# 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:** 220
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4381 "2026-04-10T17:48:19Z")
Yeah, probably Netanyahu. He’s reportedly been trying to convince US officials that Iran had or would soon have atomic weapons since the 90s and the US needed to attack ASAP. It’s only now somebody’s been dumb enough to believe him ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4382 "2026-04-10T17:52:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I assumed that was Netanyahu who talked him into it. [Correct](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/trump-iran-war.html), according to the New York Times. > In the Situation Room on Feb. 11, Mr. Netanyahu made a hard sell, suggesting that Iran was ripe for regime change and expressing the belief that a joint U.S.-Israeli mission could finally bring an end to the Islamic Republic. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4383 "2026-04-10T18:54:34Z")
Stolen from Threads: “Iran is holding a strait, and Trump doesn’t even have a pair.” ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4384 "2026-04-10T19:23:40Z")
[![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreihvrrui5qqhuuuuhgcem2rik6xoaxbxhtfibe7pyc6emtvgisaas4) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreihvrrui5qqhuuuuhgcem2rik6xoaxbxhtfibe7pyc6emtvgisaas4) Every day we get closer to the Clickhole article about Trump signing an executive order that just says “HOT CUBE” in block letters. > **[Government In Chaos: Donald Trump Signed An Executive Order That Just Says...](https://clickhole.com/government-in-chaos-donald-trump-signed-an-executive-o-1825122365/)** > > Typically, a president works hand in hand with federal agencies to enact policy, but Donald Trump is clearly dead set on shattering that mold. Just… ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4385 "2026-04-10T19:51:11Z")
ICE deports a US Citizen > Brian Morales, 25 and born in Denver, was deported by DHS on April 7. The illegal deportation was reported by Sophie Clark in _The Independent_ today. > > **[https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bryan-morales-us-citizen-deport-mexico-b2955205.html](https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bryan-morales-us-citizen-deport-mexico-b2955205.html)** > > Morales was working in Texas and was stopped by Customs and Border Patrol who refused to believe he was a US citizen and his explanation that he had documentation he could get at home. They threatened him with extensive prison time or deportation. According to Lidia Terrazas of Univision, Morales was threatened with either deportation or 5 years prison time (supposedly for fraud) following this traffic stop by CBP and he chose the alternative of signing voluntary removal papers. He has a young daughter and the thought of being locked up and away from her for 5 years was on his mind. > > Morales was with his construction crew and did not have ID on him, but told CBP that he could get his Social Security number, birth certificate, and medical records from home to prove his case. They would not listen and deported him. Morales says his boss was also placed into ICE custody, despite being a U.S. citizen with proof of citizenship at home. [US Citizen detained at traffic stop and deported by DHS](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/10/2377256/-US-Citizen-detained-at-traffic-stop-and-deported-by-DHS?utm_campaign=trending) ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4386 "2026-04-10T20:06:24Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > The fact that you can win all the battles and yet lose the war is something that should be taught in schools, because it’s counterintuitive but true. Those of us who are old enough to remember Vietnam know this very well. Wait a minute, that war ended over 50 years ago. How did that happen? ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4387 "2026-04-10T20:08:33Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > Wait a minute, that war ended over 50 years ago. How did that happen? I don’t know, I was born yet, grandpa… ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4388 "2026-04-10T21:32:50Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > It also helps if you have actual objectives. His objective was to get people to stop talking about the Epstein files. In that he was successful until his wife chimed in. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4389 "2026-04-10T21:38:29Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > His objective was to get people to stop talking about the Epstein files. In that he was successful until his wife chimed in. This. Only this. No need to look anywhere else. Go, Melania! 📣 ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4390 "2026-04-10T21:58:44Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’ve found a lot of people have a rather simplistic grasp of what it means to be victorious in war. To a lot of Americans, this doesn’t look like a defeat as our military forces absolutely crushed the Iranian forces. And I’m pretty confident that the losses sustained by US forces are much, much larger than we’ve been led to believe by the Trump toadies, who lie like others breathe. I also suspect (with no proof) that the “rescue” of the mysterious unnamed crew in Iran was cover for an attempt to set up a forward base/runway and it failed spectacularly with resultant loss of many aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4391 "2026-04-10T22:04:31Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And I’m pretty confident that the losses sustained by US forces are much, much larger than we’ve been led to believe by the Trump toadies, who lie like others breathe. I also suspect (with no proof) that the “rescue” of the mysterious unnamed crew in Iran was cover for an attempt to set up a forward base/runway and it failed spectacularly with resultant loss of many aircraft. Maybe I’m just a cynical old man, but I don’t trust the Trump administration either. Even if the losses are greater than they’re telling us, I still think it’s most likely a very lopsided war in terms of loss of material and life. Though in the aftermath we’ll see a stronger Iran and a weaker United States. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4392 "2026-04-10T22:24:43Z")
It’s going to be the bestest arch ever! [![](https://i.ibb.co/tp6xs3Fy/248607d8-b762-46c4-8970-cc19084ca0b0.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/tp6xs3Fy/248607d8-b762-46c4-8970-cc19084ca0b0.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4393 "2026-04-10T22:25:21Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I guess she really **does** care… About herself: yes. Always about herself. There is further speculation (I’d mentioned the ‘overseas’ theory upthread) that it’s author Michael Wolff who may be the source of what Melania fears will be revealed. Wolff is tangled up in legal action against the Trumps and apparently revelations are expected. The Democrats posted this officially–it’s a Daily Beast article that offers a lot of details: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/[https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU08/20250227/117951/HHRG-119-JU08-20250227-SD006-U6.pdf](https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU08/20250227/117951/HHRG-119-JU08-20250227-SD006-U6.pdf) > [@needscoffee](#): > > Per the comments, “A woman was brutally beaten. It is graphic. Trump claims it was a Haitian immigrant and blames Biden” TOTAL COINCIDENCE that his wife does something that infuriates him, and he posts a depiction of a wife being brutally murdered. God, he’s transparent. > [@Gyrate](#): > > …and she decided to take the “Reynolds Pamphlet” approach? I would be willing to bet a huge sum, if I had one, that Melania wouldn’t understand that reference. But if she had been trying to emulate Hamilton, she failed. He at least succeeded in refuting the ‘corruption in office’ charges. She, on the other hand, convinced exactly no one that she had no association with Epstein and Maxwell. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4394 "2026-04-10T22:42:57Z")
Wherever and whoever they are, I’d like to formally put these guys on notice: > **[Saddam Hussein statue destruction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein_statue_destruction)** > > On April 9, 2003, during the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a large statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square was destroyed by Iraqi civilians and United States Marines. The event received global media coverage, wherein it came to symbolize the end of Saddam's rule in Iraq. > U.S. government officials and journalists, citing footage of jubilant Iraqis jumping on and sledgehammering the statue, claimed the event symbolized a victory for the United States. However, the development of an Iraqi insu... [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/SaddamStatue.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/SaddamStatue.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4395 "2026-04-10T23:04:36Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > From what we know so far, I find no fault with the effectiveness of the US military. Let’s just count through a few of those then. The US objectives for this excursion are, at best murky, but there kittle evidence of progress towards any of whichever is the current “_objectif du jour_”. Even keeping a lid on the Epstein files seems problematic. Sure there’s blowing up a navy (described in 2012 as Iran navy maintains “robust” capabilities by regional standards"); Qatar, Bahrain, UAE & Kuwait being well known for the capability of their aircraft carrier groups. But causing regime change from the safety of 30,000 feet? Nope. Winning the hearts & minds of the general Iranian populace? Nope. Getting all those High Capital value assets into the Gulf? Maybe the US could pony up the USD2mil for safe passage through Hormuz? There is launching upward of half a billion dollars a day from the US military arsenal at high grade military targets, if of course you don’t count hitting a girls school twice, amongst other war crimes. There’s patrolling Iranian airspace with 100% air superiority, but still losing airframes. Again discounting losses to friendly fire. There’s protecting US bases and infrastructure of American Gulf allies. Not so much. They weren’t aware that the narrow width of the Gulf and the topography meant very short, low level trajectories of cheap drones that are exceptionally difficult to intercept and unlike SCUD missile launched 100s of miles at targets over a mountain range and with flight time measured in 10s of minutes rather than seconds. The war in Ukraine hadn’t alerted them that Russian sourced drones would be highly potent in this theatre and shooting them down with Patriot batteries would not be sufficiently effective, and enormously expensive. There’s a valiant rescue mission of a downed pilot of course, but the logistics of that venture don’t pass the sniff test. If that was what actually happened then surely the pilot would be publicly known, lauded, even paraded figure like say Scott O’Grady. The positive news cycle on this extraction lasted what, a couple of days, max? If 45/47 knew his name do you reckon there’s any chance he wouldn’t have blurted it out to claim some of the attention? This was a military incursion for some design that went pear-shaped. This ill-considered and ill-conceived excursion has the hallmarks of some schoolyard thug doing a mugging for lunch money and coming away with a blood nose because the kid resisted. And as a consequence the school canteen to be closed and everybody else misses out on their lunch. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4396 "2026-04-10T23:07:14Z")
The winged creatures atop the above representation of the Epstein Arch scream “nazi stuff” to me. Or even “White City”, which I guess can also fit. Shame that it will never actually be built. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4397 "2026-04-10T23:44:40Z")
IMHO, _most_ of what you list is much more a failure of strategy and policy (ie, the Trump administration) – along with the narrative being sold to the US and the world – than it is the effectiveness of the military. I’d also argue that much of what you said _supports_ that basic premise. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4398 "2026-04-11T00:04:09Z")
If that ain’t showing off one of the best pairs of rose tinted glasses known to humanity. So your contention is that the bombing of a school is “a failure of strategy and policy”? Or has the frequency of active shooter incidents in US schools meant that to you such crimes against humanity are merely the cost of doing business in the 'merkin lifestyle? Not even worthy of “thoughts & payers”. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4399 "2026-04-11T00:04:56Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > So your contention is that the bombing of a school is “a failure of strategy and policy”? That incident is the primary reason why I used the word, “most.” That was a colossal military failure. ETA: > [@penultima\_thule](#): > > If that ain’t showing off one of the best pairs of rose tinted glasses known to humanity. Nah. I hated everything about this military action and hate everything about the Trump administration. No rose-colored glasses here. But if you tell your troops to fight uphill and take the hill, _and they do,_ then the casualties are the responsibility of those issuing the orders, _and_ if taking the hill doesn’t actually contribute to what should be clear and articulable objectives (policy/strategy), then that, too, is the responsibility of the civilian government in charge. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/4400 "2026-04-11T00:51:44Z")
I’m beginning to think that Ambassador to the Shield of the Americas may not have been the high-profile posting it was made out to be. > **[Kristi Noem’s New Job Is Going About as Well as You’d Expect](https://newrepublic.com/post/208949/kristi-noem-not-showing-up-new-job)** > > Noem is barely showing up for the job that Donald Trump invented when he fired her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=219) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=221)