Will Trump’s fight against the ‘deep state’ upend government?

Good morning and welcome to White House Watch. Steff will be back in the saddle on Tuesday. For now, let’s dive into:

Donald Trump has wasted no time in bringing his campaign of vengeance to the Oval Office.

On day one he stripped security clearances from perceived foes and granted temporary clearances to those he deemed “qualified and trusted”. He ordered the removal of security detail assigned to John Bolton — his former national security adviser-turned-foe — after threats on his life in 2019, and got rid of a Pentagon portrait of retired General Mark Milley, his former top military adviser who became an arch-critic.

This may just be the beginning.

“Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponised to persecute political opponents,” Trump said in his inaugural address. Hours later he authorised sweeping reviews of US intelligence and other agencies to correct “past misconduct”.

“Ordinarily there may be nothing wrong with retrospective investigations into potential government wrongdoing,” said Ryan Goodman, professor at the New York University School of Law. However, Goodman added that Trump’s pre-existing list of enemies made these actions quite troublesome.

It may still be “too early to tell” whether Trump is sending a message for civil servants to “stay out of the way” of his radical agenda or “to rearrange the bureaucracy so that it’s more completely at the service of the president”, according to Yuval Levin, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. But it’s clear that intelligence agencies are a particular focus.

Kash Patel, Trump’s controversial pick to head the FBI, has long argued for the removal of security clearances to eradicate the “deep state”.

This could have a “chilling effect” across the government, a former US intelligence official said. “This is a clear sign that Trump will use clearances for political reasons. That will make people wary to speak their minds,” the person added.

Trump’s plans go far beyond America’s security apparatus. The executive order on “weaponisation” called for scrutiny of agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and justice department.

The latest headlines

What we’re hearing

The view from China on Trump’s second presidency is: so far, so good.

While Trump did order an investigation into US-China trade and threatened a 10 per cent tariff related to fentanyl, that’s small potatoes compared with earlier claims that he would immediately impose 60 per cent tariffs. It’s also less severe than the 25 per cent tariffs he vowed to impose on Mexico and Canada.

Trump gave China further hope that he would hold his punches against the world’s second-largest economy when he hinted at a potential deal linking tariffs to ownership of TikTok.

“There is a possibility that the two sides can strike a deal — you can sense there is cautious optimism,” said Zhao Minghao, professor at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. “But we will need to see if there is a good match between what Trump and Beijing can offer each other.”

Economists, however, warned that it’s too early to say whether an outright trade war can be averted. After all, the Trump administration is filled with China hawks (notably, secretary of state Marco Rubio, who has long been tough on China, was the first cabinet member to be confirmed).

“This is more of a holding pattern for now,” said Fred Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC. “It is somewhat encouraging . . . But I think it would be the wrong conclusion to say that China is now entirely off the hook.”

What questions do you have about Trump’s trade agenda? Write to us at whitehousewatch@ft.com with your name and location and we may answer them in a future newsletter.

Viewpoints