Inside the Trump Purge: Federal Workers Tell Their Stories

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the campaign trail, Donald J. Trump and his allies left little doubt that, if they returned to power, federal workers would face layoffs, buyouts and agency closures. Now that President Trump’s plan has become a reality, dozens of federal workers explain what it’s been like to live through it.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I think I just got deactivated on my government computer.
0:07.0	I can try one more time and just kick me out of teams.
0:11.0	Let's see if I can open my outlook.
0:14.0	Yep, I no longer have access.
0:19.0	Okay.
0:20.0	Yeah. I no longer have access. Okay.
0:25.9	Yeah, I don't even know.
0:27.8	Yeah, like, I'm looking at my office.
0:31.0	I have gotten pictures of me and my buddies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
0:33.1	I have like a Marine Corps flag behind me.
0:35.1	There's like a pit in my stomach.
0:39.3	I'm a, well, combat vet going to work at the VA. Like, I was like, you know, no one's really coming after us.
0:42.3	And then, like, I thought the VA would be fine.
0:45.3	No. Like, I'm totally fired now.
0:48.3	So, like, I'm just, if I'm getting fired, like, who's next, you know?
0:53.3	Like, I thought I'd be the safest and I was one of the first to go.
0:59.8	From the New York Times, I'm Michael Babaro.
1:02.8	This is the Daily.
1:05.0	Either the deep state destroys America or we destroy the deep state.
1:11.6	That's the way it's got to be.
1:13.6	On the campaign trail, Donald Trump and his allies left little doubt that if they returned to power,
1:19.6	they would try to make working for the federal government as miserable an experience as possible.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 7 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New York Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The New York Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.