# 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:** 279
**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:** [May 25, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5561 "2017-05-25T01:51:42Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > The headline on [Foxnews.com](http://Foxnews.com) right now: > > “FOX NEWS POLL: Trump approval down, voters support special counsel on Russia investigation” > > So I guess Fox is fake news now too. Where can a poor President turn to get honest, positive news? Breitbart. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5562 "2017-05-25T02:07:03Z")
With regard to the whole “Melania and Ivanka didn’t wear burqas in Saudi Arabia, but DID weir veils at the Vatican” thing–I was all set to go after the Trumps on that one, but it turns out that [Michelle Obama](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40030668) (among other people) wore a veil to the Vatican, and Mrs. Obama also [did not wear any kind of head covering](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/01/28/make-no-mistake-michelle-obama-just-made-a-bold-political-statement-in-saudi-arabia/) when she visited Saudi Arabia. So I’m going to give Melania and Ivanka a pass on this one. (Of course the Tweeter-in-Chief himself is still a hypocritical asshole for having criticized Michelle Obama for not covering her head in Saudi Arabia, then not batting an eye when his own wife and daughter did the exact same thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5563 "2017-05-25T02:19:58Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > With regard to the whole “Melania and Ivanka didn’t wear burqas in Saudi Arabia, but DID weir veils at the Vatican” thing–I was all set to go after the Trumps on that one, but it turns out that [Michelle Obama](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40030668) (among other people) wore a veil to the Vatican, and Mrs. Obama also [did not wear any kind of head covering](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/01/28/make-no-mistake-michelle-obama-just-made-a-bold-political-statement-in-saudi-arabia/) when she visited Saudi Arabia. So I’m going to give Melania and Ivanka a pass on this one. > > (Of course the Tweeter-in-Chief himself is still a hypocritical asshole for having criticized Michelle Obama for not covering her head in Saudi Arabia, then not batting an eye when his own wife and daughter did the exact same thing.) Yeah, my criticism on this was directed to Trump for being a hypocritical ass. I don’t care if women cover their hair in various religious milieus or not, nor if men wear yarmulkes when visiting the Western Wall (as Trump did). I’m an atheist and I think all headwear related religious debates are rather silly. But I’m also not a dick, and I don’t like to pick fights over rather silly things, so if I were a guest in someone’s home and they asked me to wear a specific head covering, or an onion on my belt, or whatever, I’d probably go along with it. But Trump deserves a full ration of shit for demonstrating, with a total lack of self awareness, how stupid and transparently partisan every head covering brouhaha is. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5564 "2017-05-25T02:33:04Z")
While the ladies were overdressed (cite: [http://www.papalaudience.org/dress-code](http://www.papalaudience.org/dress-code)), and I don’t blame them for that, I bet Melania is hoping she gets to wear that ensemble again soon. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5565 "2017-05-25T03:02:29Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Waitaminute… How come Melania and Ivanka have their heads covered? Why are they showing such obeisance in a theocracy like that? I hear women are completely shut out of power there! And who the fuck placed that veil on Melania’s head? It looks like something that fell on her from a great height. Then again, Ivanka’s is a black bridal… ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5566 "2017-05-25T03:05:55Z")
> [@APB](#): > > It used to be that the formal court dress for women being received by the Pope was a black dress and a black veil. [Even Queen Elizabeth II used to wear this, although she always combined this with one of blingier tiaras. But more recently she has just dressed as she normally does](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/royalty/10741212/In-pictures-The-Queens-audiences-with-Popes-over-the-years.html). [Some Catholic queens still exercise their _privilège du blanc_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privil%C3%A8ge_du_blanc#In_recent_years). > > So the fairer criticism is probably that Melania and Ivanka were overcompensating. Presumably in the expectation that Trump would be an embarrassment. Ignorance fought. I don’t think I’ve ever seen women-in-black with the pope; but then, maybe I’ve never actually seen a picture of a woman with a pope. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5567 "2017-05-25T13:40:27Z")
Trump has the best, bigly internet security at Mar-a-Lago the “Southern White House”: > **[Any Half-Decent Hacker Could Break Into Mar-a-Lago](https://www.propublica.org/article/any-half-decent-hacker-could-break-into-mar-a-lago)** > > We tested internet security at four Trump properties. It’s not good. > [@](#): > > We parked a 17-foot motor boat in a lagoon about 800 feet from the back lawn of The Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach and pointed a 2-foot wireless antenna that resembled a potato gun toward the club. Within a minute, we spotted three weakly encrypted Wi-Fi networks. We could have hacked them in less than five minutes, but we refrained. > . > . > . > The risks posed by the lax security, experts say, go well beyond simple digital snooping. Sophisticated attackers could take advantage of vulnerabilities in the Wi-Fi networks to take over devices like computers or smart phones and use them to record conversations involving anyone on the premises. > > “Those networks all have to be crawling with foreign intruders, not just ProPublica,” said Dave Aitel, chief executive officer of Immunity, Inc., a digital security company, when we told him what we found. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5568 "2017-05-25T14:08:59Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > While the ladies were overdressed (cite: [http://www.papalaudience.org/dress-code](http://www.papalaudience.org/dress-code)), and I don’t blame them for that, I bet Melania is hoping she gets to wear that ensemble again soon. I saw on Twitter the other day: “Melania looks like a widow. Well, like they say, ‘dress for the job you want.’” ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5569 "2017-05-25T14:36:17Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Trump has the best, bigly internet security at Mar-a-Lago the “Southern White House”: > > [Any Half-Decent Hacker Could Break Into Mar-a-Lago — ProPublica](https://www.propublica.org/article/any-half-decent-hacker-could-break-into-mar-a-lago) Well it’s digital. It sounds bad, you have to be Albert Einstein to understand digital. Steam is much better, so they probably use it. ( And how dare you criticize him with a username like that ? ) ---
**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:** [May 25, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5570 "2017-05-25T15:27:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [The Donald’s gift to the Pope (there’s a picture of it at the link)](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-pope-sculpture_us_592600f1e4b0265790f4dd58): I’m quite sure Donald does not have the word resilience in his vocabulary (too many syllables). Before I clicked into the story, I saw that Donald had give the Pope a sculpture, and I was sure it was a bust of Donnie himself. So \*\*that \*\*was a relief anyway. I expected it to be either a bust of himself or a map of his election victory. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5571 "2017-05-25T15:48:00Z")
> [@SaneBill](#): > > Well it’s digital. It sounds bad, you have to be Albert Einstein to understand digital. Steam is much better, so they probably use it. > ( And how dare you criticize him with a username like that ? ) Naw, not steam. Save that for the aircraft carriers. Pneumatic tubes are the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5572 "2017-05-25T16:01:42Z")
[Trump said he would save jobs at Carrier. The layoffs start July 20.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/05/24/here-is-the-number-of-jobs-carrier-is-moving-to-mexico-after-trump-said-hed-save-them/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_carrier529pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a790b08d89ef) > [@](#): > > Carrier, the company President Trump pledged to keep on American soil, informed the state of Indiana this week that it will soon begin cutting 632 workers from an Indianapolis factory. The manufacturing jobs will move to Monterrey, Mexico, where the minimum wage is $3.90. > > That was never supposed to happen, according to Trump’s campaign promises. He told Indiana residents at a rally last year there was a "100 percent chance” he would save the jobs at the heating and air-conditioning manufacturer. I wonder when his voters are going to realize Trump is “100 percent” bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5573 "2017-05-25T16:03:27Z")
Police in the UK have stopped sharing intelligence about the Manchester bombing with the US ([BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-40040210)), because people inside the Trump admin can’t keep their mouths shut. Trump has asked the DoJ to investigate the leaks ([Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-told-in-brussels-that-west-should-focus-on-values-not-only-interests/2017/05/25/7aa1865c-40cd-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?utm_term=.e38d7430172e)). Why anyone would share any intelligence with this administration is a mystery to me. From incompetent underlings up to the great blabbermouth himself, it seems that no one in the administration can be trusted with any sensitive information. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5574 "2017-05-25T16:13:32Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Trump has asked the DoJ to investigate the leaks ([Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-told-in-brussels-that-west-should-focus-on-values-not-only-interests/2017/05/25/7aa1865c-40cd-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?utm_term=.e38d7430172e)). Gotta be embarassing for the agent in charge, who gets to look at his feet and twist his cap in his hands while mumbling “They seem to be coming from your phone, Mr President sir…” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5575 "2017-05-25T17:17:44Z")
His majesty, the Orange Assclown, [didn’t like people walking in front of him, so he puts his hand on a NATO leader and shoves him out of the way](https://www.facebook.com/NBCNews/videos/10155474670468689/). Absolutely pathetic human being. Somebody posted something recently about Trump having the mind of a seven-year-old boy; this is it. He’s a child. A pig-ignorant, spoiled child who has to go out of his way to make sure everyone knows how much better he is than everyone else. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5576 "2017-05-25T17:20:01Z")
But he isn’t better than everyone else. He’s lower than the lowest lump of whale blubber in the ocean depths. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5577 "2017-05-25T17:25:28Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > His majesty, the Orange Assclown, [didn’t like people walking in front of him, so he puts his hand on a NATO leader and shoves him out of the way](https://www.facebook.com/NBCNews/videos/10155474670468689/). Absolutely pathetic human being. Somebody posted something recently about Trump having the mind of a seven-year-old boy; this is it. He’s a child. A pig-ignorant, spoiled child who has to go out of his way to make sure everyone knows how much better he is than everyone else. He even said so himself. > [@](#): > > When I asked Donald Trump in 2014 about his temperament, he readily volunteered this: “When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I’m basically the same. The temperament is not that different.” [Link](http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/opinions/president-trump-six-year-old-with-nuclear-weapons-dantonio/). ---
**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:** [May 25, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5578 "2017-05-25T17:33:46Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Ignorance fought. I don’t think I’ve ever seen women-in-black with the pope; but then, maybe I’ve never actually seen a picture of a woman with a pope. I’ve never seen a women in an audience with whatever Pope who **wasn’t** in black, with long sleeves, and some kind of black veil/mantilla. But then, I’m old, and that \*was \*the custom in the past. > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > …or a map of his election victory. Oh God, that \*\*would \*\*have been hilarious! 😃 A yuuuuge relief map done in bronze. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5579 "2017-05-25T17:37:36Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Gotta be embarassing for the agent in charge, who gets to look at his feet and twist his cap in his hands while mumbling “They seem to be coming from your phone, Mr President sir…” The call is coming from inside the White House!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5580 "2017-05-25T17:39:55Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > His majesty, the Orange Assclown, [didn’t like people walking in front of him, so he puts his hand on a NATO leader and shoves him out of the way](https://www.facebook.com/NBCNews/videos/10155474670468689/). Absolutely pathetic human being. Somebody posted something recently about Trump having the mind of a seven-year-old boy; this is it. He’s a child. A pig-ignorant, spoiled child who has to go out of his way to make sure everyone knows how much better he is than everyone else. _Never_ get between Trump and a camera. Who was the other guy? Meanwhile, from the Corruption Desk, Buzzfeed reports: > [@](#): > > A Top Mar-A-Lago Employee Is Quietly Doing Government Work For Trump’s Foreign Trip > > Heather Rinkus, the guest reception manager at Trump’s "Winter White House” and wife of a twice-convicted felon, is in Italy with Trump’s logistics team and has been outfitted with a government-issued phone and email. > > \ > > Ari Rinkus, who is still on probation for pleading guilty to wire fraud as part of a Ponzi scheme, has told a foreign company, Securablinds, he can use Heather’s access to the president to secure government and Trump Organization contracts, BuzzFeed News previously reported. > **[A Top Mar-A-Lago Employee Is Quietly Doing Government Work For Trump’s...](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tariniparti/a-top-mar-a-lago-employee-is-quietly-doing-government-work)** > > Heather Rinkus, the guest reception manager at Trump's "Winter White House” and wife of a twice-convicted felon, is in Italy with Trump’s logistics team and has been outfitted with a government-issued phone and email. I wonder if Heather Rinkus has a security clearance or has gone through anything resembling an official onboarding process. Who is paying her for her WH work? Is she actually doing WH work or just hobnobbing with a bunch of politicians so she can market Mar-A-Lago? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=278) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=280)