During his first year in the White House, Donald Trump has pursued a campaign of retribution unlike any other president in US history.
That Trump would pursue such a campaign is not surprising. Since he launched his first run for president in 2015, Trump has channeled the politics of grievance into political success. Returning to the White House after surviving two impeachments and four different criminal cases against him, Trump has used the might of the federal government to punish those he believes have wronged him.
“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution,” he said in a 2023 speech at CPAC, the annual conservative political conference, leaving little doubt about what he would do in a second term in the White House.
