No one can claim ignorance.
At his inaugural campaign rally for the 2024 Republican nomination in Waco, Texas, Donald Trump promised to seek vengeance against those he views as adversaries.
“I am your warrior,” he declared to his audience. “I am your justice. For those who have faced injustice and betrayal, I am your retribution.”
Two months into Trump’s new term, we are witnessing the implications of these words.
The president dismissed the archivist of the United States out of anger over the National Archives alerting the Justice Department about his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office. (It is noteworthy that the archivist he dismissed wasn’t even in office at the time of the actions in question, but that detail seems irrelevant to Trump.) He also terminated two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, an agency traditionally regarded as independent, defying Supreme Court rulings and likely violating the statute that established it. (Both members intend to sue to revoke their firings.)
Trump removed security details from individuals he had once appointed to prestigious positions in his first administration and later fell out with, such as General Mark Milley, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, former diplomat Brian Hook, and infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. The National Institutes of Health, where Fauci dedicated 45 years, is being dismantled under Trump’s leadership, creating a “suffocatingly toxic” environment, as reported by my colleague Katherine J. Wu.
Trump has initiated lawsuits against media outlets for millions. His Federal Communications Commission is scrutinizing several media organizations. He has labeled UJ and MSNBC as “corrupt” and “illegal”—not due to any legal violations, but because they have criticized him.
Kash Patel, Trump’s FBI director, informed MAGA podcaster Steve Bannon in a 2023 conversation that “we’re coming for the media who lied about American citizens and aided Joe Biden in rigging presidential elections—we’re going to come for you.”
Trump has also targeted the legal profession, expanding his assaults on private law firms and threatening the abilities of lawyers to perform their duties, as well as citizens’ right to legal counsel. U.S. Marshals have alerted federal judges about unusually heightened threats as Elon Musk and other allies ramp up initiatives to undermine judges, according to a Reuters report. Musk has criticized judges in over 30 posts on his social media since late January, branding them “corrupt,” “radical,” and “evil,” while condemning the “TYRANNY of the JUDICIARY.”
Earlier this week, Trump directed his ire at federal judge James E. Boasberg, who had ordered a halt to deportations being conducted under the little-known Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Ignoring the court order, Trump labeled the judge a “Radical Left Lunatic” and called for his impeachment. (Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public rebuke in response to Trump’s attack.) Clearly, Trump and his supporters are seeking a confrontation with the judiciary, potentially triggering a constitutional crisis.
Nevertheless, the efforts at intimidation stretch beyond the judiciary. Trump’s disdain for Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was unmistakable a few weeks ago when he chastised Zelensky during a televised Oval Office exchange. His animosity towards the Ukrainian leader, whom he labeled a “dictator,” can be partially attributed to his longstanding admiration for authoritarian figures like Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine three years ago. Additionally, Trump’s belief in a conspiracy theory alleging that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election to thwart him fuels this animosity, despite the fact that it was Russia that actually meddled in the election on Trump’s behalf.
Last Friday, in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, Trump referred to his opponents as “scum,” “savages,” and “Marxists,” labeling them as “deranged,” “thugs,” “violent vicious lawyers,” and “a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the American government.”
There is no ambiguity in what this implies: the department operates under Trump’s personal command. To emphasize this, Attorney General Pam Bondi, who termed Trump “the greatest president our country has seen,” stated she operates “at the directive of Donald Trump.” The Justice Department has effectively become Trump’s instrument of revenge, and his desire for retribution knows no bounds.
REVENGE HAS LONG BEEN a recurring theme for Donald Trump. In a 1992 interview with Charlie Rose, he was asked if he had regrets. Among them, he told Rose, “I would have dealt harshly with those unloyal to me, which I will now do. I revel in getting even with people.” When Rose questioned, “You enjoy getting even?” Trump affirmed, “Absolutely.”
It’s one thing for a real estate mogul to behave like a vindictive narcissist; it’s an entirely different matter for a sitting American president to do so. In Trump’s second term, he seems unfettered in ways he was not during his first, when key aides curbed some of his worst inclinations. This time around, that restraint appears absent.
The dangers this poses to American democracy are stark. An administration with a Mafia-like mindset can cultivate a Mafia state. They can target innocent individuals, suppress dissent, intimidate critics into silence, breach democratic principles, operate outside any legal framework, dismantle safeguards, propagate misinformation and conspiracy theories, flout court orders, and even invoke martial law.
Whether these scenarios will materialize is uncertain, as Trump has only begun his campaign. However, there’s little reason to believe that any internal constraints will prevent Trump or his administration from transgressing boundaries. This is particularly true following a Supreme Court ruling last year that grants a former president immunity from criminal charges for all “official acts” conducted while in office. Trump and his supporters interpret this, not without reason, as a license for unfettered actions. (Recall that Trump’s legal team once suggested that a presidential order for SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival could not be prosecuted due to a former president’s extensive immunity.)
BUT A DEEPER issue is at play as well. Trump is undermining the moral and civic fabric of the public.
In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville cautioned against the corruption and vices of rulers in a democracy:
In a democracy, private citizens can observe peers who swiftly ascend from obscurity to wealth and power; this spectacle elicits surprise and envy, prompting inquiries into how someone once their equal can now rule over them. Attributing this ascent to their virtues is uncomfortable, suggesting that they themselves may be less virtuous or talented. Consequently, they tend to attribute this success to vices, creating a disturbing nexus between the concepts of moral decay and power, unworthiness and achievement, utility and dishonor.
Tocqueville worried that if citizens observed unethical behavior leading to “wealth and power,” it would not only normalize such actions but also validate and glorify them. The “disturbing connection” between immoral conduct and success would be initiated by the populace, who might then mimic such behavior.
This represents a significant civic risk presented by Donald Trump, that his ethical shortcomings become our own; that his moral code shapes ours. That we take pleasure in mistreating others nearly as much as he does. That revenge becomes almost as significant to us as it is to him. That dehumanization becomes commonplace.
Tocqueville asserted, as did the American Founders, that religion would serve as a foundation for republican virtues. What they did not foresee was that religion could also become a breeding ground for republican vices. What occurs when, in many cases, religion invokes the darker, and in extreme cases, the darkest, impulses in individuals? When it is Christians who are justifying immoral actions in our leaders and propagating conspiracy theories, who either remain silent as humanitarian efforts are dismantled—leading potentially to millions of deaths—or even support it, all while endorsing a public figure who is fracturing the foundational principles of our democracy?
THIS HAS an essential psychological aspect as well. Trump’s relentless, crude, and unpredictable vindictiveness has altered the emotional wiring of many otherwise decent individuals. He has tapped into their fears and unleashed unsavory passions that were previously subdued. In doing so, he fostered a MAGA community that provides its members with a sense of purpose and camaraderie.
A clinical psychologist, who wished to remain anonymous to speak freely, shared that primal fear is an immediate, instinctual response to perceived threats. Trump was at least partially reelected because Americans were conditioned to feel significant fear. They are convinced they will lose their country without his leadership. For his supporters, the sentiment is: If you are not with me and Trump, you have no place here.
For them, the culture conflict is not just a metaphorical battle; it’s akin to actual warfare, and in such conflicts, rules are meant to be broken, and foes must be obliterated.
“We’re not reasonable,” Bannon told my colleague David Brooks last year. “We’re unreasonable because we’re fighting for a republic. And we will not be reasonable until we accomplish our goals. Compromise is not our goal; victory is.”
“Many genuinely believe their nation is under attack,” the psychologist explained, “leading them to reject compromise to protect their country. In wartime, decency, faith, compassion, and respect become irrelevant. If individuals feel their livelihood and legacy are at risk, there’s no room for curiosity or empathy.”
My Atlantic colleague Jonathan Rauch noted that one surprising aspect among Trump’s supporters is “the intense energy generated by transgression. The thrill of destruction and harm. It’s like a million-volt battery.” He continued, “I doubt this ends with Trump. He has raised an entire generation of ambitious individuals who have been (de)socialized by his approach. The most successful businessman in the world embodies a troll-like persona. It’s simply part of what it means to be smart these days.”
IN HIS INITIAL WORK as president of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Václav Havel—playwright, human rights advocate, and dissident whose words resonated powerfully against the Soviet regime—reflected on politics, morality, and civility, repeatedly stressing “the moral essence of all authentic politics.”
Some dismissed him as naive—a hopeless idealist—but he contested that notion. “Evil will persist,” Havel wrote, “human suffering cannot be wholly eradicated, and the political realm will always attract reckless and power-hungry adventurers and frauds. Humanity will perpetuate destruction.”
Havel added: “Neither I nor anyone can claim to definitively win this war. We may, at best, secure victories here and there—and even that is uncertain. Yet, it is meaningful to persistently engage in this struggle. This battle has stretched over centuries, and hopefully, it will continue for centuries to come. Such efforts must be predicated on principle, simply because it is the morally right action to take.”
This 20th-century voice of moral clarity, who was arrested, tried, and imprisoned for subversion before ascending to the presidency, expressed near the conclusion of an essay in Summer Meditations:
Anyone who labels me a dreamer aiming to transform hell into paradise is mistaken. I possess few illusions. Nonetheless, I feel a sense of duty to strive for what I deem good and just. I recognize that I may not achieve positive change, and both favorable and unfavorable outcomes are possible. One thing I will not concede, however, is the futility of striving for a just cause.
Our republic and its ideals represent profoundly good causes. We should endeavor to safeguard them, starting by advocating for them, and by attempting, irrespective of our circumstances, to embody what Havel did throughout his noble and impactful life: to once again infuse depth and meaning into concepts like love, friendship, compassion, humility, and forgiveness. To refuse to subsist within deceit. And to awaken the latent goodwill within our society.
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