The U.S. Federal government is undergoing dramatic transformation, as President Donald Trump unleashes a nearly daily torrent of executive orders. Entire agencies are being gutted and/or face dissolution.
The poster child, so to speak, is U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which by statute delivers humanitarian aid across the globe. On Jan. 20, 2025, the Commander-in-Chief “implemented a 90-day freeze on foreign assistance“, while the organization’s future is being evaluated. Meanwhile, firings and other actions shake up FBI, Dept. Education, and other agencies.
Tens of thousands of government employees are being offered opportunity to resign and receive full-pay and benefits through the end of September. Deadline is tomorrow, and about 40,000 already accepted.
Trump also has issued executive orders declaring two genders and, today, he signed “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports“. He wages war on illegal immigration, fortifying the border and forcibly deporting thousands daily. The list of actions is fast growing, and this is only Day 17 of his presidency.
That brings me to the Featured Image, taken on January 26, using Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. One of my University Heights neighbors expressed an opinion with discarded “flags of the oligarchy”.
Do you agree? Are they? There is strong sentiment among some people on the left that the Trump oligarchy has arrived—and the end of Democracy with it. Meanwhile, over on the MAGA right, the view is opposite: Established Washington (aka the Deep State) is the oligarchy, and Trump seeks to expunge needless bureaucracy and waste—in the process restoring the Republic. Whom do you believe?
Photo vitals: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/125 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 11 a.m. PST.