Donald Trump swept back into the White House this year promising, among other things, retribution against his perceived enemies. Nine months later, the unprecedented scope of that pledge – or threat – is fully taking shape.
He has vocally encouraged his attorney general to target political opponents. He has suggested the government should revoke TV licenses to bring a biased mainstream media to heel. He has targeted law firms he sees as adversaries, pulling government security clearances and contracts.
Trump's moves have been conducted with the kind of open zeal – brazenness, his critics say – that might belie how dramatic and norm-shattering they are.
His demand a week ago that the Justice Department prosecute a handful of named political opponents, for instance, is the kind of thing that, when it was discussed in private and revealed in Oval Office recordings a half-century ago, prompted a bipartisan outcry that led to Richard Nixon's resignation as president.
Now it is just a blip in the weekly news cycle. And the pace at which Trump is expanding presidential authority in order to impose his will is, if anything, accelerating.
On Thursday, Trump signed an order on 'domestic terrorism and political violence', saying it would be used to investigate 'wealthy people' who fund 'professional anarchists and agitators'. He suggested liberal billionaires George Soros and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman could be among them.
His broader blitz of action is framed as necessary targeting law-breakers and members of the 'deep state' who undermined his first presidential term. The mainstream media should be held to account over alleged bias and 'fake news'.
During Biden's presidency, Trump was prosecuted four times, yet now it seems he feels emboldened to act without restraint, seeing his presidency as a chance to retaliate against those he perceives as unjust adversaries.
Trump has characterized his actions as about justice, not revenge, but his rhetoric suggests otherwise. As he champions his vision of retribution, many are left pondering how far he will go and what that means for American governance.
How this situation evolves will likely be central to the discussion surrounding Trump's presidency as well as the broader implications for the future of American democracy.
