# 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:** 465
**Author:** ![arles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71c47a/32.png) [@arles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arles)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9284 "2017-08-03T07:49:35Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Donnie Two Scoops is so fucked. > > [New Hire by Mueller](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-lawyer-exclusive-idUSKBN1AH5F9) > \* > "Greg Andres started on Tuesday, becoming the 16th lawyer on the team, said Josh Stueve, a spokesman for the special counsel. > > Most recently a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, Andres, 50, served at the Justice Department from 2010 to 2012. He was deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, **where he oversaw the fraud unit and managed the program that targeted illegal foreign bribery** (emphasis mine)." \* > > Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Please let me know when he hires lawyers with RICO experience… ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9285 "2017-08-03T09:07:14Z")
> [@arles](#): > > Please let me know when he hires lawyers with RICO experience… First thought: “Wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?” Second thought: “Investigating or being investigated?” Which one do y’all like better? ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9286 "2017-08-03T10:20:13Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > The Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (probably had to get Putin’s permission first) has just instructed us all on the impropriety of letting Congress have any say in the matter. > > " … the Trump administration has shown its total weakness by handing over executive power to Congress in the most humiliating way. This changes the power balance in US political circles. …" > > They thought Trump was THEIR weakling and stooge (he still is). But they thought Congress would just roll over too. > > Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they would if it were to their personal advantage. > > As far as the balance of power within the US is concerned, it’s about fucking time SOMEONE slapped down and humiliated that fat orange shit gibbon son of a bitch. > > Here’s hoping it becomes a regular thing. > > Now they need to rub Tillerson’s nose in shit too. He still wants that oil deal, and he is opposing the strengthening of electronic/cyber security because it would offend his Russian masters. This is the sort of press that could start to make Trump’s base question him. I’ve always felt that Trump could be as thick, as raw, as sexist, bigoted, ogreish as he wanted to be. But if he starts to look weak and ineffectual, that could be a problem. As I said in the Hillary redux threads, part of the reason Trump was elected was based on the appearance of his strength in contrast to the appearance of her weakness. Trump is now beginning to look weak, at least with respect to Russia. And now that some Repubs in the senate are starting to openly ignore him, voters may no longer have the confidence that he can just go in and manhandle people the way he wants. This is why presidents say that the job has a way of humbling them. Many have gone in with the intention of rocking the system, only to find that it doesn’t move so easily. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9287 "2017-08-03T10:23:00Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > He wouldn’t DARE let his veto be overridden. That would mean he lost. This. He knows he’d lose. The measure was voted something like 97-2 (might be slightly inaccurate but you get the point). If Trump sends it back, they’ll shove it up his ass. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9288 "2017-08-03T10:28:18Z")
> [@arles](#): > > Please let me know when he hires lawyers with RICO experience… Mueller himself probably knows the basics of how to move forward with a RICO prosecution, and I’m sure many on his team have that sort of background. They are clearly looking at his financials. This is about the money. And the way I look at it, Trump is in full-blown panic mode with or without a prosecution because they will ultimately reveal to the public the one thing he’s terrified of: he’s not really a billionaire in the true sense. He’s a “billionaire” on paper and a scam artist. He’s going to be exposed for the fraud that he is. I am surprised he hasn’t tried to stuff the investigation already given how much he’s tried to whip General Beauregard in public. That could have been the last straw with some people in the Senate, but it’s the House that will really matter. Some in the House are still willing to fight the good fight with him, but Donny’s time to make a move could be running out. ---
**Author:** ![Hocus\_Pocus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/41988e/32.png) [@Hocus\_Pocus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hocus_Pocus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9289 "2017-08-03T10:35:56Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > This. > > He knows he’d lose. The measure was voted something like 97-2 (might be slightly inaccurate but you get the point). If Trump sends it back, they’ll shove it up his ass. To me that presents an interesting question. Would Trump’s ego allow him to veto a bill that had a vote count closer to the 2/3 majority margin? I pretty much doubt it. He would probably again sign it with a pouting errrrr signing statement. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9290 "2017-08-03T11:22:51Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Mueller himself probably knows the basics of how to move forward with a RICO prosecution, and I’m sure many on his team have that sort of background. They are clearly looking at his financials. The other good thing about the financials is that it nearly automatically goes international. Whatever the actual limits of the presidential pardon power are he sure as hell can’t pardon anyone of German Federal crimes, and any dirty money they had almost certainly went through Deutsche Bank. And it’s always nice to have a big stick to hold over the underlings testimony when aiming for the bastard on top. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9291 "2017-08-03T11:34:30Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Not to flog a deceased equine, but how exactly would these people call Mr. Trump to begin with? Are we expected to believe he just hands his cell number out to all and sundry and says “ring me anytime”, or do they look up the central White House number and somehow convince the operator to connect them? > > “Mr. Trump, I have a guy who says he’s the head of the Boy Scouts on the line.” > > “Sounds legit. Put him through.” > > I mean, if I could call up the White House and get through that easily, I have a few things I’d like to say… Story from back in May. [Trump handing out personal cell number to world leaders.](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/31/trump-reportedly-handing-out-his-cellphone-number-to-world-leaders-raising-eavesdropping-concerns.html)President Trump has been giving fellow world leaders his personal cellphone number, former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice, told The Associated Press. > [@](#): > > Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, these sources said. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9292 "2017-08-03T12:14:42Z")
> **[Trump's approval rating sinks even further in a series of new polls](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-approval-rating-low-2017-8)** > > Trump's approval rating hasn't improved since he became the most unpopular modern president at the six-month marker. Trump’s poll numbers diving down into the low to mid-30s. If these numbers are accurate - and considering right-leaning Rasmussen has him at 38, I see no reason why they aren’t - this could be getting into dangerous territory here. But here’s an even more ominous poll, one that doesn’t just spell trouble for the president, but for his entire party: > **[Poll: Democrats surge ahead on generic ballot](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/02/democrats-ballot-2018-election-241228)** > > The results came on the heels of a week in which the GOP effort to repeal Obamacare crashed and burned in the Senate and President Trump’s chief of staff left the White House. Generic Democrats are now firmly in command of races against generic republicans. Nobody will argue that these are predictors of individual races, but it shows that the GOP brand is taking a serious hit. If the GOP had been this unpopular back in June, it’s entirely possible that someone like Jon Ossoff could have pulled off a stunning upset. Trump’s poll numbers are one thing - those are sure to dip and dive from time to time but when the GOP’s polling numbers as a whole go south, that’s an entirely different situation altogether. The party doesn’t want to go down with Trump…and they don’t necessarily have to when they’ve got a backup QB that they’ve always secretly preferred anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9293 "2017-08-03T12:33:28Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > Still, with more than a half-million views and closing in on ten thousand replies, can we please pity the poor hamsters and start a **The Trump Administration: An Ever-Changing Clusterfuck** thread? I just started [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=832505), if anyone wants to use it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9294 "2017-08-03T12:34:39Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I just started [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=832505), if anyone wants to use it. I, for one, am looking for the one whose title ends in “What a Clusterfuck it WAS” ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9295 "2017-08-03T12:43:20Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I, for one, am looking for the one whose title ends in “What a Clusterfuck it WAS” Baby [del]hands[/del] steps. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9296 "2017-08-03T12:59:51Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I, for one, am looking for the one whose title ends in “What a Clusterfuck it WAS” Clustertrump: the prosecutions begin ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9297 "2017-08-03T13:06:03Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I, for one, am looking for the one whose title ends in “What a Clusterfuck it WAS” Ah, what a glorious time it was, back when this administration was only a CF … ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9298 "2017-08-03T13:10:36Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Actually, i think this thread is good. > > My criticism of it, way back on the first page, was that it was, at the time, just another thread added to the sixteen or seventeen (i’m not exaggerating) Trump-related threads that you had already started in the month after the election. Your tendency to start a new thread every time you saw some new piece of outrageous information about Trump is what was getting on my tits; this thread actually served a useful purpose if managed to channel your energy a little bit. I get your point. MY point is that unfortunately my hysteria and hyperbole, however they manifested, turned out to be fully justified. And then some. > [@Nava](#): > > But it hasn’t been made, this administration shuffles more than a Carnaval parade. Thank goodness unlike a Carnavale parade, people have mostly left their clothes on. > [@asahi](#): > > This is the sort of press that could start to make Trump’s base question him. I’ve always felt that Trump could be as thick, as raw, as sexist, bigoted, ogreish as he wanted to be. But if he starts to look weak and ineffectual, that could be a problem. … If his base gets to hear about it. Is FOX reporting on the Russia bill? > [@](#): > > And now that some Repubs in the senate are starting to openly ignore him, voters may no longer have the confidence that he can just go in and manhandle people the way he wants. This is why presidents say that the job has a way of humbling them. Many have gone in with the intention of rocking the system, only to find that it doesn’t move so easily. This is the hopeful part. Although Donnie will never admit he couldn’t whoop the system. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9299 "2017-08-03T13:24:25Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I get your point. MY point is that unfortunately my hysteria and hyperbole, however they manifested, turned out to be fully justified. And then some. > > Thank goodness unlike a Carnavale parade, people have mostly left their clothes on. > > If his base gets to hear about it. Is FOX reporting on the Russia bill? This is the hopeful part. Although Donnie will never admit he couldn’t whoop the system. There’s only so much that Fox News can’t report. It’s obviously way too early to make bold predictions but these mid-terms are already starting to look like the 2006 bloodbath that the GOP suffered through during Bush’s struggles with Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9300 "2017-08-03T13:47:24Z")
The Great Orange Negotiator pleads with Mexican President, “Stop saying Mexico won’t pay for the wall.” [Phone call transcript](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/australia-mexico-transcripts/?utm_term=.3b88f7767e50). Trump: “[I’ll look like a dope!](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/you-cannot-say-that-to-the-press-trump-urged-mexican-president-to-end-his-public-defiance-on-border-wall-transcript-reveals/2017/08/03/0c2c0a4e-7610-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.e8a7da266b5a)” Proving again what an incompetent pathetic buffoon he (Trump) really is. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9301 "2017-08-03T13:56:43Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Fuck me, [I was right](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20377205&postcount=8809). The stupid sumbitch literally does not know that he does not have to sign everything presented to him. A real president would veto the bill he disagrees with by sending it back to Congress with an explanation of his disagreement. What we have is a big stupid tantrum-throwing over-aged toddler whining “You can’t make me do it”. > > Good Lord, how can this get any worse? > > That question is an exclamation, not a challenge. I’m not convinced he doesn’t know that he doesn’t have to sign it. (Rereads that sentence – did I say that right?) Shrub did this all the time… signed bills into law but with an accompanying signing statement saying he disagreed with parts of the law, wouldn’t enforce it, etc. And as others have noted, it’s probably better to save face to some degree by doing it this way than by vetoing and having it overwhelmingly overridden. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9302 "2017-08-03T14:07:15Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > There’s only so much that Fox News can’t report. … So many stories, so little time not to report them. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > The Great Orange Negotiator pleads with Mexican President, “Stop saying Mexico won’t pay for the wall.” [Phone call transcript](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/australia-mexico-transcripts/?utm_term=.3b88f7767e50). > > Trump: “[I’ll look like a dope!](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/you-cannot-say-that-to-the-press-trump-urged-mexican-president-to-end-his-public-defiance-on-border-wall-transcript-reveals/2017/08/03/0c2c0a4e-7610-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.e8a7da266b5a)” > > Proving again what an incompetent pathetic buffoon he (Trump) really is. And once again proving that the ONLY important thing is for him to LOOK LIKE a winner. He doesn’t have to be a winner. He just has to look like one. This is the whole crux of the Hillary-got-more-votes-than-me problem: _even though I’M the President, I LOST to her, measured by the number of votes. Therefore those votes had to be fraudulent, and by god, I’m going to prove it._ Holy crap, the magnitude and tenacity of his delusion is something to behold. He will be the subject of psychology (and possibly anthropology) doctoral dissertations for years to come. I said this decades ago in the early hours of his Presidency (when I was young and in my prime), the way to get him out of office is to somehow define that as the winning strategy. He’ll go down in history as the President who left the office a WINNER! When he runs in 2020 and when (please God!) loses, there will be hell to pay. He’ll probably sue every voter in the United States individually for fraud, corruption, and … I dunno … voting while intoxicated. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9303 "2017-08-03T14:20:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Sadly, it has turned out to be worse than one imagined back then, and yet, we’re actually getting used to the newsbombs falling on our heads several times a day. it’s true and it’s terrible: people make fun, tune out, and whatever it takes but we are NORMALIZING this chaos because that is what people do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=464) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=466)