# 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:** 1629
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32565 "2019-05-17T05:06:01Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > No, I hadn’t realized. I was looking at it differently and missed it. But you are, of course, correct that it was condescending. I apologize for that. …all good mate. We are both on the same side. I’m on the outside looking in. I don’t and can’t speak for these people. I honestly don’t know what its like. I live on the other side of the world with a [Prime Minister](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/18/jacinda-ardern-is-showing-the-world-what-real-leadership-is-sympathy-love-and-integrity)who is the polar opposite of everything that Trump says and believes and stands for. I’m privileged to live here, but conscious that if it weren’t for a quirk in our electoral system it could have been very very [different](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12218211). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32566 "2019-05-17T05:39:45Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > [Republican senators meet with Jared Kushner on immigration, conclude he’s clueless](https://www.salon.com/2019/05/16/after-meeting-with-jared-kushner-on-immigration-republicans-say-hes-clueless-on-the-issue/) > _Kushner fails to impress GOP senators in private meeting on immigration plan: “He’s in his own little world”_ > > The Trump admin is about “bringing people together”? Like white supremacists at rallies and brown people in cages? > > So bland Jared is the public face, but Miller is behind the scenes pulling the strings it looks like. That’s my read. They knew that Miller would just creep everyone out, so they sent in Kushner figuring that he’d do a better job of not sounding like an asshole. In general, I think that Kushner is reasonably intelligent (and would probably be a lefty if allowed to be so - except as regards the future of Israel), but there’s only so much you can do when asked to polish a turd. But, to be fair, Kushner is probably bright enough to have come out of the meeting realizing what sorts of compromises were going to be necessary and he is in position to be able to go over Miller’s head. Potentially, he could actually bring a different plan to the table that’s not stupid. I suspect, though, that anti-Mexican racism is about the closest thing to having a lock on his voting base as Trump has. Where he might be willing to be swayed by Kushner on many things, I don’t think he has much choice on this one but to live somewhere between “lock them up all up” and “start burning them all at the stake”. Approving DACA isn’t on that spectrum. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2019, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32567 "2019-05-17T06:03:11Z")
I’m sorry, but I have to know exactly what about Kushner made him a good candidate for pushing an immigration reform. What is the point? It’s like making me an NRA supporter. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32568 "2019-05-17T06:36:56Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I’m sorry, but I have to know exactly what about Kushner made him a good candidate for pushing an immigration reform. What is the point? It’s like making me an NRA supporter. What makes anyone a candidate for being a politician? Ain’t none of them ever worked in USCIS, or the Fed, or CMS, or… At the end of the day, very little of the government is run by people who have experience with the subjects that they’re dealing with. But, that doesn’t all implode because they ask the experts below them to write reports, explain things to them, ask them for advice and in the end trust what those people tell them. Kushner can do that as much as ex-waitress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can (no offense nor endorsement intended for either of them). ---
**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:** [May 17, 2019, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32569 "2019-05-17T07:17:11Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > What makes anyone a candidate for being a politician? Ain’t none of them ever worked in USCIS, or the Fed, or CMS, or… > > At the end of the day, very little of the government is run by people who have experience with the subjects that they’re dealing with. But, that doesn’t all implode because they ask the experts below them to write reports, explain things to them, ask them for advice and in the end trust what those people tell them. > > Kushner can do that as much as ex-waitress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can (no offense nor endorsement intended for either of them). Nobody expects a President to be an expert in every subject he’s going to need to know. But he needs to be an expert at learning things. To do his job even halfway effectively, he needs to absorb huge amounts of information and get it sorted out in his mind. Then he has to be able to apply what he’s just learned. And he has to do it all in a short amount of time because there’s always something new that needs to be learned in the next hour. I don’t see any signs that Donald Trump is capable of this kind of effort or is making any attempt at it. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32570 "2019-05-17T08:52:40Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Kushner can do that as much as ex-waitress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can (no offense nor endorsement intended for either of them). …except this isn’t objectively true. We have hours and hours of evidence to show this isn’t true. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is on record with nuanced and well informed positions on almost every she speaks out on. Her positions are debatable: but at least she has positions. Kushner speaks so rarely that when he does its a [media event](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0SP0T9nS9A). His business acumen isn’t the greatest: I mean for fucks sakes he invested in [666 Fifth Avenue.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/666_Fifth_Avenue) We know nothing about Kushner. My read is that Kushner is just a little-bit less fucking stupid than Trump. Its why they don’t let him talk in public and why they don’t let him answer questions. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32571 "2019-05-17T09:09:33Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Kushner can do that as much as ex-waitress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can (no offense nor endorsement intended for either of them). Hey look, it’s someone who hasn’t heard even five minutes of AOC speaking in congress. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32572 "2019-05-17T11:50:17Z")
On paper, Kushner has a degree from Harvard in government and AOC has a degree from Boston U in international relations and economics, so it’s not an unreasonable comparison… until, as noted, one actually hears them speak. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32573 "2019-05-17T12:34:10Z")
…and Kushner’s family made a pretty good contribution to Harvard before he was admitted. He’s not “reasonably” intelligent. By many accounts, he’s actually a bit dim but this wouldn’t have been much of a detriment for a trust fund kid (as many of these asshats appears to be) had he not been thrust into the public spotlight. Trump’s been pushing Kushner for various important roles. The fact he’s never gotten any traction with any Republican power brokers tells you all you need to know about how capable he is, when the likes of Moore or Cain get serious consideration for Fed posts. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32574 "2019-05-17T12:59:47Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Does that mean we can throw Trump out when this goes in effect? I’m not familiar with the _Quartz_, but they just ran this article and I think the reporter, Heather Timmons, is reputable: [Trump himself wouldn’t be an American under his new immigration plan](https://qz.com/1621267/trumps-new-immigration-plan-would-bar-himself-from-the-us/) I wonder how much self-loathing Stephen Miller has or if he’s capable of it: > [@](#): > > **Stephen Miller** > > The presidential advisor has had an outsized influence on the Trump White House’s immigration decisions, including pressing for new citizenship rules including a requirement to speak English, which Trump mentioned in the Rose Garden today. > > Miller’s own great-grandmother could not speak English, notes Jennifer Mendelsohn, a journalist-turned genealogist who created #resistancegenealogy to follow Trump White House members’ immigration histories: > > [Tweet image: > > [Stephen Miller favors immigrants who speak English. But the 1910 census shows his own great-grandmother couldn’t. #oops](https://twitter.com/CleverTitleTK/status/892895479402463232)] > > His great-grandfather, Nison Miller, failed a US citizenship test because of “ignorance,” but was allowed to remain in the country. His maternal great-grandfather traveled to the US via “chain migration,” joining relatives who arrived in America with just $8 to their name, the Jewish Journal reports. > [@Gyrate](#): > > On paper, Kushner has a degree from Harvard in government and AOC has a degree from Boston U in international relations and economics, so it’s not an unreasonable comparison… until, as noted, one actually hears them speak. I think Kushner’s father basically bought him admission with a multimillion donation. Reportedly, Kushner’s high school classmates and teachers thought he was in no way up to normal Havard standards and were surprised when he was accepted. It took about 10 seconds to find this article: [The Story Behind Jared Kushner’s Curious Acceptance Into Harvard](https://www.propublica.org/article/the-story-behind-jared-kushners-curious-acceptance-into-harvard) > [@](#): > > My book exposed a grubby secret of American higher education: that the rich buy their under-achieving children’s way into elite universities with massive, tax-deductible donations. It reported that New Jersey real estate developer Charles Kushner had pledged $2.5 million to Harvard University in 1998, not long before his son Jared was admitted to the prestigious Ivy League school. At the time, Harvard accepted about one of every nine applicants. (Nowadays, it only takes one out of twenty.) > > I also quoted administrators at Jared’s high school, who described him as a less than stellar student and expressed dismay at Harvard’s decision. > > “There was no way anybody in the administrative office of the school thought he would on the merits get into Harvard,” a former official at The Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey, told me. “His GPA did not warrant it, his SAT scores did not warrant it. We thought for sure, there was no way this was going to happen. Then, lo and behold, Jared was accepted. It was a little bit disappointing because there were at the time other kids we thought should really get in on the merits, and they did not.” And, twenty years later, it’s still going on. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32575 "2019-05-17T13:37:33Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Someone apparently thinks that _Minority Report_,with the whole pre-crime thing, was a documentary. Thoghtcrime, anyone? Although I doubt His Nibs has ever read _1984_, nor even _Animal Farm_. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32576 "2019-05-17T13:41:34Z")
DoubleplusUngood crimethink. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32577 "2019-05-17T14:23:21Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Trump’s pick for ICE director says he can tell which migrant children will become gang members by looking into their eyes. > > [https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/16/mark-morgan-eyes-ice-director-1449570](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/16/mark-morgan-eyes-ice-director-1449570) I’m surprised he’s not finding ways to monetize his superpowers rather than work for the trump administration. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32578 "2019-05-17T15:31:51Z")
What is it with Republicans and gazing into people’s eyes? GWB said of Putin “I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul”. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32579 "2019-05-17T15:45:00Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Trump’s pick for ICE director says he can tell which migrant children will become gang members by looking into their eyes. > > > [@](#): > > > > “I’ve been to detention facilities where I’ve walked up to these individuals that are so-called minors, 17 or under,” Morgan said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in January. “I’ve looked at them and I’ve looked at their eyes, Tucker — and I’ve said that is a soon-to-be MS-13 gang member. It’s unequivocal.” > > [https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/16/mark-morgan-eyes-ice-director-1449570](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/16/mark-morgan-eyes-ice-director-1449570) Well, throwing children into cages is one good way to develop future gang members, so it’s probably not that hard to do. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32580 "2019-05-17T15:53:14Z")
Well, we [now](https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/1129156847166992385) get another insight into how Trump spends his days as president (when not golfing, tweeting or watching TV). It ties in with the [story](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-the-billiondollar-loser-his-ghostwriter-recalls-the-king-midas-years-090000640.html) of his day-to-day running of his business, which largely involved him sitting around and looking at fabric swatches. > [@](#): > > He wanted it painted “flat black” to burn hands. He wanted spikes to be a certain way to inflict pain & deter others. He wanted fewer gates. Trump has delved deep into the details of the wall, dizzying many aides w/orders & contradictions. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32581 "2019-05-17T15:55:48Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Well, throwing children into cages is one good way to develop future gang members, so it’s probably not that hard to do. “…so-called minors…” Trump’s assholes love that “so-called” dismissiveness, don’t they? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32582 "2019-05-17T16:08:39Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > “..so-called minors…” > Trump’s assholes love that “so-called” dismissiveness, don’t they? Morgan went on to say, “Sure, you hear all this talk about them being minors. But have you ever seen any coal from them? I haven’t.” ---
**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:** [May 17, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32583 "2019-05-17T16:14:04Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Thoghtcrime, anyone? Although I doubt His Nibs has ever read _1984_, nor even _Animal Farm_. Okay, Trump didn’t read Animal Farm. But he saw the movie several times and he loved it. Especially the scene where John Belushi peeks into the girl’s bedroom window. It reminds him of his own college days. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32584 "2019-05-17T17:44:52Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > The Trump admin is about “bringing people together”? Like white supremacists at rallies and brown people in cages? “Bringing people together”, “concentrating people in camps” Tomato, Tomahto. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1628) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1630)