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8 totally jaw-dropping issues Donald Trump did on his fifth day again within the White House

It’s taken almost an entire working week for Donald Trump to do a mass late-night firing.

But it couldn’t last forever – and last night’s late night firing could prove to be particularly significant, if Trump’s plans are as devious as people fear.

Meanwhile, the US President threatened to withhold assistance from a disaster zone unless they change the law to benefit Republicans.

And he got his Defence Secretary confirmed, despite him being branded “dangerously unfit” for the role.

Here’s all the off-the-rails things Donald Trump did while you were asleep – that you need to know today.

And if you make it to the end – you get a bonus ‘Fake news of the day’…

1. Threatened to get rid of the national disaster emergency agency

Visiting storm-ravaged areas of North Carolina, Trump hinted – some would say threatened – to get rid of FEMA, the federal emergency agency that distributes aid and offers assistance to states in dealing with disasters like this one.

Trump has been heavily critical of FEMA’s response in North Carolina, still reeling from the effects of September’s Hurricane Helene.

And yesterday he mused about scrapping it altogether.

“FEMA has turned out to be a disaster,” Trump said. “I think we recommend that FEMA go away.”

It’s led many to suspect Trump wants to scrap national disaster response so he can hold assistance to ransom for Democrat-leaning states.

States like…California.

2. Attached political conditions to California wildfire relief

Trump also visited California and threatened to withhold support for the state unless they implement strict voter ID laws which are generally thought to benefit the Republican Party.

He openly attached political conditions to the release of more assistance to the wildfire-hit blue state – where 10,000 buildings were destroyed leaving residents homeless, and 30 were killed.

“I want voter ID for the people of California, and they all want it right now,” he told reporters.

“You don’t have voter ID. People want to have voter identification. You want to have proof of citizenship. Ideally, you have one day voting. But I just want voter ID as a start…and they’re going to get a lot of help from the US.”

3. Became the world’s most troubling spammer

In another ‘yikes’ move that the White House isn’t commenting on, Trump’s team tested a system to allow them to email several million government employees all at once.

The test email, which looked very much like a phishing attempt to many who received it, required employees to reply “Yes” to confirm they had received it.

It reminded some people of an email Elon Musk sent to all Twitter employees after he bought the company – with fears growing that Trump might let the erratic tech billionaire fire millions of people all at once.

The 2022 email, sent to all existing Twitter staff, said they would need “to be extremely hardcore,” work “long hours at high intensity,” to work under him – and that only “exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”

The employees also had to click “yes” on a document to confirm that they wanted to keep working at the company.

4. Removed security guards from his at-risk political enemies

Imagine senior politicians had spent the last four years saying Chris Whitty was a “disaster”, an “idiot”, and responsible for a cover-up over the true source of Covid-19. Imagine senior politicians had said Whitty “belongs in prison” and “isn’t a real doctor”.

And then imagine he’d received credible threats to his life as a clear result of this rhetoric.

That’s what happened to Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s Covid advisor during the pandemic.

Fearing he could be pursued by Trump in political prosecutions, Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned Dr Fauci 20 minutes before he left office.







Trump and Dr Anthony Fauci
(
AFP via Getty Images)

“There have been everything from harassments by emails, texts, letters, of myself, my wife, my three daughters,” he told the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic last Summer.

“There have been credible death threats leading to the arrests of two individuals, and ‘credible death threats’ means someone who clearly was on his way to kill me. It’s required my having protective services essentially all the time.”

Dr Fauci has, not unreasonably, had a security detail provided by the US Government since the pandemic.

Trump cancelled it yesterday, along with security granted to former National Security Advisor John Bolton, with whom Trump also fell out very publicly.

“They all made a lot of money,” Trump said. “They can hire their own security, too.”

Asked how he would feel if Dr Fauci came to harm, Trump said: “I would not take responsibility.”

5. Went on a late-night firing spree of government watchdogs

In more news of things an incoming dictator definitely wouldn’t do, Trump fired 17 people late at night, whose job it is to prevent fraud, abuse and misconduct in public office.

He sacked 17 inspectors general from various departments.

Senator Elizabeth Warren warned in a statement that Trump was “dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”

6. Got a Fox News host confirmed as his Defence Secretary…by one vote

Pete Hegseth, a man previously most famous for nearly accidentally killing a marching band drummer with an axe live on TV, is now the US Secretary of Defence.

Hegseth, who until now has been a morning weekend host on Fox News, has been described as “so uniquely unqualified” and “dangerously unfit” to lead America’s military.

Republicans voted to confirm the appointment by 51 votes to 49. Just two Republicans voted against.

7. Trump’s press secretary had a wild response to a movie about Trump

Actor Sebastian Stan got a ‘best actor’ nod at the Oscars for his portrayal of Donald Trump in the movie “The Apprentice” – which charts his younger years and the guidance he received from notorious lawyer Roy Cohn.

Jeremy Strong also got a nod for his portrayal of Cohn – and quite right too, he was brilliant in it.

To say Trump’s Press Secretary holds a different view is something of an understatement.

Asked about the nominations on Air Force One, Karoline Leavitt told reporters…ahem: “That movie is trash…It belongs in a dumpster fire. It does not deserve an Oscar. Lots of fake news in that movie. And that’s all I’ll say about that.”

Tell us what the President really thinks, Karoline.

8. Bigged up himself based on very little

Travelling press on the same trip were handed a document hailing not Trump’s first 100 days, but his first 100 hours.

The lengthy document largely lists the executive orders Trump has signed – few of which have actually taken effect yet, and still less have had any impact on anything.

It includes a string of gushing quotes about how great Trump is from industry groups and CEOs – the majority of whom, you’ll be stunned to learn, are Republican donors.

Fake news of the day

Some people on Twitter have been claiming Chris Hansen, America’s infamous TV paedophile hunter, has been hired by the Trump administration to go after child molesters at the Mexican border.

While it sounds entirely like something Trump would do, I can confirm that (so far) he has not. It’s entirely made up.

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