a vendetta program appears

Donald Trump reveled in the idea that a return to the White House would give him the power to take down “deep-level” actors who have opposed him – and almost sent him to prison.

Hours after he was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, his campaign of revenge was underway.

Among the first targets was John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser and one of the president’s most vocal critics. First Bolton’s security clearance was revoked. Trump then ordered the removal of the security detail given to Bolton in 2019 after threats on his life from Iran.

“We’re not going to have security details on people for life – why should we? I thought he was a very dumb person,” he said. Trump on Tuesday.

Bolton said he was “disappointed but not surprised”.

That could be just the beginning as Trump continues to crack down on perceived government opponents, seizing targets from the intelligence agencies to the military, financial and business regulators, and within legal instruments themselves.

It could mark a new era for the US – and the way it is governed, with mercy and punishment handed out at the whim of a leader, not the judgments of bureaucrats guided by long-agreed rules. their organizations.

For Trump, it is a moment of recrimination when he removes officials who thwarted his plans during his first term or deepened his legal crisis as criminal cases indicted him in 2023.

“Never again will the enormous power of government be used to persecute political opponents,” he said in his inaugural speech at the Capitol on Monday.

Hours later, he signed the letter administrative order about the government’s “weapons”, allowing extensive reviews of US intelligence and other agencies to correct “past misconduct” with “correct action”.

“It’s an open, unopposed move,” said Yuval Levin, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Center, referring to the order.

He said it was “too early to tell” whether Trump was simply sending a message to civil servants to “move out of the way” of his ambitious plans or to “reorganize the administration so that it works fully in the service of the president”.

The intelligence agencies are very focused on Trump. In one of the executive orders signed during Monday night’s blitz, Trump revoked the security clearances of 50 former intelligence officials, saying they had ties to former president Joe Biden’s campaign. Biden to downplay the record of his son in the scandal Hunter Biden.

That order echoes language used by Kash Patel, Trump’s controversial pick to lead the FBI pending Senate confirmation.

Patel has long argued for the removal of security clearance to end the “deep state”.

A former US intelligence official said the move would have a “chilling effect” on the agencies. “This is a clear indication that Trump will use the permit for political reasons. That will make people wary of expressing their opinions.”

“Anything that suggests that the releases are being used for political gain will undermine trust in the intelligence community,” said Emily Harding, program director for intelligence, national security and technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Trump also sent a clear message to the Pentagon, where just minutes after his inauguration officials removed a portrait of his former military adviser — and eventual critic — General Mark Milley. retired. On Monday, Trump also fired Linda Fagan, the head of the coast guard, and the top official said she was “over-focused on equality, equity and inclusion” and ineffective border security.

But Trump’s plans go far beyond America’s security apparatus. The “weapons” executive order called for inspections by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, as well as other enforcement agencies such as the Justice Department.

Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, vowed that “investigators will be investigated” and “bad” accusers will be prosecuted.

Ryan Goodman, a professor at New York University School of Law said: “I am concerned that this authorizes the government to use weapons against perceived enemies.”

“Normally there may be nothing wrong with the latest investigation into possible wrongdoing in the government,” he added. But this order “has been combined with elected people who will enter the government with a list of enemies. That is a very worrying combination for the state of democracy in the country.”

Trump has previously called for the impeachment of opponents, including Nancy Pelosi, the former Democratic House Speaker, and former vice president Kamala Harris, whom he defeated in the 2024 general election. He has also threatened to vote special prosecutor to “go after” Joe Biden.

Biden himself took this threat — and others — so seriously that he issued an early pardon to members of his family and potential prime targets like Milley and members of the group that examine the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol Building, including the ex-wife. Liz Cheney, shortly before leaving office.

Trump has also targeted government workers, vowing to strip job protections, which were strengthened under Biden, for tens of thousands of public workers in “policy-related” jobs – a way to fire workers who government who oppose his plans.

Meanwhile, while withdrawing security clearance from those he deemed enemies, he issued a separate order to immediately grant temporary clearance to “qualified and loyal personnel ” those he chose.

“Our foreign policy adversaries are crying foul over this Trump Executive order that gives immediate Secret Service clearances to individuals without proper vetting and background checks,” Olivia Troye, a former The Trump administration became a mockery of the president, he wrote in X.