By Kenneth Tiven
If Donald Trump were a rock star, his second term in office would be marketed as “The Revenge Tour 2025”. Triumphant in his return to the White House, he is making good on his campaign promise: to punish and dismantle those who, in his view, disrespected his leadership from 2016 to 2020.
A steady stream of executive orders—confusing, contradictory, and legally dubious—has thrown the federal government into turmoil. The chaos serves as a smokescreen for the radical restructuring of institutions, spearheaded not by an official government team, but by an unpaid consultant with unparalleled access: Elon Musk.
The world’s richest individual has become Trump’s de facto prime minister—a role that does not exist in the US system. Musk has infiltrated federal agencies with a team of young technocrats who, without security clearances or official appointments, are gaining access to government servers and financial systems.
Their first target was United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the international aid agency that funds programmes across the world. Over a single weekend, Musk’s operatives forced their way into USAID’s Washington headquarters, seized classified data, locked out employees, and shut down all global payments.
Tens of millions of voters on all sides are stressing the Congressional phone system over Trump-Musk efforts to downsize the US government. The New York Times reports the Senate phone system typically averages 40 calls a minute but now is averaging 1,500 a minute aimed at the 535 Congressional members in the Senate and House of Representatives.
The Phantom Agency: ‘Doge’ Takes Over
Musk and his aides operate under the fictitious banner of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—a name with no legal standing, but complete access to US government networks. The “DOGE team” has gained entry into Treasury Department payment systems, raising alarms about financial interference on an unprecedented scale.
A federal judge intervened, temporarily limiting their access. Another US District Judge Carl J. Nichols, appointed by Trump in 2019, seems unimpressed with efforts to strangle the USAID agency. He blocked the administration from placing more than 2,000 employees on paid leave.
Musk has claimed, without evidence, that foreign aid given globally is corrupt. Analysis of most of the disinformation claims on social media indicate Russian origination, according to the New York Times.
Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, opposing the Senate confirmation of Christian Nationalist Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget reminded his colleagues that they had taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.”
The Framers recognized there could be domestic enemies to the Constitution, he said. “Our oath was not to the Republican Party, not to the Democratic Party, not to Joe Biden, not to Donald Trump,” King said, “but…to defend the Constitution.” Important point because Vought believes the powers of the president should be virtually unchecked.
Musk has openly stated his goal: “With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it with (the president) in detail and he agreed we should shut it down.” His justification? That USAID is a “criminal organization” that funds civil society groups challenging dictators worldwide.
This stance has earned him praise from autocratic regimes that have long sought to suppress pro-democracy movements. As Thomas Carothers, a former State Department official, noted, “Trump and Musk are gutting institutions that uphold democratic governance—not just in the US, but globally.”
Deportations Begin, But Reality Is Distorted
Beyond Musk’s incursions, Trump has wasted no time advancing his high-profile campaign promise: mass deportations. The first sign of this policy was the forcible removal of 104 Indian nationals from the US last week. Flown to Amritsar, Punjab in a C-17 military transport, these individuals endured a gruelling 11,360-kilometre journey, packed into a plane with minimal provisions.
Trump has vowed to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, but evidence suggests the administration is manipulating public perception by reposting press releases from old immigration enforcement actions, updating timestamps to make them appear current.
While Trump’s campaign rhetoric promised a decisive immigration crackdown, in practice, his administration’s priority remains the dismantling of democratic institutions.
The ‘Hungary Playbook’ In Action
Political analysts warn that Trump’s approach mirrors that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has systematically eroded democracy while maintaining a facade of legality.
In Hungary, opposition voices have been silenced through media control. In the US, Trump is weaponizing executive power, disregarding constitutional norms, and entrenching authority within the executive branch.
Democratic lawmakers are struggling to keep pace with the relentless assaults on legal and institutional norms. As constitutional law experts point out, Trump is “rewriting laws by executive decree, ignoring judicial precedent, and centralizing power in ways that resemble autocratic rule.”
Musk’s Power Grab Faces Resistance
Public backlash against Musk’s unelected influence is growing. Protesters gathered at the Treasury Department with signs reading: “Nobody Elected Elon.”
Representative Maxwell Frost, a young Democratic lawmaker from Florida, warned: “He has access to all our information—our Social Security numbers, the federal payment system. What’s stopping him from stealing taxpayer money?”
Legal experts are equally alarmed. David Super of Georgetown Law described the strategy as: “A blitzkrieg of illegality—so many violations at once that the system can’t react fast enough.”
But Musk remains undeterred. His attempt to override congressional control of federal spending is the logical outcome of four decades of Republican ideology—one that seeks to shift power away from elected institutions and into the hands of private billionaires.
Trump’s Cabinet: A Litmus Test For Extremism
The Senate has largely rubber-stamped Trump’s controversial cabinet picks, prioritizing loyalty over qualifications.
The key appointments include:
- Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence): A former congresswoman with deep ties to the Science of Identity Foundation, an offshoot of Krishna Consciousness. Gabbard’s connections to Hindu nationalist groups supporting India’s Narendra Modi raise concerns about ideological bias in intelligence operations.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Secretary of Health and Human Services): A vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, RFK Jr. has built a career on anti-science rhetoric. His own family has disowned him for aligning with Trump.
- Kash Patel (FBI Director): A Trump loyalist with no prior law enforcement experience, Patel has vowed to prosecute journalists and purge the “deep state”.
- Pam Bondi (Attorney General): A former Florida AG who has declared that “Trump’s lawyers are my lawyers”. Her role raises concerns that the Justice Department will become a tool for political vendettas.
As Dr Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert on authoritarian regimes, noted: “These appointments signal Trump’s intent to reshape America’s global profile by aligning with autocrats and undermining democratic institutions.”
Trump’s ‘Art Of The Deal’ Diplomacy: The Gaza Debacle
One of Trump’s most bizarre proposals so far is his plan to relocate all Palestinians from Gaza and turn it into a luxury resort. At a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump declared: “With great development teams from all over the world, Gaza could become one of the greatest and most spectacular resorts on Earth!”
International condemnation was swift, with legal experts calling it ethnic cleansing. While the White House attempted to downplay the remark, Trump doubled down on social media, claiming: “No US soldiers needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
Like his past proposals to buy Greenland or reclaim the Panama Canal, the Gaza resort plan is largely a distraction. Meanwhile, his tariff war with China, Canada, and Mexico threatens to plunge the US into economic turmoil.
The Road Ahead: A Collision Course With Democracy
Trump’s presidency is now defined by lawlessness, power grabs, and institutional sabotage. His unelected enforcer, Elon Musk, is testing the limits of American governance, attempting to reshape democracy into a corporate autocracy.
For now, resistance is growing—from federal judges, lawmakers, and protesters. But as history has shown, unchecked authoritarianism rarely self-corrects.
What happens next depends on whether American institutions can withstand the storm—or whether Trump’s “Revenge Tour” will become a requiem for democracy itself.
—The writer has worked in senior positions at The Washington Post, NBC, ABC and CNN and also consults for several Indian channels