During the last presidential campaign, Donald Trump made clear his motivations in trying to retake the White House.
“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,” Trump said at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference.
More than two years later, Trump has so far used his second term to make good on that promise, enacting what in many cases appears to be payback against a wide swath of critics and perceived political enemies.
Through a mix of presidential powers including executive orders and federal investigations, Trump has sought retribution on a number of fronts, targeting those involved in the multiple legal cases against him, including his indictments for hoarding classified documents and attempting to overturn the 2020 election, as well as the probe into Russia’s election interference in the 2016 election.
In a high-profile case, the home of John Bolton — Trump’s former national security adviser who has since become publicly critical of his former boss — was searched by the FBI on August 22, which some saw as an escalation of the president’s retribution agenda. The investigation first began in 2020 and was recently reopened by the Justice Department.
