# The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 11, 2024, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068 "2024-11-11T06:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 134
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2661 "2025-03-04T05:06:48Z")
O…M…G. I would be humiliated to hand that to someone to ask if they would say what that paragraph means. Trump can’t read. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2662 "2025-03-04T05:07:31Z")
Did anyone take one for the Teeming Millions and suffer through the SOTU? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2663 "2025-03-04T05:09:37Z")
Isn’t that tomorrow? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2664 "2025-03-04T05:12:04Z")
Yeah, I spaced out the date since it’s already Tuesday afternoon now for me. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2665 "2025-03-04T05:14:41Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Did anyone take one for the Teeming Millions and suffer through the SOTU? Oh Gawd, I forgot about that. Is it time for a new Bingo game? Should we start a pool on how much of it will be devoted to how awful the Biden Administration was? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2666 "2025-03-04T05:14:46Z")
No harm done. But it’s a great opportunity to ask if anybody is willing to take one for the team, and watch it. Is anybody planning to? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2667 "2025-03-04T05:45:47Z")
I doubt I would be able to stand more than a moment of Trump’s blather but I’ll certainly enjoy watching a panel of MSNBC hosts dunking on it. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2668 "2025-03-04T05:47:06Z")
I’ll tune in for as long as I can stand it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2669 "2025-03-04T05:48:21Z")
Good call from one of my senators. > **[Senator Patty Murray (@murray.senate.gov)](https://bsky.app/profile/murray.senate.gov/post/3ljj36xnivs2o)** > > The state of the union is that the President is spitting in the face of the law. > > He is letting an unelected billionaire fire cancer researchers and wreck federal agencies like the Social Security Administration at will. > > I won't be attending... ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2670 "2025-03-04T06:04:52Z")
(It’s also mildly noteworthy that she’s jumped from the All Nazi platform over to Bluesky.) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2671 "2025-03-04T06:33:57Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > His supporters might stereotypically appreciate the reduced prices and increased availability of soya and grits. Not going to do much to improve the economy of the corn belt. He’s not just screwing the farmers, he’s spit roasting them, sticking it to them every which way. Tariffs pushing up the price on their exports in a deliberate effort to make them non-competitive, tariffs on Canadian goods pushing up the price of fertilizer and machinery and electricity. The gutting of the USDA is going to reduce access loans and grants for things like modernization and conservation and the closing of USDA branch offices is going to make accessing these programs more difficult. The cuts to USAID and SNAP are bad for farmers who rely on those markets, reduction in NOAA is bad for farmers who rely on accurate weather forecasts and other data to increase crop yield. So it sucks to be a farmer but hey…….no pronouns! Also, not all farmers are MAGA, I know some small local farmers who are free-spirited hippie types, and I’m sure they’re not the only ones. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2672 "2025-03-04T08:22:59Z")
More Fun Stuff from our Commander in Chief: > [@](#): > > **Trump orders swathes of US forests to be cut down for timber** > > _President’s move to expand tree cutting across 280m acres evades rules to protect endangered species_ > > Donald Trump has ordered that swathes of America’s forests be felled for timber, evading rules to protect endangered species while doing so and raising the prospect of chainsaws razing some of the most ecologically important trees in the US. > > The president, [in an executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-expansion-of-american-timber-production/), has demanded an expansion in tree cutting across 280m acres (113m hectares) of national forests and other public lands, claiming that “heavy-handed federal policies” have made America reliant on foreign imports of timber. > > “It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security,” the order adds. > > Trump has instructed the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to increase logging targets and for officials to circumvent the US’s Endangered Species Act by using unspecified emergency powers to ignore protections placed upon vulnerable creatures’ habitats. > **[Holy fuck. Dump's new executive order: clearcut 280 million acres of national...](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/3/2307725/-Holy-fuck-Dump-s-new-executive-order-clearcut-280-million-acres-of-national-parks-and-public-land?utm_campaign=trending)** > > From theguardian.com: Trump orders swathes of US forests to be cut down for timber President’s move to expand tree cutting across 280m acres evades rules to protect endangered species Donald Trump has ordered that swathes of America’s forests be... ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2673 "2025-03-04T08:39:54Z")
I imagine that the usual tree-huggers will be out, chaining themselves to trees, spiking trees, and otherwise, doing their thing. What I hope will also happen is that ordinary people will join them. Not necessarily chaining themselves to trees and spiking trees, but just plain getting in the way, preventing loggers from getting to the forests. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2674 "2025-03-04T08:49:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@DailyKos](#): > > > > Donald Trump has ordered that swathes of America’s forests be felled for timber, evading rules to protect endangered species while doing so and raising the prospect of chainsaws razing some of the most ecologically important trees in the US. That’s just asking for lots of lawsuits. But then almost all of his XOs are. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2675 "2025-03-04T09:23:24Z")
Yep, and the Dems only option is employing Trump’s favorite tactics: take it to the courts and delay, delay, delay. In this case, until OrangeAnusFace is dead (hopefully a massive heart attack tonight during the SOTU) or out of office. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2676 "2025-03-04T10:03:40Z")
Good point. There is the lawfare route, burying Trump and his cronies under hundreds or thousands of lawsuits, so that they are too busy responding to them to pay attention to anything else. RFK Jr., Pete Hegseth, Elon Musk, and others should be the targets of every reasonably actionable legal matter that can be come up with. But there is also the thought I’ve had for a while: that Trump will not survive until the end of his term. In spite of his strongman projection, he’s 78, he’s not physically healthy, he needs help to walk down a ramp, he rides a golf cart while other world leaders walk to a photo op, and he eats pretty much only junk food. His meeting with Zelinsky had me thinking, “Jeez, keep this up, Donnie, and you’re going to bust a blood vessel.” We already know about ketchup-stained walls; how many more of those will the White House and Air Force One endure before Donnie finally busts a blood vessel? His mental state is, or should be, in question. He’s coming up with a lot of justifications for problems that barely exist or just plain don’t exist. “Canada is a major source of fentanyl!” Um … when less than 2% of fentanyl coming into the US was seized at the Canada border? Facts don’t matter to him, just as they didn’t matter to my father when he was in the grips of dementia: “I never married, I had no wife, I had no kids.” The facts said otherwise, but Dad did not believe them. Trump is the same; the only facts that matter are the ones that he _thinks_ are true. Then, there is Vance. He seems to me to be slimy and conniving, and waiting to make his move, using the 25th Amendment. US Vice-Presidents are typically in the background, and don’t make a lot of headlines—see, for example, Harris, Pence, Biden, Gore. But Vance’s remarks during the Zelinsky meeting indicated to me that he wants to take a more active role in the Presidency. Trump may think he’s in charge, but if he makes an outrageous mistake (e.g. ordering the National Guard to shoot protesters in the legs), I have no doubt that J.D. will invoke the 25th Amendment, fire all of Trump’s appointees, put in his own, and try to make nice (but not too nice) to keep the House and Senate in 2026. But I don’t think that Trump will make it through his full four years. Something’s going to happen before 2028, if not 2026. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2677 "2025-03-04T10:37:43Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Good point. There is the lawfare route, burying Trump and his cronies under hundreds or thousands of lawsuits, so that they are too busy responding to them to pay attention to anything else. This will only work to the extent that the executive continues to care about the courts. They have openly stated they don’t intend to do so. Trying to bury people under lawsuits only works when those people are concerned about the outcome and consequently need to pay attention. ---
**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 4, 2025, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2678 "2025-03-04T11:04:02Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > This will only work to the extent that the executive continues to care about the courts. They have openly stated they don’t intend to do so. > > Trying to bury people under lawsuits only works when those people are concerned about the outcome and consequently need to pay attention. This is part of the Project 2025 agenda. They want everything they do to result in lawsuits so the court system is overwhelmed. They will be the ones to delay, delay. Meanwhile, they keep doing what they want and if someday there are consequences, oh well, the damage is already done, what are you going to do about it. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2679 "2025-03-04T11:25:57Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Trump may think he’s in charge, but if he makes an outrageous mistake (e.g. ordering the National Guard to shoot protesters in the legs), I have no doubt that J.D. will invoke the 25th Amendment If a president commits egregious acts in office, the way to remove him is through impeachment. True, under the 25th Amendment, the vice-president and a majority of the cabinet can theoretically declare the president “unable” to serve. However: 1) misconduct or criminality in office does not equal inability to serve, and 2) even if the VP and the cabinet were to take this extraordinary step, the final decision would still lie with Congress. None of this contradicts your well-founded assertion that JD Vance is a weasel. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2680 "2025-03-04T11:36:50Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > There is the lawfare route, burying Trump and his cronies under hundreds or thousands of lawsuits, so that they are too busy responding to them to pay attention to anything else. RFK Jr., Pete Hegseth, Elon Musk, and others should be the targets of every reasonably actionable legal matter that can be come up with. Per other replies above, we shouldn’t expect this to be an effective form of resistance. The courts will order the work to stop, and those orders will be ignored, and the trees will continue to come down. > [@](#): > > Trump is the same; the only facts that matter are the ones that he _thinks_ are true. This is not new, though. This has always been his M.O. — a weaponized form of the old “power of positive thinking” tactic. He asserts something is true, based not on its factual basis but its utility and convenience, and he then expects his minions to act as if it’s true and to actualize the truth insofar as it’s possible to do so. If anything has changed, it’s solely in the _brazenness_ of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=133) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=135)