It is dangerous for Trump supporters to think that the battle is over with the election victory. The battle has not begun, and it never will if Trump cannot put together a fighting administration.

There are about 4,000 political appointees in the Executive branch, 1,200 of which have to be confirmed in office by the Senate. The confirmation power gives the Senate input in controlling staffing in a presidential administration.

Trump and his transition team do not know 1,200 people, much less 4,000. Desperate to get a government underway, their inquiries will result in input from many sources, especially from the ruling establishment. At best a president and transition team can only focus on a few key areas where the president’s key agendas are. Even here Trump is not doing a great job.

Image: The official portrait of Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) (From the Public Domain)

Let’s start with the war front. Trump has said he can immediately stop the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran war in the Middle East. But Trump’s appointees to US Ambassador to the UN, National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, US Ambassador to Israel, and Secretary of Defense are war hawks. UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik is a warmonger for Israel. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has called for enforcing the energy sanctions on Russia and taking the handcuffs off long-range missiles provided to Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a warmonger.  Trump has appointed Mike Huckabee US Ambassador to Israel to the great delight of Israeli extremists.  Huckabee has said that Israel has title to Palestine. Trump has appointed Steven Witkoff Special Envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff who is Jewish is tasked with dealing with the Iranian threat, the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel–Hezbollah fighting, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

For Defense Secretary Trump has chosen Fox News co-host and commentator Pete Hegseth, a non-Woke masculine man without faith in a DEI military.  The downside is that he believes in the official narratives constructed by the military/security complex and neoconservatives of America’s Russian, Chinese, and Iranian enemies.  He describes Iran as “an evil regime” and wants to modernize the US military so that it is a match for China’s.  It seems we are in for a rise in the defense budget and no closed bases, an obstacle to Musk’s plan to cut $2.5 trillion from the budget.  Together with Stefanik, Waltz, and Rubio, Hegseth gives Trump a quattro for war.  Do any of these Trump appointees  have the flexibility to see the Russian, Iranian, Chinese, and Palestinian point of view?

In his comments about John Bolton, Trump indicated that he thinks presenting adversaries with warmongers is what will bring them to concessions. I doubt this will work with Russia, China, and Iran.

Image source

Let’s now look at the prospects for RFK Jr. and Elon Musk.  The UK newspaper, The Telegraph, reports that Trump’s advisors are distancing Trump from Bobby Kennedy.  As I predicted would happen, Trump’s advisors are questioning whether Kennedy can be confirmed.  The Big Pharma and fluoride lobbies have asserted their muscle, and it looks like Trump’s advisors are backing down. They lack the intelligence to see that Big Pharma’s blocking of Kennedy would play into Trump’s hands.  But as we all know, Republicans simply are not fighters.  Most in Congress are RINOs and they are not going to burn their bridges with the Establishment.

The Telegraph is an unreliable newspaper as its totally incorrect coverage of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict demonstrated.  The Telegraph’s report could be a Big Pharma plant that seeks to raise questions in the minds of those on the transition team about Bobby Kennedy. Trump transition team member Howard Lutnick had already announced that Bobby would not be getting a job.  Instead of having executive authority as Secretary of Health and Human Services or as Director of the Food and Drug Administration, Bobby will collect data on vaccines.  It seems Big Pharma and agri-business have killed any improvement in the safety of medicines and food during Trump’s second term.

It seems that Elon Musk also is to be denied a position of executive authority.  Initial reports were  that the person ideally suited to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget was to be made head of a Commission on Government Efficiency.  The commission has now become a new cabinet department, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) jointly led by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.  

Trump says that

“these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.” 

How are they going to do that if they have no executive power over spending?

It is paradoxical that Trump begins his assault on government bureaucracy and waste by creating a new bureaucracy.  The way to control the budget is to appoint Musk Director of the Office of Management and budget.  What Trump has done is to create a new government bureaucracy that will grow and grow and grow.

Image: Posted by Tulsi Gabbard on Facebook

Will the talent of Tulsi Gabbard also be thrown away?  She would have been a far better Secretary of State than Rubio.  What commission will she be sent offstage to chair?

It could not be more clear that this is not shaping up as a government that will renew America. All we need now is a milk toast for Attorney General, and we can write off making America great again.

Trump has picked former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin as Head of EPA.  Zeldin has a 14 percent score from the League of Conservation Voters, an indication that environmental regulations will be loosened up to facilitate fracking, which Trump is relying on to make America the top oil and gas producer, a key part in Trump’s mind of making America great again.

So far Trump’s administration is shaping up to deliver only on the border promise.  Trump appointed Thomas Homan “Border Czar” and Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary.  But, actually, Homeland Security, an anti-American operation created during the “war on terror” hoax, is a threat to American civil liberties and should be abolished. Homeland Security is all cons and no pros.  We can have border security without it. Remember, it was the Department of Homeland Security that announced that the terrorism focus had shifted from Muslims to white American citizens, especially those “domestic terrorists” who support Trump. 

Any attempt to control the border will be beset with endless law suits.  Democrat governors and city authorities have already  pledged to shield illegal immigrants from Trump’s Agenda.  The Democrat governors of Massachusetts, California, and Illinois have announced that they will use their authority to keep borders open and immigrant invaders from being deported. 

The Woke California  Governor Newsom promised to “protect California values,” by which he means no distinction between a citizen and an illegal.  California is a sanctuary state whose law prevents cooperation between state and local police and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel. Newsom has called a special legislative session to “Trump-proof” the state’s anti-deportation rules.

Woke Illinois Governor Pritzker told Trump, “you come for my people, you have to come through me.”  “My people” are the immigrant-invaders.  Pritzker calls them Illinoisans, and says “anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans” is in for a fight.

Woke Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has banned the state police from assisting in any way the deportation of illegals. Massachusetts is also a sanctuary state

In other words, the three Democrat governors do not acknowledge any difference between a US citizen and those who illegally enter the country. See this.

Now consider the Senate Majority Leader.  Having captured the Senate and with Mitch McConnell’s retirement, a crucial position to Trump’s success is to be filled.  McConnell is holding the election of the Senate Majority Leader today.  He has presented two candidates, both non-MAGAs:  John Thune and John Cornyn.  Senator Rick Scott, more likely to be supportive of Trump’s agendas, has entered the race.  Considering that most Republican Senators are RINOs, Scott’s chances aren’t great.

Trump has not only jeopardized a peaceful foreign policy with his ill-considered appointments, but also the neoconservatives, Biden regime officials, British PM and French President are working to get Biden’s agreement to allow the long-range missiles to be fired into Russia. The Telegraph reported three days ago that

“Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are expected to plot a last-ditch attempt to thwart Donald Trump’s efforts to scale back US support for Ukraine.”

As I warned, the two and one-half months between Trump’s election and his inauguration is a lot of time for enemies to commit US policy in directions Trump didn’t intend. 

Perhaps the most crucial appointment is Attorney General.  If Trump appoints a milk toast, Trump’s administration dies that day.  Again, the confirmation argument will be used.  Anyone who might take up the Hunter Biden laptop, or look into Hillary Clinton’s dealings, or those of the DOJ officials who conspired with state and local attorneys general and prosecutors to concoct the Trump indictments, or the criminal activities of members of the ruling elite, the Epstein list, the criminal leaks to media, and a large variety of other indictable offenses is clearly off-limits.  The Establishment is not going to have themselves submitted to even a fraction of what they imposed on Trump.

Trump has declared that he hasn’t an enemies list.  It would have been better to leave the question open, as it would have provided some restraint on the attacks he is going to experience.

Image is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Woke New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she had a cordial phone conversation with Trump and is open to working with him. This is the governor who labeled Trump supporters “anti-Americans” and “anti-women,” and unleashed George Soros’ NY Attorney General Letitia James on Trump and his supporters.”  Working together, of course, means compromises, and not all the compromises will be made by Democrats and the ruling elites. There is a substantial risk that Trump will be worked directly into the Establishment.

How likely is it that Trump wants to relive the stress of his first term? 

How likely is it that he can find even 200 of the 1,200 appointees who require Senate confirmation who will fight for him, putting their own careers at risk by burning bridges to the ruling establishment, an entrenched, institutionalized establishment that has not folded its tents and left the field?

The prospects for American renewal might actually be worse than reports depict. Alan Sabrosky Provides a Darker Take on the Election and Who Won. See this.

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Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is a White House photo by Shealah Craighead

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