Trump pulls Kash Patel and Charles Kushner out of his fanny for big-time jobs; they both appear clueless as leaders, but at least they can kiss Trump's golden butt

Kash Patel: Clueless at the FBI (Getty)

Donald Trump made it clear over the weekend that his idea of building a government rests on loyalty to him (and not necessarily to the Constitution or the rule of law) and a willingness to take risky (and often unproductive) "swings for the fences" when initiating highly coveted change.

The first sign of this approach came on Saturday when Trump named real-estate developer Charles Kushner -- father of Trump's son-law, Jared -- as ambassador to France. Less than six hours later, Trump announced he picked Kash Patel, one of the hardest of his first-term hardliners, as FBI director. That means the incumbent, Chris Wray, who's just over seven years into a 10-year term (so the job could transcend any one presidency), likely will resign or be fired. My hope is that Wray will refuse to leave. It would be amusing to see Trump have to pay two FBI directors at the same time.

Axios sought to place the stunning developments in perspective under the headline "Behind the Curtain: Trump's shock and awe." In my view, the Axios analysis is too kind to Trump. The Kushner appointment reeks of pure, smelly nepotism. The Patel appointment indicates Trump gave zero consideration to fitness or qualifications for the position in question. Patel is a lawyer, and he has a smidgen of government experience. But his public statements make it clear he knows nothing about the U.S. Constitution or the rule of law. I submit that an FBI director should know a thing or two about those subjects. After all, Patel is crowing that he is "coming after" people he considers to be Trump's enemies, but we are unaware of any evidence that has surfaced to support such claims, and even if there were, it is unlikely it would support a civil action or criminal investigation/prosecution. If Trump, Patel, and attorney-general nominee Pam Bondi persist with the notion of bringing cases that have no basis in fact or law, they could wind up in deep legal doo-doo of their own making. Impeachment, time behind bars, large civil judgments, or a combination of all three could be headed their way.

Trump's latest personnel moves provide the strongest evidence yet that his second term is a disaster in the making. How, for example, is an administration supposed to function effectively when it is littered with "leaders" who are incompetent? My guess is that it won't function effectively, and Trump probably doesn't care, because he has stated many times that his second go-round will be driven by his personal grievances and his desire for retribution. How is that going to help regular Americans? It won't, and Trump doesn't intend for it to help you or me. As you might expect from a malignant narcissist, Trump plans for his second term to be all about him. Why did serious, thinking Americans go to the polls and vote for a scheme that will likely be a frightful waste of time and money -- an exercise in "walking in place," at best? My best guess is many Americans weren't serious about the 2024 election and they weren't thinking when they went to the polls. After all, we all knew, or had reason to know, ahead of Nov. 5 that Trump was a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, a serial abuser of women, a confessed (caught on video) perpetrator of sexual assault, a business cheat, a glorified mobster . . . and the list goes on. Americans knowingly supported a guy with that kind of rap sheet, suggesting they approve of such behavior? I still find it hard to believe -- but perhaps I hold my fellow Americans in higher regard  than they deserve. Maybe we are just a nation of dunces and whiners, who find Trump's rally-like minstrel show to be amusing and laugh when he calls those who fought for our freedoms (including my father) to be "suckers" and "losers." From the Axios piece:

Two seemingly unrelated behind-the-scenes Mar-a-Lago dramas capture the shock soon to pound Washington, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei write in a "Behind the Curtain" column:

• Elon Musk, the most powerful and persistent voice in President-elect Trump's ear, has been relentless in pushing "radical reform" of, well, almost everything. As he sits next to Trump discussing administration picks, Musk often asks if the person embodies "radical reform" — massive cuts and blow-it-up-to-rebuild instincts.
• Trump has been telling friends he denied Robert Lighthizer — his pro-tariff, China-hawk U.S. trade representative in the first term — a Cabinet role because he's "too scared to go big." He's loyal but too timid to take big, risky swings, Trump contends.

Why it matters: Trump advisers are running out of words to describe what's coming in January. They say he feels empowered and emboldened, vindicated and validated, and eager to stretch the boundaries of power.

• He's egged on by Musk and others — and picking trusted brawlers for the toughest, most controversial tasks.

 You got a big taste of this Saturday:

1. Trump named real estate developer Charles Kushner — father of Trump's son-in-law, Jared — as ambassador to France. During the final month of his first term, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, who had served federal time after being prosecuted by Chris Christie for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation and making false statements to the FEC.
2. Less than six hours later, Trump announced he picked Kash Patel, one of the hardest of his first-term hardliners, as FBI director. That means the incumbent, Chris Wray, who's just over seven years into a 10-year term (so the job could transcend any one presidency), will resign or be fired. A transition insider told us the Patel pick is a "personal message to the left that was cheering on Jack Smith" — the special counsel who was prosecuting Trump, and plans to step down before Trump can fire him.

According to Axios, many Trumpers actually like the way he is handling the transition, picking one unfit buffoon after another. (Are these people sick?):

Between the lines: Many in Trump's inner circle are gleeful at the aggressiveness of the Cabinet picks — former Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth, a decorated Army veteran who now faces questions about his treatment of women, to lead the Pentagon ... RFK Jr. to head HHS ... and former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.

• All of them want to disrupt the organizations they've been picked to lead. Patel told podcaster Shawn Ryan: "I'd shut down the FBI Hoover Building on Day 1, and reopen the next day as a museum of the Deep State." Patel told MAGA podcast warrior Steve Bannon last year: "We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're going to come after you, whether it's criminally or civilly."
• The transition insider told us Trump "no longer listens to people, usually senators, who tell him 'that's not how it's done' or 'it doesn't work that way.' He no longer accepts that rationale."

"Every day is Christmas Day," Steve Bannon told us during an early flurry of announcements. "We are fixed bayonets on these nominations."

• Bannon called Patel, who sells pro-Trump merch with "K$H" logos, his "One AND Only!!" choice to lead the FBI.
• After yesterday's announcements, Bannon texted us, as if he were dictating old-school headlines: "Wildest Dreams — Now to Darkest Nightmare as the Established Order Goes Scorched Earth to Defeat the President During Confirmation ... MAGA Best @ Scorched Earth Battles."

If you listen closely to Trumpers, you can easily reach the conclusion these people just aren't very sharp. But this was no surprise to the late, great George Carlin. He had it all figured out:

Now there’s one thing you might have noticed I don’t complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from “another reality.” They come from American parents, and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses, and American universities. And they’re elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in. Garbage out. If you have selfish ignorant citizens… If you have selfish ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish ignorant leaders. And term limits ain’t going to do you any good. You’re just going to wind up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So maybe… maybe… MAYBE, it’s not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here like: “THE PUBLIC.” Yeah the public sucks. There’s a nice campaign slogan for somebody: “The public sucks, fuck hope.” Fuck hope. Because if it’s really just the fault of these politicians, then where are all the other bright people of conscience? Where are all the bright, honest, intelligent Americans ready to step in and save the nation and lead the way? We don’t have people like that in this country. Everybody’s at the mall scratching his ass, picking his nose, taking his credit card out of a fanny pack, and buying a pair of sneakers with lights in them. So I have solved this little political dilemma for myself in a very simple way: On election-day, I-STAY-HOME. I don’t vote. Fuck ’em. FUCK THEM. I don’t vote. Two reasons. Two reasons I don’t vote: First of all, it’s meaningless. This country was bought and sold and paid for a long time ago. The shit they shuffle around every four years doesn’t mean a fuckin’ thing. And secondly, I don’t vote ’cause I believe if you vote, you have no right to complain. People like to twist that around. I know, they say: “Well, if you don’t vote you have no right to complain.” But where’s the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent people, and they get into office and screw everything up, well you are responsible for what they have done, YOU caused the problem, you voted them in, you have no right to complain. I on the other hand, who did not vote, WHO DID NOT VOTE. Who, in fact, did not even leave the house on election-day, am in no way responsible for what these people have done, and have every RIGHT to complain as loud as I want, about the mess YOU created, that I had nothing to do with. So I know that a little later on this year, you’re going to have another one of those really swell presidential elections that you like so much. You enjoy yourselves. It will be a lot of fun. I’m sure as soon as the election is over, your country will “improve” immediately. As for me, I’ll be home on that day, doing essentially the same thing as you, the only difference is, when I get finished masturbating, I’m going to have a little something to show for it folks.

What is Trump's transition train wreck all about? Allen and VandeHei have that one figured out:

Chemistry with Trump is a huge factor in the most controversial picks, Mike and Jim write.

• "These are people that get him and understand him," a longtime Trump confidant told us. "Last time, there were lots of people who didn't understand the vision or buy into the vision."

Another transition source tells us Patel was close to being named deputy FBI director, which would have been much less confrontational. But the former frontrunner for the job, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, flunked his Mar-a-Lago meeting with Trump.

• Bailey "looked the part" but "just didn't have the presence in the room," we're told.

The big picture: A tweet by Musk this past week captured the Mar-a-Lago vibe. "It's this time or never," he said about structural reform of the federal government.

• Musk, who said in 2018 that he was sleeping on a Tesla factory floor to stay on top of a production problem, has made Mar-a-Lago his new factory floor. He says the incoming administration is working "7 days a week."
• We're told Musk is pressing to instantly upend agencies by keeping the fewest possible people — like he did when he bought Twitter, now X.

Trump confidants tell us their plans are radical only compared to the status quo. "We're looking for a return to normalcy," the insider said. "Nothing radical. Used to be common sense in this country (and every country) that you take care of your people first before getting generous with others."

• "There are a million examples of things that need to be taken care of at home before we look past our shores, and we're gonna focus on those things," the insider added.

Reality check: Patel faces a potentially explosive Senate confirmation fight.

• "Current and former law-enforcement officials," The New York Times notes, "have worried that a second Trump term would feature an assault on the independence and authority of the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, and for many of them, Mr. Patel's ascension to the director's role would confirm the worst of those fears."