# 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:** 55
**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:** [January 26, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1081 "2025-01-26T13:47:22Z")
If pandemics and market forces will _not_ succumb to the indomitable will of Donald Trump, there will surely be hell to pay: > **[Think Egg Prices Are Already Too High? USDA Says Retail Egg Prices Could Jump...](https://www.agweb.com/news/livestock/poultry/think-egg-prices-are-already-too-high-usda-says-retail-egg-prices-could-ju)** > > According to the January 2025 Food Price Outlook, egg prices saw the biggest spike, up 37% year-over-year. When you look ahead, USDA expects outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to continue to cause egg prices to climb. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1082 "2025-01-26T14:36:53Z")
I’m not sure how accurate this is: [Scientists at NIH can’t purchase supplies for their studies after Trump administration pauses outside communications](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/health/nih-scientists-purchase-supplies-trump-administration-pauses-communications/index.html) _Scientists at the National Institutes of Health say they can’t purchase critical supplies for their studies, including test tubes and medications, because of a pause on outside communication issued this week issued by the Trump Administration this week._ > Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have been told the communications pause announced by the Trump Administration earlier this week includes a pause on all purchasing, including supplies for their ongoing studies, according to four sources inside the agency with knowledge of the purchasing hold. > > The supply crunch follows a directive first issued on Tuesday by the acting director of the Department of Health and Human Services, which placed a moratorium on the release of any public communication until it had been reviewed by officials appointed or designated by the Trump Administration, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN. Part of this pause on public communication has been widely interpreted to include purchasing orders to outside suppliers. One source noted they had been told that essential requests can proceed and will be reviewed daily. > > Researchers who have clinical trial participants staying at the NIH’s on-campus hospital, the Clinical Trial Center, said they weren’t able to order test tubes to draw blood as well as other key study components. If something doesn’t change, one researcher who was affected said his study will run out of key supplies by next week. If that happens, the research results would be compromised, and he would have to recruit new patients, he said. I imagine if the public communications ban actually means you can’t send purchase orders to outside vendors, there’ll be some sort of workaround. But if there isn’t, this is another clusterfuck. And, what’s considered “essential” and who makes that determination? I guess that’ll show these public health agencies not to contradict Trump on crises like the COVID pandemic. The ban seems more like punishment and fear about a potential new avian flu outbreak than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1083 "2025-01-26T14:56:04Z")
The company I work for is headquartered in the USA. They have a big military division as well as civil. I am genuinely concerned that they will cancel DEI initiatives within the company in order to bootlick Trump. I’m pretty sure that if they do, I’ll resign. I’m already not very comfortable with certain aspects of the company, but this would just be so fundamentally incompatible with my values and ethics that I’d have to leave. I’m pretty sure the higher ups wouldn’t care - I’m just some woman, after all, one of only two in our engineering division. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1084 "2025-01-26T15:26:20Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > If pandemics and market forces will _not_ succumb to the indomitable will of Donald Trump, there will surely be hell to pay: I hope he orders the military to attack egg prices with swords and gather the shells as trophies. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1085 "2025-01-26T15:36:14Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I’m not sure how accurate this is: > > [Scientists at NIH can’t purchase supplies for their studies after Trump administration pauses outside communications](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/health/nih-scientists-purchase-supplies-trump-administration-pauses-communications/index.html) > _Scientists at the National Institutes of Health say they can’t purchase critical supplies for their studies, including test tubes and medications, because of a pause on outside communication issued this week issued by the Trump Administration this week._ I have many friends and colleagues who are researchers at the NIH. It is accurate. It is a clusterfuck. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1086 "2025-01-26T15:45:44Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > I have many friends and colleagues who are researchers at the NIH. It is accurate. It is a clusterfuck. Thanks for confirming. I get that the communications ban is Trump’s retribution on the public health agencies for not supporting his COVID bullshit–bleach, ivermectin, the virus is a Chinese plot to make him look bad but at the same time it’s going to magically go away, etc–but fucking up basic research by having to get approval to buy supplies like blood tubes and pipettes is next level. I’m sure there are even MAGAs who support things like basic cancer research. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1087 "2025-01-26T15:57:00Z")
> **[Mississippi DA bill would pay bounty hunters a reward to help facilitate...](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mississippi-bill-would-pay-bounty-hunters-reward-help-catch-illegal-immigrants)** > > Bounty hunters in Mississippi could be paid by the state to help deport illegal immigrants, under proposed legislation introduced by a lawmaker. > Under the terms of House Bill 1484, the state would create the Mississippi Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program, which would pay a $1,000 reward to registered bounty hunters for each [successful deportation](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/immigration/illegal-immigrants) they facilitate. I’ve read elsewhere that to become a registered bounty hunter under the program, you need to pay $40 and attend a 40-hour class. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1088 "2025-01-26T16:01:18Z")
I do some work with the NIH. They requested a quote from us on Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1089 "2025-01-26T16:10:38Z")
I wondering if it had to be “approved” by some Trump appointee. I have a friend who does research at NIH. I’ll send him a text tomorrow and ask what he’s dealing with in regard to orders. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1090 "2025-01-26T16:11:10Z")
[![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qxwx3yb4m3dmjbu5luyyi7zm/bafkreigjqwbswnflxn45r5zwgejhdfiqxqbbcym4ulfhrt4p5gn5nqx7km@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qxwx3yb4m3dmjbu5luyyi7zm/bafkreigjqwbswnflxn45r5zwgejhdfiqxqbbcym4ulfhrt4p5gn5nqx7km@jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1091 "2025-01-26T16:37:55Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I am genuinely concerned that they will cancel DEI initiatives within the company in order to bootlick Trump. I’d be surprised if that DOESN’T happen, given the speed and breadth of efforts so far. Good luck! ---
**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:** [January 26, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1092 "2025-01-26T16:57:21Z")
Cite? ---
**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:** [January 26, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1093 "2025-01-26T17:11:49Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > If they really start rounding up immigrants _en masse_ they are going to run into the challenges of our already maxed out immigration detention system and stuffed-to-the-gills prisons and jails Jails? Where we’re going we don’t need jails. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Chinese_and_North_Korean_POWs_at_camp_in_Pusan_HD-SN-99-03155.JPEG/1200px-Chinese_and_North_Korean_POWs_at_camp_in_Pusan_HD-SN-99-03155.JPEG) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Chinese_and_North_Korean_POWs_at_camp_in_Pusan_HD-SN-99-03155.JPEG/1200px-Chinese_and_North_Korean_POWs_at_camp_in_Pusan_HD-SN-99-03155.JPEG) ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1094 "2025-01-26T17:19:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Cite? Working on that… ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1095 "2025-01-26T17:48:05Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Despite your perceptions, “the military” doesn’t build anything larger than a tent farm or a forward operating base (FOB). “Sheriff Joe Arpaio” has entered the chat. What really bites is that he’s still alive and media thinks he’s lucid enough to ask him about Trump’s bullshit (he’s worshipful and still disgusting). I’ve lived in these tent farms with thousands of my buddies in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It can be done and the supply lines are much shorter. The idiots in this administration will screw it up though through a toxic mix of stupidity and hubris. People (actual human beings) will die but the Eloon brown shirts won’t care. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1096 "2025-01-26T17:56:42Z")
Aren’t there entire abandoned towns in PA sitting on top of smoldering coal mines? Bonus: low heating bills! ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1097 "2025-01-26T18:09:38Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > Aren’t there entire abandoned towns in PA sitting on top of smoldering coal mines? Centralia, PA. Fires will likely burn for 250 years. Crazy place. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1098 "2025-01-26T18:21:16Z")
Trump press secretary hid over $300k in debt tied to ‘inappropriate donations’ [https://www.rawstory.com/karoline-leavitt-2670987413/](https://www.rawstory.com/karoline-leavitt-2670987413/) ---
**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:** [January 26, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1099 "2025-01-26T18:29:51Z")
The main issue I have with the story is this bit: > She still needs to raise money to refund these contributions, potentially opening the door for wealthy donors and corporate special interests to curry favor with her, the administration or the president,” Sayed explained. The only answer to the question, “To whom do I make out the check?” is – at this point – “Donald J. Trump.” No cut-outs, intermediaries, or obfuscatory, labyrinthine shell corporations necessary. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1100 "2025-01-26T19:23:54Z")
These are an example of “obeying in advance”, a habit that autocracies try to instill in their people. There was nothing at all in the executive order, or in the [memo sent out to various commands](https://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/2025SAF/DEI_EO_MR_memo.pdf) that said you have to remove anything about the Red Tails or the WASPs from their training. You can - and should - tell their stories about excellence. But the hierarchies that the autocracies need to function are instead _anticipating_ the wants of the folks heading them, and are responding accordingly, making the autocrat’s job easier. (and as the great nephew of a WASP who ferried a bunch of P-38s over to the Mediterranean theatre during WWII, I take personal exception to dubbing her service anything but heroic.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=54) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=56)