Donald Trump is excited by the idea that his return to the White House will give him the power to take on the “serious” players who once opposed him – and almost sent him to prison.
Just hours after he was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, his campaign of revenge was underway.
Among the targets is John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser and one of the president's critics. First Bolton's security clearance was revoked. Trump then ordered the removal of the security detail assigned to Bolton in 2019 after threats to his life in Iran.
“We're not going to have people's security details for the rest of their lives – why should we? I thought you were an idiot,” he said Trump on tuesday.
Bolton said he was “disappointed but not surprised”.
That could be just the beginning as Trump moves to crush his opponents in government, eyeing targets ranging from intelligence agencies to the military, financial and business regulators, and within law enforcement itself.
It can mark a new era for the US – and how it is managed, with the will and punishment that is distributed according to the leader, not the judgments of the officials of the works guided by the rules that have long been agreed upon in their institutions.
For Trump, it's a moment of self-defense as he ousts officials who thwarted his agenda during his first term or deepens his legal risk as criminal charges mount against him in 2023.
“Never again will the vast powers of government be used to prosecute political opponents,” he said in his inauguration speech at the Capitol on Monday.
Hours later, he signed the book executive order of the government's “weapons”, authorizing a thorough review of US intelligence and other agencies to correct “past misconduct” with “appropriate action”.
“It's an open, anti-resistance movement,” said Yuval Levin, a senior fellow at the American Business Center, referring to the order.
He said it was “too soon to tell” if Trump was sending a message to government employees to “get out of the way” of his agenda or “reorganize the government to be fully functional in the service of the president”.
The intelligence agencies are targeting Trump in particular. In one of the executive orders signed during Monday night, Trump revoked the immunity of 50 former intelligence officers, saying they were connected to the campaign of the former president Joe Biden for a defamatory report about his son who likes to criticize Hunter Biden.
The order echoes language used by Kash Patel, Trump's pick to head the FBI pending Senate confirmation.
Patel has long argued against the lifting of security measures to end the “deep state”.
A former US intelligence official said the move would have a “chilling effect” on agencies. “This is a clear sign that Trump will use the warrants for political reasons. That will make people careful to speak their minds. “
“Any indication that the release is politically motivated 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 picture of his former military adviser – and eventually became a major critic – retired General Mark Milley. On Monday, Trump also fired Linda Fagan, the commander of the coast guard, and a top official saying she was “too focused on diversity, equity and inclusion” and poor border security.
But Trump's plans go far beyond America's security apparatus. The executive order on the “tools” called for more scrutiny from 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 pick for attorney general, vowed that “investigators will be investigated” and “bad” prosecutors will be prosecuted.
“I'm concerned that this authorizes a weapon of government against adversaries,” said Ryan Goodman, a professor at New York University School of Law.
“Normally there can be nothing wrong with an investigation into government wrongdoing,” he added. But this order is “combined with candidates who will come to the government and a list of enemies. This is a shocking combination of the state of democracy in the country. ”
Trump had previously called for the prosecution 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 threatened to hire a special prosecutor to “go after” Joe Biden.
Biden himself took this threat—and others—seriously enough to issue early pardons to members of his family and targets such as Milley and members of the panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol Building, including former congressman. Liz Cheney, just before she left office.
Trump is targeting federal workers, vowing to loosen employment protections, strengthened under Biden, for tens of thousands of government workers in “policy-related” jobs – a way to easily fire government workers who don't go along with his agenda.
Meanwhile, as he was wresting security from his enemies, he issued a separate executive order to grant temporary concessions to “fit and reliable workers” of his choosing.
“Our foreign adversaries are clinging to this Trump Executive Order that grants Top Secret clearance to people without proper vetting and background checks,” Olivia Troye, a former Trump administration official turned critic of the president, wrote in X.