The president-elect is attempting to avoid the mistakes he made during his first term by this time privately funding the transition.
Two viral postings on X describe how President-elect Donald Trump is avoiding D.C.’s entrenched “permanent state” that sought to upend his first presidency before it started, beginning with his January 2017 transition into the Oval Office.
“Having experienced firsthand the malevolence of the so-called ‘permanent government’ during his initial transition in 2016-2017, Trump is under no illusions about the loyalty or intentions of the civil service – particularly the General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ),” amuse explained on X. “The current transition struggle exemplifies the danger of allowing the permanent bureaucratic state to accrue power unchecked.”
“During his first term, Trump’s transition team – Trump for America, Inc. (TFA) – faced betrayal when the GSA improperly handed over thousands of emails from the transition period to Special Counsel Robert Mueller without proper authorization,” amuse wrote. “An agency ostensibly dedicated to facilitating the transition had instead been co-opted to undermine it.”
Amuse continued:
The FBI, which once served as an institution above the fray of partisan politics, has shown its hand in its dealings with Trump – spying on his 2016 campaign, embedding female honeypots within his transition, and using “national security” briefings as a pretext to disqualify his appointees, like General Michael Flynn. The Justice Department Inspector General found that former FBI agent Peter Strzok even sent another FBI agent to an intelligence briefing with Trump and Flynn as part of an effort to build a Russia collusion case against them.
These actions are not the behavior of a neutral party facilitating a democratic handover; they are the machinations of a bureaucracy desperate to retain control.
As a result, the president-elect has chosen to privately fund his side of the transition from the Biden administration.
Trump’s transition strategy: ‘Annihilating the deep state’s control’
“Trump’s MAGA administration just dropped a nuclear bomb on Washington’s corrupt establishment. By rejecting taxpayer-funded GSA tools and launching a fully private transition, Trump is cutting the deep state out of the equation. This isn’t just a handoff – it’s a full-scale revolution,” Ann Vandersteel wrote on X and Substack.
“In a jaw-dropping move, Trump has signed the Transition Agreement with the outgoing Biden administration — but with one massive twist. There’s no GSA involvement. No government phones. No government buildings. Nothing,” Vandersteel wrote.
“This isn’t about tradition. It’s about annihilating the deep state’s control,” Vandersteel continued. “Washington’s gatekeepers are panicking. Trump’s strategy leaves them powerless, blind, and scrambling in the dark.”
She continued:
The deep state relies on access. They spy. They sabotage. They control. But Trump has cut off their lifeline. His team has gone dark – no leaks, no traps, no surveillance. For the corrupt elite, this is their worst nightmare. They’re awake, sweating bullets, terrified of what’s next.
Trump’s move isn’t just bold; it’s revolutionary.
No GSA oversight. The tools used against him in 2016? Gone.
No taxpayer dependence. This revolution is fully independent.
No interference. The deep state can’t touch what they can’t see.
This is a calculated takedown of a corrupt system. Trump isn’t playing defense —he’s on the offensive.
“Washington’s establishment is in freefall. The deep state relied on GSA tools to spy, infiltrate, and sabotage. Now they’re locked out entirely. They’ve lost their grip, their leverage, and their power,” Vandersteel wrote. “This isn’t a transition; it’s a declaration of war against the corrupt establishment.”
“Trump’s transition is a bold strike against the forces that tried to destroy his presidency. No leaks. No oversight. No compromise. The deep state is crumbling, and Washington will never be the same,” Vandersteel said.
“The storm isn’t coming – it’s already here.”
Corporate media in the nation’s capital is not happy about Trump’s end run around those who are accustomed to playing an integral role in White House transitions.
The Washington Post, Biden regime are losing sleep over the transition
Since his victory, Trump has ignored many of the rules and practices intended to guide a seamless transfer of power and handover of the oversight of 2.2 million federal employees. Instead, the president-elect, who has pledged to fire thousands of civil servants and slash billions of dollars in spending, has so far almost fully cut out the government agencies his predecessors have relied on to take charge of the federal government.
“His transition teams have yet to set foot inside a single federal office,” Post writers noted two weeks after Trump resoundingly won the 2024 election, as if breaking with standard procedure were a criminal offense against the Washington establishment.
“In calls with foreign heads of state, Trump has cut out the State Department, its secure lines and its official interpreters,” the Post added.
The Post acknowledged that Trump also “bears deep animus against the FBI, according to the people familiar with his transition process. FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago for classified materials in a case that resulted in federal charges, and he has pledged wholesale changes at the agency and at the Justice Department.”
The FBI would normally have begun vetting a president-elect’s transition team before Election Day, as well as his choices for Cabinet positions and other top staff jobs. Thus far, Trump has left the job of vetting candidates to Stanley Woodward, a D.C. lawyer on his campaign who has represented several January 6 rioters and Trump associates caught up in the classified documents case.
“I happen to know the Biden regime has been losing sleep over the transition,” amuse added in a subsequent X post. “Nothing is going to plan.”
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President Donald Trump is pushing for U.S. ships to transit the Panama and Suez canals without paying tolls, arguing the waterways would not exist without America.
Key Details:
In a Saturday Truth Social post, Trump said, “American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals! Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America.”
Trump directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “immediately take care of, and memorialize” the issue, signaling a potential new diplomatic initiative with Panama and Egypt.
The Panama Canal generated about $3.3 billion in toll revenue in fiscal 2023, while the Suez Canal posted a record $9.4 billion. U.S. vessels account for roughly 70% of Panama Canal traffic, according to government figures.
Diving Deeper:
President Donald Trump is pressing for American ships to receive free passage through two of the world’s most critical shipping lanes—the Panama and Suez canals—a move he argues would recognize the United States’ historic role in making both waterways possible. In a post shared Saturday on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals! Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America.”
Trump added that he has instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “immediately take care of, and memorialize” the situation. His comments, first reported by FactSet, come as U.S. companies face rising shipping costs, with tolls for major vessels ranging from $200,000 to over $500,000 per Panama Canal crossing, based on canal authority schedules.
The Suez Canal, operated by Egypt, reportedly saw record revenues of $9.4 billion in 2023, largely driven by American and European shipping amid ongoing Red Sea instability. After a surge in attacks by Houthi militants on commercial ships earlier this year, Trump authorized a sustained military campaign targeting missile and drone sites in northern Yemen. The Pentagon said the strikes were part of an effort to “permanently restore freedom of navigation” for global shipping near the Suez Canal.
Trump has framed the military operations as part of a broader strategy to counter Iranian-backed destabilization efforts across the Middle East.
Meanwhile, in Central America, Trump’s administration is working to counter Chinese influence near the Panama Canal. On April 9th, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced an expanded partnership with Panama to bolster canal security, including a memorandum of understanding allowing U.S. warships and support vessels to move “first and free” through the canal. “The Panama Canal is key terrain that must be secured by Panama, with America, and not China,” Hegseth emphasized during a press conference in Panama City.
American commercial shipping has long depended on the canal, which reduces the shipping route between the U.S. East Coast and Asia by nearly 8,000 miles. About 40% of all U.S. container traffic uses the Panama Canal annually, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
The United States originally constructed and controlled the Panama Canal following a monumental effort championed by President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 20th century. After backing Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903, the U.S. secured the rights to build and operate the canal, which opened in 1914. Although U.S. control ended in 1999 under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, the canal remains vital to U.S. trade.
One of the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon Transporter Erector Launchers assigned to Bravo Battery, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery, Long Range Fires Battalion, 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, participates in exercise Bamboo Eagle 24-3 on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Aug. 5, 2024.
1st Multi-Domain Task Force, U.S. Army photo | DVIDS
The U.S. Army’s newest long-range hypersonic weapon will be called “Dark Eagle” the Pentagon announced Thursday after a successful test flight.
The land-based, truck-launched system is armed with hypersonic missiles that travel 3,800 miles per hour with a range of 1,725 miles. They can reach the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and “remain just beyond the range of air and missile defense systems until they are ready to strike, and by then it’s too late to react,” according to Army statements in a March 2023 Congressional Research Service report.
In December, the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs, completed a successful end-to-end flight test of a conventional hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
“Hypersonic weapons will complicate adversaries’ decision calculus, strengthening deterrence,” said Patrick Mason, senior official performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. “Their speed, accuracy and versatility are befitting its new popular name, Dark Eagle.”
Army officials repeatedly delayed tests of the Dark Eagle system after failures in 2021 and 2022, according to the CRS report.
The U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office and the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs partnered to get land and sea variants of a hypersonic weapon system.
The use of a common hypersonic missile and joint test opportunities allow the services to pursue a more aggressive timeline for delivery and to realize cost savings, according to the Pentagon.
A Congressional Budget Office study from January 2023, buying 300 Intermediate-Range Hypersonic Boost-Glide Missiles, which are similar to the LRHW, was estimated to cost $41 million per missile in 2023 dollars.
But that’s just an estimate. Since the 2023 CBO cost estimate, the Pentagon has said little about the per missile cost of the LRHW.
With the Army planning to field LRHWs to units by the end of FY2025 – if the Army’s new leadership team concurs – an actual per missile cost should be available for policymakers,” according to the CRS note. “With an established per missile cost, the Army should also be able to provide Congress with details about the total LRHW stockpile it intends to procure and how long it will take to ‘grow’ the LRHW stockpile.”
The prime contractors on the project are Lockheed Martin, Dynetics Inc. and Dynetics Technical Solutions, according to the CBO report.
