LAS VEGAS: US President Donald Trump will hold a rally at a casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, wrapping up a tumultuous week that saw him double down on promises to reshape American politics and culture.

His arrival in the gambling capital coincided with a dramatic late-night purge of internal federal agency watchdogs, and a narrow confirmation victory for one of his most controversial cabinet picks. After visits to disaster sites in North Carolina and California, the Vegas stop is more of a feel-good victory lap, as he lays out his plans to exclude tips from federal taxes — an enormously popular move in a city built on the hospitality industry.

Trump won Nevada in the 2024 election — the first Republican candidate to take the state in 20 years — and the rally at the Circa Resort and Casino has been promoted as a thank you to supporters.

The upbeat tone will contrast sharply with his visits on Friday to communities devastated by floods and wildfires, during which he threatened to shut down FEMA — the US federal disaster agency.

“FEMA is incompetently run, and it costs about three times more than it should cost,” he said during a combative briefing with local politicians and firefighters in Los Angeles.

The three-leg tour was Trump’s first trip outside Washington since his inauguration as president on Monday. His first week has been marked by an avalanche of daily executive orders and proclamations on everything from climate change to gender identity, and abortion access to migrant deportations.

Although many of the measures will likely be challenged in court, their sheer volume and variety have laid down a marker for his second term in the White House.

Shortly after arriving in Vegas, it emerged that Trump had sacked — with immediate effect — the independent inspectors general of at least 12 federal agencies. The late-night firing of officials charged with rooting out fraud, waste and abuse capped a series of directives widely seen as ensuring a federal bureaucracy that is acquiescent and loyal.

“This is a chilling purge, and it’s a preview of the lawless approach Donald Trump and his administration is taking far too often as he is becoming president,” the Senate’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer said.

There was no immediate indication of who Trump would bring in to fill the void — or if the officials would be replaced at all.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2025