# 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:** 611
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12204 "2017-10-12T03:09:33Z")
Republican Senator Ben Sasse: “Mr. President: Are you recanting of the Oath you took on Jan. 20 to preserve, protect, and defend the 1st Amendment?” > **[Ben Sasse to Trump: Are you 'recanting' oath to protect the First Amendment?](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ben-sasse-to-trump-are-you-recanting-oath-to-protect-the-first-amendment)** > > Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., is questioning whether President Trump is still committed to preserving the First Amendment after he repeatedly floated retribution against the media for publishing stories he doesn't like. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12205 "2017-10-12T03:15:31Z")
The Director of the National Background Investigations Bureau told members of Congress that he has never seen so many “mistakes” as in Jared Kushner’s multiple security clearance request attempts. [http://www.talkmedianews.com/featured/2017/10/11/i-have-never-seen-that-level-of-mistakes-official-says-about-kushners-security-clearance-form/](http://www.talkmedianews.com/featured/2017/10/11/i-have-never-seen-that-level-of-mistakes-official-says-about-kushners-security-clearance-form/) ---
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12206 "2017-10-12T03:37:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Republican Senator Ben Sasse: > “Mr. President: > Are you recanting of the Oath you took on Jan. 20 to preserve, protect, and defend the 1st Amendment?” > [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ben-sasse-to-trump-are-you-recanting-oath-to-protect-the-first-amendment/article/2637259](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ben-sasse-to-trump-are-you-recanting-oath-to-protect-the-first-amendment/article/2637259) “Just curious. It’s not as if I’m going to do anything about it, I just want to know if I should act all pious and troubled or not.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12207 "2017-10-12T05:05:36Z")
Worded like that, he took an oath to defend the First. Doesn’t that imply that the rest of them are fair game? Especially that potentially pesky 25th? ---
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12208 "2017-10-12T05:49:52Z")
I think they come as set, unless Republicans think they can govern à la carte (that’s foreign). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12209 "2017-10-12T07:46:02Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Worded like that, he took an oath to defend the First. Doesn’t that imply that the rest of them are fair game? Especially that potentially pesky 25th? Well, [he promised to defend Article 12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/07/07/trump-wants-to-protect-article-xii-of-the-constitution/?utm_term=.08b3a01bfdc7), so we’re good there. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12210 "2017-10-12T09:45:06Z")
We truly live in a world where no matter how much someone is demonstrated to be a hypocrite, it will never make any difference. [“Trump laughs and jokes during solemn “Retreat” ceremony honoring flag while on military base”](https://shareblue.com/trump-laughs-and-jokes-during-solemn-retreat-ceremony-honoring-flag-while-on-military-base/) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12211 "2017-10-12T10:07:35Z")
> [@Junior\_Spaceman](#): > > We truly live in a world where no matter how much someone is demonstrated to be a hypocrite, it will never make any difference. > > [“Trump laughs and jokes during solemn “Retreat” ceremony honoring flag while on military base”](https://shareblue.com/trump-laughs-and-jokes-during-solemn-retreat-ceremony-honoring-flag-while-on-military-base/) In feeble defense, that appears to have been due to his ignorance of the significance of the ceremony. But it’s telling that his first thought was that it was all about him. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12212 "2017-10-12T11:02:17Z")
He…he [thinks](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/12/trump-just-claimed-stock-market-gains-actually-offset-national-debt.html) that when the stock market goes up, the national debt goes down? What? > [@](#): > > “The country — we took it over and owed over $20 trillion,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News, referring to the total national debt, which has hovered near $20 trillion since early 2016. > > “As you know, the last eight years, [the federal government] borrowed more than it did in the whole history of our country,” Trump said. “So they borrowed more than $10 trillion, right? And yet we picked up $5.2 trillion just in the stock market. Possibly picked up the whole thing in terms of the first nine months, in terms of value.” > > “So you could say, in one sense, we’re really increasing values. And maybe in a sense we’re reducing debt. But we’re very honored by it,” Trump said. Is it really that easy to buy a degree from an Ivy League business school? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12213 "2017-10-12T11:59:37Z")
I guess so, since his negotiating tactic with Mexican leaders over funding the wall was him whining that he couldn’t live with their refusal to pay for it. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12214 "2017-10-12T12:10:36Z")
Now he’s about ready to completely rip up NAFTA without any sort of replacement. He’s also apparently telling Canada that he’ll have a NAFTA with Canada but not Mexico (Isn’t that called a bilateral trade agreement?). Trump is set to make Mexico a long-term enemy of the US and he’s making Trudeau look like a weakling and embarrassing Canada in the process. > **[Trump’s Tough Talk on Nafta Raises Prospects of Pact’s Demise (Published 2017)](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/business/economy/nafta-trump.html)** > > The president has long talked about scrapping Nafta. Even skeptics are starting to believe him. He’s also now apparently going to kill the insurance marketplace without any sort of replacement or backup plan. Interestingly enough, this piece that criticizes Herr Trump is written by Ramesh Ponnuru, who’s made a living by being a knee-jerk partisan hack. I guess republitards are just now beginning to figure out that their investments - and those of millions of other dumbasses who drank republican kool aid for all these years - are about to take a nosedive. [https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-10-11/trump-s-cure-for-obamacare-is-worse-than-the-disease](https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-10-11/trump-s-cure-for-obamacare-is-worse-than-the-disease) Meanwhile, Trump is also going to remove any sort of credibility and leverage to propose a deal with North Korea by impulsively ending the Iranian nuclear deal. I think now even conservatives are starting to figure out that Trump is a master con artist and that he was never a businessman; he’s just a billion dollar fraud, propped up by shady investors around the globe (Russia). Trump can’t actually make anything; he just breaks stuff. America has elected a 10-year-old president. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12215 "2017-10-12T12:34:12Z")
Do you think Republicans would be more willing to jump ship if the rest of us solemnly promise to only say, “I told you so” one time? ---
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12216 "2017-10-12T13:24:35Z")
But [America is being respected again](https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/the-president-loves-to-tease-bemused-anderson-cooper-tries-to-wrap-his-head-around-trumps-cryptic-trucker-speech/)! ---
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12217 "2017-10-12T13:30:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > In feeble defense, that appears to have been due to his ignorance of the significance of the ceremony. But it’s telling that his first thought was that it was all about him. One would think with the number of military types that he has put in the White House, that one of them would have tipped him off about this. But if they did, I suspect it went in one ear and meeting no resistance, went out the other. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12218 "2017-10-12T13:30:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But [America is being respected again](https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/the-president-loves-to-tease-bemused-anderson-cooper-tries-to-wrap-his-head-around-trumps-cryptic-trucker-speech/)! You could always check the recent activity of Breitbart, InfoWars, StormFront, and Fox and Friends for clues about what Trump thinks is going on in the world. Or, perhaps the comments are like Trumps “estimates” of crowd size—simply baseless. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12219 "2017-10-12T13:36:23Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > In feeble defense, that appears to have been due to his ignorance of the significance of the ceremony. But it’s telling that his first thought was that it was all about him. No, no…that would be petty and narcissistic. He thought it was about something much more important: ratings. (My god–how many times has the word “ratings” escaped his lips? It boggles the mind.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12220 "2017-10-12T13:42:26Z")
> [@Junior\_Spaceman](#): > > We truly live in a world where no matter how much someone is demonstrated to be a hypocrite, it will never make any difference. > > [“Trump laughs and jokes during solemn “Retreat” ceremony honoring flag while on military base”](https://shareblue.com/trump-laughs-and-jokes-during-solemn-retreat-ceremony-honoring-flag-while-on-military-base/) But he didn’t kneel so that makes it okay. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12221 "2017-10-12T13:51:08Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But [America is being respected again](https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/the-president-loves-to-tease-bemused-anderson-cooper-tries-to-wrap-his-head-around-trumps-cryptic-trucker-speech/)! I read this tasty little nugget in the linked article: > [@](#): > > “ **One of my generals came in** and they said, ‘you know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would have never done that.’ It was a great sign of respect. You’ll probably be hearing about it over the next few days.” What the ever living fuck? Tell me that’s not something Duterte or General Amin would say? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12222 "2017-10-12T14:19:12Z")
> [@Crybaby\_Boobie](#): > > **Once again** , president Stupid Head and I reluctantly agree on something. Bolding mine. Anything else you hang-doggedly agree with him on? ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12223 "2017-10-12T14:46:57Z")
I think it was reported that he was very depressed being president at one point. I also am depressed about that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=610) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=612)