(Picture by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Photographs)
A 22-year-old whose final gig was ringing up groceries.
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When there’s a reputable menace of terrorism, who would you like main the cost to guard the nation? A seasoned professional with many years of expertise in counterterrorism? Or a 22-year-old current school grad whose skilled spotlight reel includes bagging groceries and mowing lawns?
If you happen to guessed the primary choice, congratulations, you’re a purposeful grownup with a fundamental understanding of how jobs work. Sadly, for those who’re Donald Trump, you simply shrug and say, “He’s a giant fan of mine.”
America, meet Thomas Fugate, the 22-year-old wunderkind—or maybe “wonder-why-he’s-in-this-job-kind”—who, due to Trump, now heads the Heart for Prevention Packages and Partnerships (CP3) on the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS). By no means thoughts the truth that this “heart” handles one of the delicate duties in authorities: stopping terrorism and hate-fueled violence. And by no means thoughts the truth that Fugate’s work expertise only a few years in the past concerned “landscaping across the neighborhood. Oh, and he additionally labored part-time at H-E-B, a grocery store chain. However hey, he’s younger, loves Trump, and possibly owns a purple MAGA hat
Fugate graduated from the College of Texas at San Antonio simply final yr with a level in politics and legislation. Fairly normal stuff. However as an alternative of going via the standard grind of entry-level jobs that the majority current grads face, Fugate soared straight to the highest. Why? Properly, it appears his resume wasn’t constructed on experience however on loyalty. He labored as an intern for the Heritage Basis, a conservative assume tank carefully tied to Trump-era insurance policies. He additionally did advance crew work on Trump’s 2024 marketing campaign. In different phrases, he was an errand boy for the MAGA machine.
Nonetheless, none of this explains why he was handed the keys to CP3. This isn’t a summer season internship at a assume tank; it’s a job that calls for experience in figuring out and neutralizing threats earlier than they flip into tragedies. Fugate’s predecessor, William Braniff, had over 20 years of nationwide safety expertise, together with service within the Military. Braniff resigned in protest over finances cuts to CP3—a division that’s already been criticized for being underfunded.
The U.S. not too long ago launched army strikes on three Iranian nuclear websites, escalating tensions with Tehran. Iran, predictably, has issued threats of retaliation, and consultants warn about the potential for terrorism on American soil. It’s on this second of heightened hazard that Trump determined to place a 22-year-old answerable for terrorism prevention.