President Donald Trump has been accused of using former members of the Armed Forces to patch up leaks in his administration, an analyst has claimed.
The Trump administration has initiated deportation proceedings against 34 former military members and arrested 125 others for immigration violations over the past year, reversing Biden-era protections for service members and their families.
Federal data shows immigration authorities also placed 248 relatives of veterans into deportation proceedings after Trump rescinded preferential treatment guidance. Additionally, the administration cut over 12,700 jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs through mass government layoffs.
But Trump's recent approval for the Food and Drug Administration to review psychedelic drugs including ibogaine for use as a prescription for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder was roundly praised by political analysts.
Heather Delany Reese, writing in her Substack, suggested that while it could be a positive step in helping veterans, the administration has approved the drug review to save face.
Reese wrote, "Nothing that helps our veterans should take decades to reach them. That part is not in question. What is in question is the machinery behind the moment. Because what we watched today had nothing to do with veterans. Trump loves to use veterans as props, the same way he uses anyone who serves his purposes and discards them when they don’t.
"Even if he wasn’t fully aware of why this was being fast-tracked on a Saturday, the people operating the levers behind him understood exactly what was happening. This was the machine recognizing a fracture in the foundation and moving to seal it before it spread any further.
"That is how Trump operates. He doesn’t persuade his critics. He purchases them. Not always with money, but with access, with wins, with the thing they care about most. [Joe] Rogan wanted psychedelic therapy for veterans.
"[Robert] O’Neill wanted recognition for a cause close to his heart. Trump gave them both what they wanted, and in return, he got the only thing he ever wants: the appearance of loyalty and control. A vision of his presidency that everything is great, even as the world outside that room was falling apart.
"Because while Trump sat in the Oval Office telling reporters that the situation with Iran was 'going actually along very well,' Iran was closing the Strait of Hormuz again. For the second time this week. Hours after announcing it would reopen the strait as part of the fragile ceasefire, Iran reversed course after Trump insisted on maintaining the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports."