# 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:** 283
**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:** [May 24, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5641 "2026-05-24T20:36:36Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > TLDR: We are copying Obama’s deal. Except that we’re paying Iran a lot more, and also they basically get to keep working on their nukes if they’ll just say they aren’t. Some online are speculating that when Donald & Co. ‘broke the news’ of this “deal,” which is now falling apart fast, they forgot that it would **get an extra day to fall apart** -----thus wrecking any stock-market manipulations they had hoped to accomplish. _Donald forget the American stock market is closed Monday for Memorial Day._😲 (Oh well—there’s always next weekend! Deal announced; deal falls through at JUST the right moment…) ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5642 "2026-05-24T20:40:40Z")
Regarding the press, another factor is “access.” It’s not unique to the Orange Peril or Kegsbreath, but they’ve been especially prone to cutting off organizations that wander too far into the forbidden territory of accuracy. And without access, they’re harder pressed to generate the clicks which have become their lifeblood. Doesn’t by any means excuse their lickspittle sanewashing, but it does help explain it. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5643 "2026-05-24T20:56:26Z")
What country am I talking about for $1.776 billion? [![](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/nnjvnuqeafr00qhx32uv) ](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/nnjvnuqeafr00qhx32uv) ---
**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:** [May 24, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5644 "2026-05-24T21:09:58Z")
[![](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/bsd3nkzma4n5ilpflfg9) ](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/v200/bsd3nkzma4n5ilpflfg9) ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5645 "2026-05-25T00:12:03Z")
…and we’re back to threats and slop-posting. [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:756gaaeewovgn4axja34ajne/bafkreic3apscywqsevdtpfq4y5s4nuf7yvuk5xon5z5zy4tdlvpay6vgxm) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:756gaaeewovgn4axja34ajne/bafkreic3apscywqsevdtpfq4y5s4nuf7yvuk5xon5z5zy4tdlvpay6vgxm) [![](https://truth-archive.us-iad-1.linodeobjects.com/attachments/16421/83e2ac3c187ee47c.jpg) ](https://truth-archive.us-iad-1.linodeobjects.com/attachments/16421/83e2ac3c187ee47c.jpg) ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5646 "2026-05-25T00:44:11Z")
I give up. What is this one supposed to be showing and what is it? ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5647 "2026-05-25T00:45:12Z")
AI slop is what is, but I suppose it’s _supposed_ to be the Reflecting Pool. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5648 "2026-05-25T00:46:29Z")
Maybe to someone who has _never_ seen it. Based on the buildings in the background, I assumed it was supposed to be somewhere in Iran. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5649 "2026-05-25T00:46:41Z")
@Smapti That was my first guess, but having actually resided in that area, I am familiar with the Reflecting Pool. That isn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5650 "2026-05-25T00:50:04Z")
I’ve been to the Reflecting Pool. There are no buildings like that anywhere near it. Just more Trumpian AI bullshit. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5651 "2026-05-25T00:54:10Z")
For anybody wanting to do a deeper dive [NB: be careful. The pool’s depth is no greater than 30"] … > **[How the cost of Trump's reflecting pool renovation compares to Obama's](https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/05/17/trump-obama-reflecting-pool-cost/)** > > Conservative social media accounts claimed the news had unfairly criticized Trump's repairs while staying quiet on Obama's. Also … if the thing was _truly_ that much of a Godawful mess under Biden … which asshole of a President would have left it to him in that condition?? Sounds like Obama at least gave it the old college try … [Note to self: Kevin Sorbo should no longer be considered a credible and objective news source. Thank you for your attention to this matter!] ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5652 "2026-05-25T01:38:58Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I am familiar with the Reflecting Pool. That isn’t it. I know that and you know that. Does Trump? ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5653 "2026-05-25T01:52:16Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The one upside is that they are turning some of the old courses into parks themselves. (The bad side of that is that golf course looking parks are my least favorite type of park scenery, only beating out parks that are only used for sports. I guess golf course style parks would be ideal for a family picnic on the grass in front of a pond.) They should (but won’t, of course) let the abandoned golf courses revert to nature. There’s a small, very small former golf course near where I live that’s been tied up in family litigation for I think decades now and it’s been fascinating to watch how, left alone, it’s been rewilding itself. There’s a local conservation group that would be perfect for taking it over, turning the ancient tiny club house into a visitor center, and teaching the public about reversion to (something approximating) its former natural state. I actually called them to suggest it and was told they’ve been watching the site but haven’t been able to acquire it yet. Golf courses and lawns are unnatural abominations, ecological deserts, water wasters… /rant We now return you to the latest clusterfuckery. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5654 "2026-05-25T01:58:22Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > …it’s been fascinating to watch how, left alone, it’s been rewilding itself… I love it when that happens! 🙂 > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > We now return you to the latest clusterfuckery. So little time, so much fuckery. Carry on. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5655 "2026-05-25T02:39:50Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > lawns are unnatural abominations point of order: [Tallgrass prairie - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallgrass_prairie) is a natural ecosystem. True, it wasn’t kept green year-round nor mowed, but large expanses of grass are definitely natural. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5656 "2026-05-25T02:45:00Z")
Well, of course grasslands are natural. Much of the middle of the USA was essentially grasslands till the sodbusters and cattle ranchers fucked it up. The Scythians and Mongols, for example, ruled vast tracts of grasslands as horse lords. Lawns, however, are not at all the same as prairies. They’re not an ecosystem, they’re a useless monoculture. ETA: The local golf course that’s rewilding is a perfect example of that sterile monoculture reverting to an expansive ecosystem supporting a wide range of flora and fauna. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5657 "2026-05-25T03:10:55Z")
[All hail ~~Caesar~~ the grifter-in-chief!](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/white-house-mandates-app-built-164152267.html) > [@](#): > > The White House is requiring all government-issued phones to have an app installed featuring a constant drip of praise for the president and prewritten messages of adoration. > > After launching the White House app publicly in March, the Trump administration has now moved to ensure the app is on every government phone, according to a [report in Government Executive](https://www.govexec.com/management/2026/05/white-house-ordering-agencies-place-its-new-app-all-employees-government-phones/413738/). > > The move has raised concerns that the app could be a back door to the government, allowing hackers access behind the government firewall. > > “Any app that is installed on government issued devices can potentially create backdoor access to government networks behind the firewall,” a former government IT expert, Sonny Hashmi, told Government Executive. > > In April, NOTUS reported that cyber security experts were concerned about vulnerabilities in the app. > > The app shared users’ IP addresses, time zones and other data to third-party services, the security experts found. But on top of this, the app isn’t honest about its data sharing practices, meaning users are none-the-wiser. [Someone’s going to be shipping out soon.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/navy-chief-undercuts-trump-hegseth-160000378.html) > [@](#): > > Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao’s [insistence this week](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/acting-navy-secretary-taiwan-weapons-230714757.html) that the Pentagon had paused a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan over a munitions review has undercut the Trump administration’s narrative on both Iran and Taipei. > > Cao on Thursday told Senate appropriators that while the U.S. has “plenty” of missiles and interceptors, the Trump administration is holding off on some foreign military sales to “make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury,” referring to the official name for President Trump’s war with Iran. > > Cao’s remarks — which contradict Trump’s claims that [he may hold off](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-made-no-commitment-taiwan-121607887.html) on the arms sale to Taiwan as a “negotiating chip” with China — also discounts the administration’s narrative that munitions stockpiles are no cause for worry. But the coinciding issues may prove to be a benefit for Trump as he looks to rebuild America’s stockpiles while also seeking diplomatic gains with Beijing. George Santayana said: > [@](#): > > Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The clownshow in the White House has updated it to: > [@](#): > > Those who cannot remember current events are happily repeating them. [The felon keeps saying he wants a 51st state in the union, but the flag he displays is three shy.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-white-house-ufc-event-052243292.html) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump’s vision for an all-American UFC extravaganza is drawing attention for all the wrong reasons. > > The president’s plan to host a night of cage matches on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate his [80th](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-brags-making-lots-enemies-142440105.html) and the nation’s 250th birthdays has taken an awkward turn. > > The American flag featured in the UFC mock-up for the event has a major glitch: It only has 48 stars to represent the nation’s 50 states. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5658 "2026-05-25T03:15:03Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Lawns, however, are not at all the same as prairies. They’re not an ecosystem, they’re a useless monoculture. Oh: you have a much narrower definition of “lawn” than I do. In my mind, they’re mown patches of mostly grass but also other things, but certainly not a monoculture. Not important, anyway: carry on. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5659 "2026-05-25T03:21:53Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > mown patches of mostly grass but also other things, but certainly not a monoculture. Sounds like hay fields, pastures, fallow fields, meadows; those ain’t lawns. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2026, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/5660 "2026-05-25T06:13:32Z")
Dog killer Noem and the grift. Over paying and probable kickbacks. **Watchdog Probes Kristi Noem’s Warehouse Purchases for ICE Detention Centers** WSJ identified four firms that never received federal contracts before working with Homeland Security on the warehouses. Together, their contracts are worth up to $500 million. Nearly 50 other contractors were paid $1.7 billion since President Trump took office. According to a report by CoStar, a real-estate analytics company, ICE paid between 11% and 13%, on average, above the price for comparable properties [https://archive.ph/vR3zG](https://archive.ph/vR3zG) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=282) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=284)