Former Heritage Foundation intern and self-described “Trumplican” Thomas Fugate has been named to a senior position in CP3, the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, which fights hate crimes, school shootings, and terrorism. All thanks to President Trump, among these is a $18 million grant program designed to support local communities in their fight against violent extremism.
Twenty-two-year-old Thomas Frugate, who has no prior security or government leadership experience, is currently leading a Department of Homeland Security terror prevention unit.
In recent weeks, word of the nomination has spread, alarming CP3-funded nonprofit organizations and counterterrorism researchers. Many claimed they were shocked to discover a picture of “a college kid” with a flag pin on his lapel standing with a severely raised eyebrow when they searched LinkedIn for information about Fugate, an obscure figure in their industry. His employment history shows no experience with threat prevention.
Over the last seven weeks, there have been at least five high-profile targeted assaults in the United States, including the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy officials in Washington and a vehicle bombing in California. The Trump administration’s choice to redirect counterterrorism funds to immigration and entrust the violence-prevention portfolio to inexperienced appointees is “reckless,” according to current and former national security officials, given this context.
The demise of CP3 is only one illustration of the consequences of severe budget cuts that have wiped out federal agencies’ public health and violence prevention programs.
There are now less than 20 workers in the once lively office of about 80, according to former employees. Grant work pauses and then resumes. An email arrived late on a Saturday, reassigning one senior government official to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Overnight, the office’s goal shifted away from concentrating on domestic extremism, particularly far-right movements. Drug cartels were suddenly added to the “terrorism” category that has structured the agency’s work for years. DHS employees describe this as part of a broader message that border security is the only goal that mattered.
Thomas Fugate succeeded Army veteran Bill Braniff, who quit in March after 20 percent of his personnel was slashed by the Trump administration.
Braniff has worked in national security for almost 20 years. In a LinkedIn post announcing his resignation, he stated, “I will do what I can outside of government if I cannot advance the prevention mission from inside the government for the time being.” He said, “CP3 is the heir to DHS’s primary and founding mission, which is to prevent terrorism.”
Among Braniff’s accomplishments in the role was allocating around $90 million since 2020 to assist localities in combating extremist violence.
Thomas Fulgate was employed as a “special assistant” in a Department of Homeland Security immigration office prior to assuming the new leadership duties. Thomas Fugate was “temporarily given additional leadership responsibilities” in CP3 “due to his success,” the department informed The Independent. However, his coworkers have compared their meetings with him to “career counseling” and expressed surprise at how little they believe he knows about the position, according to Propublica.
Fulgate’s LinkedIn profile states that he had a brief stint as a gardener in 2020 before starting internships and fellowships, including one with the Republican Heritage Foundation. He attended the Republican National Convention last year while working on the Trump campaign. He also held the position of secretary general for a club that modeled the UN.
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