The Interplay of Personal Vendetta and Political Power

The Washington Roundtable discusses President Trump’s first week in office, during which he broke a record for the most executive orders any modern-day President has signed on Day One. The President’s inaugural address and barrage of orders seemed driven by a sense of grievance, accrued in the course of four years out of office, four criminal prosecutions, and a deep desire for revenge. Will an apparatus of rage, taking form as vengeance, ultimately inhibit the government from performing its functions? Plus, they discuss the Episcopal Bishop Marianne Buddy’s remarks at the interfaith prayer service, and the importance of speaking truth to power. 

This week’s reading:

• “Trump Is Already Drowning Us in Outrages,” by Susan B. Glasser
• “The Unchecked Authority of Trump’s Immigration Orders,” by Jonathan Blitzer
• “The Big Tech Takeover of American Politics,” by Jay Caspian Kang
• “Why Is the Mastermind of Trump’s Tariff Plan Still Sitting at Home in Florida?,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells
• “How Much Power Does President Trump Have?,” by Jeannie Suk Gersen
• “Donald Trump Invents an Energy Emergency,” by Bill McKibben
• “What Trump 2.0 Means for Ukraine and the World,” by Isaac Chotiner

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