# 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:** 1878
**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:** [October 8, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37545 "2019-10-08T20:55:51Z")
Individual 1 is picking a fight with the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis because the mayor is demanding money from the election campaign to cover security costs for a campaign rally. > **[Trump picks new fight with Minneapolis mayor](https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2019/10/08/trump-picks-new-fight-with-minneapolis-mayor-038988)** > > The president and his campaign are accusing the city of trying to block a rally in the Twin Cities on Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37546 "2019-10-08T21:23:07Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > It reminds me of that small town in Missouri that was in the news after Trump started his “easy to win” trade war with China. There was a factory that made… I forget, barbed wire maybe?.. that had to shut down because they couldn’t afford the steel from China because of the tariffs. And yet many employees (and I think even the owners) were still full-on Trump supporters even though they lost their jobs as a direct result of his policies. > > Morons. [Nails](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjao7TVy43lAhXSwFkKHR3VBRgQFjAEegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2018%2F09%2F04%2Fnews%2Fcompanies%2Ftariffs-layoffs-mid-continent-nail%2Findex.html&usg=AOvVaw2OweSqVOmDDWYI_RkPfiJ9). [They](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjao7TVy43lAhXSwFkKHR3VBRgQFjADegQIAhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uschamber.com%2Fseries%2Fabove-the-fold%2Four-nail-manufacturing-company-risk-because-of-steel-and-aluminum-tariffs&usg=AOvVaw2puBYKQTbVAV3-FTrxyaHH) make [nails](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjao7TVy43lAhXSwFkKHR3VBRgQFjAAegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.stlpublicradio.org%2Fpost%2Fmissouri-nail-manufacturer-struggles-under-steel-tariff&usg=AOvVaw2DMxEGSJfSqEasaMC74veI). And no worries; after laying off something like 40% of their workforce, they were granted tariff waivers, [hooray](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjao7TVy43lAhXSwFkKHR3VBRgQFjABegQIABAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apnews.com%2F26751be6dc724fc68f45fa3531f79a62&usg=AOvVaw15Axvm8Ob4Z-AQWSUovOGy). ---
**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:** [October 8, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37547 "2019-10-08T23:08:15Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 is picking a fight with the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis because the mayor is demanding money from the election campaign to cover security costs for a campaign rally. > [https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2019/10/08/trump-picks-new-fight-with-minneapolis-mayor-038988](https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2019/10/08/trump-picks-new-fight-with-minneapolis-mayor-038988) And here is why (aside from any potential political grandstanding motives on the part of the mayor): > [@](#): > > Should the president’s rally in Minneapolis proceed, it wouldn’t be the first Trump campaign event to cause fiscal consternation among municipal officials. The campaign has yet to reimburse the city of El Paso, Texas, roughly a half-million dollars for the cost of a rally in February, and an investigation in June by the Center for Public Integrity found that at least nine other city governments are still waiting for Trump’s campaign committee to pay public safety-related invoices associated with his rallies. Frankly, that should have been the second paragraph in the story, instead of all the reporting on the twitter fight. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37548 "2019-10-08T23:36:43Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Apparently we haven’t kowtowed enough to Russia: [Trump apparently wants to pull the U.S. from the Open Skies Treaty, and nobody knows why | The Week](https://theweek.com/speedreads/870300/trump-apparently-wants-pull-from-open-skies-treaty-nobody-knows-why) > > Can any…I mean _ **ANY** _… Trump supporter on this board explain why this would be a good idea? I got nothing. Maybe Putin is pushing him to move faster on the to-do list for some reason. Serious question. Could Trump call Putin on his personal phone, say at 3:00 in the morning, without anyone knowing? You know he has to have his private number. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37549 "2019-10-09T00:55:01Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Maybe Putin is pushing him to move faster on the to-do list for some reason. > > Serious question. Could Trump call Putin on his personal phone, say at 3:00 in the morning, without anyone knowing? You know he has to have his private number. I’d say it’s more like Putin has Trump’s number. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37550 "2019-10-09T00:59:29Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I’d say it’s more like Putin has Trump’s number. And I know you mean that in every sense of the phrase. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37551 "2019-10-09T01:06:17Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Maybe Putin is pushing him to move faster on the to-do list for some reason. > > Serious question. Could Trump call Putin on his personal phone, say at 3:00 in the morning, without anyone knowing? You know he has to have his private number. I wondered about this too. Trump said something to the effect that he’d have to be crazy to do anything underhanded on a phone call because there are people listening in. Well, yeah, there were people listening on the Zelensky call. But could he call someone without anyone knowing or listening? I read an article recently saying something about trump carrying two i-phones around. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37552 "2019-10-09T01:23:17Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Maybe Putin is pushing him to move faster on the to-do list for some reason. > > Serious question. Could Trump call Putin on his personal phone, say at 3:00 in the morning, without anyone knowing? You know he has to have his private number. Why would it have to be on “his” phone - surely it would be easy enough to get some sort of burner prepaid that he could call with if he has Putin’s number ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37553 "2019-10-09T01:27:43Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Serious question. Could Trump call Putin on his personal phone, say at 3:00 in the morning, without anyone knowing? You know he has to have his private number. I am not a spy. But I would speculate that the NSA must have some kind of surveillance monitoring system in place in the White House. It would be such an obvious target for foreign espionage to try to get a bug in there. So there must be systems that can detect any unauthorized transmissions that occur anywhere in the building. That said, what would happen if the NSA detected unscheduled phone calls coming out of the White House at three in the morning (and going to Russia)? They would quickly investigate - and be told the President was making those calls. At that point, I assume the NSA would have to stand down. The presumption would be that any calls being made by the President are authorized no matter how unusual they might appear. So my guess is that Trump could make calls like this but he couldn’t do it without somebody knowing. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37554 "2019-10-09T01:47:50Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > And I know you mean that in every sense of the phrase. Yep. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37555 "2019-10-09T01:59:22Z")
A federal judge is threatening Betsy DeVos with jail time for ignoring her order to stop trying to force students at a defunct school to pay their student loans. > **[Betsy DeVos Could Face Jail After Judge Rules She Violated 2018 Order](https://www.newsweek.com/betsy-devos-could-face-jail-after-judge-rules-violated-2018-order-1463764)** > > "There have to be consequences for violation of my order sixteen thousand times," U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim said at a hearing on Monday. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37556 "2019-10-09T02:00:56Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I’d say it’s more like Putin has Trump’s number. Big deal. So do I. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37557 "2019-10-09T02:02:59Z")
Individual 1: veterans suffering from PTShttps://www.nbcnews.com/card/trump-implies-vets-suffering-ptsd-can-t-handle-war-n658706 D are not “strong” and “can’t handle” the stresses of war. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37558 "2019-10-09T02:07:38Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1: veterans suffering from PTShttps://www.nbcnews.com/card/trump-implies-vets-suffering-ptsd-can-t-handle-war-n658706 > D are not “strong” and “can’t handle” the stresses of war. Link fix: [Cadet Bone Spurs\* Implies Vets Suffering From PTSD ‘Can’t Handle’ War](https://www.nbcnews.com/card/trump-implies-vets-suffering-ptsd-can-t-handle-war-n658706) \*not actual headline ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37559 "2019-10-09T02:36:10Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1: veterans suffering from PTShttps://www.nbcnews.com/card/trump-implies-vets-suffering-ptsd-can-t-handle-war-n658706 > D are not “strong” and “can’t handle” the stresses of war. Jeez, I screwed that one up, too. Grrr. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37560 "2019-10-09T02:36:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1: veterans suffering from PTShttps://www.nbcnews.com/card/trump-implies-vets-suffering-ptsd-can-t-handle-war-n658706 > D are not “strong” and “can’t handle” the stresses of war. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! THIS HAPPENED _THREE YEARS AGO_! BEFORE HE WAS EVEN ELECTED! IT WAS DISCUSSED … _AT LENGTH_! WE\* KNOW\*! I realize that posting ridiculously out-dated news is kind of your “brand”, but … could you maybe just stop that? Or just go the fuck away? ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37561 "2019-10-09T03:07:30Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! THIS HAPPENED _THREE YEARS AGO_! BEFORE HE WAS EVEN ELECTED! IT WAS DISCUSSED … _AT LENGTH_! WE\* KNOW\*! > > I realize that posting ridiculously out-dated news is kind of your “brand”, but … could you maybe just stop that? Or just go the fuck away? Oh, come on. He may have made this mistake before but posts tons of articles we all read and comment on when they’re current. And that article wouldn’t shift the needle in any respect right now, so relax. FFS. Rick: please post dates of the article like you usually do. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37562 "2019-10-09T03:25:26Z")
I’m sorry, but the reason he’s recently been posting the dates of articles is because he’s been called on this shit over and over and over again. Notice that he didn’t do it this time? Or [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21905912&postcount=42377) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37563 "2019-10-09T03:29:41Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > I’m sorry, but the reason he’s recently been posting the dates of articles is because he’s been called on this shit over and over and over again. Notice that he didn’t do it this time? Or [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21905912&postcount=42377) Fuck’s sake dude, get a grip. I for one appreciate Rick’s links, even if they aren’t timestamped and shit. Go have a cuppa tea and a lie-down FFS. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37564 "2019-10-09T03:47:57Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Oh, come on. He may have made this mistake before but posts tons of articles we all read and comment on when they’re current. > [@kambuckta](#): > > Fuck’s sake dude, get a grip. I for one appreciate Rick’s links, even if they aren’t timestamped and shit. Thirded [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1877) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1879)