Terrorism Prevention in the US Now Led by a 22-Year-Old Intern

The Trump administration has appointed a former Trump campaign official to a position at the Department of Homeland Security, the publication reports. Minnesota Reformer, 22-year-old Thomas Fugate interned at the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation.

Photo: Robert Paul Van Beets | Dreamstime.com

Thomas Fugate graduated from college last year with a degree in political science and posted an upbeat message on social media about exciting prospects beyond campus.

“Onward and upward!” he wrote, adding an emoji of a rocket flying into space to the phrase.

And his career took off not long in coming. Just a year after graduation, the 22-year-old, with no experience in national security, became an employee of the Department of Homeland Security, and not just a rank-and-file one, but one who oversaw the government's main unit for preventing terrorism.

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He will now lead the Center for Violence Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), which coordinates national efforts to prevent hate attacks, school shootings, and other types of targeted violence. Fugate also oversees an $18 million grant program to help communities combat violent extremism.

The appointment of such a young and inexperienced person was yet another shock to the unit, which had effectively ceased to function after Donald Trump's return to the White House and the transformation of national security policy that began, with the focus shifting sharply to immigration issues.

News of his appointment alarmed counterterrorism experts and NGOs that received funding from CP3. Several admitted to looking up Fugate on LinkedIn. They were stunned to see a photo of a “college student with a flag on his lapel,” posing with one eyebrow raised. His work history showed no evidence of threat prevention experience.

A candidate with that level of training wouldn't get an interview for even a junior position, much less a management one, according to people familiar with CP3's work. His LinkedIn profile suggests his primary management experience is as the secretary general of his school's Model UN club.

In the past seven weeks, the United States has seen at least five high-profile targeted attacks, including a car bombing in California and the shooting of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, D.C. In the face of this, current and former national security officials say the Trump administration’s decision is “irresponsible.”

The once-bustling CP3 office has shrunk from about 80 people to fewer than 20, former employees say. The office’s mission has changed overnight: The focus on domestic extremism, especially right-wing extremism, has been removed. The “terrorism” category that has defined the office for years has suddenly expanded to include drug cartels. The Trump administration has effectively shifted responsibility for preventing terrorism to the states.

The Trump administration has rejected accusations of failing to prevent terrorism, citing cooperation with law enforcement and prompt investigations into recent attacks.

"The suggestion that this office alone is responsible for preventing terrorism is not only incorrect, it is ignorant," spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote.

CP3 employees do not want to comment on the situation even through intermediaries. The department is afraid that in the event of leaks, as Secretary Kristi Noem promised in March, lie detector tests will begin.

There are two main versions of Fugate’s appointment. One is that the administration rewarded a young campaign worker with a flashy title but no real power because the office was already in disrepair. The other is that the White House put him in charge of reorienting the work away from classic counterterrorism efforts and toward MAGA-like projects like supporting sheriffs and securing the border before finally shutting down CP3. In this context, Fugate has been described as a “watchman” and a “nanny.”

Rising MAGA Star

Fugate made his career out of his personal loyalty to Trump.

On Instagram, he writes that his political awakening happened nine years ago, when at 13, “as part of a generation deprived of hope, opportunity, and happiness,” he saw in Donald Trump “the potential for real and lasting change.”

Fugate is a self-described “Trumplican.” He interned at the Texas Legislature and graduated summa cum laude from the University of San Antonio with degrees in politics and law. Since May 2024, Fugate has been photographed at a Texas Republican event, where he launched his first campaign — running for a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The following month, he celebrated Trump's 78th birthday at a Club 47 fan club event in West Palm Beach.

“I really want to tell you more about what I do, but everything is ahead!” he wrote.

Fugate spent several weeks in Washington before the election, which he called “surreal and inspiring.” In July, the young man attended the Republican National Convention, posing in a cowboy hat with Ben Carson and then-Congressman Matt Gates.

By the end of the summer, Fugate was accompanying Trump to campaign events, at one of which he stood directly behind the candidate among young supporters. After Trump won the election, Fugate wrote an emotional post about how he believed in him “from the very beginning, despite the ridicule and disdain of his peers.”

In February, the White House appointed the young man a “special assistant” to DHS’s immigration office. In May, he took over CP3, replacing resigning Director Bill Braniff, an Army veteran with more than 20 years of national security experience who left the post after a wave of layoffs began.

Braniff has publicly defended CP3’s achievements, highlighting that since 2020, nearly $90 million has been distributed to help communities combat extremism. According to CP3’s 2024 report, the grants have supported more than 1100 initiatives to identify and disrupt radicalization.

Critics point out that their outrage is not directed at an ambitious political newcomer, but at the White House administration's irresponsible attitude toward an office that handles pressing national security issues.

“The big story here is the undermining of democratic institutions,” said a former DHS official. “Who wants to be the next civil servant if their boss is a partisan appointee?”

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There have been mixed signals from DHS about the future of CP3 and the grant program. Officials say Fugate is planning to begin a new round of funding soon. CP3’s website continues to position the program as the only federal initiative “dedicated entirely to helping communities develop the capacity to combat terrorism and violence.”

But DHS's budget proposal for the next fiscal year paints a different picture. The agency recommended eliminating the program, noting that it "does not align with DHS priorities."

“It appears that the department created to prevent terrorism in the United States no longer sees preventing terrorism as a priority,” the former DHS official concluded.

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