# 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:** 1992
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39825 "2020-01-06T23:03:44Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > few Americans even get this And large amounts of those who _do_ get it actually like it that way. It’s a very strange people, I must say. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39826 "2020-01-06T23:07:42Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Spin](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/476915-conway-defends-trump-threat-to-target-iranian-cultural-sites), [spin](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593975732527112)… Oh didn’t you hear? A senior Iranian official released a reply with indicated that they don’t hold America responsible, but Trump personally. Then he listed in his release a link to a Forbes article listing all of Trump’s properties across the globe. > **[Iranian adviser drops chilling hint of attacks on Trump properties](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7856463/Iranian-adviser-drops-chilling-hint-attacks-Trump-properties.html)** > > Hesameddin Ashena (pictured) shared a link to a Forbes article listing nine of Trump's properties in New York as well as hotels and golf courses elsewhere in America. Might be a bad day to go golfing, huh? 😛 ---
**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:** [January 6, 2020, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39827 "2020-01-06T23:37:13Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > Oh didn’t you hear? A senior Iranian official released a reply with indicated that they don’t hold America responsible, but Trump personally. > Then he listed in his release a link to a Forbes article listing all of Trump’s properties across the globe. > [Iranian adviser drops chilling hint of attacks on Trump properties | Daily Mail Online](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7856463/Iranian-adviser-drops-chilling-hint-attacks-Trump-properties.html) > > Might be a bad day to go golfing, huh? 😛 Yeah, finally all our dreams come true and all the wacky leaders of the world sort it all out by eliminating themselves one by one by drone strikes! Basically what [Frankie went for](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2QAMqTgPKI&has_verified=1) in a very different time in a very different conflict, but those were only mere fisticuffs. Now we have the digital… ---
**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:** [January 6, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39828 "2020-01-06T23:44:11Z")
The Pentagon sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Iraq saying the US is withdrawing troops. The Secretary of Defense first says that he doesn’t know anything about any withdrawal, or any letter, then denies it’s true. > **[Read the Letter the Pentagon Accidentally Sent Announcing Withdrawal From Iraq](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/01/read-pentagons-accidental-draft-announcing-iraq-withdrawal.html)** > > After a DOD letter emerged stating the U.S. would move troops out of Iraq, the Pentagon said it was a “poorly worded” draft and a “mistake.” ---
**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:** [January 6, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39829 "2020-01-06T23:49:55Z")
[ > [@Liz Sly](#): > > @LizSly > Some former members of the military are telling me that draft letters are watermarked with the word “draft”. It’s also being noted that it isn’t normal for draft letters to get translated. This one was ]([https://twitter.com/LizSly/status/1214331090883596288](https://twitter.com/LizSly/status/1214331090883596288)) Link to twitter post, with an image of the letter. Part of a thread. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39830 "2020-01-07T00:00:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > From the “Terrifying if True” bin: > > > [@](#): > > > > Both Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence who have pushed Trump towards aggressive action towards Iran believe that there is a battle between good and evil that will end with “the Rapture”. A key belief of the evangelical Christian extremists is the establishment of a “greater Israel” before the end of days. > > [Pompeo, Awaiting the Rapture, Pushed Trump to Strike Iranian General Soleimani](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/5/1909619/-Pompeo-Awaiting-the-Rapture-Pushed-Trump-to-Strike-Iranian-General-Soleimani?utm_campaign=trending) > [@margin](#): > > So…Pompeo is actively trying to bring about the end of the world. Lovely. Yes, and that project could be greatly aided by the creation of false-flag attacks on US soil that would finger Muslims as perpetrators–thereby justifying additional US operations targeting various Middle East persons and resources. How much easier that task would be if the head of the Justice Department–who has all the resources of the FBI at his disposal–were, likewise, a religious fanatic! > [@](#): > > William Barr Is Neck-Deep in Extremist Catholic Institutions > His troubles don’t only involve his obeisance to Donald Trump. He’s a paranoid right-wing Catholic ideologue who won’t respect the separation of church and state. [https://www.thenation.com/article/william-barr-notre-dame-secularism/](https://www.thenation.com/article/william-barr-notre-dame-secularism/) > [@](#): > > William P. Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. attorney general, is no fan of secular government, public schools, church-state separation – or much of modern life, for that matter. > Americans United began looking into Barr’s record after Trump nominated him to the top slot at the U.S. Justice Department Dec. 7. Some troubling things have emerged. > … > **[Seeking God's Law: Past Statements By Attorney General Nominee William Barr...](https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/seeking-gods-law-past-statements-by-attorney/)** > > William P. Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. attorney general, is no fan of secular government, public schools, church-state separation – or much of modern life, for that matter. > [@](#): > > William Barr: Our Less Christian Society Is To Blame For Mental Illness And Drug Abuse > “Judeo-Christian moral standards are like God’s instruction manual for … the best operation for human society,” said the attorney general. > **[William Barr: Our Less Christian Society Is To Blame For Mental Illness And...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/william-barr-secularism-religion-drug-abuse-violence_n_5da151a3e4b02c9da04a8e8d)** > > "Judeo-Christian moral standards are like God’s instruction manual for ... the best operation for human society," said the attorney general. Barr doesn’t appear to be quite as deep into the death cult as are Pompeo and Pence, but he’s clearly an ally who deeply desires the end of the separation of church and state, and of secularism in general. If you’re not a Christian you are, by definition, depraved, according to Bill Barr. Can anyone doubt that he’d be happy to help in the project of ridding the USA of all those pesky non-Christians? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39831 "2020-01-07T00:10:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > We have an impeached president sitting in the Situation Room, ordering international assassinations without Congressional approval. I may be mistaken, but wasn’t Trump still at Mar-a-Lago when it went down? I guess he could have approved it before. > [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Interesting news this morning. There was a terrorist attack on Americans and three died. Problem is that it was not in the Middle East and not (apparently) orchestrated by Iran. See here: [https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/05/politics/us-service-member-civilian-defense-contractors-killed-kenya/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/05/politics/us-service-member-civilian-defense-contractors-killed-kenya/index.html) > > I wonder how the White House will spin it, however. If they want a ‘casus belli’ at any cost to the truth… > [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > They’ll add Kenyans to the “Do Not Enter” list. If it was in Kenya, somehow Obama will be at fault. Maybe his relatives did this. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Trump has successfully turned the USA into a Rogue State. The USA is now dangerous and unpredictable, and an ongoing danger to peace and trade. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > Yes. And few Americans even get this yet. But I bet Putin appreciates this. Trump was the best investment he’s ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39832 "2020-01-07T00:21:43Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > Oh didn’t you hear? A senior Iranian official released a reply with indicated that they don’t hold America responsible, but Trump personally. > Then he listed in his release a link to a Forbes article listing all of Trump’s properties across the globe. > [Iranian adviser drops chilling hint of attacks on Trump properties | Daily Mail Online](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7856463/Iranian-adviser-drops-chilling-hint-attacks-Trump-properties.html) It would be a change from business as usual to hold the top of a national government responsible rather than the average person in the street. If Trump made a mistake then Trump should bear the price of making it. Unfortunately/, targeting Trump’s properties would mean those who work there would be a risk regardless of their personal responsibility for any of Trump’s actions. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39833 "2020-01-07T01:01:36Z")
[Mar-a-Lago Guests and Israel Had More Prior Knowledge of Strike on Soleimani Than Democratic Leaders](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/mar-a-lago-guests-and-israel-had-more-prior-knowledge-of-strike-on-soleimani-than-democratic-leaders-933672/amp/) > [@](#): > > Trump was dropping hints to guests at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida days before the attack, telling them to expect something “big” very “soon” in Iraq Now, was Trump doing this because he’s a blithering idiot, or, was he trying to tell his Mar-a-Lago members to buy defense contractor stock? I was watching [The Damage Report](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zTlNDjHxTE)on YouTube and they mentioned that Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics stock all went up to varying degrees after the strike ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39834 "2020-01-07T01:26:51Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > There are reports that Pompeo wants to run for either Governor of Senator from Kansas. We Kansans elected a Democratic Governor in 2018. Her term won’t expire until 2022. And, according to today’s reports, Pompeo has told McTurtle that he will not run for Senator in Kansas this year. [Pompeo tells McConnell he won’t run for the Senate](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/politics/pompeo-senate-bid-mcconnell/index.html) This announcement means that the Kansas senate seat is still in play. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39835 "2020-01-07T01:41:59Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Unfortunately/, targeting Trump’s properties would mean those who work there would be a risk regardless of their personal responsibility for any of Trump’s actions. It would be an attack on civilians, so I doubt even Iran would follow through. Also, attacking the property of Individual-1 would be a sure way to get him to lash out. However, it is a genius move if you want to discourage potential customers of Trump businesses… ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39836 "2020-01-07T02:07:05Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Yeah, finally all our dreams come true and all the wacky leaders of the world sort it all out by eliminating themselves one by one by drone strikes! Basically what [Frankie went for](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2QAMqTgPKI&has_verified=1) in a very different time in a very different conflict, but those were only mere fisticuffs. Now we have the digital… Wouldn’t that be fun? PS- I only ever knew one song from that group, but I liked it. > [@jasg](#): > > It would be an attack on civilians, so I doubt even Iran would follow through. Also, attacking the property of Individual-1 would be a sure way to get him to lash out. > > However, it is a genius move if you want to discourage potential customers of Trump businesses… Agreed. And now I get to play their song that I liked… Relax (Don’t Do It). [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QFLBIamw7SE/hqdefault.jpg "Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Original 12")") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFLBIamw7SE) ---
**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:** [January 7, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39837 "2020-01-07T02:50:48Z")
[quote=“Mundane\_Super\_Hero, post:39836, topic:774070”] Wouldn’t that be fun? PS- I only ever knew one song from that group, but I liked it. Agreed. And now I get to play their song that I liked… Relax (Don’t Do It). [/QUOTE] …if you wanna come. Hey, I got the single for my 15th birthday from friends and the album for the following Christmas, along with a Commodore 64. The records didn’t make me gay, but the C64 made me an IT guy (if I ever had known before, I had rather turned gay :smack:). ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39838 "2020-01-07T03:06:51Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > …if you wanna come. Hey, I got the single for my 15th birthday from friends and the album for the following Christmas, along with a Commodore 64. The records didn’t make me gay, but the C64 made me an IT guy (if I ever had known before, I had rather turned gay :smack:). Hell No! I just figured EVERYONE caught wood looking at Melanie Griffith… (… of course, admitting that, I also have to admit that movies I Can’t watch include “Fifty Shades of Oh-Hells-No… I thought your Mamma was a Hottie! I can’t watch that… that’s Just Sick…!” ) ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39839 "2020-01-07T06:31:39Z")
What is he going to do when he realizes the Soleimani crowds are larger than the inauguration crowds? ---
**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:** [January 7, 2020, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39840 "2020-01-07T07:08:14Z")
It will solidify the opinion that all those Eyeraniennes are terrists. Not his opinion, because he is not capable of retaining enough information inside his putrefying cranium to form a reasoned opinion, but the people who feed him things to say will use that that way. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39841 "2020-01-07T09:21:12Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > What is he going to do when he realizes the Soleimani crowds are larger than the inauguration crowds? I’m more interested in seeing if Soleimani’s funeral crowds are larger than Trump’s funeral crowds. I know I’d go to Trump’s so I can dance in the street. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39842 "2020-01-07T09:34:47Z")
So many people will line up to piss on his grave they’ll have to bury him in a sponge coffin. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39843 "2020-01-07T15:18:44Z")
> [@Napoleon Boneyspurs](#): > > targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. _Addendum:_ In response to intelligence indicating that the Iran might retaliate with attacks on Republican cultural sites, Americans are advised of elevated threat levels at demolition derbies, tractor pulls, Ted Nugent concerts, and the Creation Museum. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39844 "2020-01-07T16:18:20Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > What is he going to do when he realizes the Soleimani crowds are larger than the inauguration crowds? … break out the sharpie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1991) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1993)