West Palm Beach, Florida
CNN
–
Almost three weeks after Donald Trump’s second term, the president has dramatically rethinked and continues to expand his use of executive power. and using that authority to carry out retaliation against his perceived political enemy.
The President took his first day in office and pushed his unique powers as a government lever and commander to target perceived enemies both within and outside the government. But it didn’t stop there. His recent actions, including revoking former President Joe Biden’s security clearance, announcing plans to disrupt the Kennedy Center’s board and dismissing national archivists, have expanded only those themes.
Trump’s actions over the past few days highlight the president intended to resolve scores old and new, and his implicit confidence in his administration’s ability to fight and win subsequent legal challenges I’m doing it.
Trump claimed at Fox News Town Hall in January 2024 that he “has no time for retaliation.”
Over the summer months, Trump and his top allies urged calls for retaliation and encouraged calls for retaliation after the Manhattan ju judge convicted the former president on a count of 34 felony at a hash money trial. It has become clear that this is. Trump should be jailed by Biden administration Department of Justice prosecutors who indicted him on January 6, 2021 against members of the House Selection Committee that investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol. He repeatedly suggested that this was.
Encouraged by the big November victory, the president is now using his mission to air his grievances and retaliate, setting up loyalists in key agencies such as the Department of Justice and the FBI.
These efforts began in earnest in the first week of Trump’s second semester. Career DOJ officials have been reassigned and rejected. Issued an executive order to undermine the protection of federal workers. He directed his Justice Department and the Director of the National Intelligence Bureau to open an extensive investigation into the Biden administration’s “weaponization” of law enforcement and intelligence reporting agencies.
The president also issued an order that allowed more than 1,000 people charged in the Capitol attack, and his Justice Department fired an official who worked on Trump’s federal criminal investigation.
His first fast and furious pace of week 1 action has slowed a bit, but his recent daily new batch of action only bolsters of Trump’s grievance tour.
Trump announced Friday that he is removing access to Biden’s confidential information by revoking his security clearance and stopping daily intelligence briefings. This is the move Biden has countered Trump since January 6th. In the reality of television, they say, “Joe, you’re fired.”
In an interview with the New York Post released Saturday, the president intends to target other political rivals with the same measure and limit New York State Attorney General Leticia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He said. All the rights they have. ”
Trump began many fired on Friday night, and appeared to be focusing on revenge.
He announced an offensive plan to disrupt the Kennedy Center’s council meeting, eliminating multiple members who said “we don’t share a vision for the golden age of arts and culture,” and the charity of the chairman, billionaire. He expelled his family, David Rubenstein. Biden’s alliance.
The administration then announced that at Trump’s direction it had rejected US archivist Colleen Shogan. Trump had said he wanted to replace the archivists, but that was a shocking move that targeted Yogan, who was still largely loyal to Trump.
The role of the National Archives has been scrutinized by Republicans in recent years in the wake of a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort as part of an investigation into the handling of classified documents. Showgan, who enjoys her personal relationship with First Lady Melania Trump, was not at the National Archives when FBI agents searched Trump’s home in 2022.
Trump stripped more former executives of security details, even those facing credible threats. Last week, Trump revoked security details assigned to former defense secretary Mark Esper, adding them to the growing list of officials facing retaliation from his former boss. Esper is one of several top aides who continued to remain in security after taking office due to threats from Iran to actions he took while serving in Trump’s administration. Former national security adviser John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pulled out details in the first few weeks of Trump’s appointment.
Last week, the FBI also provided the Department of Justice with the names of employees who worked in the case related to January 6, following a request from the Associate Attorney General, and a week between the department’s leaders and departments. We concluded the previous and subsequent years. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said the information was not collected to retaliate against agents, but FBI employees accumulate a list of personnel due to possible termination by the Trump administration. I was afraid that it was intended.
Much of the recent action has been accelerated and implemented by government efficiency, or Doge, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Doge moved quickly to dismantle the US international development agency. Trump issued a first-day executive order that freezes most foreign aid, and many of USAID’s programs were subject to suspension orders in the following weeks. The agency’s delegate leader announced that all direct hires would take leave just before midnight Friday, shooting 10,000 labor force at around 300 key personnel. However, a federal judge issued an order temporarily blocking more than 2,000 USAID officials from taking administrative leave. Still, the institutions that Trump said is run by “radical madmen” face a lot of uncertainty.
Similar efforts appeared to be in effect this weekend at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the CFPB. The bureau has long been a target for conservatives.
“CFPB RIP” and Musk added gravestone emojis in a social media post.
Doge also aims to cancel a $168,000 contract through the Department of Health and Human Services to build a museum honoring Dr. Anthony Forsey, a frequent target of Trump’s rage. Fukujin, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, confirmed the cancellation of the project, which was housed at the National Institutes of Health. News of cancellation was first reported by Sun.
Steve Contorno, Jerermy Herb and Evan Perez of CNN contributed to this report.
