Story
Trump’s transition still hadn’t cleared the basic ethics hurdle
As of Nov. 23, 2024, Trump’s team still had not signed the standard ethics and background-check agreements, drawing criticism that the handoff could limit briefings and vetting.
Edition · November 23, 2024
The Daily Fuckup: November 23, 2024
A backfill edition on the day Trumpworld was already turning the transition into a slow-motion ethics and legal mess.
On November 23, 2024, the most damaging Trump-world stories were not about governing yet so much as the refusal to behave like a normal incoming administration. The transition was still missing basic ethics and access agreements, legal fights kept generating fresh evidence of the culture around Trump’s orbit, and the whole operation looked less like a presidential handoff than a branded venture trying to improvise around the rules. That’s a problem on its own, and it gets worse because the consequences were already visible: delayed background checks, delayed agency contact, and fresh scrutiny of the people and habits that tend to follow Trump wherever he goes.
Closing take
The through-line here is simple: Trumpworld kept treating guardrails as optional, and the paperwork was starting to catch up with the attitude. Even on a historically thin calendar day, the screwup was not subtle. The incoming administration wanted the powers and prestige of office without the boring part where you actually submit to the rules that keep a transition from becoming a conflict-ridden clown car. On November 23, 2024, that choice was starting to cost time, trust, and cover.
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Story
Trumpworld’s courtroom noise machine kept handing prosecutors more ammo
A New York filing on November 23 pushed for a tougher response to the harassment and threats swirling around Judge Arthur Engoron, underscoring how Trump-adjacent rage can boomerang back into legal trouble. The practical effect was to keep the civil fraud case and the surrounding intimidation campaign in the same ugly spotlight.