# 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:** 868
**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:** [March 2, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17345 "2018-03-02T17:26:54Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Right, but, _Florida_? Which, coincidentally, is where M’ar-a-La-Goh or whatever it’s called is to be found. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17346 "2018-03-02T17:28:08Z")
Kushner pushed for a blockade against Qatar after they refused to loan him money to cover private debts. > **[Kushner family solicited Qatari investment just before blockade: report](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376436-kushner-family-company-solicited-qatari-government-investment-just/)** > > White House senior adviser and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s family real estate company sought an investment from the government of Qatar just weeks before a Middle Eastern blockade … ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17347 "2018-03-02T17:34:25Z")
Chaos is a Leader. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17348 "2018-03-02T17:39:56Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Right, but, _Florida_? [You can see it about 1:07 here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KP9mbaYFMo) ---
**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:** [March 2, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17349 "2018-03-02T17:40:30Z")
For us old-timers, the leader is that bit that you first feed through the projector, which produces a seemingly random, incoherent bunch of squiggles before the actual movie starts. That is the kind of leader we have. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17350 "2018-03-02T17:42:21Z")
So, you were in the AV club? Couldn’t make the debate team? ---
**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:** [March 2, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17351 "2018-03-02T18:00:36Z")
No, my class schedule in 12th grade was messed up. I had a really long lunch period. So I hung out in the back room of the library and ran movies. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17352 "2018-03-02T18:02:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, you were in the AV club? Couldn’t make the debate team? Hey! All the cool kids were in AV. My mom said so. ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17353 "2018-03-02T18:13:05Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Hey! All the cool kids were in AV. My mom said so. Wait, wasn’t that what all the cool kids said about your mom ? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17354 "2018-03-02T18:15:30Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Kushner pushed for a blockade against Qatar after they refused to loan him money to cover private debts. > > [http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376436-kushner-family-company-solicited-qatari-government-investment-just](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376436-kushner-family-company-solicited-qatari-government-investment-just) Meanwhile, if you’re an investment firm under investigation by the SEC, and you give Kushner a loan, it’s amazing how fast the SEC will drop the investigation. Pure coincidence probably. [https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/sec-dropped-inquiry-financial-firm-gave-kushner-companies-loan](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/sec-dropped-inquiry-financial-firm-gave-kushner-companies-loan) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17355 "2018-03-02T18:18:20Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > If only we could take the Presidency away from obviously mentally ill people and worry about due process later. I don’t want him to be declared mentally ill. He’d use that to “get away with it”. His entire life has been an unending series of “got away with it”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17356 "2018-03-02T18:23:28Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Or… > Clinton > Pelosi > Harris > Boxer > Feinstein > or ANYone > > But Dump will most likely flip flop again, and then excoriate his own flunkies. … aaaaannnnnnndddddd After meeting with NRA CEO whatsisname, he flipped back to pro gun again. Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s lobbying arm, said on Twitter he had a “great meeting” with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday and reaffirmed neither “want gun control.” “We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people,” Cox said after the meeting. “POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control.” Trump himself tweeted that the meeting was “Good (Great),” and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke to reporters Friday morning and substantially walked back Trump’s Wednesday burst of support for gun laws. The new line is that that Trump is “not necessarily” interested in universal background checks and that “conceptually” he supports an age limit of 21 on gun purchases but “thinks it would probably have more potential in the states than it would at the federal level.” In other words, what we all knew about Wednesday’s meeting: Trump was blathering and babbling and to the extent that he had a coherent agenda it was to assert his dominance over Republicans who had somehow offended him, and nothing he said at a policy level was either well informed or a position he believes in in any meaningful sense. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17357 "2018-03-02T18:30:44Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Cute sign posted on DU: > > “When I find myself in tweets of trouble, Mother Russia comes to me- speaking words of wisdom, COVFEFE” > Seriously, Putin boasts of his new missile technology, complete with animation of warheads heading toward Florida, and the Orange Puppet is upset about- Alec Baldwin. Some people are saying that Putin is only “acting out” in order to appear 'strong". As in, scared that if the wrong oligarchs lose their asses financially (since Putin didn’t get ALL sanctions lifted and Russian oligarchs may face charges and assets seizures), he may get an “accident” - just like he enjoys giving to those who pissed him off. If true, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Nice head. Shame if something happened to it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17358 "2018-03-02T18:32:21Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Right, but, _Florida_? Mar A Lago? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17359 "2018-03-02T18:32:46Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Hey! All the cool kids were in AV. My mom said so. Nah. AV Club was for kids who couldn’t make the quiz bowl team. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17360 "2018-03-02T18:51:25Z")
[NBC News is reporting](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-was-angry-unglued-when-he-started-trade-war-officials-n852641) that, according to officials, Trump was angry and “unglued” when he decided to start the trade war. The trifecta of Hope’s testimony, Sessions’ decision to hit back at Trump and Jared’s perceived mistreatment by John Kelly caused him to become unglued, so he lashed out by announcing the tariffs on steel and aluminum. Well, I guess a trade war is better than a nuclear war, but holy shit, if this is fucking true? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17361 "2018-03-02T18:53:34Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > … aaaaannnnnnndddddd > > After meeting with NRA CEO whatsisname, he flipped back to pro gun again. > Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s lobbying arm, said on Twitter he had a “great meeting” with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday and reaffirmed neither “want gun control.” > > “We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people,” Cox said after the meeting. “POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control.” Isn’t it just \*swell \*that the NRA can waltz into the White House and call a come-to-Jesus meeting? You know things are bad when **Tucker Carlson**! plays the “Can you imagine if Obama did it?” card. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17362 "2018-03-02T19:02:45Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > [Trump says Trade Wars are easy to win](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-says-trade-wars-are-easy-to-win-as-tariff-anger-spreads/ar-BBJKOUx?li=BBnb7Kz) “A Strange Game. The only winning move is not to play.” Is he\* trying\* to tank the economy? Dow’s down another 150 points after a 400 point loss yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17363 "2018-03-02T19:07:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Hey, you can never go wrong hiring [a Ford Motor Co. exec to be in a cabinet position he knows little or nothing about](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McNamara), amirite? From the original article, the guy is much more qualified with experience in role then most Trump appointees: > [@](#): > > Biegun, who currently serves as vice president of international governmental affairs for the Ford Motor Company, is no stranger to the White House. He served on the **National Security Council staff** from 2001 to 2003, including as **a senior staffer for then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice**. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17364 "2018-03-02T19:35:39Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > [NBC News is reporting](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-was-angry-unglued-when-he-started-trade-war-officials-n852641) that, according to officials, Trump was angry and “unglued” when he decided to start the trade war. The trifecta of Hope’s testimony, Sessions’ decision to hit back at Trump and Jared’s perceived mistreatment by John Kelly caused him to become unglued, so he lashed out by announcing the tariffs on steel and aluminum. > > Well, I guess a trade war is better than a nuclear war, but holy shit, if this is fucking true? Wow. Goddamn. I was going to quote a few pieces of that article, but the whole thing is one jaw-dropping report after another. In most articles, you can select a few lines to give a flavor of the whole piece. This isn’t one of those articles. Pretty much every line is equally terrifying in its own unique way. But for those of you who can’t read the source, I’ll give it a go: > [@](#): > > There were no prepared, approved remarks for the president to give at the planned meeting [with the steel and aluminum execs], there was no diplomatic strategy for how to alert foreign trade partners, there was no legislative strategy in place for informing Congress and no agreed upon communications plan beyond an email cobbled together by Ross’s team at the Commerce Department late Wednesday that had not been approved by the White House. > > No one at the State Department, the Treasury Department or the Defense Department had been told that a new policy was about to be announced or given an opportunity to weigh in in advance. > > \ > > Then, an hour later, in an another unexpected move, reporters were invited to the Cabinet room. Without warning, Trump announced on the spot that he was imposing new strict tariffs on imports. > > By Thursday afternoon, the U.S. stock market had fallen and Trump, surrounded by his senior advisers in the Oval Office, was said to be furious. What. The. Fuck. I recall a lot of talk early on in the Trump administration about the possibility of Trump lighting up some nukes in a fit of pique. Then for a while, things seemed to quiet down, and at least to me it kinda looked like the country was running itself, however badly, without Trump really having much impact. And now I’m back to worrying about nuclear Armageddon if Trump doesn’t get two scoops of ice cream on his next visit to a foreign country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=867) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=869)