# 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:** 299
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6022 "2025-06-20T11:15:03Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > [The felon froths at the mouth over Juneteenth.](https://www.aol.com/donald-trump-appears-knock-juneteenth-010750610.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > President [Donald Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/donald-trump/) appeared to criticize [Juneteenth celebrations](https://www.yahoo.com/news/juneteenth-2025-know-holiday-145601230.html) in a post on social media, saying there are “too many non-working holidays in America.” WAG: he’s also dog-whistling for his Neo-Nazi-adjacent followers who think (((those people))) have “too many holidays.” ---
**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:** [June 20, 2025, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6023 "2025-06-20T11:32:20Z")
Remember when he used to brag about Lincoln the Republican who freed the slaves? Juneteenth should be a MAGA holy day. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6024 "2025-06-20T12:06:51Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > WAG: he’s also dog-whistling for his Neo-Nazi-adjacent followers who think (((those people))) have “too many holidays.” Is he really even dog-whistling any more? It seems like the only way he could be any more obvious is if he just started spewing racial epithets in public. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6025 "2025-06-20T13:08:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Not much of a fan of AI art, but grudging points awarded for the deep cut. Thanks. I grew up watching Abbott & Costello on KTLA’s _Family Film Festival_. I used Sora chat GPT and entered ‘Trump as Lou Costello “I’m a baaaaad boy!”’ Out of the four images, I liked this one best. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6026 "2025-06-20T13:23:36Z")
Fine. We can only have as many holidays as Trump has golf days. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6027 "2025-06-20T14:36:58Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Is he really even dog-whistling any more? It seems like the only way he could be any more obvious is if he just started spewing racial epithets in public. Hasn’t he? ---
**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:** [June 20, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6028 "2025-06-20T18:21:49Z")
> [@solost](#): > > the only way he could be any more obvious is if he just started spewing racial epithets in public In Klan regalia. [![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/svdeHNkuNijHxSvkYFQp8E.jpg) ](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/svdeHNkuNijHxSvkYFQp8E.jpg) ---
**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:** [June 20, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6029 "2025-06-20T23:51:47Z")
[quote=“Coriolanus, post:6021, topic:1010068”] > [@Coriolanus](#): > > 30,000 lb (14,000 kg) [GBU-57] Massive\_Ordnance\_Penetrator But most of that is the weight of penetraiting housing From [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-57A/B_MOP#Key_components) > One variant of the BLU-127 bomb body contains 4,590 pounds (2,082 kg) of AFX-757 and 752 pounds (341 kg) of PBXN-114, for a total explosive payload of 5,342 pounds (2,423 kg). and from [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNT_equivalent) AFX-757 is 1.86 times as powerful as TNT while PBXN is1.68 times. Crunching the numbers we get explosive power of “only” about 4.45 metric tons of TNT (0.0045 kt). So not nuke level but certainly enough to make for a very bad day. ETA: scrolling down the page on my second link I see somone else did the math and came up with different by similar numbers already. GBU-57 MOP bomb 0.0035kt MOAB 0.011kt FOAB thermobaric bomb 0.044kt [davy crocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device)) nuke 0.022kt ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6030 "2025-06-21T05:42:03Z")
[The stable ~~floor droppings~~ genius had a great idea.](https://www.aol.com/trump-looking-immigration-relief-farm-212302689.html) > [@](#): > > [President Donald Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/donald-trump/) again is saying he wants to shield farmers from the effects of his crackdown on illegal immigration, just days after his administration [reinstated workplace raids](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-reverses-course-resumes-ice-191945430.html) on agricultural operations. > > “We’re looking at doing something where, in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire and let them have responsibility, because we can’t put the farms out of business,” Trump told reporters June 20 while traveling to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “And at the same time we don’t want to hurt people that aren’t criminals.” What a complete, total, and astonishingly complete lack of self-awareness the felon displays. [But, hey, the state of the world must be A-Okay, right? That’s why the felon has time for this.](https://www.aol.com/trump-posts-social-media-calling-155533995.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday posted a call on social media for a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden more than four years ago. > > Despite a flurry of lawsuits from the Trump campaign in the wake of his 2020 election loss, no evidence of any mass voter fraud schemes that had any impact on the election has emerged. > > Trump falsely claimed on his Truth Social platform that he won the 2020 election in “LANDSLIDE!” and that the election “was a total FRAUD!” > > “A Special Prosecutor must be appointed,” Trump wrote. “This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!” > > A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on Trump’s call for a special prosecutor. One year, five months, people. Turn Congress blue so this felon can be impeached and finally dealt with correctly. [What do you know? It’s not all sugar and spice in the Second Felonial Era.](https://www.aol.com/news/trump-says-spy-chief-gabbard-194802589.html) > [@](#): > > (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was wrong in suggesting there was no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. > > Trump contested intelligence assessments relayed earlier this year by his spy chief that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon when he spoke with reporters at an airport in Morristown, New Jersey. > > “She’s wrong,” Trump said. > > In March, Gabbard testified to Congress that the U.S. intelligence community continued to believe that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon. “The (intelligence community) continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon,” she said. > > On Friday, Gabbard said in a post on the social media platform X that: “America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.” > > She said the media has taken her March testimony “out of context” and was trying to “manufacture division.” [Turns out the veep’s a bigot, too.](https://www.aol.com/vance-blames-california-dems-violent-003852634.html) > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Friday accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of encouraging violent [immigration](https://www.yahoo.com/issues/immigration/) protests as he used his appearance in Los Angeles to rebut criticism from state and local officials that the [Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/) administration fueled the unrest by sending in federal officers. > > Vance also referred to U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, the state’s first Latino senator, as “Jose Padilla,” a week after the Democrat was [forcibly taken to the ground](https://apnews.com/article/alex-padilla-noem-immigration-protest-california-f67d220a0254473c53c16aa96f554239) by officers and handcuffed after speaking out during a Los Angeles news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on [immigration raids](https://apnews.com/article/immigration-crackdown-us-protests-049a611d47d0fc7656731e4f4c714e93). > > “I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question,” Vance said, in an apparent reference to the altercation at Noem’s event. “I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t a theater. And that’s all it is.” [The felon goes after two targets.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-makes-sweeping-changes-215510506.html) > [@](#): > > The Trump administration is shortening ObamaCare’s annual open enrollment period and ending the law’s coverage of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children, according to a final rule announced Friday. > > The Biden administration made it easier and more affordable to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans, causing enrollment to swell to [an all-time high](https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-administration-achieves-fourth-record-100000875.html). The Trump administration claims those moves opened a wave of fraudulent enrollment that’s costing taxpayers billions of dollars. > > According to the rule, the federal open enrollment period will run from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. Currently, federal open enrollment ends Jan. 15. & > [@](#): > > In addition to the shortened enrollment period, the administration said it is ending ObamaCare coverage for immigrants who came into the U.S. illegally as children, also known as “Dreamers.” [And the felon’s feud with Harvard has yet another update.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-again-blocks-trump-administration-195959946.html) > [@](#): > > A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday further blocked [the Trump administration’s](https://www.nbcnews.com/trump-administration) attempt to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students while giving those students additional legal protections. > > U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs issued the preliminary injunction after having granted a [temporary restraining order](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/harvard-trump-visas-rcna211347) against the federal government this month. > > The injunction holds that the administration is blocked from yanking Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which was based on a [May 22 revocation notice](https://www.harvard.edu/federal-lawsuits/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/S1-Ltr-to-Harvard-05222025_Redacted.pdf) the Department of Homeland Security sent to Harvard administrators. > > [In her decision](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.285083/gov.uscourts.mad.285083.73.0.pdf), Burroughs directed the government to “immediately” prepare guidance to alert Trump administration officials to disregard that notice and to restore “every visa holder and applicant to the position that individual would have been absent such Revocation Notice.” > > It also says the student visa holders should not be denied entry to the country as a result of the revocation. But, of course, we’re dealing with a flock of felons who really don’t care about keeping records, so we’ll see if it’s even possible for the judge’s order to be put into effect. [And I bet you thought going into journalism meant asking the tough questions, getting to the nitty gritty, holding powerful people to account.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-rages-reporter-refuses-074325052.html) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump on Wednesday [once](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-michael-birnbaum-washington-post-air-force-one-lost-credibility_n_67cf1143e4b0c23ef0b81538)[again](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-nbc-reporter-question_n_67d932b0e4b0682946105b4b)[ripped](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-wall-street-journal-reporter-question_n_681857cee4b08041c58c79f1) a reporter to their face, this time after they dared to bring into question the idea that his supporters are completely and utterly behind every move he makes. > > Trump was taking questions during the unveiling of new flag poles outside the White House when CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene asked him about the split in MAGA ranks over his increasingly hawkish backing of Israel in its war with Iran. & > [@](#): > > Trump claimed he “hadn’t seen that” and then went on a diatribe, saying: > > “Do you ever ask a positive question at CNN? My supporters are more in love with me today, and I’m in love with them, more than they were even at election time.” [Doesn’t his smarmy face just make you hot and ready to make babies?](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-plan-women-more-babies-122713088.html) > [@](#): > > In an effort to get Americans to have more children, the Trump administration has proposed ideas such as a [$5,000](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/trump-birthrate-proposals.html)[“baby bonus”](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/trump-birthrate-proposals.html) or a $1,000 [tax-deferred investment account](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/09/trump-funded-accounts-babies) for children born between 2025 and 2029. It’s as if we’re suddenly in a game of Monopoly: Have a baby, pass go and collect cash! > > Their concern is that [declining birth rates](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2024/06/declining-fertility-rates-put-prosperity-of-future-generations-at-risk.html) may lead to a smaller workforce amid an aging population, potentially straining economic stability and the social safety net. But having children can be a swift way into debt. According to the Brookings Institution, a financial think tank, the average middle-income family with two children — [median income $80,610](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/meridianchartertownshipinghamcountymichigan,US/INC110223#INC110223) ―[spends $310,605](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/090415/cost-raising-child-america.asp) on each child by the time they reach 17. > > Additionally, having children in the U.S. comes with risks that go well beyond economics. Maternal morbidity is significantly higher in the U.S. than in other developed countries, and since abortion bans came into effect in some states, [deaths have risen](https://thegepi.org/maternal-mortality-abortion-bans/) — inTexas, maternal death shot up 56%, according to the Gender Policy Equity Institute. For white women, the rate doubled from 20 per 100,000 to 39.1; for Black women, who are historically at greater risk, rates jumped from 31.6 to 43.6 per 100,000 live births. And we’re supposed to be an advanced country. I think I’ve mentioned this on this site before. The felon has managed to bring religion into the fore in public discourse. Every time he opens his lying his mouth, every time one of his co-conspirators does something, every time one of his supporters blathers an inane paean of the felon, I have one and only one thought: _ **Jesus Christ!** _ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6031 "2025-06-21T06:09:32Z")
I guess they’re trying to make up for kicking out immigrants by increasing birth rates. That will take 20 years before it reaps any noticeable results, which will be in an entirely different world again by then. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6032 "2025-06-21T06:10:55Z")
I didn’t notice if there was a disclaimer: _No bonus for foreigners giving birth in America_. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6033 "2025-06-21T06:31:01Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I guess they’re trying to make up for kicking out immigrants by increasing birth rates. That will take 20 years before it reaps any noticeable results, which will be in an entirely different world again by then. The bonuses are almost certain not to have any appreciable effects. There’s a recent thread about how birth rates can be increased and the tl;dr answer is they can’t. At least no one’s come up with a formula that does it. Giving a few thousand dollars to the mothers certainly doesn’t do it. That’s been tried several times in various countries to no discernible effect. > [@Monty](#): > > _No bonus for foreigners giving birth in America_. Given who’s proposing the baby bonuses, if and when such a bill is written, it’d be surprising if there’s not a provision that they only go to citizens. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6034 "2025-06-21T06:31:14Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > It also says the student visa holders should not be denied entry to the country as a result of the revocation. This is just another example of the regime doing something illegal knowing it will be challenged in court and they can drag it out. By the time a decision is made against them, the damage is already done. How many students are going to take a chance on coming to Harvard now? ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6035 "2025-06-21T08:02:00Z")
Harvard? How many are going to take a chance at coming to _America_? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6036 "2025-06-21T12:29:24Z")
Agent Orange is using no-bid contracts, a “national emergency,” and ICE raids to enrich private prison company donors in what Mary Trump calls a “textbook example of quid pro quo corruption.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_gOywBo1xPo/maxresdefault.jpg "SHOCKING: Mary Trump UNCOVERS the Trump Scandal HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gOywBo1xPo) See more: > **[Trump administration using no-bid contracts, boosting big firms, to get more...](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trump-administration-using-no-bid-contracts-boosting-big-firms-to-get-more-ice-detention-beds)** > > ICE's moves have delighted industry analysts on company earnings calls and promised bigger profits but have also drawn criticism. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6037 "2025-06-21T12:47:39Z")
[NYT summary of polls](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/donald-trump-approval-rating-polls.html) gives 45/47 an average approval rating 45% Which, given the gawd fuck awful grift gathering flipflop TACO job he’s doing domestically and internationally, is an exceptionally positive result for him. Wither those famed checks & balances, wot? ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6038 "2025-06-21T13:17:35Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Wither those famed checks & balances, wot? We’re talking about Trump, right? The checks are no good as always and the balance is negative as always. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6039 "2025-06-21T14:59:16Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Agent Orange is using no-bid contracts, a “national emergency,” and ICE raids to enrich private prison company donors in what Mary Trump calls a “textbook example of quid pro quo corruption.” A next step will be to give no bid contracts to private military contractors like Erik Prince’s formerly named [Blackwater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_(company)) to carry out ICE and anti-immigration enforcement with arrest powers. [Former acting ICE director: Private immigration enforcement plan ‘plainly unlawful’](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/25/private-mass-deportations-illegal-022717) _Allies of the president have toyed with the idea of privatizing the deportation process, a move that could run afoul of long-set laws._ > [02/25/2025] Former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Sandweg called Trump allies’ pitch to privatize deportation efforts “plainly unlawful” Tuesday, a position in line with decades-old laws to restrict the government’s ability to privatize certain law enforcement efforts. > > Sandweg’s statement follows a [Tuesday POLITICO report](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/25/documents-military-contractors-mass-deportations-022648) that showed prominent military contractors submitted a pitch to advisers of President Donald Trump of a $25 billion offer to execute mass deportations through “processing camps” on military bases, a private fleet of 100 planes and a “small army” of private citizens who can make arrests. > > “The idea that we could have a private cadre of bounty hunters going out on the streets and arresting migrants is frightening and would obviously be plainly unlawful,” Sandweg said on CNN. > > The pitch, which the Trump administration hasn’t carried out, likely runs afoul of longstanding federal laws that block the government from privatizing certain law enforcement and national security efforts by outsourcing some detective services or hiring private mercenaries. > > A White House spokesperson previously told POLITICO that “while White House officials receive numerous unsolicited proposals from various private sector players, it is ultimately up to the agencies responsible for carrying out the president’s agenda to consider and sign contracts to advance their mission.” > > This law, though, does not stop ICE — which handles deportations — from contracting private businesses for other operations. > … > While the Trump administration hasn’t carried out these plans, these discussions suggest the it could be looking to spend more on “private contractors who will do the kind of painstaking work of identifying a potential arrest target,” Sandweg said. Trump’s pledge for mass deportations and cracking down on illegal immigration would require a significant increase in funding for the agency. > > “Private contractors,” Sandweg said, “are out there looking for ways to get a piece of this money.” ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6040 "2025-06-21T17:46:28Z")
Yeah, and if you read the details, you can contribute $5,000 / year tax free for each child, which the child can ultimately use tax free for college, buying a home, or starting a business. Now, I wonder, who is being helped by this? The waitress who wants a family, who will surely take full advantage of a $5k/yr tax dodge for each of her kids, on her $40k/yr salary, or the executive who will realize he can transfer $250,000 - $500,000 in wealth tax free to his 25 year olds (depending on your assumptions)? Once again, it’s a gift to the rich wrapped in promises to the working class. (I’m not sure what age of the child you have to stop contributing, but $5k/yr on top of an initial $1k for 20 years at an average return of 9% (lower than the S&Ps average return) is about $250k, and if you can take that to age 25 it’s $430k) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6041 "2025-06-21T23:37:11Z")
Not sure this is the right place but this is new… I was trying to use the inflation calculator provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and it told me I cannot calculate inflation on any figure over $10 million. There are other inflation calculators out there but this can only be on purpose to help hide the mess Trump is making. There is absolutely no reason it could not calculate on a higher number. > **[CPI Inflation Calculator](https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm)** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=298) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=300)