the grudge (11. 990)

Of course the best revenge would be having a successful final term, maintaining the strong economy that he inherited and not starting World War III, but as to forgive and forget does not seem to be in Trump’s quiver, allies and opponents alike are expecting a wave of retribution and recrimination for those who crossed him whilst out of power, making good on his platform’s appeal to the aggrieved. The scope and scale of his quid pro quo may hinge upon his selection to lead the Department of Justice and could be more muted than expected—with no guardrails in the government to stop or discourage him there is still thankfully the self-limiting factor of Trump’s own attention span and bandwidth and penchant to discard loyalists. Advisors are split on how his campaign of vengeance might detract from other policy initiatives (such as they are: immigration, tariffs and tax-cuts, without mentioning cultural and values issues) while other proxies are intent on keeping him on task and moving forward with punishing his adversaries.