# 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:** 1911
**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 27, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38205 "2019-10-27T18:17:12Z")
The whole al Baghdadi thing has become a miasma of lies and questions. The photo of Individual 1 in the Situation Room apparently took place a couple of hours after the raid. The cables in front of all of the participants (all white males, by the way) are disconnected, and the men in them photo are all looking at the photographer, not at anything on the screen. Individual 1 thanked Russia first and foremost for their help, and then said he hadn’t notified any Democrats because they leak. But he, himself, was on the golf course at the time of the raid. And now Russia is saying they were not aware ahead of time. > **[Obama WH Photographer Suggests Trump's Situation Room Picture Staged](https://www.newsweek.com/obama-photographer-baghdadi-raid-trump-situation-room-suggested-staged-timestamp-golfing-1468012)** > > The chief official White House photographer for former Presidents Reagan and Obama suggested the Trump administration was posing for Saturday's stern-faced Situation Room picture. > **[Russian Defense Ministry says has no reliable info on 'yet another' killing...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-russia-defenc/russian-defense-ministry-says-has-no-reliable-info-on-yet-another-killing-of-baghdadi-ria-idUSKBN1X60I0)** > > The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Sunday it had no reliable information on the U.S. operation that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, state-run RIA news agency reported after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed his death. > **[House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff says he wasn't informed before...](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-intelligence-chair-rep-adam-schiff/story?id=66549369)** > > The California congressman and chair of the House Intelligence Committee appears on "This Week" to discuss the impeachment inquiry. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38206 "2019-10-27T18:27:09Z")
[That](https://twitter.com/Scavino45/status/1188451497421561856)’s a really messy conference table. I’ll keep that in mind the next time people in my office complain about the conference rooms where I work. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38207 "2019-10-27T19:25:00Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The whole al Baghdadi thing has become a miasma of lies and questions. The photo of Individual 1 in the Situation Room apparently took place a couple of hours after the raid. The cables in front of all of the participants (all white males, by the way) are disconnected, and the men in them photo are all looking at the photographer, not at anything on the screen. Individual 1 thanked Russia first and foremost for their help, and then said he hadn’t notified any Democrats because they leak. But he, himself, was on the golf course at the time of the raid. And now Russia is saying they were not aware ahead of time. > [Obama White House Photographer Suggests Trump Situation Room Photo of Unfolding al-Baghdadi Raid Was Staged](https://www.newsweek.com/obama-photographer-baghdadi-raid-trump-situation-room-suggested-staged-timestamp-golfing-1468012) > [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-russia-defenc/russian-defense-ministry-says-has-no-reliable-info-on-yet-another-killing-of-baghdadi-ria-idUSKBN1X60I0](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-russia-defenc/russian-defense-ministry-says-has-no-reliable-info-on-yet-another-killing-of-baghdadi-ria-idUSKBN1X60I0) > [House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff says he wasn't informed before al-Baghdadi operation - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-intelligence-chair-rep-adam-schiff/story?id=66549369) You know, yesterday when the con man said that there would be a big announcement, I wondered if he’d be featured at a table stacked with blank documents. This is close enough. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38208 "2019-10-27T20:01:04Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The whole al Baghdadi thing has become a miasma of lies and questions. The photo of Individual 1 in the Situation Room apparently took place a couple of hours after the raid. The cables in front of all of the participants (all white males, by the way) are disconnected, and the men in them photo are all looking at the photographer, not at anything on the screen. Individual 1 thanked Russia first and foremost for their help, and then said he hadn’t notified any Democrats because they leak. But he, himself, was on the golf course at the time of the raid. And now Russia is saying they were not aware ahead of time. > [Obama White House Photographer Suggests Trump Situation Room Photo of Unfolding al-Baghdadi Raid Was Staged](https://www.newsweek.com/obama-photographer-baghdadi-raid-trump-situation-room-suggested-staged-timestamp-golfing-1468012) > [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-russia-defenc/russian-defense-ministry-says-has-no-reliable-info-on-yet-another-killing-of-baghdadi-ria-idUSKBN1X60I0](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-russia-defenc/russian-defense-ministry-says-has-no-reliable-info-on-yet-another-killing-of-baghdadi-ria-idUSKBN1X60I0) > [House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff says he wasn't informed before al-Baghdadi operation - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-intelligence-chair-rep-adam-schiff/story?id=66549369) I thought so too but now am not sure. As I noted in another thread, the photo was tagged 5:05PM and Trump was golfing until 3:33. The NYT is [reporting](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/27/us/politics/baghdadi-isis-leader-trump.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytpolitics) that the raid started at 5PM. > [@NYT](#): > > Around midnight Sunday morning — 5 p.m. Saturday in Washington — eight American helicopters, primarily CH-47 Chinooks, took off from a military base near Erbil, Iraq. > > Flying low and fast to avoid detection, the helicopters quickly crossed the Syrian border and then flew all the way across Syria itself — a dangerous 70-minute flight in which the helicopters took sporadic groundfire — to the Barisha area just north of Idlib city, in western Syria. Just before landing, the helicopters and other warplanes began firing on a compound of buildings, providing cover for commandos with the Delta Force and their military dogs to descend into a landing zone. Elsewhere it was reported that it was an hour long flight and a two hour mission. Trump tweeted around 9 last night, which would be about right if he waited for a safe return of the team. Also, although obviously posed, in the sitroom photo the disconnected cables might have been normal. An ex-intelligence guy commented that that would just be standard security - disconnect & close screens. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38209 "2019-10-27T20:10:12Z")
I meant to include two other paragraphs… [C.I.A. Got Tip on al-Baghdadi’s Location From Arrest of a Wife and a Courier](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/27/us/politics/baghdadi-isis-leader-trump.html) > [@NYT](#): > > Armed with that initial tip, the C.I.A. worked closely with Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence officials in Iraq and Syria to identify Mr. al-Baghdadi’s more precise whereabouts and to put spies in place to monitor his periodic movements, allowing American commandos to stage an assault Saturday in which President Trump said Mr. al-Baghdadi died. > > But Mr. Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw American forces from northern Syria disrupted the meticulous planning and forced Pentagon officials to press ahead with a risky, night raid before their ability to control troops and spies and reconnaissance aircraft disappeared, according to military, intelligence and counterterrorism officials. Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death, they said, occurred largely in spite of Mr. Trump’s actions. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38210 "2019-10-27T20:20:52Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Yeah, I give democracy in the USA maybe a fifty-fifty shot at this point. Less than that, I’d say. Authoritarianism’s gone well past midfield at this point; they’re pretty much inside democracy’s red zone. Democracy is dependent on healthy competition and cooperation. Republicans have embraced total competition and completely rejected cooperation. It’s a power grab now. And if Republicans conclude that they’ll lose power by being outvoted, then they’ll resort to other means to gain power. The fact that Republicans are on record as openly opposing election security safeguards makes it pretty clear they are complicit in attacking democracy and don’t intend to lose power by democratic means. If you carry this pattern of behavior to its natural conclusion, it’s pretty ominous. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38211 "2019-10-27T20:54:46Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > I prefer to think of it as him “draining the swamp” {;);)} so that he could install a sewer. I have pointed out many times that he never said what he would fill it back up with. I like your comment better and will be borrowing it. If you’ve never read Smedley Butler’s “War Is A Racket”, you should. It’s only 28 pages IIRC. Keep in mind he was one of the very few people to earn _two_ Medals of Honor. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38212 "2019-10-27T21:01:15Z")
Hmm. Maybe I’ll make it “cesspool” rather than “swamp”. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38213 "2019-10-27T21:49:50Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I meant to include two other paragraphs… [C.I.A. Got Tip on al-Baghdadi’s Location From Arrest of a Wife and a Courier](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/27/us/politics/baghdadi-isis-leader-trump.html) “Thanks for helping us find our worst enemy, guys. Have a happy genocide now, thxbye !” > [@Rick Kitchen](#): > > The cables in front of all of the participants (all white males, by the way) are disconnected They look like rj45 - so they’re open network cables, to be plugged into a laptop if and when it needs access. Their being disconnected isn’t suspicious at all. Their being in a mess of loops and knots right on top of the middle of a gutted table makes my former sysadmin eyes twitch, with a glint of axe murder. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38214 "2019-10-27T21:53:04Z")
(also, I’m not sure who the general is on the mid-right, but I’m fairly certain whoever took this picture fucked his daughter bareback on prom night) ---
**Author:** ![ntsallfour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@ntsallfour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntsallfour)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38215 "2019-10-28T00:19:51Z")
Still trying to figure this out: So a guy the SOF team thinks is al-Baghdadi runs into a tunnel with three other people (his sons?) and detonates himself, and they have positive ID they got al-Baghdadi? Do SOF teams carry DNA testers with them? Did they find his head? Did they make positive ID as he went ‘screaming like a little girl’ into the tunnel? ---
**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:** [October 28, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38216 "2019-10-28T00:26:23Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The whole al Baghdadi thing has become a miasma of lies and questions. The photo of Individual 1 in the Situation Room apparently took place a couple of hours after the raid. The cables in front of all of the participants (all white males, by the way) are disconnected, and the men in them photo are all looking at the photographer, not at anything on the screen. Individual 1 thanked Russia first and foremost for their help, and then said he hadn’t notified any Democrats because they leak. But he, himself, was on the golf course at the time of the raid. And now Russia is saying they were not aware ahead of time. > [Obama White House Photographer Suggests Trump Situation Room Photo of Unfolding al-Baghdadi Raid Was Staged](https://www.newsweek.com/obama-photographer-baghdadi-raid-trump-situation-room-suggested-staged-timestamp-golfing-1468012) > [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-russia-defenc/russian-defense-ministry-says-has-no-reliable-info-on-yet-another-killing-of-baghdadi-ria-idUSKBN1X60I0](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-russia-defenc/russian-defense-ministry-says-has-no-reliable-info-on-yet-another-killing-of-baghdadi-ria-idUSKBN1X60I0) > [House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff says he wasn't informed before al-Baghdadi operation - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-intelligence-chair-rep-adam-schiff/story?id=66549369) There are other odd features of this operation: \*\*\ ***INSTANT DNA ANALYSIS** : Supposedly this occurred, and confirmed that the man killed was actually al-Baghdadi. It’s not an idle point, as the Russians and others have claimed to have killed the same guy on previous occasions. So, if there is such a thing as instant DNA analysis, why hadn’t we heard of it before this? If it’s a Top Military Secret, then Trump just gave it away…though why would it be a Top Military Secret in the first place? Also rather odd: > [@](#): > > The DNA material needed to identify Baghdadi was voluntarily provided by one of his daughters, the official said. > **[Trump says Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi blew himself up as U.S....](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-forces-launch-operation-in-syria-targeting-isis-leader-baghdadi-officials-say/2019/10/27/081bc257-adf1-4db6-9a6a-9b820dd9e32d_story.html)** > > A critical piece of information on Baghdadi’s whereabouts came from a disaffected Islamic State militant who became an informant for the Kurds working with the Americans, according to a U.S. official. \*\*\ ***GUY KILLED HIMSELF WITH EXPLOSIVES BEFORE ANY US MILITARY WERE WITHIN RANGE** : > [@](#): > > … in a “dead-end tunnel,” Trump said, the militant leader detonated an explosive vest, killing himself and three of what were believed to be his at least six children. … - ibid\* This just seems unlikely. Why wouldn’t the man (whether or not he was al-Baghdadi) wait until the US troops got closer, and kill some of them, too? Also, is killing one’s own children part of some ISIS code? I don’t recall hearing about others doing that. \*\*\ ***RUSSIA THREW TRUMP UNDER THE TANK** : > [@](#): > > Russia immediately cast doubt on the sense of triumph in Washington. > > “An increase in the number of direct participants and countries, which have allegedly joined this ‘operation’, each of them with totally contradictory details, cause well-grounded questions and doubts that it has really been carried out, and that, what’s more, it has been successful,” Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, according to the Interfax news agency. _ibid_ …And after Trump thanked Russia FIRST, before thanking the American Special Ops forces and intelligence officials who’d actually put themselves in harm’s way during the operation. (I would bet that the news of the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman’s remarks has been kept from Trump. FoxNews won’t mention it…so he may never know the contemptuous way his beloved Vlad’s people are talking about his “triumph.”) ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38217 "2019-10-28T01:03:33Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > No, because a sewer carries the effluent away. He is draining it in order to install a cesspool. Aaaaaah, even better! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38218 "2019-10-28T01:05:41Z")
> [@ntsallfour](#): > > Still trying to figure this out: So a guy the SOF team thinks is al-Baghdadi runs into a tunnel with three other people (his sons?) and detonates himself, and they have positive ID they got al-Baghdadi? Do SOF teams carry DNA testers with them? Did they find his head? Did they make positive ID as he went ‘screaming like a little girl’ into the tunnel? A DNA test, assuming that they had something to compare it to, under ideal circumstances would take about two hours. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38219 "2019-10-28T01:43:54Z")
Trump showed up at Game 5 of the World Series in DC tonight, and was greeted with a resounding chorus of boos and chants of “Lock him up.” Totally awesome. I don’t think he’s ever been exposed to public criticism before. He’ll probably demand an investigation into the Nationals. ---
**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 28, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38220 "2019-10-28T01:49:41Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > No, because a sewer carries the effluent away. He is draining it in order to install a cesspool. Nah. It’ll be an annoying septic tank. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38221 "2019-10-28T02:00:36Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Trump showed up at Game 5 of the World Series in DC tonight, and was greeted with a resounding chorus of boos and chants of “Lock him up.” > > Totally awesome. I don’t think he’s ever been exposed to public criticism before. He’ll probably demand an investigation into the Nationals. Here are some videos: > > > ---
**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 28, 2019, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38222 "2019-10-28T02:54:15Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Here are some videos: > > [https://twitter.com/Jordanfabian/status/1188624130008113154](https://twitter.com/Jordanfabian/status/1188624130008113154) > [https://twitter.com/funder/status/1188624080473337856](https://twitter.com/funder/status/1188624080473337856) > [https://twitter.com/albamonica/status/1188623950743588866](https://twitter.com/albamonica/status/1188623950743588866) But…but…but… so many red hats? 😕 🆒 😉 😃 ---
**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:** [October 28, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38223 "2019-10-28T02:55:21Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Nah. It’ll be an annoying septic tank. Well, I mean I can see that, as how _the Limey_ was always calling Americans “Seppos”, which derives from Cockney rhyming slang, but at least septic tanks are buried out of sight and scent, whereas cesspool evokes the image of something like one of those hog farm waste lagoons, accurate as that may not be. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38224 "2019-10-28T03:01:21Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > But…but…but… > > so many red hats? 😕 > > 🆒 😉 😃 There’s a MAGA guy behind home plate at least [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1910) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1912)