# 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:** 2207
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44127 "2020-06-03T04:04:50Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > So what if he wants the actual United States military to do something, and they refuse, since he’s not technically or actually President? Looking at events as they have unfolded over the last few years, what the hell gives you hope that the U.S. military will say “no” to Trump? The Secretary of Defense just declared that the United States was a “battlezone”. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44128 "2020-06-03T04:06:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Looking at events as they have unfolded over the last few years, what the hell gives you hope that the U.S. military will say “no” to Trump? The Secretary of Defense just declared that the United States was a “battlezone”. Yeah, and I covered that under his having the support of the actual US military. His having a few mercenaries doesn’t mean squat compared to that. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44129 "2020-06-03T04:47:08Z")
Can I get a cite that the Sec of Defense declared the US a “battlezone”? My googling pulls up stuff from 1976, or 80s video games. The memory hole is strong here. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44130 "2020-06-03T04:58:35Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Can I get a cite that the Sec of Defense declared the US a “battlezone”? My googling pulls up stuff from 1976, or 80s video games. The memory hole is strong here. I misremembered, apparently-sorry. The term he used was [“battle space”](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pentagon-defends-defense-secretarys-call-dominate-battle-space/story?id=71020529). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44131 "2020-06-03T05:20:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Looking at events as they have unfolded over the last few years, what the hell gives you hope that the U.S. military will say “no” to Trump? The Secretary of Defense just declared that the United States was a “battlezone”. Here’s my theory on that: The people who are loyal to Trump fall into two categories: Those who have to be to keep their jobs or advance their careers, and his base. It’s easy to be a Trump supporter if you don’t have to deal with his craziness every day. And when he’s voted out of office, his supporters, that work close with him no longer will, because why would they? Trump can no longer do anything for them. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44132 "2020-06-03T05:22:18Z")
> [@](#): > > I misremembered, apparently-sorry. > The term he used was “battle space”. Yeah, “Battle Space”. Not as good as “Halo”. Kind of lame. An EA product, natch. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44133 "2020-06-03T05:52:15Z")
White House Officials Asked If They Could Take Over D.C.’s Local Police > **[White House Officials Asked If They Could Take Over D.C.’s Local Police](https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/06/02/white-house-officials-asked-if-they-could-take-over-dcs-local-police/)** > > John Falcicchio, the D.C. mayor’s chief of staff, told the Washington Post that D.C. officials objected, and said they would mount a legal challenge if federal officials made an attempt to do so.. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44134 "2020-06-03T11:43:05Z")
Get a grip, Trump isn’t going to hold the White House through force. Voter suppression, purging ballots, closing polling places, etc? Yes. Disputing election results? Maybe. Securing the White House with mercenaries? Not a chance. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44135 "2020-06-03T12:41:55Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > … > They also want us - enough of us anyway - to believe that the country is out of control and that only he can fix the situation. They want to escalate, and to continue justifying the escalation, and for us to be so disoriented that we don’t know how to confront or stop the situation. > … When the protests and rioting started and Trump began throwing gasoline on the fire, at first I thought “what the hell is he doing? Even for him this is political suicide. He’s basically declaring war against his own people.” But yeah, thinking it through, this is the only path that can work for him. It electrifies his base, who eat up the faux-toughness, racist dog whistle content, and “tough talk”. Then he terrifies the moderate white suburbanites into thinking that only Trump can stop their neighborhoods from being overrun with anarchic, dark rioters. They don’t like Trump but hold their noses and vote for him. It’s pretty much the exact same strategy that he won on in 2016: fire up the base, con just enough of the rest to squeak through in the electoral college. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44136 "2020-06-03T13:16:46Z")
> [@solost](#): > > But yeah, thinking it through, this is the only path that can work for him. It electrifies his base, who eat up the faux-toughness, racist dog whistle content, and “tough talk”. Then he terrifies the moderate white suburbanites into thinking that only Trump can stop their neighborhoods from being overrun with anarchic, dark rioters. They don’t like Trump but hold their noses and vote for him. This is exactly how it has worked in other countries, particularly in Eastern Europe. Consider the Russia connection, and consider how Russia has used its influence to polarize the region. Now consider what’s happening here. Connect the dots. To use a football analogy, think of Trump as the quarterback, and think of Vladimir Putin as the offensive/defensive coordinator, calling the plays in from the sky box. Authoritarian regimes often represent a political minority of the country. They succeed by driving a particular voting bloc into their arms, and by scattering everyone else and simultaneously weakening democratic institutions. If Trump and the GOP win the election in 2020, they will likely seek to erode the voting power of the opposition and critics in unprecedented ways. Democracy will remain in place, but it will be strengthened in reliably ‘red’ voting districts and eviscerated everywhere else. They’re not messing around. > [@solost](#): > > It’s pretty much the exact same strategy that he won on in 2016: fire up the base, con just enough of the rest to squeak through in the electoral college. Or maybe disrupt the election and if necessary, contest and cast doubt on the results, to the point where he could legitimize extreme measures. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44137 "2020-06-03T13:18:51Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Get a grip, Trump isn’t going to hold the White House through force. Voter suppression, purging ballots, closing polling places, etc? Yes. Disputing election results? Maybe. Securing the White House with mercenaries? Not a chance. I think the smart move is to not put anything past someone who has openly expressed admiration for authoritarian powers. When someone says that governors should dominate their own residents (citizens), that’s the time when you stop making assumptions about what they are or are not capable of. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44138 "2020-06-03T14:04:29Z")
I think the point is that the White House, as a building, is irrelevant. If some other person is sworn in as President, and the executive branch of the government obeys their orders, then they’ll be President no matter what building they live in. Barricading himself inside the White House won’t help Trump stay in power. It’s a house, not Barad-Dur. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44139 "2020-06-03T14:30:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I think the point is that the White House, as a building, is irrelevant. If some other person is sworn in as President, and the executive branch of the government obeys their orders, then they’ll be President no matter what building they live in. Barricading himself inside the White House won’t help Trump stay in power. It’s a house, not Barad-Dur. I’m pretty sure you are taking it too literally. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44140 "2020-06-03T14:38:29Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Get a grip, Trump isn’t going to hold the White House through force. Voter suppression, purging ballots, closing polling places, etc? Yes. Disputing election results? Maybe. Securing the White House with mercenaries? Not a chance. I agree, and so does the author of this article – [a much less apocalyptic vision of the transfer of power after Trump loses.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/trump-election-refusal-leave.html) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44141 "2020-06-03T14:41:11Z")
The most interesting question (at least for me) about the troop deployment would be what actual military officer signed the orders. Barking on a telephone doesn’t cut it, somebody with some brass on their shoulders has to sign something. Military types can be quite picky about exactly who is responsible for what, exactly. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44142 "2020-06-03T14:59:41Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I agree, and so does the author of this article – [a much less apocalyptic vision of the transfer of power after Trump loses.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/trump-election-refusal-leave.html) This article made me very happy to read. I suggest everyone read it. I may record it and play it to myself every night as a bedtime story. I love the parts where the guy with the football, the military, and the Secret Service turn away from trump as soon as he ceases to be president. This is the best part: > [@](#): > > … Meanwhile, Biden’s acting attorney general will have drawn up arrest warrants for Donald J. Trump and anyone who remains at his side on charges—at minimum—of criminal trespassing. If Trump calls on the armed forces or militias or the nation’s sheriffs to come defend him, he might also be charged with incitement or insurrection. > > If any of Trump’s aides or Cabinet officers continue to take his orders, they too could face criminal charges and, in any case, would have a hard time finding respectable employment after the pretend monarch is taken away in handcuffs. > > If armed militiamen and sheriffs rally to the White House and they refuse to let U.S. marshals through the gates, a small contingent of Secret Service or the National Guard **could be called up** to enforce the law. If that doesn’t work, a few M1 tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue should make the would-be rebels flee. It would be terrible if the standoff came to this, but Commander in Chief Biden would have this option available, if necessary. > … My bold. There’s that ambiguous, waffly passive voice again… that should read “President Biden will call up the Secret Service or National Guard.” An important sentence like that needs a CLEAR SUBJECT/ACTOR! Yes, this will be my bedtime story for the next few months. I’m not 100% sure everything would go as smoothly as described, but I can hope… ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44143 "2020-06-03T15:09:23Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I agree, and so does the author of this article – [a much less apocalyptic vision of the transfer of power after Trump loses.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/trump-election-refusal-leave.html) That article is reassuring, but for two things: [ol] [li]One of the commenters to that article brought up the good point that the period between trump’s election loss and Biden’s inauguration would be a scary time-- what kind of spiteful chaos and destruction would raging loser Trump wreak in those 72-78 days?[/li][li]What could Trump do on a legal basis, since he’s already set the stage to claim voter fraud? Of course the claim will be complete bullshit, but with Barr in his pocket and a biased SCOTUS, I’m concerned he could possibly at least cause obfuscation and confusion for months on the thinnest facade of a legal claim that the election was rigged. I don’t know exactly how something like that could play out, but I’m thinking of hanging chads and a conservative SCOTUS giving the election to George W. Bush in 2000.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44144 "2020-06-03T15:51:34Z")
CFSG sez [he only went to the bunker to inspect it](https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/donald-trump-bunker/index.html), because “maybe sometime [he’s] going to need it.” And here I was tempted to think he was a cowardly sack of shit. _Whew_ Well, that settles that. It should also be noted that I believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. And that life is fair. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44145 "2020-06-03T15:52:08Z")
[quote=“Rick\_Kitchen, post:44123, topic:774070”] Individual 1 and his Trophy Wife at the Pope John Paul II memorial today. Individual 1 trying to get Melania to pretend that she wants to be there. The video is of him encouraging her to smile, and she fails miserably. [/QUOTE] She looks like she’s either seriously hung over, or drugged. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44146 "2020-06-03T15:56:33Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > She looks like she’s either seriously hung over, or drugged. That was depressing. I don’t want to feel sorry for her, since she brought this on herself, but I can’t help it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2206) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2208)