# 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:** 17
**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:** [December 8, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/321 "2025-12-08T16:44:06Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Does that mean I (hypothetically) need to register and pay US tax despite never even visiting the country? My kids are currently 11 and 15. When we left the US, they were 3 and 6 (almost 7). When they turn 18, they will have lived nearly their whole lives in Europe, and will never have worked a day in the US. Yet they will, nevertheless, be legally expected to file US income tax returns. It’s idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/322 "2025-12-08T17:36:13Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Yet they will, nevertheless, be legally expected to file US income tax returns. > > It’s idiotic. And the rest of us will pay the IRS’s employee’s income that has to look at this total BullShit. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/323 "2025-12-08T18:27:48Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Yet they will, nevertheless, be legally expected to file US income tax returns. But it’s possible, indeed probable, that they will owe no US tax. > **[Foreign earned income exclusion | Internal Revenue Service](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion)** > > You may qualify for the foreign earned income, foreign housing exclusions and the foreign housing deduction if you meet certain requirements. Learn more. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/324 "2025-12-08T18:35:01Z")
True but figuring out the forms to get to that point can itself be a nightmare. Everybody I know who has had to go through that process needed a filing extension. And, of course, our tax system is designed to favor the big tax preparers more than simplicity in filing. The vast majority of US taxpayers don’t have complex taxes but then who would take care of the poor, poor stockholders in TurboTax, H&R Block, etc? ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/325 "2025-12-08T19:32:02Z")
It is not the paying taxes that is burdensome, thought it can be, it is the filing that is a pain. When I moved overseas, I went from doing all the tax preparation myself, to hiring a company that specialized both in the local tax law and US tax law, so that I would not end up paying taxes both places. If the US did not have the requirements they have, then I could have continued to do my own taxes and simply pay the ones for where I reside without worrying about having the right forms, showing the correct exchange rate, etc. in order not to pay anything in the US. You do get an automatic extension, but that would not be needed if they did US did not have the requirements it does. Additionally, some banks will not take you as a client if they know you are US citizen. I believe I mentioned this in another thread, but I was talking to a British National who had to prove to his bank that he was British because his name was in English and they thought he might be an American and they wanted to cancel his account. `//i\\` ---
**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:** [December 8, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/326 "2025-12-08T19:43:20Z")
> [@icon](#): > > It is not the paying taxes that is burdensome, thought it can be, it is the filing that is a pain… > Additionally, some banks will not take you as a client if they know you are US citizen. Just quoting these two sentences for emphasis. For the last fifteen years, I have owed $0 to the IRS, but have spent an inordinate amount of time and money establishing that to their satisfaction. Edit: and that money was spent in Canada, so did not even contribute to the American economy. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/327 "2025-12-08T20:09:22Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Edit: and that money was spent in Canada, so did not even contribute to the American economy. So, just another way that Canada is ripping off the United States, huh? /s ---
**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:** [December 8, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/328 "2025-12-08T20:09:39Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Who is this world of which you speak? I could possibly care less, but it is a very low bar. Heathen! ---
**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:** [December 8, 2025, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/329 "2025-12-08T20:22:55Z")
“You have to be, in many cases, you need 185 IQ to turn on a lawnmower.” > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m7islh37uo2m)** > > Trump on John Deere: "We're gonna say, 'you're gonna reduce the prices.' They're gonna have to reduce their prices. Because farming equipment has gotten too expensive ... in many cases, you need about a 185 IQ to turn on a lawnmower." “We’re also gonna give the tractor companies, John Deere and all of the companies that make the equipment, we’re gonna take off a lot of the environmental restrictions that they have on machinery. It’s ridiculous. I know because I buy a lot of that machinery… it’s not as good as the old days." > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m7isjjl65h2u)** > > Trump: "We're also gonna give the tractor companies, John Deere and all of the companies that make the equipment, we're gonna take off a lot of the environmental restrictions that they have on machinery. It's ridiculous. I know b/c I buy a lot of... “I say that our soybeans – I told this to President Xi – our soybeans are more nutritious than competitors. Somebody said, ‘Is that a Trump statement, or is that real?’ You know who asked me that question? President Xi. But that’s what I hear.” > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m7irylo2rx2j)** > > Trump: "I say that our soybeans -- I told this to President Xi -- our soybeans are more nutritious than competitors. Somebody said, 'Is that a Trump statement, or is that real?' You know who asked me that question? President Xi. But that's what I... ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/330 "2025-12-08T21:26:34Z")
To everyone’s great surprise, the mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew who was picked up by ICE, is NOT an absentee illegal alien mother with a previous arrest record for battery who supposedly hasn’t spoken with Leavitt for years. She is out on bond for now. Per the Washington Post: > A longtime resident of Massachusetts, Ferreira came to the United States in 1998 at age 6 to join her parents after being raised by her grandmother in Brazil. At one point Ferreira faced possible deportation, but in 2012 she became eligible for an Obama-era program for undocumented immigrants who arrived as children. This year, as part of the president’s mass deportation campaign, the Trump administration restarted her deportation case, according to Ferreira’s lawyers. Most of her family has legal status, but Ferreira has not been able to complete that process, her lawyers said. > Ferreira said she dreamed of attending Harvard Law School and becoming a lawyer when she was younger but because she was in the country illegally, she had far fewer opportunities than her younger brother and sister, who were born in the United States. > Ferreira’s lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, said she has no criminal record. He says DHS may be alluding to a 2008 incident when she was summoned to juvenile court after a fight with another girl outside a Dunkin’ Donuts over $8. He said Ferreira was never arrested and the case was dismissed. Because it was in juvenile court, he said it was not a criminal matter and was supposed to be confidential. She was 16 at the time. There’s much more about how she is not an absentee mother, and how the estranged ex has often threatened to report her to ICE. “DHS has not explained why Ferreira was arrested when the administration says it is focusing on detaining violent criminals. Her lawyers contend that video indicates officers were specifically out in search of Ferreira when they detained her.” [https://wapo.st/49ZuxIYhttps://wapo.st/49ZuxIY](https://wapo.st/49ZuxIYhttps://wapo.st/49ZuxIY) [https://wapo.st/4oJHXMS](https://wapo.st/4oJHXMS) ---
**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:** [December 8, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/331 "2025-12-08T21:40:55Z")
Someone’s making money in Argentina. Close friend of the US Treasury Secretary I hear. > **[Trump’s Argentina bailout enriches one well-connected billionaire](https://popular.info/p/trumps-argentina-bailout-enriches)** > > A $20 billion taxpayer-funded rescue package for Argentina is a gift for a hedge fund manager with personal and professional ties to the Treasury Secretary ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/332 "2025-12-08T21:53:01Z")
I am shocked. shocked. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/333 "2025-12-09T00:20:01Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Gold does not make you a king. Merdes touch and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/334 "2025-12-09T00:29:08Z")
From CNN: > **Supreme Court arguments:** The high court appears ready to side with President Donald Trump on the firing of a member of the Federal Trade Commission. Liberal justices warned today that backing Trump could “destroy the structure of government” Do they know that “destroying the structure of government” is the actual end game here? That their colleagues on the court see this as a _good thing_? ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/335 "2025-12-09T00:59:06Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Do they know that “destroying the structure of government” is the actual end game here? That their colleagues on the court see this as a _good thing_? The felon himself has already said and proven that is his very aim: destroying the structure of our government. Odd thing, though, that just might be the one thing he’s any good at. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/336 "2025-12-09T01:22:21Z")
Okay. _That’s_ funny! 😆 Can’t believe I’ve never seen that before. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/337 "2025-12-09T03:02:25Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > What benefit is it to someone to give up a citizenship, especially an American one? Purely tax purposes? If that was addressed to me. **Icon** got it right. In prosperous years, I owe the USA taxes. I still need to send some form to them. I am never going to live (again) in the USA in my lifetime. Yet I’m not going to pay the USA $3,000 for the right to throw my passport at them like Oswald did. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/338 "2025-12-09T03:06:53Z")
[Habba’s resigning, but not really.](https://www.aol.com/alina-habba-resigns-jersey-us-185317134.html) > [@](#): > > After a [three-month battle](https://abcnews.go.com/US/appeals-court-disqualifies-alina-habba-serving-us-attorney/story?id=127999613) over the legality of her appointment, Alina Habba has resigned from her position as the Acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. > > She announced her resignation as U.S. attorney in a social media post on Monday. She will remain serving as “Senior Adviser to the Attorney General for U.S. Attorneys.” > > The resignation comes after a protracted legal fight about whether she could serve in the U.S. attorney role without Senate confirmation. Is this a real position or is it something she and/or the felon created to keep her running the show? (I ask, knowing the answer already.) > [@](#): > > “Following the flawed Third Circuit decision disqualifying Alina Habba from performing her duties in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of New Jersey, I am saddened to accept Alina’s resignation," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will seek further review of this decision, and we are confident it will be reversed. Alina intends to return to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey if this occurs.” Just as I suspected. It’s a place-holder position. [War criminal Hegseth’s not getting any money until he shows Congress video proving he didn’t commit crimes against humanity.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/congress-withhold-pentagon-travel-funds-182010276.html) > [@](#): > > Congress is using its marquee defense bill to force the Pentagon into turning over videos of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America. > > Lawmakers plan to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon provides them [with the videos](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/07/second-strike-democratic-lawmakers-demand-transparency-00679899?_bhlid=01d8baf7452cb3bc38c5bae3f2719ade9b962fbd&utm_campaign=the-smile-12-8&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=www.readthesmile.com). The demand, quietly tucked into the [final draft of the annual defense policy bill](https://armedservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/rcp_text_of_house_amendment_to_s._1071.pdf), calls for “unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command” to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. > > Congressional leaders released their final draft of the defense bill Sunday, which is expected to be approved — without changes — by the House later this week and then the Senate. I’m wondering how the felon’s going to react to that. [Maybe he’ll deny knowing about it like he denied sayiing something he said.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fact-check-trump-denies-saying-222927725.html) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump on Monday falsely denied making a comment he had made on camera just five days prior. Then he launched a personal attack against the reporter who had accurately repeated his previous remark. > > Trump has a [long](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2020%2F03%2F29%2Fpolitics%2Ffact-check-coronavirus-briefing&data=05%7C02%7Cmatthew.philips%40cnn.com%7C1ccdc3fab7084cff543e08de36a68db6%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008286135328239%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9KNnhvuRETbdI7hdePOQtbZ21R8bGpcdcAamYrRHL9E%3D&reserved=0) [history](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2024%2F06%2F02%2Fpolitics%2Ffact-check-trump-false-claim-lock-up-hillary-clinton&data=05%7C02%7Cmatthew.philips%40cnn.com%7C1ccdc3fab7084cff543e08de36a68db6%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008286135352619%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=uCaCwc8vztRqXyz2nJaFqarfwHhvRdiex693jhgjn0s%3D&reserved=0) of falsely denying he ever said things he had said in public. > > The subject of his latest false denial was the video footage of the September 2 US military strikes against a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean. The military [conducted a follow-up strike](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F12%2F04%2Fpolitics%2Fstrike-lawmakers-briefing-radio-survivors&data=05%7C02%7Cmatthew.philips%40cnn.com%7C1ccdc3fab7084cff543e08de36a68db6%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008286135376198%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4UAC43J5khISp2FYJQNo8dYC8D0BeQDESmh%2F0aXTpL0%3D&reserved=0) to kill the people who had survived the first strike. Here’s the fun part. > [@](#): > > Here’s [the December 3 exchange](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frollcall.com%2Ffactbase%2Ftrump%2Ftranscript%2Fdonald-trump-remarks-fuel-standards-environment-december-3-2025%2F%23220&data=05%7C02%7Cmatthew.philips%40cnn.com%7C1ccdc3fab7084cff543e08de36a68db6%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008286135418185%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=KJL43r06Is7EsMNqBSVptIx%2BY6QM56E%2BhOSxGPwHeDc%3D&reserved=0) he had with [ABC News reporter Selina Wang](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2Fselinawangtv%2Fstatus%2F1998129632500183307%3Fs%3D20&data=05%7C02%7Cmatthew.philips%40cnn.com%7C1ccdc3fab7084cff543e08de36a68db6%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008286135438469%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=gOl%2BQ19nCIOGKVfWfov4RZlDMZXPGQmhjI4vAKSiBcA%3D&reserved=0) at the White House: > > _ **Wang** _ _: Mr. President, you released video of that first boat strike on September 2nd, but not the second video. Will you release video of that strike so that the American people can see for themselves what happened?_ > > _ **Trump** _ _: I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’d certainly release, no problem._ > > On Monday, another ABC News reporter, Rachel Scott, [repeated Trump’s comment back to him](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Flive%2FU0xA3_FO7u4%3Fsi%3DgZk2LbIGMDAK1DJF%26t%3D2538&data=05%7C02%7Cmatthew.philips%40cnn.com%7C1ccdc3fab7084cff543e08de36a68db6%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008286135458379%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=gKPTr9%2FqCAIclZNGgs%2Bba03lahDrK35HxJ9gFxejH%2Fk%3D&reserved=0) while trying to ask a question about the potential release of the additional video. But the president denied he had said what he said: > > _ **Scott** _ _: Mr. President, you said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2nd off the coast of Venezuela. Secretary Hegseth now says –_ > > _ **Trump** _ _: I didn’t say that. That’s – you said that, I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news._ > > Scott correctly noted, “You said that you would have no problem releasing the full vi(deo).” She then pivoted back to her question. She noted that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the question of whether to release the video is [being reviewed](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F12%2F08%2Fpolitics%2Flawmakers-boat-strike-video&data=05%7C02%7Cmatthew.philips%40cnn.com%7C1ccdc3fab7084cff543e08de36a68db6%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008286135478767%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=EYzecFJJ2leDVhLX3ahmrZp6BcZBAXLH1gO45QK4G9U%3D&reserved=0), and she asked Trump if he is ordering Hegseth to release it. > > “Whatever he decides is okay with me,” Trump said. [Not to be outdone, Noem decided she wants more investigations into her lawbreaking.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/judge-expands-criminal-contempt-probe-221320291.html) > [@](#): > > Days after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem provided little information about her actions in a high-stakes deportation case, a federal judge on Monday expanded his [criminal contempt probe into the matter,](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F11%2F19%2Fpolitics%2Fboasberg-contempt-of-court-alien-enemies-act-flights&data=05%7C02%7CDevan.Cole%40cnn.com%7C17b21656ef35448ce9e708de36a20a58%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008266735978170%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FFTjGFouF0KvE%2BWfCrN1PNuzUtTNl9s6YxW2v7JnRpY%3D&reserved=0) ordering a top Justice Department attorney to testify under oath about the episode. > > US District Judge James Boasberg [ordered](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.200.0.pdf) Drew Ensign, a top DOJ lawyer involved in immigration litigation, to testify next week about decisions made by administration officials in mid-March that resulted in the deportation of migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, despite the judge’s order for flights carrying the migrants to turn around pending a legal challenge to Trump’s use of the act. > > Boasberg also said he wanted to hear from Erez Reuveni, an ex-Justice Department lawyer who alleged in a whistleblower complaint earlier this year that a then-top DOJ official told his colleagues in March that the administration [intended to ignore court orders](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F07%2F10%2Fpolitics%2Fjustice-department-ignore-court-orders-emil-bove-erez-reuveni&data=05%7C02%7CDevan.Cole%40cnn.com%7C17b21656ef35448ce9e708de36a20a58%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C639008266736006007%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=s8j2%2FqVqB4h7xqx9en988Y4jthTrG8u%2BIsvI9dpSoqQ%3D&reserved=0) as part of the President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation effort. > > The judge said the live testimony was necessary because Noem, who made the decision to allow the migrants to continue to be transferred to El Salvador, [provided little information about the affair to the court in a sworn statement last week](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.198.1.pdf). > > “As this declaration does not provide enough information for the Court to determine whether her decision was a willful violation of the Court’s Order, the Court cannot at this juncture find probable cause that her actions constituted criminal contempt,” Boasberg wrote in a brief order Monday. Say you want to punish some immigrants. How are you going to decide which ones? [I hear naturalization ceremonies are chock full of immigrants.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/immigrants-plucked-oath-ceremony-lines-004819051.html) > [@](#): > > Immigrants who are one step away from American citizenship have suddenly found themselves in limbo after President Donald Trump ordered a fresh immigration crackdown. > > All over the country, the Trump administration has been canceling naturalization ceremonies of people from certain countries in the wake of the murder of a National Guardsman in Washington, D.C., according to reports by [WGBH](https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-12-05/immigrants-kept-from-faneuil-hall-citizenship-ceremony-as-feds-crackdown-nationwide) and [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/06/us/immigration-citizenship-naturalization-trump.html). > > Project Citizenship, a nonprofit that works with immigrants in Massachusetts and New England, said that this month alone, 21 clients have received notices about the cancellation of their oath ceremonies, the last step in the lengthy process of becoming a U.S. citizen. > > “One of our clients said that she had gone to her oath ceremony because she hadn’t received the [cancellation notice](https://cdn.grove.wgbh.org/7c/1d/7c5891734148bfc200b0e304bfda/uscis-notice-of-oath-ceremony-cancellation.pdf?_gl=1*16bpfkr*_ga*MjAxNTcyNTMxMy4xNzY1MTQzNjM1*_ga_325HS3KQKC*czE3NjUxNDY4MDIkbzIkZzEkdDE3NjUxNDY4MDgkajU0JGwwJGgw) in time,” Project Citizenship executive director Gail Breslow told WGBH. “She showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.” ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/339 "2025-12-09T03:27:35Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Ah, you’re a spy. Now it makes sense. 😉 Was that to me too? 😁 I have a Russian wife who, as a professor in St. Petersburg University taught English and has almost no accent. We are both open to being spies, though she’d either be a double agent as Putin has fucked her life up. And who am I spying for? The UK against the USA? Or maybe say I’m a marine biologist and get a job on the Yantar yet my Russian Fish Vocabulary is lacking. Sabotaging undersea cables - I can learn enough. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/340 "2025-12-09T08:24:10Z")
They may be legally expected to do so, but it’s not as if the IRS will come looking for them in Benelux if they don’t. It’ll only be a problem if they decide to move to the States, and now they have another reason not to. That’s always been my approach. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=18)