While most new presidents would like to use their influence to make America a better country for all, Donald Trump is not that kind of leader. Instead, he has chosen to use his position to enact personal vendettas against anyone judged to be his enemy.

When James Comey was FBI director in 2016, he appeared to be a Trump ally when he suggested that the investigations into Hillary Clinton's activities might have to be reopened. This announcement, shortly before the 2016 presidential election, might have swayed enough votes away from the Democratic candidate to give the Republicans a victory. However, any goodwill between Trump and Comey disappeared when the FBI director considered opening up investigations against Trump, so then Comey was fired.

Now, the president is demanding that the Department of Justice prosecute Comey for for possibly lying to Congressional committees.

John Bolton, who used to be Trump's national security advisor, has recently been indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly possessing classified Defense department documents. He was likely targeted because of negative comments he made about Trump in his recent book.

Also, Leticia James, New York State Attorney General, has been indicted by the DOJ for allegedly lying to a financial institution and making false statements in a real estate transaction. The prosecution of her is widely seen as revenge on her by Trump for her gaining a multi-million dollar judgement against him for his business fraud violations in NY state. 

Trump's behind the scenes involvement in these cases may be enough to get these charges dismissed, though.

The DOJ is pursuing these cases and possibly many others against suspected Trump enemies in the future. Various officials in the DOJ may have been threatened with termination if these prosecutions are not successful.

Trump does not have to worry about his legal bills in these matters because he can just get the DOJ to do his dirty work for him. The defendants in these cases, however, may be forced to deal with enormous legal costs on their own if not supported by others.

One reason Trump may be doing this may be to break his critics financially. Another reason may be to destroy their reputations and keep them from saying more. Still another reason may be to scare everyone else into silence so that dissent against Trump would disappear and free speech would be suppressed.

Weaponizing the DOJ against his perceived enemies is just another step in Trump's plan to turn the US into his dictatorship. Already, the sheepish Republicans in Congress ignore his crimes and let him get away with anything. He has ordered "his judges" in the courts to obey his orders over the laws. He has threatened members of the armed forces with firing them or ruining their careers if they don't act in his interests over the interests of their country.

These actions are exactly what a wannabe dictator does when seizing power. If Trump is not stopped in the early stages of his quest for power, maybe it will be too late and Americans will wonder what they should have done earlier when they had the chance.