# 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:** 62
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1221 "2026-01-03T09:00:10Z")
Why not? He got a peace prize awarded to him just the other day, didn’t he? ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1222 "2026-01-03T09:20:06Z")
“Mr. Trump, here’s one-third of a trophy.” “One third? Where’s the rest of it?” “Well, we heard you wanted a piece prize …” Ba-dum-tshhh! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1223 "2026-01-03T10:30:09Z")
I bet as soon as he (temporarily) stops bombing Caracas he will claim to single handedly have ended yet another war. Eight so far, plus one that makes twelve or thirteen, right? (Sorry, run out of fingers to count. Nobody knew it was this hard) ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1224 "2026-01-03T12:21:55Z")
I am not sure this deserves its own thread or not, but Trump claims Maduro has been captured: [https://www.npr.org/2026/01/03/g-s1-104329/explosions-caracas-venezuela](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/03/g-s1-104329/explosions-caracas-venezuela) `//i\\` ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1225 "2026-01-03T12:48:13Z")
> [@icon](#): > > I am not sure this deserves its own thread or not > [@US attacks Venezuela and captures President Maduro - Jan 3, 2026{Breaking News}](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-attacks-venezuela-and-captures-president-maduro-jan-3-2026-breaking-news/1026300): > > This is the Breaking News thread. CNN updating link below [https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/venezuela-explosions-caracas-intl-hnk-01-03-26](https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/venezuela-explosions-caracas-intl-hnk-01-03-26) ---
**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 3, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1226 "2026-01-03T14:52:07Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I bet as soon as he (temporarily) stops bombing Caracas he will claim to single handedly have ended yet another war. He will certainly point out that, having captured Maduro, _no more_ fentanyl is being smuggled from Venezuela. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1227 "2026-01-03T16:27:24Z")
As I’m sure you know, most illegal drug exports from Venezuela are cocaine to Europe. Not much fentanyl to the US. (I take your post as a joke — yes, after Maduro’s ouster, there will be little fentanyl exported from Venezuela to the US. Same with moon rocks, and Macgiffins!) ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1228 "2026-01-03T16:41:48Z")
It didn’t take long for Trump to say “oil” following our attack on Venezuela. Also, the _what_ files? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1229 "2026-01-03T16:49:32Z")
I’m reading the excerpts in The NY Times, including this: > “We are going to run the country until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said, suggesting an occupation .What did he say about “files”? Not Epstein, surely… ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1230 "2026-01-03T17:00:42Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > after Maduro’s ouster, there will be little fentanyl exported from Venezuela to the US. Same with moon rocks Yeah! More moon rocks for the rest of the world! ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1231 "2026-01-03T17:07:20Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > What did he say about “files”? I don’t think he did. The point is the idea that this is all an intentional distraction away from the Epstein files. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1232 "2026-01-03T17:09:26Z")
Ah, got it. For sure. From The NY Times; > In declaring that the U.S. will be “running” Venezuela, the president has raised a host of questions: Will the United States have an occupying military force? Will it install a pliant government for some number of years? Will it run the courts, and determine who pumps the oil? All of this, of course, could enmesh the United States in the kind of “forever wars” Trump’s MAGA base has rejected. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1233 "2026-01-03T18:19:20Z")
A lot of the dumber right wingers were talking about running the oil in Iraq. And all of them about how we’d be greeted as saviors. They’re still on about the oil (yeah…how’d that work out in Iraq, eh?) but nobody’s saying anything about saviors, so I guess they’ve learned at least one thing over the last 20 years? In the mean time, thieves and child rapists still run our country. So, that’s still a thing, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1234 "2026-01-03T18:54:29Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > From The NY Times; > > > In declaring that the U.S. will be “running” Venezuela […] I think that is a typo. Where they wrote _running_ they meant _ruining_. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1235 "2026-01-03T18:59:16Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Where they wrote _running_ they meant _ruining_. The terms “looting” and “strip-mining” come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1236 "2026-01-03T19:17:47Z")
There must be 50 ways to ruin a country. trump knows them all from first hand experience. Looting and strip mining are just the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1237 "2026-01-03T19:19:12Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > There must be 50 ways to ruin a country. Let’s measure my dick, Nick… ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1238 "2026-01-03T19:57:09Z")
Drill drill and drill, Phil Dig a mine hole, Cole Steal a banana, Fofanna Take all the trees, Louise And it will be yours ---
**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:** [January 3, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1239 "2026-01-03T20:25:28Z")
_The President’s Brain Is Missing_, international war crimes edition; > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjv2l5otf25)** > > Trump: "All the way back it dated to the Monroe Doctrines. And the Monroe Doctrine is a big deal. But we've superseded it by a lot. By a real lot. They now call it the Donroe Document. I don't know. It's Monroe Doctrine. We sort of forgot about it." > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjwyfd6cf2s)** > > Trump on María Corina Machado: "I think it'd be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman but she doesn't have the respect." > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjvvubyp72o)** > > Trump's face starts drooping as his eyes keep closing > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjxfwsejk2w)** > > Trump: "I settled eight and one quarter war. You know what the one quarter was? Thailand and Cambodia. I did it again .... I'm giving myself one quarter." > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbju24dbq32h)** > > Trump: "It was an assault like people have not seen since World War 2" > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjxaeg3z42f)** > > Q: You said that Maduro is responsible for drug trafficking. You recently pardoned the former president of Honduras who was convicted of drug trafficking. How are these situations different? > > TRUMP: This was a man who was persecuted very unfairly by... > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjwsmdf6i2z)** > > Q: Why is running a country in South America 'America first'? > > TRUMP: Well I think it is because we want to surround ourselves with good neighbors > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjwohew5525)** > > Q: China, Russia, and Iran have interests in Venezuela. How does this operation affect your relationships with them? > > TRUMP: In terms of other countries that want oil, we're in the oil business. We're gonna sell it to them. We'll be selling oil. > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjwlccarq2h)** > > Q: The US has something of a mixed record of ousting dictators without necessarily a plan for what comes after--- > > TRUMP: Not with me. That's when we had different presidents. With me, we've had a perfect track record of winning. > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjup2nwvf2c)** > > Trump brain flits to Washington DC: "We haven't had a killing. We had the terrorist attack a few weeks ago. Uhhh. A little bit of a different kind of a threat. But we haven't had a killing in a long period of time. Six, seven months." (This is a... > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjurrd7b72w)** > > Trump: "We saved Los Angeles early on, where the head of the police department made a statement that if the federal govt didn't come in, we would've lost Los Angeles. That's after the fires. That's when they had the riots. We did a great job. Got no... > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjudpkzn52h)** > > Trump: "We're there now, but we're going to stay until such time as the pop -- proper transition can take place. So we're gonna stay until such time as -- we're gonna run it essentially." > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjmlz642r2l)** > > Trump to Fox & Friends on the raid that captured Maduro: "I mean, I watched it literally l like I was watching a television show. If you would've seen the speed, the violence -- it was an amazing thing." > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjnbnjmv325)** > > Trump: "I think we had nobody killed, I have to say, because a couple guys were hit ... it's a war" > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbjn5pchzj2s)** > > FOX & FRIENDS: What did you decide to do this this morning? > > TRUMP: Are you talking about calling you people or this shot? Because I'm not sure which is worse if you want to know the truth. I'm calling you because Charlie Hurt has been a great... ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1240 "2026-01-03T22:43:40Z")
[Don’t talk too much. Donnie might fall asleep.](https://www.rawstory.com/trump-sleeping-2674841196/) > White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has joined others in addressing the situation. “Wiles and others have urged cabinet members to shorten their presentations, according to administration officials,” the report notes, representing an attempt to minimize extended periods requiring Trump’s sustained attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=61) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=63)