# 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:** 22
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/421 "2024-11-27T15:23:42Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > [From the cite] > President-elect [Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) has chosen health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates, to lead the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s leading medical research agency. I was working at NIH when the current director, Monica Bertagnolli, was introduced to the community in a campus town hall in December 2023. I made the comment to the people sitting near me: “Yeah, but happens if Trump gets elected again? Is she going to get replaced by Dr. Oz?” (This was before RFK, Jr. had dropped out of the presidential race.) Unfortunately, I wasn’t that far off. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/422 "2024-11-28T02:06:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The window sticker on my 1999 Jeep Cherokee had a percentage of the vehicle that was manufactured in Canada. For some reason, 40% sticks in my mind. Might have been 20% I used to have a part time job as a shuffle driver in a toyota dealership. There was a poster titled ‘where your american car was made’. Long story short…toyotas and nissans and others were assembled mostly in the USA. Fords and Chevys, at least at that time, in Mexico. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2024, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/423 "2024-11-28T04:48:22Z")
And in [_Screw you; I got mine_ news (on Yahoo)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-publicized-names-government-125836798.html), Musk wants to cut the chief climate officer in the Department of Energy’s loan programs office. > Musk also called out the Department of Energy’s chief climate officer in its ~~l~~ oan programs office. The office funds fledgling energy technologies in need of early investment and awarded $465 million to Tesla Motors in 2010, helping to position Musk’s electric vehicle company as an EV industry leader. The chief climate officer works across agencies to “reduce barriers and enable clean energy deployment” according to her online bio. And by “calling out” they mean Musk’s naming them has made them subject to harassment to include, you guessed it, death threats. > Musk has done this kind of thing before – and it’s led to real danger for the people named. > > Missy Cummings angered Musk when she was appointed a senior advisor at the NHTSA because her research and public comments were critical of Tesla’s driver-assist programs and she had called for regulating the systems. > > Musk targeted Cummings on what was then called Twitter, and his legions of fans followed. > > In an interview, Cummings said she received a torrent of attacks, including death threats, and had to temporarily relocate before she eventually moved. And this is how the most powerful nation on Earth shall be misgoverned into the garbage dump of history. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2024, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/424 "2024-11-28T05:07:56Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And this is how the most powerful nation on Earth shall be misgoverned into the garbage dump of history It’s almost like the two most important and dangerous people in the world right now each owning their own personal social media platforms might be a problem. Who would have thought? > [Musk accuses Trump whistleblower Vindman of ‘treason,’ says ‘he will pay’](https://www.yahoo.com/news/musk-accuses-trump-whistleblower-vindman-213058666.html) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/425 "2024-11-28T09:15:01Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > It’s almost like the two most important and dangerous people in the world right now each owning their own personal social media platforms might be a problem. Maybe Truth and X can merge into Trux. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2024, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/426 "2024-11-28T09:49:07Z")
Even better, Truth Social and X could fight it out for market share, achieving nothing important in the battle, but too consumed with each other to pay attention to anything else. Because if they merge, then we’re all Truxed. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2024, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/427 "2024-11-28T11:27:32Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Maybe Truth and X can merge into Trux. Considering they’re both online services, maybe they could emphasize that by making technology part of the name. Like, let’s see… “Cyber-Trux.” … Nah, that’s fucking lame. Nobody would ever be dumb enough to use such a stupid name for their product. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/428 "2024-11-28T13:09:01Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > … Nah, that’s fucking lame. Nobody would ever be dumb enough to use such a stupid name for their product. - it’s perfect for a stupid product. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/429 "2024-11-28T13:28:04Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Considering they’re both online services, maybe they could emphasize that “eXTRUTH.” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/430 "2024-11-28T16:29:24Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > …Stefanik has impressed me before… How so? ETA: Apart from voting against Trump’s 2017 tax cut. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2024, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/431 "2024-11-30T08:15:15Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Oh dear, Trump’s pick for SecDef, Hegseth… > > [Another Trump Cabinet Pick Is in Trouble | The New Republic](https://newrepublic.com/post/188535/another-trump-cabinet-pick-trouble) > > No wonder Trump likes him. [This](https://www.yahoo.com/news/pete-hegseth-published-column-saying-225600849.html) (Yahoo link, bolding in quote mine) is probably the real reason Trump likes him. > In November 2024, Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, came under [scrutiny](https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5199630/police-report-gives-details-timeline-of-the-sexual-assault-claim-against-pete-hegseth) for his past, in which a woman had accused him of sexual assault. In response, Snopes readers and various online posts raised another action from Hegseth’s past — varied claims that **he had either published or written a college newspaper column that said sex with an unconscious woman was not rape**. [And the latest line-up for the continued clusterfuck is on CBS](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-might-be-in-donald-trump-cabinet/): > - White House chief of staff: Susie Wiles - Secretary of state: Marco Rubio - Attorney general: Pam Bondi (after Matt Gaetz withdrew) - Deputy attorney general: Todd Blanche - HHS secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought - U.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik - “Border czar”: Tom Homan - Defense secretary: Pete Hegseth - Secretary of veterans affairs: Doug Collins - National security adviser: Michael Waltz - Interior secretary: Doug Burgum - Secretary of energy: Chris Wright - Secretary of transportation: Sean Duffy - Secretary of commerce: Howard Lutnick - Secretary of education: Linda McMahon - Secretary of the treasury: Scott Bessent - Secretary of labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer - White House counsel: William McGinley - U.S. Ambassador to NATO: Matthew Whitaker - Secretary of homeland security: Kristi Noem - HUD secretary: Scott Turner - CIA director: John Ratcliffe - Director of national intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard - EPA administrator: Lee Zeldin - Solicitor general: Dean John Sauer - FDA commissioner: Marty Makary - Secretary of agriculture: Brooke Rollins - CDC Director: David Weldon - FCC chairman: Brendan Carr - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator: Dr. Mehmet Oz - Surgeon general: Dr. Janette Nesheiwat - U.S. ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee - U.S. ambassador to Canada: Pete Hoekstra - U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York: Jay Clayton - Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy - Deputy chief of staff: Dan Scavino - Deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser: Stephen Miller - Deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs: James Blair - Deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel: Taylor Budowich - Presidential Personnel Office head: Sergio Gor - White House communications director: Steven Cheung - White House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt - Domestic Policy Council director: Vince Haley - Secretary of the Navy: John Phelan - Director of the National Institutes of Health: Jay Bhattacharya - U.S. Trade Representative: Jamieson Greer - Deputy secretary of Health and Human Services: Jim O’Neill - Director of White House National Economic Council: Kevin Hassett - Assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia: Retired Gen. Keith Kellogg _More details at the link._ ---
**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:** [November 30, 2024, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/432 "2024-11-30T11:18:32Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > U.S. ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee This one jumps out at me. I hadn’t seen this before now, but a quick search indicates it was announced a couple of weeks ago, and apparently I missed it. (And if it was discussed here, I missed that as well.) Huckabee has previously expressed views in line with that dispensational evangelical philosophy, whatever the correct terminology is, which advocates for escalating the Mideast conflict, entirely removing Palestinians from supposedly historical Israeli land, and letting Israel become a fortress fighting against the rest of the region in order to set the stage for Christ’s return at the End of Days. What does it mean for American foreign policy vis a vis Israel and its neighbors that a true believer in this utter lunacy is now our official representative? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/433 "2024-11-30T13:59:21Z")
What does it mean for the world? We all get the American foreign policy. With luck, we are denied the essence. _“I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!”_ ---
**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:** [November 30, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/434 "2024-11-30T14:36:50Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > “I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!” That’s RFKJR that doesn’t like fluoridated water. Pure grain alcohol, Mandrake. 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 30, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/435 "2024-11-30T15:05:37Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > What does it mean for American foreign policy vis a vis Israel and its neighbors that a true believer in this utter lunacy is now our official representative? It means exactly what we all predicted: Trump’s solution to the Israel/Palestine problem will be letting Israel have free rein to do whatever it wants. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/436 "2024-11-30T15:10:38Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > That’s RFKJR that doesn’t like fluoridated water. But is fine with \< checks notes \> [heroin](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rfk-jr-heroin-hhs-kennedy-b2654080.html). ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/437 "2024-11-30T15:14:14Z")
A truly unbelievable gallery of rogue characters soon to be unleashed on a fragile society. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/438 "2024-11-30T23:02:29Z")
Pete Hegseth’s mother wrote him an email several years ago regarding his abuse of women. It’s brutal. Apparently, she is walking it back now saying she apologized to him for it but to say any of this to your son in the first place is horrifying. Some quotes from the email: > [@](#): > > "Son, > > I have tried to keep quiet about your character and behavior, but after listening to the way you made Samantha feel today, I cannot stay silent. And as a woman and your mother I feel I must speak out… > > You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth. > > Sam is a good mother and a good person (under the circumstances that you created) and I know deep down you know that. For you to try to label her as “unstable” for your own advantage is despicable and abusive. Is there any sense of decency left in you? She did not ask for or deserve any of what has come to her by your hand. Neither did Meredith… > > I know you think this is one big competition and that we have taken her side… bunk… we are on the side of good and that is not you. (Go ahead and call me self-righteous, I dont’ care)… > > We still love you, but we are broken by your behavior and lack of character. I don’t want to write emails like this and never thought I would. If it damages our relationship further, then so be it, but at least I have said my piece. [Redacted]… > > I don’t want an answer to this… I don’t want to debate with you. You twist and abuse everything I say anyway. But… On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say… get some help and take an honest look at yourself… > > Mom" [Pete Hegseth’s mom called him ‘abuser of women’ during his 2018 divorce, NYT reports](https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/pete-hegseth-mom-email-abusive-women-2018-divorce-rcna182284) ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/439 "2024-12-01T01:23:17Z")
I saw a report that Kash Patel is Trump’s pick for FBI Director. Isn’t he the one that said Trump could declassify documents by thinking about them? I’m thinking Patel’s main priority will be to turn the FBI into a modern-day Gazpacho to go after Trump’s “enemies”. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/440 "2024-12-01T01:33:13Z")
> KASH PATEL: “We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections – we’re going to come after you, Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out… We’re putting you all on notice.” > **[New Trump admin would try to prosecute journalists, former Trump adviser says...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/politics/kash-patel-trump-administration/index.html)** > > A former Trump administration official who remains close to Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that a second Trump administration would target journalists and attempt to “prosecute them for crimes” should Trump win the 2024 election. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=23)