How Trump's using 'instruments of revenge' to target 'enemy from within': analysis

11 February

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump railed against "the enemy from within" — a concept he uses to attack not only Democrats, but also, Never Trump conservatives on the right.

Many of Trump's critics called out that rhetoric as dangerous, arguing that he doesn't view those who have disagreements with him as the loyal opposition, but as flat-out enemies. Harvard University professor Steven Levitsky told ABC News, "It's really classic authoritarian discourse."

The New York Times' Thomas Edsall, in an opinion column published by on February 11, lays out some ways in which Trump — now back in the White House — is using his presidential powers against those he considers "the enemy from within."

"Trump's success in demonizing liberals and Democrats — casting the left as a grave threat to a substantial segment of the electorate — has proved crucial to his decision to turn regulatory and prosecutorial power into an instruments of revenge," Edsall explains. "The threat posed by 'the enemy from within' has proved to be the key mobilizing concept underpinning the MAGA movement and the intellectual structure that hard-right conservatives have pieced together to provide the means of attack."

Edsall continues, "The enemy, in this paradigm, is Democrats, liberals and everyone left of center, expanding beyond ideology to encompass huge swaths of the federal government and of the immigrant population, legal and illegal. The theme of the enemy resonated on the right in the wake of Trump's defeat in 2020."

Trump's determination to punish "the enemy from within," Edsall argues, is evident in his attacks on federal government workers, immigrants, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)."

According to Edsall, the "enemy from within" mindset is embraced not only by Trump himself, but also, by key allies such as Russel Vought — a Project 2025 architect who now heads the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) — and billionaire Tesla/SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who now heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

"Federal judges have begun to intervene, but the Trump-Musk-Vought rampage has already inflicted damage and spread pervasive fear throughout the executive branch," Edsall observes. "It is not clear whether the six conservatives on the Supreme Court will back the orders and rulings that seek to restrain the Trump Administration, almost all of which are temporary or give Trump free rein to continue his assault instead."

Ed Edsall's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).

From Your Site Articles