# The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 1, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298 "2025-12-01T20:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 146
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2901 "2026-03-03T20:46:18Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Feels strange saying “…thanks…Nick?” [Maxim 29:](https://schlockmercenary.fandom.com/wiki/The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries) _The enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy. No more. No less_ ETA: Ninja’d by a mere eight hours. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2902 "2026-03-03T20:52:51Z")
50% of Americans, including 1 in 4 Republicans, support abolishing ICE. > **['Record high': Staggering number of Republicans now support abolishing ICE](https://www.rawstory.com/ice-2675549887/)** > > President Donald Trump got more bad news on Tuesday, with a new YouGov poll that shows catastrophic numbers for public approval of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.In fact, even one in four Republican voters now support abolishing the agency,... ---
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2903 "2026-03-03T21:04:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “We have unlimited middle and upper ammunition, Translation: “We are running out of ammunition. And, I have no idea what I’m talking about.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2904 "2026-03-03T21:15:30Z")
When he had an aircraft carrier in the Caribbean Sea for an extended period when he was planning to act against Venezuela, someone pointed out that that ship was already due for an overhaul and that mission was delaying it. So his adventures in the Middle East aren’t just using up American ammunition stores but also contributing to a maintenance defeat for the ships and planes. Probably he is exhausting the members of the military as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2905 "2026-03-03T22:08:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So his adventures in the Middle East aren’t just using up American ammunition stores but also contributing to a maintenance defeat for the ships and planes. ? Maintenance deficit? I don’t disagree with the substance of anything you wrote, but that one turn of phrase puzzled me. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2906 "2026-03-03T22:37:21Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I don’t disagree with the substance of anything you wrote, but that one turn of phrase puzzled me. You can put off routine maintenance for a time, but that just means that problems pile up and parts start being left unmaintained longer than recommended. “Use it until it breaks” isn’t good practice with something like a warship. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2907 "2026-03-03T22:41:04Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > You can put off routine maintenance for a time, but that just means that problems pile up and parts start being left unmaintained longer than recommended. Yes, I get the concept of “maintenance deficit”, but I was confused by @Dewey_Finn’s term “maintenance defeat”. Either “defeat” was an error for “deficit” there, or I’m not sure what he’s referring to. Is there such a thing as a “maintenance defeat” meaning that you lose a battle specifically because your undermaintained equipment craps out on you? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2908 "2026-03-03T22:41:51Z")
Sorry. I am on my phone and meant deficit. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2909 "2026-03-03T22:44:31Z")
In particular, one of the involved aircraft carriers and its attached escorts have been at sea well over its usual deployment schedule. The crews are physically and mentally beat. Routine maintenance is put off for operational necessities. It adds up to accidents and breakdowns. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2910 "2026-03-03T22:47:15Z")
Good old $ash Patel, FBI podcaster and hockey drunkard. Still prosecuting Demento Don’s edict to pursue and punish anyone who investigated his attempt to overthrow the US government. > **[Kash Patel gutted FBI counterintelligence team tasked with tracking Iranian...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/03/politics/patel-fbi-national-security-division-firings-iran)** > > Just days before the United States launched a major military operation in Iran, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen agents and staff members from a counterintelligence unit tasked with monitoring threats from Iran, according to two sources familiar... ---
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2911 "2026-03-03T23:00:36Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Yes, I get the concept of “maintenance deficit”, but I was confused by @Dewey_Finn’s term “maintenance defeat”. Either “defeat” was an error for “deficit” there, or I’m not sure what he’s referring to. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sorry. I am on my phone and meant deficit. And I _read it_ as “deficit”, which is why I replied like I did. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2912 "2026-03-03T23:25:37Z")
Why am I suddenly thinking of this? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8iDgMuLFyHQ/maxresdefault.jpg ""Yakety Sax"- Theme from the "Benny Hill Show"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iDgMuLFyHQ) ---
**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:** [March 3, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2913 "2026-03-03T23:30:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sorry. I am on my phone and meant deficit. Auto-guess, the second biggest bane to modern civilization, beat only by O-rings. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2914 "2026-03-04T01:07:24Z")
Ayatollah Khamenei’s reign of terror is over! I present you the next Supreme Leader of Iran… (checks notes) Ayatollah Khamenei! [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/world/middleeast/iran-mojtaba-khamenei-successor.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/world/middleeast/iran-mojtaba-khamenei-successor.html) > The senior clerics responsible for selecting Iran’s next supreme leader met on Tuesday to deliberate, and the son of the slain former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, emerged as the clear front-runner, according to three Iranian officials familiar with the deliberations… > > “He was slated to become the successor for a long time,” Mr. Nasr said, “but for the past two years, it seemed to have dropped off from the radar. If he is elected, it suggests it is a much more hard-line Revolutionary Guard side of the regime that is now in charge.” ---
**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:** [March 4, 2026, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2915 "2026-03-04T01:23:53Z")
Khamenei is dead. Long live Khamenei! ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2916 "2026-03-04T01:29:07Z")
Think of the savings from reprinting the stationary. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2917 "2026-03-04T02:58:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Khamenei “Khamenei 2, Electric Boogaloo!” It even rhymes in meme format. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2918 "2026-03-04T03:45:34Z")
We (US taxpayers) will be paying for sunken tankers delivering oil to China. This will go well. Plus a good chance of USS Stark redux. > **[Trump's Plan To Escort Ships Through Strait Of Hormuz Would Put U.S. Navy...](https://www.twz.com/sea/trumps-plan-to-escort-ships-through-strait-of-hormuz-would-put-u-s-navy-warships-in-the-crosshairs)** > > Escorting convoys through the Strait of Hormuz could get commerce flowing again, but not without putting American warships in the line of fire. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2919 "2026-03-04T04:54:45Z")
_“History shows again and again how Nature points out the Folly of Man.”_ -Descartes ---
**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:** [March 4, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/2920 "2026-03-04T05:00:33Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > “History shows again and again that Nature points out the Folly of Man.” …I thought that was [Blue Oyster Cult](https://genius.com/8168896). (j/k) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=145) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=147)