# 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:** 1550
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30985 "2019-03-06T00:24:37Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > He called the old-glory-grope “cheerfully photogenic” :rolleyes: and complained that, although the speech was meh, the media were intent upon attacking it with the “fact check monkeys”. This from the folks at _National Review_ who never stopped bringing up Obama’s silly and trivial verbal stumble about visiting “57 states”. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30986 "2019-03-06T01:11:34Z")
He called the ShitGibbon entertaining and said that entertainers always defeat the boring candidates (which does seem to bear out historically). His point was that the Democrats are not good at being fun, so ShitGibbon will be re-elected because he is a better entertainer. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30987 "2019-03-06T02:03:38Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I have been keeping an eye on NR op eds. They seem to have pretty much fallen in line. > > Lindsay Graham hated him, too. Flip! > Not hearing the criticism out of Romney these days either. I wonder how they do it? Something to do with the _National Enquirer_ safe, maybe… ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30988 "2019-03-06T02:53:18Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > He called the ShitGibbon entertaining and said that entertainers always defeat the boring candidates (which does seem to bear out historically). His point was that the Democrats are not good at being fun, so ShitGibbon will be re-elected because he is a better entertainer. Gilbert Gottfried 2020! ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30989 "2019-03-06T03:04:51Z")
I’m going to take a break from reading this thread and watching the news. In my first on this forum a couple of weeks ago I think it was Thelma Lou who said I should because he was upsetting me too much. He really wasn’t at the time; sure I went on a bit of a rant but I was feeling no different than I have since he got elected. But lately I keep thinking that the latest stupid thing he says is going to result in at least a 2-3 point drop in his approval rating. I follow it on the 538 Site. But I’m thinking that, as long as the eonomy is like it is now, unless the Mueller report says there is a recording of him on the phone with Putin talking about the election, nothing is going to do it. At this point, only Reagan and Carter had numbes lower than Trump, with Clinton and Ford only a couple of points higher. But all four of them were dealing with bad economies. What would Trumps rating if that were the case today? Now I am not Bill Maher hoping for a recession, so I am going to look at it from the other side. What could possiblly cause Trump’s rating to go up? He is not going to get a deal with North Korea, he is not going to replace the Iran deal with a better one, he is not going to get a wall built, he is not going to make a difference in the Middle East (unless he makes it worse), he is not going to bring back manufacturing and coal jobs and I’m skeptical about any great trade agreement with China happening. What I do see is him to doing and saying increasingly stupid things, especially as the Democratic investigation goes on. I really think on of these days he is going to have a complete meltdown on live TV. Some would say he already has, but I mean something like the Howard Dean scream (looking back I can’t believe that ended his candidacy). But I mean real screaming and ranting. He does it in private, some day he is not going to be able to keep it in. But even if there is no one moment or revelation, there is now where for him to go but down. And I just saw an article today saying that, by a small margin, a majority believe Cohen. This is only going to go up as documents come out. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30990 "2019-03-06T05:27:51Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > He called the old-glory-grope “cheerfully photogenic” Upon further review, it has been pointed out to me that the best way to describe the flag-hug is “_d_ru_n_k _on_ a _la_m_p_o_st_”. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30991 "2019-03-06T06:35:24Z")
I’ve had dogs hump my leg, doesn’t mean they love me. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30992 "2019-03-06T06:36:46Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > …or not have enough discernible lemon in its Hollandaise… You can’t hide your lyonnaise! ---
**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:** [March 6, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30993 "2019-03-06T11:20:35Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > At this point, only Reagan and Carter had numbes lower than Trump, with Clinton and Ford only a couple of points higher. But all four of them were dealing with bad economies. What would Trumps rating if that were the case today? Now I am not Bill Maher hoping for a recession, so I am going to look at it from the other side. > > What could possiblly cause Trump’s rating to go up? IIRC, his rating went up during the whole brouhaha over Kavanaugh. So if the timing works out just so, with him getting to pick a replacement for Ginsburg or Breyer right when that would be _the_ topic for his opponent to address, then the whole thing maybe becomes a referendum on — well, not on _Trump,_ exactly; but on the folks who’ll be calling the shots at the Supreme Court, is my point. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30994 "2019-03-06T12:08:07Z")
And now it’s Ivanka’s turn: [Report: Trump pressured White House officials to grant Ivanka security clearance](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/432777-trump-pressured-white-house-officials-to-grant-ivanka-trump-security) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30995 "2019-03-06T13:37:02Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > But even if there is no one moment or revelation, there is now where for him to go but down. And I just saw an article today saying that, by a small margin, a majority believe Cohen. This is only going to go up as documents come out. It doesn’t matter. Trump’s popularity/unpopularity is basically fixed, within a few points. It makes no difference whatsoever what he does now, or what comes out. If it came out that he told the Russians were the nuclear subs are, the Trumpists would be fine with that. Better Russian than Democrat, right? ---
**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:** [March 6, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30996 "2019-03-06T13:43:37Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > I’m going to take a break from reading this thread and watching the news. In my first on this forum a couple of weeks ago I think it was Thelma Lou who said I should because he was upsetting me too much. He really wasn’t at the time; sure I went on a bit of a rant but I was feeling no different than I have since he got elected. But lately I keep thinking that the latest stupid thing he says is going to result in at least a 2-3 point drop in his approval rating. I follow it on the 538 Site. But I’m thinking that, as long as the eonomy is like it is now, unless the Mueller report says there is a recording of him on the phone with Putin talking about the election, nothing is going to do it. > > \ > > … My hat is off to you, Mike. I wish I had the stamina to walk away. I have to keep believing that eventually the ship of state will right itself. All the best to you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30997 "2019-03-06T14:11:07Z")
If I stopped refreshing this thread like a Drinky Bird Toy with Parkinson’s, I’d have a big problem. …what to do with my extra two hours a day. [(Drinky Bird Toy at keyboard)](http://gph.is/1VD59Nm) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30998 "2019-03-06T17:15:02Z")
[Federal deficit balloons 77 percent in first third of the fiscal year](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/federal-deficit-balloons-77-percent-in-first-third-of-the-fiscal-year/ar-BBUpCbn#page=2) > [@](#): > > Federal deficits have come under increased scrutiny following criticism from Democrats of the 2017 tax law. The Trump administration asserts that the tax cuts will pay for themselves by added economic activity and taxable income, while Democrats argue the tax cuts will expand the federal deficit and increase the national debt as a result. [Trump supporters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_RYIylWEp4) ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/30999 "2019-03-06T17:40:51Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Upon further review, it has been pointed out to me that the best way to describe the flag-hug is “_d_ru_n_k _on_ a _la_m_p_o_st_”. Pence would never do that. If it was a girl flag, mother would disapprove - if a boy flag, it would look too gay… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31000 "2019-03-06T18:20:04Z")
[Nielsen tells Congress border crisis is real](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/the-latest-nielsen-tells-congress-border-crisis-is-real/2019/03/06/2b6ff264-4038-11e9-85ad-779ef05fd9d8_story.html?utm_term=.1b9be775c813) > [@](#): > > 12:45 p.m. > > Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says the crisis at the southern border is not manufactured. > > Nielsen is speaking before the House Homeland Security Committee on border security. She says border agencies are on track to apprehend nearly 1 million people crossing illegally this year at the southern border. Those are levels not seen since the early 2000s. [Nielsen defends Trump’s border emergency declaration](https://thehill.com/latino/432833-nielsen-defends-trumps-border-emergency-declaration) > [@](#): > > Questioned on whether she has given Trump the grounds for declaring an emergency to build border barriers, Nielsen said she’s presented the president with facts from those on the border. > > “I give him the operations reality,” she said. “Here’s what we’re facing, here’s what we’re seeing, here are the facts. By my read of it, it is an emergency.” > > Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) expressed skepticism in his opening statement about the administration’s assessment, calling the so-called border crisis a “nonexistent emergency.” > > “The president wants to build a wall so there is something to point to, or have his picture taken in front of, to convince the American people he has border security figured out,” Thompson said. The only “emergency” here is the one occupying the White House, stupid. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31001 "2019-03-06T18:53:55Z")
I wasn’t the only one here who made the following prediction, nor was this the earliest mention at SDMB: > [@Who is Melania Trump's graffiti jacket aimed at? "I really don't care. Do U"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-melania-trumps-graffiti-jacket-aimed-at-i-really-dont-care-do-u/816545/54): > > Yes. **Wasn’t it Donald Jr. who spoke of how glum their election “victory” celebration was?** Melania had tears, “and they weren’t tears of joy.” _ **Trump never wanted to win.** _ That’s the mind-boggling irony of this catastrophe. He hoped to come close of course and not be known as the buffoon that went down in a landslide. But he didn’t think the nightmare scenario had a chance of coming true. > > He and his family are trying to make the most of it, of course, scarfing up a few extra millions. (He even has WH staff pimping Ivanka’s apparel lines. :smack: ) **Unfortunately, he _will_ want to win re-election. He doesn’t want to spend his final years as a disgraced laughing-stock _without the ability to pardon._** But now I learn [via this MSNBC panel discussion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpivWv9XXaw) that “some people close to Trump” are making exactly the same point — Trump seeks re-election not so he can continue “making America great again” but simply to avoid paying for his crimes. Yes, this is what the American Presidency has come to. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31002 "2019-03-06T19:04:37Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > But now I learn [via this MSNBC panel discussion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpivWv9XXaw) that “some people close to Trump” are making exactly the same point — Trump seeks re-election not so he can continue “making America great again” but simply to avoid paying for his crimes. Yes, this is what the American Presidency has come to. I’ve been saying that for a while. He’s under a microscope as President, and all of his crimes are getting dragged out into the light. Current and past crimes alike. Now the only way to stay out of prison is to remain president. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31003 "2019-03-06T19:06:33Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > {…} Trump seeks re-election not so he can continue “making America great again” but simply to avoid paying for his crimes. {…} While he’s traveling abroad in non-extradition countries he really should be checking out houses too. CMC fnord! ---
**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:** [March 6, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31004 "2019-03-06T19:13:06Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Nielsen tells Congress border crisis is real](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/the-latest-nielsen-tells-congress-border-crisis-is-real/2019/03/06/2b6ff264-4038-11e9-85ad-779ef05fd9d8_story.html?utm_term=.1b9be775c813) > > [Nielsen defends Trump’s border emergency declaration](https://thehill.com/latino/432833-nielsen-defends-trumps-border-emergency-declaration)The only “emergency” here is the one occupying the White House, stupid. Nielsen came to a Congressional hearing that was scheduled, not a popup attack, and yet couldn’t tell them how many children are being held in custody because she didn’t have those numbers available to her. Right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1549) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1551)