# 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:** 230
**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:** [May 8, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4642 "2025-05-08T21:42:15Z")
The problem with pulling the Peter Principle into it is that it’s based on the idea that people rise above their level of competence to a place where they are incompetent and they stop there. This presupposes that they were **ever** competent at any level. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4643 "2025-05-08T21:45:11Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I was trying to explain to my friend the dynamics of something called “The Peter Principle” and was struggling to come up with an archetypal example. Can anyone help me out here? I’ve seen a few examples in my time. I’m in a more technical industry and have seen people who are primarily scientists or engineers promoted up a few levels to eventually be project managers, and that can be a mixed bag. Being one member of a team, or even a senior mentoring a younger co-worker, involves a different skillset - having to manage others or worry about timelines, costs, or dealing with your own competent or incompetent superiors - rather than the nuts and bolts of some technical task. Not that “professional managers” are better, but at least there’s a recognition the skillsets aren’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4644 "2025-05-08T21:46:38Z")
He literally knows no actual people in the areas he nominates in. Fox personalities he sees on TV; Billionaire blowhards and bimbos he’s interacted with; failed presidential debaters and candidates; and lawyers he’s had represent him in court. In his first disaster, he dismissed all the qualified persons and had son-in-law Kushner become his errand boy. His friends are personalities he’s conned (if you could call them friends); celebrities and sports figures. The rest of the hanger-ons are manipulating him to enrich themselves AND hopefully get pardons. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4645 "2025-05-08T21:47:27Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This presupposes that they were **ever** competent at any level. Sometimes luck can be disguised as competence. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4646 "2025-05-08T21:48:02Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > He loves nominating and associating with drunks (Kegsbreath, Kavanaugh, Rudy) so why not one more? I’m just afraid the taxpayers will get stuck with paying the bar tab when they all go out to Happy Hour at a DC bar. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4647 "2025-05-08T22:01:49Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The problem with pulling the Peter Principle into it is that it’s based on the idea that people rise above their level of competence to a place where they are incompetent and they stop there. This presupposes that they were **ever** competent at any level. It also presupposes that they _stop_ rising. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4648 "2025-05-08T22:07:47Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > He literally knows no actual people in the areas he nominates in. To be fair: Judge Wapner, Judge Judy, and Judge Reinhold all had previous engagements. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4649 "2025-05-08T22:25:14Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I’m just afraid the taxpayers will get stuck with paying the bar tab when they all go out to Happy Hour at a DC bar. Honestly, paying for them to go day drinking every day for the next four years will probably be cheaper, and produce better results, than letting them try to do their actual job. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4650 "2025-05-09T03:37:24Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > This makes me wonder how Navy ship names are chosen. I imagine the aircraft carrier USS Obama would infuriate MAGAs. Could a Democratic Congress and President make this happen, and could the next concurrent Republican Congress and President reverse it? The Secretary of the Navy so, indirectly. Just appoint sycophant willing to do your bidding. And while it’s usually when the [purpose had changed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Langley_(CV-1)), ships have been renamed for political reasons. A year before his nibs took over the navy [completed renaming not only ships but buildings and streets](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3643089/navy-completes-work-on-naming-commission-recommendations/) to purge Confederate honorees and USS _Hornet_ (CV-12) was to be _Kearsarge_ but was renamed while still on the ways to honor CV-8, lost in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. I’ve been disquieted about naming ships after anyone, President or not, who is still alive. Like postage stamps, let 'em be dead first. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2025, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4651 "2025-05-09T03:59:39Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’ve been disquieted about naming ships after anyone, President or not, who is still alive. Like postage stamps, let 'em be dead first. I served aboard the [USS CARL VINSON](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Carl_Vinson). That sucker was named for a living person. Too bad it wasn’t named after a better person, living or dead. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2025, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4652 "2025-05-09T07:01:02Z")
And [the Purge](https://www.aol.com/president-donald-trump-fires-librarian-011948843.html) continues. > [@](#): > > President [Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) abruptly fired [Librarian of Congress](https://apnews.com/hub/library-of-congress) Carla Hayden on Thursday as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda. > > Hayden was notified in an email late Thursday from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. [Confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016](https://apnews.com/united-states-congress-united-states-government-97cd673d3b1d4678891ab16de3a45996), Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress. > > “Carla," the email began. "On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.” A spokesperson for the Library of Congress confirmed that the White House told Hayden she was dismissed. > > Hayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from a [conservative advocacy group](https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-president-project-2025-33d3fc2999a74f4aa424f1128dca2d16) that had vowed to root out those standing in the way of Trump’s agenda. The group, American Accountability Foundation, accused her and other library leaders of promoting children’s books with “radical” content and literary material authored by Trump opponents. What’s next? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4653 "2025-05-09T12:34:55Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And [the Purge](https://www.aol.com/president-donald-trump-fires-librarian-011948843.html) continues. Huh. I would have thought the Librarian of Congress would have worked for Congress and the Legislative Branch and not been subject to Trump’s vindictive whims. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2025, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4654 "2025-05-09T14:20:28Z")
Anyone else who’s black and female, or black and male, or something else and female, is probably the one in the crosshairs. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4655 "2025-05-09T15:42:50Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > What’s next? How about FEMA? Just as we enter hurricane season. > # FEMA leader is out, amid questions over future of the agency > > [FEMA leader is replaced, as disaster season begins : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2025/05/09/nx-s1-5391920/fema-head-replaced-disaster-season) > > The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cameron Hamilton, has been replaced, according to a statement from the agency. The move comes at a time of turmoil for FEMA, after President Trump has said repeatedly that the country’s primary disaster response agency should be eliminated. > … Maybe Donnie can eliminate natural disasters by Executive Order. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4656 "2025-05-09T15:45:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Maybe Donnie can eliminate natural disasters by Executive Order As long as it’s signed with a Sharpie. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4657 "2025-05-09T15:55:58Z")
Who needs FEMA? Donnie’s been warming up his paper towel tossing arm. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4658 "2025-05-09T16:01:35Z")
FEMA won’t help Trump, _personally,_ so what does he care? If thousands of people die in disasters because the government can no longer help, none of them are Trump therefore none of them matter in the slightest. He won’t care any more than he cares how many rats drown in a flood. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4659 "2025-05-09T17:00:41Z")
Good news, they are finally accepting and re-locating refugees! [Afrikaners refugees status due to arrive in U.S. on Monday : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2025/05/09/nx-s1-5391815/)? Oh wait, that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind (nor anyone else). `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4660 "2025-05-09T17:10:09Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > He won’t care any more than he cares how many rats drown in a flood. Wait until the first red state gets walloped by a hurricane. Flying sharpies. Paper towels for everyone. Has to preserve the majority in congress. Even with the deck stacked against impeachment, he still runs scared - a weak bully at heart. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/4661 "2025-05-09T18:19:09Z")
ISTR after Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina and it was getting close to Election Day there were a number of stories about how it might affect the elections. Whether polling places would be able to open, whether people would be able to get to them (both for early voting and on Election Day), and whether people would be able to get mail-in ballots in time. Since some of that area was Trump territory, I even saw a conspiracy theory that the Democrats had engineered the hurricane (using their space lasers?). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=229) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=231)