Trump spoke of retaliation. Will he deliver as president?

Democrats seized on Donald Trump's inflammatory comments about his political opponents and warned for months that he would come into office with an “enemies list” and launch a vendetta unparalleled in modern politics.

Voters shrugged their shoulders and elected Trump anyway, and his allies say fears of retaliation are overblown. Trump likes to talk tough and often doesn't get a say − It's all theatricality, they argue, pointing to “Lock her up” chants during the 2016 campaign that were directed at Hillary Clinton. However, there were no prosecutions.

Trump is known for being vindictive. He drove out those who criticized him politically and fought tirelessly against the Republicans who voted for both of his articles of impeachment. And he has interfered in the legal system before, firing FBI Director James Comey over the agency's handling of an investigation into alleged collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia.

He also fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who drew Trump's ire after recusing himself from the Russia investigation, and his Justice Department reportedly pushed for a criminal investigation into former Secretary of State John Kerry after the two clashed over the Iran nuclear deal were.

The question now is whether Trump's campaign threats are loud bluster or the harbinger of a difficult period of reckoning.

Will a Trump emboldened by a resounding victory and a recent Supreme Court decision providing broad immunity for a president's actions while in office follow through on threats against his opponents? Is it time for payback?

Trump spoke on the campaign trail about legal action against everyone from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris, former GOP congresswoman Liz Cheney and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He railed against supposed “internal enemies”. He threatened opponents with prosecution, drew comparisons to authoritarian regimes and raised grave concerns about the country's democratic foundations.

Trump shared a social media message in which he said Cheney was “guilty of treason,” a charge he also leveled against former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.

“This is an act so monstrous that the punishment would previously have been death!” Trump wrote about Milley on social media.

During a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said Harris “should be indicted and prosecuted” over her handling of the immigration issue.

But those close to Trump are downplaying the retaliatory talks, with many pointing to Clinton's example as a sign that campaign rhetoric does not mean legal action. They echo Trump's statement that the greatest retaliation will be a successful presidency with a booming economy.

“He's never done this before, I don't think he's going to be consumed with it,” said a Republican adviser close to the Trump campaign, adding: “He knows how history books are written… he knows if he is successful.” and inflation is easing, the last chapter about him could balance a lot.

Some long-time Trump watchers are skeptical.

“The idea that Donald Trump is going to appear as Mary Poppins after being Godzilla on the campaign trail is just a complete misinterpretation of who he is,” said Trump biographer Tim O'Brien.

Just as Trump often made contradictory statements throughout the campaign, saying on one day that Biden and his family should face a special prosecutor and on another that “my revenge will be a success,” some allies are suggesting that a Prosecution might be justified, but at the same time they throw cold water on the idea of a largely retaliatory presidency.

“If he didn’t do it in his first term, why would he do it in his second term?” That’s what longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone said on Tuesday at the new president’s election night party in West Palm Beach. “Well, that means those who broke the law, as they tell us endlessly, should be prosecuted.”

Conservative Political Action Conference Chairman Matt Schlapp believes the federal bureaucracy will try to obstruct Trump's presidency and he needs to be “fight-ready.”

“We must be prepared to prosecute or at least discipline all of these swamp creatures who are trying to undermine the rightfully elected president,” Schlapp said.

Even those who don't believe Trump will press charges against his opponents believe there could be a purge in the Justice Department that brings criminal charges against the current president–Election for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and for alleged mishandling of confidential documents. Trump has promised to fire special counsel Jack Smith, who is handling both cases.

“To me, revenge means half of the DOJ gets fired. “I don’t think revenge means throwing people in prison,” said former Trump adviser and critic Sam Nunberg.

Trump often claims the Justice Department has become politicized and “litigated” against him, even though there is no evidence that Biden interfered in any of his cases and even though Attorney General Merrick Garland has insisted the agency acted independently.

A shakeup at the DOJ could threaten the agency's independence and subject it to the whims of the president, giving him broad powers to pursue perceived enemies.

“I think there will be some real mischief at the Justice Department,” said Ty Cobb, a Trump White House lawyer and now a critic of the former president, who predicted “loyalty tests” for Justice Department leaders.

O'Brien described Trump's campaign as a “revenge tour” for a man who believes he was unfairly barred from the presidency in 2020. An aggrieved Trump with few guardrails in a second administration will be dangerous, O'Brien said.

“I think he will take an authoritarian approach to the U.S. public that no one in modern times has known or seen,” O'Brien said. “And the consequences, in my opinion, will be frightening and severe.”

Harris focused on Trump's campaign threats in her closing message, saying she would come into office with a “to-do list” while her opponent had an “enemies list.” That wasn't enough to stop him from winning, and Trump's allies say that's not true.

“It will not be about retaliation,” said Stone, who was pardoned by Trump after being convicted of obstructing the Congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and making false statements. “I think he understands that ultimately he's going to get the biggest '(expletive) you' possible by turning the country around and becoming the most popular president in American history. I don't think he's interested in personal revenge, that's not his motive, it never was here.”

Marc Short, chief of staff to former Trump Vice President Mike Pence, said Trump's language on the campaign trail was “deplorable.”

“I think as conservatives one of our core principles is a belief in the rule of law,” Short said. “We often criticize left-wing dictatorships for persecuting their political enemies, so I hope that won’t be the case.”

While he noted that Trump never prosecuted Clinton after his promise in 2016, Short said it was fair to question whether he would follow through this time after a campaign filled with threats.

“That's a fair question because I think the rhetoric was more heated this time,” Short said.

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