Donald Trump's troubling outreach efforts: Post-election staffing plans signal a dark takeover

In front of an enormous crowd of 75,000 people last night, Kamala Harris gave what was billed as her "closing argument" on the Ellipse, the site of Donald Trump's infamous insurrection incitement speech on January 6. There were no insult comics or crude talk radio hosts or ancient wrestling stars ripping off their shirts. It was just the vice president, standing before that massive crowd laying out the stakes in the election and offering her vision for the future.

Much of her speech was familiar to those who have followed the campaign closely. Her indictment of Donald Trump was crisp and direct and her list of policy objectives was meticulous and thorough. But she was also obviously making a pitch to any swing voters who are still on the fence. "I will always listen to you even if you don't vote for me," she vowed to her detractors:

I will always tell you the truth, even if it is difficult to hear. I will work every day to build consensus and reach compromise to get things done.

Harris said, unlike Trump who considers them an enemy, she will offer her critics a seat at her table. She pledged to be a president for all Americans and always put country before party or self.

That kind of rhetoric always sets off alarms in a liberal Democrat like me, having suffered through way too many years of Blue Dog Democrats and centrist sellouts who couldn't get over losing all those Reagan Democrats back in the 1980s and always ended up empowering the GOP. But I think this is different. This is about the Harris Republicans and just as those Reagan Democrats defected 40 years ago because they felt their party had abandoned them, the Harris Republicans are in the same position today.

We don't know exactly what Harris means by giving them a place at her table beyond promising a Cabinet position to a Republican, but I've seen little evidence that she's prepared to offer up corporate tax cuts or waffle on abortion or gay rights any more than Reagan adjusted his agenda in the slightest. She's treating them respectfully and thanking them for joining the cause which is the right thing to do. We can anticipate that the people invited to sit at the table will be within the boundaries of what we used to call mainstream American politics.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Donald Trump. Over the last few days we've learned some new information about who he's inviting to his table and it's more than a little bit disturbing.

For instance, on Sunday "60 Minutes" interviewed the man Trump has said he plans to make his border czar, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump's first term (and author of Project 2025's immigration agenda), Tom Homan. He has made it plain that he is champing at the bit to oversee Trump's massive deportation plan, revealing that wholesale deportations are the goal.

That's right, they plan to deport the American children of undocumented workers. If they don't like it, they can stay, of course — without their parents. Sorry kids, you picked the wrong family.

The New York Times recently reported that trusted Trump advisors like Boris Epshteyn are pushing the former president to bypass official FBI background checks as he looks to staff a second administration. Conveniently, Steve Bannon was just released from federal prison Tuesday after serving four months for contempt of Congress in relation to Jan. 6.

Another person Trump has given a seat at his table is Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the man who offered himself up to the highest bidder. At his Madison Square Garden hatefest over the weekend, Trump told the rabid crowd that while he wasn't going to go along with Kennedy's environmental agenda, “I’m going to let him go wild on health, I’m going to let him go wild on the food, I’m going to let him go wild on medicines."

Kennedy has subsequently explained that what Trump meant by that was that he would get "control" of all the health agencies:

This is a man who, even aside from the worm in his brain and his propensity for collecting roadkill, is one of the biggest conspiracy theorists in the country. To even suggest that he could be put in charge of public health or the USDA is beyond crazy. Whether Trump would actually do such a thing is unknown. He often makes promises he doesn't keep. But the mere fact that he believes that telling his followers that he will do it is something they want to hear is disconcerting. Remember there will be no guardrails. If Trump wants to let Bobby go wild, his henchmen will find a way to circumvent any impediments.

And then there's the Big Kahuna, Elon Musk, the man to whom he's outsourced much of his campaign and who he has promised to name to head a new “Department of Government Efficiency." At the big hatefest on Sunday, Trump's transition chief Howard Lutkin asked Musk how much he thought could be cut from the budget of $6.5 trillion and he said about $2 trillion.

According to the Washington Post and everyone else with any knowledge of the budgeting process, "slashing the budget that steeply would require decimating an array of government services, including food, health care and housing aid — and it could erode funding for programs that lawmakers in both parties say they want to protect, from defense to Social Security."

The thing is that Musk understands exactly what that would mean even if Trump's starry-eyed cult following is clueless. The billionaires will be fine. The rest of us not so much. Here is an X user reacting to Musk's plans online and Musks' response:

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MSNBC reported on an X town hall he held on Monday:

When asked about “tackling the nation’s debt,” he mentioned changing the tax code, and then went on to say there would be some financial difficulty imposed on some Americans. “Most importantly, we have to reduce spending to live within our means,” he said, adding that these efforts will “involve some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.”

Later on, Musk said that he would “balance the budget immediately,” adding: “Obviously, a lot of people who are taking advantage of government are going to be upset about that. I’ll probably need a lot of security, but it’s got to be done. And if it’s not done, we’ll just go bankrupt,” he said, adding that these efforts will “involve some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.”

You have to love that America is going to be so great that he's assuming there will be massive violence in the streets. Luckily he can afford a lot of security so that's good.

The total 2024 discretionary federal budget including military spending which excludes interest payments, Medicare, Social Security and other mandatory programs was $1.6 trillion in 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office. You do the math. Clearly Musk has not.

Again, will any of this come to pass? Who knows? But if there's one person Trump owes big time it's Musk and he's already thoroughly entrenched in the national security apparatus as a major defense contractor. Trump might very well want to give Musk free rein too and, if so, who's going to stop him? Don Jr.?

Those are just a few of the big marquee names that Trump is promising to give a seat at his table. I think it's fair to say that it's just a little bit more alarming than if Kamala Harris makes Adam Kinsinger the VA Secretary or invites Liz Cheney to give her opinion on Ukraine. These are people who should not be let within a hundred miles of the White House. Harris' bipartisan outreach to the small group of Republican apostates is downright quaint by comparison.