International
Trump ‘shocks the deep state,’ sidesteps ‘weaponized’ White House transition process’

From LifeSiteNews
The president-elect is attempting to avoid the mistakes he made during his first term by this time privately funding the transition.
Two viral postings on X describe how President-elect Donald Trump is avoiding D.C.’s entrenched “permanent state” that sought to upend his first presidency before it started, beginning with his January 2017 transition into the Oval Office.
“Having experienced firsthand the malevolence of the so-called ‘permanent government’ during his initial transition in 2016-2017, Trump is under no illusions about the loyalty or intentions of the civil service – particularly the General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ),” amuse explained on X. “The current transition struggle exemplifies the danger of allowing the permanent bureaucratic state to accrue power unchecked.”
“During his first term, Trump’s transition team – Trump for America, Inc. (TFA) – faced betrayal when the GSA improperly handed over thousands of emails from the transition period to Special Counsel Robert Mueller without proper authorization,” amuse wrote. “An agency ostensibly dedicated to facilitating the transition had instead been co-opted to undermine it.”
Amuse continued:
The FBI, which once served as an institution above the fray of partisan politics, has shown its hand in its dealings with Trump – spying on his 2016 campaign, embedding female honeypots within his transition, and using “national security” briefings as a pretext to disqualify his appointees, like General Michael Flynn. The Justice Department Inspector General found that former FBI agent Peter Strzok even sent another FBI agent to an intelligence briefing with Trump and Flynn as part of an effort to build a Russia collusion case against them.
These actions are not the behavior of a neutral party facilitating a democratic handover; they are the machinations of a bureaucracy desperate to retain control.
As a result, the president-elect has chosen to privately fund his side of the transition from the Biden administration.
Trump’s transition strategy: ‘Annihilating the deep state’s control’
“Trump’s MAGA administration just dropped a nuclear bomb on Washington’s corrupt establishment. By rejecting taxpayer-funded GSA tools and launching a fully private transition, Trump is cutting the deep state out of the equation. This isn’t just a handoff – it’s a full-scale revolution,” Ann Vandersteel wrote on X and Substack.
“In a jaw-dropping move, Trump has signed the Transition Agreement with the outgoing Biden administration — but with one massive twist. There’s no GSA involvement. No government phones. No government buildings. Nothing,” Vandersteel wrote.
“This isn’t about tradition. It’s about annihilating the deep state’s control,” Vandersteel continued. “Washington’s gatekeepers are panicking. Trump’s strategy leaves them powerless, blind, and scrambling in the dark.”
She continued:
The deep state relies on access. They spy. They sabotage. They control. But Trump has cut off their lifeline. His team has gone dark – no leaks, no traps, no surveillance. For the corrupt elite, this is their worst nightmare. They’re awake, sweating bullets, terrified of what’s next.
Trump’s move isn’t just bold; it’s revolutionary.
- No GSA oversight. The tools used against him in 2016? Gone.
- No taxpayer dependence. This revolution is fully independent.
- No interference. The deep state can’t touch what they can’t see.
This is a calculated takedown of a corrupt system. Trump isn’t playing defense —he’s on the offensive.
“Washington’s establishment is in freefall. The deep state relied on GSA tools to spy, infiltrate, and sabotage. Now they’re locked out entirely. They’ve lost their grip, their leverage, and their power,” Vandersteel wrote. “This isn’t a transition; it’s a declaration of war against the corrupt establishment.”
“Trump’s transition is a bold strike against the forces that tried to destroy his presidency. No leaks. No oversight. No compromise. The deep state is crumbling, and Washington will never be the same,” Vandersteel said.
“The storm isn’t coming – it’s already here.”
Corporate media in the nation’s capital is not happy about Trump’s end run around those who are accustomed to playing an integral role in White House transitions.
The Washington Post, Biden regime are losing sleep over the transition
The Washington Post has decided Trump succeeding Biden in January represents a “hostile takeover of the federal government.”
The Post laments:
Since his victory, Trump has ignored many of the rules and practices intended to guide a seamless transfer of power and handover of the oversight of 2.2 million federal employees. Instead, the president-elect, who has pledged to fire thousands of civil servants and slash billions of dollars in spending, has so far almost fully cut out the government agencies his predecessors have relied on to take charge of the federal government.
“His transition teams have yet to set foot inside a single federal office,” Post writers noted two weeks after Trump resoundingly won the 2024 election, as if breaking with standard procedure were a criminal offense against the Washington establishment.
“In calls with foreign heads of state, Trump has cut out the State Department, its secure lines and its official interpreters,” the Post added.
The Post acknowledged that Trump also “bears deep animus against the FBI, according to the people familiar with his transition process. FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago for classified materials in a case that resulted in federal charges, and he has pledged wholesale changes at the agency and at the Justice Department.”
The FBI would normally have begun vetting a president-elect’s transition team before Election Day, as well as his choices for Cabinet positions and other top staff jobs. Thus far, Trump has left the job of vetting candidates to Stanley Woodward, a D.C. lawyer on his campaign who has represented several January 6 rioters and Trump associates caught up in the classified documents case.
“I happen to know the Biden regime has been losing sleep over the transition,” amuse added in a subsequent X post. “Nothing is going to plan.”
Crime
Bryan Kohberger avoids death penalty in brutal killing of four Idaho students

Quick Hit:
Bryan Kohberger will plead guilty to murdering four Idaho college students, avoiding a death sentence but leaving victims’ families without answers. The plea deal means he’ll spend life in prison without ever explaining why he committed the brutal 2022 killings.
Key Details:
- Kohberger will plead guilty at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. local time.
- The plea deal removes the possibility of death by firing squad but ensures life in prison without parole.
- Victims’ families say the state “failed” them by agreeing to a deal that denies them an explanation for the murders.
Diving Deeper:
Bryan Kohberger, a former PhD criminology student at Washington State University, is expected to plead guilty to the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, sparing himself the death penalty but also avoiding any explanation for his motive. Idaho defense attorney Edwina Elcox told the New York Post that under the plea, Kohberger will have to admit to the killings but won’t have to provide a reason for his actions. “There is no requirement that he says why for a plea,” Elcox explained.
Prosecutors reached the plea deal just weeks before the scheduled trial, which many believed would have revealed the full details and motives behind the shocking quadruple homicide. Kohberger is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; and Xana Kernodle, 20, with a military-style Ka-Bar knife as they slept in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. His DNA was allegedly found on a knife sheath left at the scene.
The Goncalves family blasted the state for the deal, saying, “They have failed us.” They had hoped a trial would uncover why Kohberger targeted their daughter and her friends. Prosecutors, however, argued that the plea ensures a guaranteed conviction and prevents the years of appeals that typically follow a death sentence, providing a sense of finality and keeping Kohberger out of the community forever.
Sentencing will not take place for several weeks following Wednesday’s hearing, which is expected to last about an hour as the judge confirms the plea agreement is executed properly. While the families may find some closure in knowing Kohberger will never be free again, they are left without the one thing a trial could have provided: answers.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool)
International
CBS settles with Trump over doctored 60 Minutes Harris interview

CBS will pay Donald Trump more than $30 million to settle a lawsuit over a 2024 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. The deal also includes a new rule requiring unedited transcripts of future candidate interviews.
Key Details:
- Trump will receive $16 million immediately to cover legal costs, with remaining funds earmarked for pro-conservative messaging and future causes, including his presidential library.
- CBS agreed to release full, unedited transcripts of all future presidential candidate interviews—a policy insiders are calling the “Trump Rule.”
- Trump’s lawsuit accused CBS of deceptively editing a 60 Minutes interview with Harris in 2024 to protect her ahead of the election; the FCC later obtained the full transcript after a complaint was filed.
Tonight, on a 60 Minutes election special, Vice President Kamala Harris shares her plan to strengthen the economy by investing in small businesses and the middle class. Bill Whitaker asks how she’ll fund it and get it through Congress. https://t.co/3Kyw3hgBzr pic.twitter.com/HdAmz0Zpxa
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 7, 2024
Diving Deeper:
CBS and Paramount Global have agreed to pay President Donald Trump more than $30 million to settle a lawsuit over a 2024 60 Minutes interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris, Fox News Digital reported Tuesday. Trump accused the network of election interference, saying CBS selectively edited Harris to shield her from backlash in the final stretch of the campaign.
The settlement includes a $16 million upfront payment to cover legal expenses and other discretionary uses, including funding for Trump’s future presidential library. Additional funds—expected to push the total package well above $30 million—will support conservative-aligned messaging such as advertisements and public service announcements.
As part of the deal, CBS also agreed to a new editorial policy mandating the public release of full, unedited transcripts of any future interviews with presidential candidates. The internal nickname for the new rule is reportedly the “Trump Rule.”
Trump initially sought $20 billion in damages, citing a Face the Nation preview that aired Harris’s rambling response to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That portion of the interview was widely mocked. A more polished answer was aired separately during a primetime 60 Minutes special, prompting allegations that CBS intentionally split Harris’s answer to minimize political fallout.
The FCC later ordered CBS to release the full transcript and raw footage after a complaint was filed. The materials confirmed that both versions came from the same response—cut in half across different broadcasts.
CBS denied wrongdoing but the fallout rocked the network. 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned in April after losing control over editorial decisions. CBS News President Wendy McMahon also stepped down in May, saying the company’s direction no longer aligned with her own.
Several CBS veterans strongly opposed any settlement. “The unanimous view at 60 Minutes is that there should be no settlement, and no money paid, because the lawsuit is complete bulls***,” one producer told Fox News Digital. Correspondent Scott Pelley had warned that settling would be “very damaging” to the network’s reputation.
The final agreement includes no admission of guilt and no direct personal payment to Trump—but it locks in a substantial cash payout and forces a new standard for transparency in how networks handle presidential interviews.
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