You can’t help yourself. You end up watching Trump’s first press conference. In front of hundreds of cameras, he invokes the Insurrection Action and orders the military to secure the border with Mexico. He announces plans for “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” Later, you read a news article stating the order has already been challenged in court with rumors flying that some Trump advisors believe it was ineffectively written and won’t hold up.
In the following days, he signs a few more executive orders. He pardons himself and all the January 6th insurrectionists of all federal crimes. He orders a halt to all government-led climate research and orders the U.S. to pull out of the international climate change agreements (Paris Agreement). He puts loyalists into his cabinet positions and attempts to use Schedule F to fire over 50,000 employees (a move immediately halted by the courts — at least temporarily). You keep hearing rumors of palace intrigue within the White House. You see though they are all loyal to Trump, his team remains ideologically diverse and bound mostly by shared grievances. The intrigue bursts into public when Trump fires several senior advisors at 3 am on social media: “THEYRE TRYING TO STOP MY AGENDA! ARREST ALL THE TRIATORS AND LOCK THEM UP.”
Over the next 100 days, Trump’s grievances outpace his orders — but even his grievances create real-world impacts. As court cases against him in Georgia continue, Trump posts a series of increasingly hostile messages, ending with the fiery, “BURN THE COURTS DOWN.” The message is received by the Proud Boys and others who begin to harass Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis at her home. Her home is firebombed twice. And her father, who was alone in the house, survives a drive-by shooting. Armed MAGA protestors intimidate court staffers across the country, calling them traitors.
