# 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:** 996
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19905 "2018-05-02T18:02:47Z")
Ty Cobb leaves the White House legal team [https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/politics/trump-ty-cobb/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/politics/trump-ty-cobb/index.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19906 "2018-05-02T18:22:38Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Didja hear the part about Trump sitting in his limo and having the doctor leave his office to come down and sit with him? Didja hear that Ronny Jackson took his own blood pressure and reported it as Trump’s? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19907 "2018-05-02T18:24:58Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Didja hear that Ronny Jackson took his own blood pressure and reported it as Trump’s? psst. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20935064#post20935064](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20935064#post20935064) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19908 "2018-05-02T18:28:18Z")
> [@](#): > > …Bornstein said last August that he had written the letter in just five minutes while a limo sent by Trump waited outside… Duly corrected. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19909 "2018-05-02T19:10:20Z")
Mike Pence is in Arizona campaigning for Joe Arpaio, “A great friend of this president, a tireless champion of strong borders and the rule of law.” > **[Mike Pence just gave Joe Arpaio a boost in Arizona — and it could lead to...](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/politics/mike-pence-joe-arpiao/index.html)** > > On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence was in Tempe, Arizona, to headline an event for the pro-Trump outside group America First Policies. (That group has its own problems.) In his speech, Pence singled out former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio... ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19910 "2018-05-02T19:19:28Z")
Anybody else think that the doctor is coming forward now because he wanted to be White House doctor/VA chief and once he realized he wasn’t getting a plum position he decided to throw Trump under the bus (not that I’m complaining about that)? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19911 "2018-05-02T19:22:43Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’ll skip over all the other tripe and get to this because this one’s a fucking corker. …you skipped over all the other stuff because you were simply wrong and you can’t admit it. > [@](#): > > Uh huh, right. Yeah if they don’t take to Twitter to defend her, then they’ll never get invited to another meaningless White House press briefing.:rolleyes: > > Look, you were right the first time when you labeled SHS a liar and a mouthpiece for the administration > > But above you contradict yourself by claiming that she’s a source that provides reliable, accurate information directly from the heart of the administration. Which is it? > > For Christ’s sake, she provides meaningless quotes at even more meaningless press briefings - she says just enough so that they can walk out of the room with a quote in hand. I won’t disagree with you that SHS is obviously an important source, but she’s not going to keep reporters from doing their job - if they really want to do their job, that is. If reporters want background, then they go to sources in a position to provide background, and there are plenty more of those than just SHS. > > But in a White House that allowed **Michael Wolff** to walk around the White House barely being noticed long enough to write a salacious best seller, I think there are more sources than just SHS. The press didn’t defend SHS because they were afraid she would hold some petty teenage grudge if they didn’t come to her defense. Rather, some apparently realized in retrospect that the optics aren’t going to play well with ordinary people who already view the press with suspicion. …you really are dumber than I thought. She is not a valuable “on the record” source. I’m not talking about “meaningless quotes from even more meaningless press briefings”. Thats just doing her job. She is a valuable “off the record” source. As in “several unnamed sources within the Whitehouse have confirmed…” Some of the stories that Maggie Haberman have published are incredibly detailed, incredibly accurate, with information that could only have come from the inner circle of the Whitehouse. She didn’t come out and defend Kellyanne Conway when she got insulted. She didn’t come out and defend Ivanka, another mother, who got called out as “full of shit.” But she defended Huckabee, extensively for a day. Because it is very likely that Huckabee is her pipeline to the exclusive. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Unless I’m mistaken, **Banquet Bear** , in using that characterization, is talking about retaining her as _an un-named source,_ which I hope you can see is a different thing than being able to retain _entrée_ to the White House briefing room (for some reason, both things are perceived as valuable, which may be contributing to the confusion). Thank-you. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19912 "2018-05-02T19:24:14Z")
not sure where to put this, but I loved [the Fresh Air interview with Michelle Wolf](https://www.npr.org/2018/05/01/607262463/comic-michelle-wolf-responds-to-backlash-im-glad-i-stuck-to-my-guns). I was reminded that originally at this dinner, the POTUS actually does stand up, can you imagine that with 45? even trying to remember jokes someone else wrote would be hard for him but can you imagine him trying to think on his feet? what a word salad that would be? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19913 "2018-05-02T19:28:15Z")
nm ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19914 "2018-05-02T19:33:22Z")
The New York Times is wondering if US aid to Ukraine was contingent on its stopping cooperation with the Mueller investigation. > **[Ukraine, Seeking U.S. Missiles, Halted Cooperation With Mueller Investigation...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/world/europe/ukraine-mueller-manafort-missiles.html)** > > Ukraine, deeply dependent on the Trump administration for financial and military aid, froze its cooperation with the special counsel’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19915 "2018-05-02T20:03:18Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > not sure where to put this, but I loved [the Fresh Air interview with Michelle Wolf](https://www.npr.org/2018/05/01/607262463/comic-michelle-wolf-responds-to-backlash-im-glad-i-stuck-to-my-guns). > > I was reminded that originally at this dinner, the POTUS actually does stand up, can you imagine that with 45? even trying to remember jokes someone else wrote would be hard for him but can you imagine him trying to think on his feet? what a word salad that would be? > > 😛 Michelle Wolf says in the interview that, earlier in the evening, awards were given to CNN journalists for their reporting. When the reporters came up to the dais to accept their awards, all of the people up front stood, applauded, and shook their hands. Except Sarah Sanders. Today, I heard an interview with Jake Tapper. He confirmed the account, as he said he was one of the reporters who was dissed by Sarah. In past years, he said, he received the award and was able to get a picture with President Obama (who was in attendance), even though the stories were not flattering of him. So, yeah…fuck Sarah Sanders. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19916 "2018-05-02T20:30:07Z")
So, Mike Pence goes to a football game just so he can walk out and SHS goes to a dinner just so she could snub CNN. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19917 "2018-05-02T20:36:00Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > So, Mike Pence goes to a football game just so he can walk out and SHS goes to a dinner just so she could snub CNN. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Mike Pence also walked out of the Western Hemisphere gathering (that Trump was too chickenshit to attend) after Raul Castro was announced after him. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19918 "2018-05-02T20:44:41Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > So, yeah…fuck Sarah Sanders. Not even with Jesus’s dick. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19919 "2018-05-02T20:47:26Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > not sure where to put this, but I loved [the Fresh Air interview with Michelle Wolf](https://www.npr.org/2018/05/01/607262463/comic-michelle-wolf-responds-to-backlash-im-glad-i-stuck-to-my-guns). > > I was reminded that originally at this dinner, the POTUS actually does stand up, can you imagine that with 45? even trying to remember jokes someone else wrote would be hard for him but can you imagine him trying to think on his feet? what a word salad that would be? > > 😛 Actually, yes. It stands out in my memory because it’s a unicorn, a black swan, entirely anomalous to everything else Trump has ever said or done. The Al Smith Dinner is traditionally attended by both presidential candidates and an opportunity for “good natured ribbing”. In 2016, Trump’s remarks were mostly stupid and not good natured, but he did get off one that stood out because it was (a) actually funny and (b) self-deprecating — two terms that are _never_ used in conjunction with Trump. He said (paraphrased): “Michelle Obama gives a great speech to the Democratic National Convention, and everybody cheered. Two weeks later, Melania gives the exact same speech and gets nothing but grief…” ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19920 "2018-05-02T20:47:37Z")
HHS can’t find 1500 unaccompanied minors that they caught at the border, that they’ve placed with US sponsors. > **[HHS officials say they can't find 1,500 migrant kids they placed with U.S....](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/2/1761310/-HHS-officials-say-they-can-t-find-1-500-migrant-kids-they-placed-with-U-S-sponsors?detail=facebook)** > > Federal officials from Health and Human Services (HHS) say they have no idea what has happened to 1,500 migrant children they placed with U.S. sponsors after they arrived to the border unaccompanied. Yup, you’re reading that correctly.... ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19921 "2018-05-02T20:53:28Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Michelle Wolf says in the interview that, earlier in the evening, awards were given to CNN journalists for their reporting. When the reporters came up to the dais to accept their awards, all of the people up front stood, applauded, and shook their hands. Except Sarah Sanders. You’ll have to excuse Sarah. Her hands were full of victim playing cards. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19922 "2018-05-02T20:56:01Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > “Michelle Obama gives a great speech to the Democratic National Convention, and everybody cheered. Two weeks later, Melania gives the exact same speech and gets nothing but grief…” That’s not self-deprecating for Trump. He wasn’t the butt of that joke, Melania was. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19923 "2018-05-02T21:15:21Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Not even with Jesus’s dick. And Brahma’s ass pushin’! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19924 "2018-05-02T21:37:16Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > That’s not self-deprecating for Trump. He wasn’t the butt of that joke, Melania was. No wonder she has such a resting bitch face. I feel sorry for her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=995) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=997)