# 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:** 75
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1481 "2026-01-13T13:44:55Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > So the foreign policy of the world’s most powerful (at least militarily) country is based on the psychological needs of an old, senile, intellectually incurious even at the best of times, anti-intellectual man. It’s much, much worse than that. As stunningly awful as the trump 1.0 years were, his craziest ideas and worst impulses were mostly contained because at least some in his administration were sensible enough to either talk him out of things or ‘slow walk’ them until he forgot, and moved on to his next weird obsession. And even the first two years of trump 1.0, when he had control of both branches of Congress, were largely feckless because trump had no idea how to even be an effective bad President. He was mostly talk, and spent huge blocks of ‘Executive time’ watching TV. It was more ‘Apprentice’ style reality show than actual Presidential administration. But trump 2.0 is a whole new abomination-- not only has trump figured out how to leverage his power in all the worst ways, there is nobody in his admin willing to check his worst ideas and impulses. Quite the contrary-- cosplay Nazis Noem, Miller and Hegseth seem to be in a competition to please trump by gleefully committing worse and worse crimes against humanity, both domestically and internationally. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1482 "2026-01-13T13:56:19Z")
> [@solost](#): > > But trump 2.0 is a whole new abomination-- not only has trump figured out how to leverage his power in all the worst ways, there is nobody in his admin willing to check his worst ideas and impulses. Quite the contrary-- cosplay Nazis Noem, Miller and Hegseth seem to be in a competition to please trump by gleefully committing worse and worse crimes against humanity, both domestically and internationally. That’s the one thing Trump learned the first time around. As bad as it was, he really did try to create a “proper” cabinet, even if the people he chose ended up “the best of a bad lot”. But even those people tried to take their jobs somewhat seriously, and so tempered Trump’s worst impulses. He absolutely hated that, and so, this time, his one real criteria was, “Will they follow orders?” Qualifications, competence, experience, common human decency? Not even on the map. Loyalty to Trump not just _above_ all, but all. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1483 "2026-01-13T14:16:08Z")
The big question is what changed? Who was he listening to the first time that thought about actual governing? Who is he listening to now that is a sociopath? Could we actually be missing Bannon?(I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth!) ---
**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 13, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1484 "2026-01-13T14:24:53Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > Who is he listening to now that is a sociopath? Miller, Musk and the Heritage Foundation, mainly. > [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > Could we actually be missing Bannon? Bannon, yes. And Ivanka and her husband. Remember Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo and Mnuchin’ Steven? ---
**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 13, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1485 "2026-01-13T14:29:33Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > but the key thing about that was they operated competently and mostly ethically. No. Not at all competently. But very trump-like. WOMAN: Hey, Kalo. Hey, when’s the boss going to do something about the crummy street lights around here, eh? A girl ain’t safe. WOMAN 2: And how about the laundry pickup? We ain’t had a truck by in three weeks. KALO: Write him a letter. WOMAN 2: I did. He sent it back with postage due. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1486 "2026-01-13T14:30:29Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Bannon, yes. And Ivanka and her husband. Remember Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo and Mnuchin’ Steven? Yep. As chaotic as his first transition was, you can see that a whole lot of “Establishment” Republicans were involved, even if a few of the MAGA loyalists were in among them. Those were “The adults in the room” we heard so much about. They no longer have any real presence in Trump’s orbit. > **[First presidential transition of Donald Trump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_presidential_transition_of_Donald_Trump)** > > Timeline > Executive actions > Trips ---
**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 13, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1487 "2026-01-13T14:34:36Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@wguy123](#): > > > > > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > > > > Or drunk people at parties. > > > > A) They claim he doesn’t drink > > That’s actually a pretty well supported claim. Trump is a long-term teetotaler. **wguy123** said he’d never seen anyone laugh like that, and he should spend more time in dementia wards. I have seen drunk guys at parties who laughed like that. I was not implying that Trump is drunk; only that you can see that sort of thing in places other than dementia patients. Everyone knows Trump eschews alcohol. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1488 "2026-01-13T14:35:40Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > > > Who is he listening to now that is a sociopath? > > Miller, Musk and the Heritage Foundation, mainly. > > > [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > > > Could we actually be missing Bannon? > > Bannon, yes. And Ivanka and her husband. Remember Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo and Mnuchin’ Steven? But Miller was definitely part of v1.0, and Herritage picked his Supreme Court nominations. And Musk was a hanger-on and a distraction. We know he had no respect for Pence. Could Ivanka and Pompeo have had that much influence? ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1489 "2026-01-13T14:44:49Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > We know he had no respect for Pence. I think that came much later, and was largely because Pence was an establishment Republican who didn’t just do whatever Trump told him to do. By the time Trump figured this out, he’d lost control of Congress, and then COVID kicked him in the balls. This time around, he knew not to make that “mistake” again, and spent four years cultivating his suicide squad of bootlickers and incompetents. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1490 "2026-01-13T15:19:17Z")
Orange Hitler is threatening some sort of retribution on Minnesota. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G-jJsNEXcAAq8d6.jpg) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G-jJsNEXcAAq8d6.jpg) Stephen “Gerbil Goebbels” Miller is saying something’s gonna happen “fully and absolutely” on the 20th. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G-Y1eQaWUAAlsZZ.jpg) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G-Y1eQaWUAAlsZZ.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1491 "2026-01-13T15:21:51Z")
I didn’t have one either, though I’d thought of creating one a few times. I have one now, and it was well worth the effort to watch that video. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1492 "2026-01-13T15:37:08Z")
Donny? You left out the most terrifying type, DoorDash drivers. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1493 "2026-01-13T16:03:28Z")
Trump and his administration is like a swirling storm of bb’s in your kitchen while you’re just trying to cook. And then you have to clean it all up. And pick bb’s out of your food. This mess though will take decades to clean up. IF we even can. No one will ever trust us again. ---
**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 13, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1494 "2026-01-13T16:04:25Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Orange Hitler is threatening some sort of retribution on Minnesota. Shucks, if his ICE militia would just leave MN, that would get rid of 50% of the criminals he describes in the first sentence. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1495 "2026-01-13T16:07:56Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > The big question is what changed? Who was he listening to the first time that thought about actual governing? It wasn’t that he listened to anybody who was giving him good advice about actual governing, so much as there were key figures who had the temerity to block, or at least quietly ‘slow walk’ his worst ideas and impulses, until he forgot about them and moved on to some other shiny distraction. Early on there was Rex Tillerson as SoS and Reince Priebus as CoS who were somewhat pragmatic establishment Repubs who filled the ‘adult in the room’ role to an extent, but did not last long before they were tossed aside. Priebus’ successor, 4-Star General Jim Kelly, also acted as a voice of reason in the admin. Even Repubs in the admin who by any normal estimate were repugnant in their viewpoints still found some of trump’s excesses to be a bridge too far, even for them, and pushed back, to be thrown under the bus with the rest of the ‘trump traitors’. Like AG Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from the Russia investigation. Or National Security Advisor John Bolton, who clashed with trump and paid the price. Even Pence, who was a lickspittle toady for 99.9% of his tenure, found a backbone toward the end of trump 1.0, and refused to try to decertify the election. Eventually trump ‘learned’ and now only hires people who are as evil, stupid and batshit crazy as himself (Miller, Noem, Hegseth) or are fully invested in prostrating and debasing themselves to his ‘cause’ (Vance, many others). ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1496 "2026-01-13T17:37:36Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > > > Orange Hitler is threatening some sort of retribution on Minnesota. > > Shucks, if his ICE militia would just leave MN, that would get rid of 50% of the criminals he describes in the first sentence. That was my initial reaction. They’re only (or at least in large part) living in such a community because the Orange Peril inflicted ICE on them. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1497 "2026-01-13T17:44:38Z")
Just noting that this X from Stephen Miller is a year old, and is clearly about inauguration day. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1498 "2026-01-13T17:45:37Z")
Good catch. That makes me feel better. I was worried he was planning to nuke Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1499 "2026-01-13T18:12:56Z")
Ah yeah, my bad. Good catch indeed. ---
**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 13, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/1500 "2026-01-13T19:13:11Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document, that you can have a base.” Slaves? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=74) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=76)