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 for revenge against those he believed wronged him. He now appears to be fulfilling that campaign promise while threatening to expand his powers well beyond Washington.

On Friday, the FBI searched the home of 

Trump’s first-term national security adviser-turned-critic

, who last week in an interview called the administration “the retribution presidency.”

 of Democrat Letitia James, the New York attorney general who 

 over alleged fraud for falsifying records, and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who as a congressman led Trump's 

, D-N.J., over her actions at an immigration protest in Newark, New Jersey, after 

 Mayor Ras Baraka, also a Democrat. Under investigation, too, is 

Trump has directed prosecutors to investigate 

, who wrote a book warning of what he said were Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, and Chris Krebs, who earned the president’s wrath for assuring voters that the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, 

The actions look like the payback Trump said he would pursue after being hit with four separate sets of criminal charges during his four years out of office. Those included an indictment for his 

 that was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court, which said 

 from prosecution for official acts while in office.

“Joe Biden weaponized his administration to target political opponents — most famously, President Trump," Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said Saturday. Trump, she said, "is restoring law and order.”

, Trump has deployed the military into American cities to fight crime or help with immigration arrests. He has sent thousands of 

 troops and federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets in the nation's capital, after activating the Guard and 

Taken together, the actions have alarmed Democrats and others who fear Trump is wielding the authority of his office to intimidate his political opponents and consolidate power in a way that is unprecedented in American history.

“You combine the threat of prosecution with armed troops in the streets,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College. “The picture is pretty clear for anyone who’s read a history book what kind of administration we’re dealing with.”

Past election investigations are a Trump focus

 who were convicted of crimes during the 

. His Justice Department, meanwhile, has fired 

some federal prosecutors who had pursued those cases

 to look into the origins of the investigation of his 2016 campaign’s 

, and Trump has called on her department to 

investigate former Democratic President Barack Obama

The government's watchdog agency has opened an 

, the special prosecutor who investigated Trump's efforts to 

 stashed at his Florida estate. Those cases were 

 in the years between his presidential terms, including the New York fraud case and 

All those investigations led him to claim that Democrats had 

“It is amazing to me the number of people the Trump administration has gone after, all of whom are identified by the fact that they investigated or criticized Trump in one way or another,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a former Justice Department official who is a George Washington University law professor.

On Friday, Trump used governmental powers in other ways to further his goals.

Trump has been unsuccessfully trying to 

wrest control of the independent Federal Reserve

. After his housing director alleged that one of the central bank’s governors had committed mortgage fraud, Trump 

. He also announced that Chicago could be the next city subject to military deployments.

Trump sees himself as the ‘chief law enforcement officer’

Vice President JD Vance denied in a television interview that Bolton was being targeted because of his criticism of Trump.

“If there’s no crime here, we’re not going to prosecute it,” Vance told NBC's “Meet the Press” on Friday.

Trump said he told his staff not to inform him about the Bolton search ahead of time, but he stressed that he has authority over all prosecutions.

“I could know about it. I could be the one starting it,” the president told reporters. “I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer.”

 occupies a special place in the ranks of Trump critics. The longtime GOP foreign policy hawk wrote a book published in 2020, after Trump had fired him the year before. The first Trump administration sued to block the book's release and opened a grand jury investigation, both of which were halted by the Biden administration.

Bolton landed on a list of 60 former officials drawn up by now-FBI Director Kash Patel that he portrayed as a tally of the “Executive Branch Deep State.” Critics warned it was an 

 When Trump returned to office in January, his administration 

 that had been assigned to Bolton, who faced Iranian 

The FBI is now investigating Bolton for potentially mishandling classified information, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly. In contrast, Trump condemned the 

Retribution is wide-ranging, from judges to the military

Trump has also targeted institutions that have defied him.

 that were involved in litigation against him or his allies, or had hired his opponents, from doing business with the federal government. Trump 

 to do free legal work rather than face penalties. He has 

 if they do not follow his administration’s directives.

 against a judge who ruled that Trump officials likely committed criminal contempt by ignoring his directive to turn around planes carrying people being sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The actions are among steps that seem to be intensifying. Trump's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has 

 perceived to be critics of the president or not 

, and earlier this week the administration 

 of about three dozen current and former national security officials.

“It’s what he promised,” said Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official and Biden White House staffer who is a law professor at Loyola Marymount University. “It’s what bullies do when no one tells them ‘No.’”

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Donald Trump ran on a promise to use the powers of the government for revenge against those he believed wronged him. He now appears to be fulfilling that campaign promise while threatening to expand his powers well beyond Washington.

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Former national security adviser John Bolton

Trump ran on a promise of revenge. He's making good on it

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