the 2018 VFW National Convention, only about 3500 people were at the speech he gave, I and a lot of other people left while he was speaking. There were more protesters outside the convention hall later than there were attendees for his speech. There was a good Dave Eggars piece on a Trump rally in summer 2016 in which he talked about how the audience mostly filed out long before he finished talking. They had taken their pics, snickered at his naughty talk, had their fun. Now they wanted to beat traffic home. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27587 "2018-11-27T23:03:51Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > POTUSOATSE is one meme we definitely don’t need. Too unwieldy. I propose POTSE. ---
**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 27, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27588 "2018-11-27T23:28:52Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Too unwieldy. I propose POTSE. I barfed :(. ---
**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 27, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27589 "2018-11-27T23:35:23Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > POTUSOATSE is one meme we definitely don’t need. > [@JohnT](#): > > Too unwieldy. I propose POTSE. Okay, so just horrifying instead of unwieldy and horrifying. How 'bout we just take the whole idea out back and kill it with fire? ---
**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 28, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27590 "2018-11-28T00:18:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Because they’re practicing Ponzi politics. They’re going for whatever works in the short term while ignoring the long term consequences. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > This x 1,000. It’s also like a “win now” team that trades away a bazillion future draft picks to get a few aging stars. > … \*Après Moi Le Déluge \* > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > …How 'bout we just take the whole idea out back and kill it with fire? Or just throw it down the quarry. ---
**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 28, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27591 "2018-11-28T00:24:53Z")
[Trump says the Federal Reserve is a bigger threat to US economic growth than China!](https://apnews.com/e115f9618f1142e5a7d06c755595b738) > [@Trump](#): > > I think the Fed is a much bigger problem than China. He also said this: > [@](#): > > They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me. Yeah but your gut tells you that MacDonalds is good eatin’, so I’m not sure I’m willing to give the same “expert” status to your gut that you do. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27592 "2018-11-28T00:39:01Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > The only things wide spread about that man are his ass and his knees. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > What an absolutely horrific image. Bone chilling. Broken me to my core. Caused involuntary spasms from my sphincter north. Grisly beyond human expression. > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > POTUSOATSE is one meme we definitely don’t need. > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > ok I was eating lunch, there… > [@JohnT](#): > > Too unwieldy. I propose POTSE. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I barfed :(. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Okay, so just horrifying instead of unwieldy and horrifying. > > How 'bout we just take the whole idea out back and kill it with fire? \ I’m just so goatdamned proud. I made the _whole board_ nauseous! ---
**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:** [November 28, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27593 "2018-11-28T00:50:38Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump thinks Generals make $5 million a year. > [https://taskandpurpose.com/trump-dunford-pay/](https://taskandpurpose.com/trump-dunford-pay/)? Trump may not be thinking that their paychecks add up to $5 million. He may instead be assuming that like him, they find lots of opportunities for off-the-books income (and that they take those opportunities). Either way, this should further endear him to the leaders of the US military branches. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27594 "2018-11-28T01:11:16Z")
Maybe he’s thinking of retired US generals who sell out to the Russians, ala Mike Flynn. ---
**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 28, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27595 "2018-11-28T01:13:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > …Yeah but your gut tells you that MacDonalds is good eatin’, so I’m not sure I’m willing to give the same “expert” status to your gut that you do. No, steak with catsup. The man is filthy rich, and eats steak with catsup. :dubious: ---
**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:** [November 28, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27596 "2018-11-28T01:20:41Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Maybe he’s thinking of retired US generals who sell out to the Russians, ala Mike Flynn. He probably is. The biggest of the Big Lies pushed by Trump and his enablers is surely “ **everyone does it**.” But not everyone is a crook. Trump will never be able to wrap his tiny brain around that fact. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27597 "2018-11-28T01:26:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Trump suggests the US should form a state-run, global news network to counter CNN’s ‘unfair’ coverage](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-suggests-us-should-form-state-run-global-news-network-2018-11?fbclid=IwAR014hAuCGMuPHCXuMo9B93DeC64iG3gmpOCrsUzm109cBAbkx33rEK2cW0) Though of course Trump would love to have an entire network devoted to glorifying and praising him, even _he_ has to have an idea of the obstacles involved in making that dream a reality. What he’s really doing here, I suspect, is telling the Murdochs how pissed off he is every time one of their handful of actual journalists (there are a few) say something that could be construed as criticism of himself and his works. In other words, he’s telling Rupert, James, and Lachlan that they’d better get busy firing Shep Smith. Or else. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27598 "2018-11-28T01:28:52Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > \ I’m just so goatdamned proud. I made the _whole board_ nauseous! Not me! I’m nauseated. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27599 "2018-11-28T02:00:45Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Maybe he’s thinking of retired US generals who sell out to the Russians, ala Mike Flynn. Don’t forget the Turks wanted to give Flynn a pile of money to help kidnap that guy (Fethullah Gulen) that Turkey wants extradited who was just in the news in connection to the Jamal Khashoggi murder. Old article: “Ex-Trump aide Mike Flynn ‘offered $15m by Turkey for Gulen’” > **[Ex-Trump aide Mike Flynn 'offered $15m by Turkey for Gulen'](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41947451)** > > Michael Flynn's lawyer strongly rejects reports that he was promised millions of dollars by Turkey. “To ease Turkish pressure on Saudis over killing, White House weighs expelling Erdogan foe” > **[Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/white-house-weighs-booting-erdogan-foe-u-s-appease-turkey-n933996)** > > "Once they realized it was a serious request, the career guys were furious," a U.S. official said of request tied to Khashoggi killing. ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27600 "2018-11-28T04:34:55Z")
I don’t know what any of those initialisms represent, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to! > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > No, steak with catsup. The man is filthy rich, and eats steak with catsup. > :dubious: It’s ketchup, but yeah. He also orders it super well done. These are extremely expensive, aged cuts of beef. I can only imagine what these highfalutin’ chefs think when they get the order to burn it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27601 "2018-11-28T08:21:22Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I don’t know what any of those initialisms represent, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to! Yes, you do not. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27602 "2018-11-28T11:16:39Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I don’t know what any of those initialisms represent, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to! Not all of them are initialisms. Some are end points. ---
**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 28, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27603 "2018-11-28T12:52:07Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > I figure eventually it’ll go down like this: the tariffs will keep negatively affecting Americans until the grumbling from his own base starts to become unbearable. At which point, Trump will declare that we have “won the trade war” and remove the tariffs because we are victorious, despite no supporting evidence. And his followers will crow about the glorious victory, even though we accomplished nothing other than shooting ourselves in the foot for a while. Politically, he needs to figure that out BEFORE his base becomes angry at him. And what Republicans in the Senate need to understand is that pretty soon, they’re going to be blamed for taking sides with this stable genius. The trade war wasn’t likely to be a midterms issue, but it could very well turn out to be a 2020 talking point, and this is at a time when the market seems to be pulling back and, more ominously, the national debt is soaring to dangerously high levels. I think 2019 is going to be a year in which we talk a lot about the economy, and not in the way Republicans want. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27604 "2018-11-28T14:25:57Z")
Another interesting Vox article. It’s worth checking out just for the embedded YouTube clip of Colbert at the White House Correspondents dinner speech where he poked fun at Bush for trusting his gut and not his brain: > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Stephen Colbert** : > "Mark Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, my name is Stephen Colbert and tonight it’s my privilege to celebrate this president. We’re not so different, he and I. We get it. We’re not brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut, right sir? That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. > > I know some of you are going to say “I did look it up, and that’s not true.” That’s ’cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert Report, I speak straight from the gut, OK? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the “No Fact Zone.” Fox News, I hold a copyright on that term. > > I’m a simple man with a simple mind. I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post spins that one tomorrow." Now we have a President who does this in real life. **Trump’s Washington Post interview shows a presidency that’s beyond satire** > **[Trump’s Washington Post interview shows a presidency that’s beyond satire](https://www.vox.com/2018/11/27/18115395/trumps-washington-post-interview-gut)** > > Go from the gut, and bring a rake. > [@](#): > > Instead, speaking to Phil Rucker and Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post in an interview published Tuesday evening, Trump simply said: “I’m not happy with the Fed. They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.” > > This is more or less a Stephen Colbert comedy routine satirizing George W. Bush, which in turn is a reminder that reality has fundamentally outpaced satire in the Trump era. > > The entire interview is littered with pronouncements that are bizarre (“oceans are small”), nonsensical (“we lose $800 billion a year on trade”), or so incoherent that when he comes out and just tells a lie (like that in the past there were many articles worrying about global freezing) it comes almost as a relief. > > To offer untrue factual assertions to support a policy position that’s backed up by fossil fuel interests is a refreshingly banal way to conduct politics compared to some of the madness that’s going on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1379) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1381)