Summary
Donald Trump’s transition team has been barred from accessing federal agencies due to delays in signing standard ethics and transparency agreements, leaving Cabinet nominees without access to classified or non-public data.
This standoff hampers preparation for national security, workforce, and budget issues as the administration readies for the January 20 inauguration.
Concerns include safeguarding against threats like conflicts abroad and domestic crises, such as avian flu.
The delays also risk derailing nominee confirmations, with scrutiny over FBI background checks and controversies involving key picks like Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz.
If I was in Trump’s orbit I’d be using him as a gravity slingshot to get my own desires considered. Just throw ideas at him that I know he’d consider because I worded it in a way that he likes, or better yet led him on so he believes he had the idea first.
Basically, Trump is a showman, a frontman, not the main man. He’s just bigger than life and casts a long shadow where the real demons can lay.
I’m sure that’s what most are doing. I’d even say that for most of Project 2025. That’s a conservative wishlist and I don’t see how Trump cares either way about most of it, but the people he’s putting in position clearly do. As long as they are “loyal” to Trump they can get pursue own agenda. As long as Trump remans center of attention and gets personal gain he’s probably good with whatever they want
That’s effectively my assessment. I’ve never viewed Trump as the main threat. He’s just the mouth and head and while he might bite, it’s so very often based on the whim of the body and the whispers of those nearby. That said, if a natural passing took him tonight we’d see a lot of what has been built crumble. My worry is he’ll end up being like that Grandma who smoked for 50 years and died in her sleep: Largely immune to his life of imbalance, greed, and gluttony, and able to live long enough to properly pass the torch. Cause make no mistake, if he passed in a way that was unquestionably natural, we’d quickly see rifts form.
That’s just it too. If you want any strategy to combat the next two years it’ll be through the undermining of the various subtle factions in the MAGA and GOP. It’s already there, we just gotta poke it in the correct spots to send up sparks in the right places.