# 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:** 215
**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:** [April 25, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4341 "2025-04-25T18:26:11Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > > [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > > > The first time I read it, I heard it in my head as a female voice pretending to ward off her lover, 1950s style. > > Reading this comment, I visualized Trump extending his arm out, his palm facing Putin while tossing his hair as he looks away and breathily says “Stop!” Something like Trump-as-Ilsa and Putin-as-Rick in this _[Casablanca](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_uINM_XI6I)_ scene. > > Thanks a lot. I did like the part where she pulled a gun on him. Now, if only the America-hating fuckstick and Vlad could re-enact that scene (only with a Chekov’s gun _denouement_). ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4342 "2025-04-25T19:49:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I did like the part where she pulled a gun on him. Ilsa pointing a gun at Rick was an obvious empty threat. Just like any attempt by Trump to threaten Putin. Putin doesn’t have to take Trump seriously knowing Donny’s hopelessly in love with him. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4343 "2025-04-25T20:06:54Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Ilsa pointing a gun at Rick was an obvious empty threat. Just like any attempt by Trump to threaten Putin. Putin doesn’t have to take Trump seriously knowing Donny’s hopelessly in love with him. Don’t forget the rest of that scene where Ilse (Trump) tells Rick (Vlad), > “You’ll have to do the thinking for both of us…” ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4344 "2025-04-25T20:15:33Z")
My sense is that some of you may be forgetting that this (“Vladimir … STOP!!”) wily gambit _was_ Trump’s hole card … the one he promised to play on day one … the one that would end the war on Ukraine in 24hrs. He was as sure that _it_ would work as he was that tariffs would be simple, painless, and a veritable cash cow for the US, thus securing him the [**Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences**](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/), another term, a whopper of a budget surplus, and a place on Mt. Rushmore. He was Trump Fucking SureTM. This … this was that motherfucker’s _best_ shot at a Nobel Peace Prize, and – surprised though I am that he finally reached for it – I’m far more surprised that it doesn’t seem to have worked. Which might just be a ‘me’ problem, now that I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4345 "2025-04-25T21:38:43Z")
Loved this post. (Well, at least now he’s assured of a Kennedy Center Honor…) ---
**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:** [April 25, 2025, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4346 "2025-04-25T22:06:19Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Putin doesn’t have to take Trump seriously knowing Donny’s hopelessly in love with him. Felon47 is indebted to Putin, not in love with him. It’s Kim Jong-il he’s in love with. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > (Well, at least now he’s assured of a Kennedy Center Honor…) And how likely is it the Kennedy Center will survive his tenure? ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4347 "2025-04-25T22:10:34Z")
That and one or twice a year a few guys from the Gideons show up unannounced and want to go room by room to check and replace the missing or damaged bibles. They seem not understand how much of an inconvenience this is for the hotel. You know showing up unannounced and in the middle of the day, and expect to be given full access to the hotel and the staff. And they are very insistent on going into every single room ( occupied or not) to check. Annoying as fuck I tell you what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4348 "2025-04-25T22:25:18Z")
Why is the answer to this not a straight-up “no” ? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4349 "2025-04-25T22:34:17Z")
Oh Vlad please don’t. Stop it. Oh Vlad please don’t stop Oh Vlad please, don’t.. Oh Vlad Please! Oh Vlad! Oh! ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4350 "2025-04-25T22:59:12Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Felon47 is indebted to Putin, not in love with him. It could be both. Trump does seem to have a thing for Slavic Europeans. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4351 "2025-04-25T23:42:50Z")
Speaking of clusterfucks… U.S. Restores Legal Status for Many International Students, but Warns of Removals to Come [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/us/politics/trump-student-visa-cancellations.html?smid=nytcore-android-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/us/politics/trump-student-visa-cancellations.html?smid=nytcore-android-share) It seems that losing 50 lawsuits was annoying someone. So now they hope to get all those suits dismissed. Bit they’re still working on deporting students, because… foreign students who are legally in the country are a threat, i guess? ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4352 "2025-04-26T01:01:56Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > foreign students who are legally in the country are a threat, i guess? I’m surprised that no one has tried to claim that these foreign students are taking educational opportunities from good Amurricans. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4353 "2025-04-26T02:02:10Z")
[And we now have more appalling information about the Garcia disappearance case.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-flipped-kilmar-abrego-160400957.html) > [@](#): > > But in the days after the administration first discovered its mistake, instead of trying to foreclose Abrego Garcia’s return, officials looked for ways to bring him home. They puzzled over the fragmentary evidence tying him to gang membership. And they worried about his safety in a prison where he could be targeted for attack. > > A lawsuit filed by Abrego Garcia’s family sparked urgent conversations among attorneys at the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security who were involved in formulating the government’s response. Their discussion—which has not been previously reported—reflected serious concerns, at odds with the administration’s later statements, according to two people familiar with the conversations, as well as notes and memos I reviewed. Both people spoke with me on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter of ongoing litigation. > > These conversations show that U.S. officials initially sought to resolve Abrego Garcia’s case quietly and ensure his safety through the conventional diplomatic channels they’ve used in other cases involving a mistaken deportation. This time, though, their efforts were abruptly halted. There’s a lot more at that link, and none of it looks good for mister optics or the lawyers flacking for him in court. [And there’s another Venezuelan the secon felonial era deported to El Salvador _in violation of a court order prohibiting that_.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/maryland-judge-orders-return-venezuelan-123051284.html) > [@](#): > > A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker deported to El Salvador, ruling the removal violated a court settlement protecting some young migrants with pending asylum claims, according to an order issued Wednesday. > > The person deported was part of a class action case filed in 2019 on behalf of individuals who arrived in the US as unaccompanied minors and later sought asylum. A settlement in that case determined they could not be removed from the United States until their claims were fully adjudicated. > > US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, who was nominated to the post by President Donald Trump, issued the order directing the government to work with Salvadoran authorities to return the man to the United States. The man is referred to only as “Cristian” in court filings. Gallagher also barred the removal of other individuals covered by the settlement agreement, which was finalized in November 2024. According to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Cristian was removed on March 15 and sent to a prison in El Salvador. [More in the “We don’t need no stinking constitution” news:](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-doj-ordered-ice-invade-183305239.html) > [@](#): > > # Trump DOJ Ordered ICE to Invade Homes Without Search Warrant > > The Justice Department quietly invoked the Alien Enemies act last month to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents the power to conduct warrantless searches of people’s homes as long as they suspect them to be an “alien enemy.” _USA Today_ [obtained](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/25/trump-venezuelan-gang-deportations-alien-enemies-act/83253074007/) the memo that contained this order on Friday. > > “As much as practicable, officers should follow the proactive procedures above—and have an executed Warrant of Apprehension and Removal—before contacting an Alien Enemy,” the [memo](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25915967-doj-march-14-memo-alien-enemies-act/?q=circumstances+render&mode=document#document/p4) reads. “However, that will not always be realistic or effective in swiftly identifying and removing Alien Enemies.… An officer may encounter a suspected Alien Enemy in the natural course of the officer’s enforcement activity, such as when apprehending other validated members of Tren de Aragua. Given the dynamic nature of enforcement operations, officers in the field are authorized to apprehend aliens upon a reasonable belief that the alien meets all four requirements to be validated as an Alien Enemy. This authority includes entering an Alien Enemy’s residence to make an AEA apprehension where _circumstances render it impracticable to first obtain a signed Notice and Warrant of Apprehension and Removal_ ” (emphasis added). > > In the memo, the Justice Department defined an “alien enemy” as anyone who is 14 years of age or older, not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, a citizen of Venezuela, and “a member of the hostile enemy Tren de Aragua,” per the Alien Enemy Validation Guide, a document that has already been slammed by immigration experts. [We don’t need no stinking medical professionals either, it seems.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/attorney-general-directs-justice-department-024323033.html) > [@](#): > > Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday issued a [memo of directives](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25912589/bondi-memo-42225.pdf) to Justice Department employees to enforce the Trump administration’s policies targeting gender-affirming care for minors, according to a copy of the memo obtained by CNN. > > The memo comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January titled, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” The executive order targets minors that identify as transgender and says that the United States will not [“fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-children-from-chemical-and-surgical-mutilation/)” minors who are seeking gender-affirming care. > > “Pursuant to the President’s directive, I am issuing the following guidance to all Department of Justice employees to enforce rigorous protections and hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable children and their parents,” the memo from Bondi said. > > The memo, which was [first reported](https://www.lawdork.com/p/read-ag-bondis-memo-purporting-to) by LawDork, outlines several guidelines that Justice Department employees must follow in order to implement the policies outlined in Trump’s executive order. Initiatives include drafting and promoting new legislation, establishing a state and federal coalition against child mutilation, and investigating medical providers and pharmaceutical companies who the memo says “mislead the public” on the side effects of gender-affirming care for minors. > > Bondi’s memo specifically targets the medical community, saying that it has given families “misleading advice,” when seeking the help of medical professionals for this type of care. [And yet another middle finger to a judge, of course.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-trump-administration-moved-venezuelan-101322896.html) > [@](#): > > (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration moved a Venezuelan man who had worked in construction in Philadelphia to Texas for possible deportation after a federal judge had issued an order blocking his removal from Pennsylvania or the United States, according to court records. > > A plane transporting the man took off on April 15 from an airport in the state capital Harrisburg about a half hour after U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines issued an order temporarily blocking the administration from moving him out of her western Pennsylvania judicial district or the country, Justice Department lawyer Laura Irwin told an April 17 hearing, conducted as a conference call. That’s enough for today’s dystopia roundup. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4354 "2025-04-26T09:06:03Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > foreign students who are legally in the country are a threat They’re foreigners, and they’re students, so that’s two strikes against them right there. Toss in anything selected from the group of : Brown person, leftist, non-English speaker, non-Christian, poor, LGBTQ+, and they’re lucky they’re not already in prison. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4355 "2025-04-26T11:29:57Z")
Not sure where we are in either the “First They Came” or “14 Characteristics of Fascism” BINGO games, but we have to be close: > **[Pam Bondi rescinds Biden-era protections for journalists](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/pam-bondi-journalists-subpoenas)** > > Memo from attorney general about criminal leak investigations calls conduct of leakers ‘treasonous’ > [@](#): > > Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, has revoked a Biden administration-era policy that restricted subpoenas of reporters’ phone records in criminal investigations. > > An internal memo, first reported by ABC News, shows Bondi rescinding protections issued by her predecessor, Merrick Garland, for members of the media from having their records seized or being forced to testify in the course of leak investigations. Not every leaker is going to be a [**Daniel Ellsberg**](https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/crime-corruption-and-cover-ups/daniel-ellsberg-and-the-pentagon-papers/), but our democracy depends on trying to maintain a clear path forward _for_ the next one. This … isn’t good. This is just naked ‘snitches get stitches’ troglodyte Mafioso behavior. So on-brand. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4356 "2025-04-26T11:36:42Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > A plane transporting the man took off on April 15 from an airport in the state capital Harrisburg about a half hour after U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines issued an order temporarily blocking the administration from moving him out of her western Pennsylvania judicial district or the country, Justice Department lawyer Laura Irwin told an April 17 hearing, conducted as a conference call. So… Surely _someone_ is guilty of contempt of court in these cases. Who? And what could happen to them? ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4357 "2025-04-26T12:02:04Z")
I hope this is the appropriate place for this aside. We went to dinner with my (NOT MAGA) brother and his girlfriend, and of course spent a lot of time talking about what a dope Trump is. And when we came to the love Trump has for Putin, we came up with the name of their Romance Novel: “The Oval Orifice” We didn’t come up with a tag line we like, along the lines of “When a dictator and his protege are thrust into the crucible of war, anything can happen” So I submit to your critique and ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4358 "2025-04-26T14:15:21Z")
Here’s the cover art [![](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/80/cb/fa/80cbfa891cba0f1ede327963c9121675.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/80/cb/fa/80cbfa891cba0f1ede327963c9121675.jpg) “When the leaders of the world get together, fenestration occurs.” ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4359 "2025-04-26T14:16:38Z")
Khal Vladimir and his Khaleesi. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4360 "2025-04-26T14:47:16Z")
Oh, to live on Brokeback Mountain With ol’ Vladdy And that orange buffoon [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=214) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=216)