# 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:** 838
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16745 "2018-02-13T16:13:11Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > And the prize for most superfluous reference goes to… Never pass up a chance to make a Monty Python reference! ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16746 "2018-02-13T16:20:46Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Two dogwhistles in one – the obvious racial one, and the shout-out to “Soverign Citizen” nonsense about the supremacy of local Sheriff Goodolboy. Um I don’t think it counts as a dog whistle if it comes out of a bullhorn with a big flashing neon sign that says “Racist” on it. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16747 "2018-02-13T19:10:36Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > _‘I thought the leopards would only eat Liberal faces!’_ Exactly. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16748 "2018-02-13T20:59:07Z")
Not sure what thread to put things in anymore. There are so many. Trump defends the wife beaters in his administration? Not a surprise at all. Ivana, trumps 2nd wife accuses him of and attack and rape. Right after he had some scalp reconstruction surgery to ‘fix’ his balding. Old news really, 1992. Fits his profile completely. > **[The Time Donald Trump's Ex-Wife Accused Him of Brutally Raping Her](https://www.gawker.com/the-time-donald-trumps-ex-wife-accused-him-of-brutally-1721129617)** > > During Donald Trump’s 1992 divorce proceedings, his wife provided a deposition that detailed an upsetting, ugly sexual assault. The episode was recounted in Lost Tycoon, a gossipy biography that’s now out of print—but you can read it right here. Melania is lucky in one way. She could clean his clock with out messing up her hair. ---
**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 13, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16749 "2018-02-13T21:47:15Z")
Trump claims Canada is screwing over Wisconsin farmers. Republican Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin replies, “uh, not so much …” > ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16750 "2018-02-13T23:14:23Z")
The Rob Porter scandal-within-a-clusterfuck just gets better and better. FBI Director Wray appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee and contradicted everything the White House has said with regards to the state of Porter’s security clearance. Maybe if the White House hadn’t pissed off everybody at the FBI they might have been able to sugar coat this… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16751 "2018-02-13T23:46:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > There was another Leader who pitted factions of his Party against each other, resulting in a cutthroat environment where people battled for the Leader’s favour. I heard Loser Donnie read his book. (OTOH, I’ve heard Loser Donnie can’t read.) Probably any bet that Trump didn’t actually read a book would be pretty safe. The story was that the book (of Adolf’s speeches; not actually _Mein Kampf_) was kept on Trump’s nightstand. Raising the image of him cradling it in his arms at night like a teddy bear. [http://www.weeklystandard.com/vanity-fair-trump-kept-a-volume-of-hitlers-speeches-by-his-bedside/article/2001343](http://www.weeklystandard.com/vanity-fair-trump-kept-a-volume-of-hitlers-speeches-by-his-bedside/article/2001343) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16752 "2018-02-14T01:45:52Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > And the prize for most superfluous reference goes to… Not so fast. My “shoveling up the elephants’ bowel movements at Ringling Brothers” was stolen from a 1970s Drew & Josh Alan Friedman underground comic strip about former members of “Our Gang,” in reference to Spanky McFarlane. MUCH more obscure than that fucker **El Kabong’s.** > **[Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead Is Purely Coincidental by Drew &...](https://blog.fantagraphics.com/any-similarity-to-persons-living-or-dead-is-purely-coincidental-by-drew-josh-alan-friedman/)** > > Just arrived in our warehouse and ready to ship to our mail-order customers: Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead Is Purely Coincidental \[New Edition\] by Drew Friedman & Josh Alan Friedman http://www.fantagraphics.com/anysimilarity88-page... ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16753 "2018-02-14T03:30:59Z")
Trump’s lawyer confirms he paid Stormy Daniels money. ([https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/us/politics/stormy-daniels-michael-cohen-trump.html](https://t.co/D9eKcUBhzA)) ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16754 "2018-02-14T03:47:16Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Trump’s lawyer confirms he paid Stormy Daniels money. ([https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/us/politics/stormy-daniels-michael-cohen-trump.html](https://t.co/D9eKcUBhzA)) This quote seems oddly specific and out of the blue. Almost so out of the blue that it’s just possibly, maybe a lie: “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Mr. Cohen said in a statement to The New York Times. “The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.” ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16755 "2018-02-14T03:49:35Z")
Also, remember when Republicans used to care about stuff like this? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16756 "2018-02-14T04:20:22Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > This quote seems oddly specific and out of the blue. Almost so out of the blue that it’s just possibly, maybe a lie: > > “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Mr. Cohen said in a statement to The New York Times. “The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.” Why the fuck would he pay this out of his own pocket? that doesn’t even pass the barest of smell tests. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16757 "2018-02-14T04:41:34Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Why the fuck would he pay this out of his own pocket? that doesn’t even pass the barest of smell tests. Just guessing…but maybe it would have been illegal to pay out of foundation or campaign funds? ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16758 "2018-02-14T04:51:30Z")
If it was made to influence the election, it would have been illegal, period, according to [Steve Spaulding of Common Cause.](https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-lawyer-admits-he-paid-stormy-daniels-fe6e4d9803cf/) > [@](#): > > Steve Spaulding, an executive with Common Cause and former Special Counsel at the Federal Election Commission, responded to the story, saying the payment acknowledged by Cohen was illegal if it was made for the purpose of influencing the election. And, yeah, I’m thinking hush money paid to cover up an affair, paid just before the election counts. Also, Cohen is very specific about who did not reimburse him for the payment he made. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16759 "2018-02-14T05:08:07Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > This quote seems oddly specific and out of the blue. Almost so out of the blue that it’s just possibly, maybe a lie: > > “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Mr. Cohen said in a statement to The New York Times. “The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.” Ok, so, if I’ve got this right, about one month before the election, Trump’s personal lawyer wakes up with a wild hair up his ass one morning and decides, for no defined reason, to use an LLC to sign over 130 grand to a porn star. All completely above board, and actually just a charitable contribution that the involved parties are simply too modest to draw attention to themselves about. Or something. Well, glad that’s all cleared up. Moving on… ---
**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:** [February 14, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16760 "2018-02-14T05:55:51Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > If it was made to influence the election, it would have been illegal, period, according to [Steve Spaulding of Common Cause.](https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-lawyer-admits-he-paid-stormy-daniels-fe6e4d9803cf/) > > And, yeah, I’m thinking hush money paid to cover up an affair, paid just before the election counts. Well, in all fairness, a month before the election, I don’t think one person in the Trump campaign, up to and including the candied yam hisself, had any desire or expectation of winning. The hush money wasn’t done to influence the election; it was likely paid out because Trump didn’t want to have any whiff of infidelity in the air when Melania began divorce proceedings. But let him explain \*that \*to the investigators. 🙂 ---
**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:** [February 14, 2018, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16761 "2018-02-14T11:01:38Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Why the fuck would he pay this out of his own pocket? It was easier than getting Deadbeat Donnie to pay? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16762 "2018-02-14T13:27:53Z")
Or even his lawyers are lawyering up. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16763 "2018-02-14T14:10:40Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > It was easier than getting Deadbeat Donnie to pay? If Cohen did pay out of his own pocket, it’s only because Trump promised to pay him back and didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16764 "2018-02-14T14:14:09Z")
Also, didn’t John Edwards [face criminal charges](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26edwards.html)for exactly the same thing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=837) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=839)