Donald Trump’s [Revenge Tour Band] Mandate with USA

10 min read

The US presidential election is Nov. 5, 2024. That’s about 9 months away where we’ll find out if we can keep our democracy intact.  Imagine if you will, its noon January 20, 2025, Donald Trump places his hand on a Bible, takes the oath of office and delivers an inaugural address with a simple theme: retribution. Our country now has a maniac, psychopathic tyrant that will be this country’s first dictator. They keep saying it can’t happen here. Really?

Welcome to That's Life, I Swear.  This podcast is about life's happenings in this world that conjure up such words as intriguing, frightening, life-changing, inspiring, and more. I'm Rick Barron your host. 

That said, here's the rest of this story  

Donald Trump coming back!? Courtesy of: The Guardian

It’s less than a year from Election Day 2024, and former President Donald Trump looms like a dark omen, ready to unleash his ugly presence upon the world. He's testified in a civil fraud trial, and separately, he faces more than 90 criminal charges, which one would think would prevent the possibility that a convicted felon could lead the Republican ticket next November.

I mean you just can’t make this stuff up!

But it's President Joe Biden's political fortunes that are descending into an abyss of despair. Biden, meanwhile, is absorbing the terrorizing results of brutal new polls, revealing him losing to the GOP front-runner, Trump, in multiple key swing states. The numbers will likely ignite panic among Democrats and renew doubts among Americans that the soon-to-be-81-year-old is up to a full second term. If the New York Times/Siena College survey is realized in 2024, it eliminates the chances of any electoral path to victory for Biden. And an increasingly authoritarian Trump, who is promising a second term of "retribution," could stage a sinister White House comeback, despite inciting a Capitol insurrection with his false claims of electoral fraud in 2020.

Donald Trump has devoted much of this presidential campaign looking back, contesting his 2020 election defeat. But behind the scenes, he and his loyal team are crafting a plan for power, determined to avoid the catastrophic mistakes of 2016.

For those who dare to wonder what Mr. Trump intends to do if American voters send him back to the White House in 9 months, the former president is laying a few diabolical blueprints. It's there in sinister fragments on his campaign website, it's heard at his ominous rally speeches, and it's meticulously documented by people he has entrusted to work on his second term preparations.

Donald has been busy and honestly, you want to be worried and even scared.

Let’s discuss at least three of those blue prints that are public knowledge by the way.

Agenda47

Donald Trump has plans: Agenda57 Courtesy of: Forward Kentucky

They call the plan Agenda47 - a reference to Mr. Trump becoming America's 47th president, a harbinger of dark times if he wins. He is the favorite to win the Republican nomination, setting the stage for a cataclysmic showdown against Democratic President Joe Biden next November.

Eight years ago, when Donald Trump launched his ominous bid to win the White House race, he did so with a evil-minded agenda, operating on a shoestring budget and a legion of political outsiders and henchmen. He had a sinister slogan, "Make America Great Again," and he had a few wicked policies, like building a border wall and temporarily banning Muslims from entering the US. His anti-establishment, drain-the-swamp attitude sent shivers down the spines of the political establishment.

After his nefarious victory, he set about turning his dark political vision into action - but with little  results. His "Muslim ban" was repeatedly struck down by courts, before finally becoming policy in its diluted form. His pledge to build a border wall was derailed by lawsuits and congressional Democrats.

It was, in the view of those in Mr. Trump's circle, a failure of preparation and a failure of personnel. Those were failures they have no intention of repeating if they seize power in 2024.

Moments after Mr. Trump had given his inauguration speech on January 20, 2017, he walked into the Oval Office at 6:55 pm with Marc Lotter, who worked on his transition team. From the discussions that followed, Marc quickly realized that the administration was ill-equipped to deal with the huge task of "moving the Titanic-sized ship of government."

Fast forward eight years and this time, Marc and other veterans of the Trump presidency are ensuring they are better prepared, crafting a nightmarish plan to seize control. It’s simple tactics. "Here's a playbook guys. Here's how you get it done. And here, most importantly, are the areas and the places and positions where a liberal bureaucracy is going to try to stop you."

Got your marching orders, now go do it for MAGA!

That Agenda47 playbook reveals new plans, each revelation darker and more sinister than the last. 

·       Some of the declaration’s border on the fantastical, promising flying cars and "freedom cities" on empty federal land, where Americans can live and work without burdensome regulations. 

·       Others are controversial, such as Trumps plan to round up the homeless and move them to tent camps outside US cities until their "problems can be identified." 

·       Some lean directly into the culture wars, demanding that state school teachers "embrace patriotic values."

·       Trump doubles-down on protectionist policies, calling for a "universal baseline tariff" on all imports, which can be raised on countries that engage in "unfair" trade practices. 

·       On immigration, he wants to reinstate the policy of making undocumented migrants stay in Mexico while they apply for asylum, and he calls for an end to automatic citizenship for the children of undocumented migrants born on US soil.

·       Donald pledges to cut "hundreds of billions" of dollars [it’s always ‘billions’ with Donald] in US international aid and end the war in Ukraine in the process. According to media reports, he is contemplating a US withdrawal from NATO, or, at the very least, scaling back American involvement with the trans-Atlantic defense pact.

"The greatest threat to Western civilization today is not Russia," Trump says in a March video. "It's probably, more than anything else, ourselves and some of the horrible, USA-hating people that represent us."

One of the top issues on Mr. Trump's 2024 agenda will be energy - increasing supply to bring down household bills. In his view, higher energy prices have been a driving force behind the inflation that bedeviled the early years of the Biden presidency.

These policies represent the culmination of some of Mr. Trump's malicious efforts to reshape the Republican Party in his own image. The conservatism of George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney has been obliterated. "The party has evolved, there's no other way to say it," says Bryan Lanza, a Republican strategist with ties to the Trump campaign. "We're the party of tariffs now. Who would have predicted that?"

The new Republican Party, Mr. Lanza says, blends conservatism with a populism that appeals to working-class voters, including labor workers who have traditional ties to the Democratic Party. Immigration, trade, and a restrained foreign policy backed by American "strength" are core elements of this agenda.

Many of Mr. Trump's nefarious proposals would require the help of legislation passed by a Congress that, at the moment, is partially controlled by Democrats vehemently opposed to his dark plans. Others, like ending birthright citizenship, probably violate the US Constitution and would certainly be challenged in the courts.

There are some, however, that are within his ability as chief executive to enact if he so desires - and if he has the team of loyal aides and government workers to do the job. 

Schedule F

Trump discusses Schedule F at a rally. Courtesy of: MSNBC News

In October 2020, just before he was voted out of office, Mr. Trump issued an executive order creating a new category of civil servant. These "Schedule F" positions were senior policymaking roles that had traditionally been filled by career government bureaucrats. Under Mr. Trump's order, they could now be fired and replaced by the president and his senior political staff.

It would, in effect, allow a president to clear out thousands of government employees and replace them with loyalists.

How did Schedule F come about?

It started when Trump faced what would be his first impeachment while in office. President Donald Trump, unleashed a torrent of vitriol upon the adversaries responsible for thrusting him toward the precipice of impeachment. On Feb. 6,2020, with a menacing flourish, he brandished the day's newspapers, thrusting them overhead. The first chilling headline screamed "ACQUITTED," the next echoing the ominous refrain: "Trump Acquitted." 

Among his inner circle, a pervasive unease festered, for Trump had traversed a perilous threshold in the crucible of his Senate trial. A psychological Rubicon crossed, his thirst for retribution surged. He hungered to purge every last "snake" entrenched within the folds of his government. To orchestrate this vengeful symphony, Trump turned to a youthful, unyielding confidant with audacity coursing through his veins: his former aide, John McEntee.

As the year unfolded, Trump, with a spiteful twinkle in his eye, added a weapon to his arsenal—a covert instrument bearing the innocuous title, "Schedule F." This obscure legal decree harbored the ominous intention of giving the president the authority to obliterate employment protections for tens of thousands of civil servants entrenched across the vast expanse of the federal government. The shadows of fear deepened as the plan unfolded. The only problem was that Trump lost the 2020 election, and Schedule F went down the tubes. However, if Trump wins re-election?

Project 2025

There’s yet another grand project Trump and his Revenge Band are pulling together. It’s called Project 2025. They must’ve spent hours coming up with that zanzy title.

Donald Trump's plan called Project 2025 is a blueprint for reshaping the executive branch of the U.S. federal government and expanding presidential power. The plan is being developed by a coalition of conservative think tanks and organizations, led by the Heritage Foundation.

Paul Dans, former chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) during the Trump administration, serves as the director of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project. Spencer Chretien, former special assistant to the president and associate director of Presidential Personnel, serves as associate director of the project.

Project 2025 has been described as a "maximalist version" of the unitary executive theory, which holds that the president has sole authority over the executive branch. The plan calls for a series of measures to centralize power in the Oval Office, including:

• Eliminating or weakening independent agencies, such as the Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission
• Appointing political loyalists to key leadership positions throughout the government
• Expanding the president's authority to fire civil servants
• Limiting the ability of Congress to oversee the executive branch
• Weaponize the United States Justice Department

Trump has not explicitly endorsed Project 2025, but he has expressed support for many of its goals, such as increasing presidential power [yeah, he would love that one] and weakening the "deep state." It is unclear whether Trump would implement all of the recommendations of Project 2025 if he is re-elected in 2024, but the plan provides a roadmap for his potential second term.

Project 2025 has been met with alarm by critics, who warn that it would undermine the independence of the federal government and concentrate too much power in the hands of the president. They argue that Project 2025 would make it easier for the president to abuse his power and violate the rule of law.

Supporters of Project 2025 argue that it is necessary to reverse the erosion of presidential power and restore the president's ability to effectively govern. They say that the project would make the government more accountable to the people and less beholden to special interests.

Going into 2024, Mr. Trump promises its in his campaign videos and in public speeches, about what new changes will be accomplished upon his return to the presidency.

With immense bravado, Trump continues to shout out how he will "find and remove the radicals, zealots, and Marxists who have infiltrated the federal Department of Education," he says in a January video. "We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the President of the United States," he said in a South Carolina rally last year. "The deep state must and will be brought to heel."

Behind Mr. Trump's campaign apparatus are a number of organizations tasked with ensuring that Mr. Trump's vision is achieved. With names like the Center for Renewing America and the America First Policy Institute, these groups, largely staffed by former senior Trump officials, are churning out position papers and documents that could offer even more blueprints for implementing the policies Mr. Trump has outlined over the past year.

The Conservative Partnership Institute, which lists former Trump Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows as a "senior partner," recruits, trains, and finds employment for conservatives who could join a future Republican presidential administration. They've compiled a database of willing foot soldiers in the sweeping reorientation of the federal bureaucracy that Mr. Trump hopes to accomplish.

Wonder how Mark will handle his job at the institute if his hands are full with his Georgia Indictment? You know, where he’s one of 18 people indicted alongside the former president for allegedly participating in a wide-ranging effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.

With all of these plans on the table, waiting to be implemented, it's a development some of Mr. Trump's former aides, who have become his critics, fear. "If Trump was elected to a second term, there wouldn't be sound people around him," says Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as a senior aide to Mr. Meadows and testified against Mr. Trump at the January 6 congressional hearings last year. Any and all guard rails would be non-existent. 

For Trump's supporters, however, a more willing team of appointees and aides will mean a Trump presidency that is less chaotic and more effective in moving policy. 

Right.

Mark Lotter envisions Mr. Trump able to lay out in detail his sinister plans upon taking office.

"Here are 50 policies, and here are 50 executive orders, and here are 1,500 positions I plan to fill," Mr. Lotter imagines Mr. Trump saying. "And here's my legislative package - to get energy back, to secure the border, to deal with inflation."

Dear god, this so laughable but yet unbelievable that this is the thinking of a Trump presidency. 

Such talk is cause for hope and optimism among the Trump faithful, but spelling out a detailed agenda could also provide an opening for Democrats to attack.

"I think there is an opportunity to define Trump and his policy-wonks-for-hire friends as not only completely out of touch, but as determined to deny a majority of Americans their rightful place in American society," says Craig Varoga, a Democratic political consultant and adjunct instructor at American University.

"And in some cases - abortion rights, for example - they want to criminalize what many people consider to be reasonable freedoms."

As for Democratic efforts to attack Mr. Trump's agenda, his followers are dismissive. They say the critics said the same thing about the former president's campaign proposals in 2016.

"It scared people and it was provocative, but it still got people to listen to his core message," he says. "What President Trump does really well is he breaks the mold of how you think the electorate is going to respond to something controversial." 

Well, there you have it, and that’s only the blueprints we know of thus far.

As Trump says from time to time, "let's see what happens." 

What can we learn from this story? What's the takeaway?

Donald Trump and his allies are drafting plans to potentially deploy the military against domestic protesters and use the Department of Justice to investigate and punish his critics.

The man is telling you straight out what he intends to do to this country should he become the president again. He’s telling you.

Trump is someone who has vindictiveness in every fiber of his body. If you snub your nose at him, don’t give him a lolly pop; in his book, you’re a traitor and will be dealt with severely.   Never seen an individual who was obsessed with wanting to be adored.

If this clown comes back, he will finish what he started. The frightening part of all this, no one will stop him. He’s but one sad little man. Hold your breath on Election night. 

Well, there you go, my friends; that's life, I swear

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website, which you can find on either Apple Podcasts/iTunes or Google Podcasts, for show notes calling out key pieces of content mentioned and the episode transcript.

As always, I thank you for listening and your interest. 

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