I think we have to consider that a fair number of these EOs and other actions are performative [View all]
rather than substantive. They are intended as a show of power. For example, the "removal" of José Andrés from the Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition wasn't a removal at all; Andrés' two-year term was up and he had already resigned. Most of the appointments to presidential advisory committees are short-term and the appointees leave as expected and without fanfare when their terms are over. Only Trump would pretend this normal turnover is a purge of evil people from "his" government. But he needs to characterize everything he does as adversarial - evidence that he is defeating a dangerous enemy. Some of the EOs will be accomplished; some will go nowhere at all; many others, like the attempted elimination of birthright citizenship, will be litigated for a long time. While they are significant as evidence of what he wants to do and should be taken seriously in that respect, we should also be aware that, like almost everything else he does, they are intended first and foremost as performances. He's showing off for MAGA and trying to intimidate Democrats and foreign countries. Watch but don't panic.