Trump’s revenge agenda has shocked officials who ‘didn’t think it was going to be this bad’, insiders say
Trump’s revenge agenda has shocked officials who ‘didn’t think it was going to be this bad’, insiders say
Trump’s better-known adversaries were expecting payback, but more intense vengeance is being felt by civil servants
Summary
Donald Trump’s return to the presidency has triggered sweeping purges and retributions against officials he deems disloyal.
He revoked Secret Service protection for former national security figures, fired Department of Justice lawyers investigating him, dismissed 30 inspectors general without notice, and reassigned career officials.
Federal employees face pressure to demonstrate loyalty or face removal.
An executive order mandates reviewing agencies involved in Trump-related investigations, fueling concerns of systemic retaliation.
Insiders describe the atmosphere as “shell-shocked” and worse than expected.
Wow, and here I am thinking it wasn’t too bad on day one given he said dictator on day one.
President Musk did LARP as a certain dictator on day one so maybe that’s what he meant.
I am SHOCKED! SHOCKED I tell ya!
what’s even more shocking is that he’s doing exactly the things he said he’d do
there's a simple solution for all this.
I just watched another episode of the Tor's Cabinet of Curiosities on YT, that one about the sixth Dalai Lama who ignored divine instructions and enjoyed the life as it is. And many commenters and the host guessed if is that system was even prepared to a Dalai Lama who wants to drink, fuck and write poetry. Every one of them just assumed that a living avatar of a deity can't do that, and that's what he did. And that's funny in a bleak, grim fashion, that no one put full stop signs to what a president can do, assuming he'd have that stops himself, and as it shows no one can even say no to him when he breaches every tradition to name and many who could stop him just let it slide.
Not sure why they're surprised when he literally said he would do all of this.
well they didn't think hard enough then
People living with blinders on, and spoilers: it's gonna get worse.
I’m genuinely flabbergasted at how many people are clearly surprised by what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. He did it the first time, only he and his buddies had no idea how anything worked. This time they got a bunch of interns to do their homework for them, so they’re obviously going to have more success in their efforts this time around.
Also, anyone with even a half dozen brain cells should be able to understand he’s a vindictive shitass malignant narcissist. You are simply not allowed to be surprised by that. It’s literally a core part of what his first term entailed.
This is the petty and sad man that ran to get revenge on Obama.
This is the petty and sad man that had a vendetta with Rosie O'Donnell for how many years now?
This is the petty and sad man that is STILL upset for how SPY magazine made fun of him....
If anyone is surprised that this asshat is a vengeful asshole, I just don't even know what to say. There is evidence going back decades of just what a completely self-absorbed asshole he is, and with the very thinnest of skins.
I expected this. People just don't pay attention I guess.
Definitely a "but he said he would" series of moments.
Since 2016, I've had people telling me he won't do some of the worst stuff he talks about because congress would never let him. And then he does, and they do. I'm convinced that moving the goal post is the only way some people can cope.
1000x this. And for the most part I think most of them are no closer to seeing it than they were 4 years ago.
I'm just waiting for the false flag crisis to justify power consolidation if not full blown martial law.
Everyone should read The Shock Doctrine.
I just hope not to be wherever it is when it does, cause I fully expect it to be an attempt to outclass 9/11.
If I had to guess, it will be a mixed income, densely populated area and will involve either a school, a hospital, or like a chemical plant that devastates a city.
They'll probably use something like "Ukrainian extremists" who got mad that the US stopped sending supplies.
They can't do it yet though, people aren't angry enough. Once a bunch of programs are gone, and people can't work, they're ripe for plucking into the military. Then they do the false flag, rile up the states and start a conquest for the rest of North America.
This is a repeat of the last time "He said he was gonna"
No, in his last term he had experts and career officials saying "no" to the absolutely batshit stuff. Those people are now all gone.
Or they did pay attention, recognized the system doesn't work for them and say......why not burn it the fuck down. At some point people don't have anything to lose.
They may have thought that but I think they underestimate how much shittier things can get.
...except, it turns out, yes, they do. Things could always get far fucking worse.
Really? Because this is the bare minimum I expected. Anyone involved in investigating, prosecuting, or suing Trump for anything, anyone involved in prosecuting fake electors. And while he can't directly attack state officials, I expect him to open investigations on all of the Democrats involved in resisting him in any way.
Those are my baseline assumptions. But to be honest with you, Trump has never ever failed to be worse than I could imagine, so I expect it will likely go well beyond that, even.
It's very clear by all the books on Trumps first term that the worse of Trumps craziness was stopped by his adhoc cabinet filled neocon worms and lickspittles that juggled their own intressets and derailing the dumbest shit. Now when he only has sycophants and fascists and nothing good is coming out of it.
"When elected I vow to punch every toddler in the face"
Elected
"We're all shocked at how he's just punching toddlers in the face! I didn't think it would get this bad!"
..............
When asked directly about his toddler face-punching policy: “well, I never said I wouldn’t use brass knuckles, that was just to appeal to the moderates”
Trump 2016: "When I'm elected, I'm going to be 100% bad."
MAGAs 2016: "Nuh-uh, what he means is that he's going to be -100% bad!"
Me 2016: "Actually I think he means he's going to be 100% bad."
MAGAs 2016: "LOL TRIGGERED MUCH STUPID LIB OWNED TDS TDS TDS TDS"
Trump 2016-2020: <is 95% bad (the other 5% is ineptitude)>
MAGAs 2016-2020: "We didn't think it would be that bad!"
Me 2016-2020: "I mean, he told you he would."
MAGAs 2016-2020: "Well yeah but you said he was going to be 100% bad so you were wrong too! LOL TRIGGERED MUCH STUPID LIB OWNED TDS TDS TDS TDS"
Trump 2024: "When I'm re-elected, I'm going to be 125% bad."
MAGAs 2024: "Nuh-uh, what he means is that he's going to be -200% bad, just like he was in his first term!"
Me 2024: "...your blindness to history you actually lived through aside, actually I think he means he's going to be 150% bad."
MAGAs 2024: "That doesn't even make mathematical sense! LOL TRIGGERED MUCH STUPID LIB OWNED TDS TDS TDS TDS"
Trump 2025: <is 125% bad (the ineptitude has also somehow grown)>
MAGAs 2025: "We didn't think it would be that bad!"
Are we doomed to this stupid, stupid dance until Trump finally succumbs to his arteries?
He'll be replaced by JD Vance who will pick up the stupid, stupid dance right where Trump left off.
And Vance is 40. You're going to be eating applesauce out of a straw before you see natural causes catch up with him.
If I promise to start the apple sauce-straw thing now, can we skip all the intervening stuff?
If I were a US comedian, I would be nervous.
Pleas, Jon Stewart, GTFO while you still can
He's probably too busy downplaying things. I get that he's tired of being angry, but...
I think he's one of the few that would rather get arrested and disappear than turn his back on America. I wouldn't blame him if he did or anyone with the resources to do so.
This isn't even the tip of the threats he made during his fucking insane campaign so i don't know where these people have been
They don't care what he says. It remains to be seen if they care what he does.
Stupid people are in fact stupid
Sane people and his voter base (because they openly support it) all knew it was going to be this bad, and the dude said early as much. The lack on intelligence in US politics just continues to boggle the mind on an almost daily basis.
When the purges of the federal government are sufficiently completed, who's going to stop them? It might have to be you.
Nothing to see here, folks. He's just filling spots with yes men.
I don't understand how one man can be so evil. Then again, he's not alone in this. He's got a whole team of evil people behind him. But still, how do people become so evil?
He's just rubber stamping Project 2025 stuff. Trump is too stupid to understand most of what he's doing. That doesn't really change what's happening but it does add an extra layer of absurdity to it all.
People with heads up asses shocked that assholes smell pretty bad.
Well you see, he didn't succeed in draining the swamp last time so now he's dousing it in gasoline and setting it on fire.
He IS the swamp
The more time he commits to his tabloid pleasing rage induced revenge the less time he has to fuck up other things
I'm pretty sure all these "officials" are fucking idiots too.
L O L
Who are those officials and why do they still have jobs? They're obviously fucking incompetent.
Consider that we're hearing this third hand, so something like "holy fuck, I knew this was going to be a disaster but figured I would just hunker down and try to serve my country, but this is so completely fucked I don't even know where to begin" might have gotten boiled down to "they didn't think it was going to be this bad."
The pessimist in me only would've been surprised if people were handcuffed at their desks and sent straight to Federal prison. It's early though.