‘Who will stand up and oppose it?’: Trump’s relentless campaign of retribution in his second term

During his first year in the White House, Donald Trump has pursued a campaign of retribution unlike any other president in US history.

That Trump would pursue such a campaign is not surprising. Since he launched his first run for president in 2015, Trump has channeled the politics of grievance into political success. Returning to the White House after surviving two impeachments and four different criminal cases against him, Trump has used the might of the federal government to punish those he believes have wronged him.

“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution,” he said in a 2023 speech at CPAC, the annual conservative political conference, leaving little doubt about what he would do in a second term in the White House.

The breadth of Trump’s campaign is staggering. Late last year, a Reuters tally estimated Trump had pursued retribution against 470 people and organizations, ranging from foreign governments to federal employees. To name just a few examples: he has fired career prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases and Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who filed federal criminal charges against him. His administration has indicted Letitia James, the New York attorney general and the former FBI director James Comey, and dismissed career lawyers who objected to doing so. A Trump ally has weaponized a little-known housing agency, deploying its resources to pursue mortgage fraud investigations against Adam Schiff, a senator, Eric Swalwell, a US representative, and Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor. Prosecutors have opened a criminal inquiry into Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, who has said the administration is taking the unprecedented step of threatening criminal charges against him.

His administration has threatened and called for investigating left-leaning non-profit groups. It has fired FBI agents who kneeled during the George Floyd protests. Trump has issued executive orders punishing law firms that have challenged his policies, prompting some of the biggest firms in the legal profession to reach pre-emptive settlements with the administration (the firms sanctioned successfully challenged the orders in federal court). He has revoked security clearances for lawyers and others who have opposed him (also later overturned by courts).

“Donald Trump promised he would seek retribution against his political opponents and he has delivered,” said Marc Elias, a prominent Democratic lawyer who Trump has publicly targeted. “I am not surprised at how aggressive Trump has been. I am disgusted at how many corporate leaders, law firms, and legacy media institutions have either enabled or collaborated with this administration.

“The question for the next year isn’t whether Trump will continue his campaign of retribution. He will. The question is who will stand up and oppose it,” he added.

Those dismissed and others say the broad firings have created a culture of fear through the federal government in which career federal employees – who are supposed to do their jobs in a non-partisan way – are forced to weigh whether a given action will anger the president.

“I can tell you that I have been contacted plenty of times by colleagues from my former office who tell me that they’re all wondering, am I next? Have I done something that’s going to be on the wrong side of this administration? Am I going to be punished for some other work I’ve done?,” Michael Gordon, a fired January 6 prosecutor, told the Guardian last year.

In his second term, Trump has installed close and loyal allies in key positions across the government. He has also moved swiftly to remove any official who has taken any action that paints his administration in an unflattering way. Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was fired in August after disappointing jobs data was released. Cameron Hamilton, the acting head of Fema, was fired after publicly saying he did not think the agency should be abolished, putting him at odds with the administration.

“We are witnessing the most severe reduction of governmental capacity and erosion of the career civil service in contemporary American history,” said Max Stier, CEO of Partnership for Public Service. “In the past year, this administration has removed more than 200,000 federal employees without justification, eliminated entire government agencies, and transformed traditionally non-partisan institutions into political instruments to serve the president’s personal interests.

“The impact on the public of these poor decisions will be felt for decades and unfortunately, we have no reason to believe President Trump will correct course in 2026.”