# 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:** 79
**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:** [February 24, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1561 "2017-02-24T22:04:31Z")
[Muhammad Ali, Jr. detained by customs demanding to know if he is a Muslim.](http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/24/muhammad-ali-son-detained-airport-muslim/) ---
**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:** [February 24, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1562 "2017-02-24T22:17:15Z")
At the CPAC meeting, Trump referred to CNN as the “Clinton News Network.” ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1563 "2017-02-24T22:18:22Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Somebody handed out Russian flags with Donald’s name on them at CPAC, and the attendees were waving them enthusiastically during Donald’s speech, till staffers came around to collect them. > [CPAC scrambles to control damage after attendees wave Russian flags during Trump speech](https://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/cpac-scrambles-to-control-damage-after-attendees-wave-russian-flags-during-trump-speech/) HA-ha! 😃 > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The only coverage, day after day, from all of the media should be: > > “Today in Washington, Donald again said a bunch of stupid things, and his Republican colleagues in the House let him get away with it. And now for the weather.” Or the short version: [“Trumpy did stupid things!”](https://youtu.be/5bslu64OftQ) ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1564 "2017-02-24T22:24:15Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > HA-ha! 😃 > > Or the short version: [“Trumpy did stupid things!”](https://youtu.be/5bslu64OftQ) Shortest version: Trumpy Sad! ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1565 "2017-02-24T22:28:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Muhammad Ali, Jr. detained by customs demanding to know if he is a Muslim.](http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/24/muhammad-ali-son-detained-airport-muslim/) My favourite detail from the article (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > Mancini says Ali’s 44-year-old son was asked twice if he’s Muslim, and also **where he got his name**. He was traveling on a U.S. Passport. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1566 "2017-02-25T00:50:54Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Trump has appointed McMaster as National Security Advisor. > > That should make all of us sleep a little better. He is a perfectly sane person. How do you know that? > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Muhammad Ali, Jr. detained by customs demanding to know if he is a Muslim.](http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/24/muhammad-ali-son-detained-airport-muslim/) This made me laugh out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1567 "2017-02-25T00:58:47Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > How do you know that? > > This made me laugh out loud. I read the headline and wondered if they called him “honky” while they detained him. Really, Trump and his cartoonist circus are at–or likely below–that level of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1568 "2017-02-25T01:34:36Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Somebody handed out Russian flags with Trump’s name on them at CPAC, and the attendees were waving them enthusiastically during Trump’s speech, till staffers came around to collect them. > [CPAC scrambles to control damage after attendees wave Russian flags during Trump speech](https://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/cpac-scrambles-to-control-damage-after-attendees-wave-russian-flags-during-trump-speech/) [These people](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/false-flag-operation-at-cpac/517842/) were the stunters. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1569 "2017-02-25T02:45:52Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > 2009: "We’re going to treat them [Fox News] the way we would treat an opponent,” said Anita Dunn, the White House communications director, in a telephone interview on Sunday. “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.” serious question - WERE THEY EVER DENIED ACCESS? Cite, please. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1570 "2017-02-25T05:13:17Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I read the headline and wondered if they called him “honky” while they detained him. Really, Trump and his cartoonist circus are at–or likely below–that level of stupid. This made me go … um wut? Since all of his (Ali’s wives) were “black” and he did convert to Islam ( which I have no problem with at all… no more than someone converting to Judaism or Christianity) but why? Why would you ask about “Honky”? Honky from the 70s was reserved for “white” people vs any color from cafe au lait to dark chocolate let alone any other color minus “flesh colored”. A realistic scenario would be “Do you know who Allah is?” and if you could say more than “The god of Islam” (little"g" being _really_ important) you will be detained. I dunno what will happen if a Native American ever goes abroad during these Mad or Cracked Times. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1571 "2017-02-25T06:32:42Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > This made me go … um wut? Since all of his (Ali’s wives) were “black” and he did convert to Islam ( which I have no problem with at all… no more than someone converting to Judaism or Christianity) but why? Why would you ask about “Honky”? > > Honky from the 70s was reserved for “white” people vs any color from cafe au lait to dark chocolate let alone any other color minus “flesh colored”. You quoted what I wrote but you didn’t read it, apparently. Why would they ask that? Answer: because they are stupid. It’s a bit like the bigot in _Porky’s_ trying to insult another student, but constantly using the wrong word (kite). ---
**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:** [February 25, 2017, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1572 "2017-02-25T09:23:27Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Muhammad Ali, Jr. detained by customs demanding to know if he is a Muslim.](http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/24/muhammad-ali-son-detained-airport-muslim/) Bookmark this for the next time some whiny Trump apologist tells us the EO was not a Muslim ban. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1573 "2017-02-25T09:49:53Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Bookmark this for the next time some whiny Trump apologist tells us the EO was not a Muslim ban. ALL of the Trump supporters I know are in favor of that EO because they believe it’s a Muslim ban. And why do they believe that? Because Trump told them it is! ETA: What’s the deal on the government interrogating the man about his religious affiliation? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1574 "2017-02-25T16:45:05Z")
It raises his status from “suspected” to “self-confessed” Muslim. They don’t use “card-carrying” anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1575 "2017-02-25T17:00:44Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > 2009: "We’re going to treat them [Fox News] the way we would treat an opponent,” said Anita Dunn, the White House communications director, in a telephone interview on Sunday. “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.” Oh, so you are saying it would have been hunky dory if the Obama White House had kept Fox News from press briefings? Do you think we should have a Government run news service and shut down outlets that are critical of the government? If you feel that it is OK to do this now, how long do you think you will feel this way? About 44 months? Maybe 92 months? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1576 "2017-02-25T18:13:24Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > serious question - WERE THEY EVER DENIED ACCESS? > > Cite, please. It seems that there was, at least, some sort of effort to keep them out of one interview in 2009, with Treasury’s ‘Executive Pay Czar’ Kenneth Feinberg. There was to be a sort of pool arrangement for the interview, with one camera and a bunch of reporters, and it seems that FOX News was left off the list. Now, FOX News was never actually left out of the interview because, as [this NPR story](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/07/16/138168227/new-emails-shed-light-on-2009-fox-white-house-spat) notes: > [@](#): > > …the Washington press corps decided that they would not take a pool interview with Feinberg unless the Treasury backed off their exclusion of Fox News. The White House backed down, but the Feinberg incident was just a part of a broader contentious relationship between the White House and Fox News. It is worth noting that, according to [TalkingPointMemo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/wh-we-re-happy-to-exclude-fox-but-didn-t-yesterday-with-feinberg-interview?ref=fpblg), the whole thing went down a little differently: > [@](#): > > Feinberg did a pen and pad with reporters to brief them on cutting executive compensation. TV correspondents, as they do with everything, asked to get the comments on camera. Treasury officials agreed and made a list of the networks who asked (Fox was not among them). > > But logistically, all of the cameras could not get set up in time or with ease for the Feinberg interview, so they opted for a round robin where the networks use one pool camera. Treasury called the White House pool crew and gave them the list of the networks who’d asked for the interview. > > The network pool crew noticed Fox wasn’t on the list, was told that they hadn’t asked and the crew said they needed to be included. Treasury called the White House and asked top Obama adviser Anita Dunn. Dunn said yes and Fox’s Major Garrett was among the correspondents to interview Feinberg last night. As you can see, the wording and sequence of events here suggest that FOX was not deliberately excluded, but were simply not on the list of organizations that has actively asked for an interview. Both the NPR and TPM stories agree that, in the end, FOX was not actually excluded. More broadly, there was quite a lot of low-level conflict between the White House and FOX during the Obama administration, and in some cases the White House attitude to FOX seems to resemble, although in a slightly less belligerent manner, the position that Trump’s White House has taken towards some media outlets. This [New York Times story](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/us/politics/23fox.html) gives some of the flavor of the mood. They mention the Feinberg incident that i’ve already discussed: > [@](#): > > In a sign of discomfort with the White House stance, Fox’s television news competitors refused to go along with a Treasury Department effort on Thursday to exclude Fox from a round of interviews with the executive-pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg that was to be conducted with a “pool” camera crew shared by all the networks. That followed a pointed question at a White House briefing this week by Jake Tapper, an ABC News correspondent, about the administration’s treatment of “one of our sister organizations.” > > White House officials continue to interact with Fox News correspondents whom they have complimented as professional, including Major Garrett and Wendell Goler. Then, the article moves beyond this to talk about the overall attitude of White House people towards FOX: > [@](#): > > The first real shot from the White House, however, came when aides excluded “Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace” — which they had previously treated as distinct from the network — from a round of presidential interviews with Sunday morning news programs in mid-September. > > “We simply decided to stop abiding by the fiction, which is aided and abetted by the mainstream press, that Fox is a traditional news organization,” said Dan Pfeiffer, the deputy White House communications director. And [this CNN interview](http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0910/11/rs.01.html) has a comment from Anita Dunn, White House communications director, in 2009: > [@](#): > > In the round of Sunday shows, Chris Wallace from the Sunday shows. And I told Major quite honestly that we had told Chris Wallace that having fact-checked an administration guest on his show, something I’ve never seen a Sunday show do, and Howie, you can show me examples of where Sunday shows have fact-checked previous weeks’ guests. > > We asked Chris for example where he had done that to anybody besides somebody from the administration in the year 2009, and we’re still waiting to hear from him. When they want to treat us like they treat everyone else – but let’s be realistic here, Howie. They are – they’re widely viewed as, you know, part of the Republican Party. Take their talking points and put them on the air. Take their opposition research and put them on the air, and that’s fine. But let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is. As a general observation, i would note that the Obama White House was constantly making efforts to limit and control the information it gave out. They were experts at keeping secrets when they wanted to, and releasing information when they felt it served their interests. They took considerable pains to hide information, and at times fought hard against FOIA requests for information that might have portrayed the administration in a negative light. As a lefty and as an Obama supporter, i often became annoyed and frustrated at their obfuscation and their lack of transparency on some issues. But this has been true of Presidential Administrations for longer than just last eight years. The real difference, right now, if that yesterday’s incident with the media was part of a clear and concerted campaign not simply to control information, but to undermine the whole notion of a critical and independent media as an integral part of democracy. If the Obama administration overstepped the mark early in its terms with its treatment of FOX News—and i think you could make the argument that it did—it paled in comparison to the outright attack that is going on now, and that is very dangerous for public discourse and democratic ideals. And, in terms of validity and credibility, we also have to remember that the current attack on the media for its alleged dishonesty and unfairness, is coming from an administration that seems to have no trouble declaring, with a completely straight face, that black is white, up is down, and left is right. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1577 "2017-02-25T18:18:13Z")
Freaking excellent post, **mhendo**! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1578 "2017-02-25T18:26:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Freaking excellent post, **mhendo**! Thank you! Indeed. Very informative. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1579 "2017-02-25T19:04:25Z")
I rise to quibble. A minor point, perhaps, but that’s the trouble with quibbles. This: > [@](#): > > … Obama White House …were experts at keeping secrets when they wanted to, and releasing information when they felt it served their interests… Dunno. Maybe, I guess, but really? Not a big hairy, but I don’t personally recall them being any better or any worse than anybody else. ETA: Golf claps, in case its not obvious. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1580 "2017-02-25T21:15:18Z")
Sorry if it’s been mentioned and I missed it, but I noticed in the news that China has granted Trump the trademark for his name brand that he’d been trying fruitlessly to get. Hmm, I wonder if this could have anything to do with backing away from the Taiwan issue. Both happened shortly after the latest phone call a couple of weeks ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=80)