Gabriel Sherman: “Come January 20, 2025, Trump will once again control the full force of the executive branch to carry out this threat. While that thought has raised anxiety levels the nation over, it’s caused a pronounced spike among the many veterans of Trump’s first White House who publicly broke with him.
In the days since Trump’s decisive victory over Kamala Harris, I’ve been speaking with some such officials who say they are terrified Trump will use the federal government to punish them for speaking out against him.”Said former national security adviser John Bolton: “Trump is vindictive. I do think he will seek retribution.”
Said another former official: “I have such terrible anxiety, I just want him to leave me alone.”
Said a third: “This man is capable of anything.”
“These former officials are debating privately how far Trump would go to punish them for disloyalty. Bolton told me he thinks Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly and retired Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley are the most at risk of being persecuted for going public about the dangers of a second Trump term.”