Donald Trump Revs Up His Revenge Goons

FBI agents carrying out a raid at the home of former National Security Adviser John Bolton on Friday in Bethesda, Maryland. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Toward the end of The Godfather, Michael Corleone, who has risen to become the head of the crime family his father built, orders the assassinations of the heads of rival mobs—brutal murders that occur as he attends the baptism of his sister’s baby. Also on his hit list is his sister’s husband, Carlo, who has betrayed the family. Before one of Michael’s lieutenants garrotes Carlo, Michael tells him, “Today I settle all family business.”

In his second stint as president, Donald Trump has taken the same mob boss stance: settling scores with his perceived enemies. Since returning to the White House he has been on vengeance spree. He removed security details from former government officials who criticized him. He has launched or encouraged the initiation of sham investigations of former President Barack Obama, former CIA chief John Brennan, former FBI chief Jim Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former special counsel Jack Smith, and others—for having dared to investigate his 2016 campaign’s contacts with Russia (as Moscow attacked the election to assist Trump) or his attempt to steal the 2020 election.

Trump and Tulsi Gabbard, his national director of intelligence, have yanked the security clearances of dozens of current and former national security officers, some who were involved in crafting the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia assaulted the 2016 campaign to help Trump, some who signed a letter in 2020 warning that stories on Hunter Biden’s laptop could be advancing Russian disinformation (which they were). Several intelligence analysts who had worked on Russia were dismissed.

At the FBI, Director Kash Patel, a Trump toady, has fired veteran agents who were involved in the Russia and January 6 probes. The Justice Department has fired prosecutors who worked on the Capitol riot criminal cases. It is investigating two Trump antagonists—Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James—for alleged mortgage fraud. (Apparently, no Republican legislator or state official is being probed for this.)

Trump also has gone after news organizations that have covered him critically and law firms that have ties to his political rivals. 

And it’s not just a matter of settling old grudges. Trump has shitcanned current officials who challenged his pronouncements. This includes the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (which released figures showing a low level of job creation) and the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency (which produced an assessment that questioned whether Trump’s attack on Iran's nuclear facilities was a total success). Most recently, the FBI raided the home and office of John Bolton, who was Trump’s second national security adviser during his first presidency and who then became an ardent Trump critic.

The above is a partial recap. (Don’t forget Trump in 2023 suggested that Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had opposed Trump on various policy matters, deserved to be executed.) None of this unexpected. For as I have been saying for almost a decade, Trump is obsessed with retribution. In fact, if one were to list his psychological motivations, the top three probably would be revenge, revenge, and revenge. Perhaps more so than money and greed—though it’s a close competition.

During the 2016 campaign, I watched videos of speeches that Trump had delivered in the years before he entered politics on the keys to his success. He had a line he often repeated that went like this: I’m going to tell you the primary rule of business that business schools and successful execs won’t tell you—if someone screws you, you must screw them back harder. Here’s one example from a 2007 speech:

It’s called “Get Even.” Get even. This isn’t your typical business speech. Get even. What this is a real business speech. You know in all fairness to Wharton, I love ’em, but they teach you some stuff that’s a lot of bullshit. When you’re in business, you get even with people that screw you. And you screw them 15 times harder. And the reason is, the reason is, the reason is, not only, not only, because of the person that you’re after, but other people watch what’s happening. Other people see you or see you or see and they see how you react.

Trump repeated this advice to crowds of thousands who paid good money to get the inside dope on how to become fabulously wealthy. (At least, it was cheaper than enrolling in Trump University!)

After reviewing a load of these appearances, I wrote an article headlined, “Trump Is Completely Obsessed with Revenge.” I noted that revenge was “embedded in his DNA” and that his “favorite form of revenge is escalation—upping the ante, screwing ’em more than they screwed you.” And I observed that “constantly behaving vengefully is hardly a positive attribute” for a president. Unfortunately, this was a point that largely went uncovered during the circus of the 2016 campaign. In the years since, I have updated that piece again and again and again—including recently in this newsletter. (See here and here.)

Yet this pathological aspect of Trump’s personality has not fully registered with the electorate. He presents as a tough guy. But a close look reveals he’s full of rage and resentment and seethes with that desire to get even and destroy his presumed foes. Is the cause his childhood, during which he was tormented by his tyrannical father? Does this stem from the initial refusal of the Manhattan elite to welcome into its ranks this brash and obnoxious self-promoter from Queens? Whatever the reason, Trump has repeatedly displayed this twisted nature of his soul. And as the GOP has become a cult, it has embraced this fundamental—and very un-Christian—feature.

Trumpian revenge has become a rallying cry for all of MAGA. And his disciples have not been shy about this mission. In a 2023 book, Patel presented a list of the Deep State denizens that deserved investigation. It was a long roster of 60 names, including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Merrick Garland, Brennan, Clapper, Comey, as well as Republicans Bill Barr and Rod Rosenstein, who together ran the Justice Department in the first Trump administration. (Barr did much to undercut the Russia investigation and undermine special counsel Robert Mueller, but he did not go along with Trump’s plot to steal the 2020 election.) Many on the list have already been targeted by the Trump gang.

Bolton was one of the so-called Deep Staters that Patel marked for revenge. And for Patel, it was personal. In his book, Patel recounts that when Trump wanted to hire Patel for the National Security Council staff, Bolton initially blocked the move. But Bolton was forced to concede and give Patel a job. Patel considered the position Bolton offered beneath him. He took it anyway and eventually gained the post he wanted—though, he claims, Bolton’s people kept trying to sabotage him.

Clearly, Patel has his own beef with Bolton. It was absurd to appoint an FBI director with a hit list. (Patel notes in his book that his Deep State roster only covers past or present officials in the executive branch; the full list includes reporters, consultants, and members of Congress. Thus, the enemies in his sights must be in the triple digits.) And it was wrong for Patel to approve the investigation of Bolton, a personal nemesis of his, for alleged mishandling of classified information—an inquiry that led to this raid. Patel ought to have recused himself from any probe related to Bolton. Yet that would have diminished his usefulness to Trump, for his job as FBI director is to extract vengeance for Trump.

In February 2024, Trump said, “I don’t care about the revenge thing…My revenge will be success.” That was a lie. Yes, one of many for Trump. But it’s a falsehood that illuminates his essence. He lusts for vengeance. He always has. And the success he has had on this front in only seven months in office is a warning that he will go much further. He must have his own list of all who have slighted or attempted to thwart him. And Trump is working his way through that call sheet. He will not stop on his own accord. As he gets away with each brazen act of revenge, he is emboldened and encouraged to continue his get-even crusade. I imagine other Democratic officials will be targeted, as will additional news organizations and, eventually, specific journalists.

Who else? Donors who have stiffed him? Business competitors who bested him in deals? If you can imagine a particular person who might be a target, I am sure Trump has already etched that name on the slate. Trump, with the expanding power he is grabbing through assorted authoritarian measures, is bolstering his ability to make his past or present foes pay for their transgressions. He will use the FBI, the IRS, the CIA, the NSA, ICE, and perhaps the military to nail his adversaries.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump exclaimed to supporters, “I am your retribution.” That was bullshit. He is his own retribution. It’s about him. In the Godfather, when Michael Corleone volunteers to kill a mob rival and a crooked police captain, he tells his brother Sonny, “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.” For Trump, it’s not business; it’s strictly personal. When Trump was merely a reality TV celebrity, his braying about revenge was harmless. It was a schtick. Now that he is abusing the powers of the federal government to fulfill his revenge fantasies, we can see institutional guardrails crumbling. His revenge-a-thon may only be starting.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland.corn@gmail.com.

Perhaps literally… We at Our Land World Headquarters much appreciate the hard work put in by the team that produces this newsletter (usually) twice a week. There’s much heavy lifting involved, and it takes a whole squad to keep our pneumatic tube system operating. To honor Labor Day, they all get a break. (It’s also in their union contract). So we’ll see you later next week. Enjoy the last days of this summer of discontent.

The investigation and raid of Bolton is likely connected, in part, to the book he wrote about his tenure as Trump’s national security adviser, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir. In this account, Bolton shared a blistering appraisal of his onetime boss. Trump, he wrote, “second-guessed people’s motives, saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.” He alleged that Trump was more attuned to “reality TV showmanship” than policy and the obligations of the job. He also reported that during a G-20 summit in June 2019, Trump pleaded with Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win reelection. America First, right?

The book was loaded with what once would have been considered scandalous material. But perhaps the worst Trump conduct Bolton disclosed occurred during that same summit:

At the opening dinner of the Osaka G20 meeting, with only interpreters present, Xi explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang [for the Uighurs]. According to our interpreter, Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which he thought was exactly the right thing to do.

In Bolton’s 579-page-long book, these two sentences stand out: A US president gives the greenlight to concentration camps. Yet the matter received limited attention in the media before getting lost, like most Trump outrages, in the wash. And these days Trump is getting away with building his own gulags in the United States.

Since I’ve been traveling this month and publishing this newsletter on a laxer schedule, the judges have allowed me to expand the chronological parameters of the contest. So we have lots of contestants for this installment.

Let’s start with a rather dumb comment from the guy who once said he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Posting about his obviously unsuccessful summit in Alaska with Russian war criminal Vladimir Putin, Trump remarked, “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”

Here was yet another sign of Trump’s profound ignorance. An immediate ceasefire in any war will save lives, and a ceasefire can set the table for a peace accord, which often takes a while to negotiate. It is idiotic to suggest that putting aside a ceasefire will lead to a faster resolution of a military conflict.

As we’ve have seen in recent days, the Trump-Putin shindig that produced no ceasefire—though Trump had declared before the meeting that a ceasefire was an important goal—has not paved the way to a peace deal. Immediately after the meeting, the Trump White House suggested that his chat with Putin was a prelude to a summit between Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that could end the war. But in an interview late last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said “there is no meeting planned” between Putin and Zelenskyy. So far, Trump’s get-together with Putin has yielded bupkis.

Talking with Fox’s Sean Hannity about the Trump-Putin summit, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, pronounced the meeting a success and said, “The president…has this uncanny ability to bend people to his sensible way of thinking. And does it each and every time. I've never seen anything quite like it and I've been around some master dealmakers. He is the legend as far as I'm concerned."

Trump certainly did not bend Putin. In fact, if anyone got bent, it was you-know-who. Witkoff can rest assured that if he ever gets dumped from the Trump administration, he can likely obtain a high-paying position with Kin Jong Un.

As noted above, the FBI raid on John Bolton’s home and office is troubling, disturbing, disconcerting, worrisome, or, perhaps, dangerous. But the New York Times, looking, as always, for the most neutral of language, referred to it this way:

An “uneasy mix”? That’s when you put raisins in potato salad. When the FBI targets Trump’s critics, it’s a much bigger problem.

The Washington Post’s under-new-management editorial page pulled a boner. In an editorial about the Texas state legislature’s gerrymandering power grab to boost the number of GOP-favorable congressional districts in the state, this once-prestigious newspaper ho-hummed the concern about this anti-democratic move: “Even if Texas’ move triggers an arms race [in gerrymandering], the trend will not put American democracy on life support. One silver lining of the gerrymandering war is that they might remind Americans how much Congress should matter.”

So the Texas Republicans’ war on democracy is a good thing because it will get people to appreciate democracy? Billionaire Jeff Bezos, the owner of WaPo, wanted an editorial section that highlighted “personal liberties and free markets.” The judges believe that personal liberties include fair political representation. Too bad Bezos’ newspaper doesn’t understand that.

In hailing Trump’s invasion of Washington, DC, with National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum declared that restaurant reservations in the city were “up 30 percent.”

Nope. He was just making shit up—and parroting Trump, who said that DC restaurants “were busier than they've been in a long time." As the local Fox News station in Washington reported, “The number of patrons dining out in DC has plummeted since President Trump deployed federal troops across the city.”

If you don’t pay much attention to X or Bluesky, you might have missed that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who certainly seems to be positioning himself to run for president in 2028, has been having fun recently at Trump’s expense. His press team has been kicking out social media posts that spoof Trump’s illiterate, sophomoric, divisive, and inane messages. Here’s an example:

I’m a big fan of using strategic derision in politics, and the Newsom squad has taken this to new lengths (or heights?)—and have done a good job of highlighting the idiocy and meanness that emanates from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Of course, Trump and the Fox crowd got all sourpussy about this. They called Newsom lame and tried to spin his trolling as a sign of Democratic weakness. One of the worst responses came from Vice President JD Vance—a.k.a. Lickspittle No. 1—during a conversation with Fox host Laura Ingraham: "This idea that Gavin Newsom is somehow gonna mimic Donald Trump's style—I think that ignores the fundamental genius of President Trump's political success, which is that he's authentic."

Talk about not getting the joke. Newsom is not mimicking Trump; he’s satirizing him, showing just how foolish the commander-in-chief sounds with his churlish and insulting social media posts. Is there an emoji for something soaring over someone’s head? Hashtag: #JustDenseVance.

White House official Lindsey Halligan nearly won this fortnight with a beaut she spewed while dumping on the Smithsonian museums: “While slavery is obviously a horrible aspect of our nation's history, you can't really talk about slavery honestly unless you also talk about hope and progress… We need to stop focusing so much on the lack of progress.”

The judges were gobsmacked, as you probably were.

There has been a slew of profiles recently on Laura Loomer, the 32-year-old far-right Islamophobe and conspiracy theorist who has become something of a Svengali for Trump. She advises him on who to pink-slip within his administration for not being sufficiently loyal to Dear Leader, and—presto!—that person is tossed into the ashbin.

For his profile of Loomer in the Atlantic, Michael Scherer interviewed her and suggested her endeavors recall the “Red Scare of the early 1950s, when Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin exploited the private musings and personal associations of alleged communist sympathizers to end their careers.” Did Loomer recoil at that? Of course not. As Scherer reports, “She loved that.” And she said, “Joseph McCarthy was right. We need to make McCarthy great again.”

You have to appreciate it when a loony extremist who has a hold on the most powerful man in the world tells you what she really thinks. McCarthyism was a scourge that was predicated on guilt by association and implemented through the abuse of government power—what we today decry as the politics of personal destruction and the weaponization of government. It promoted paranoia and ruined thousands of American lives. Yet decades later, many on the right believe it got a bum rap and yearn for a modern-day equivalent. Let’s not forget that Roy Cohn, the sleazy lawyer who once was Trump’s mentor, got his start in public life as an aide to McCarthy during his red-baiting witch hunt.

Loomer’s love letter to McCarthy may tickle Trump’s fancy. For the DCotW Division of Our Land International Enterprises, it was an ominous victory.

One of the biggest outpourings of mail in the history of Our Land came in response to the issue on the “Springsteen Generation,” which marked the 50th anniversary of release of the Boss’s Born To Run album. This made me wonder if, for business reasons, I should turn Our Land into a Springsteen newsletter. My reflections prompted many recollections from Our Landers about their experiences with Springsteen.

Sue McDonald emailed:

My first Bruce show was in 1975–on the Born to Run tour (in Boston). It is jaw-dropping to me to reflect on the fact that it was now 50 years ago, and I am still going to his shows. As much as I appreciate his reflections on aging and losing people, I prefer a more raucous, life-affirming vibe in a concert. Twice in the past 12 months, I’ve texted people from shows to say he had dropped the “mortality shit.” Once was at the Sea Hear Now Festival on the beach in Asbury Park in September 2024 (the best Bruce show I’ve ever seen); the second was in Manchester, England, this year where he really let his political thoughts rip. It was cathartic.

Your memories of working on cars reminded me of this, and maybe you know the answer. Way back, when Bruce was on his ascent of popularity, someone famous was asked their opinion of his music, and the response was, “I don’t drive”—a put down that said you couldn’t understand his music if you didn’t understand cars. I feel like it was a fellow musician. Does that ring a bell?

I didn’t know who had made that “I don’t drive” crack about Springsteen. But Sue did some digging and found out that it was Ray Davies of the Kinks who said that during a chat with journalist Jim Sullivan in 1981. As Sullivan wrote in 2016:

My favorite rock star comment about the swelling Springsteen mania occurred back in 1981. I was talking to Ray Davies in Minneapolis, and he says, “Ask me what I think about Bruce Springsteen?” I ask. He responds proudly, “I don’t drive.” Davies didn’t at the time and was implying as a non-car guy he couldn’t relate. (Six years ago, Springsteen and Davies’ sang The Kinks’ “Better Things” on a collaborative album Davies did with various artists called See My Friends.)

Catherine Crawford wrote:

My brothers held court in the basement of our folks' house with their friends who were as devoted to Bruce as they were. I was allowed to enter the Church of Bruce, as well, and still know in my DNA the exact number of seconds to hold the silence before shouting "1,2,3,4! The highway's jammed with broken heroes…”

My brothers lost their dear friend Larry last year, and his devotion to Bruce was a theme of his wake and the send-off they had after his funeral. A fundraiser for his favorite cause also featured Bruce, and we all sang again, as old fat people. “Thunder Road,” “The Rising.” And “Jack of All Trades” still move me to tears. Thank you for this article and I’m glad you’re a true believer as well in that promised land. 

William Falcone shared this:

The year 1977 was my freshman year at the University of Rhode Island and when I really heard Springsteen for the first time. In high school, I had heard of him but thought he was some Dylan wannabe and blew him off. (I was into Zeppelin and Aerosmith.) But from a second-floor dorm room, Born to Run was being blasted out the open window, and I was hooked, forever. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he changed my life. A hopeful social conscience emerged beneath my leather and jean jackets. 

Bette Piacente had this to say:

A big fan of Bruce since he hit the airways! He does sing for a real America, not a Great Again time, but of a time we can all be our better selves. Longing, yearning for a better future tinged by the reality of a troubled past—that is what I hear when he sings. Thank you so much for this tribute to a gentle man who makes all our lives bearable, no matter the decade.

Georgiana Robinson laid it on thick:

You are a positive and reaffirming spark in my life. Your Our Land helps us better understand ourselves and our world. And for that, I’m grateful.

Georgina, thank you so much for that affirmation. I much appreciate it.

Joan Ramstedt sent in a much more angst-fueled observation:

Do people know they can make a difference by giving a damn, or has everyone gone numb? The more I speak with intelligent, engaged people, the more I hear “there’s nothing I can do until the midterms.” Will there even be midterms? If there were a playbook to follow, I believe people would gather. Where's the vision? Where's the purpose? People need leadership and specific calls to action. Marketing 101. How can I help?

I’ve said this before. The strategy must be everything, everywhere, all at once. Elected leaders need to be banging the drum, and people at home need to be banging the pots. Opponents of this administration ought to be organizing for the midterms but also searching for what they can do now to express their disgust with Trump’s current moves—and to assist those most being damaged by the administration’s cruel, vengeful, and wrongheaded policies. That includes sharing their thoughts with all friends, relatives, colleagues, and neighbors. If there were an obvious playbook, people would know what it is. If there were obvious leaders, ditto. We’re in uncharted territory. We need to create our own map.

“What are you doing, Moxie?”
“I’m moving around stones in the water.”
“You’ve been at it for nearly an hour.”
“Do I tell you how to do your job?”