Trump 2, or The Revenge: The American President-elect's Second Stint in the White House is shaping up to be this ominous heading. On Saturday, November 30, Donald Trump confirmed his intention of bringing an early end to the 10-year term of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) boss Christopher Wray, which runs until 2027.

In his place, the Republican wants to appoint Kash Patel, a much-loved figure in the MAGA ("Make America Great Again") world, who has been promising to dismantle the FBI for years. Extremist, conspiratorial, lacking in the skills required for this level of responsibility: in the procession of controversial appointments made by Donald Trump, that of Patel will probably trigger the most contention in the Senate. It remains to be seen whether a handful of Republican senators will have enough conscience and courage to block this potentially devastating choice for national security and the rule of law.

Promising during the campaign to go after his "enemies within," Trump has already been forced to renounce Matt Gaetz's candidacy for Attorney General. Hated by his Republican colleagues and plagued by sex scandals, is the Florida politician going to be an exception?

Trump himself chose Christopher Wray to head the Federal Police. But the FBI's role in investigations into the assault on the Capitol by his supporters in Washington on January 6, 2021, and into the hundreds of classified documents he had concealed after leaving the White House, convinced the billionaire that this federal body was hostile to him.

In a statement on Saturday evening, the FBI said that its members "continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats. Director Wray's focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for." It's a way of ruling out a resignation from Wray, whom Trump will therefore have to dismiss.

In a statement, the latter claimed that Patel would bring back "fidelity, bravery and integrity" to the FBI. If we are to believe his track record and his own words, we should expect more of a form of McCarthyism – named after Senator Joseph McCarthy, who led a witch-hunt against communists in the early 1950s – but this time boosted by social media. Patel has promised to close the FBI's central building in Washington "on the first day" and turn it into a "museum of the deep state."

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