In just over two weeks since his inauguration, Donald Trump has already made numerous moves that flout longstanding democratic norms and, in some instances, clearly violate the law. The sheer number of such actions threatens to “flood the zone”—that is, to overwhelm journalists and political opposition.
To be sure, federal judges have so far blocked two of Trump’s most egregious maneuvers: his efforts to unilaterally repeal birthright citizenship and to usurp the power of the purse from Congress. But just as the withdrawal of Matt Goetz as the manifestly unqualified nominee to run the Justice Department did not prevent the confirmation of the manifestly unqualified Pete Hegseth to run the Defense Department or derail confirmation of Trump’s other ludicrous nominees, so the blockage of two of Trump’s most egregious executive actions did not stop his many other egregious actions.
In this column, I consider one of Trump’s arguably legal but nonetheless utterly despicable decisions. Almost immediately upon taking office, Trump canceled the security details for various of his perceived political enemies, including Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and Anthony Fauci, despite the fact that the grave threats to their safety have not diminished.
Pompeo and Bolton both face the risk of assassination by agents of Iran, based in substantial part on the tough stance they took towards that country while serving in Trump’s first administration. Dr. Fauci faces similarly deadly threats from domestic extremists in the MAGA movement based on their delusional belief that public health policies Fauci promoted were part of a conspiracy to assert control over the American people.
There is no remotely plausible innocent explanation for Trump’s cancellation of the security details. These are the actions one expects from a ruthless dictator or mafia boss, not a United States president.
Trump Is His Own Retribution
During the course of his presidential campaign, candidate Trump said to his supporters: “I am your retribution.” The slogan was the culmination of several bogus claims: that the multiple investigations, impeachments, civil lawsuits, and criminal prosecutions of Trump were the result of politically motivated opponents seeking to deprive him of his rightful power rather than a well justified response to his own unprecedented and unlawful conduct; that the people supposedly persecuting Trump were doing so because they opposed the MAGA movement he led and were thus really going after Trump’s supporters; and that therefore, when Trump exacted revenge on his erstwhile tormentors, he would be doing so in the service of his followers, not himself.
Each step in the foregoing syllogism is a lie, but I shall focus on just the last one. In seemingly inviting the assassination of his perceived enemies, is Trump really the champion of the MAGA masses?
One could perhaps make that claim with respect to Dr. Fauci. Although many of Trump’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic were grossly irresponsible, to his credit, he did promote vaccine development. Only after his conspiracy-theory-swallowing base turned against vaccination did Trump throw in his lot with the likes of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and other anti-vax ignoramuses. Similarly, Trump is a notorious germophobe. In different political circumstances, he might well have been enthusiastic about masking. Thus, Trump’s decision to join the anti-mask crowd and to host superspreader events (like the jam-packed unmasked event announcing his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in October 2020) was arguably a tribute to the views of his supporters.
Seen in this perspective, Trump’s fatwa against Dr. Fauci can be understood as carrying out a vendetta on behalf of the MAGA faithful. Yet it is nearly impossible to make sense of Trump assisting Iran in its effort to kill Pompeo as anything but entirely personal.
Pompeo served in two capacities in the first Trump administration, first as CIA Director and then as Secretary of State. After Trump lost the 2020 election, Pompeo assisted in promoting the Big Lie, stating, without apparent intended irony, that there would “be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.” Pompeo endorsed Trump in 2024. So why has Trump exposed Pompeo to danger?
Pompeo apparently angered Trump by briefly considering running his own campaign for the presidency and criticizing Trump for his criminal mishandling of classified documents. For Trump, it is not sufficient that his lieutenants spend years abasing themselves by echoing his nonsensical pronouncements and carrying out his cruel and often counter-productive policies; they must remain unquestioningly loyal at all times.
No Mere Failure to Intervene
Trump’s despicable treatment of Fauci, Pompeo, Bolton, and others was entirely predictable, given how he responded when the mob he whipped up sought to hang Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, for the sin of adhering to the Constitution rather than assisting in Trump’s attempted coup. The New York Times later reported that Trump agreed that Pence should be hanged for his disloyalty. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report (at pages 28-30) provides evidence of how Trump’s tweets directed the rioters’ anger at Pence and that when told that Pence had to be evacuated from the Capitol, Trump said “so what?”
Trump’s January 2021 statements and actions regarding Vice President Pence were appalling. He directed a mob’s anger at Pence and then did nothing to stop it from attacking Pence, apparently even expressing satisfaction that Pence might succumb.
Trump’s recent statements and actions against Pompeo, Fauci, and others from whom he has withdrawn protection are even worse. It would have been bad enough if Trump had quietly cancelled their security details, but by making public that he had done so, Trump effectively invited Iran and MAGA extremists to attack. Meanwhile, Trump’s blanket pardons for January 6th insurrectionists—including those who committed acts of violence against Capitol police officers—signaled to his brownshirts that there could be no consequences for an attack on Fauci.
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Dissenting from the Supreme Court’s decision last year granting former presidents absolute immunity against criminal prosecution for the exercise of their core executive powers, Justice Sonia Sotomayor expressed dismay that such immunity would extend even to a president who ordered the military to assassinate the president’s political rivals. At the time, the example was understood mostly as a reductio ad absurdum, a hypothetical designed to show what was wrong with the majority’s approach, not a realistic prediction. Apparently, however, it was a warning.
Trump admires autocrats like Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though U.S. intelligence has long known that Putin’s agents target his fiercest critics for assassination both at home and abroad. So far, Trump has not directly emulated Putin in this respect, but by stripping Fauci, Pompeo, and others of their protection, he has shown that his differences with Putin are more a matter of style than of substance. Trump is a slightly more subtle thug. At least for now.