Donald Trump, who in recent weeks has spoken and posted almost exclusively about being politically persecuted amid a torrent of criminal investigations and civil litigation, on Friday delivered what by comparison seemed like a more traditional campaign speech.
In a video the former president released Friday on Rumble and his own Truth Social website, ostensibly to advocate for deregulation, he attacked “rogue bureaucrats” and called for all federal employees to pass a “new civil service test.” He also squeezed in a dig at investigators looking into whether he improperly handled classified documents.
The 2024 candidate appeared to present a more presidential air as he spoke for more than three minutes standing between two American flags wearing a dark blue suit, a red tie, and a white shirt.
He said he would develop so-called “freedom cities” that would be a hub for future innovation.
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“As I work to quickly save America from Joe Biden's economic disaster – that's what it is one of the great economic disasters of all time – I will restore my famously successful executive order requiring that for every one new regulation two old regulations must be eliminated,” Trump said.
Trump said he’d create an “ultra-streamlined federal regulatory framework specifically for freedom cities, allowing them to be true frontiers for the return of US manufacturing, the invention of new industries.”
His call for a civil service test is likely to trouble critics who recall an executive order he issued in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election that according to The Washington Post “would remove job security from an estimated tens of thousands of civil servants and dramatically remake the government.”
“Finally, I will require every federal employee to pass a new civil service test demonstrating an understanding of our constitutional, limited government,” Trump said.
“This will include command of due process rights, equal protection, free speech, religious liberty, federalism, the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure I know all about that at Mar-a-Lago, don't I? And all other constitutional limits on federal power.
“We will put unelected bureaucrats back in their place, liberate the US economy and attract millions of jobs and trillions of dollars to our shores.”
