# 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:** 762
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15225 "2018-01-11T10:38:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump just waived fines for Deutsche Bank (and four others) for their activities in the LIBOR interest rate manipulation. Trump owes Deutsche Bank at least $130 million. > [Trump Administration Waives Punishment For Convicted Banks, Including Deutsche — Which Trump Owes Millions | IBTimes](http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/trump-administration-waives-punishment-convicted-banks-including-deutsche-which) One way to interpret this is that it’s a gentleman’s agreement to knock off some of the debt Trump reportedly owes Deutsch Bank, but then again, banks aren’t necessarily committed to honor gentlemen’s agreements. They could still call Trump’s debt home if/when he leaves office. I suspect Trump is probably doing this as an incentive not to cooperate with the Mueller probe. We know that Mueller already has some of Deutch Bank’s official records on Trump’s financial transactions, but what Mueller has and how much of it is anyone’s guess. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15226 "2018-01-11T10:52:56Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > One way to interpret this is that it’s a gentleman’s agreement to knock off some of the debt Trump reportedly owes Deutsch Bank, but then again, banks aren’t necessarily committed to honor gentlemen’s agreements. They could still call Trump’s debt home if/when he leaves office. Unless Trump’s “blind trust” is negotiating away that debt as we speak… ---
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15227 "2018-01-11T11:21:13Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Unless Trump’s “blind trust” is negotiating away that debt as we speak… Good point. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15228 "2018-01-11T14:44:08Z")
> [@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. An MSNBC anchor (whose name escapes me) read that and commented (I think literally with an eye-roll) “_Letters_? wow, mail delivery was really fast that day.” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15229 "2018-01-11T14:50:06Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump just waived fines for Deutsche Bank (and four others) for their activities in the LIBOR interest rate manipulation. Trump owes Deutsche Bank at least $130 million. > [Trump Administration Waives Punishment For Convicted Banks, Including Deutsche — Which Trump Owes Millions | IBTimes](http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/trump-administration-waives-punishment-convicted-banks-including-deutsche-which) That article does not actually say what you are claiming. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15230 "2018-01-11T15:02:21Z")
> [@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. I agree, I don’t think it is “bad” lip reading, it seems really accurate. ---
**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, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15231 "2018-01-11T15:35:54Z")
Let’s give credit when it’s due. Donald Trump has apparently been taking some classes in geography. Kellyanne Conway was discussing the proposed border wall in an interview yesterday and she said the Beloved Leader had recently “discovered” the concept of terrain. He then presented this information to his administration, who presumably had never encountered the concept before. As Conway explained _“There are rivers involved, I’m told, mountains, terrain that isn’t conducive to building an actual physical structure in some places.”_ Current events, on the other hand, remains a subject the administration is having problems with. When questioned about Hillary Clinton, Conway stated _“We don’t care about her. Nobody here talks about her. Hey, Chris, nobody here talks about Hillary Clinton, I promise you.”_ Earlier that same day, the President (who is rumored to be a key figure in the Trump administration) had tweeted \*“Did Dems or Clinton also pay Russians? Where are hidden and smashed DNC servers? Where are Crooked Hillary Emails? What a mess!” \* ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15232 "2018-01-11T15:38:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Earlier that same day, the President\*\* (who is rumored to be a key figure in the Trump administration)…\*\* Heh. I like that. ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15233 "2018-01-11T16:10:25Z")
^^ It depends what Mueller finds out. We may hear something like: " Who ? Oh Donny, that burger boy. Hardly ever met him, had nothing to do with anything… " ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15234 "2018-01-11T16:41:27Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Donald Trump’s Spiritual Adviser Paula White Suggests People Send Her Their January Salary or Face Consequences From God](http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-spiritual-adviser-paula-white-suggests-people-send-her-salary-775228) > > Holy Con-Artist, Fatman! From the link: > [@](#): > > When you honor this principle, it provides the foundation and structure for God’s blessings and promises in your life. It unlocks deep dimensions of spiritual truths that literally transform your life. When you apply this, everything comes in divine alignment for his plan and promises for you. **When you don’t honor it, whether through ignorance or direct disobedience, there are consequences**. Her god punishes people for not doing things they don’t know they are supposed to do? What a shitty god. Fuck him/her/it. ---
**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, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15235 "2018-01-11T16:50:19Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > From the link:Her god punishes people for not doing things they don’t know they are supposed to do? What a shitty god. Fuck **him/her/it**. God is fluidgender? 😃 At any rate, you’ve got his/her/it’s attention. Bad move. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15236 "2018-01-11T16:57:19Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > God is fluidgender? 😃 > At any rate, you’ve got his/her/it’s attention. Bad move. I’m not worried. I’m an atheist but my god is an angry, jealous, vengeful god. My god would crush her god. ---
**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, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15237 "2018-01-11T17:03:21Z")
Another Trumpoltroon has another [bad media day](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/10/trumps-ambassador-to-netherlands-was-asked-to-name-a-person-burned-because-of-islam-he-couldnt): > [@](#): > > Peter Hoekstra, the newly minted U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, held his first news conference with the Dutch media at his new residence in The Hague on Wednesday. > > It did not go well. > > Dutch journalists peppered Hoekstra with questions on unsubstantiated claims he made in 2015 about chaos that the “Islamic movement” had allegedly brought to the Netherlands… > > When pressed by the Dutch reporters, Hoekstra declined to retract the comments or give specific examples to back them up. > > In fact, after saying that he would not be “revisiting the issue,” he simply refused to answer the question at all… Alas, Mr. Hoekstra’s day got even worse as he ran afoul of a strange and unfamiliar custom practiced in this foreign land: > [@](#): > > But the reporters were not done with the line of questioning. Instead of moving on, another reporter would simply ask a variation of the query again. > > “Everybody there had one question: That crazy statement you made, are you going to withdraw it?” Roel Geeraedts, a political reporter at the Dutch television station RTL Nieuws, said in a phone interview about the event. “We were not getting answers, so we all kept asking it.”… Can somebody find out what those Dutch reporters were drinking and send ours a few cases? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15238 "2018-01-11T17:14:56Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > From the link:Her god punishes people for not doing things they don’t know they are supposed to do? What a shitty god. Fuck him/her/it. Of all the people who will owe us (normal people) an apology at the end of this, the evangelicals are at the top of the list. ---
**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, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15239 "2018-01-11T17:19:20Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’m not worried. I’m an atheist but my god is an angry, jealous, vengeful god. My god would crush her god. God Fight! If they are both omnipotent, how is that going to end? Sounds like a lot of collateral damage. ---
**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, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15240 "2018-01-11T17:22:31Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > God Fight! > > If they are both omnipotent, how is that going to end? Sounds like a lot of collateral damage. Or a couple of REALLY big burritos. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15241 "2018-01-11T18:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Rick Kitchen View Post > Trump just waived fines for Deutsche Bank (and four others) for their activities in the LIBOR interest rate manipulation. Trump owes Deutsche Bank at least $130 million. > [http://www.ibtimes.com/political-cap...deutsche-which](http://www.ibtimes.com/political-cap...deutsche-which) > [@Slash1972](#): > > That article does not actually say what you are claiming. It seems to say exactly that. > [@](#): > > The Trump administration has waived part of the punishment for five megabanks whose affiliates were convicted and fined for manipulating global interest rates. One of the Trump administration waivers was granted to Deutsche Bank — which is owed at least $130 million by President Donald Trump and his business empire, and has also been fined for its role in a Russian money laundering scheme. ---
**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, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15242 "2018-01-11T18:42:59Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > That article does not actually say what you are claiming. Care to enlighten me? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15243 "2018-01-11T18:50:49Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Care to enlighten me? The [WP article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/trump-lender-gets-waiver-from-punishment-after-conviction/2018/01/10/4b5dcd1a-f64e-11e7-9af7-a50bc3300042_story.html?utm_term=.9e01b807bb3a) is a bit more clear. > [@](#): > > The Labor Department has granted Deutsche Bank a waiver from punishment allowing it to continue to manage retirement accounts for another three years, according to an announcement in the Federal Registry last month. Four other banks convicted in the case were also granted waivers. ---
**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, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15244 "2018-01-11T19:14:39Z")
Interestingly, the International Business Times article I originally linked to is gone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=761) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=763)