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WASHINGTON — For those who may have crossed President Donald Trump, the message is sinking in: Payback is coming, and coming fast.
John Bolton, a former White House national security adviser who wrote a damning book about Trump’s first term, lost the Secret Service detail assigned to protect him from assassination threats from Iran.
Also losing his detail was Anthony Fauci, the public health scientist whom Trump called a “disaster” over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and who has been a target of far-right anger ever since. (Fauci has hired his own private security team in response.)
A portrait of Mark Milley, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who broke with Trump over a photo-op at a church during the George Floyd racial justice protests, was abruptly removed from the walls of the Pentagon. Defense officials said they have no idea who ordered it taken down or why.
And Trump yanked the security clearances of dozens of former national security officials who’d signed a letter during the 2020 campaign opining that emails from a laptop belonging to Joe Biden’s son Hunter had the “classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
All that happened within days of Trump’s inauguration — and in some cases, hours.
A question that loomed over Trump’s 2024 campaign was whether he’d use presidential powers for retribution against his perceived political foes. For some, the answer has arrived.
“There are plenty of early warning signs that confirm the worst fears of people who were concerned about a second Trump administration and what it would mean for the rule of law,” David Laufman, a former senior Justice Department official under Republican and Democratic administrations, said in an interview. “The real question remains what checks and balances will there be to prevent the creeping establishment of an authoritarian state in the United States.”
The White House did not respond to a question about whether Trump personally ordered these actions to be taken, or whether the motive was reprisal. Talking to reporters in recent days, Trump defended canceling Secret Service details for Fauci, Bolton and others.
“I thought he was a very dumb person,” Trump said of Bolton, adding that the government can’t pay for people’s Secret Service protection in perpetuity. (Ex-presidents receive lifetime security details.)
“When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off,” he told reporters. “And you know, you can’t have them forever.”
A White House spokesman, meanwhile, said the former national security officials deserved to lose their security clearances.
“By abusing their previous positions in government, these individuals helped sell a public relations fraud to the American people,” said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. “They greatly damaged the credibility of the Intelligence Community by using their privileges to interfere in a presidential election. President Trump’s action is restoring the credibility of our nation’s institutions.”
Trump’s comments on whether he’d engage in retaliatory acts can give an observer whiplash. In an interview last month with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, Trump was asked if he would look to punish his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
“I’m not looking to go back into the past,” he said. “I’m looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-swiftly-enacts-retribution-120000056.html
John Bolton, a former White House national security adviser who wrote a damning book about Trump’s first term, lost the Secret Service detail assigned to protect him from assassination threats from Iran.
Also losing his detail was Anthony Fauci, the public health scientist whom Trump called a “disaster” over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and who has been a target of far-right anger ever since. (Fauci has hired his own private security team in response.)
A portrait of Mark Milley, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who broke with Trump over a photo-op at a church during the George Floyd racial justice protests, was abruptly removed from the walls of the Pentagon. Defense officials said they have no idea who ordered it taken down or why.
And Trump yanked the security clearances of dozens of former national security officials who’d signed a letter during the 2020 campaign opining that emails from a laptop belonging to Joe Biden’s son Hunter had the “classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
All that happened within days of Trump’s inauguration — and in some cases, hours.
A question that loomed over Trump’s 2024 campaign was whether he’d use presidential powers for retribution against his perceived political foes. For some, the answer has arrived.
“There are plenty of early warning signs that confirm the worst fears of people who were concerned about a second Trump administration and what it would mean for the rule of law,” David Laufman, a former senior Justice Department official under Republican and Democratic administrations, said in an interview. “The real question remains what checks and balances will there be to prevent the creeping establishment of an authoritarian state in the United States.”
The White House did not respond to a question about whether Trump personally ordered these actions to be taken, or whether the motive was reprisal. Talking to reporters in recent days, Trump defended canceling Secret Service details for Fauci, Bolton and others.
“I thought he was a very dumb person,” Trump said of Bolton, adding that the government can’t pay for people’s Secret Service protection in perpetuity. (Ex-presidents receive lifetime security details.)
“When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off,” he told reporters. “And you know, you can’t have them forever.”
A White House spokesman, meanwhile, said the former national security officials deserved to lose their security clearances.
“By abusing their previous positions in government, these individuals helped sell a public relations fraud to the American people,” said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. “They greatly damaged the credibility of the Intelligence Community by using their privileges to interfere in a presidential election. President Trump’s action is restoring the credibility of our nation’s institutions.”
Trump’s comments on whether he’d engage in retaliatory acts can give an observer whiplash. In an interview last month with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, Trump was asked if he would look to punish his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
“I’m not looking to go back into the past,” he said. “I’m looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-swiftly-enacts-retribution-120000056.html