# 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:** 910
**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:** [March 20, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18185 "2018-03-20T19:13:36Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Has Trump congratulated Putin on his victory yet? You know he really, really wants to. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > He sent flowers. The card said they were from Melania, but we know different. Whoa! I was kidding. :eek: [McCain rips Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin as an insult to Russian people](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/379339-mccain-rips-trumps-congratulatory-call-to-putin-as-insult-to-russian-people) > [@](#): > > Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump on Tuesday over news that Trump phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his recent electoral win. > > Putin won reelection in a landslide on Sunday — but both election observers and Putin’s political opponents have charged that the vote was tainted by widespread fraud. > > In a statement, McCain called Trump’s phone call to Putin an insult to “every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country’s future.” > > “An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections," McCain said. > … This one does. Birds of a feather… ---
**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 20, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18186 "2018-03-20T19:18:19Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Birds of a feather… An objection is heard from the ranks of the birds, that you should dare to compare such wastings of air to the fowl so fair. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18187 "2018-03-20T19:30:15Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Whoa! I was kidding. :eek: > > [McCain rips Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin as an insult to Russian people](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/379339-mccain-rips-trumps-congratulatory-call-to-putin-as-insult-to-russian-people)This one does. Birds of a feather… trump got a congratulatory call from Putin on his winning of a sham election. Just returning the favor. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18188 "2018-03-20T19:56:46Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > An objection is heard from the ranks of the birds, that you should dare to compare such wastings of air to the fowl so fair. I hereby tweet an apology. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18189 "2018-03-20T20:00:04Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > For values of “everyone” _which EXCLUDE prediction markets_. As they have done for more than a century, prediction markets outperformed respected pollsters and statisticians. FiveThirtyEight was pretty much in line with betting markets. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18190 "2018-03-20T20:07:40Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > trump got a congratulatory call from Putin on his winning of a sham election. > > Just returning the favor. It’s called a “reach around”. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18191 "2018-03-20T20:09:20Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > It’s called a “reach around”. the world ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18192 "2018-03-20T20:10:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Cambridge Analytica executives videotaped talking about bribing and blackmailing candidates. > [Trump political consultants admit to using sex workers to entrap opponents in explosive new video – ThinkProgress](https://thinkprogress.org/cambridge-analytica-used-bribes-and-sex-workers-to-entrap-political-opponents-5d51bf38c6ad/) Here is the second [report](https://youtu.be/cy-9iciNF1A) (YouTube) - this one about the Trump campaign. ---
**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 20, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18193 "2018-03-20T20:27:22Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > It’s called a “reach around”. More like a polite request for one. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18194 "2018-03-20T21:08:24Z")
Ben Carson throws his wife under the bus on the $31,000 office remodel. Why would an official’s wife have the say in remodeling his government office, anyway? [https://secondnexus.com/news/watch-ben-carson-on-purchase-of-31000-dining-room-set-i-left-it-to-my-wife/?utm\_content=inf\_677\_1164\_2&tse\_id=INF\_d4e774802c7e11e8b9d75bd203d5435d](https://secondnexus.com/news/watch-ben-carson-on-purchase-of-31000-dining-room-set-i-left-it-to-my-wife/?utm_content=inf_677_1164_2&tse_id=INF_d4e774802c7e11e8b9d75bd203d5435d) ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18195 "2018-03-20T21:27:09Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Whoa! I was kidding. :eek: > > [McCain rips Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin as an insult to Russian people](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/379339-mccain-rips-trumps-congratulatory-call-to-putin-as-insult-to-russian-people)This one does. Birds of a feather… I knew he would not be able to resist, though I expected a tweet about a landslide victory similar to, but not as big as, his own. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18196 "2018-03-20T21:31:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Whoa! I was kidding. :eek: > > [McCain rips Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin as an insult to Russian people](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/379339-mccain-rips-trumps-congratulatory-call-to-putin-as-insult-to-russian-people)This one does. Birds of a feather… Yeah, but in the end, McCain - like Graham, like Flake, like Corker, and absolutely like Ryan - is too much of a pussy to actually demand something of substance be done about Trump. They’ve been emasculated by Trumpian politics and they’re not going to stand up to him, or to Putin, or to the treasonous plutocrats who are more loyal to Vladimir Putin than their own federal law enforcement agents. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18197 "2018-03-20T21:32:07Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I knew he would not be able to resist, though I expected a tweet about a landslide victory similar to, but not as big as, his own. Sarah Huckabee says that the US government doesn’t get to decide how other countries operate. > **[White House defends Trump's 'very good' Putin call](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-defends-trump-s-very-good-putin-call-n858381)** > > Trump, they said, did not focus on allegations that the recent Russian election process was not a fair one because the U.S. should not "get to dictate how other countries operate." I guess Trump will stop talking about North Korea’s government any more. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18198 "2018-03-20T21:41:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Sarah Huckabee says that the US government doesn’t get to decide how other countries operate. > [White House defends Trump's 'very good' Putin call](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-defends-trump-s-very-good-putin-call-n858381) > I guess Trump will stop talking about North Korea’s government any more. I don’t think Trump has ever really had much of a desire to get into a messy war - it’s one of the few things about which he might actually be sincere. I’m sure he loves the though of blowing shit up and killing foreigners, but I suspect he doesn’t want to get that messy. And a war with North Korea would be messy, and I’m sure he probably knows that on some level. But his generals and people within the “deep state” see the situation in North Korea inching closer to a point of no return. They want to stop North Korea before they become a nuclear powerhouse and before they can further disrupt politics and the balance of power in East Asia. This is why I really have to wonder if Trump has it in him to actually hire a guy like John Bolton. On one hand, it would seem like Bolton’s exactly Trump’s kind of national security adviser - he’s arrogant and likes to play TV tough guy. But Bolton’s not one to be a yes man - he has a very strong worldview, and I’m not sure that Trump has much tolerance for worldview people - think of what happened with Bannon. True, Trump likes people who are obnoxious and walk with their chests sticking out, and I’m sure he relates to Bolton’s machismo, but he probably won’t have much patience for Bolton’s opinions. We shall see, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18199 "2018-03-20T22:59:36Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Whoa! I was kidding. :eek: > > [McCain rips Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin as an insult to Russian people](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/379339-mccain-rips-trumps-congratulatory-call-to-putin-as-insult-to-russian-people)This one does. Birds of a feather… Here’s an interesting data point. I don’t often mention it, but several years ago, my brother and his wife decided to take an early retirement and go be missionaries in Ukraine. Today, he posted the following on his Facebook page: > [@kaylasuncle](#): > > What’s going on MSN!? The headline on their site says “Trump calls Putin to congratulate him on re-election” Interesting to me that when I share the article here the headline is something completely different. > > > [@msn facebook feed as it appears to viewers in Kershon](#): > > > > Kremlin shrugs off White House refusal to congratulate Putin > > > > _The Kremlin spokesman says it’s no big deal that U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t congratulate Vladimir Putin on his re-election as president. > > [msn.com](http://msn.com)_ I asked him to C&P the actual article as it appears when he clicks on it. I presume he’ll respond either on FB or by email. Will report on his response. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18200 "2018-03-20T23:28:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Here’s an interesting data point. I don’t often mention it, but several years ago, my brother and his wife decided to take an early retirement and go be missionaries in Ukraine. Today, he posted the following on his Facebook page: > > I asked him to C&P the actual article as it appears when he clicks on it. I presume he’ll respond either on FB or by email. Will report on his response. That is really interesting. One wonders if Putin fears his reputation will be damaged at home if it gets out thump considers him a friend? ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18201 "2018-03-20T23:32:18Z")
Trump, Putin’s puppet, disregards his advisers and continues kissing his master’s ass: > **[Trump’s national security advisers warned him not to congratulate Putin. He...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-national-security-advisers-warned-him-not-to-congratulate-putin-he-did-it-anyway/2018/03/20/22738ebc-2c68-11e8-8ad6-fbc50284fce8_story.html)** > > The president did not heed written instructions from his national security team asking him to take a tougher tone with the Russian leader > [@](#): > > Trump’s national security advisers warned him not to congratulate Putin. He did it anyway. > > Trump also chose not to heed talking points from aides instructing him to condemn Putin about the recent poisoning… ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18202 "2018-03-20T23:33:27Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That is really interesting. One wonders if Putin fears his reputation will be damaged at home if it gets out thump considers him a friend? I believe Putin is far less popular in Ukraine than Trump. It could be an attempt to make Trump look good in Ukraine. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18203 "2018-03-20T23:41:04Z")
I don’t know if this exactly fits the theme of this thread, but I didn’t want to start a different pit thread. [Colonel Ralph Peters quits as Fox News Strategic Analyst - says he’s ashamed of the association now.](https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/ralph-peters?utm_term=.fc1D5vezD4#.jlq0qjVQ03) A quote from his resignation letter: “In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration. When prime-time hosts–who have never served our country in any capacity–dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller–all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of “deep-state” machinations-- I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove. To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18204 "2018-03-20T23:46:40Z")
[Peters was as enthusiastic an Obama-basher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7t2Z7x6EQM) as Fox ever saw. Even O’Reilly had to rein him in. Was he ashamed then? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=909) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=911)