# 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:** 761
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15205 "2018-01-11T01:45:16Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > He also wants to make it illegal to knowingly print false things. This law will also have the benefit of creating at least one new job – a semaphore guy to replace his (now banned) teleprompter. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15206 "2018-01-11T01:54:26Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Did we mention [Trump’s attempt to re-write libel laws](https://apnews.com/9f9f20453665408f8a15220e1cb63743/Trump-says-administration-taking-look-at-current-libel-laws)? I don’t mean the idea of it, I mean his actually doing it:Ya know what’s going to make it difficult to do this? How about the fact that there is no federal libel law?Our president is a fucking idiot. I wanna see his face when ALL the people he insulted and slandered use this law (not that it has any chance of passing) against HIM. But, he doesn’t get to rule by decree - yet. It still has to go through the House and Senate. Not likely. A federal law to boot? Derp derp herp derp. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15207 "2018-01-11T02:32:41Z")
[“After Becoming President, Trump Has Sold Millions in Real Estate In Secret Deals”](http://www.newsweek.com/trump-real-estate-secret-buyers-777276) > [@](#): > > …Even after taking office, President Donald Trump has sold more than $35 million worth of real estate last year to secretive buyers. > > Trump sold 41 luxury condo units in Las Vegas last year to people who used limited liability companies (LLCs), which allow them to hide their identities, a USA Today report found. The president can withdraw profits from these sales at any time using a trust that names him as the sole beneficiary but is managed by sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. > > Before Trump signed the GOP tax bill into law in December 2017, a last-minute tax break was added for real estate investors who use LLCs, partnerships and S corporations to make deals. > > The number of buyers using LLCs to purchase property from Trump climbed even before the tax break was announced last year. A mere 4 percent of buyers used the secretive shell companies in the two years before Trump became the Republican nominee. A year later, the number dramatically increased to nearly 70 percent, according to USA Today… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15208 "2018-01-11T02:38:18Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > He also wants to make it illegal to knowingly print false things. That’s the very definition of libel. Mr. (gag) President. Hmm. Pass your new libel laws and you will never be able to Twitter again. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15209 "2018-01-11T02:51:20Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Did we mention [Trump’s attempt to re-write libel laws](https://apnews.com/9f9f20453665408f8a15220e1cb63743/Trump-says-administration-taking-look-at-current-libel-laws)? I don’t mean the idea of it, I mean his actually doing it:Ya know what’s going to make it difficult to do this? How about the fact that there is no federal libel law?Our president is a fucking idiot. Also: he just sued Fusion GPS, for creating the dossier, and Buzzfeed for publishing it. Like I said in the Mueller thread, this is beautiful. > **[Trump lawyer files lawsuits against BuzzFeed, Fusion GPS over dossier | CNN...](https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/politics/trump-lawsuit-buzzfeed-fusion-gps/index.html)** > > Nearly one year to the day after the Russia dossier’s publication, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer hit both the research firm that produced it and the news organization that released it with lawsuits, saying its allegations about him are... > [@cnn article](#): > > Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for Trump who is named in the dossier, says BuzzFeed and several of its staffers defamed him when it published the 35-page document and an accompanying article last January. He also says that Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson, its founder, similarly defamed him after it hired an ex-British spy to compile the document as part of its opposition research against the Trump campaign. > > BuzzFeed, as well as its editor-in-chief, Ben Smith, reporter Ken Bensinger and editors Miriam Elder and Mark Schoofs are named as the defendants in the state-level suit. > > “Even though defendant BuzzFeed expressly acknowledged the unverified (and potentially unverifiable) nature of the dossier’s allegations, defendant BuzzFeed published the un-redacted dossier and the article anyway – without attempting to determine the veracity of these reports with plaintiff himself,” Cohen wrote in the lawsuit filed Tuesday night in New York state court. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15210 "2018-01-11T03:13:15Z")
A suggestion I’m putting out there. This thread is over three hundred pages long. Should we start a new thread on January 20th for the second year of the Trump Administration? And, if so, should we call it _Trump Administration II: Electric Boogaloo_? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15211 "2018-01-11T03:27:55Z")
No! I’m taking a perverse pride in how many posts Trump and his clusterfuck have spawned. While the 'Pubs have become more and more numb to what’s going on, we have stood strong. If we hit 20,000, we’ll have really been doing our job here! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15212 "2018-01-11T04:15:58Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Also: he just sued Fusion GPS, for creating the dossier, and Buzzfeed for publishing it. Like I said in the Mueller thread, this is beautiful. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/politics/trump-lawsuit-buzzfeed-fusion-gps/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/politics/trump-lawsuit-buzzfeed-fusion-gps/index.html) It’s not Trump who’s brought the lawsuit; it’s Trump’s lawyer, because he’s mentioned in the dossier. However, I think he may have shot himself in the foot in his own pleadings: > [@](#): > > Fusion GPS “recklessly placed it beyond their control and allowed it to fall into the hands of media devoted to breaking news on the hottest subject of the day: the Trump candidacy,” the federal lawsuit against the firm said. That’s a clear acknowledgement that Trump was the epitome of a public figure, which I would think drags the lawyer along, by associating with and representing that public figure. Wouldn’t that mean he has to meet the stringent 1st amendment test of knowledge and malice, because he himself is a public figure? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15213 "2018-01-11T04:17:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A suggestion I’m putting out there. This thread is over three hundred pages long. > > Should we start a new thread on January 20th for the second year of the Trump Administration? And, if so, should we call it _Trump Administration II: Electric Boogaloo_? I would support that. I would go further. I have a real dislike for omnibus threads because they suck up all related matters and you have to be really dedicated to following it. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15214 "2018-01-11T04:28:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This thread is over three hundred pages long. Huh. How come I only see 153? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15215 "2018-01-11T04:31:18Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Huh. How come I only see 153? Your “posts per page” number is probably different from that Doper’s. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15216 "2018-01-11T04:39:01Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Huh. How come I only see 153? I only have 77 (because I have “posts per page” set at 200). ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15217 "2018-01-11T04:42:24Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > It’s not Trump who’s brought the lawsuit; it’s Trump’s lawyer, because he’s mentioned in the dossier. > > However, I think he may have shot himself in the foot in his own pleadings: > > That’s a clear acknowledgement that Trump was the epitome of a public figure, which I would think drags the lawyer along, by associating with and representing that public figure. Wouldn’t that mean he has to meet the stringent 1st amendment test of knowledge and malice, because he himself is a public figure? IANAL, but it would seem that the other part that makes success of this lawsuit unlikely is that Steele, on behalf of Fusion GPS, seems to have merely compiled a series of reports gathered from various independent sources, with no particular editorial expression of opinion as to their accuracy. It would seem, therefore, that there is no libel by Steele or Fusion GPS (and certainly not by Buzzfeed) and that Cohen should be going after the unnamed original sources, if anyone. I’m quite happy to be corrected on this if I’m getting the details wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15218 "2018-01-11T04:49:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > It’s not Trump who’s brought the lawsuit; it’s Trump’s lawyer, because he’s mentioned in the dossier. > > However, I think he may have shot himself in the foot in his own pleadings: > > That’s a clear acknowledgement that Trump was the epitome of a public figure, which I would think drags the lawyer along, by associating with and representing that public figure. Wouldn’t that mean he has to meet the stringent 1st amendment test of knowledge and malice, because he himself is a public figure? Sorry, I miss read that as Cohen filed it on Trump’s behalf, not on his own. Still hilarious. Buzzfeed is taking the line that the document was the center of public discussion at the time they published it, and that therefore they had a legitimate interest in providing it to the public, regardless of its veracity. Fusion and Steele haven’t responded, but I don’t think they will have any trouble. Cohen is claiming that the Dossier contains false statements about him. That means he’s going to have to prove in court that the dossier is untruthful, not merely incorrect, getting a court to rule on the nature of the whole document. In short - the Republicans are full of shit. Trying to take their shit to court is unlikely to work out for them in the long run. But as with the earlier court case we were discussing a few days ago, Manafort askign a judge to shut Mueller down, I think they’re hoping to get this up to the Supreme Court and hoping that “their” justice will stay “loyal”. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15219 "2018-01-11T04:55:34Z")
Trump claims that news anchors sent him letters of praise over the meeting he had in the White House yesterday. When asked which news anchors did that, which would seem to be a violation of journalistic ethics, the list provided by the White House was of CNN videos and a bunch of tweets. No letters. And none of the people in them were news anchors. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15220 "2018-01-11T05:00:15Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump claims that news anchors sent him letters of praise over the meeting he had in the White House yesterday. When asked which news anchors did that, which would seem to be a violation of journalistic ethics, the list provided by the White House was of CNN videos and a bunch of tweets. No letters. And none of the people in them were news anchors. And none seemed particularly complimentary. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15221 "2018-01-11T05:07:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I would support that. I would go further. I have a real dislike for omnibus threads because they suck up all related matters and you have to be really dedicated to following it. You’ve been here for 19 years; how much more dedicated need one be? ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15222 "2018-01-11T06:20:41Z")
And to lighten things up a little, here’s Donald Trump’s Anthem, a bad lip reading: For all we know, those ARE the words he sang. Because he is, like, the best singer with the best words. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15223 "2018-01-11T06:23:52Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I give you… Dr. Gene Scott. > > [Rakin’ in the dough](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3X-GtEnjME). > > It starts out with Scott counting pledges – many for like $3,000. In 1977. But apparently the pledges fall short. > > At 4:00: ‘Not one more word tonight until that thousand comes in.’ He sits and glowers for two minutes. > > At 6:08: ‘Do you understand it? God’s work hangs on six hundred miserable dollars! And you sit there glued to your chair!’ Then he berates his TV audience until they meet his goal. And then he complains that he had to yell at them. When discussing religion with some particularly devout people, I’ve occasionally said that I can’t accept any ideology in which it’s considered a generally good thing that people are tortured for all eternity. Is there any crime or number of crimes that can be committed in a finite lifespan, that justifies eternal torment? …I withdraw my objection. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15224 "2018-01-11T06:31:28Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > And to lighten things up a little, here’s Donald Trump’s Anthem, a bad lip reading: > > For all we know, those ARE the words he sang. Because he is, like, the best singer with the best words. In other news, I hear\* from Wolff’s book that there are White House staffers planning on replacing “Hail to the Chief” with this song: \* well, close enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=760) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=762)