# 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:** 1408
**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:** [December 15, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28145 "2018-12-15T19:43:21Z")
It was negotiations with a toddler. “Wall! Wall! Mine! Wall!” And Grampa Pence sitting there like, “Oh, he’ll calm down and we’ll let him watch Fox News…” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28146 "2018-12-15T19:50:29Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > I was [ahead of the curve](https://twitter.com/beaudoin_lyle/status/1071947765633052673), it seems. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The Trump administration is now trying to deport refugees. > > From the Viet Nam war. > > [Donald Trump Moves to Deport Vietnam War Refugees - The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/donald-trump-deport-vietnam-war-refugees/577993/?utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_medium=social&utm_term=2018-12-12T19%3A26%3A40) > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > What would be the attitude of the Vietnamese government towards South Vietnamese who fled because they sided with the USA? Not as severe as it would have been a couple of decades ago. For them, that was something like three wars ago, and most Vietnamese alive today were not born until after the war, so to them it’s ancient history. That’s not to downplay the situation – 1.5 million to 3 million dead, depending on the source, is nothing to sneeze at – but having spent time in Vietnam myself this century, there’s not much preoccupation with it. Still, I have not personally known any Vietnamese refugee who has returned, but I’ve not heard any horror stories either, and lots of former US soldiers who fought there are welcomed. EDIT: I don’t want them deported however. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28147 "2018-12-15T20:02:11Z")
WaPost has a good summary of the current state of the [ClusterFuck](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mounting-legal-threats-surround-trump-as-nearly-every-organization-he-has-led-is-under-investigation/2018/12/15/4cfb4482-ffbb-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html?utm_term=.1f82cd89cefb). ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28148 "2018-12-15T20:22:35Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > From that piece: > > “Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Ivanka Trump’s ethics lawyer” > ethics lawyer? > > [“ethics lawyer” Google search](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22ethics+lawyer%22) > > Learn something new everyday if you’re lucky. Ivanka has an ethics lawyer? Please raise your hand if you think you need an ethics lawyer. What needs to be done is to surround the entire family with a group of nuns with rulers. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28149 "2018-12-15T20:22:42Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > It was negotiations with a toddler. “Wall! Wall! Mine! Wall!” And Grampa Pence sitting there like, “Oh, he’ll calm down and we’ll let him watch Fox News…” I don’t quite know how to characterize it. Pelosi tells him that his current, friendly House won’t give him the votes, and his response is, “I could get the votes in 10 seconds in the House if I wanted them.” It is bizarre to go braggadocio on such a plainly false claim. Pubbies and fundamentalists already had an impenetrable streak, but for the POTUS to be so divorced from reality goes beyond partisanship. Yah I know it has been like this all along, but the incoming Speaker of the House is making the most fundamentally basic of true claims and he flatly denies her. I am surprised to still be surprised! ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28150 "2018-12-15T20:28:30Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > It Has to be on this board somewhere already, but I’m not finding it. I read the summaries, but I found it informative to watch the full video of the [WH meeting with Schumer, Pelosi and Trump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZtCfBR8ZZQ). Don’t miss this [Twitter photo](https://twitter.com/paulleeticks/status/1072930419480289281?s=21) taken just after the meeting in the Oval Office. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28151 "2018-12-15T20:37:22Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > …Pelosi politely tries to explain that he doesn’t have the House votes for the wall funding with the current GOP led House, let alone the House we’ll have next month. “We need to have an **evidence-based** conversation about what really works wrt border security and make a compromise…” Way to invite an unarmed man to a gunfight… I first saw that meeting with the sound turned down, and it is really fascinating to see the body language without distraction - the two adults focusing primarily on each other, and Trump wildly waving his arms in the back trying to get them to PAY ATTENTION to him! BTW, anyone seen this great [Mick Mulvaney](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/15/mick-mulvaney-donald-trump-video-terrible-human) clip yet? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28152 "2018-12-15T20:47:43Z")
Apparently because he is a Senate confirmed head of the OMB, Trump just idioted his way into having the first chief of staff who can be obligated to testify before Congress. > ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28153 "2018-12-15T21:06:54Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Don’t miss this [Twitter photo](https://twitter.com/paulleeticks/status/1072930419480289281?s=21) taken just after the meeting in the Oval Office. Heh. I saw the Pence criticism as well, but watching the full video, Pence didn’t really jump out at me. He’s the Veep. He didn’t say anything. Ok, so what? If he is a Dick Cheney behind-the-scenes mastermind kind of Veep, he doesn’t show it, and anyway that isn’t what the job is supposed to be. I don’t agree with Pence on much but I don’t generally have the knives out for him either- he whallopped Tim Kaine in the Veep debate just by having a grip on himself, and maybe that’s why I give him more benefit of the doubt that just about anyone in this foolish administration. If I got any impression off of him at all, it was that he was thinking, “The haters are wrong. This job\* is\* worth a bucket of warm piss.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28154 "2018-12-15T23:56:24Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Ivanka has an ethics lawyer? > > Please raise your hand if you think you need an ethics lawyer. > > What needs to be done is to surround the entire family with a group of nuns with rulers. You realize that the non-immigration crime rate for undocumented immigrants is way, way lower than it is for the Trump family don’t you? ---
**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:** [December 15, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28155 "2018-12-15T23:57:24Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Apparently because he is a Senate confirmed head of the OMB, Trump just idioted his way into having the first chief of staff who can be obligated to testify before Congress. > > [https://twitter.com/ronaldklain/status/1073967464864714752?s=21](https://twitter.com/ronaldklain/status/1073967464864714752?s=21) This is amazing. Also (from the same thread), apparently, due to his continuing status as Senate-confirmed-OMB-head, emails he sends as CoS may be subject to FOIA requests: > [@](#): > > Christina Reynolds Verified account @creynoldsnc 7h7 hours ago Replying to @RonaldKlain @MickMulvaneyOMB > \*\*Also, wouldn’t this make his emails subject to FOIA? \*\* > Cc @NormEisen @waltshaub > [@](#): > > Walter Shaub Verified account @waltshaub 1h1 hour ago > **It depends on which email account he uses. The one that ends in [http://omb.eop.gov](http://omb.eop.gov) will be but the one that ends in [http://who.eop.gov](http://who.eop.gov) won’t be. The question is whether Mulvaney will be meticulous about switching back and forth. I suspect the answer is no.** > ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28156 "2018-12-16T00:05:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You realize that the non-immigration crime rate for undocumented immigrants is way, way lower than it is for the Trump family don’t you? Hell, a typical Mob family has a lower crime rate than the Trump family. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28157 "2018-12-16T00:09:08Z")
The immigrant rights organization No More Deaths recorded Border Patrol agents dumping out water that had been left in the desert for immigrants coming through the desert after crossing the border. And just coincidentally, i’m sure, one of the members of the organization was arrested right after the video was made public, allegedly for helping immigrants to illegally cross the border > **[Volunteer arrested, agents seen dumping water](https://www.abc15.com/news/state/volunteer-arrested-after-border-patrol-agents-seen-dumping-water)** > > A volunteer for an organization that tries to prevent immigrants from dying in the Arizona desert was arrested several hours after thegroup released videos showing Border Patrol agents kicking over water bottles left for those crossing into the U.S.... ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28158 "2018-12-16T02:58:07Z")
Some inbred dingleberry on a horse and likes his own flag er I mean Ryan Zinke will be [riding off into the sunset at the end of the year.](https://www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2018/12/15/ryan-zinke-resigns-as-americas-secretary-of-the-interior) A real saint of the environment, he probably’s dreaming about subpoenas, or something, and figures, well… ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28159 "2018-12-16T03:32:56Z")
Nice little exchange between Hari Srinavasan and Jeff Greenfield on PBS tonight. When Greenfield mentioned how Trump’s gone through more communications directors than Spinal Tap had with drummers, and then added how every time when you think you’ve seen the extreme to which our politics can reach, the line is then pushed back even further, Hari responded, with slightly cocked eyebrow, “And there might be more Spinal Tap references yet to come, thanks, Jeff.” I don’t think I’ve heard anything that spirited from Hari before, which is refreshing, and giving me hope that the media will begin to tell it more like it is. Yeah, yeah - I get the whole fuckin slippery slope argument that going further in that sort of direction will lead more to editorializing rather than objective news reportage, (coughFauxcough) but fuck it now - we are in exceptional times, now, with a leader-in-chief who constantly lies, and, as it’s been pointed out many times at the dope already, (and bummy yeah I’ll reiterate) the shit’s gotta get called out now. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28160 "2018-12-16T04:10:17Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Nice little exchange between Hari Srinavasan and Jeff Greenfield on PBS tonight. When Greenfield mentioned how Trump’s gone through more communications directors than Spinal Tap had with drummers, and then added how every time when you think you’ve seen the extreme to which our politics can reach, the line is then pushed back even further, Hari responded, with slightly cocked eyebrow, “And there might be more Spinal Tap references yet to come, thanks, Jeff.” Well now I’m dying to know what the other Spinal Tap references could be. Wall along the southern border that’s only 18-inches high due to typographical error? Trump brags at a cabinet meeting about a report filed by his interns that claims he cultivates “an unbelievably sexy environment?” Confirmation that he got lost on the way to the dining room at Mar-a-Lago? ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28161 "2018-12-16T04:21:20Z")
I would pay $1000 to a charity of the SDMB’s choice if Melania says “You don’t do the President in Dubly, you know.” ETA: Heck, I’ll cough that up if Melania, Sarah, Kellyanne OR Ivanka says it. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28162 "2018-12-16T04:35:46Z")
There’s a fine line between genius and stupidity? ---
**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:** [December 16, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28163 "2018-12-16T05:54:39Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Well now I’m dying to know what the other Spinal Tap references could be. Wall along the southern border that’s only 18-inches high due to typographical error? Trump brags at a cabinet meeting about a report filed by his interns that claims he cultivates “an unbelievably sexy environment?” Confirmation that he got lost on the way to the dining room at Mar-a-Lago? [this one](https://youtu.be/I-BYzaDwNoE) seems obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28164 "2018-12-16T07:05:38Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Hell, a typical Mob family has a lower crime rate than the Trump family. Good point. And their shysters usually stay out of jail. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1407) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1409)