Almost from the moment Donald Trump won the presidential election, Americans witnessed him emerge as one of the most publicly active incoming presidents in memory.
Supporters and critics alike can’t help but notice the wide-ranging impact of the ‘Trump Effect,’ as it ripples across all facets of American life and even extends to many parts of the world.
Even before his inauguration, Trump’s influence has begun reshaping key institutions and policies, signaling that a dramatic transformation of the American political landscape is underway.
This phenomenon was vividly demonstrated during this month’s fierce budget battles in Congress, where a bloated 1,600-page budget was pared down—under significant pressure from Trump and GOP colleagues—to a streamlined 120-page document. This extraordinary feat, accomplished in just 24 hours, was projected to save the government billions of dollars.
As the budget debacle was playing out, GOP Rep. Mike Johnson won another term as Speaker of the House, only after Trump began calling “holdout” Republicans and convinced them to switch their votes and support Johnson. All except one complied.
Biden Administration’s Censorship Office Shut Down
One of the fascinating side stories of the budget war was how the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, GEC—a euphemism for the Biden Administration’s “censorship office” –was shuttered, after Congress refused to reauthorize funding for it.
This resulted in an astounding $61 million in annual savings as the House Weaponization Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, defunded an office that despite its massive budget, included a staff of only 120 people.
Although Democrats claim the office protected America from foreign disinformation and propaganda from Iran, Russia, and China, the GEC is most well-known for its pandemic censorship operations targeting Americans.
The GEC came under fire from Republicans, wrote the NY Post, after journalist Matt Taibbi uncovered evidence that the agency coordinated a vast censorship enterprise that pressured U.S. social media platforms during the pandemic to censor Americans online, under the pretext of countering “disinformation.”
Disinformation became a derogatory umbrella term trashing all theories that challenged the establishment narrative, including the belief that the virus leaked out of a laboratory in China. This scientific opinion, once scorned as a conspiracy theory, is now widely embraced across the political spectrum.
The catch-all slur of “disinformation” was also hurled at social media users who dared express questions or doubts about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
“We learned that Twitter, Facebook, Google and other companies developed a formal system in coordination with the government for taking in censorship ‘requests’ from every corner of the administration; the FBI, DHS, HHS, DOD, the Global Engagement Center at State, even the CIA,” Taibbi testified to Congress in March 2023.
“This is an entity that is funded to censor conservatives,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said of the GEC during last week’s budget debate. “We should not allow any of this stuff.”
Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter in 2022 over free speech concerns, has described the GEC as the “worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation.”
As a prime example of the GEC going after conservative news media, the Washington Examiner uncovered a $100,000 grant GEC made to the Global Disinformation Index in 2021 and 2022. This was a media-monitoring agency that ultimately disqualified 10 news outlets, including The NY Post, Fox News and Newsmax, as purveyors of “disinformation.”
Countermanding Congress, State Dept. to Open Disinformation Office Under New Name
Although the GEC office officially ceased operations on Dec. 23, a State Department memo has come to light that reveals the Biden administration plans to counter the closure of the GEC by shifting 51 employees and some of the agency’s funding to a proposed new office.
The new agency is called “Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub,” reports the Washington Examiner. This information came in a non-public letter from the State Department to Congressional lawmakers prior to the new budget cuts that deprived the GEC of funding
Some GOP congressmen are concerned that the new office is the old agency under a different name, and will covertly continue its censorship operations under the radar. If true, this serves as a striking example of how deep state power brokers advance their own agendas in direct defiance of Congress.
The plan to establish a new “information manipulation” hub at the State Department is expected to trigger congressional investigations, the Washington Examiner said.
“Donald Trump and [Secretary of State-appointee] Marco Rubio are going to have to track every single office, down to every single staffer, if they want to end the weaponization of the federal government against conservatives,” the article quoted a senior GOP aide as saying.
DEI On Chopping Block
Another Biden Administration cherished project consigned to the chopping block under the incoming Trump team is the DEI mania that has infiltrated all spheres of American life.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a racist ideology favoring minorities, women and individuals practicing deviant lifestyles that was launched under former President Obama, and morphed under Joe Biden into a multibillion-dollar DEI industrial complex.
DOJ reportedly spent over $100M on DEI education programs over the last four years, according to multiple news sources.
The Parents Defending Education (PDE), a watchdog group, released its findings last month, revealing that between 2021 and 2024, the DOJ distributed $100,113,942 in grants to over 900 school districts across 36 states that could prove they implemented a DEI agenda.
A typical DEI agenda requires potential candidates to declare how they intend to embed DEI’s “social-justice” philosophy into their teaching style.
Along with a resumé, cover letter and references, a candidate would have to submit a page-long Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement, explaining how he/she intended to bring DEI principles into their sphere of responsibility.
Over time, DEI statements have become mandatory for student admission, employee recruitment and faculty promotion.
In these institutions bursting with discriminatory practices, merit counts for almost nothing and is often a liability, whereas race or membership in a minority group is the ticket to preferential treatment and career advancement. These outlandish and discriminatory policies are justified as a legitimate means of rectifying “systemic” racism.
In some schools railroaded by DEI regulations to achieve “equity,” performance outcomes have to be the same, even if students’ grades need to be inflated or deflated to accomplish this.
According to DEI’s notion of “equity,” meaning sameness of outcome, “Harvard is almost there,” wrote attorney Jeff Childers. “In 2020-2021, 80% of all student grades were A’s, according to an October article in the Harvard Crimson.” Surely an institution of geniuses.
Orwellian DEI practices that defy all notions of common sense have proven disastrous to many businesses and professions. Widespread public rejection of DEI’s underlying racist ideology has led many corporations—most recently the Walmart and McDonalds chains—to abandon DEI commitments in favor of keeping their companies or corporations afloat.
Others such as Costco have insisted on retaining DEI requirements in hiring and promotions.
“Under the incoming Trump administration, this pillar of the Obama Era is almost sure to buckle under constitutional challenges and civil rights lawsuits,” wrote the NY Post.
Tracing the toxic legacy of former President Obama, the article described other key policies of his administration that spawned the massive cancel culture and crushing of dissent that has infected Democratic and liberal ranks.
Quoting the New York Times, the writer described how the Obama White House “perfected” the deceptive strategy of “using left-wing elites to sell false narratives to mainstream news about topics like the deeply harmful Iranian nuclear deal.” He then sought to quell public dissent aimed at exposing its flaws.
‘Draining The Swamp’
Many of Trump’s appointees were chosen for their strong ideological opposition to the prevailing left-wing political culture with its undermining of First Amendment rights. In one of his latest appointments, President-elect Trump chose long-time California lawyer Harmeet Dhillon to head the DOJ’s civil rights division.
“If you wanted to pick the most extreme possible attorney to put in charge of the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department to reverse DEI,” wealthy tech entrepreneur and Trump advisor Marc Andereesen noted on his podcast, “it would be this California lawyer Harmeet Dhillon.”
Dhillon for years has been suing government entities and corporations over woke policies and vaccine mandates that she says violate constitutionally protected civil liberties. Soon she will occupy one of the most influential legal posts in the country.
Many of Trump’s appointees are loyalists such as Kash Patel, chosen to lead the FBI, who share his view about the need to “drain the swamp” –an expression coined by Trump during his first presidential campaign. Over time, “drain the swamp” became a rallying cry to attack entrenched power structures in Congress, the media, and federal agencies.
In a story about Trump shattering “legislative norms” with his flurry of appointments long before Inauguration Day, the New York Times observed that “Trump Moves to Replace Officials Whom New Presidents Traditionally Leave Alone.”
The sub-headline explained that “Congress devised some positions to stay on during changes in administrations. But Donald Trump has declared his intent to replace at least three.”
Based on the list of Trump’s most recent appointments, it’s obvious the president-elect has no intention of limiting his “replacements” to just three. That was perhaps the mistake he made in his previous term in office.
The main goal today, insiders say, is to recruit as many loyal and reliable people as needed to fill hundreds of federal agency positions two and three layers deep in the federal government, where hidden levers of power often reside.
‘Red’ States Moving Agendas Further Right?
As if forewarning its far-left readers to brace themselves for seismic changes, Washington Post ran a doom-and-gloom story headlined, “Energized by next Trump Term, red states move agendas further right.”
“Governors, legislators and attorneys general are readying plans for an onslaught of conservative policies coming to many state legislatures and Washington,” the article cautioned.
“Red state leaders, emboldened by Donald Trump’s presidential victory, are not waiting for him to take office to advance far more conservative agendas in their home territories,” the article continued. It went on to detail the rash of legislation pending in red states such as Idaho, Arkansas, Texas and Florida, all of which gathered steam during the recent election.
In Idaho, a bill would let teachers carry handguns, and let parents sue school districts over obscene and deviant literature in libraries. In Arkansas, a bill would permit police to arrest pharma executives for vaccine injuries if they failed to warn users of the potential risks and harms of vaccines.
Texas, in turn, is mulling a host of potential new laws making life hard for illegals loitering in the state, including cutting off various benefits and granting police more legal tools, the article said.
As for Florida, Governor DeSantis has declared his intent to continue regularly busing illegals from the Sunshine State to sanctuary cities in Massachusetts and California, and has requested another $5 million in the budget to accommodate this plan.
The article pointed out that there are now 27 states run by Republican governors. In 23 of them, Republicans also control both legislative chambers.
That daunting political leverage, combined with full Republican control of the federal government, is sure to precipitate what left-wing media fear is an onslaught capable of shattering the status quo and bringing about real change.
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Military Madness
Like all other American spheres of life, the U.S. Military has been infiltrated by left-wing DEI ideology and racist policies. If Donald Trump has his way, those practices will soon be abolished.
In November 2023, the Department of Defense planned to spend nearly $270 million on DEI initiatives between 2022- 2024, the Daily Wire reported.
“Newly released documents, first obtained by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI), highlight the extent of the Pentagon’s efforts to embed leftwing, race-based ideology in the military, in partnership with consulting firms,” the article said.
Millions of taxpayer dollars were allocated to these firms tasked with establishing hiring practices for the armed forces that prioritized candidates based on race and gender as opposed to merit and competence. In line with DEI imperatives, “women of color” were shown preferential treatment over both white women and men.
Such policies, especially in the military, highlight the extremes to which progressive left-wing lunacy has hijacked the country.
The results have been predictable. The Congressional Research Service, the Congressional Budget Office, and Heritage Foundation’s annual Military Power Index have all reported on the U.S. military’s recruitment shortages and declining readiness for military confrontation.
President-elect Trump has pledged not only to eliminate DEI from the Armed Forces. He’s instructed his staff to prepare a sweeping Executive Order for him to sign on the first day of his new administration banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles from the military.
Many will recall Trump had similar ambitions during his first term in office. Yet DEI’s well-funded initiatives were deeply embedded, thanks to the previous mandates of the Obama Era. Pentagon intrigues and State Department machinations undermined Trump’s efforts and the embrace of DEI initiatives continued.
The difference this time, Trump supporters note, lies in Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, who shares the president-elect’s focused determination to eliminate DEI from the military and consign it to the dustbin of history.
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Taking Aim At ICC
Donald Trump plans to implement crippling sanctions against the International Criminal Court in The Hague immediately after taking office, informed sources disclosed to Israel Hayom. These executive orders could be issued as early as Jan. 21.
The sanctions package will target both individual ICC personnel, including judges and prosecutors, and the Court as a whole, the article said. These measures are necessary after the ICC, which has no jurisdiction over Israel (or the United States) illegally issued bogus arrest warrants targeting Israeli leaders.
The administration intends to classify the ICC as an organization threatening U.S. interests by employing “designation” procedures similar to those used by the State Department for terrorist organizations globally.
This designation will trigger severe restrictions on anyone involved with the ICC’s operations.
Financial institutions worldwide will be required to sever relationships with ICC personnel or face U.S. sanctions themselves.
Lifting a page from the Biden administration’s playbook in its outrageous sanctioning of Israeli citizens, the Trump administration will penalize ICC staff by freezing their banking operations and credit cards. Exceptions will be allowed only for essential needs such as food and medicine.
In addition, all U.S.-based assets belonging to ICC employees and the institution will be frozen.
The incoming administration plans to secure commitments from U.S. allies to reject cooperation with the criminal warrants targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Taken together, these measures aim to exert intolerable pressure on the court to withdraw the warrants.
Trump administration officials consider the arrest warrants against Israeli leaders a direct threat to U.S. national security in that they set a dangerous precedent. The United States could be similarly targeted by the ICC, putting U.S. officials and military command at the mercy of a criminal institution masquerading as a court.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who will lead the Senate Intelligence Committee starting this week, dismissed the ICC as a “kangaroo court” and lead prosecutor Karim Khan is “a deranged zealot.”
“Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these lawless warrants,” Sen. Cotton said. “Let me give everyone a friendly reminder: The U.S. law on ICC is known as the ‘Hague Invasion Act,’ and there’s a reason for that. Think about it.”
The Hague Invasion Act, passed in 2002, gives the U.S. president power to use “all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by or at the request of the International Criminal Court.”
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Iran In Trump’s Crosshairs
President-elect Donald Trump’s team plans to increase sanctions on Iran as part of an aggressive effort to downgrade its support for terrorist groups in the Middle East. Trump is also weighing options, including airstrikes, to force Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program.
“From worsening social unrest to its allies’ military collapse, Tehran is bracing for what could be a very difficult year,” wrote the WSJ.
Tehran’s corrupt leadership, hobbled by an acute economic crisis at home, raging unpopularity among Iranians and setbacks in the Middle East, still threatens Washington’s allies and partners, especially Israel.
