# 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:** 389
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7822 "2025-09-03T10:59:04Z")
Here’s an interesting theory – the reason Trump held his most recent press conference in the Oval Office is because he doesn’t think he can stand long enough to do it anywhere else: > **[I Think I Know Why Trump Used the Oval for his Presser](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/3/2341592/-I-Think-I-Know-Why-Trump-Used-the-Oval-for-his-Presser?utm_campaign=trending)** > > Yes, it’s the middle of the night in San Francisco. Trump does that to people — makes it hard for us even to get enough sleep. So I just woke up with an idea that I think explains why Trump used the Oval Office — the place where presidents... That might also partially explain that absurdly long Cabinet meeting, where he got to sit for hours. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7823 "2025-09-03T11:12:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Trump held his most recent press conference in the Oval Office is because he doesn’t think he can stand long enough to do it anywhere else I don’t think I can stand it long enough just him being in office. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7824 "2025-09-03T11:38:39Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Huntsville is an oasis in the sea of Alabama stupidity. Your next door neighbor is likely to be an actual rocket scientist. I got no dog in this fight - tho, given my druthers, I’d prefer to not live in a red state, even if in a blue oasis therein. BTW - my son and his cow-orkers were literally rocket scientists. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7825 "2025-09-03T12:40:51Z")
So what is this admin doing over in Venezuela? It sure looks like they are killing people without due process. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7826 "2025-09-03T12:43:27Z")
Practice before trying this at home? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7827 "2025-09-03T12:47:12Z")
Garden-variety [**Casus Belli**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casus_belli)? ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7828 "2025-09-03T13:06:45Z")
Murder in the high seas. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7829 "2025-09-03T13:16:25Z")
So all you have to do is make a claim that they are drug runners. Drug crimes don’t typically warrant a death penalty. Fucking bastards, the whole fucking lot of them allowing this, or helping this happen in any way should get what they are giving. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7830 "2025-09-03T13:18:10Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And then which of the NG members is going to give up the following? > > - Active duty points towards retirement > - Active duty base pay > - Active duty Basic Allowance for Housing > - Active duty Cost of Living Allowance > - Active duty Family Separation Allowance > - Active duty Basic Allowance for Subsistence Well, that’s a good question, because Trump, being as notoriously cheap as he is, and also having a hard on for hurting people he considers to be beneath him, has fucked the National Guard out of a lot of those benefits. > **['It infuriates us': Veterans rage at 'abusive' Trump over reports of him...](https://www.rawstory.com/trump-infuriating-29-day-orders/)** > > Donald Trump has reportedly gone out of his way to avoid paying national guard troops sent in to Washington, D.C., resulting in outrage from veterans.The reports started earlier in the summer that Trump was utilizing a loophole when deploying the... ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7831 "2025-09-03T13:44:47Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > So all you have to do is make a claim that they are drug runners. Drug crimes don’t typically warrant a death penalty. > > Fucking bastards, the whole fucking lot of them allowing this, or helping this happen in any way should get what they are giving. This has been bothering me since I heard about it. Not enough of a fuss has been made of this incident. The Trump administration swears that this was a drug boat, manned by eleven members of the _Tren de Aragua_ gang and that it was packed with drugs. No other corroborating evidence was brought up – all we have is their word. But after Trump swore that three Iranian nuclear weapons facilities “completely and totally obliterated” – a claim contradicted by U.S. intelligence – why should we believe anything the administration says? Why, in fact, would a Venezuelan gang be running a boat packed with drugs on the Caribbean when they know the US is deploying ships and other capabilities in precisely that area? Considering that any supporting evidence has been blown up in this case, all we have is the administration’s word. Apparently the usual procedure is to board and search suspected vessels in international waters, but I guess that wasn’t sufficiently dramatic. International law experts say that this was a violation of international law, even though the US is not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Nevertheless, until now, the US has acted “in a manner consisten with its provisions” > **[BBC Verify Live: Was fatal US strike on Venezuelan 'drug boat' legal?](https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c20700nnwz7t)** > > Latest updates from the BBC's specialists in fact-checking, verifying video and tackling disinformation. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7832 "2025-09-03T13:50:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Trump administration swears that this was a drug boat, manned by eleven members of the _Tren de Aragua_ gang and that it was packed with drugs. No other corroborating evidence was brought up – all we have is their word. But after Trump swore that three Iranian nuclear weapons facilities “completely and totally obliterated” – a claim contradicted by U.S. intelligence – why should we believe anything the administration says? Even if what the administration says is true, it’s still murder. Being part of a gang and transporting drugs are not death penalty offenses, and even if they were it cannot be applied without a trial. This is murder, pure and simple. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7833 "2025-09-03T14:05:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Trump administration swears that this was a drug boat, manned by eleven members of the _Tren de Aragua_ gang and that it was packed with drugs. No other corroborating evidence was brought up – all we have is their word. I’ll also note that _they themselves_ can’t actually know, since they didn’t bother to verify their supposed beliefs; they just opened fire. So it’s an empty assertion at best, even if they actually believe what they are saying. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7834 "2025-09-03T14:09:52Z")
White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is reporting that they had a “good faith reason to believe” that the skipper of the drug boat was Kilmar Abrego Garcia. [/sarcasm] ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7835 "2025-09-03T14:15:28Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > So all you have to do is make a claim that they are drug runners. Drug crimes don’t typically warrant a death penalty. IIRC, the fig leaf is that the gang has been deemed a terrorist organisation. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7836 "2025-09-03T14:17:24Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And then which of the NG members is going to give up the following? > > - Active duty points towards retirement > - Active duty base pay > - Active duty Basic Allowance for Housing > - Active duty Cost of Living Allowance > - Active duty Family Separation Allowance > - Active duty Basic Allowance for Subsistence > > Nah, the longer this lasts, the better for some of them. Are they getting any of that? AIUI, their orders are for twenty-nine day deployments, disqualifying them retirement point and housing allowance, at least. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7837 "2025-09-03T14:17:26Z")
Step 1: Declare anyone you don’t like a terrorist organization. Step 2: Kill them with impunity. I guess we should’ve known it was going to happen when the “War on Terror” eroded the last vestiges of international law and assumption of innocence. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7838 "2025-09-03T14:28:38Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Even if what the administration says is true, it’s still murder. > Being part of a gang and transporting drugs are not death penalty offenses, and even if they were it cannot be applied without a trial. > This is murder, pure and simple. You get no argument from me. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7839 "2025-09-03T14:31:10Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > This is murder, pure and simple. And piracy too. Or it is fake, as the Venezuelan goverment claims: “The video was made with AI.” Well, maybe. The passengers seem very relaxed in a boat that is jumping up and down like crazy, but what do I know? The article is in a Spanish site, but it is just a video: > **[Venezuela acusa a EEUU de crear con IA el vídeo del barco atacado](https://as.com/actualidad/venezuela-acusa-a-eeuu-de-crear-con-ia-el-video-del-barco-atacado-v/)** > > El gobierno de Venezuela ha acusado a Estados Unidos de crear con inteligencia artificial el vídeo publicado por Donald Trump con imágenes del ataque contr ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7840 "2025-09-03T14:32:23Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And piracy too. I don’t know, did they steal anything from the boat? ---
**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:** [September 3, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/7841 "2025-09-03T15:04:16Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > ['It infuriates us': Veterans rage at 'abusive' Trump over reports of him stiffing soldiers](https://www.rawstory.com/trump-infuriating-29-day-orders/) > > > Donald Trump has reportedly gone out of his way to avoid paying national guard troops sent in to Washington, D.C., resulting in outrage from veterans. And they’re surprised?? Trump stiffs EVERYONE! Duh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=388) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=390)