Vendada agenda takes shape

Donald Trump is excited to think that his return to the White House will give him the power to take down the “deep state” actors who once opposed him – and sent him to prison.

A few hours after he was sworn in as America’s 47th president, his campaign of revenge was underway.

Previous targets include John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser and one of the president’s fiercest critics. Bolton’s initial security clearance was revoked. Then Trump In 2019, he ordered the removal of Bolton’s protection list after threats to his life in Iran.

“We don’t get security details on people throughout their lives — why should we? I thought he was a very dumb guy,” Trump said Tuesday.

“He’s disappointed but not surprised,” Bolton said.

That could be just the beginning as Trump moves to crack down on opponents in government, from intelligence agencies to military, financial and trade regulators and even law enforcement himself.

It could herald a new era for America—one where favors and punishments are governed by the whims of leaders, not the judgments of bureaucrats governed by long-agreed rules of their institutions.

For Trump, it is a moment of vindication when federal criminal cases are brought against him in 2023 to remove officials who thwarted his agenda or exacerbated his legal attacks during his first term.

“Never again will the massive power of government be harnessed to persecute political opponents,” he said in his opening remarks at the Capitol on Monday.

Hours later, he signed an executive order on the government’s “tool” to correct “past misconduct” through “appropriate action” through comprehensive reviews of US intelligence and other agencies.

Yuval Levin, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said of the order: “This is an open countermeasure.”

Trump said it was “too early to tell” whether he was sending a message to his civil servants to “get out of the way” of his radical agenda or to “reorganize the bureaucracy more fully at the service of the president.” .

Intelligence agencies are paying particular attention to Trump. In another executive order signed Monday night, Trump said he coordinated the security clearance of 50 former intelligence officials with former President Joe Biden in a campaign to discredit his son Hunter Biden’s report on the scandal.

The order echoes the controversial rhetoric used by Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, which is awaiting Senate confirmation.

Patel has long argued for the removal of security clearances to eliminate the “deep state”.

A former US intelligence official said the move would have a “shocking effect” on the agencies. “This is a clear sign that Trump is using purges for political reasons. It makes people wary of speaking their minds.

Emily Harding, director of the Intelligence, National Security and Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “Any suggestion that the purges are being used for political purposes undermines trust in the intelligence community.”

Trump also sent a clear message to the Pentagon, his appointment minutes after his former top military adviser — and eventual critic — retired General Mark Miley. On Monday, Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, saying the top official had a “high focus on diversity, equity and inclusion” and mishandled border security.

But Trump’s plan goes beyond the US security establishment. The executive order on “weapons” has called for further investigation by the Security and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, along with other enforcement agencies such as the Justice Department.

Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, promised that “the investigators will be investigated” and that the “bad” prosecutors will be prosecuted.

“I’m concerned that this government is allowing its enemies to be armed,” said Ryan Goodman, a professor at New York University School of Law.

“Ordinarily, there can be no fault in retroactive government wrongdoing,” he added. But this order is overwhelmed by the thought of appointees entering government with “an enemy list.” That is a very worrying combination for the state of democracy in the country.

Trump has previously called for impeachment of opponents, including Democratic former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris, who won the 2024 general election. He also threatened to appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” Joe Biden.

Biden himself has taken this threat — and others — seriously to offer preemptive pardons to members of his own family and high-profile targets like Milley and members of the panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol building, including a former congresswoman. Just before Liz Cheney left the office.

Trump is taking aim at federal workers, vowing to make it easier to fire tens of thousands of government workers in “policy-related” jobs, which have been strengthened under Biden.

Meanwhile, while withdrawing security clearances from his enemies, he issued a separate executive order to immediately issue temporary furloughs to “qualified and loyal personnel” of his choosing.

“Our foreign adversaries are immediately granting top secret clearances to individuals without proper vetting and background checks with this Trump executive order,” wrote Olivia Troy, a former Trump administration official who has criticized the president.