The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making

[ThelmaLou]

@Merneith

…I wouldn’t have expected the President - any President - to personally write all the letters, because if shit goes pear shaped, it’s too big a job. But getting the Communications office to write the letters and then getting the letters in front of the President is the kind of coordinating that a CoS is responsible for.

@LongTimeLurker

The Pope and the CoS could have both collaborated on a respectful message to give to the widow of a fallen soldier…

I posted this elsewhere. Emphasis added.

@ThelmaLou

***Apparently Trump was given a prepared statement on October 5, ***and if he had just gone on TV and read it, this whole kerfuffle could have been avoided. But then, of course, the story would have been about the soldiers and not about “How much better Trump is than Obama.”

In fact, Politico reports that the National Security Council staff drafted exactly such a statement for release on October 5, the day after the deaths. “The heroic Americans who lost their lives yesterday did so defending our freedom and fighting violent extremism in Niger,” a draft read in part. “Our administration and our entire nation are deeply grateful for their sacrifice, for their service, and for their patriotism.” Yet for reasons that are still not clear, the statement was never released. Putting it out might have dampened any questions about the mission—which it is increasingly appears was ridden with problems—and avoided the press-conference question.

Cite
This whole article is about “yet another example of how this president inflicts crises on himself.”
…