# 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:** 2131
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42606 "2020-04-18T13:41:41Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > As (I think), Bilbo Baggins once said, an adventure is something dreadfully uncomfortable happening to someone else, a long way away. Joseph Stalin - “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42607 "2020-04-18T13:50:12Z")
> [@Fugazi](#): > > I would pay cash if any Governor would say to Trump, “Hey Trump. Shut the fuck up and let the adults in the country run things.” I keep hoping a reporter at a daily briefing will speak some truth to him. “No, Mr. President, you’re a fake.” ---
**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:** [April 18, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42608 "2020-04-18T14:50:07Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > I keep hoping a reporter at a daily briefing will speak some truth to him. “No, Mr. President, you’re a fake.” Didn’t that or something close enough happen a couple of days ago? I seem to recall seeing some legitimate reporter hammering the apricot anus with questions including commentary pointing out that the was not telling the truth in his responses. The upshot was that the juandiced jackass threatened to walk out of the press conference if that reporter did not shut up, the useless usurper called the reporter “fake”, and then actually walked out of the press conference. Am I remembering this correctly? ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42609 "2020-04-18T14:56:58Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > I keep hoping a reporter at a daily briefing will speak some truth to him. “No, Mr. President, you’re a fake.” “Nasty!? You’re goddamn right I’m nasty! Nasty is what you fucking get when you royally fuck up” ---
**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:** [April 18, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42610 "2020-04-18T18:22:20Z")
> [@Fugazi](#): > > I would pay cash if any Governor would say to Trump, “Hey Trump. Shut the fuck up and let the adults in the country run things.” Andrew Cuomo said Individual 1 needs to stop watching tv. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42611 "2020-04-18T18:25:19Z")
White House adviser Stephen Moore compares the anti-shutdown protesters to Rosa Parks. > **[White House Adviser Compares Right-Wing COVID Protesters To A "Modern-Day...](https://polinews.org/white-house-adviser-compares-right-wing-covid-protesters-to-a-modern-day-rosa-parks/)** > > This is blasphemous. They are NOT the same. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42612 "2020-04-18T18:32:47Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Andrew Cuomo said Individual 1 needs to stop watching tv. Watching a few minutes of [ABC 7 NY coverage](https://abc7ny.com/coronavirus-new-york-ny-cases-in-news/6110875/) is well worth your time. An epic takedown, ---
**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:** [April 19, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42613 "2020-04-19T00:06:19Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > White House adviser Stephen Moore compares the anti-shutdown protesters to Rosa Parks. > [https://politicaltribune.org/white-house-adviser-compares-right-wing-covid-protesters-to-a-modern-day-rosa-parks/](https://politicaltribune.org/white-house-adviser-compares-right-wing-covid-protesters-to-a-modern-day-rosa-parks/) Moore’s clumsy attempt to capture headlines—and endear himself to Individual 1—does not appear to have been as effective as he’d have hoped. I’d be surprised if any of the majors cover it. He’s rather a dim bulb. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42614 "2020-04-20T05:20:28Z")
Individual 1 says he got a warm letter from Kim Jong Un. North Korea says, “No , he didn’t.” [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42615 "2020-04-20T06:05:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 says he got a warm letter from Kim Jong Un. North Korea says, “No , he didn’t.” > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html)? Maybe Chump was just trying to lay the groundwork for an asylum request. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42616 "2020-04-20T14:31:46Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 says he got a warm letter from Kim Jong Un. North Korea says, “No , he didn’t.” > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html)? I was feeling nostalgic for the days when we had some other kind of lunatic news from the White House that wasn’t coronavirus-related. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42617 "2020-04-20T14:43:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 says he got a warm letter from Kim Jong Un. North Korea says, “No , he didn’t.” > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-denies-nice-note-trump.html)? God knows what NK is doing, what with Trump dismantling our intelligence services. If they were ramping up their nuclear weapons production, is there anyone left in US intelligence with the competence to discover it? Is there anyone left who would risk Trump’s displeasure by reporting it? ---
**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:** [April 20, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42618 "2020-04-20T16:14:12Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > God knows what NK is doing, what with Trump dismantling our intelligence services. If they were ramping up their nuclear weapons production, is there anyone left in US intelligence with the competence to discover it? Is there anyone left who would risk Trump’s displeasure by reporting it? I just finished re-reading Doc Smith’s _Lensman_series, and one of the reasons the stalwarts of Civilization (always capitalized) were able to win out is because the other side was rigidly hierarchical and a punishment-based meritocracy where no one reported bad news up the line until it was too late for the higher ups to do anything about it. Trump does seem to bear a lot of resemblance to Boskonia. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42619 "2020-04-20T16:54:34Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I just finished re-reading Doc Smith’s _Lensman_series, and one of the reasons the stalwarts of Civilization (always capitalized) were able to win out is because the other side was rigidly hierarchical and a punishment-based meritocracy where no one reported bad news up the line until it was too late for the higher ups to do anything about it. > > Trump does seem to bear a lot of resemblance to Boskonia. And Putin and his Oligarchs are the Eddorians… ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42620 "2020-04-20T18:18:57Z")
CNN’s Chris Cillizza sums up Trump’s briefing so we don’t have to watch: [The 52 most off-the-wall lines from Donald Trump’s Sunday night coronavirus briefing](https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-task-force-sunday/index.html) Just a taste of it: > [@](#): > > \*\*5. “Is it – does it remind you of something? Reminds you of this. Right? Ones a swab, ones a Q-tip. It’s actually different. It’s very sophisticated actually but it’s a little bit like – so this is the swab and we’ve ordered a lot of them.” > \*\* > In which the President of the United State expertly breaks down the difference between a Q-tip and a coronavirus testing swab. Soon, as Trump’s dementia progresses, he’ll be explaining the difference between a toothbrush and toothpaste: “See, not a lot of people know this, but they’re actually different–the toothpaste goes _on_ the toothbrush. That’s important.” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42621 "2020-04-20T18:21:38Z")
Last week when he was supposed to be talking about public health, Trump congratulated himself on stabilizing oil prices, which had fallen to about $24 a barrel. This morning, the May contract for crude oil plunged down to less than $10/bbl shortly after the open, and kept dropping. It teetered at ONE CENT for as long as it could, but now it is BELOW ZERO. You literally can’t give it away. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42622 "2020-04-20T18:37:52Z")
Ironically, the biggest middle finger to Team Trump yet just may have been dropped by a Republican, Larry Hogan of Maryland: > **[WATCH: Hogan Frustrated by Lack of Coronavirus Tests, Gets 500,000 From South...](https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/frustrated-by-lack-of-coronavirus-tests-maryland-got-500000-from-south-korea)** > > BALTIMORE (WBFF)-- Governor Hogan's Press Secretary announced Monday that the Governor, who was frustrated by a lack of coronavirus tests, got 500,000 from South Korea. The 500,000 tests came from LabGenomics, according to a spokesman. The test... Maryland just bought a boat-load of COVID tests – from South Korea. p.s. Middle Finger #2: Unlike CDC’s tests, **they probably work**. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42623 "2020-04-20T19:37:00Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Ironically, the biggest middle finger to Team Trump yet just may have been dropped by a Republican, Larry Hogan of Maryland: > > [https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/frustrated-by-lack-of-coronavirus-tests-maryland-got-500000-from-south-korea](https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/frustrated-by-lack-of-coronavirus-tests-maryland-got-500000-from-south-korea) > > Maryland just bought a boat-load of COVID tests – from South Korea. > > p.s. Middle Finger #2: Unlike CDC’s tests, **they probably work**. I’ve read – and I’m not sure if it’s well-sourced or just tinfoil conspiracy – that Trump is attempting to corner the market on COVID materials, so he can dole them out to states that he likes. So I’m delighted to see this disgusting plan thwarted. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42624 "2020-04-20T19:39:14Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Ironically, the biggest middle finger to Team Trump yet just may have been dropped by a Republican, Larry Hogan of Maryland: > > [https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/frustrated-by-lack-of-coronavirus-tests-maryland-got-500000-from-south-korea](https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/frustrated-by-lack-of-coronavirus-tests-maryland-got-500000-from-south-korea) > > Maryland just bought a boat-load of COVID tests – from South Korea. > > p.s. Middle Finger #2: Unlike CDC’s tests, **they probably work**. As a Marylander, this is good to hear, since Trump is too incompetent to understand the importance of testing and is so desperate to get the economy going again he says what testing the US has available is already adequate. Hogan’s wife is from South Korea and is somewhat famous there as being the first Asian US gubernatorial First Lady. Hogan used that to make contact with the South Korean government early on to get coronavirus advice for Maryland since Trump’s response has been such a shitshow. Remember when the US had 15 cases that were soon going to go down to zero? And the virus was going to miraculously go away with the April heat? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42625 "2020-04-20T19:53:23Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’ve read – and I’m not sure if it’s well-sourced or just tinfoil conspiracy – that Trump is attempting to corner the market on COVID materials, so he can dole them out to states that he likes. So I’m delighted to see this disgusting plan thwarted. This NBC News story mentions it, in regard to PPE: [Behind closed doors, Trump’s coronavirus task force boosts industry and sows confusion](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-s-coronavirus-task-force-amassed-power-it-boosted-industry-n1180786) It’s mentioned here: > [@](#): > > But for some government officials familiar with the supply-chain end of the coronavirus fight, it was yet another example of Trump’s task force serving industry as the White House tried to corner the market on medical supplies. But it’s not just states that Trump favors, but big corporations (which are also probably big donors). The good news? They’re probably too incompetent to pull it off, completely: > [@](#): > > The story of the supply-chain group, a power center within the larger task force run by Vice President Mike Pence, is one of chaos, secrecy and ineptitude, these officials said. Governors, local officials and veterans of federal emergency response say it has deeply complicated the national fight against the pandemic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2130) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2132)