# 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:** 418
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8344 "2017-07-21T00:24:50Z")
Something about sinking ships and rats. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8345 "2017-07-21T01:36:37Z")
Washington Post is now [reporting](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-lawyers-seek-to-undercut-muellers-russia-investigation/2017/07/20/232ebf2c-6d71-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumplegal-925pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.7fda78d222ba) that Trump is looking into who and how he can pardon certain people, like _“…aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe…”_ ---
**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:** [July 21, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8346 "2017-07-21T02:20:06Z")
Paywall ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8347 "2017-07-21T02:26:03Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Paywall If you have NoScript, put it on full forbid. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8348 "2017-07-21T02:27:23Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Paywall Hrmmm. I’m not a subscriber, and I’m not getting a paywall. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8349 "2017-07-21T02:31:41Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The really stupid part of this all is the Republican idea that when Obama did anything, he was a dictator, blah blah blah, but they’re fine with everything and anything Trump does. Hypocrisy is apparently a Republican Virtue. What, this is news? This goes back at least as far as WWII veteran Senator Robert Dole stating that the Republican Party didn’t consider baby boomer Bill Clinton to really be the President. And Dole was one of the _good_ ones…less than batshit crazy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8350 "2017-07-21T02:59:36Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Hrmmm. I’m not a subscriber, and I’m not getting a paywall. I’m not a subscriber, and I am getting a paywall. (At any rate, I get around it by googling the headline, and the hotlink from Google is not paywalled.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8351 "2017-07-21T03:14:36Z")
I use Chrome, and all I have to do is right-click, Open in Incognito Window. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8352 "2017-07-21T03:15:01Z")
Whatthe actual…? > [@](#): > > “He’s a great guy — smart, strong, he loves holding my hand,” Trump told The New York Times on Wednesday, referring to the French leader. “People don’t realize, he loves holding my hand — that’s good!” Full on dementia. [http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/342870-trump-on-macron-he-loves-holding-my-hand](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/342870-trump-on-macron-he-loves-holding-my-hand) ---
**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:** [July 21, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8353 "2017-07-21T03:34:19Z")
Billionaire Republican contributor Mike Fernandez says he’s done giving money to Republicans who don’t have the balls to impeach Trump. > **[Billionaire Florida donor rails against Trump](https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/07/20/billionaire-gop-donor-out-of-politics-calls-trump-abortion-of-a-human-113528)** > > Mike Fernandez, a Miami-area resident, has long been a political rainmaker and donor, spending $3.5 million in ads against Trump in 2016 alone. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8354 "2017-07-21T06:49:12Z")
Forgive me if this has been mentioned here, but - Deutsche Bank, the only Western bank that is still willing to work with the Trumps is cooperating with the Feds and expecting a subpoena from Robert Mueller. > **[Big German Bank, Key to Trump’s Finances, Faces New Scrutiny (Published 2017)](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/business/big-german-bank-key-to-trumps-finances-faces-new-scrutiny.html?_r=0)** > > Regulators are reviewing loans from Deutsche Bank, which is also expecting to have to share information with the authorities investigating campaign ties to Russia. > [@NYT article above](#): > > Banking regulators are reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans made to Mr. Trump’s businesses through Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management unit, which caters to an ultrarich clientele, according to three people briefed on the review who were not authorized to speak publicly. The regulators want to know if the loans might expose the bank to heightened risks. > > Separately, Deutsche Bank has been in contact with federal investigators about the Trump accounts, according to two people briefed on the matter. And the bank is expecting to eventually have to provide information to Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the federal investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. > > It was not clear what information the bank might ultimately provide. Generally, the bank is seen as central to understanding Mr. Trump’s finances since it is the only major financial institution that continues to conduct sizable business with him. Deutsche Bank has also lent money to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and to his family real estate business. The article goes on to say that the Bank - which itself was fined for laundering Russian money, recently - doesn’t seem to have any evidence tying Trump or Kushner to Russia, but we’ll see. But this is going to make things super awkward when Trump gets out of the Big [White] House and tries to resume “doing deals”. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8355 "2017-07-21T09:41:32Z")
Trump team seeks to control, block Mueller’s Russia investigation > **[Trump team seeks to control, block Mueller’s Russia investigation](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-lawyers-seek-to-undercut-muellers-russia-investigation/2017/07/20/232ebf2c-6d71-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html)** > > President’s legal team is looking to build a case against what they say is the special counsel’s conflicts of interest. > [@](#): > > Some of President Trump’s lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation, building a case against what they allege are his conflicts of interest and discussing the president’s authority to grant pardons, according to people familiar with the effort. > > Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe, according to one of those people. A second person said Trump’s lawyers have been discussing the president’s pardoning powers among themselves. Of course these are all the actions of an innocent man, right? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8356 "2017-07-21T09:45:51Z")
Never mind. Dupe post. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8357 "2017-07-21T10:41:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself Jesus, 3rd World Dictator much, Donald? Trevor Noah[had it right](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FPrJxTvgdQ), years ago. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2017, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8358 "2017-07-21T11:16:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Jesus, 3rd World Dictator much, Donald? Third World dictators have better fashion sense. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8359 "2017-07-21T11:16:44Z")
[Mar-a-lago applies for 70 H-2B visas during made in America week.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/07/20/during-made-in-america-week-president-trumps-mar-a-lago-club-applies-to-hire-70-foreign-workers/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.4f9dbd933960) 70 foreign workers. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8360 "2017-07-21T11:35:18Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Hrmmm. I’m not a subscriber, and I’m not getting a paywall. WaPo gives you a certain number (5?) articles a month. Then you’ll hit the paywall. I’m usually using my iPad so I just copy the link, open a “private” window and paste the link. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8361 "2017-07-21T12:44:19Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [Mar-a-lago applies for 70 H-2B visas during made in America week.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/07/20/during-made-in-america-week-president-trumps-mar-a-lago-club-applies-to-hire-70-foreign-workers/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.4f9dbd933960) > > 70 foreign workers. Heh. Just last week, the Dept of Homeland Security increased the number of H-2b visas available. > **[Disdainful of H-1Bs, Trump expands a different foreign worker visa](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/disdainful-of-h-1bs-trump-expands-a-different-foreign-worker-visa/)** > > Hire American? Businesses can use H-2B visas if they claim "irreparable harm." > [@ars tech article above](#): > > Businesses can begin applying for the additional visas right away, as long as they attest under penalty of perjury that their business will “suffer irreparable harm” if it can’t employ additional H-2B workers in 2017. The expansion is a temporary one, and it only applies to the current year. > > The H-2B visa program specifically excludes agricultural workers who are covered under the H-2A visa. > > A DHS official told The Washington Post that the increase in visas “absolutely does” fit in with Trump’s promises to push a policy of “buy American, hire American.” > > “We’re talking about American businesses that are at risk of suffering irreparable harm if they don’t get additional H-2B workers,” the DHS official told the newspaper. “This does help with American businesses continuing to prosper.” It goes on to describe the H-2B workers at Mar-a-Lago as being mostly from Haiti or Romania and working for about $11 an hour. Poor Donald! Won’t someone think of the irreparable harm it would cause him to hire Americans! ---
**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:** [July 21, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8362 "2017-07-21T13:00:31Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Forgive me if this has been mentioned here, but - > > Deutsche Bank, the only Western bank that is still willing to work with the Trumps is cooperating with the Feds and expecting a subpoena from Robert Mueller. > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/business/big-german-bank-key-to-trumps-finances-faces-new-scrutiny.html?\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/business/big-german-bank-key-to-trumps-finances-faces-new-scrutiny.html?_r=0) > > The article goes on to say that the Bank - which itself was fined for laundering Russian money, recently - doesn’t seem to have any evidence tying Trump or Kushner to Russia, but we’ll see. But this is going to make things super awkward when Trump gets out of the Big [White] House and tries to resume “doing deals”. Emphasis added. It’s going to be pretty hilarious if it turns out that being President ruins Donald Trump’s career. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/8363 "2017-07-21T13:24:55Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > WaPo gives you a certain number (5?) articles a month. Then you’ll hit the paywall. > I’m usually using my iPad so I just copy the link, open a “private” window and paste the link. Good to know, thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=417) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=419)