# 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:** 1798
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35945 "2019-08-27T14:16:37Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I’m sure she is, in certain circumstances. "Oui, Monsieur, and with anal that brings the total to… " Ouch. Well done, Sir! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35946 "2019-08-27T14:40:27Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > (bolding mine) The translation device was for the gobbledygook coming out of her husband’s mouth. I’m sure that hearing whatever the EN-to-FR manages to come up with for Trump’s gobbledygook would be quite interesting. That job should come with hazard pay and access to psychological and psychiatric support. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35947 "2019-08-27T15:29:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Also notice that Melania was wearing a translation device when Individual 1 and Macron were press conferencing, even though she claims to be fluent in French. According to her PR department, Melania also holds an advanced degree in hydraulic engineering, plays the cello like Pablo Casals, and was the Ljubljana speed-chess champion for four years running. She just found hooking in New York to be more lucrative. …now I feel all guilty, because you just know the Vulgarian gave her a beating after the kissy-pics with Trudeau went viral. Or more likely hired someone younger and stronger with normal-sized hands to give her a beating. “Don’t bruise the face.” ---
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35948 "2019-08-27T16:13:15Z")
[China still unaware of any calls with Trump, incoming or outgoing.](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/donald-trump-china-phone-call) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35949 "2019-08-27T16:17:38Z")
To be fair, when he talked about Melania he was probably thinking about Ivanka. (And not for the first time, I’m sure.) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35950 "2019-08-27T16:29:41Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Ouch. > > Well done, Sir! That’s what she said. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35951 "2019-08-27T17:13:30Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > “President Trump confides in his wife on many issues including the detailed elements of his strong relationship with Chairman Kim,” she said. “And while the First Lady hasn’t met him, the President feels like she’s gotten to know him too.” **Jill:** You’re not a vegetarian! **Jane:** I’m a bi-vegetarian! **Jill:** What? That doesn’t exist! It’s not possible! **Jane:** I’m an emotional vegetarian, Jill. I know a lot of vegetarians and we tend to like the same films. . ---
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35952 "2019-08-27T17:45:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 claimed that Melania "has gotten to know Kim Jong Un and I think she would agree with me, he is a man with a country that has tremendous potential.” > Melania has never been in the same room with Kim Jong Un. > When press secretary Stephanie Grisham was asked about this, she replied, “President Trump confides in his wife on many issues including the detailed elements of his strong relationship with Chairman Kim,” she said. “And while the First Lady hasn’t met him, the President feels like she’s gotten to know him too.” > [https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/08/26/white-house-melania-trump-kim-jong-un-1475726](https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/08/26/white-house-melania-trump-kim-jong-un-1475726) > > Also notice that Melania was wearing a translation device when Individual 1 and Macron were press conferencing, even though she claims to be fluent in French. Are we sure that was a translation device? She could have been listening to a podcast or something… ---
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35953 "2019-08-27T17:47:19Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I had this mental image of Ind. 1 reading Melania one of Kim’s “beautiful letters” while she filed her nails and tried to look interested, but then I remembered Trump can’t read. Probably, when he mentions “beautiful letters,” he’s talking about the calligraphy. Or the cancellations on the postage stamps. Maybe the stamps themselves. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35954 "2019-08-27T17:58:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Are we sure that was a translation device? She could have been listening to a podcast or something… I can’t imagine her being interested in anything except staring vapidly into nothingness for countless hours, thinking about her closet. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35955 "2019-08-27T18:02:26Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I can’t imagine her being interested in anything except staring vapidly into nothingness for countless hours, thinking about her closet. I don’t listen to podcasts, but I’d not be surprised to learn that podcasts about closets are a thing. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35956 "2019-08-27T18:05:40Z")
Melania has claimed to speak a lot of languages, but there’s not much evidence of it. A year or so ago she met with some Italian schoolchildren and couldn’t even say “good morning” properly. And the rest of the meeting was through a translator. Yes, she claims to be fluent in Italian. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35957 "2019-08-27T18:11:01Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Probably, when he mentions “beautiful letters,” he’s talking about the calligraphy. > > Or the cancellations on the postage stamps. Maybe the stamps themselves. Well, truthfully, North Korea DOES have an Individual 1 stamp … > **[North Korea features Donald Trump on its stamps](https://qz.com/1681045/north-korea-features-donald-trump-on-its-stamps)** > > One stamp shows the first Trump-Kim handshake and is sure to be a collector's item. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35958 "2019-08-27T18:14:53Z")
The Queen complained to the Prime Minister of Australia that Individual 1 ruined the lawn at Buckingham Palace. > **[Queen Elizabeth Reportedly Said Donald Trump "Ruined" Her Property](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/queen-elizabeth-reportedly-said-donald-141500388.html)** > > Queen Elizabeth reportedly told Australian prime minister Scott Morrison that Donald Trump "ruined" the Buckingham Palace lawn. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35959 "2019-08-27T18:19:03Z")
A Palestinian student coming to the United States to attend Harvard was stopped at Boston airport and held for hours while ICE looked through his phone and laptop. When they found that some of the people on his contacts list had made anti-US posts (he himself had not), they revoked his visa and deported him. > **[Incoming Harvard Freshman Deported After Visa Revoked | News | The Harvard...](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/8/27/incoming-freshman-deported/)** > > U.S. officials deported Ismail B. Ajjawi '23, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday night shortly after he arrived at Boston Logan International Airport. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35960 "2019-08-27T19:13:28Z")
I thought this was interesting. Looks like the administration’s effort to pollute the environment in every way bit corn farmers in the butt (although I’ve heard that ethanol in fuel and the extra corn growing associated with it are also bad for the environment). > **[Farmers’ Frustration With Trump Grows as U.S. Escalates China Fight...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/us/politics/trump-farmers-china-trade.html)** > > Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, a somewhat unlikely lieutenant in the president’s trade war, is tasked with fending off a revolt from the heart of the president’s base. > [@](#): > > Mr. Trump is also trying to appease corn farmers who complain that an Environmental Protection Agency decision this month will hamper ethanol production. Farmers say the agency’s decision to exempt small oil refineries from a requirement to blend corn-based ethanol into gasoline has led to a drop in demand for the fuel. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35961 "2019-08-27T19:56:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > **Jill:** You’re not a vegetarian! > > **Jane:** I’m a bi-vegetarian! > > **Jill:** What? That doesn’t exist! It’s not possible! > > **Jane:** I’m an emotional vegetarian, Jill. I know a lot of vegetarians and we tend to like the same films. I love that episode! ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35962 "2019-08-27T20:36:26Z")
The attorney general booked a holiday party to the tune of 30k. At Trump’s hotel. > **[Barr books Trump’s hotel for $30,000 holiday party](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/27/cheers-barr-books-trumps-hotel-holiday-party/)** ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35963 "2019-08-27T20:40:14Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I love that episode! Not my favourite episode (that would be ‘Sex, Death and Nudity’, which has the Giggle Loop and ‘Stop playing _Reservoir Dogs_!’), but I love that bit of dialogue. It seems to encapsulate some people’s ‘thinking’. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35964 "2019-08-27T20:56:24Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The attorney general booked a holiday party to the tune of 30k. At Trump’s hotel. > > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/27/cheers-barr-books-trumps-hotel-holiday-party/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/27/cheers-barr-books-trumps-hotel-holiday-party/) We knew it was bound to happen eventually: germs have become resistant to sunlight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1797) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1799)