Donald Trump’s 12th day back in the White House was marked by some of the most alarming – and potentially unlawful – actions taken by a president in recent history.
And also a couple of things that were just plain daft.
He took his biggest risk yet with the economy, imposing hefty tariffs on goods from three major trading partners. And the stock market did not take kindly to it at all.
And he drained a couple of reservoirs for no apparent reason, risking immediate flooding and future droughts for farmers.
Meanwhile, he began to oust those who investigated him for his literal crimes from the FBI, reports the Mirror.
And he seemingly continues to allow his mate Elon Musk and his henchmen to take control of highly sensitive parts of the US Government and do as they please with them.
We’ve reached the “find out” phase of Trump’s shock and awe strategy – here’s what you need to know.
1. Sent the stock market into a tailspin after confirming tariffs on Canada, Mexico and Canada.
Trump confirmed last night that tariffs of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on goods with China would kick in today. Even crude oil imports from Canada – which makeup a significant portion of America’s supply – will have a 10% tariff slapped on them.
Trump was largely elected on promises to make goods cheaper for Americans. This is unlikely to help with that.
2. Ousted people who investigated him from the FBI.
As the night progressed, it was revealed that around 20 senior FBI chiefs of field offices – including those in Miami and Washington DC who probed Trump – were instructed to step down or retire.
Many of these individuals are in roles where they can only be dismissed for “cause” – meaning, if they’ve committed a significant error. The legality of this mass dismissal is highly dubious.
NBC News reported that the acting FBI director confirmed in a staff memo last night that he’s been directed by the Department of Justice to terminate eight FBI executives and provide the names of all employees involved in the January 6th cases.
3. Give Elon Musk free rein.
A high-ranking Treasury official was ousted from his position this week after denying Elon Musk access to the US government’s payment system.
David Lebreyk resisted pressure from Musk’s henchmen before announcing his resignation after a 35-year tenure at the department, as per the New York Times.
The system Musk seeks access to handles billions of government payments – encompassing staff wages, pensions, and contractors.
Musk reportedly wants to scrutinise the system for “fraud and abuse”, alleging that the government is funnelling money to fraudsters or non-existent individuals.
However, it holds sensitive personal information about millions of Americans, along with financial details of businesses.
And that’s not the end of his antics.
Reports have emerged that Musk’s appointees, tasked with overseeing the government’s HR system, have allegedly locked civil servants out of computer systems holding personal data on millions of Americans.
Top brass at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have reportedly been stripped of their access to certain departmental data systems.
These include the Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which stores sensitive information such as dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades, and service durations of government employees.
Reuters has disclosed that on the day of Trump’s inauguration, allies of Musk took positions within OPM, even setting up sofa beds to facilitate round-the-clock work.
In a separate report, Wired has detailed how Musk’s team has assumed control of the Government Services Administration (GSA), responsible for managing government offices and technology.
The group is allegedly “attempting to use White House security credentials to gain unusual access to GSA tech, deploying a suite of new AI software, and recreating the office in X’s image.”
Such changes could, it’s feared, enable Musk to remotely access laptops and scrutinise individuals’ emails.
A GSA employee expressed concerns to Wired, stating: “I believe these people do not want to help the federal government provide services to the American people. They are acting like this is a takeover of a tech company.”
All of this is presented as perfectly normal, yet it’s anything but reassuring.
4. Admitted it could take months to end the Ukraine war.
Before taking office, Trump famously vowed to swiftly resolve the conflict in Ukraine. However, his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, has significantly tempered expectations.
He remarked: “I would like to say it’s months, and it’s not years. I would like to think that we could have something in the short term…I’d like to see it count down from 100 days back…this is all in the realm of the doable.”
5. Emptied a bunch of reservoirs for no reason
Trump has shown an almost obsessive belief that someone in California is deliberately not using available water to extinguish wildfires.
Despite the fact that the fires have now been extinguished, Trump’s administration appeared to take drastic action last night.
Under what seemed to be directives from Trump’s White House, operators opened dams, draining two Californian reservoirs.
The issue?
Neither of these reservoirs leads to Los Angeles, which is 200 miles away from where the fires were raging.
This has resulted in the wastage of billions of gallons of water previously conserved for farmers’ summer use, and it has also created a potential flooding hazard for nearby communities.
A past official warned Politico about the dangers, stating: “Dumping the water from Lake Kaweah and Success Lake poses a flood risk to downstream communities…It also reduces the amount of irrigation water available to farmers during the driest months of the year.”
Nonetheless, Trump described the action as “beautiful”.
6. Demanded journalists hand over materials to pursue a feud with Kamala Harris
In another contentious move, Trump has demanded that journalists surrender materials in a bid to escalate a personal dispute with Kamala Harris.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a firm request to CBS News last night, asking for unedited transcripts and tapes of an interview with Kamala Harris prior to the election an interview President Trump insists was doctored to favour her.
CBS has acknowledged their obligation to the demand, with media expert Brian Stelter noting “we are working to comply with that inquiry as we are legally compelled to do”. As a holder of a broadcasting licence, CBS must adhere to “reasonable requests” from the FCC.
7. Erasing scientific data from public domain.
Under directives from the Trump administration, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) started removing scientific research and data from its official website.
The organisation’s site notes compliance with Trump’s executive mandates concerning diversity and transgender issues, which led to the omission of the data.
In line with these orders, the agency has been purging references to “gender”, substituting it with “sex.”
This expunged content includes nearly two decades’ worth of CDC monitoring records on HIV, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis, The Atlantic reports.
8. Awarding shares valued $800k to preferred candidates for top jobs.
Trump Media Inc, the company behind Truth Social facing financial deficits, awarded approximately $800,000 in shares to Kash Patel and Linda McMahon Trump’s favoured nominees for FBI director and leader (whilst also intending to dismantle) the Education Department, respectively. Patel, once a part of Trump’s team, is lined up for the FBI position, while McMahon, previously associated with wrestling, is chosen for the Education Department’s helm.
Trump Media referred to the contributions in the documents as “consideration for services provided”.
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