# 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:** 1478
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29545 "2019-01-16T16:41:50Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Hell, he’s probably perfectly happy to get out of making the address. This way he doesn’t have to cross the street in the cold, he avoids having to follow a prepared text (which he clearly hates doing), and he has no interest in speaking in front of a hostile crowd anyway. He’ll still stew though. How dare a woman (a Democrat no less) not show him the utmost respect. Though he’s probably afraid to be alone in the same room with Melanie er… Melania. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29546 "2019-01-16T16:42:59Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You just know Trump believes that the Treasury Department only has to print more money and that will solve the cash flow problems. Apparently, this is true, from this old article: [Trump told Gary Cohn to ‘print money’ to lower the national debt, according to Bob Woodward’s book](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/11/trump-once-considered-just-printing-money-to-lower-the-national-debt-woodward-reports.html) > [@](#): > > As a candidate, Donald Trump pledged to balance the federal budget and lower the national debt, promises that are proving difficult to keep. > > Once he won, Trump considered an unusual approach that was quickly slapped down by his chief economic advisor, according to veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear: Trump in the White House,” which went on sale Tuesday. > > “Just run the presses — print money,” Trump said, according to Woodward, during a discussion on the national debt with Gary Cohn, former director of the White House National Economic Council. > > “You don’t get to do it that way,” Cohn said, according to Woodward. “We have huge deficits and they matter. The government doesn’t keep a balance sheet like that.” > > Cohn was “astounded at Trump’s lack of basic understanding,” Woodward writes. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29547 "2019-01-16T16:51:23Z")
Wow. Go, Nancy! :eek: More wisdom from the mountaintop: [**Trump’s strategic planning inspiration: Mike Tyson**](https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-mike-tyson-planning-strategy-bc799c7f-d1f2-432e-96e9-9e87d08a01ef.html) > [@](#): > > What he’s saying: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” Trump said, echoing a famous [Mike] Tyson quote. > > I had asked the adviser whether Trump ever expressed frustration that his West Wing lacked enough of a plan for the crises ahead. > > [ul] > [li]“He gets frustrated when there is a plan,” the adviser said. “He’s not a guy who likes a plan. … There’s an animosity towards planning, and there’s a desire to pick fights that have nothing to do with us.”[/li][/ul] > Trump used the Tyson quote as evidence that detailed strategic plans are pointless and said, in the adviser’s recollection, “We’ve just gotta fight every day and that’s how we win.” > > [ul] > [li]“We can plan all this stuff out but it’ll change,” the president continued. “So let’s just not go through the effort.”[/li][li] The adviser said that Trump’s “main view was that all this stuff wasn’t predictable, … which is unfortunately not accurate. … It absolutely is predictable.”[/li][li] A second source, a senior administration official, confirmed Trump has used that Tyson quote to make his point about the pointlessness of planning.[/li]… > [/ul] An “animosity toward planning.” Yeah, we kinda figured that one out. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29548 "2019-01-16T16:55:46Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Hell, he’s probably perfectly happy to get out of making the address. This way he doesn’t have to cross the street in the cold, he avoids having to follow a prepared text (which he clearly hates doing), and he has no interest in speaking in front of a hostile crowd anyway. But that’s just _it,_ though, isn’t it? Trump can (and, being Trump, presumably _would_) tell the networks he’s delivering a State Of The Union address in prime time; and then just do that from the White House, with no hostile crowd in sight, right? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29549 "2019-01-16T17:08:19Z")
The teleprompter is not his friend. I’m betting he will announce a State of the Union rally where he can riff in front of a live crowd for 90 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29550 "2019-01-16T17:08:31Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But that’s just _it,_ though, isn’t it? Trump can (and, being Trump, presumably _would_) tell the networks he’s delivering a State Of The Union address in prime time; and then just do that from the White House, with no hostile crowd in sight, right? Wouldn’t it be delicious if he announced he’d do that, and the major networks (sans Fox of course) told him they weren’t going to carry it? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29551 "2019-01-16T17:10:11Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > However, he has to be invited to speak. Same thing the other way - Congresspeople have to be invited to the WH… But the SOTU speech is to the joint session of Congress (House + Senate). What happens if McConnell wants to invite, but Pelosi is opposed? Will Trump just make a speech to the Senate? ---
**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:** [January 16, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29552 "2019-01-16T17:21:28Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But that’s just _it,_ though, isn’t it? Trump can (and, being Trump, presumably _would_) tell the networks he’s delivering a State Of The Union address in prime time; and then just do that from the White House, with no hostile crowd in sight, right? No, he will fire up angel-one and fly over to where he can deliver it with his back to a phalanx of drooley-eyed MAGAts in the Muncie Central High Cafetorium (the arena over at the U was booked; no, really, it was). ---
**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:** [January 16, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29553 "2019-01-16T17:21:53Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > But the SOTU speech is to the joint session of Congress (House + Senate). What happens if McConnell wants to invite, but Pelosi is opposed? Will Trump just make a speech to the Senate? I don’t think McConnell would be dumb enough to do that. With the Democrats having a majority in the House, Republicans want to have the Senate acting as a check on Congress. The last thing they want to do is encourage the idea that either half can act unilaterally on its own. They’re pushing the opposite idea that everything should require joint approval. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29554 "2019-01-16T17:35:21Z")
But nothing stops him from doing the SOTU at some other venue, right? Doing it to Congress us just a tradition? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29555 "2019-01-16T17:37:53Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > But nothing stops him from doing the SOTU at some other venue, right? Doing it to Congress us just a tradition? Apparently Pelosi herself said Trump “can make it from the Oval Office if he wants.” [cite](https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/politics/nancy-pelosi-asks-trump-move-state-of-the-union-address/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29556 "2019-01-16T17:42:10Z")
It being a speech, being annual, being in late January, and being to a joint session are all very strong traditions, but no more. “From time to time” and “inform” can mean anything. So, there’s no requirement to do anything, or do it in a specific way. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29557 "2019-01-16T17:55:50Z")
I would love to see Pelosi go on TV and give a response to the SOTU - _ **"What was THAT?! Seriously! What the HELL was THAT?!"** _ ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29558 "2019-01-16T17:56:20Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Apparently Pelosi herself said Trump “can make it from the Oval Office if he wants.” [cite](https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/politics/nancy-pelosi-asks-trump-move-state-of-the-union-address/index.html) It doesn’t even need to be a speech at all. It could be a letter. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29559 "2019-01-16T17:56:52Z")
It would probably be a tweet. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29560 "2019-01-16T18:11:54Z")
He could fart in front of a fan. That pretty much sums it up too. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29561 "2019-01-16T18:20:24Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It would probably be a tweet. “State of the Union-Sad.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29562 "2019-01-16T18:48:53Z")
The state of the younion is TREMENDOUS! We have done many Great things - more jobs, more wall, more hamberders! Only Loser Democrats and the Amazon Washington Post disagree! Now I will get a standing Ovation! ---
**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:** [January 16, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29563 "2019-01-16T19:13:44Z")
Pence’s wife is working at a private school that bans gay students and employees. > **[Mike Pence's wife working at school that bans gay employees](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/karen-pence-immanuel-christian-school-teach-virginia-gay-marriage-trans-lgbt-a8730091.html)** > > Applicant must promise they are born-again Christians  ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/29564 "2019-01-16T19:16:38Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > For which part? There’s certainly precedent for the “just send it in writing part”. Withdrawing an invitation is unusual, but then again Orangeanus Deploricus is an unusual specimen. They haven’t withdrawn an invitation. Traditionally, Congress passes a joint resolution inviting the POTUS to make the speech; they haven’t voted on a resolution inviting Trump to do so yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1477) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1479)