Was there ever a time when the phrase 'a week is a long time in politics' was more apt?
The third week of the second Trump administration has been eventful, to say the least.
Suggesting America takes ownership of a depopulated Gaza was just one of the many things that happened over the past few days - and may not even be in the top three consequential things that happened last week.
Which is remarkable.
Trouble is, we might be using the 'week is a long time in politics' line next week.
And the week after.
And the week after...
Trump's comments on Gaza cause backlash
But, OK - Gaza.
Pretty much everyone was shocked when he said what he said: pretty much nobody believes it will actually happen.
But with Mr Trump, you never really know for sure.
He read from a prepared statement - this was not something made up on the spot - and he had alluded to the redevelopment of Gaza during the campaign trail and in the transition period, slipping out the developer view about "great beachfront location".
His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff (another property developer billionaire) told senators on Wednesday that the plan had been "in gestation for some months".
Read more: Trump says 'everybody loves' his Gaza plan, despite backlash
He also denied any suggestion of forcible relocation or deployment of US soldiers to Gaza was part of the plan.
He also said the president does not want to spend any US money on its remaking.
In fairness to the president, he did not say the US was going to send in the army to clear out the Palestinians and seize control of Gaza.
He certainly suggested Palestinians should move out, and the US should move in and redevelop the 'site'.
It was only later, when asked if the US should send troops to "secure the security vacuum", that he replied: "As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary: if it's necessary we’ll do it."
It was a typically loose answer for someone who does not like to be tied down to specifics, who always wants plenty of exit ramps and options.
But in Middle Eastern politics, where memories are long, loose talk really does cost lives.
The diplomatic and security/military establishment here was aghast at the proposal - anything that even hints at forcible transfer of populations is simply not said out loud when dealing with the bitter and delicate politics of the region.
Some feared it would lead to terrorist strikes against US targets abroad, or even inside the US itself.
Others that it would make negotiating anything at all an even more difficult proposition than it already is.
Others noted the toxic history of the idea, associated with the late Meir Kahane, an American elected to the Knesset in Israel for a single term in the 1980s, and subsequently assassinated in New York.
He promulgated the idea of removing Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank.
The political party that followed his vision, Kach, was listed as a terrorist movement by the US State Department in 1997, a move upheld by a federal court in 2006.
Israel outlawed two factions that succeeded Mr Kahane’s party in the early 90s, and the idea of forcible transfers of Palestinians was considered morally repugnant.
Notably the only overt support for the Trump plan on Wednesday in Israel came from right-wing former minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
He said on army radio he supports encouraging voluntary Palestinian migration from West Bank as well.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal a year ago, Mr Ben-Gvir said he supported the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza.
Now some think that the Trump plan will mainstream an idea that few had considered in any way respectable.
The subsequent spin control from the Trump administration has very much emphasised the voluntary nature of any Palestinian departure from Gaza - and the temporary nature of their stay in other places (if that is what they want) - and the non-use of US troops on the ground.
After all, this is a President who came to power decrying the involvement of the US in foreign wars and pledging to keep American soldiers in America.
It is no accident that MAGA strongholds tend to be the more down at heel places that were bulk suppliers of troops to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
So why is this not the single most consequential thing done by the US administration this week?
Because even though it does have consequences, it is less likely to happen than some of the other business started by the administration and its servants in the past week.
Department of Government Efficiency
Of most consequence is the seemly unbound activity of Elon Musk and his small team from DOGE, the "Department of Government Efficiency" - so called because it is not a Department, or a bureau, or an agency.
It is an advisory group staffed by people who are - as far as anyone can tell - on 130-day "Special Government Employee" contracts.
And nobody is sure about their level of security clearance.
If indeed they have any.
But they certainly have power.
Senior officials charged with securing highly sensitive government databases have been sacked for refusing access to Mr Musk’s team, dubbed "Muskrats" by civil service unions.
The DOGE people - young software engineers from X or SpaceX, some in the 19 to 25-year age range - have been going through databases, starting with the Treasury payment system.
This is the money-in-money-out machine at the heart of the US federal government.
It pays not just civil service wages, but contracts for suppliers, medical insurance for the poor and elderly, social welfare payments and a host of other payments that politicians down the generations have deemed necessary to keep America working the way it works.
Reform is needed.
Change must come.
But the way the DOGE team is going about it has set alarm bells ringing.
Some feared the social security numbers and bank account details of all American residents (culled from the tax system) are now in the hands of Elon Musk.
In the Republic of Laws there is always a lawyer - and a legal challenge.
A federal judge on Thursday signed off on a temporary arrangement between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant and two DOGE employees, Tom Krause and Marko Elez, to allow them to become Treasury employees to access the data.
But it prohibits them from sharing it outside the Treasury, and their access is "read only", so no changing data in the files.
This arrangement is in place until the judge rules on a lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO and other trade unions claiming DOGE is on the cusp of gaining unlawful access to Labour Department Data.
But while the Judge was authorising Marko Elez to be a Treasury official, the same Marko Elez was resigning from DOGE, after the Wall Street Journal linked him to a now defunct X account which had posted racist comments, particularly against Indian software employees in Silicon Valley.
When the Journal made enquiries, it was told by Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, that 25-year-old Mr Elez had resigned.
Yesterday, Elon Musk posted an online poll on X asking his followers if Mr Elez should be re-hired.
Some 78% said yes.
Vice President JD Vance said bring him back: "I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid's life. We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever."
Mr Musk replied to the VP’s post: "He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine".
🫡
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2025
He will be brought back.
To err is human, to forgive divine. https://t.co/TV6SJIb5P6
At a press conference with the Japanese Prime Minster last night, President Trump told reporters he did not think any parts of the government were off limits to Mr Musk and his team, whom he described as "a very capable group".
He said he has not discussed much with Mr Musk what to do, but said he had told him to "very soon go into the Department of Education and the Military" and investigate spending.
The Pentagon budget is colossal, and leading MAGA ideologue Steve Bannon said earlier this week there was no way it could be avoided if the Trump administration is serious about reducing the budget deficit.
As for the Department of Education, it is hard to see why they would bother, given that Mr Trump has clearly stated he intends to see it shut down, and its funding and powers transferred to the 50 states.
He has appointed the former wrestling impresario Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education, with a brief to put herself out of a job.
And speaking of putting yourself out of a job, the offer to the 2.2 million federal workers to resign or return to full time office work (and face a possible review anyway) in return for eight months salary has been taken up by 50,000 staff, but was injuncted by a federal judge in Boston following a challenge by Civil Service Unions questioning the legality of the scheme.
Read more:
Breathtaking a gross understatement for Trump's Gaza plan
Ireland among countries condemning Trump ICC sanctions
The White House is targeting 200,000 resignations.
The scheme was unleased in a special web portal set up by Mr Musk’s team, based on a similar mechanism to cut the workforce at X when he took over.
Earlier this week the scheme was extended to all the employees of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The number of CIA employees and the budget of the agency are secret.
But it looks like a cutback is coming.
In a potential breach of security, the first name and surname initial of every CIA hire in the past two years was sent over to the White House on an unsecured server, prompting some to worry that the cover of every new recruit has now been effectively compromised.
Mr Musk was all over the effective shutting down of USAID, the overseas development agency of the US government.
Just 600 of the agency's former staff are being retained (as of last night) to oversee critical functions related to the agency's $25 billion budget.
For comparison, Irish Aid employs around 474 staff and a budget of €810 million.
Some 10,000 other US staff and foreign hires are likely to be fired.
Mr Musk posted the words "wood chipper" to describe the agency’s fate at the start of the week.
By last night he posted photos showing the Agency’s name had been removed from its downtown office, which he now said was occupied by Customs and Border Patrol staff.
The lists of names are also a feature of the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Under the direction of the Assistant Attorney General, Emil Bove, all FBI agents who took any part in the investigation of the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, and/or investigated Mr Trump in any of the Federal Criminal Cases had to fill in a questionnaire stating what they did.
It is reported to have had a chilling effect on FBI agents, who are assigned to cases - they do not volunteer (volunteering for a particular job is considered a sign of potential bias, and normally volunteers are excluded).
And this is before the expected arrival of Kash Patel, Mr Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, who has an enemies list.
He faced a rough confirmation hearing in the Senate last week but is expected to clear the full Senate when it votes.
He is expected to shrink the FBI's counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence work (tracking down foreign spies in the US).
Mr Bove, who was seen on TV a lot last year as one of the two lead defence lawyers for Mr Trump in the Stormy Daniels trial in New York, has already fired several Department of Justice staff who worked on the Trump prosecutions.
He also dismissed half a dozen of the FBI’s most senior officials, a group with almost 200 years collective service in the Bureau.
Among them the lead investigator in the 9/11 attacks.
The US Attorneys Office has also been impacted.
On inauguration day, 20 January, Mr Trump pardoned some 1,500 people for their role in the attacks on the Capitol on 6 January 2021.
Back then Ed Martin, a Missouri Lawyer and one time chair of that state’s Republican Party was in the crowd at the Capitol, posting on social media: "I’m at the Capitol right now – rowdy crowd but nothing out of hand. Ignore the #FakeNews".
He later served on the board of Patriot Freedom Project, a support group for people charged in connection with the storming of the Capitol.
On inauguration day Mr Trump appointed him interim US Attorney in Washington, DC, where he has opened an inquiry into why prosecutors in his office used felony obstruction charges against so many of the 6 January convicts.
On Wednesday this week, Pam Bondi, a former Trump lawyer and Attorney General of Florida was sworn in as Attorney General of the United States.
She signed a memo establishing a "Weaponization Working Group" to review all cases brought against Donald Trump by local, state and federal Prosecutors.
Tariffs
Then, there was the tariff stuff on Monday, with the White House imposing, then withdrawing, 25% tariffs on the country’s two biggest trading partners, Canada and Mexico.
To avoid tariffs - at least for the next month - both countries pledged to do more to clamping down on drug smuggling across their borders, especially of fentanyl, the cause of a 10% tariff imposed on Chinese imports.
The chairman of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, tried to downplay fears that using tariffs would lead to increased inflation for US consumers, and harm for US businesses, saying "its a drug war, not a trade war".
But the president’s comments on the EU definitely being in line for tariffs is still a mystery, as it is not a source of illegal drugs or illegal migrants.
Speaking of which, deportations are being done in a conspicuously high-profile manner, using US military aircraft.
And the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba is being used to house criminal deportees - the first flight arrived this week, and army engineers are preparing the base to house up to 30,000 deportees.
More significantly, El Salvador is reported to be ready to accept illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and are in US prisons, in return for payments.
El Salvador has seen a huge reduction in crime by creating a huge prison system with a huge population of inmates.
Now it seems US deportees with criminal convictions are to join them as part of the "worst go first" policy.
Panama Canal
It was all quiet on the Greenland front this week, but the Panama Canal was back in the headlines.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama and announced that US warships would now be able to transit the canal for free.
The Panamanian government was outraged, with President Jose Raul Molino saying the US statement was full of "lies and falsehoods".
A phone call between Mr Trump and the Panamanian President yesterday was expected to centre on the possible withdrawal of a concession agreement for a Hong Kong Chinese company to operate freight terminals at either end of the canal.
However, Mr Trump postponed the call due to last-minute changes in the US leader's agenda.
What does this mean for Trump's second term?
So, a lot of stuff has been happening in Washington this past week, 21 days into the famous "first hundred days", when presidents are supposed to set the course that defines their four-year term.
And I would argue that the stuff that is actually happening is probably of more consequence than the stuff that most believe will not happen - like the US taking ownership of an empty Gaza.
But like I said, with Mr Trump you cannot be 100% sure.
And even pure hot air can have consequences when it is emitted from the Oval Office.
Last night, the White House Press Secretary sent out the following list of "just a few" things from the past week:
- The Trump Administration is busy securing America and by transferring "the worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens to Guantanamo Bay ahead of their repatriation back to their own countries.
- Following President Trump’s imposition of tariffs, Mexico announced a deployment of 10,000 troops to the border to combat illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking and Canada announced a flurry of measures to combat fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking.
- Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles stopped giving puberty blockers to minors following President Trump’s executive order banning sex changes for minors.
- President Trump ended the unfair, demeaning practice of forcing women to compete against men in sports - which resulted in the NCAA changing its rules.
- President Trump proposed a bold vision for securing lasting peace in Gaza - which former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman described as "brilliant, historic and the only idea I have heard in 50 years that has a chance of bringing security, peace and prosperity to this troubled region."
- President Trump has had his cabinet confirmed by the Senate at a far faster pace than his predecessor; as of February 7, 2025, most of President Trump’s 21 cabinet and cabinet-level nominations have been confirmed.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi immediately got to work ending the weaponization that has plagued the Department of Justice in recent years - rooting out politically motivated lawfare that occurred in the Biden administration, pausing funding for so-called "sanctuary cities," addressing the threat of Hamas and its affiliates here and abroad, and eradicating anti-Christian bias within the federal government.
- President Trump laid out a visionary plan to establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund to maximize the stewardship of the $5 trillion plus in assets held by the United States.
- President Trump stopped the waste, fraud, and abuse happening within USAID - ensuring taxpayers are no longer on the hook for funding pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, such as sex changes in Guatemala.
- Following a visit from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino agreed to withdraw from the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, a debt-trap diplomacy scheme the Chinese Communist Party uses to gain influence over developing nations.
- President Trump has already downsized the federal workforce by more than 2.5%
- President Trump banned funding to UNRWA - a United Nations agency employed hundreds of Hamas and jihad operatives.
- President Trump ordered the termination of all federal media contracts, so taxpayers aren’t on the hook for subsidizing Fake News publications.
- President Trump ordered a review of all non-governmental organizations, so taxpayers are no longer funding those that undermine America’s interests.
- President Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, which has illegitimately asserted jurisdiction on internal US matters and baselessly targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his intention to "elevate Japan’s investment in the United States to an unprecedented amount of $1 trillion" now that President Trump is back in office.
This list was far from exhaustive – even though its pretty exhausting just reading it.
We wrote just before the election that a new Trump administration would offer a more revolutionary path than the continuity option of Kamala Harris.
Right now, it looks like Elon Musk is the Robespierre of this revolution – smart, diligent, good at mobilising the public through communications, dominating politics through the Committee of Public Safety (not quite as catchy as DOGE), instituting the reign of terror, but then...
Robespierre, that is.
Not Musk.
Not yet.
