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Trump continues to shake up the state apparatus. What are his motives? Who will fall under the axe? Let’s break it down
The squeezing and slimming of the state apparatus — initiated by the chief vivisector of bloated budgets, Elon Musk, whom Democrats hysterically call a «Nazi» — is gaining momentum.
Recall: Donald Trump tapped Elon Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with the pragmatic goal of bringing «transparency» to the thorny issue of how federal agencies (departments) spend their budgets. Trump’s motives and those of his inner circle are clear. Shocking facts of misappropriation — or, in other words, outright embezzlement — have come to light.
Accountants at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found — as the neoliberal newspaper The Washington Post was forced to report — that «from 2018 to 2022, fraud losses in the United States will exceed $233 billion annually». In total, about 7% of all funds allocated by the Treasury during those years ended up in the pockets of unscrupulous bureaucrats and profiteers. Meanwhile, no audits were conducted.
As it turned out, writes WP, most of the government funds fell into the wrong hands during the noisy anti-COVID campaign (who would have thought!), enriching (it does happen!) the pharmaceutical mafia, better known as «Big Pharma». Miraculously, hundreds of billions of dollars disappear from the health insurance system every year.
Trump also bet on Musk because the high-tech businessman knows the value of every penny. According to the calculations of the richest person on the planet, «reducing the federal deficit from $2 trillion to $1 trillion in fiscal 2026 (which ends September 30) will require cutting spending by an average of $4 billion a day». If successful, Musk will pat himself on the back and claim that there will be no inflation next year.
The first steps have already been taken. In early February, at least 40,000 government employees accepted the Trump administration’s offer to leave «voluntarily» and receive their pay and eight months of benefits as severance. That’s good, but not nearly enough, according to the White House. Ideally, the federal bureaucracy should be reduced by at least 5%, or better yet, 10%, which would save around $100 billion and bring them closer to Musk’s coveted goal.
One particularly targeted institution in Trump’s orbit is the U.S. State Department. The plan is to cut about a tenth of its budget — about $5.7 billion. The idea is to close embassies and consulates abroad, specifically in Canada (8 offices), Mexico (10), Germany (7), and France (6).
Consistent in their mission to eradicate pseudo-teachings and degenerative dogmas, Trump’s administrators will eliminate from the State Department’s budget the expenses related to the green agenda and the promotion of «rainbow fluidity».
The State Department became one of the centers for sabotaging Trump’s foreign policy initiatives during his first term. No wonder he once referred to the diplomatic body as the «Deep State Department».
Now, the politician — known for being easily offended and holding grudges — has planned a rejuvenation of the State Department, with a focus on professionals who have nothing to do with the Washington bureaucratic «swamp» that Trump has repeatedly vowed to drain.
Musk’s emissaries, acting as auditors, are also preparing to comb through the books of what was once an untouchable and sacred cow: the Department of Defense. There are plans to write off obsolete tanks and armored personnel carriers, frigates and coastal ships, as well as early-generation drones that have lost their value. The sword of Damocles also hangs over the F-35 fifth-generation fighter, whose development, mass production and modernization is estimated at $485 billion, and of which only 200 out of 1,000 are ready to take to the skies — and even fewer are truly combat-ready.
According to leaks in the local press, the Pentagon is expected to save money by closing some of its overseas military bases (about 600 in all) and withdrawing the troops stationed there. It is likely that G.I. contingents in the Middle East and Europe will be sent home by Christmas or sooner. How can one not recall the 1971 hit song, «Bring the Boys Home», created during America’s war in Vietnam?
Turmoil is also expected within the intelligence community. Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Director of National Intelligence, does not hide her intention to thoroughly shake up the agencies involved in the illegal surveillance of American citizens and which have played a direct role in the domestic political disputes between Republicans and Democrats — on the side of the latter.
It is symbolic that in October 2020, Tulsi Gabbard, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a bill that would drop criminal charges against Edward Snowden, a former employee of the CIA and NSA who provided evidence that U.S. authorities wiretapped phone conversations, read correspondence and constantly monitored the private lives of citizens. Rumor has it that Trump, exercising his special presidential prerogative, may pardon Snowden.
Gabbard’s neo-globalist opponents have labeled her a «pro-Russian» politician. British intelligence has made it clear that it will not share information with her in her capacity as Director of National Intelligence. This undermines the trust underlying the «Five Eyes» intelligence community of the five Anglo-Saxon states — the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
After U.S. Vice President Jay D. Vance’s resounding bashing of European allies at the Munich Security Conference, we can expect the Deep State on both sides of the Atlantic to escalate its unbridled smear campaign and launch lawsuits against Trump, Vance, Gabbard, and Musk.
A federal lawsuit has just been filed against Donald Trump and Elon Musk by authorities from 14 Democratic-controlled states. The charge is that Elon Musk has not been formally appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to a public office, in violation of Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 «Appointments» of the U.S. Constitution. Musk has been labeled an «authorized agent of chaos» by his detractors.
Having recovered from the initial shock of the triumph of the Trumpist counter-elite, the neo-globalists are launching a counteroffensive. Under these conditions, does Elon Musk have the four months he set aside for dismantling the old state apparatus — or not? It’s hard to say.
But the half of America that elected Trump is on his side. The evidence? Tyler Durden, the lead journalist at ZeroHedge, assessing Musk’s mission, sums it up: «This is what draining the swamp looks like — the mandate the American people gave Trump».