# 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:** 1921
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38405 "2019-11-02T12:02:02Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > If Ivanka died, he’d suddenly prefer blondes who don’t die. I don’t know about blondes but I guess I have that in common with Trump I sexually prefer live women too. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38406 "2019-11-02T12:53:34Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I don’t know about blondes but I guess I have that in common with Trump I sexually prefer live women too. Please don’t kinkshame. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38407 "2019-11-02T14:41:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > One of the many things (too numerous to name) that FPT\* doesn’t have the first clue about are normal human emotions, any of them. Isn’t ‘lust’ an emotion? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38408 "2019-11-02T16:03:11Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > So basically now the floodgates are open and he’s going to be committing ALL the crimes, go for the record, that sort of thing ? “Nixon schmixon, I’ll show you a crook !” The repub traitors and their television stooges are already arguing that Trump can not be charged, can not even be accused, of **ANY** thing. In short, he is King and is above all laws. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38409 "2019-11-02T16:44:39Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > One of the many things (too numerous to name) that FPT\* doesn’t have the first clue about are normal human emotions, any of them. > [@Mr.Duality](#): > > Isn’t ‘lust’ an emotion? I’m not sure I’d call “lust” an emotion exactly-- I’d call it a _drive_. And anyway, I doubt if whatever he feels that you’re likening to lust isn’t the drive that mentally healthy human beings feel when they desire sexual expression and sexual contact with someone. His drive is to dominate, bully, conquer, subjugate, and humiliate others, whether it be women, foreigners, dark-skinned people, political opponents, nations, or nature itself. \*Former President Trump – saying it until it becomes reality. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38410 "2019-11-02T16:53:10Z")
So you might recall Future Disgraced Former President Trump saying this, about six weeks ago, about the design for his big, beautiful, very strong, very handsome and virile and large-handed stable genius border wall: > [@Remarks by President Trump During Visit to the Border Wall](#): > > I wanted them to show you the interior of parts of the wall and what’s inside of each individual slat. And you’ll see it’s a combination of steel, concrete, and — as one of the folks just said — it really is virtually impenetrable. Any walls that were put up would get knocked down very quickly, very easily. This wall is not something that can be really knocked down. I guess anything can, but this is very tough. > > And it goes down six feet. It’s three and four feet wide. The concrete — you see it right here; it’s exposed. And I might ask General Semonite to say a few words about it. > > And I’d like to bring them right up — look at the inner tube — to see what happens. Because after the wall is up, we pour concrete, and concrete goes into the tube. And in addition to that, we have rebar. So if you think you’re going to cut it with a blowtorch, that doesn’t work because you hit concrete. And then if you think you’re going to go through the concrete, that doesn’t work because we have very powerful rebar inside. > > So it’s a very powerful, very powerful wall — the likes of which, probably, to this extent, has not been built before. [Source](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-visit-border-wall-san-diego-ca/) Well damn. Tough luck for us evildoer smugglers, right? But hey, what if we took $100 to a hardware store? > [@The Washington Post](#): > > SAN DIEGO — Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump’s border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage. > > The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier’s steel-and-concrete bollards in a matter of minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques. > > After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, allowing an adult to fit through the gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the very top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by _The Washington Post_. … \<[story continues](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/smugglers-are-sawing-through-new-sections-of-trumps-border-wall/2019/11/01/25bf8ce0-fa72-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html)\> In fairness, who could ever have predicted that smugglers would have access to high-tech infrastructure like … a Lowe’s? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38411 "2019-11-02T17:55:07Z")
I haven’t seen this posted before, but apologies if I missed it. Rumor has it that the photo of Trump putting the medal on the dog from the raid that killed al-Bhagdadi is photoshopped. > **[Trump Tweets Faked Photo of Hero Dog Getting a Medal (Published 2019)](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/us/politics/trump-dog.html)** > > The joke photo appeared to use an image from a 2017 Medal of Honor ceremony. The medal recipient was amused. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38412 "2019-11-02T18:14:52Z")
UK intelligence officials shaken by Trump administration’s requests for help with counter-impeachment inquiry > **[UK intelligence officials shaken by Trump administration’s requests for help...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry-latest-russia-mueller-ukraine-zelensky-a9181641.html)** > > As impeachment inquiries heat up, president’s people are busy pursuing a counter offensive aimed at discrediting Mueller’s findings that Russia interfered in 2016 election ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38413 "2019-11-02T19:03:55Z")
[US State Department observes International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists](https://www.state.gov/international-day-to-end-impunity-for-crimes-against-journalists-3/): > [@](#): > > In far too many places around the world, journalists are killed, tortured, jailed, and harassed for reporting that exposes the abuses of corrupt regimes, undermines the work of terrorist and criminal organizations, gives voice to overlooked communities, and counters disinformation. > > As of December 2018, more than 250 journalists remain jailed around the world, with Turkey, China, and Egypt among the worst offenders. Members of the media and bloggers also remain imprisoned in countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Mexico, and Nicaragua. > > On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the United States remembers those reporters killed while doing their jobs, and calls for **an immediate end to all threats, intimidation, and violence against journalists and other media professionals for their work**. Our nation’s unwavering support for press freedom is enshrined in our constitution, and the United States will call out those who seek to undermine this essential component of any healthy society. [my **bolding**] You think Donnie knows about this? ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38414 "2019-11-02T20:10:06Z")
Yahoo News: [Children were told to ‘build the wall’ at White House Halloween party](https://news.yahoo.com/children-were-told-to-build-the-wall-at-white-house-halloween-party-153024720.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLzBpR2lTcnFuSEQ&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAwC0KMrtAkUeF3k_AFu4otqqLMN_N4hKoRYG_q9GxY_dX2UWAbd0iQk_RQfA_a8rGLoUfwzWIUaDKjQYyhR4913re11GtCVEhBX7PYDmFhG32_BWkeLnjm70Kmc-qQ6AYQPohEvVcXDK5aFJkFTZdRpvlthUnavSIc4sxJJj_U1) > [@](#): > > A Halloween party on Oct. 25 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building featured candy, paper airplanes and — concerning for some attendees — a station where children were encouraged to help “Build the Wall” with their own personalized bricks. > … > Kids dressed as superheroes and ninjas were given brick-colored paper cards and told to write their name with a marker and tape them to the wall. Alongside the paper wall were signs including one that read “America First,” a slogan often used by President Trump that had been criticized because it was previously employed by the Ku Klux Klan. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38415 "2019-11-02T20:19:31Z")
So now [apparently](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/11/01/fda-learned-an-e-coli-outbreak-september-six-weeks-later-they-finally-announced-it/#comments-wrapper) the CDC and FDA are keeping food contamination outbreaks quiet, possibly to protect business interests instead of the public. Link goes to WaPo, but the FDA kept a romaine-related E. coli outbreak quiet for 6 weeks. They claim it’s because they weren’t sure of the source and therefore couldn’t tell the public what to avoid. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38416 "2019-11-02T23:56:27Z")
I have a question. Ars recently ran a story not quite titled “[Rudely Colludiani is an utter dumbfuck](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/giuliani-had-apple-store-reset-iphone-after-forgotten-passcode-report/)”, in which they mention that he had to have his iPhone DFUed because it locked him out after ten failed login attempts. The story also makes note of the two incidents in which a reporter found voicemail that appeared to have been generated by Ghouliani having butt-dialed him. Now, the term “butt-dialed” originates from the days of those Nokia-esque phones, which always had exposed buttons that sometimes registered pressings if you had the phone in your hip pocket and your posterior flesh interacted with it in unfortunate ways. But, the iPhone, like the vast majority of modern device things, has no buttons, and its touch screen is inactive when the phone is off. So, how fucking incompetent does one have to be to butt-dial an iPhone? Is it a matter of shoddy setup of Siri? And, if that is the case, why would WH counsel have Siri listening in all the time – that sounds like a dreadful security risk, for any lawyer, really. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38417 "2019-11-03T00:08:39Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have a question. > > Ars recently ran a story not quite titled “[Rudely Colludiani is an utter dumbfuck](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/giuliani-had-apple-store-reset-iphone-after-forgotten-passcode-report/)”, in which they mention that he had to have his iPhone DFUed because it locked him out after ten failed login attempts. The story also makes note of the two incidents in which a reporter found voicemail that appeared to have been generated by Ghouliani having butt-dialed him. > > Now, the term “butt-dialed” originates from the days of those Nokia-esque phones, which always had exposed buttons that sometimes registered pressings if you had the phone in your hip pocket and your posterior flesh interacted with it in unfortunate ways. > > But, the iPhone, like the vast majority of modern device things, has no buttons, and its touch screen is inactive when the phone is off. So, how fucking incompetent does one have to be to butt-dial an iPhone? Is it a matter of shoddy setup of Siri? And, if that is the case, why would WH counsel have Siri listening in all the time – that sounds like a dreadful security risk, for any lawyer, really. I’m absolutely certainly positive that I’m technically smarter than Rudy, but I have buttdialed with my smartphone at least once. Stuck it into my pocket without switching the screen off and sent a photo of the interior of my back pocket via WhatsApp to a friend. Can happen, shouldn’t happen to a lawyer on his business phone though. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38418 "2019-11-03T00:26:39Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’m absolutely certainly positive that I’m technically smarter than Rudy, but I have buttdialed with my smartphone at least once. Stuck it into my pocket without switching the screen off and sent a photo of the interior of my back pocket via WhatsApp to a friend. Can happen, shouldn’t happen to a lawyer on his business phone though. Or Rudy could be skipping a passcode or fingerprint to avoid getting locked out again. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38419 "2019-11-03T01:40:15Z")
I mean, you would think he could afford one of those models that unlocks just by the owner holding it up and looking at it, but then that would mean the phone would have to store his face in it: could an iPhone store _that face_ inside itself without exploding into dust from horror and shame? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38420 "2019-11-03T02:37:15Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Can happen, shouldn’t happen to a lawyer on his business phone though. And it for sure should not happen to somebody who had been named a national cybersecurity advisor. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38421 "2019-11-03T02:38:01Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have a question. > > Ars recently ran a story not quite titled “[Rudely Colludiani is an utter dumbfuck](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/giuliani-had-apple-store-reset-iphone-after-forgotten-passcode-report/)”, in which they mention that he had to have his iPhone DFUed because it locked him out after ten failed login attempts. The story also makes note of the two incidents in which a reporter found voicemail that appeared to have been generated by Ghouliani having butt-dialed him. > > Now, the term “butt-dialed” originates from the days of those Nokia-esque phones, which always had exposed buttons that sometimes registered pressings if you had the phone in your hip pocket and your posterior flesh interacted with it in unfortunate ways. > > But, the iPhone, like the vast majority of modern device things, has no buttons, and its touch screen is inactive when the phone is off. So, how fucking incompetent does one have to be to butt-dial an iPhone? Is it a matter of shoddy setup of Siri? And, if that is the case, why would WH counsel have Siri listening in all the time – that sounds like a dreadful security risk, for any lawyer, really. This is the way one of my best friends found out that the guy she was seeing was married. He accidentally called his wife while bragging about his new girl at a bar. Wasn’t a true ‘butt’ dial I don’t think. But his wife heard it all. This fellow confessed to my friend. Details are a little sketchy. Have no idea what type of phone, but he is a doctor, so I suspect an iPhone or Android. I don’t care to analysis assholes. Or the Who. What. Where, or Why of them. There is no profit in it. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38422 "2019-11-03T02:47:24Z")
Trump booed at second sports event in a week, this time [at a UFC MMA event](https://twitter.com/Terrence_STR/status/1190820950868144128) [NSFW language]. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38423 "2019-11-03T03:06:41Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Trump booed at second sports event in a week, this time [at a UFC MMA event](https://twitter.com/Terrence_STR/status/1190820950868144128) [NSFW language]. Well, it was [in NYC](https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/donald-trump-booed-again-this-time-at-madison-square-garden/), a town that he is rejecting because they asked him to desist with the assholery. And both the contestants had funny names – one was called “Jorge” and the other had a surname that ended in a “z”. Still, UFC MMA fans seem to me to be like where the MAGAt core would thrive – as though even his own base is going sour on him. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/38424 "2019-11-03T03:09:24Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Trump booed at second sports event in a week, this time [at a UFC MMA event](https://twitter.com/Terrence_STR/status/1190820950868144128) [NSFW language]. Morning Joe will be so unhappy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1920) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1922)