# 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:** 313
**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:** [July 3, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6302 "2025-07-03T00:45:32Z")
I don’t get the meme, those are the same photo. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6303 "2025-07-03T01:32:34Z")
Those chain link cages look a lot like the detention centers where they kept the children when they separated them from their parents back in Trump 1.0. [![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/C4A3/production/_102093305_de27-1.jpg.webp) ](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/C4A3/production/_102093305_de27-1.jpg.webp) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6304 "2025-07-03T03:44:37Z")
Are the marines and the guard still deployed in Los Angeles? If so, what are they doing? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6305 "2025-07-03T04:23:05Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Speaking of which, I wonder if the SS has a system to block drones. A signal jamming device. Since drones have been weaponized for about twenty years now, it’s safe to say they’ve thought about it. Having said that, Elon has rockets and I bet the Secret Service would have a hard time stopping one of those. Maybe that’s why he changed his mind about cancelling that one rocket! > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Alligator Alcatraz Personally, I’m partial to Alligator Auschwitz, seems more in line with the intended purpose. ---
**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 3, 2025, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6306 "2025-07-03T06:11:38Z")
[Blessed be the ~~Zimbabwe~~ US Dollar!](https://www.aol.com/u-dollar-fallen-lowest-value-150626948.html) (The **bolding** and _italics_ are mine.) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump wants the U.S. to increase its exports and lower its imports. Thanks to a historic decline in the value of the U.S. dollar, he may get his wish — but at a cost he may not have anticipated. > > **Over the past six months, _the dollar has declined more than 10%_ compared with a basket of currencies from the U.S.’ major trading partners** — something it has not done since 1973. Today, it sits at a three-year low. > > **The simplest explanation for the decline is that global investors now expect the U.S. economy to no longer outperform the rest of the world _as a result of Trump’s tariffs_ and worsening fiscal issues.** Even with U.S. stocks returning to record highs, the return on other countries’ equities has been even stronger. Meanwhile the return on lending to the U.S. is expected to decline as growth here slows. I think this is the third, possibly fourth, time I’ve alluded to the felon’s stupidity, vanity, and incompetence sending our currency chasing after the late unlamented Zimbabwe dollar. 10% is a lot of value for the buck to chuck. [CBS employees are not happy with Paramount Global settling with the felon.](https://www.aol.com/trump-settlement-triggers-widespread-distress-183419839.html) > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (Reuters) -Paramount Global’s settlement of the “60 Minutes” lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump provoked condemnation on Wednesday from CBS News current and former employees, press freedom advocates and legislators. > > Paramount’s agreement to pay $16 million to resolve a civil suit over what Trump alleged was the network’s deceptive editing of an interview with presidential candidate Kamala Harris sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the free press, journalism advocates warned. > > One current “60 Minutes” employee who spoke with Reuters said that during a call Wednesday, newsroom staff expressed “widespread distress” about the settlement and concerns about the future of the CBS News prime time news magazine and its hard-hitting brand of journalism. > > The staffer, who requested anonymity to speak publicly about his employer, said that while CBS News avoided the worst outcome in its settlement with Trump - an apology - the agreement nonetheless sets a “horrible precedent” in agreeing to make public transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates. > > The settlement follows ABC News’s decision in December to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’s on-air description of the president’s conduct in the E. Jean Carroll case. > > “With two major network owners bowing to the president in quick succession, the danger is clear: emboldened politicians and powerful actors will feel more free than ever to weaponize lawsuits and bring regulatory pressure to bear to silence and censor independent journalism,” said Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director at free-speech advocate PEN America. [One of the felons the felon-in-chief pardoned just now got sentenced to life in prison.](https://www.aol.com/military-veteran-gets-life-sentence-195545307.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — A military veteran was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for plotting to attack an FBI office and assassinate law enforcement officers in retaliation for his arrest on charges that he was part of the mob that [stormed the Capitol](https://apnews.com/projects/january-6-cases/) on Jan. 6, 2021, court records show. > > Edward Kelley was one of the [first rioters](https://interactives.ap.org/jan-6-prosecutions/) to breach the Capitol. Nearly two years later, Kelley made plans with another man to attack the FBI office in Knoxville, Tennessee, using improvised explosive devices attached to vehicles and drones, according to prosecutors. > > Last November, [a jury convicted Kelley](https://apnews.com/article/capitol-riot-tennessee-sentence-8e95fb28c060e87afc1b7011ca0c79e8) of conspiring to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and influencing federal officials by threat. > > Kelley, 36, received a pardon from [President Donald Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/) for his Jan. 6 convictions, but a judge agreed with prosecutors that Trump’s action did not extend to Kelley’s Tennessee case. That makes Kelley, who is from Maryvale, Tennessee, one of only a few Capitol riot defendants remaining in prison after the Republican president’s [sweeping act of clemency](https://apnews.com/article/capitol-riot-trump-pardons-jan-6-f6e23bcd84eaed672318c88f05286767). > > U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan handed down Kelley’s life sentence during a hearing in Knoxville, according to court records. The judge denied a request for Kelley to be released pending the outcome of an appeal. > > Prosecutors had recommended a life sentence for Kelley, saying he was remorseless and incapable of rehabilitation. Remorseless and incapable of rehabilitation. That reminds me of an _individual, one_ in particular. Further in the article is this bit of information which irks me even more at the felon-in-chief. > [@](#): > > In other Jan. 6 cases, however, Trump’s Justice Department has argued that the pardons apply to separate convictions. For instance, prosecutors concluded that a Kentucky man’s pardon for storming the Capitol [also covered his conviction](https://apnews.com/article/trump-pardons-capitol-riot-daniel-edwin-wilson-1c15254f539b2ee67ecd53dd629853b8) for illegally possessing guns when FBI agents searched his home for the Jan. 6 investigation. [The Big Bullshit Bill/Large Lousy Law will likely gut the public schools.](https://www.aol.com/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-devastate-143404414.html) > [@](#): > > This week, Republican lawmakers are attempting to pass a budget reconciliation bill that pays for unprecedented handouts to the [wealthiest](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/30/trump-bill-helps-wealthy-hurts-low-earners-yale-report.html) Americans on the backs of cuts to programs that benefit most people. Hidden in this budget package before the House is a national private school voucher program funded through tax breaks for the wealthy that threatens to dismantle our system of public schools. > > According to Senator Ted Cruz, school vouchers are "the Civil Rights Issue of the 21st century.” The Texas Republican argues that vouchers are key to providing educational opportunities for young people. On the contrary, expanding vouchers and eliminating public education will actively harm young people—[especially](https://time.com/7261667/eliminating-department-of-education-resegregate-schools/) Black, Latino, and Indigenous students. > > President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” currently includes a provision hidden in the [tax code](https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/credits-for-private-school-contributions-a-classic-tax-shelter-researcher-says/) that offers an [unprecedented](https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/06/business/national-school-voucher-trump-tax-bill) 100% tax deduction for donations to third party organizations that hand out private school vouchers. The push to create a national private school voucher program is part of a [long legacy of efforts](https://time.com/7225339/history-efforts-end-department-of-education/) to return to the separate and unequal educational landscape of the [pre-civil rights era](https://time.com/7225733/department-of-educations-history-is-essential/). Since the 1960s, [white segregationists](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/racist-origins-private-school-vouchers/) pushed for private school vouchers to avoid the desegregation mandates of _Brown v. Board of Education_ and maintain a discriminatory and unequal system of education. [Speaking of the Big Bullshit Bill/Large Lousy Law, I sure hope you never need medical treatment over the next decade.](https://www.aol.com/heres-millions-people-could-lose-160202975.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — Roughly 11.8 million adults and children will be at risk for losing health insurance if Republicans’ domestic policy package becomes a law. > > The losses won’t come all at once. The GOP’s “ [One Big, Beautiful Bill Act](https://apnews.com/article/inside-trump-republican-spending-bill-provisions-details-06eb10bad4fd2a7ea2ac236e6535e61d) ” makes changes that will whittle away at enrollment through federal health care programs like Medicaid and Obamacare over a decade in order to wrest nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. > > The bill is likely to reverse years of [escalating health insurance rates](https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-us-department-of-and-human-services-government-politics-24684188cb67c576ed00d01b2f53c09c) in the U.S., gains that have also been marked by record spending on federally-funded health care coverage. Roughly 78 million adults and children are enrolled in Medicaid’s programs while 24 million people are enrolled in the ACA’s marketplaces. > > Medicaid is a joint federal-state venture that is administered by the states. The program goes by different names in some states, like Medi-Cal in California, BadgerCare in Wisconsin, or MassHealth in Massachusetts. > > A look at some of the ways in which people may lose health care coverage under the GOP’s plan: > > Medicaid or Obamacare enrollee? Your income and eligibility will be checked closely and more often. > > Under the GOP’s plan, states will need to verify a person’s income to check Medicaid eligibility every six months. Read further in that article to see how the populace of Texas fared with a similar insurance law. But, hey, it’s only poor people, poor _children_ being harmed so no foul, right? [The BBB/LLL is in trouble itself, though.](https://www.aol.com/house-convenes-trumps-big-beautiful-130858171.html) > [@](#): > > _Washington —_ House Republicans began taking a key procedural vote on President Trump’s [massive domestic policy bill](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-in-trump-big-beautiful-bill-senate-version/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17) late Wednesday evening, after scrambling for hours to shore up support ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline to get the bill to the president’s desk. > > It remains unclear if House Republicans have enough support to get the current version of the bill — which squeaked through the Senate on Tuesday — over the finish line. Before voting on final passage, the House needs to vote on a resolution setting the rules of debate for the bill. That crucial procedural vote began Wednesday at around 9:30 p.m., after lawmakers spent much of the day huddling amongst themselves and with President Trump to sway skeptical members. > > As of midnight, five House Republicans had voted no, which is theoretically enough for the rule vote to fail — but the vote is still open, and lawmakers can change from no to yes. Republicans can only afford three defections if all members are present and voting. > > While voting on the rule was underway, House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News’ Sean Hannity he plans to keep the vote open “as long as it takes.” The Louisiana Republican said he believes some lawmakers who voted no are “open for conversation,” and their no votes are “placeholders” while they await answers to some questions about the bill. He said, “we believe we can get everybody to yes.” > > “I’m absolutely confident we are going to land this plane and deliver for the American people,” Johnson said. > > House GOP leaders are aiming to move ahead quickly on the [signature legislation](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-in-trump-big-beautiful-bill-senate-version/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17) of Mr. Trump’s second-term agenda, which includes ramped-up spending for border security, defense and energy production and extends trillions of dollars in tax cuts, partially offset by substantial cuts to health care and nutrition programs. > > But some House Republicans, who voted to pass an earlier version of the bill in May, are unhappy with the Senate’s changes. [And how do you think Garcia got treated in CECOT?](https://www.aol.com/kilmar-abrego-garcia-says-beaten-013112083.html) > [@](#): > > [Kilmar Abrego Garcia](https://apnews.com/article/kilmar-abrego-garcia-smuggling-deportation-release-523fdb48ead56dde2a3c2c4b28fef6d9) said he suffered severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation and psychological torture in the notorious El Salvador prison the Trump administration had deported him to in March, according to court documents filed Wednesday. > > He said he was kicked and hit so often after arrival that by the following day, he had visible bruises and lumps all over his body. He said he and 20 others were forced to kneel all night long and guards hit anyone who fell. Don’t bother reading the comments on the article. You’ll see plenty of magaflatearthers orgiastically defending the abuse at the hands of those who were essentially agents of our government. The irony of it is they all say he deserves it because “he broke the law”. Yet they have no issue with their idol committing 34 felonies. And that’s just the number of such for which he has been convicted! > [@DWMarch](#): > > Personally, I’m partial to Alligator Auschwitz, seems more in line with the intended purpose. Very good! And since the felon has outsourced his concentration camps overseas, it’s even _more_ appropriate. ---
**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 3, 2025, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6307 "2025-07-03T08:42:44Z")
[South Korea dodged a bullet!](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20250703/us-top-diplomat-rubio-cancels-visit-to-south-korea) And you’re going to love the reason. > [@](#): > > U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s planned trip to Korea next week has been canceled, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. > > “Korea and the United States had been in discussions regarding the possibility of Secretary Rubio visiting Seoul, but it now appears unlikely due to internal circumstances in the U.S.,” ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said during a briefing. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6308 "2025-07-03T13:26:21Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > [The Big Bullshit Bill/Large Lousy Law will likely gut the public schools.](https://www.aol.com/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-devastate-143404414.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > This week, Republican lawmakers are attempting to pass a budget reconciliation bill that pays for unprecedented handouts to the [wealthiest](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/30/trump-bill-helps-wealthy-hurts-low-earners-yale-report.html) Americans on the backs of cuts to programs that benefit most people. Hidden in this budget package before the House is a national private school voucher program funded through tax breaks for the wealthy that threatens to dismantle our system of public schools. How do you fund something through tax breaks? ---
**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 3, 2025, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6309 "2025-07-03T13:31:10Z")
1. Tax breaks to rich people 2. ??? 3. PROFIT! ---
**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:** [July 3, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6310 "2025-07-03T13:44:53Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > According to Senator Ted Cruz, school vouchers are "the Civil Rights Issue of the 21st century.” The Texas Republican argues that vouchers are key to providing educational opportunities for young people. On the contrary, expanding vouchers and eliminating public education will actively harm young people—[especially](https://time.com/7261667/eliminating-department-of-education-resegregate-schools/) Black, Latino, and Indigenous students. No problem here. Those Black, Latino, and Indigenous **former** students can just fill the yard work, construction, child/elder care, food/hospitality service, and agricultural jobs that _illegal migrants_ will no longer be around to do. Less competition overall among white people (men mostly and the occasional misfit woman) for the **good** jobs. Win-win! /s ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6311 "2025-07-03T13:45:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > school voucher program I think it essentially means that rich people can pay for their precious little ones to attend some fancy private school but as a bonus they get 100% tax relief on the fees? ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6312 "2025-07-03T15:34:36Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > educational opportunities for young people Maybe he is using the word “opportunity” in the same way that gigantic clusterfucks are often called “opportunities for improvement” , or when someone screws up in spectacular fashion , that is a ‘learning moment’ Hopefully what people will learn is that Ted Cruz and his ilk are deeply unpleasant people and perhaps shouldn’t be voted for. The main opportunity (disastertunity ?) though is for low quality private education companies to flourish by marking up their prices by the voucher amount, and so people who can marginally afford the private schools still have to pay out of their own pocket to send their kids to those low quality private institutions as the public system will have been utterly destroyed. Thus continuing to transfer money out of the middle class to corporations and richer people. An added bonus is that the curriculum can indoctrinate the kids that this is a good thing. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6313 "2025-07-03T16:09:43Z")
> [@Precambrianmollusc](#): > > Maybe he is using the word “opportunity” in the same way that gigantic clusterfucks are often called “opportunities for improvement” , or when someone screws up in spectacular fashion , that is a ‘learning moment’ Probably sounded better in the original Mandarin. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6314 "2025-07-03T17:01:26Z")
Congressman Jamie Raskin provides a much-needed preamble to the Big Beautiful Bill: > [@](#): > > **Mr. Speaker, I found a Preamble to this Big Ugly Bill. We the billionaires, and our King, in order to deform and sicken our Union, establish injustice, ensure domestic servility, weaken our peoples defenses, undermine our general welfare, and reserve to ourselves and our posterity staggering debt servitude for eternity, do herby instruct the Republicans in Congress to strip 17 million people of their healthcare, increase copays, premiums and deductibles for everyone else, cut 42 million people off of nutritional assistance, increase the national debt by 4 trillion dollars, trash renewable energy systems, increase our electric bills for the carbon kings, all to weaken and destroy the Constitution of the people of these United States of America. Please include this Preamble in the legislative record. I yield back.** > **[Jamie Raskins's Preamble to the Big Ugly Bill and Trump didn't like it](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/3/2331463/-Jamie-Raskins-s-Preamble-to-the-Big-Ugly-Bill-and-Trump-didn-t-like-it?utm_campaign=trending)** > > Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland took the Big Ugly Bill to task Wednesday night. He was angry about the bill, so he "found" a preamble to it that he read aloud on the House floor. It went like this: Clip on Bryan Tyler Cohen's Instagram of Raskin's... ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6315 "2025-07-03T17:32:01Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > “Mr. President, is there an expected time frame that detainees will spend here? Days, weeks, months?” I suppose there’s a small possibility he heard “Mr. President, is there an expected time frame that DJT will spend here? Days, weeks, months?” or something similar. Still a complete bunch of bolleaux though. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6316 "2025-07-03T17:37:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Congressman Jamie Raskin provides a much-needed preamble to the Big Beautiful Bill: I hereby nominate Mr Raskin for President. All in favor, say aye! ---
**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 3, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6317 "2025-07-03T17:51:08Z")
That’s charitable. I commend you for coming up with it, even though he doesn’t deserve any charity. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6318 "2025-07-03T18:04:31Z")
I want to reject the very notion . . . but asking Trump what his vacation plans are while standing in the middle of Alligator Auschwitz is so very Fox News. ---
**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 3, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6319 "2025-07-03T18:26:26Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > That’s charitable. I don’t think it really is, it is just what narcissists do. He thought the question was about him, like everything ought to be. And now for something completely different: Can you imagine this guy singing? [![](https://img.welt.de/img/wirtschaft/mobile162675855/0902500967-ci102l-w1024/Donald-Trump.jpg) ](https://img.welt.de/img/wirtschaft/mobile162675855/0902500967-ci102l-w1024/Donald-Trump.jpg) Hint: The **[lyrics go something like this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkJnd9rSAQ8&list=RDKkJnd9rSAQ8&start_radio=1)**: Sit on my thumb, 🎶 and tell me that you love me… 🎶 He is a trend setter, you know! [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/07/02/world/00int-russia-chechnya-paoga/00int-russia-chechnya-paoga-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp) ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/07/02/world/00int-russia-chechnya-paoga/00int-russia-chechnya-paoga-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp) [![](https://ik.imagekit.io/po8th4g4eqj/prod/tr:w-1168/putin-thumbs-up-1168-440.jpg) ](https://ik.imagekit.io/po8th4g4eqj/prod/tr:w-1168/putin-thumbs-up-1168-440.jpg) ---
**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 4, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6320 "2025-07-04T06:23:39Z")
[The Big Bullshit Bill has passed reconciliation and the felon will sign it into the Large Lousy Law on Independence Day, ironically.](https://www.aol.com/trump-promotes-ufc-fight-white-022425540.html) And being the refined personage he indubitably is, will celebrate by having a UFC bout at the White House. > [@](#): > > [President Donald Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/donald-trump/) told an Iowa crowd he would sign the megabill legislative package in a patriotic ceremony on July 4 and focus resources on national parks − as well as holding an [Ultimate Fighting Championship bout](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ufc/2025/07/03/donald-trump-dana-white-ufc-white-house-2026/84467351007/) at the White House - as he embarks on a [yearlong celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-big-plans-fourth-july-183147812.html). > > “There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just a few hours ago, when Congress passed the one big beautiful bill to make America great again,” Trump told a crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines for a “Salute to America Celebration.” > > White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters after the speech that Trump is “dead serious” about hosting the mixed martial arts fight. Wait! Didn’t he make America great again during the First Felonial Era? And if not, what was the holdup? Besides the UFC stunt, what other stunt would he have? Of course! (Same link.) > [@](#): > > Trump said he would sign the bill at the White House joined by [House Speaker Mike Johnson](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/mike-johnson/), R-Louisiana; Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota; and many congressional Republicans. Trump said military pilots who successfully bombed Iran will be guests for a flyover of military planes during the patriotic ceremony. > > “We’re going to have B-2s and F-22s and F-35s flying right over the White House,” Trump told reporters before flying to Iowa. “We’ll be signing with those beautiful planes flying right over our heads.” Isn’t the White House a no-fly zone? Anyway, I suppose a certain result of this stunt is just too much to hope for. More tacoing! (Still that link.) > [@](#): > > One of Trump’s top priorities is to improve border security and deport immigrants who are in the country unlawfully. But after hearing concerns that farmers were losing migrant workers they depend on, Trump outlined how Homeland Security Secretary [Kristi Noem](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/kristi-noem/) was developing legislation to effectively allow farmers to vouch for their workers to allow them to stay. > > Trump said similar lenience would be extended to hotel and leisure industries. > > “We don’t want to take all of the workers off the farms," Trump said. “We’ve got to work with the farmers.” > > “We’re going to put you in charge," Trump told the crowd. Well, yeah. It’s not like _he_ is in charge, right? And here’s a concept: instead of fucking over millions and then carving out an exception for those _ **employers** _ who ~~bought you off~~ contributed to your political fund, why not just, say, _ **NOT FUCK OVER MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE FIRT PLACE, YOU MORON?** _ [Do you like alliteration? How about this one? “Red Rural Recession.”](https://www.aol.com/finance/mark-cuban-warns-red-rural-124648983.html) > [@](#): > > Billionaire and Shark Tank co-host Mark Cuban recently shared on social media platform [BlueSky](https://bsky.app/profile/mcuban.bsky.social/post/3llftv7kztk2o) that there will be a “Red Rural Recession” soon — his term for what could happen to rural, Republican-leaning states if President Donald Trump’s [government budget cuts continue](https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/is-doge-saving-taxpayers-money-or-costing-them-more/?hyperlink_type=manual&utm_term=incontent_link_1&utm_campaign=1309551&utm_source=aol.com&utm_content=1&utm_medium=rss). > > Cuban claims that small towns are being disproportionately impacted by “firings, cancelling of grants and contracts with companies, the closing of offices.” The article goes on to list the following four states: - West Viginia - Kansas - Pennsylvania - Kentucky [According to this article, the Large Lousy Law is 887 pages long](https://www.aol.com/whats-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-172443848.html) and includes the following. I’m going to put the quotes into bullets to make them more manageable. Here’s what’s in the felon’s LLL. (Bullet list of quotes) - Medicaid restrictions - - The legislation includes restrictions on [Medicaid](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-medicaid-different-from-medicare/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17), which provides government-sponsored health care for low-income and disabled Americans. The bill imposes work requirements for some able-bodied adults and more frequent eligibility checks. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in 11.8 million Americans losing health coverage under Medicaid over the next decade. - Homeland security and immigration - - The legislation includes more than $46.5 billion for border wall construction and related expenses, $45 billion to expand detention capacity for immigrants in custody and about $30 billion in funding for hiring, training and other resources for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. - - It also includes a minimum $100 fee for those seeking asylum, down from the $1,000 fee outlined in the initial House bill. The Senate parliamentarian ruled out the $1,000 fee for anyone applying for asylum. - Increasing the state and local tax deduction, or SALT - - The package also includes an increase to the cap on the state and local tax deduction, raising it from $10,000 to $40,000. After five years, it would return to $10,000, a departure from the initial House-passed bill. - Green energy policies - - The final bill passed by the Senate would [largely terminate](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-removes-excise-tax-renewable-energy-industry-trump-domestic-policy-bill/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17) numerous tax incentives from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy, electric vehicles and energy efficiency programs that benefited consumers. - - It would end tax credits for new and used electric vehicles, installation of home EV charging equipment and insulation or energy efficient heating and cooling systems. - - The bill also ends the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which gives funding to nonprofit organizations providing financing for projects that reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in communities. Existing contracts and grants under the program are not affected. - Restrictions on food stamps - - The bill still shifts the costs of SNAP, or food stamps, to some states. The program is currently fully funded by the federal government. - - The federal government would continue to fully fund the benefits for states that have an error payment rate below 6%, beginning in 2028. States with [error rates](https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-fy23-qc-payment-error-rate.pdf?ftag=YHF4eb9d17) above 6% would be on the hook for 5% to 15% of the costs. States are also given some flexibility in calculating their share. - - The package also aligns with the initial House version on age requirements for able-bodied adults to qualify for SNAP benefits. Currently, in order to qualify, able-bodied adults between 18 and 54 must meet work requirements. Both the Senate and House bills would update the age requirement to 18 and 64, with some exemptions for parents. - Addressing the debt limit - - The legislation would raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, going beyond the $4 trillion outlined in the initial House-passed bill. Congress faces a deadline to address the debt limit later this summer. That’s more than enough for what’s in the LLL. Moving on. [Alligator Auschwitz is open for business.](https://www.aol.com/first-immigration-detainees-arrive-florida-161934639.html) > [@](#): > > The first group of [immigrants](https://www.yahoo.com/issues/immigration/) has arrived at [a new detention center](https://apnews.com/article/trump-everglades-immigrant-detention-facility-visit-5dc5568ec15534947c29c9149b773d1d) deep in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” a spokesperson for Republican state Attorney General James Uthmeier told The Associated Press. > > “People are there,” Press Secretary Jae Williams said, though he didn’t immediately provide further details on the number of detainees or when they arrived. > > “Next stop: back to where they came from,” Uthmeier said on the X social media platform Wednesday. He’s been credited as the architect behind the Everglades proposal. And what exactly are the facilities like? Maybe these bits of the article will tell you. > [@](#): > > [The facility,](https://apnews.com/video/ap-reporter-describes-scene-as-trump-visits-alligator-alcatraz-in-florida-00000197c868d9d0a1bfcce84d660000) at an airport used for training, will have an initial capacity of about 3,000 detainees, DeSantis said. The center was built in eight days and features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel. & > [@](#): > > It’s also located at a place prone to frequent heavy rains, which caused some flooding in the tents Tuesday during a visit by President Donald Trump to mark its opening. So, tents, barbed wire, security cameras, corrections officers, and flooding. Oh, yeah. And alligators. Always alligators. What’s not to like? And this last bit of the article tells you all you need to know about the motivations of the felon and the governor. > [@](#): > > DeSantis and other state officials say locating the facility in the rugged and remote Florida Everglades is meant as a deterrent — and naming it after the [notorious federal prison](https://apnews.com/article/alcatraz-prison-trump-calfornia-be993d18317b67a939e0331ec10cc7e3) of Alcatraz, an island fortress known for its brutal conditions, is meant to send a message. It’s another sign of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on [scare tactics](https://apnews.com/article/noem-homeland-security-immigration-prison-el-salvador-188d999b6625ea05e85a86f0ec4e670a) to try to persuade people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily. Now we can change _The cruelty is the point_ to _The cruelty and the brutality are the point_. [The felon shows yet again how useless he is at making a deal.](https://www.aol.com/trump-got-another-trade-deal-110014578.html) > [@](#): > > Shoes, electronics and clothing are just some of the goods that could get more expensive under the [trade agreement](https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/business/trade-deal-vietnam-trump?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo) President Donald Trump announced with Vietnam on Wednesday. > > Wait — how’s that possible? > > For the past three months, goods shipped from Vietnam to the United States were tariffed at a minimum 10% rate, a reprieve from the 46% rate that briefly went into effect in April before Trump announced a pause. > > Trump claimed the delay would give countries more time to negotiate trade deals with the US. As his self-imposed July 9 deadline for deals approaches with few new agreements in place, Trump has threatened to raise tariffs again. > > But here’s the kicker: Sealing a deal, or a framework for one, doesn’t prevent higher import taxes, either. > > The agreement Trump announced via social media calls for a minimum 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods exported to the US. That’s double the rate US businesses are currently paying. In return, Trump said that Vietnam agreed to open its economy to trade with the US, including not tariffing American goods. And the money quote from that article is… > [@](#): > > That makes it all the more likely Americans will be impacted by the higher tariff rates. “Certainly American consumers will ultimately bear the burden here,” Packard told CNN. [What’s Cruella de Vile up to these days?](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-barbie-kristi-noem-unhinged-185113251.html) > [@](#): > > Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is seeking creative ways to staff her agency with sycophants of Donald Trump, [Bloomberg Government](https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/kristi-noem-looks-to-fire-homeland-workers-who-dont-like-us) reported Wednesday. > > At the first-ever meeting of Trump’s revamped Homeland Security Advisory Council Wednesday, Noem outright asked the members “how to fire people that don’t like us.” > > Noem complained that she was “surrounded by bureaucrats,” and wanted to root out employees who “don’t support what we’re doing.” And who’s the “we” she’s talking about? From that link… > [@](#): > > In April, Trump [announced](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-gives-fox-news-host-174452045.html) that he had “revamped” his Homeland Security Advisory Council by once again fishing from the Fox News talent pool, recruiting host Mark Levin and former Fox News contributor Bo Dietl. > > The council also included Trump’s disgraced former lawyer [Rudy Giuliani](https://www.yahoo.com/news/giuliani-finally-shut-those-georgia-205054382.html), DHS adviser [Corey Lewandowski](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-adviser-somehow-makes-greenland-213704198.html), South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, and Florida state Senator Joseph Gruters, who serves on the Republican National Committee and is a close ally of Trump’s. [I thought this behavior got one labeled as a sex offender, especially when done on school grounds.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-agents-seen-urinating-grounds-171503021.html) > [@](#): > > ([KTLA](https://ktla.com/news/local-news/immigration-agents-seen-urinating-on-grounds-of-pico-rivera-school-officials-say/)) – School surveillance cameras captured nearly a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents urinating on storage containers near a playground after trespassing on the California school’s property, officials in Pico Rivera said in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). > > The incident, according to members of the El Rancho Unified School District (ERUSD), occurred on June 17 after an estimated 10 marked and unmarked vehicles carrying agents entered and parked on the campus of Ruben Salazar High School. > > School staff informed the federal agents that they did not have permission to enter or stay on campus grounds and asked them to leave. > > “Please note that at no time was a legal or legitimate reason offered or provided as to why the ICE agents entered and remained on school grounds, nor did they provide any judicial warrant(s),” states [the letter, addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Krist Noem](https://4.files.edl.io/328c/07/02/25/223819-6bac5818-7c22-42e8-88c1-5c42adad4af7.pdf). & > [@](#): > > “Immediately adjacent to one of the storage containers is a preschool playground used by the ERUSD’s Early Learning Program staff and children, with its blacktop clearly marked with playground markings,” officials said. > > Another one of the containers used by agents is next to Smith Park and Valencia Academy of the Arts Elementary School, which was in session for summer school at the time of the incident. [Stephen Miller flips his wig.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/stephen-miller-melts-down-over-105724588.html) > [@](#): > > Stephen Miller blew his top during an interview on Fox News when asked about critics describing a new Florida migrant detention facility as “dehumanizing.” > > “What’s ‘dehumanizing’ is when American citizens are stripped of their rights and their liberties by the invasion of illegal aliens!” the White House deputy chief of staff raged on Tuesday’s broadcast of _The Ingraham Angle_. “What’s ‘dehumanizing’ is when Democrats let illegal alien rapists into the country to attack our children. _That_ is ‘dehumanizing’!” Hey, Stevie! Don’t you remember your boss is an adjudicated sex offender? [Don’t you know dictators aren’t content with dictating at just one level?](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-vows-save-york-city-151952351.html) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump vowed to “save New York City” from mayoral hopeful [Zohran Mamdani](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/socialist-mayoral-candidate-zohran-mamdani-under-fire-plan-tax-richer-whiter-neighborhoods) on Wednesday. > > Trump made the statement from his Truth Social account, blasting the Democratic Party’s nominee for mayor and claiming that he has the power to step in and take action if he chooses. > > “As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York,” Trump wrote. “Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City, and make it ‘Hot’ and ‘Great’ again, just like I did with the Good Ol’ USA!” And evidently he’s going to make the city “hot and great” by… > [@](#): > > Trump had previously threatened to pull federal funding from the city, saying in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, "I can tell you this – whoever’s mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves, or the federal government is coming down very [tough on them financially."](https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-takes-high-road-after-elon-musk-slams-beautiful-bill-calls-him-wonderful-guy) Yeah, that’ll work. [The felon is still jonesing about deporting American-born citizens.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/president-trump-renews-calls-deport-142848124.html) (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > While answering questions from the press at the detention center on Tuesday, Trump suggested that there are immigrants who are now citizens, **as well as those born in the United States** , who should be deported. & > [@](#): > > He added, “We also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time…they’re not new to our country, they’re old to our country. Many of them were born in our country and I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too.” I think Putin can help him with implementing [Article 58](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_58_(RSFSR_Penal_Code)). [Hey, maybe he doesn’t need any help after all.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/haitian-immigrant-high-schooler-detained-141634581.html) > [@](#): > > A 20-year-old from Haiti has been held in immigration detention for weeks, missing the end of his junior year of high school, although he is in the country legally and his father is a United States citizen. > > Spring Valley High School student Alan Junior Pierre was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in early June and is being held at the [Delaney Hall Detention Facility](https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2025/06/18/delaney-hall-history-conditions-newark-nj-ice-facility/84149059007/) in Newark, New Jersey, his lawyer said. > > The Haitian national, who has no criminal history, had been provided parole by ICE in January, when he sought asylum at the United States-Mexico border, his lawyer Vince Sykes told The Journal News/lohud, part of the USA TODAY Network. The status was based on humanitarian considerations and family support. > > Pierre is one of a [growing number of migrants](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-agents-deploy-tactic-arresting-184347002.html) who entered the United States legally, have broken no laws, but are detained by ICE after showing up at court hearings related to their immigration status. > > “He applied for admission using the legal procedure that was in place,” Sykes said. > > He followed all the rules, but now, his lawyer said, Pierre sits in an ICE facility; he missed the last weeks of school; he cannot see his family. The rest of that article is quite eye-opening. [Co-conspirator Kennedy’s result in office are going viral!](https://www.yahoo.com/news/state-reports-measles-outbreak-rfk-163404438.html) (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > Measles is on the rise in Kentucky. > > Health officials in the state [confirmed](https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dehp/idb/Pages/measles.aspx) that the disease has spread to Fayette County, marking the seventh case of the highly contagious illness in Kentucky since the beginning of the year. Previous cases had been reported in Woodfood County. > > There are five active measles cases in the Bluegrass State, four of which are connected to the current outbreak, while another unrelated measles case was reported in Todd County last week, according to state health officials. > > The life-threatening disease has so far [infected](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html) 1,267 people and spread to 37 states in what public health experts are describing as the worst measles spread of the century. The majority of those cases are in Texas, where local officials have [reported](https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/measles-outbreak-2025) at least 753 confirmed cases since January. Ninety-nine of those cases were hospitalized, and at least two cases—who were unvaccinated, school-aged children—have died. An [unvaccinated adult](https://www.nmhealth.org/news/alert/2025/3/?view=2188) in New Mexico has also died of the disease. > > Measles hasn’t been a national concern since 2000, when the long-term use of a corresponding vaccine proved so effective at minimizing risk and exposure to the disease that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [declared measles eradicated](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/history.html) from the United States. > > **But the virus’s dormant status has been challenged by anti-vaxxers, who have opted against medicating their children in fear that vaccinations could cause autism. One such conspiracist, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has refused to combat the ensuing measles outbreak with vetted science—instead, he has issued guidance that the illness can be treated by [simple vitamins](https://www.yahoo.com/news/rfk-jr-makes-bonkers-claim-141001818.html).** [The felon just gained another ~~win~~ loss!](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-judge-blocks-trump-asylum-183652554.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President [Donald Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/)’s asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying Trump exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal [immigration](https://www.yahoo.com/issues/immigration/) an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes. > > U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss said in a 128-page opinion that Trump’s January 20 proclamation blocking all migrants “engaged in the invasion across the southern border” from claiming asylum or other humanitarian protections went beyond his executive power. Sorry about any formatting issues. I’m rather tired. It’s been a long week, felt like an entire year. ---
**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 4, 2025, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6321 "2025-07-04T06:28:31Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > I want to reject the very notion . . . but asking Trump what his vacation plans are while standing in the middle of Alligator Auschwitz is so very Fox News. I’m surprised nobody showed a closeup of his aide’s cellphone search for the closest golf course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=312) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=314)