# 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:** 71
**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 10, 2026, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1401 "2026-01-10T05:02:40Z")
The Nobel Committee has spoken on the matter today. > **[A Nobel Prize cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred - Nobel Peace Prize](https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/press/press-releases/a-nobel-prize-cannot-be-revoked-shared-or-transferred)** > A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time. Machado would be allowed to give him the physical medal if she wanted, but it wouldn’t make him a Nobel laureate any more than Ted Dibiase buying the WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt from Andre the Giant made him champion. ---
**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 10, 2026, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1402 "2026-01-10T05:21:34Z")
This could be the entire reason he had Maduro kidnapped. ---
**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 10, 2026, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1403 "2026-01-10T05:23:06Z")
Nah. That would require planning. Trump hasn’t had a plan at any point in the last decade. Why start now? ---
**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 10, 2026, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1404 "2026-01-10T05:30:50Z")
Someone smarter than him could have pointed him in the direction of “a Nobel prize winning woman ripe for the bullying will take the helm”. It wouldn’t surprise 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:** [January 10, 2026, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1405 "2026-01-10T05:37:33Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I find this the most odd thing. Conservatives have been screaming about the states’ rights and now they are whole heartily pivoting to federal rights. They now love authoritarian rule. That’s how it’s _always_ worked. “States rights” has always meant that right wing controlled states could ignore the federal government, but when the right controlled the Federal government everyone was expected to submit. A historically prominent example was the [Fugitive Slave Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_Slave_Act_of_1850), which forced the federal government and free states help recapture escaped slaves for the slave states. As well as kidnapped and enslaving people who never were enslaved. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2026, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1406 "2026-01-10T06:18:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It’s not “gambling” if the system is rigged, it’s giving your money away. **Rube:** Is this a game of chance? **W.C. Fields:** Not the way I play it, no. ---
**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 10, 2026, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1407 "2026-01-10T10:08:17Z")
[Fuck me. He’s actually going to go to war against Denmark.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-says-us-something-greenland-232840265.html) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump on Friday continued to press for U.S. control of Greenland, telling reporters: “We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not.” > > “Because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” Trump said as he hosted oil executives at the White House to discuss investments in Venezuela. First off, we already have Russia as a neighbor. This is something he should know because that’s why he went to Alask to ~~report to his owner~~ meet Russia’s president. Next, ah, oil executives. I wonder how much oil reserves are in or around Greenland. [Speaking of his warmaking, why was there going to be another attack after capturing Maduro if the rationale for the war in the first place was, get this, to capture Maduro?](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/sleepless-trump-79-reveals-major-132838560.html) > [@](#): > > “The U.S.A. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure,” Trump wrote. > > “Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes,” he added. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2026, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1408 "2026-01-10T11:58:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Machado would be allowed to give him the physical medal if she wanted, but it wouldn’t make him a Nobel laureate In the minds of normal people and the rest of the world, of course It wouldn’t. I figured that she would give him the physical award, and in the delusional bubble known as trumpworld, that makes it **his.** And that’s all that counts. The thing he wants most is to have it to display. Hell, he’ll probably start wearing it. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2026, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1409 "2026-01-10T12:35:36Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > What the ever-loving fuck is this about? > > > # After Machado Offers Her Nobel, Trump Says It Would Be an ‘Honor’ to Accept It > [@Gatopescado](#): > > If this is legit, it’s sickening. Even though that original cite is from the NYTimes, I’m starting to think this is definitely NOT legit. In [Paul Krugman’s Substack today](https://substack.com/home/post/p-184028444), he interviews military historian Phillips O’Brien. They start out by saying that trump claimed the Venezuela thing was a “regime change,” but it’s no change at all and Business as Usual in the country. O’Brien says this: > Corina Machado, who was the leader of the opposition, came out with a really pathetic—not in that she was pathetic but what she said was pathetic—interview yesterday which said that she has no contact with Trump. He’s basically not contacted her since she was given the Nobel Prize. She gets the Nobel Prize, he then cuts her off: “I’m not having anything to do with you.” So someone who could be an opposition leader who actually represents regime change in Venezuela is being stonewalled by the US president out of pique. So I don’t know what the real story is… ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1410 "2026-01-10T12:52:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Machado would be allowed to give him the physical medal if she wanted, but it wouldn’t make him a Nobel laureate any more than Ted Dibiase buying the WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt from Andre the Giant made him champion. But it would mean that the Mango Magpie would have the shiny thing in his hands, and the shiny thing is everything to him. ---
**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 10, 2026, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1411 "2026-01-10T13:00:15Z")
Maybe Brady can give him a Super Bowl ring, or two. Donny can claim he won the big game. Another participation trophy for the 8 year old in chief. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1412 "2026-01-10T13:01:57Z")
I mean … [![](https://i.insider.com/56b0fb32c08a80ae2f8bd9df?width=800&format=jpeg&auto=webp) ](https://i.insider.com/56b0fb32c08a80ae2f8bd9df?width=800&format=jpeg&auto=webp) ---
**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 10, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1413 "2026-01-10T13:20:02Z")
> [@yendis](#): > > But it would mean that the Mango Magpie would have the shiny thing in his hands, and the shiny thing is everything to him. But **[this shiny thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_medal)** is real gold, not like his other golden things, that are not even properly gilded. He wants it because it is worth real money: > The **Nobel Prize medal** is a [gold medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_medal) given to recipients of the [Nobel Prizes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize) of [Chemistry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry), [Literature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature), [Peace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize), [Physics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics) and [Physiology or Medicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine) since 1901. > […] > The medals are struck in 18-karat [green gold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured_gold#Green_gold) plated with 24-karat gold and weigh about 175 grams (0.386 lb) each, with the exception of the Economic prize medal which weighs 185g. > […] > The medal for the [Nobel Peace Prize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize) was designed by the Norwegian sculptor [Gustav Vigeland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Vigeland) in 1901. Vigeland’s profile sculpture of Alfred Nobel differs from Lindberg’s. The [dies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_(manufacturing)) for Vigeland’s peace medal were made by Lindberg as Vigeland was not an engraver.[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_medal#cite_note-NobelPeace-6) The reverse of the medal features three men in a ‘fraternal bond’ and the inscription ‘_Pro pace et fraternitate gentium_’ (“For the peace and brotherhood of men”).[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_medal#cite_note-NobelPeace-6) The edge of the medal is inscribed with the year of its awarding, **with the name of its recipient** and “Prix Nobel de la Paix”. I hope Ms Machado is already making a lead copy, guilded. He will never be able to tell the difference, and his brown-noses would never dare tell him if they found out. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1414 "2026-01-10T13:28:56Z")
Give him a No-Bell Piece prize and get it over with. A tin bell with out a clapper. It will make him happy. But will also confound him for weeks. If congress won’t do their job (obviously) perhaps we can distract the traitor. ---
**Author:** ![doomtastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@doomtastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomtastic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1415 "2026-01-10T13:36:01Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > If this is legit, it’s sickening. It is, but it’d also be a genius move on her part. A giant toddler is in the midst of destroying your house → give the toddler a shiny toy to distract it. Honestly, it’s the kind of move I’d almost expect from a peace prize winner. Given the choice between avoiding war (potentially) and keeping your fancy medal, they would choose the chance to avoid war. You know he deeply covets one, and you know how transactional his politics are. You give him the medal and say nice things and suddenly you’re his buddy. At least for a little while anyway. Gives you time to stabilize and figure out your next steps. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1416 "2026-01-10T15:06:09Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > “a Nobel prize winning woman ripe for the bullying will take the helm”. Nah. She’s not his “type.” ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1417 "2026-01-10T16:41:46Z")
Apparently, there’s a cold war-era treaty that would allow the U.S. to build a considerable military presence there, so let’s hope this is what they are talking about: [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/world/europe/trump-greenland-denmark-us-defense-pact.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.DVA.WBSp.Xl15PI1nqqBz&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/world/europe/trump-greenland-denmark-us-defense-pact.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVA.WBSp.Xl15PI1nqqBz&smid=url-share) > Under a little-known Cold War agreement, the United States already enjoys sweeping military access in Greenland. Right now, the United States has one base in a very remote corner of the island. But the agreement allows it to “construct, install, maintain, and operate” military bases across Greenland, “house personnel” and “control landings, takeoffs, anchorages, moorings, movements, and operation of ships, aircraft, and waterborne craft.” > It was signed in 1951 by the United States and Denmark, which colonized Greenland more than 300 years ago and still controls some of its affairs. > “The U.S. has such a free hand in Greenland that it can pretty much do what it wants,” said Mikkel Runge Olesen, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen. > “I have a very hard time seeing that the U.S. couldn’t get pretty much everything it wanted,” he said, adding, “if it just asked nicely.” I think the ‘asking nicely’ part here would be the most difficult thing. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1418 "2026-01-10T16:45:58Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I hope Ms Machado is already making a lead copy, guilded. He will never be able to tell the difference He would when he melted it down to sell. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7Xuw-XKP1sI/maxresdefault.jpg "The Maltese Falcon - The Maltese Falcon (8/10) Movie CLIP (1941) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xuw-XKP1sI&t=73s) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1419 "2026-01-10T16:51:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Machado would be allowed to give him the physical medal if she wanted, but it wouldn’t make him a Nobel laureate any more than Ted Dibiase buying the WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt from Andre the Giant made him champion. I see it as a win-win. If Machado lets Donald hold the medal, he thinks he “won” it and shuts up about it. Everybody else just rolls their eyes and gets on with their lives. ETA: and Machado gets to be president of Venezuela. ---
**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 10, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1420 "2026-01-10T17:51:26Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > He would when he melted it down to sell. The Nobel prize to trump is the stuff dreams are made of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=70) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=72)