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New Memos Detail The Trump Administration’s Troubling Stewardship of the Federal Executive Branch

Today, the Revolving Door Project released a series of memos cataloging the Trump approach to running the federal executive branch.

The series serves as a reminder to the public that the president’s primary responsibility is to direct the vast apparatus known as the executive branch of the federal government. Sadly, former president Donald Trump either neglected this responsibility or wielded it in favor of corporations throughout his four years in office.

The memos, which cover a broad range of themes, including disaster and emergency management, labor, housing, transportation, financial regulation and more, highlight the myriad ways the former president and his cast of conflicted appointees prioritized corporate interests while jeopardizing the health, safety and wellbeing of the American people.

Revolving Door Project Research Director Timi Iwayemi said: “Even as current conversations wisely focus on Project 2025 and Trump’s promise to leverage executive power to harm political enemies, it’s important to revisit how poorly he ran the executive branch his first time round as a cure to the public’s apparent Trumpnesia.”

“The Trump administration was utterly indifferent to the public interest while prioritizing the wealth of the Trump family and their richest enablers,” Iwayemi continued. “There are multiple examples of this indifference, including the disgraceful response to hurricanes Irma and Maria, the destructive mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic, the repeal of payday lending consumer protections, the authorization of wage theft from tipped workers, and the protection of disreputable corporate polluters and for-profit educational institutions.”

Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser said: “Donald Trump’s most important legacy as president wasn’t what he said, or even what bills he signed, but how he turned the federal government into a favor machine to benefit his family and cronies. The media should not focus on the aesthetics of this week’s presidential debate but rather cover the Biden vs. Trump election as a comparison between how each president administered the immensely important executive branch.”

To read the memos, visit the Trump Retrospectives, or check them out here: disaster management, education, environment, financial regulation, housing, immigration, labor, transportation.

The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement.