# 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:** 429
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8622 "2025-10-08T11:39:08Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Is there anything, anything whatsoever that the felon cannot screw up? Hold my beer and find out? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8623 "2025-10-08T12:47:00Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > “There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way,” Trump said during an event at the White House. I assume that this is a thinly veiled allusion to his fireing a bunch of federal workers he doesn’t like so he doesn’t have to pay them. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8624 "2025-10-08T15:00:18Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I assume that this is a thinly veiled allusion to his fireing a bunch of federal workers he doesn’t like so he doesn’t have to pay them. He will then hire the ‘right’ people. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8625 "2025-10-08T18:21:46Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > assume that this is a thinly veiled allusion to his fireing a bunch of federal workers he doesn’t like so he doesn’t have to pay them. Also, possibly, “back pay will be provided to all Federal employees who sign a loyalty pledge.” ---
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8626 "2025-10-08T19:37:46Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > > [@Monty](#): > > > > “There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way,” Trump said during an event at the White House. > > I assume that this is a thinly veiled allusion to his fireing a bunch of federal workers he doesn’t like so he doesn’t have to pay them. Sounds like something out of a Martin Scorsese film; ‘take care of him’. Turns up in a dumpster. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8627 "2025-10-08T22:46:40Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > gilded chandelier lamp I was looking askance at the chandelier myself. There is no scale to be sure but it looks low enough to let people of average height get bonked by it as they pass by to the toilet beyond. This is besides who would have a chandelier in the bathroom to begin with. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8628 "2025-10-08T23:18:30Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > This is besides who would have a chandelier in the bathroom to begin with. You have to ask? What is the second word in the thread title? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8629 "2025-10-08T23:26:36Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I have too much respect for the game of golf. So I guess I’d never be a member of that club. Reminds me of this famous quote (and apologies if someone’s beaten me to it further down the thread): > [Groucho Marx](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=fa0d648ec49d7a9f&q=Groucho+Marx&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjxoufv35WQAxXZl4kEHR7WAwYQxccNegQIHhAB&mstk=AUtExfAQFwI00RE_LUWF8BxYDVC53vS0ETS0yjdyynYPIsimV1Iflu_Tu4e4kbxQI1qa46TjvsAN9TQed6aPvDsKU-AjUeXcBzgK0tTx3PXpAU5OnsrHqQRBaTvS3EEW7f-DY0Hy0bZSaYZDV2ZOHxjitjDDG7LLc7WwY4UqcTHlC19fqhs&csui=3): “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member,” ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8630 "2025-10-09T03:23:28Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > > > assume that this is a thinly veiled allusion to his fireing a bunch of federal workers he doesn’t like so he doesn’t have to pay them. > > Also, possibly, “back pay will be provided to all Federal employees who sign a loyalty pledge.” As soon as it sinks in that contractor employees do not get back pay, he’ll issue yet another executive order requiring all the vacant positions be filled by contractors. And then there will be exactly zero incentive for him to get the government shutdown over. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8631 "2025-10-09T06:48:21Z")
[And the revenge tour continues.](https://www.aol.com/articles/fbi-fires-special-agents-worked-174431503.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON — The FBI took personnel action against three special agents who worked in connection with former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe of Donald Trump, firing at least two, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News. > > All three agents were previously named in documents released by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, about “Arctic Frost,” an FBI probe that was the precursor to the Smith investigation, which resulted in two federal criminal cases against Trump: one for his handling of classified documents and the other involving his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, which ended in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. And a quite petty revenge 'twas. > [@](#): > > One of the fired FBI employees, a combat veteran who was months away from becoming eligible for retirement, was called back to the office after having left for the day and informed of the dismissal, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News. The other dismissed agent was also called back to the office after having left for the day, the person said. [Speaking of former FBI folks.](https://www.aol.com/articles/central-witness-undermines-case-against-090946054.html) (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > Federal prosecutors investigating former FBI Director [James Comey](https://abcnews.go.com/US/justice-america-trump-applauds-indictment-dirty-cop-james/story?id=125958551) for allegedly making false statements to Congress determined that **a central witness in their probe would prove “problematic” and likely prevent them from establishing their case to a jury** , sources familiar with their findings told ABC News. > > Comey, who [pleaded not guilty](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/former-fbi-director-james-comey-make-1st-court/story?id=126322951) at his arraignment Wednesday, was [indicted last month](https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-fbi-director-james-comey-indicted-days-after/story?id=125935658) on charges of making a false statement and obstruction related to 2020 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee – but **Justice Department officials have privately expressed that the case could quickly unravel under the scrutiny of a federal judge and defense lawyers**. > > Daniel Richman – a law professor who prosecutors allege Comey authorized to leak information to the press – [told investigators](https://abcnews.go.com/US/friend-former-fbi-director-james-comey-subpoenaed-federal/story?id=125666973) that the former FBI director instructed him not to engage with the media on at least two occasions and unequivocally said Comey never authorized him to provide information to a reporter anonymously ahead of the 2016 election, the sources said. [War Criminal Hegseth cannot control the Pentagon.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/pentagon-pete-plans-backfiring-him-160535460.html) > [@](#): > > Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon staffers are laughing at his “idiotic” plans to curb press leaks. > > The self-anointed “Secretary of War” has been ramping up efforts to stop embarrassing stories from leaking out of the Pentagon, going so far as to reportedly greenlight a policy requiring staffers to undergo random polygraph tests. > > But Hegseth’s plans appear to be backfiring. Staffers are responding by leaking even more information in an effort to further humiliate the 45-year-old Pentagon leader, according to three Defense Department officials and two other sources familiar with the situation who spoke to [_Zeteo_.](https://zeteo.com/p/trump-hegseth-pentagon-leaks-practice-beating-polygraphs) > > “It’s idiotic,” one Defense Department official told the publication. “It is clearly an attempt at intimidating everybody to just fall in line and support Trump, and this stuff only works if you let it get to you.” [Have Sharpie, will forecast–and a government gig, too!](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/meteorologist-behind-trump-sharpie-hurricane-165319866.html) (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > The meteorologist known for his involvement in [the infamous “Sharpiegate” fiasco](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/noaa-officials-led-sharpiegate-investigation-151343138.html) is now set to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. > > The Senate [confirmed Neil Jacobs](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-nominates-sharpiegate-scientist-lead-193834130.html), who formerly served as the agency’s acting administrator during[President Donald Trump’s](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-approval-rating-national-guard-b2841639.html)first term, in a 51-47 [vote](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00547.htm) on Tuesday night. **Trump nominated Jacobs to the post in February, five years after he was found to have violated the agency’s ethical code for his involvement in the so-called “Sharpiegate” incident.** Violated ethics rules? That’s the number one qualification for the felon to hire him! [Magical math mus be contagious.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/karoline-leavitt-makes-math-not-074013657.html) > [@](#): > > Karoline Leavitt was mocked on Monday for what critics online have previously dubbed “[MAGA Math](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-math-claim-again_n_68cd18b0e4b0afb4eb4cf38f).” > > The White House press secretary fully embraced her boss’ habit of mathematically impossible bragging when she repeated President Donald Trump’s claim that his administration was forcing pharma companies to reduce drug prices by more than 100%. > > Leavitt didn’t go quite as high as Trump’s past boasts of slashing prices by “[1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500%](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-numbers-claim-mocked_n_68905baee4b0f640c37192cb).” > > But she did insist they were going to be lowered by “200, 300, 100%.” Who knew magical math is contagious. I wonder if there’s some kind of preventative treatment, some kind of _vaccine_ for that. [War Criminal Hegseth is copying Cruella de Vile.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/pentagon-pete-cosplays-bizarre-general-020133810.html) > [@](#): > > Pete Hegseth put on his military fatigues for a new photo op a week after yelling at top brass about grooming and DEI. > > Photos published by Hegseth and the Defense Department on Tuesday showed the self-anointed “Secretary of War” joining service members at the Florida-based U.S. Special Operations Command. > > “A day in the office w/ America’s finest,” Hegseth wrote on X. & > [@](#): > > The series of images showed Hegseth wielding a rifle aboard a helicopter and getting down on the ground with the troops. > > Hegseth served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard, with active-duty deployments to Guantánamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He received two Bronze Star medals for meritorious service—not valor, as a [now-deleted White House video](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/white-house-deletes-video-bizarre-161816217.html) tried to claim. > > Just last month, Hegseth staged a similar [cosplay stunt](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/hegseth-cosplays-action-man-drug-101721337.html) as he met with sailors and Marines off the coast of Puerto Rico to deliver a chest-thumping message to the crew aboard USS Iwo Jima. > > “You’re trained, you’re prepared, you’re ready, and you’re lethal. And the American people are counting on you to ensure the American homeland is kept safe,” he tells service members. I get that it’s long been an American tradition to don costumes in October, but, seriously, Pete, can I get you to consider a sober question? Doesn’t this nonsense you’re pulling cost money? [And how exactly is the shutdown affecting the military the felon purports to love?](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/military-families-brace-missed-paychecks-090053572.html) > [@](#): > > Canceled school events, growing lines at military food pantries, accumulating fears tied to missed paychecks and the potential need for loans to stay afloat — US military families are already feeling the impacts of the [government shutdown](https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/politics/government-shutdown-ending-scenarios?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo) that is stretching into its second week and are preparing for worse days ahead. > > While most Americans are largely removed from the direct repercussions of a shutdown, military families are facing sharp disruptions to lives already burdened with the significant sacrifice that comes with serving. > > “We should never put our troops in this position,” one military spouse, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for voicing their concerns, told CNN. “We should never put their families in this position. The economy for military spouses is tough enough as it is.” > > Service members did receive a paycheck on October 1, but with Congress seemingly still gridlocked, families are figuring out how they’ll cope if their pay doesn’t arrive on October 15 as scheduled. > > In the last week, military children have already seen after-school programs and activities canceled en masse due to the slowing of federal funds to military schools, disrupting any sense of relative normalcy those families depend on, two of the sources told CNN. > > “All activities, even homework club, which some kids absolutely need to maintain their academics,” have been paused, said a third spouse, who is stationed in Guam. “These kids have already made sacrifices for the government, like their dad missing more birthdays and holidays than I can count, and unfairly have this burden too.” > > Some of the programs serve as essential child care for service members who work long hours often with little flexibility in their schedules. And food for the families? > [@](#): > > Some military families have preemptively flocked to their local food pantries to stock up on groceries and supplies in case there is a drawn-out shutdown that could mean they go an extended period without an income, one of the sources said. > > The second military spouse told CNN there were nearly 100 people at their local food pantry, on the base where the spouse’s family is stationed, this week — a notable uptick compared with normal usage. Other food pantries have [reported similar increases](https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/2025/10/02/military-families-seek-out-food-assistance-amid-shutdown-anxiety/). Don’t confuse these food pantries with the military commissaries (the on-base grocery stores). The food pantries are charties. But, hey, if you’re reading all of this, I have some advice for you, straight from the felon himself: _ **Don’t worry about it.** _ ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8632 "2025-10-09T15:25:31Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Magical math mus be contagious. And MAGAs wonder why we laugh at them. > [@Monty](#): > > Don’t confuse these food pantries with the military commissaries (the on-base grocery stores). The food pantries are charties. When I was in the single-digits, my mom volunteered for Navy Relief to help to support needy Enlisted families. The lowest ranks have always been on the financial brink. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8633 "2025-10-09T16:13:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Trump has posted a video to his Truth Social account that announces the dawning of a new age in medicine. “Medbeds”, which can heal all diseases and even regrow missing limbs, are coming to your town, after years of promises by far-far-right loonies like the Queen of Canada! > > […] > > Seriously, this seems like a big drop down the dementia rabbit hole. I know this is already old news, but I recently saw a video clip in which a reporter asked Karoline Leavitt about the post, and she described trump’s bizarre posting behavior as “[refreshing](https://youtu.be/4a3UMFX-dNk)”. I swear, trump could drop trou during the SOTU address, take a crap, and start flinging feces at members of Congress, and Leavitt would say “I think it’s refreshing that our President feels free to express himself in such an open, honest, transparent way”. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8634 "2025-10-09T16:22:57Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I swear, trump could drop trou during the SOTU address, take a crap, and start flinging feces at members of Congress He would just be honoring Congress the way these chimps honored the memory of Jane Goodall. > **[Chimps Honor Jane Goodall With 21-Poo Salute](https://babylonbee.com/news/chimps-honor-jane-goodall-with-21-poo-salute)** > > KIGOMA CITY — After news broke this week that the renowned primatologist and conservationist had passed away at the age of 91, a large group of chimps honored Jane Goodall with a 21-poo salute. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8635 "2025-10-09T17:39:40Z")
Leavitt has taken press secretary sycophancy to depths that no one in that job will ever be able to duplicate. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8636 "2025-10-09T17:44:46Z")
Let me remind you of [her predecessors under trump](https://www.thoughtco.com/donald-trumps-press-secretaries-4125913): Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, and Kayleigh McEnany. Are you sure the abomination trend has peaked with Leavitt? I think the shittiness of trumps entourage is not constant, but steady. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8637 "2025-10-09T17:52:04Z")
Personally, Leavitt does appear more sycophantic than her predecessors, but I would agree it’s too early to judge that nobody, including herself, can top the abject cravenness she’s displayed to date. She’s merely the worst Trump press secretary we’ve seen **yet**. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8638 "2025-10-09T18:07:12Z")
I don’t remember any of them being as revolting as Karoline, the King’s Official Ass-Kisser. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8639 "2025-10-09T18:12:44Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > His Israel/Palestine policies, I think, make it unlikely. trump’s (and all his minions) reaction, would be sooo juicy, and worth every ounce of ketchup cleaned off the White House walls Even better - if this latest Palestine/Israel thing actually works out, give it to Hamas and Israel jointly, since they’re the ones who actually have to do the real work. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8640 "2025-10-09T22:53:48Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised if Israel recommenced their military operation the day after the Nobel Peace Prize is announced. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/8641 "2025-10-09T23:21:23Z")
Well, yeah. That’s the problem with all these people trying to create peace in the middle east. No matter what they, or what they sign, it always falls apart. The only variable is time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=428) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=430)