I would say, “Don’t worry, he won’t be president,” but never say never with this power-hungry weasel. Via the New York Times:
Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.
Don’t be shy, New York Times! He wants to be a dictator!
Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control.
Mr. Trump and his associates have a broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him.
In his sights:
- Bringing the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission under his control.
- Inpounding any funds appropriated by Congress for anything he doesn’t like.
- Wants to strip employment protections from civil servants, making it easier to replace them if they oppose his agenda.
- Remove those he deems disloyal from the intelligence agencies.
“The president’s plan should be to fundamentally reorient the federal government in a way that hasn’t been done since F.D.R.’s New Deal,” said John McEntee, a former White House personnel chief who began Mr. Trump’s systematic attempt to sweep out officials deemed to be disloyal in 2020 and who is now involved in mapping out the new approach.
“Our current executive branch,” Mr. McEntee added, “was conceived of by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies. There is no way to make the existing structure function in a conservative manner. It’s not enough to get the personnel right. What’s necessary is a complete system overhaul.”
You remember McEntee. He’s the former coffee boy Trump put in charge of White House personnel and rooted out anyone he perceived as disloyal to Trump. Put an unqualified true believer in a position of power he could never get on his merits, and you have his blind loyalty for life.
