# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/121 "2016-12-10T18:15:27Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > "Reports by @CNN that I will be working on The Apprentice during my Presidency, even part time, are rediculous & untrue [sic] – FAKE NEWS!” > > He’s calling it “fake news” that he is going to work on The Apprentice in his spare time despite the fact that his senior advisor said, exactly that when asked about his role as producer on the show: > > "I mean, presidents have a right to do things in their spare time or their leisure time. I mean, nobody objects to that.” Given Trump’s record on telling the truth, I wouldn’t believe him if he told me he colored his hair. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/122 "2016-12-11T00:38:54Z")
The Donald continues to amaze (even if he does not surprise). > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON — An extraordinary breach has emerged between President-elect Donald J. Trump and the national security establishment, with Mr. Trump mocking American intelligence assessments that Russia interfered in the election on his behalf, and top Republicans vowing investigations into Kremlin activities. > > Mr. Trump, in a statement issued by his transition team on Friday evening, expressed complete disbelief in the intelligence agencies’ assessments. > > “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” Mr. Trump’s team said, adding that the election was over and that it was time to “move on.” > > Though Mr. Trump has wasted no time in antagonizing the agencies, he will have to rely on them for the sort of espionage activities and analysis that they spend more than $70 billion a year to perform. > > At this point in a transition, a president-elect is usually delving into intelligence he has never before seen and learning about C.I.A. and National Security Agency abilities. But Mr. Trump, who has taken intelligence briefings only sporadically, is questioning not only analytic conclusions, but also their underlying facts. > > “To have the president-elect of the United States simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions — wow,” said Michael V. Hayden, who was the director of the N.S.A. and later the C.I.A. under President George W. Bush… > [Whole story here.](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/us/politics/trump-mocking-claim-that-russia-hacked-election-at-odds-with-gop.html?action=click&contentCollection=NYT%20Now&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article) ---
**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:** [December 11, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/123 "2016-12-11T00:51:09Z")
Can anyone come up with a benign reason why DT would ask for this? If you were an energy dept employee, would you be a little worried? C’mon Trumpsters (you know who you are), tell the rest of us why this is perfectly okay and no big deal. \*\*Trump Questionnaire Raises Concerns About Retaliation Against Energy Department Staff \*\* > [@](#): > > Among the queries included in a questionnaire sent by President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team to workers at the Department of Energy is a request for an inventory of all agency employees or contractors who attended meetings or conferences on climate change. Another question asks for a current list of professional society memberships of any lab staff. > > The 74-point questionnaire has raised fears among civil rights lawyers specializing in federal worker whistleblower protections, who say the incoming administration is at a minimum trying to influence or limit the research at the Department of Energy. And at worst, attempting to target employees with views that run counter to the president-elect. > > The questionnaire also asks employees for a listing of when the climate change meetings took place, and to provide any materials distributed to them “or materials created by Department employees or contractors in anticipation of or as a result of those meetings.” > > “This is a very scary indication of what might happen under a Trump administration,” says Jason Zuckerman, a former legal adviser to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an agency which protects federal workers, particularly on matters of retaliation… > > [Rest of the story](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/10/505105258/trump-questionnaire-raises-concerns-about-retaliation-against-energy-department?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/124 "2016-12-11T00:54:44Z")
From ThelmaLou’s link: > [@](#): > > Though Mr. Trump has wasted no time in antagonizing the agencies, he will have to rely on them for the sort of espionage activities and analysis that they spend more than $70 billion a year to perform. That presupposes that Trump cares about some sort of fact-based results. If you actually want to stop people with ill intentions toward America, you need international cooperation, police and military trained, prepared, and deployed around the world, and intelligence networks to identify who you’re looking for. Why go to all that trouble when you can just drop a bomb somewhere, claim it landed on a Radical Islamic Terrorist[sup]TM[/sup], and tell people that they’re safer. Don’t need any intelligence agencies for that. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/125 "2016-12-11T01:24:22Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > From ThelmaLou’s link:That presupposes that Trump cares about some sort of fact-based results. If you actually want to stop people with ill intentions toward America, you need international cooperation, police and military trained, prepared, and deployed around the world, and intelligence networks to identify who you’re looking for. Why go to all that trouble when you can just drop a bomb somewhere, claim it landed on a Radical Islamic Terrorist[sup]TM[/sup], and tell people that they’re safer. Don’t need any intelligence agencies for that. Weren’t a lot of Trump voters the ones who never shut up about Obamas drone policy? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/126 "2016-12-11T01:26:43Z")
[Trump expected to tap Exxon’s Tillerson for State](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-tillerson-secretary-of-state-20161210-story.html). “Few corporate titans are closer to Putin than Tillerson” “Two years later, the Kremlin awarded Tillerson the Order of Friendship, honoring foreigners.” “Russia is critical for Exxon” “What good is it to save the planet if humanity suffers,” he said at a 2013 stockholders meeting, citing the outsized impact on poor people if environmental activists succeeded in establishing company goals to reduce emissions. - I got 50 bucks that says he’s gotten at least one blow job from Sarah Palin. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/127 "2016-12-11T05:08:49Z")
Give me the fifty bucks for brain bleach. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/128 "2016-12-11T16:38:39Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The Donald continues to amaze (even if he does not surprise). He did say he talks to himself regarding foreign policy because he knows what’s going on better than anyone else. 'Course he won’t listen to the intelligence community. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/129 "2016-12-11T16:52:39Z")
Trump doesn’t need daily intelligence briefings because he is “[too smart](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-says-hes-too-smart-for-daily-intelligence-briefings-a7468456.html)”. He also says Pence does get daily briefings. I don’t know if he’s saying Pence is “not smart”, or if he’s admitting Pence is really going to be running the country. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/130 "2016-12-11T17:20:08Z")
I wonder how GWB feels about Trump’s lack of attention to intelligence briefings. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/131 "2016-12-11T18:29:10Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I wonder how GWB feels about Trump’s lack of attention to intelligence briefings. He said, Donald, you can just pretend to listen to them. You don’t have to pay attention, or act on them, or anything. Nothing bad can happen. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/132 "2016-12-11T19:20:58Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > He said, Donald, you can just pretend to listen to them. You don’t have to pay attention, or act on them, or anything. Nothing bad can happen. “And fer God’s sake, don’t let on that you don’t have a clue what they’re talking about! Just nod and scowl and you’ll be fine.” ---
**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:** [December 11, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/133 "2016-12-11T20:50:00Z")
You’d think that after watching those 9/11 celebrations in Jersey, Trump would be especially vigilant about the possibility of an attack on his watch. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/134 "2016-12-11T21:14:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Trump doesn’t need daily intelligence briefings because he is “[too smart](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-says-hes-too-smart-for-daily-intelligence-briefings-a7468456.html)”. “I’m, like, a smart person,” he explained Sunday. “I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years – but eight years. I don’t need that.” He sounds more like a fifth grader arguing why he doesn’t need to keep going to class rather than the President of the United States. Hey, President Clownstick, things actuall occur around the world that impact US policy, often developing on a daily basis. or are we just going to eliminate the State Department, as well, as part of “Making America Great Again”? How much more “Give Trump a chance!” are we supposed to extend to him, again? He isn’t interested in national security, he continues to spread conspiracy theories about electoral fraud, he’s appointed a cabinet full of sludge from the bottom of the swamp and industry insiders who are more conflicted than a third year philosophy major being confronted with the reality that there are no philosophy internships much less actual jobs, Stranger ---
**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:** [December 11, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/135 "2016-12-11T21:23:16Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > … > How much more “Give Trump a chance!” are we supposed to extend to him, again? He isn’t interested in national security, he continues to spread conspiracy theories about electoral fraud, he’s appointed a cabinet full of sludge from the bottom of the swamp and industry insiders who are more conflicted than a third year philosophy major being confronted with the reality that there are no philosophy internships much less actual jobs, > > Stranger Honest to God, THIS is the [del]million[/del]billion-dollar question. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/136 "2016-12-11T21:31:32Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > …a third year philosophy major being confronted with the reality that there are no philosophy internships much less actual job… How do you get an English major off your porch? Pay for the pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/137 "2016-12-11T23:07:49Z")
> **[Trump: US doesn't 'have to be bound' by 'one China' policy | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/11/politics/donald-trump-china-taiwan/index.html)** > > President-elect Donald Trump again signaled Sunday a willingness to confront Beijing, questioning whether the United States should keep its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of "one China." Trump is bound and determined to fuck up US, China relations. The real loser will be Boeing when China cancels 1 trillion dollars worth of orders expected over the next 20 years. Yep, China can do that with one swipe of the pen. I’ll bet Airbus is delighted we have such a moron headed to the Oval throne. Now Airbus will have 1 trillion in extra orders and they will be able to cut prices on along the rest of their line and further damage Boeing’s ability to compete. Trump is such a anal sack. How many jobs will this cost the #1 exporter of American products? This bastard is so nearsighted. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/138 "2016-12-11T23:26:18Z")
I just read he wants Bolton for #2 at State, behind Rex the Putin puppet. Bolton’s foreign policy is basically to just start a war with every other country on Earth, and particularly hates Russia, so that will be interesting. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [December 12, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/139 "2016-12-12T16:21:13Z")
He’s summoning his subjects and telling them how it’s gonna be. (My bold at the end.) From [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/12/donald-trump-is-the-michael-bay-of-politics/510284/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > [@](#): > > This week, Trump will host a summit for technology leaders. With the exception of venture capitalist and vocal Trump supporter Peter Thiel, the tech sector has mostly been at loggerheads with Trump since the campaign began. Generally speaking, the industry is economically libertarian but socially progressive. Even though its own infrastructure, like Facebook and Reddit, probably helped spread support for Trump, tech leaders generally supported Hillary Clinton on social issues while opposing Trump on immigration, encryption, and other hot-button issues for the sector. > > Over the weekend, Recode’s Kara Swisher reported that the meeting, to be held Wednesday at Trump Tower, will be attended by a small group of key players. Among them: Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Sergey Brin, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and the chief executives of Cisco, IBM, Intel, and Oracle. Swisher also writes that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos—who owns the The Washington Post, which has been critical of Trump—was also invited and “is likely to attend.” > > Recode indicates that Trump transition adviser Peter Thiel had a hard time convincing more tech leaders to attend, speculating that the “cool kids” of tech, like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, and VCs Marc Andreessen and Reid Hoffman, were either not invited or not attending. > > Tech-oriented folks like Swisher might like to believe that accepting (or refusing) the invitation represents a possible resistance against the Trump administration. But as I’ve previously argued, that opposition might ultimately be short-lived. A Trump presidency is ultimately compatible with the technology industry’s business goals: lower taxation, reduced regulation, renegotiated trade, and a campaign commitment to domestic infrastructure investment that could benefit Silicon Valley. > > More likely, the Trump tech summit sends a signal to the tech industry: No longer will it enjoy the anonymity and freedom afforded by the Obama administration, whose friendly disregard for the ills of technology only history can judge. And likewise, no longer will Silicon Valley be allowed to ignore Trump’s Hollywood-style, feudal demand for sworn loyalty. **This tech summit isn’t a venue for input or discussion, but a reminder of who is in charge. (Trump’s unusual, late-November meeting with The New York Times had a similar purpose.)** ---
**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:** [December 12, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/140 "2016-12-12T16:41:51Z")
Not just “radical Islam,” but ALL Islam, which Trump and the extreme right view as the enemy of Western Civilization. To them, Putin is our new best friend in this epic global struggle. Trump’s people are on board with this blanket condemnation of an ancient religious civilization. Obama refused to use the term “radical Islam” because of the word Islam-- he didn’t want to condemn the whole religion. Trump, _et al_. have no such hesitation. And his people are too incapable of critical thinking and too uneducated to see the difference. :smack: This is a presentation of the timeline of shifting perspectives on Russia. I’ll summarize with excerpts as best I can, but it’s worth reading the whole thing. From [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/the-conservative-split-on-russia/510317/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) My bold. > [@](#): > > Through his public statements and presidential appointments, Donald Trump is remaking Republican foreign policy in two fundamental ways. **The first concerns Russia.** Previous GOP leaders like Mitt Romney and John McCain described Moscow as an adversary. Trump describes it as a partner. **The second concerns Islam.** Previous GOP leaders—most notably George W. Bush—insisted that the U.S. had no beef with Islam, or with the vast majority of Muslims worldwide. Trump and his top advisors disagree. **They often describe Islam itself as a hostile force, and view ordinary Muslims as guilty of jihadist sympathies until proven innocent.** > > On the surface, these two shifts seem unrelated. But they’re deeply intertwined. Before Trump, Republican leaders generally described the United States as fighting an ideological struggle against the enemies of freedom. Now, Trump and his advisors describe America as fighting a civilizational struggle against the enemies of the West. Seen through that very different lens, Muslims look more nefarious and Vladimir Putin looks more benign. > … > _[Important stuff skipped here]_ > … > When he ran for president, **Trump realized that on Islam, as on trade, Republican elites were out of step with the Republican base.** Trump distinguished himself from his rivals not by proposing a different strategy against ISIS. He distinguished himself by suggesting that the problem was not merely ISIS, or even “radical Islam,” but Muslims in general. Republican leaders reacted to Trump’s call for banning Muslim immigration to the U.S. with revulsion. But, according to surveys, more than seven in 10 GOP voters supported it. > > Trump also broke with his establishment rivals by taking a softer line on Russia. Maybe financial interests motivated him. Maybe he just likes authoritarian tough-guys. Whatever the reason, the deviation seemed politically dangerous given the overwhelming hostility to Putin among GOP foreign-policy elites. But **Trump’s pro-Putin line hasn’t hurt him.** In fact, Republicans as a whole have grown markedly less anti-Russian since 2014. > … > Among the alt-right, Putin is a very popular man. He’s popular because he resists the liberal, cosmopolitan values that Muslims supposedly exploit to undermine the West. Richard Spencer, who was until recently married to a pro-Putin Russian writer, has called Russia the “sole white power in the world.” Matthew Heimbach, another prominent figure in the alt-right, recently told Business Insider that “Russia is the leader of the free world.” > … > Trump is building on this shift to recast GOP foreign policy. He’s moving it away from an ideological confrontation with authoritarian Russia and toward a civilizational conflict with Islam. Trump’s choice for National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn, has tweeted that “fear of Muslims is rational” and that Islam is “like cancer” When asked in August about Putin, he explained that America “beat Hitler because of our relationship with the Russians” and we should renew that partnership in the new world war against “radical Islamism.” Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, likes to talk about the “long history of the Judeo-Christian West struggle against Islam … a war of immense proportions” that continues to this day. > … > This is the backdrop to the looming conflict between Donald Trump and congressional Republicans like John McCain and Lindsey Graham who want to investigate Russia’s efforts to elect him… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=8)