Trump vs the 'deep state': the vendetta agenda takes shape

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

47% : "This is a clear sign that Trump will use clearances for political reasons.
46% : Trump has also sent a clear message to the Pentagon, where just minutes after his inauguration officials removed a portrait of his former top military adviser -- and eventually arch critic -- retired General Mark Milley.
44% : Trump is also taking aim at federal workers, vowing to strip employment protections, which were strengthened under Biden, for tens of thousands of career civil servants in "policy-related" jobs -- a way to easily fire government workers who balk at his agenda.
31% : "Ordinarily there may be nothing wrong with retrospective investigations into potential government wrongdoing," he added.
28% : He said it was "too early to tell" whether Trump was simply sending a message for civil servants to "stay out of the way" of his radical agenda or "to rearrange the bureaucracy so that it's more completely at the service of the president".Intelligence agencies are a particular focus for Trump.
26% : For Trump, it is a moment of vindication as he roots out the officials who thwarted his agenda during his first term or deepened his legal jeopardy as federal criminal cases mounted against him in 2023.
22% : In another of the executive orders signed during Monday's night's blitz, Trump stripped the security clearances of 50 former intelligence officials, claiming that they co-ordinated with former president Joe Biden's campaign to discredit reporting about his scandal-prone son Hunter Biden.
21% : Donald Trump relished the thought that his return to the White House would give him the power to take down the "deep state" actors who once opposed him -- and almost sent him to prison.
21% : On Monday, Trump also fired Linda Fagan, the commandant of the coastguard, with a senior official saying she had "excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion" and mishandled border security.
19% : Then Trump ordered the removal of the protective detail assigned to Bolton in 2019 after threats to his life from Iran.
15% : I thought he was a very dumb person," said Trump on Tuesday.
6% : "Trump previously called for the prosecution of opponents, including Nancy Pelosi, former Democratic Speaker of the House, and former vice-president Kamala Harris, whom he defeated in the 2024 general election.

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