The Trump Administrations Politicization
“Is Donald Trump permanently compromising US national security? The question is worth asking in light of the overhaul of major agencies, internal purges, and the demand for absolute loyalty. Supporters of the president praise his boldness, which led him, for example, to authorize strikes against three Iranian nuclear sites in June, while ruling out a prolonged military option. The president portrays himself as a peacemaker, claiming to have resolved seven conflicts. His rejection of traditional approaches enabled him to secure the release of the remaining 20 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to cease hostilities…
“In the US, the partial militarization of public security, which began in June in Los Angeles and then in Washington, along with the aggressive promotion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its masked agents hunting down undocumented migrants, has projected the image of a strong, even authoritarian, government. But how effective are these deployments against America’s real enemies, whether state or non-state actors? According to more than 300 current or former members of the intelligence, diplomatic and defense services who had joined together in a group known as The Steady State, the situation appears worrisome.
“The group published a bleak report on American democracy on October 16. “We judge that the US drift towards authoritarianism has accelerated this year, a trend characterized not by an abrupt seizure of power but by an erosion of democratic norms and institutional checks and balances,” states the analysis. It describes the expansion of executive power, the politicization of government agencies, and the weakening of checks and balances, from Congress to the press…
“Many members of The Steady State worked together under the Clinton administration in the 1990s. When Trump was elected president in 2016, they viewed him with disdain. Initially, they hoped to become a group that made policy proposals and exerted influence. However, rumors soon began circulating about blacklists targeting former officials and diplomats. The Steady State then kept a low profile. Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 brought relief. However, Trump’s win in November 2024 sounded the call to rally the troops.
“Donald Trump has a complete contempt for expertise and an incredibly inflated belief in his own capabilities,” said Steven Cash, one of the initiative’s coordinators, a former senior official in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, with experience in Congress and the private sector. ‘If you really believe you are the smartest guy in the room or in the country, you don’t need a CIA or FBI specialist, nor generals. All of this is a recipe for disaster.’ ”
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Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 340 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.