# 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:** 261
**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:** [May 28, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5262 "2025-05-28T23:18:28Z")
Easy to imagine little Donny Shitstain pushing another kid off the seesaw and then getting whacked in the chin when it shot back up. So maybe he does understand seesaws. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5263 "2025-05-28T23:19:01Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Easy to imagine little Donny Shitstain pushing another kid off the seesaw and then getting whacked in the chin when it shot back up. That’s a cartoon just waiting to be drawn. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5264 "2025-05-28T23:38:50Z")
Breaking: Federal Trade Court blocks all of Trump’s tariffs. > **[Federal trade court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs under...](https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-trade-court-0392dbd59f548e49ad4f64254ae3f94a)** > > A federal trade court is blocking President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law. ---
**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 28, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5265 "2025-05-28T23:41:27Z")
Trump: Hey Canada, I have a bridge for sale, great bridge, best ever. Canada (skeptical of bridge sales): Where is the bridge, can I inspect it? T: Not built yet, but real soon - and it will be made of gold! C: Can I see the plans at least? And isn’t gold a little soft for a bridge? T: It’s big, beautiful and a great deal. Top men have assured me it will work, TOP MEN. If you act right now. C: How much are we talking about? T: $50-80 billion tops -ʷᵉ ᵍᵉᵗ ᵗᵒ ʳᵃᵖᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳ ˡᵃⁿᵈ ᶠᵒʳ ᵐⁱⁿᵉʳᵃˡˢ, ᵒⁱˡ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵍᵃˢ ⁻ ᵃⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘʳ ˢᵒᵛᵉʳᵉⁱᵍⁿᵗʸ. C: We’ll get back to you in 4 or more years. ---
**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 29, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5266 "2025-05-29T02:42:34Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Musk might be out sooner than he expected. [Told you!](https://www.aol.com/elon-musk-criticizes-trumps-big-140618540.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — [Elon Musk](https://apnews.com/hub/elon-musk) is leaving his government role as a top adviser to [President Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. > > His departure, announced Wednesday evening, marks the end of a turbulent chapter that included thousands of layoffs, the evisceration of government agencies and reams of litigation. Despite the upheaval, the billionaire entrepreneur struggled in the unfamiliar environment of Washington, and he accomplished far less than he hoped. [Here’s a slew of pardons for you.](https://www.aol.com/trump-issues-series-pardons-politicians-002707893.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — President [Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) issued a series of pardons on Wednesday, awarding them to a former New York congressman, a Connecticut governor, a rapper known as “NBA YoungBoy,” a labor union leader and a onetime Army officer who flaunted safety measures during the Coronavirus pandemic. > > His actions mixed Trump’s willingness to pardon [high-profile Republicans and other supporters, donors and friends](https://apnews.com/article/julie-chrisley-todd-trump-pardons-federal-prison-9c508547bf5f6d57ae20f38c6821cecd) with the influence of [Alice Marie Johnson](https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-politics-tn-state-wire-4672b3b09a3f127b11af92e0681dd6df), whom Trump recently named his pardon czar after he offered a pardon to her in 2020. So he’s now pardoned someone who, based on evidence, was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison for crimes he has, without any evidence whatsoever, accused migrants of. Let that sink in for a moment or two. [Then you can feast your eyes on this news about a possible pardon in the works.](https://www.aol.com/trump-says-hell-look-pardoning-172743337.html) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would look at pardoning the men convicted in a scheme to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and swiped at the legitimacy of the case, which was[brought during his first term.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/six-men-charged-alleged-plot-kidnap-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-n1242622) > > “I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention,” Trump said while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during the swearing-in of Jeanine Pirro, the new U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. > > He said that he had watched the trial and that “it looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job.” > > “You know, they were drinking, and I think they said stupid things, but I’ll take a look at that,” Trump added. > > Over a dozen people were charged in connection with the plot to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, though only some of them were tried in federal court and thus eligible for a pardon from Trump. A federal judge sentenced the ringleader of the group, [Barry Croft Jr.,](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ringleader-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-sentenced-19-rcna63399)to over 19 years in prison and handed[Adam Fox,](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-sentenced-16-years-plotting-kidnap-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-rcna63327) another key player, 16 years. I guess it’s a damn good thing for them they didn’t send messages using seashells. And what’s the next salvo in his war on higher education? [Ah, diverting funds to trade schools.](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/trump-considering-taking-us3-billion-harvard-grants-giving-them-trade-schools) > [@](#): > > US President Donald Trump said on Monday (May 26) he is considering taking US$3 billion of previously awarded grant money for scientific and engineering research away from Harvard University and giving it to trade schools. > > His comments on his social media platform Truth Social come less than a week after his administration sought to block the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students as part of Trump’s extraordinary effort to seize some government control of US academia. > > Trump, a Republican, has frozen some US$3 billion in federal grants to Harvard in recent weeks, complaining that it has hired Democrats, “Radical Left idiots and ‘bird brains’” as professors. Harvard, a private university, has sued to restore the funding, saying the cuts are an unconstitutional attack on its free speech rights and unlawful. Wait a moment. Isn’t that appropriated funding, meaning he can’t just chuck it around willy-nilly? (Same link) > [@](#): > > Most of that grant money is appropriated by Congress for the National Institutes of Health to disburse to fund biomedical research after a lengthy application process by individual scientists, work that is not typically done at trade schools. Millions of people voted for him to run the government like a business. They got their wish. He’s running it exactly like he runs his businesses: constantly in court. (Same link) > [@](#): > > On Friday, a US judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students, a policy the university said was part of Trump’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence.” > > The order provides temporary relief to thousands of international students, who were faced with potentially having to transfer under a policy that the university in Cambridge, Massachusetts called a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws. ---
**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 29, 2025, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5267 "2025-05-29T02:57:43Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > … a onetime Army officer who flaunted safety measures … arrrgh ---
**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:** [May 29, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5268 "2025-05-29T03:12:59Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Told you! Yup, mentioned in the Musk thread. ---
**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 29, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5269 "2025-05-29T03:38:17Z")
That’s not a great take. He got most of what he actually wanted - all those pesky investigations and regulations and oversight out of the way plus a slew of government contracts. That stuff about government efficiency was the fig leaf the entire time. Of course, he also alienated a bunch of people not just here but internationally and tanked sales at the only one of his companies that can be confirmed to be profitable, but, hey, nobody’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5270 "2025-05-29T03:54:06Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > He’s running it exactly like he runs his businesses: constantly in court. (Same link) and not paying its contractors for work performed, and using it to make himself as rich as possible while leaving others to hold the bag, and … ---
**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 29, 2025, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5271 "2025-05-29T04:31:32Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > and … …running up the debt. ---
**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 29, 2025, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5272 "2025-05-29T05:09:34Z")
[Another moronic move in relation to universities is starting now.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/policy-visas-adds-mounting-scrutiny-185813037.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the U.S. will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students, including those studying in "critical fields.” > > China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the United States, behind only India. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the United States. > > “Under [President Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/)’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio wrote. Here’s something that just occurred to me. As much as the felon and the other idiots are trying to turn the United States into a one party state, they really don’t understand the realities of living in one. If Chinese want to advance in their careers, especially if they wish to do so if they are government employees, they will probably join the communist party. And companies with, IIRC, three or more party members are legally required to have party cells. The larger the company, the more cells. Again, it’s a one party state, so there’s not much wiggle room on that. But, hey, why should I worry about that? It’s not like we’re going to be finding out anytime soon what it’s like to live in a one party state or a dictatorship. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5273 "2025-05-29T12:50:59Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > arrrgh Same, but it’s now been fixed on the AOL page. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5274 "2025-05-29T12:55:46Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Breaking: Federal Trade Court blocks all of Trump’s tariffs. As someone whose entire career has involved the federal courts, it is reassuring to see how well they are working WRT moderating Trump’s excesses. (Of course, the fat lady, embodied in the increasingly - um - unreliable SCt, hasn’t sung yet…) Really interested in seeing how the Senate handles the budget provision prohibiting courts from enforcing contempt rulings. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5275 "2025-05-29T13:35:48Z")
Fulcrum if he can’t take a joke. ---
**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 29, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5276 "2025-05-29T13:37:01Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And what’s the next salvo in his war on higher education? [Ah, diverting funds to trade schools.](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/trump-considering-taking-us3-billion-harvard-grants-giving-them-trade-schools) Can we expect that the paper bag test (_in reverse_) will be used to determine who gets preferential admission? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5277 "2025-05-29T16:13:09Z")
I want citrus orange peel test. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5278 "2025-05-29T19:34:38Z")
All of his family, except him, would fail that test. But what the hell does he care? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5279 "2025-05-30T02:00:09Z")
Also if there is one area where the US is taking advantage of China its the one way brain drain from China to here. We are taking their best and brightest and giving them a taste of American and having them decide to stay and work with us. Between this and canceling the soft power advantage that was USAID, and nixing the TPP, it really seems like Trump wants China to beat the US. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5280 "2025-05-30T02:29:17Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > it really seems like Trump wants China to beat the US. Trump hates smart people. Why would he want **more** in this country? ---
**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 30, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/5281 "2025-05-30T02:41:42Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Trump hates smart people. Why would he want **more** in this country? They also aren’t white, and he doesn’t want non-whites in the nation either. Nor are they likely to be Trump worshipers, yet another reason to get rid of them. An all-white nation of deeply ignorant Trump-worshipers, that’s what Trump wants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=260) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=262)