# 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:** 178
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3541 "2017-04-23T01:22:12Z")
That’s basically what Schumer’s spokesman said. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3542 "2017-04-23T01:31:53Z")
[Mexico shut down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBF0pemYPE) Trump’s claims that they’d pay for it like [an Israeli beauty pageant contestant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=543zqfvIqEU). Or, more bluntly: [Vincente Fox sums it up in one sentence.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIHzLsELyA) So I guess the coal miners in Pennsylvania are going to be paying for the wall with the jobs that Trump is going to make up for them. This is what prosperity under the Trump administration will look like. Reagan had the Laffer Curve; Trump is just inhaling laughing gas. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3543 "2017-04-23T02:52:24Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > According to this article: > > [Merkel Had to Explain Trade to Trump 11 Times - Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-trade-merkel-germany-eu-2017-4) > > Angela Merkel had to explain eleven times that the US couldn’t do trade deals with Germany alone – that it would have to be with the EU as a whole. > > Eleven times. That’s one of the things that kept showing up during the campaign - he doesn’t understand multilateral deals nor the need for them. He kept saying that he wanted to meet with each country separately - which just doesn’t work on the international stage. I also don’t see how it could work when building a building or constructing a golf course. Maybe his staff just lies to him about how the buildings get built? ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3544 "2017-04-23T03:14:51Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > That’s one of the things that kept showing up during the campaign - he doesn’t understand multilateral deals nor the need for them. He kept saying that he wanted to meet with each country separately - which just doesn’t work on the international stage. > I also don’t see how it could work when building a building or constructing a golf course. Maybe his staff just lies to him about how the buildings get built? Apparently, a favoured management tactic of his is to set up competing factions and play them off one another. This strikes me as horrendously inefficient; on the other hand, he is a failure as a businessman. By all accounts, he’s kept that preference, which explains why his administration is such a clusterfuck. I think he’s hoping to play one country off another, but as you say, it just doesn’t work that way anymore. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2017, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3545 "2017-04-23T06:15:57Z")
Oh good; I get to post this one![ > [@United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions](#): > > As you know too well here, Escondido’s gang violence has jumped recently between two violent gangs warring for turf - more shootings, more guns, more terrorized neighborhoods. Sanctuary jurisdictions have put known gang members back on the streets to join the Westside gang in Escondido. > [@](#): > > Speaking at a news conference Friday along a border fence with Mexico, Sessions offered no evidence that ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ or immigrants are responsible. And he failed to mention that the federal government has held up Escondido as a model for cooperation with immigration authorities. > [@](#): > > THE FACTS: Since May 2010, the city has had an extraordinarily close relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, giving ICE officers desk space at police headquarters and working in tandem with them on everything from traffic stops to gang sweeps to remove people who have been previously deported and have criminal records. Critics say the unusual relationship has unnerved immigrants but supporters say it has improved public safety in the city of 150,000. In 2012, ICE bestowed Escondido with a “Partnerships for Public Safety” award. > > Violent crime has held fairly steady in recent years, dropping 5 percent during the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year, according to the FBI’s latest figures. When asked about Sessions’ characterization, Police Chief Craig Carter said, “We had nothing I’m seeing as a spike or increase.” > [@](#): > > When asked about Sessions’ statement that sanctuary jurisdictions have put gang members on Escondido’s streets, Carter said, “I just don’t know what that is about at all.” The police chief said he planned to ask the Justice Department to clarify the attorney general’s remarks. ]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_FACT\_CHECK\_SESSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-22-21-29-23](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FACT_CHECK_SESSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-22-21-29-23))It seems that this is normal for US officials now to just make things up and declare them as facts. Is there a single cabinet member who hasn’t done this since taking office just a few months ago? ---
**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:** [April 23, 2017, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3546 "2017-04-23T08:38:57Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > [Mexico shut down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBF0pemYPE) Trump’s claims that they’d pay for it like [an Israeli beauty pageant contestant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=543zqfvIqEU). Or, more bluntly: [Vincente Fox sums it up in one sentence.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIHzLsELyA) > > So I guess the coal miners in Pennsylvania are going to be paying for the wall with the jobs that Trump is going to make up for them. This is what prosperity under the Trump administration will look like. Reagan had the Laffer Curve; Trump is just inhaling laughing gas. > > Stranger 😃 Speaking of the [Laffer Curve](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laffer_curve&oldid=610514770), Wikipedia has this to say: > [@](#): > > The actual existence and shape of the curve is uncertain and disputed.[1] In some popular economic theories the tax revenue curve has the shape _**[of an Escher Curve](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1Z7f9PXXXXXXTaXXXq6xXFXXXn/M-C-font-b-Escher-b-font-Optical-Illusion-Artworks-Loop-Building-Waterfall-Poster-Print-Silk.jpg)**_. [my link] ---
**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:** [April 23, 2017, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3547 "2017-04-23T09:25:18Z")
What’s the explanation for the firing of Surgeon General Vivek Murphy? Too pro-vaccine? Too concerned with gun violence? Was it just the ethnic forename? Or did Trump just want a female in the slot for more pussy-grabbing fun? ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3548 "2017-04-23T11:42:47Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > [Mexico shut down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBF0pemYPE) Trump’s claims that they’d pay for it like [an Israeli beauty pageant contestant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=543zqfvIqEU). Or, more bluntly: [Vincente Fox sums it up in one sentence.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIHzLsELyA) I love Vincente Fox. Can he be our President? ---
**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:** [April 23, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3549 "2017-04-23T15:48:54Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > [Mexico shut down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBF0pemYPE) Trump’s claims that they’d pay for it like [an Israeli beauty pageant contestant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=543zqfvIqEU). Or, more bluntly: [Vincente Fox sums it up in one sentence.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIHzLsELyA) Oh. The Master Dealmaker blows it again. Go Vincente! > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Oh good; I get to post this one![It seems that this is normal for US officials now to just make things up and declare them as facts. … Yes. This is now normal. > [@septimus](#): > > What’s the explanation for the firing of Surgeon General Vivek Murphy? Too pro-vaccine? Too concerned with gun violence? Was it just the ethnic forename? Or did Trump just want a female in the slot for more pussy-grabbing fun? His last name is MURTHY–nice try at making him Irish. 😉 Well, the guy isn’t very white, is he? Born of Indian parents in England. Married to a Chinese-American woman (also a doctor). They were married in a “multi-cultural ceremony”–harrumph, probably not even a Christian. He’s a vegan who practices yoga every day. Disqualified! He and his family have been deeply involved in promoting world health-- screw that: we 'Murricans don’t care about world health anymore. The foregoing is _irony_, people, in case anyone misses it. Actually [URL=“[12 Things You Must Know About The First US Surgeon General Of Indian Origin - The Better India](http://www.thebetterindia.com/22497/things-you-must-know-about-the-first-us-surgeon-general-of-indian-origin/)”]Vivek Murthy]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_FACT\_CHECK\_SESSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-22-21-29-23](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FACT_CHECK_SESSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-22-21-29-23)) sounds like a fantastic human being. Can’t wait to see what white guy Trump ultimately appoints to replace him. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3550 "2017-04-23T17:50:34Z")
Hannibal Lecter. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3551 "2017-04-23T17:53:07Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > It seems that this is normal for US officials now to just make things up and declare them as facts. I saw a picture of a sign from a recent march, “_Only atoms are allowed to make up stuff_”. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3552 "2017-04-23T20:10:34Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Apparently, a favoured management tactic of his is to set up competing factions and play them off one another. This strikes me as horrendously inefficient; on the other hand, he is a failure as a businessman. > By all accounts, he’s kept that preference, which explains why his administration is such a clusterfuck. > I think he’s hoping to play one country off another, but as you say, it just doesn’t work that way anymore. This is the same approach to governance and the delegation of authority that we saw [75 years ago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Nazi_Germany#Working_towards_the_F.C3.BChrer): "Top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, but they had considerable autonomy. Officials were expected to “work towards the Führer” – to take the initiative in promoting policies and actions in line with his wishes and the goals of the Nazi Party, without Hitler having to be involved in the day-to-day running of the country.[7] He often deferred making decisions, avoided clear delegation and allowed subordinates to compete with one another, especially in the pre-war years. The government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but rather a disorganised collection of factions led by members of the party elite who struggled to amass power and gain the Führer’s favour.[8] The system of government was formed whereby leading Nazi officials were forced to interpret Hitler’s speeches, remarks and writings on government policies and turn them into programs and legislation. Hitler typically did not give written orders; instead he communicated them verbally, or had them conveyed through his close associate, Martin Bormann.[9] He entrusted Bormann with his paperwork, appointments, and personal finances; Bormann used his position to control the flow of information and access to Hitler.[10] Hitler’s cabinet never met after 1938, and he discouraged his ministers from meeting independently.[11] Hitler’s leadership style was to give contradictory orders to his subordinates and to place them into positions where their duties and responsibilities overlapped with those of others, to have “the stronger one [do] the job”.[12] In this way, Hitler fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power.[13]" ---
**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:** [April 23, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3553 "2017-04-23T20:52:03Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Hannibal Lecter. Not corrupt enough. Also, fictional. It will be some high-level executive from either the sugar or tobacco industries. **Fuji** --wow. That is spooky. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3554 "2017-04-23T21:56:32Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > That’s one of the things that kept showing up during the campaign - he doesn’t understand multilateral deals nor the need for them. He kept saying that he wanted to meet with each country separately - which just doesn’t work on the international stage. > I also don’t see how it could work when building a building or constructing a golf course. Maybe his staff just lies to him about how the buildings get built? The point of making separate deals with everybody secretly is that you get to fuck everyone exactly as hard as they’ll possibly take - which varies from country to country ; or promise them all the same thing which you can only give once (an exclusive right or what have you). Dealing with them in bulk, where they can support each other and present unified demands/arguments greatly lessens the total amount of economic fucking that can be doled out. Since Trump’s sole understanding of or metric for economic prowess is “stiff as many people as you can, run away with the money before the wheels fall off”, it makes sense to him. Since everybody _else_ understands that \*real \*commerce is about mutual benefits, they tell him to go piss up a rope. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3555 "2017-04-24T03:30:53Z")
I would just like to state that I think we should remove “in the making” from this thread title. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3556 "2017-04-24T03:40:00Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > The point of making separate deals with everybody secretly is that you get to fuck everyone exactly as hard as they’ll possibly take - which varies from country to country ; or promise them all the same thing which you can only give once (an exclusive right or what have you). Dealing with them in bulk, where they can support each other and present unified demands/arguments greatly lessens the total amount of economic fucking that can be doled out. Which is exactly the same reason that so many employers dislike unions, too! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3557 "2017-04-24T05:10:55Z")
I realize several of you guys were just quoting **Stranger** , and that the English form of the name is Vincent, but I promise Mr. Fox’s firstname is Vicente. One n. And Vivek Murthy does sound like a great human being indeed. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3558 "2017-04-24T05:22:52Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Saw that on Facebook. Wished for a puke emoticon. > > Here is a slightly expanded version of the same photo: > [https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.yuku.com/image/jpg/f7d263c1a4f212750ecf1f6c7f1b4130a5803071\_r.jpg](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.yuku.com/image/jpg/f7d263c1a4f212750ecf1f6c7f1b4130a5803071_r.jpg) That’s hilarious! Even got Boss Hogg in there. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3559 "2017-04-24T07:00:14Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > That’s hilarious! Even got Boss Hogg in there. And that creepy Deliverance banjo kid. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/3560 "2017-04-24T11:21:11Z")
[Trump says he won’t fire Spicey because ‘the guy gets great ratings.’"](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/330158-trump-wont-fire-spicer-because-the-guy-gets-great-ratings) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=177) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=179)