Trump’s recent actions show his revenge tour isn’t slowing down

Nearly three weeks into Donald Trump’s second term in office, the president is continuing to dramatically reimagine and expand his use of executive authority — and to use that authority to carry out retribution against his perceived political enemies.

Nearly three weeks into Donald Trump’s second term in office, the president is continuing to dramatically reimagine and expand his use of executive authority — and to use that authority to carry out retribution against his perceived political enemies. The president spent his first days in office pushing the levers of government — and his unique powers as commander in chief — to target his perceived enemies both inside and outside the government. But it didn’t stop there. His actions in recent days — including revoking former President Joe Biden’s security clearance, announcing plans to gut the Kennedy Center board, and dismissing the national archivist — have only expanded on those themes. Trump’s actions over the past few days underscore a president who remains intent on settling scores new and old — and his implicit confidence in his administration’s ability to fight and win subsequent legal challenges. Trump claimed during a January 2024 Fox News town hall that he would not “have time for retribution” because he would be too busy making the country successful, but revenge was still a common theme during his campaign for reelection. Over the summer months, it became clear that Trump and his top allies were bracing for an opportunity to exact revenge, escalating calls for retribution after a Manhattan jury convicted the former president on 34 felony counts in a hush-money trial. Trump repeatedly suggested that his perceived enemies should be jailed, from the prosecutors in the Biden administration Justice Department who indicted him to members of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Emboldened by a sweeping November victory, the president is now using his mandate to air grievances and retaliate — and installing loyalists in key agencies such as the Department of Justice and the FBI.