Donald Trump has now been in office for almost a full working week.
The US President hasn’t waited long to stamp his authority.
And last night he dropped a bombshell mass late-night firing, sacking government officials and he threatened to pull funds from wildfire ravaged California.
He also got his Defence Secretary confirmed, despite fears that he his “dangerously unfit” for the post.
The Mirror has compiled a breakdown of all the off-the-rails decisions Trump made whilst us in the UK were asleep.
There’s even a bonus ‘Fake news of the day’…
1. Threatened to get rid of the national disaster emergency agency
Trump hinted – some would say threatened – to get rid of FEMA, the federal emergency agency that distributes aid to states struggling to cope with disasters.
The US president has been heavily critical of FEMA’s response in North Carolina, still reeling from the effects of September’s Hurricane Helene.
“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 astonishingly visited California and threatened to block relief support for the wildfire ravaged state.
He said he would remove vital aid 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
Another ‘yikes’ move saw Trump’s team test 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
Trump stripped security detail for 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.
“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
Trump let rip and axed 17 people late at night. Their job was 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
Trump’s press secretary launched a scathing attack on a movie all about the business tycoon.
Actor Sebastian Stan is being tipped to take home “best actor” 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.
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.
8.) Fake news of the day
The Twitter rumour mill has been on overdrive with people claiming Chris Hansen, American’s infamous TV peado 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, we can confirm that (so far) he has not. It’s entirely made up.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.