# 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:** 773
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15445 "2018-01-13T18:05:42Z")
Reports from sources are President Chump is sitting back and laughing at the controversy over his “shithole” remarks. ---
**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 13, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15446 "2018-01-13T18:13:21Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > What astounds me are people who think that Trump’s base — who were happy Trump “grabbed pussy”, happy he ridiculed a handicapped reporter, happy he told farfetched lies about Cruz’ father, etc. — will care one whit that the ape referred to shithole countries as “shithole countries.” They probably won’t. But Trump needs to reach beyond his base if he wants to get re-elected. The majority of Americans aren’t deplorables. That said, I think it is possible that even his base might desert Trump. This week alone a major financial scandal, a major racism scandal, and a major sex scandal have been revealed. The True Believers may forgive anything but are they willing to forgive everything? We might end up seeing the white nationalists distancing themselves from Trump in order to protect their image. _“Sure, we’ve always stood with the President when it comes to racism. And we’re okay with the sexism. But we can’t look away when he starts selling out American interests to other countries.”_ ---
**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 13, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15447 "2018-01-13T18:16:46Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I hope so, but please please please, fellow Democrats, be smart about this. I cringe every time a see a news story talking about the upcoming “Blue Wave” election and how the Democrats are going to win it all come November. And I’m seeing a lot of them. And it’s only January. This is just going to motivate the opposition. > > I don’t want to be hit by that “What Happened?” stun gun on November 6th. Once was enough. Let’s not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again, please. I agree this is a real issue. Trump may end up looking so weak that people will stop seeing him as a real threat. But Trump is his own worst enemy. He just keeps coming up with new ways to outrage people and keep them motivated to oppose him. The _“Why bother? Trump always ends up winning.”_ attitude is just as dangerous as the _“Don’t worry. Trump is doomed.”_ attitude. People need to see Trump as a serious problem - but one that can be fixed. We have to navigate between despair and complacency. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15448 "2018-01-13T18:52:17Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t know what’s more surprising; that Trump thought O’Keefe could infiltrate Columbia and get Obama’s records, or that _O’Keefe has journalistic standards._ What standards? He either didn’t think he could get away with it, or he lied. ---
**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 13, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15449 "2018-01-13T19:06:00Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I grew up in Jesus country. The time spent observing how people would talk about believing in a God of love on one hand and a God that can judge and punish misdeeds on the other was interesting, particularly considering how many times I saw people say or do things that a loving but judgmental God would probably frown upon. People tend to use God to justify their greed and they also use God to excuse themselves when they know they’ve gone too far. Gov. Greitens is a classic example. God forgives him, so it’s all good. Now that he’s done screwing around on his wife he can go back to screwing the people of Missouri. A Christian is a man who feels Repentance on a Sunday For what he did on Saturday, And plans to do on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15450 "2018-01-13T20:04:00Z")
I don’t care much at all about the ‘shithole’ comment. It just shows us that he is what we thought. I’m frankly running out of pejoratives to describe trump. Stupid criminal racist asshole covers it. My, and our concerns should be - [ul] [li]Making the USA a laughing stock on the world stage (he’s succeeded in that)[/li][li]Hurting the environment (we all got to live somewhere)[/li][li]Taking away health care (we will all need it sometime)[/li][li]Fucking up the economy so he and his buddies can enrich themselves further (If tens or hundreds of millions is not enough, you’re doing it wrong)[/li][li]I don’t think he will start a war with NK, but that’s a concern too.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15451 "2018-01-13T20:19:57Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > So, what WILL precipitate Trump’s downfall? It’s gotta happen, right? > > ☹ I’m hoping for something like Meuller connecting all the Russia and money laundering and racketeering dots directly to him, Democrats taking the House and Senate so we can finally get an impeachment, followed by criminal indictments and convictions for him, his cronies, and his family. Followed by total financial ruin, years in prison (and not some country club either), and finally death by starvation while living destitute on the street with no welfare or health care. That includes Junior, Nunez, Pence, Sessions, McConnell, ALL the bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15452 "2018-01-13T21:03:25Z")
[Newsweek](http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-welfare-black-white-780252). TIFWIW. > [@](#): > > TRUMP THINKS ONLY BLACK PEOPLE ARE ON WELFARE > > In the spring of 2017, the newly elected president met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. During that meeting, one of the members mentioned to Trump that welfare reform would be detrimental to her constituents— adding, “Not all of whom are black,” according to NBC News. > > The president was incredulous. “Really? Then what are they?” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15453 "2018-01-13T21:08:28Z")
> [@j666](#): > > What standards? He either didn’t think he could get away with it, or he lied. Given O’Keefe’s last attempt at infiltration resulted in his arrest I suspect he’s going to stick with just doing pathetic entrapments from here out. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15454 "2018-01-13T23:19:16Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Newsweek](http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-welfare-black-white-780252). TIFWIW. Based on the clip you have provided, I would say that a more accurate statement would be that Trump thinks only black people are represented by the Congressional Black Caucus. Still wrong, but at least more explainably so. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15455 "2018-01-13T23:30:31Z")
Saw this on Snopes: [World Media Struggle to Translate Trump’s Africa Insult](https://www.snopes.com/2018/01/13/world-media-struggle-translate-trumps-africa-insult/?utm_source=bme&utm_medium=manual&utm_campaign=saturday_update&bt_ee=6DvkqHOLvbL5hUFJTNY42qU6I+MDVV3UfuobANuvqw1QSKuL5xwBdvn6XthOLZhh&bt_ts=1515878480523&utm_source=bme&utm_medium=manual&utm_campaign=saturday_update&bt_ee=WLLQCiuiqWJzA/3hwFzNAeokdnfImrYws/sdkDbQ7x9P+spyWOsjkhYd5HQ5GLuL&bt_ts=1515878480415) ---
**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 14, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15456 "2018-01-14T00:24:41Z")
Two companies that Betsy DeVos has invested in in the past have gotten contracts from the Education Department. > **[Education Dept. awards debt-collection contract to company with ties to DeVos](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/01/11/education-dept-awards-debt-collection-contract-to-company-with-ties-to-devos/?hpid=hp_rhp-more-top-stories_debt-devos-430pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.23aee29121a1)** > > Performant Financial Corp. was one of two firms selected Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education to help the agency collect overdue student loans. The deal with could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15457 "2018-01-14T01:26:23Z")
Wouldn’t a scandal of a president paying off a porn star to keep their affair quiet have ended any other presidency? I mean, it wasn’t even the biggest scandal of yesterday, and it’s largely a non-story. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15458 "2018-01-14T02:05:11Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Umm… Correct me if I’m wrong. But Melania did some soft core ‘lesbian’ porn didn’t she? And trump had some modeling agencies I think. hmmm. > > Melania is just a gold digger, we know that. And I suspect she is much, much more intelligent than trump and caught up in a mess. Comparing someone’s intellect to a man with dementia is a bit unfair. My honest impression of Melania Trump is that she is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15459 "2018-01-14T02:42:52Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Wouldn’t a scandal of a president paying off a porn star to keep their affair quiet have ended any other presidency? I mean, it wasn’t even the biggest scandal of yesterday, and it’s largely a non-story. With Chump, it would be a scandal only if he _hadn’t_ called up a second porn star for a threesome. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15460 "2018-01-14T03:19:20Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > It is interesting this broke in the WSJ which is owned by Rupert Murdoch (who also owns Fox News). The WSJ has been pro-Trump. I wonder if Murdoch is souring on Trump. I think WSJ is different from Fox News in that it has generally been successful at maintaining a wall between their rabidly-conservative editorial page and their journalism, which is generally pretty good. (At least this was true in the past; I haven’t followed their reporting so much in the Age of Trump.) ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15461 "2018-01-14T04:37:03Z")
About Trump’s tweets, I think I read that he mostly gets others to actually type and do the tweeting, like Dan Scavino and Trump Organization secretaries before he became President. If he doesn’t actually type in the tweets and push to send and gets others to do it for him, why is his staff continually surprised by many of his tweets that end up causing trouble? If he’s not actually sending them himself and getting Scavino and others to do it, then I don’t understand why they don’t review them first and give the right people (like chief of staff Kelly) a heads up or outright refuse to send the tweet until someone reviews it. If he is up in his bedroom maniacally tweeting away all by himself, then there’s got to be someway for the communications people to “catch” the tweet and review it before it goes out to the pubic ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15462 "2018-01-14T04:42:08Z")
> [@computergeek](#): > > If he is up in his bedroom maniacally tweeting away all by himself, then there’s got to be someway for the communications people to “catch” the tweet and review it before it goes out to the pubic Hey, you’re the computer geek. ---
**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 14, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15463 "2018-01-14T06:06:33Z")
There was an analysis of his tweets during the campaign that reviewed the grammar, style, and platform that the tweets came from. The conclusion was that Donald is an Android guy and not very sophisticated about linking things in tweets - what you would expect from someone in their 70s who had just picked it up by using it. The comm people tweeted from iPhones and showed more technical sophistication. The ones in the mornings were more likely to be Donald’s own, and other tweets later in the day were the comm people. But I don’t see anyway that the comm people could review a tweet before it goes out. Twitter is a direct feed to the internet, isn’t it? Once Donald hits “send” how would the comm people intercept it? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15464 "2018-01-14T06:56:18Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Two companies that Betsy DeVos has invested in in the past have gotten contracts from the Education Department. > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/01/11/education-dept-awards-debt-collection-contract-to-company-with-ties-to-devos/?hpid=hp\_rhp-more-top-stories\_debt-devos-430pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm\_term=.23aee29121a1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/01/11/education-dept-awards-debt-collection-contract-to-company-with-ties-to-devos/?hpid=hp_rhp-more-top-stories_debt-devos-430pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.23aee29121a1) > [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Wouldn’t a scandal of a president paying off a porn star to keep their affair quiet have ended any other presidency? I mean, it wasn’t even the biggest scandal of yesterday, and it’s largely a non-story. I don’t keep track of all the scandals, but (noting for example the post immediately before yours) you’re probably right about “not even the biggest scandal of yesterday.” Very amazing when you think about it. Contrast this with Obama. All he did was fake an Hawaiian birth so he could be born in the Satanic Kenya ritual and, not having anything else, the GOPsters kept talking about it for decades. The National Security Adviser encouraged one AK47-wielding idiot to shoot up a pizza parlor looking for Hillary’s sex slaves. _ **There is credible evidence that Trump is a child rapist** _, and that story goes unnoticed. The $190,000 payoff to the porn star? I won’t ask if it was “below the fold” on page 1 or not — where did it appear? Page 29? _ **Did FauxNews even mention it at all?** _ Monica’s blowjob led to impeachment, but Trump? Child rapist? Target of Russian blackmail? It’s all just “boys will be boys.” _You couldn’t make this story up._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=772) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=774)