Administration Errors
Timeline
| 2017.01.23 | Trump has yet to nominate people for three-quarters of the top 100 jobs in his administration. nytimes.com |
| 2017.01.27 | Trump is using a dangerously insecure, out-of-date Android device as his phone. lawfareblog.com (See also Technology) Anyone around the President should presume they are being actively recorded by hostile powers, unless they are absolutely positive the phone is out of the room. |
| 2017.01.28 | Trump lashes out in phone call with Australian prime minister, threatening diplomatic rift, and later blames Obama administration. nytimes.com (See also Australia, First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.01 | Former Norwegian prime minister is detained at Dulles Airport for because he traveled to Iran for a human rights conference in 2014. washingtonpost.com (See also Immigration, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2017.02.02 | U.S. military officials say Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations, leading to civilian and U.S. deaths. mobile.reuters.com (See also Yemen, First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.03 | The Pentagon said this video shows a raid in Yemen was successful. It's a decade old. buzzfeed.com (See also Yemen, Assaults on Facts) The video was initially heralded as proof that the raid in Yemen, in which a US military operator was killed along with several civilians, was a success. |
| 2017.02.05 | Improvisation proves costly for stumbling Trump administration; leaks show Trump unaware of everything in his executive orders. nytimes.com (See also Presidential Activity) |
| 2017.02.06 | Trump's team is holding meetings in the dark because they can't figure out how to work the light switches in The White House. independent.co.uk (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.07 | Trump's memo on "underreported" attacks misspelled the words "attack" or "attackers" 27 times. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.08 | Yemen, angry with civilian casualties after raid, suspends permission for U.S. to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups there—a huge setback for Trump. nytimes.com (See also Yemen) |
| 2017.02.16 | Robert Harward, Trump’s pick to replace Flynn, turns down the job. nytimes.com (See also National Security, #Analysis) |
| 2017.03.17 | The White House links a satire news piece in their daily briefing as evidence that Trump's budget plan makes sense. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.06.07 | Trump will nominate Christopher Wray as the next director of the FBI, which came as a surprise to powerful senators, including the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and the committee’s ranking Democrat, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had not been given advance notification from the White House, even though their committee will handle his confirmation hearing. politico.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior) |
| 2017.06.17 | Republicans won't work for the Trump administration. washingtonpost.com (See also Trump Cabinet, Federal Departments) Trump has 43 confirmed appointees to senior posts, compared with the 151 top political appointees confirmed by mid-June in President Barack Obama’s first term and the 130 under President George W. Bush, according to data tracked by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition. |
| 2017.06.22 | Trump called for a new law barring immigrants from receiving welfare for at least five years, but didn't realize that the law has already existed for more than 20 years. usatoday.com (See also Immigration) |
| 2017.06.27 | A Time magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in his golf clubs. It’s fake news. washingtonpost.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.06.27 | The White House issued a statement Monday evening threatening to exact "a heavy price" in response to a potential chemical attack by the Syrian government, but senior national security officials were caught off guard and had no idea a statement was coming that threatened military action - a major step. nbcnews.com (See also Syria, Department of State, Rex Tillerson, Nikki Haley) |
| 2017.07.09 | Trump floated, then seemingly disavowed, a deal for greater cybersecurity with Russia - an idea that drew dismay and mockery from lawmakers of both parties, and which analysts warned could make the US less secure. politico.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Rex Tillerson) |
| 2017.07.10 | The US military has received no guidance on how to enforce the ceasefire now in place in southwest Syria, even as the Trump administration hails it as a success. buzzfeed.com (See also Foreign Policy, Syria, Department of Defense, H.R. McMaster) “You’d think we would be a part of it,” one US military official explained. |
| 2017.07.13 | In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the Justice Department released Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s SF-86 security-clearance that shows he denied having any contact with foreign governments or their representatives. theatlantic.com (See also Jeff Sessions, Russia, Michael Flynn) He did. |
| 2017.07.14 | Today, the C.B.O. reported that the same White House budget that the administration claimed would result in a $16 billion surplus by 2027 would actually result in a $720 billion deficit. vanityfair.com |
| 2017.07.18 | Trump met with Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a second time at the G20 summit, where they had a private one-on-one discussion over dinner that lasted as long as an hour and relied solely on a Kremlin-provided interpreter. nytimes.com (See also Russia, Trump Relationship with Russia, Foreign Policy) |
| 2017.07.27 | The White House has changed the transcript of Anthony Scaramucci's first press conference to say that Trump sinks "30-foot putts" instead of the "three foot putts" that he claimed at the time. dailydot.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media, Unpresidential Behavior) |
| 2017.09.10 | Donald Trump’s social media director, Dan Scavino, spent the day sharing with the world videos of Hurricane Irma’s fury in Florida - even fraudulent ones that had to be corrected by the Miami International Airport. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.10.03 | Despite Donald Trump saying that Puerto Rico's debt would be "wiped out," his budget chief, Mick Mulvaney said that we should not take the president's words literally. bloomberg.com (See also False Statements, Mick Mulvaney, Office of Management and Budget) |
| 2017.10.05 | White House officials believe that chief of staff John Kelly’s personal cellphone was compromised, potentially as long ago as December, raising concerns that hackers or foreign governments may have had access to data on Kelly’s phone while he was secretary of Homeland Security and after he joined the West Wing. politico.com (See also John Kelly, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2017.10.20 | Chief of Staff John Kelly incorrectly told reporters from the White House podium that Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson claimed she "got the money" for a new FBI building at its dedication in 2015, as video of Wilson's speech at the event shows that she took credit for securing quick approval for naming the building after deceased FBI agents but never mentioned funding. axios.com (See also John Kelly, False Statements, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2017.10.20 | In the hours after Donald Trump said on an Oct. 17 radio broadcast that he had contacted nearly every family that had lost a military service member this year, the White House was hustling to even learn from the Pentagon the identities and contact information for those families, as they did not have an updated list of those who had been killed. rollcall.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.10.20 | The White House’s aggressive effort to discredit a congresswoman from Florida who criticized Donald Trump over a military condolence call ran into a new set of problems Friday when a video emerged showing that the chief of staff had made false claims about her. washingtonpost.com (See also John Kelly, False Statements) |
| 2017.10.25 | House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R) suggested that his upcoming tax bill could force changes to 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts, a move that would buck a promise from Dondald Trump that those accounts would be left alone. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements) Trump promised not to touch tax benefits for 401(k)s and other retirement accounts. |
| 2017.11.02 | Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested Thursday that expanding the use of fossil fuels could help prevent sexual assault. thehill.com (See also Rick Perry, Department of Energy) |
| 2017.11.1 | Donald Trump and some of his allies on the far right have incorrectly found a new culprit in Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attack in Manhattan: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, as the New York Democrat was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who sought to end the program back in 2013. washingtonpost.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Immigration, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2018.01.19 | A year into Donald Trump’s presidency, records show five of his top staffers still have not secured final approval of their financial reports — disclosures that are required by law to ensure Americans that these senior officials aren’t personally benefiting from their White House jobs. mcclatchydc.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner) |
| 2018.01.30 | A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed that the unclassified annex of a newly released Treasury Department report of Russian oligarchs was derived from Forbes’ ranking of the “200 richest businessmen in Russia 2017.” buzzfeed.com (See also Russia, Department of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin) |
| 2018.02.04 | The Trump administration plans to withdraw its nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White, a climate change skeptic, to lead the Council on Environmental Quality, who has said that carbon dioxide should be considered the “gas of life” rather than a pollutant. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Climate Change, Environment) Carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming. |
| 2018.02.06 | After Hurricane Maria, FEMA awarded an Atlanta entrepreneur with no experience in large scale disaster relief $156 million to deliver 30 million means to Puerto Ricans, but only 50,000 were delivered and the contract was terminated. nytimes.com (See also Corruption, Unprecedented Actions) Tiffany Brown is the sole owner and employee of the company, Tribute Contracting LLC, who initially won the contract from FEMA. |
| 2018.02.08 | Dozens of White House employees are awaiting permanent security clearances and have been working for months with temporary approvals to handle sensitive information while the FBI continues to probe their backgrounds, including Jared Kushner. washingtonpost.com (See also Jared Kushner, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.02.12 | More than a year into his administration, Donald Trump is presiding over a staff in turmoil, one with a 34 percent turnover rate, higher than any White House in decades, struggling to fill openings, unwilling to hire Republicans he considers disloyal and unable to entice Republicans who consider him unstable. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals) Trump's 23% turnover rate in his first year is more than three times as high as Barack Obama's in the same period, and twice as high a Ronald Reagan's which until now was the modern record holder. |
| 2018.02.13 | FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared to completely contradict White House’s response and timeline regarding allegations that former staff secretary Rob Porter beat both his ex-wives. splinternews.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.02.15 | Nearly a year into Donald Trump's administration, senior-level staffers -- including Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Rob Porter -- remained on interim clearances, along with more than 100 staffers in the Executive Office, even as other senior advisers were granted full security access. cnn.com (See also Trump Cabinet, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner) |
| 2018.02.16 | After less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people Trump originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. washingtonpost.com (See also Trump Cabinet, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Tom Price, Ryan Zinke, Steven Mnuchin, John Kelly, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson) |
| 2018.03.06 | An independent government investigative agency said that senior counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway twice violated a federal law prohibiting government employees from engaging in political activities. abcnews.go.com (See also Corruption, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.03.07 | Several White House staffers have been terminated or reassigned for issues related to their security clearances — with at least one individual employed in the Office of the First Lady relieved of duty. abcnews.go.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, John Kelly, Jared Kushner) |
| 2018.03.27 | Newly obtained FEMA records and interviews with more than 50 people involved with disaster response indicates that the Trump administration — and the president himself — responded far more aggressively to Texas than to Puerto Rico, in the wakes of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria. politico.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior) |
| 2018.03.30 | An obscure White House office responsible for recruiting and vetting thousands of political appointees has suffered from inexperience and a shortage of staff, hobbling the Trump administration’s efforts to place qualified people in key posts across government, while two office leaders have spotty records themselves: a college dropout with arrests for drunken driving and bad checks and a Marine Corps reservist with arrests for assault, disorderly conduct, fleeing an officer and underage drinking. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Government, Federal Departments) |
| 2018.04.27 | Job vacancies are fast becoming a singular threat to Donald Trump’s administration, with a record number of openings that stretch from low-level appointments to the secretary’s office at the Department of Veterans Affairs, as many senior career government workers have quit or retired since Trump took office, taking institutional knowledge with them. politico.com (See also Assaults on Government, Resignations and Dismissals) |
| 2018.06.06 | Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, with Trump asking Trudeau, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" referring to the War of 1812. edition.cnn.com (See also Trade, NAFTA, Unpresidential Behavior) |
| 2018.06.12 | Donald Trump’s pledge to North Korea to cancel military exercises on the Korean Peninsula surprised not only allies in South Korea but also the Pentagon, as American troops in Seoul said they are still moving ahead with a military exercise this fall — Ulchi Freedom Guardian — until they receive guidance otherwise from the chain of command. nytimes.com (See also North Korea, Department of Defense) |
| 2018.06.18 | The US isn't just separating children from their parents, but it also has no plan for reuniting them. buzzfeed.com (See also Immigration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2018.06.19 | Mick Mulvaney will most likely remain acting chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as Kathy Kraninger, nominated to run the 1,700-person agency quickly ran into opposition from the left and right, with many critics saying she wasn’t qualified for the job. wsj.com (See also Mick Mulvaney, Reversals) |
| 2018.07.05 | Federal authorities have acknowledged for the first time Thursday that of the nearly 3,000 children who are still in federal custody, about 100 are under the age of 5, while the Department of Homeland Security confirms that records linking children to their parents have disappeared, and in some cases have been destroyed. nytimes.com (See also Immigration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2018.07.17 | Under unrelenting pressure from congressional Republicans, his own advisers and his allies on Fox News, Donald Trump abruptly reversed course and claimed he had misspoken during a news conference with President Vladimir V. Putin about whether Russia tried to influence the 2016 presidential election, yet even while conceding this point, he undercut his own assertion that he had accepted the findings of Russian involvement. nytimes.com (See also Reversals, Russian Meddling in Election, Trump Relationship with Russia) “Could be other people also,” Mr. Trump said, appearing to ad-lib. “A lot of people out there.” |
| 2018.07.22 | The Trump administrations released the court documents in which the F.B.I. made its case for conducting the surveillance — records that plainly demonstrated that key elements of Republicans’ claims about the bureau’s actions were misleading or false. nytimes.com (See also Department of Justice, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.07.25 | The Trump administration was warned that ending US protections for more than 300,000 Central Americans would strengthen and grow MS-13 and gangs that Donald Trump has called "animals," but the administration went on to end the protections for citizens of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua regardless. cnn.com (See also Reversals, Department of State, Racism) |
| 2018.09.11 | Donald Trump called the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico "incredibly successful, despite the fact that nearly 3,000 people died. buzzfeednews.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior) "I actually think it was one of the best jobs that's ever been done with respect to what this is all about." |
| 2018.09.11 | FEMA approved just 3% of applications for funeral assistance from more than 2,000 Puerto Rican families who lost loved ones after Hurricane Maria. buzzfeednews.com (See also Department of Health and Human Services) Donald Trump called the federal response to Hurricane Maria “an incredible unsung success.” |
| 2018.09.18 | The Trump administration is unable to account for the whereabouts of a new set of nearly 1,500 migrant children who illegally entered the United States alone this year and were placed with sponsors after leaving federal shelters. nytimes.com (See also Immigration, Department of Health and Human Services) The revelation echoes an admission in April by the Department of Health and Human Services that the government had similarly lost track of an additional 1,475 migrant children it had moved out of shelters last year. |
| 2018.10.02 | The Department of Homeland Security was so unprepared for the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy that its computer systems were unable to track family members separated at the Mexican border and the agency held migrant children in detention centers far longer than the law allowed. nytimes.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Immigration) |
| 2018.10.09 | Nick Ayers, the main focus of Donald Trump’s search to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff in recent weeks, declined the offer and said that he was leaving the administration at the end of the year. nytimes.com (See also John Kelly, Resignations and Dismissals) |
| 2018.10.23 | Donald Trump lied and falsely said that Republicans are planning to implement a “very major tax cut” for middle-income earners before next month, even though Congress is out of session until after November’s midterm elections. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2018.10.26 | Three months after a court-ordered deadline for US officials to reunify families separated at the southern border, the government revealed that it had identified more separated kids not included in previous tallies. buzzfeednews.com (See also Immigration, Department of Health and Human Services) Officials now say there are 47 children still in federal custody who are potentially eligible to be reunified with a parent. |
| 2018.11.11 | The Department of Veterans Affairs is suffering from a series of information technology glitches that has caused GI Bill benefit payments covering education and housing to be delayed or never be delivered. nbcnews.com (See also Department of Veterans Affairs) |
| 2018.11.13 | The Trump administration closed a diplomatic office designed to keep track of released Guantánamo inmates and make sure they didn’t return to their insurgencies, so the U.S. government has lost track of several of them, including one who has returned to a terrorist-held part of Syria. mcclatchydc.com (See also Assaults on Government, Syria, Foreign Policy, Department of State) |
| 2018.11.27 | The Trump administration has put the safety of thousands of teens at a migrant detention camp at risk by waiving FBI fingerprint checks for their caregivers and short-staffing mental health workers, according to an Associated Press investigation and a new federal watchdog report. apnews.com (See also Department of Health and Human Services, Immigration) None of the 2,100 staffers at a tent city holding more than 2,300 teens in the remote Texas desert are going through rigorous FBI fingerprint background checks, according to a Health and Human Services inspector general memo. |
| 2018.11.28 | The Department of Veterans Affairs told congressional staffers that it would not reimburse those veterans who were paid less than they were owed, after weeks of delayed or incorrect GI Bill benefit payments, which have been blamed on computer issues. nbcnews.com (See also Department of Veterans Affairs) The news conflicts with a promise VA officials made to a House committee earlier this month that it would reimburse those veterans who received less than the full amount they were due. |