# 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:** 311
**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:** [July 1, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6262 "2025-07-01T13:58:46Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > This, according to the _Wall Street Journal_ ’s editorial board, [may prove to be the first nail in Trump’s coffin](https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-puts-the-senate-in-play-in-2026-83b84ecd?mod=hp_opin_pos_1). At this point Trump owns a coffin composed entirely of nails. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6263 "2025-07-01T14:12:26Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > The “master negotiator” is, in fact, a sucker. Now you get it! 😆 So it was as a businessman, so it was as POTUS 1.0, so it is again as POTUS 2.0. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6264 "2025-07-01T14:40:36Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > At this point Trump owns a coffin composed entirely of nails. His own little _Naglfar_. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6265 "2025-07-02T02:25:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > His own little _Naglfar_. Certainly there must be another thing to compare the felon and his accouterments to. After all, a Naglfar is supposed to be maneuverable. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6266 "2025-07-02T03:55:12Z")
[Days of Whine and Doses, indeed, heavy on the whine.](https://www.aol.com/trump-says-musk-head-back-122459948.html) (Hat tip to @dasmoocher.) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON ― [President Donald Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/donald-trump/) said he would look at having [Elon Musk](https://www.usatoday.com/news/elon-musk/)deported to his native South Africa as [their rift reignited](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-great-relationship-musk-162522983.html) and reached new heights amid the billionaire tech entrepreneur’s latest wave of criticism of Trump’s tax and budget bill. > > Trump made the threat while speaking to reporters on July 1,[hours after the president in an early morning post on Truth Social](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114776149269773065) said he might order the Department of Government Efficiency that Musk previously led to review the billions in contracts that his companies receive. > > “We’ll have to take a look,” Trump said when asked whether he will deport Musk. “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies.” > > Trump’s attacks came after Musk, the world’s richest man, resumed his vocal opposition to Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” in a flurry of X posts on Monday [while the bill entered](https://www.yahoo.com/news/did-trumps-big-tax-bill-121922853.html) a fourth day of debate in the Senate. It included a warning from Musk that he would boost midterm primary challenges to defeat Republican lawmakers who vote for the legislation. Wouldn’t it be something if the former _de facto_ president were to be sent to CECOT in El Salvador first? And the felon is whining about someone grifting. It must be jealousy that caused this divorce. [The felon threatens to arrest two politicians he does not like.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-threatens-arrest-2-political-203315289.html) Here’s the “Need to Know” section of that link. > [@](#): > > - President Donald Trump threatened two left-leaning politicians in the same press conference on Tuesday, July 1 > > - While speaking with reporters, Trump called N.Y.C. mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a “communist,” questioned his citizenship, and threatened to jail him if he wins the November election and interferes with ICE arrests > > - The president also pondered prison time for Joe Biden’s former homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached in 2024 by the Republican-led House [Always the diplomat, the felon has a very flowery description of President Biden.](https://www.aol.com/wanted-trump-calls-biden-son-184518880.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON ― [President Donald Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/donald-trump/) referred to [former President Joe Biden](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/joe-biden/) as a “son of a b—” as he toured a detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” claiming his predecessor wanted him behind similar bars. > > “Biden wanted me in here, OK,” Trump said July 1 next to chain-link cages with beds that will house detained migrants beginning Wednesday. “He wanted me. Didn’t work out that way, but he wanted me in here that son of a b----.” WTF is he on about Biden wanting to incarcerate him there? I’ve never heard of _Alligator Alcatraz_ until his mis/mal/non-administration floated the idea. [The Big Bullshit Bill is now the Large Lousy Law.](https://www.aol.com/trump-asserts-dominance-big-beautiful-163804353.html) > [@](#): > > President [Donald Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/donald-trump/) eked out a narrow win to achieve his most significant legislative victory since returning to the White House with the Senate giving a thumbs up July 1 to his sweeping megabill. > > After a [weekend of caustic debate](https://www.yahoo.com/news/senate-debates-trumps-major-tax-112628462.html) the massive proposal − dubbed the [“big beautiful bill”](https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2025/06/25/big-beautiful-bill-trump-senate-update/84070365007/) by Trump − passed the [Senate 51-50](https://www.yahoo.com/news/did-trumps-big-tax-bill-121922853.html). It preserves the 2017 tax cuts; invests billions into the military and border security; and fulfills a major 2024 campaign promise by extending federal tax breaks for low-wage tipped workers, such as waiters and hairstylists. > > Even with congressional majorities, however, the Trump administration had to twist a few arms of Republican holdouts and other allies who questioned if government spending was reduced enough. [University of Pennsylvania caves to the Second Felonial Era.](https://www.aol.com/news/upenn-ban-transgender-athletes-feds-202315432.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — The University of Pennsylvania says it will update records set by transgender swimmer [Lia Thomas](https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-lia-thomas-riley-gaines-ncaa-573637272452) and apologize to female athletes “disadvantaged” by Thomas’ participation on the women’s swimming team, part of a resolution of a federal [civil rights case](https://apnews.com/article/penn-transgender-swimmer-trump-federal-funding-decee6d555d61ac1a5462cf4d495db1c). > > The U.S. Education Department and Penn announced the voluntary agreement Tuesday. The case focused on Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022, when she became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title. > > The department investigated Penn as part of the [Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/) administration’s broader attempt to remove transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, finding the college violated the rights of female athletes. > > Under the agreement, Penn agreed to restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost out to Thomas and send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers, the Education Department said. > > On Tuesday afternoon, the [Penn website](https://pennathletics.com/documents/2025/7/1/WSWIM_records_by_event.pdf) showed other athletes holding the school’s top times in Thomas’ freestyle events. The site was annotated with a note that read, “Competing under eligibility rules in effect at the time, Lia Thomas set program records in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle during the 2021-22 season.” > > “While Penn’s policies during the 2021-2022 swim season were in accordance with NCAA eligibility rules at the time, we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules,” Penn President J. Larry Jameson said in a statement. “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.” > > As part of the settlement, the university must also announce that it “will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs” and it must adopt “biology-based” definitions of male and female, the department said. [Never let it be said that he lacks attention to detail.](https://www.aol.com/trump-portrait-donated-white-house-223346797.html) Oops! My mistake. Let it never be said he does NOT crave attention and flattery. > [@](#): > > A presidential portrait with [Donald Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/)’s approval now hangs in the Colorado Capitol after his complaints got a previous one of him [taken down.](https://apnews.com/article/trump-portrait-colorado-capitol-president-2f60271ddd58d979627ec5d2cd5dea89) > > The new portrait by Tempe, Arizona, artist Vanessa Horabuena is a sterner, crisper image than Sarah Boardman’s painting of Trump that had hung since 2019. > > Last spring, Trump posted on social media that Boardman “must have lost her talent as she got older” and “purposely distorted” him, criticisms the Colorado Springs [artist denied.](https://apnews.com/article/trump-colorado-capitol-portrait-artist-boardman-f909c1b0ca696d0a315c14491f6fe6ba) > > The next day, lawmakers announced they would remove the portrait from a wall of past presidents. By the day after that, Boardman’s painting was gone, [put into museum storage.](https://apnews.com/article/trump-portrait-removed-colorado-capitol-c10a3288cf2a6d5260e385265a066773) > > The Horabuena portrait donated by the White House a month or so ago went up this week after a Thursday decision by Lois Court, a former state lawmaker who chairs the Capitol Building Advisory Committee that helps select artwork for the Capitol in downtown Denver. > > "There was a blank on the wall. It seemed inappropriate. We knew that the White House had sent us this replacement and it simply made sense to put it up,” Court said. Silly me. I figure a blank on the wall is the perfect representation for him. A big fat nothing. [Who says the Democrats and Republicans can’t work together?](https://us.yahoo.com/news/obama-bush-unite-rare-move-175133886.html) > [@](#): > > Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have joined forces to shoot down President Donald Trump’s “colossal mistake” to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development. > > The Trump administration [cut](https://us.yahoo.com/news/leak-reveals-plan-rebuild-usaid-230623776.html) around 90 percent of USAID’s foreign aid contracts during Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rampage back in February. Musk oversaw the depletion of the workforce from 10,000 to less than 300. > > The agency will be absorbed by the State Department, where it will be replaced by a new organization called America First. > > In a farewell video message to staffers on Monday, USAID’s last day before it is folded into the state department, the two former presidents decried its treatment by Trump. > > “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy. Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” said Obama, in private comments obtained by Associated Press. > > The former president, who served from 2009 to 2017, predicted that “sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.” He added that “your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come.” > > Bush, the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009, was even stronger-handed in his message. > > The Republican spoke about cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), saying: “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.” > > He added: “You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work – and that is your good heart.” Dollars to donuts the felon starts talking about “looking into the circumstances of Obama’s birth to see if deportation is on the table”. And maybe he’ll threaten to arrest Bush to boot. [And the latest grift, which should properly be named _L’odeur de l’odorant_.\*](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/legal-critics-trumps-latest-grift-021652497.html) > [@](#): > > [Donald Trump](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump)’s critics smelled something fishy on Monday as the president unveiled his latest product: a new line of fragrances for men and women that come in a gold-colored Trump statuette. & > [@](#): > > The Victory 45-47 scents ― one for men, one for women ― sell for $249 per 100ml bottle, with a $50 discount per bottle for those who purchase two or more. [There are lies, damn lies, statisistics, and the rogering of America the Second Felonial Era does with numbers.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-finally-admits-truth-dramatic-165345535.html) > [@](#): > > Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security have [repeatedly cited](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-gets-brutal-fact-check-164342160.html) an increase in assaults against federal agents conducting immigration enforcement to justify agents concealing their identities (and thereby conveniently avoiding accountability) while making arrests. > > Newly reported data sheds clearer light on these figures. > > On Tuesday, Bill Melugin of Fox News [reported on X](https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/1940047247229792320) that DHS told him assaults against ICE and federal immigration enforcement are now up 690 percent from last year. While ICE has previously stuck to publishing percentages, Melugin was given raw data, reporting 79 assaults against immigration enforcement agents between January 21 and June 30, up from 10 that took place in the same time last year. \*French Canadian (nice touch, huh?) for \*Odor of the odiferous". ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6267 "2025-07-02T03:59:18Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > The Big Bullshit Bill is now the Large Lousy Law. Not yet, technically. Yes, it passed the Senate, but only after that body made changes to the version of the bill (including changes to the Medicaid provisions) which had passed the House. Now, it goes back to the House for reconciliation. It’s still likely to wind up becoming law, but it’s not a done deal yet. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6268 "2025-07-02T04:03:49Z")
Yeah, I know. But it will be reconciled and the felon will scribble it. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6269 "2025-07-02T11:49:57Z")
But I don’t understand how Iranian hackers could have stolen anything from Trump’s associates! Their grasp of electronic security is unparalleled! > **[Iranian Hackers Threaten to Leak 100GB of Stolen Trump Team Emails](https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/iranian-hackers-threaten-to-leak-100gb-of-stolen-trump-team-emails/)** > > An Iran-linked hacker group is threatening to release 100GB of stolen emails from Trump’s inner circle in what officials call as a "calculated smear campaign." ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6270 "2025-07-02T12:00:03Z")
I pity anyone who had to read 100GB of emails from Trump’s inner circle. The damage to their braincells must have been severe. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6271 "2025-07-02T12:11:09Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > [quoting article] Trump made the threat while speaking to reporters on July 1,[hours after the president in an early morning post on Truth Social](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114776149269773065) said he might order the Department of Government Efficiency that Musk previously led to review the billions in contracts that his companies receive. > > “We’ll have to take a look,” Trump said when asked whether he will deport Musk. “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies.” > > Trump’s attacks came after Musk, the world’s richest man, resumed his vocal opposition to Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” in a flurry of X posts on Monday [while the bill entered](https://www.yahoo.com/news/did-trumps-big-tax-bill-121922853.html) a fourth day of debate in the Senate. It included a warning from Musk that he would boost midterm primary challenges to defeat Republican lawmakers who vote for the legislation. One of my first thoughts was that Trump wants to show Putin he can be a big boy, too. Remember [Mikhail Khodorkovsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky)? > **Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky** (Russian: Михаил Борисович Ходорковский, IPA: [[mʲɪxɐˈil xədɐrˈkofskʲɪj]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Russian); born 26 June 1963), sometimes known by his initials **MBK** , is an exiled Russian businessman, [oligarch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_oligarchs), and [opposition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_opposition) activist, now residing in London.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky#cite_note-Gdn20318-1) In 2003, Khodorkovsky was believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, with a fortune estimated to be worth $15 billion, and was ranked 16th on [_Forbes_ list of billionaires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_list_of_billionaires).[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky#cite_note-2) > … > In 2001, Khodorkovsky founded [Open Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Russia), a reform-minded organization intending to “build and strengthen civil society” in the country. In October 2003, he was arrested by Russian authorities and charged with fraud.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky#cite_note-3) The government of [President](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Russia) [Vladimir Putin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin) then froze shares of Yukos shortly thereafter on tax charges. Putin’s government took further actions against Yukos, leading to a collapse of the company’s share price and the evaporation of much of Khodorkovsky’s wealth. In May 2005, he was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. In December 2010, while he was still serving his sentence, Khodorkovsky and his business partner [Platon Lebedev](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platon_Lebedev) were further charged with and found guilty of [embezzlement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embezzlement) and [money laundering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering). Khodorkovsky’s prison sentence was extended to 2014. After [Hans-Dietrich Genscher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Dietrich_Genscher) lobbied for his release, Putin pardoned Khodorkovsky, releasing him from jail on 20 December 2013.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky#cite_note-spiegel-release-4) > > There was widespread concern internationally that the trials and sentencing were [politically motivated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_prisoner).[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky#cite_note-Parfitt-5)[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky#cite_note-Amnesty_International-6) The trial was criticized abroad for the lack of [due process](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Due_process). [snip] Threatening Musk (or just anyone who opposes him) seems standard for Trump and I’m not sure how much he could carry through on it–Musk has deep pockets (for now) and as the Big, Bullshit Bill shows, donor money runs the show (with some spite and cruelty thrown in for good measure)–but I confess I visualized Trump saying to Putin: “Look Daddy, I can do it, too! Do you approve of me now? Please approve of me! I’m a big boy, just like you!” ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6272 "2025-07-02T12:15:48Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > donor money runs the show …for now. As bad as the US has become, they still haven’t quite figured out that they could just _take_ the rich people’s money, like Putin does. I’m sure this will happen eventually, but there are still some residual traces of the societal norms of yesteryear lurking about in MAGA world. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6273 "2025-07-02T12:50:56Z")
**[Paul Krugman](https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/muskenfreude?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=277517&post_id=167340762&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=203721&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email)** reminds Leon Skum and all the US oligarchs who want to listen that Planet Money explained in a newsletter **[how Putin conquered Russia’s oligarchy](https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/03/29/1088886554/how-putin-conquered-russias-oligarchy)**. Paul Krugman’s substack ends like that: > Just to be clear, much as I hate what Musk has done, I don’t want to see him exiled or falling out of a window, because I don’t want to live in that kind of country. But if we do become that kind of a country, people like Musk will bear much of the responsibility — and, whatever they imagine, may pay part of the price. I appreciate the reason he gives for not wanting this kind of evil happening to the SACANUS\* citizen. \* South Africa, Canada, USA ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6274 "2025-07-02T12:52:55Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > …for now. As bad as the US has become, they still haven’t quite figured out that they could just _take_ the rich people’s money, like Putin does. I’m sure this will happen eventually, but there are still some residual traces of the societal norms of yesteryear lurking about in MAGA world. Yeah. The donors don’t seem to be able to understand that they are destroying the system that gives them their power and privilege, and that once the US fully transitions to fascism their money _won’t matter_ any more. Only force will matter. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6275 "2025-07-02T13:06:26Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Only force will matter. Yep. I like to point out that, sure Musk has something like $400 billion in assets, which on an individual level is a fuck ton of money, but if he were to convert it all to cash, it would cover _maybe_ 6 months of the US military annual budget. The US Government operates on a fundamentally different scale than individual finance, and someday the Musks of the world might finally realize that. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6276 "2025-07-02T13:10:24Z")
I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but I don’t understand why Musk couldn’t just hire someone to kill Trump. He may not want to, but it’s within the realm of possibility, right? ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6277 "2025-07-02T13:18:09Z")
The Secret Service exists in large part to prevent that from working. Something any actually capable prospective assassins would know, and refuse the job because they don’t want to get killed or imprisoned for life. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6278 "2025-07-02T13:21:25Z")
He could try bribing the secret service to look the other way, but that becomes very risky very soon. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6279 "2025-07-02T13:23:05Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but I don’t understand why Musk couldn’t just hire someone to kill Trump. He may not want to, but it’s within the realm of possibility, right? Spitballing the hypothetical here: 1. Musk is _way_ too much of a coward to directly order someone’s death. He may be fine with the incidental deaths of hundreds of thousands (e.g. thanks to his USAID cuts) but to actually decide to order a death? Way too much of a weenie. 2. Whatever the fallout between the two of them, Musk knows at some level he’s better off with Trump in office than Vance or someone else, particulary if it means the kleptocracy at the top starts to wobble. 3. He’s not remotely smart enough to come up with a plan to assassinate the US President and find one or more assassins willing and able to carry it out, given the levels of security to overcome. 4. The consequences if the plan were to fail (as it likely would) would be enormous to him. See point 1 about him being a weenie. 5. He still thinks he’s smart enough to convince Trump to give him what he wants, no matter the current “setbacks” he’s facing on that front. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6280 "2025-07-02T13:26:39Z")
The concept of the professional assassin for hire is basically a movie fiction. The only plausible means by which Musk could do that is to recruit and groom someone from scratch with the requisite skills (say, a disgruntled military sniper), and there’s a thousand ways that could go wrong. I would argue the only person in the world who could make a realistic organized play for Trump’s life, if he really wanted, is Putin. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6281 "2025-07-02T13:35:10Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I would argue the only person in the world who could make a realistic organized play for Trump’s life, if he really wanted, is Putin. Hasn’t Iran issued a fatwa on Trump? ([Iran Issues Fatwa Against Donald Trump: 'Enemy of God' - Newsweek](https://www.newsweek.com/iran-issues-fatwa-against-donald-trump-enemy-god-2092318)) A fanatic assassin doesn’t care about his/her persoal safety as long as they are “doing God’s will.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=310) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=312)