Trump’s Scorched-Earth Plot for Lame Duck Years Revealed

President Donald Trump is planning a political war of attrition for the "lame duck" years of his presidency, doubling down on his most controversial policies and expanding his authority, Axios reported. New White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller will play a key role in the strategy, which focuses on strengthening the divided MAGA movement, going after perceived enemies, purging the GOP of opponents, and building more monuments, according to The Daily Beast citing Axios. Trump has been drafting executive orders with Miller and White House budget director Russ Vought aimed at governing without Congress, Reuters reported before the election. The orders will aim to push through controversial policies in areas including migration, tariffs, and government spending, The Daily Beast reported citing Reuters. Vought was one of the architects of Project 2025, which aimed to massively expand Trump's power, according to The Daily Beast.

Central to the plan is intimidating the new Democratic-controlled Congress, with the party's leaders having announced they're planning to launch sweeping new investigations into Trump and his inner circle, The Daily Beast reported. In response, Trump is planning a scorched-earth legal strategy and will preemptively target Democrats for prosecution, according to the report. "Many Democrat lawmakers are going to find themselves under indictment and fighting conviction. Watch," longtime Trump ally Roger Stone told The Daily Beast. The president is also reportedly planning to use new powers, upheld by the Supreme Court in June, that enable him to fire the heads of federal agencies as part of his campaign against the so-called "deep state" of government officials who oppose his agenda, The Daily Beast reported. Trump has long responded to political setbacks by doubling down on his most controversial policies and tactics, and after his 2020 defeat he refused to concede and stirred baseless conspiracy theories of mass fraud in the election, according to The Daily Beast.