The Trump administration has a appointed a recent University of Texas at San Antonio grad whose previous work experience includes owning a landscaping business and working at an H-E-B supermarket to head the White House’s efforts to fight violent extremism, ProPublica reports.
Although research shows he spent time as a Trump campaign worker and an intern at the far-right Heritage Foundation, Thomas Fugate has little apparent background or training in national security. What’s more, he received UTSA diploma just 12 months ago, his online resume and ProPublica reporting indicate.
Despite those potential shortcomings, the 22-year-old is now among the officials heading the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, which ProPublica describes as overseeing “nationwide efforts to prevent hate-fueled attacks, school shootings and other forms of targeted violence.”
Fugate’s selection for the role appears to be the latest example of the Trump White House placing loyalty over experience.
It also echoes the Trump campaign’s quick elevation of then-unknown San Antonio web developer Brad Parscale into a variety of powerful positions, eventually including 2020 presidential campaign manager. Parscale left the 2020 campaign after arranging a disastrous campaign rally in Tulsa that made national news.
A person who encountered Fugate during his time at UTSA described him as intelligent and ambitious but expressed surprise that he ended up being tapped for a job that would appear to rely on knowledge about national security and extremism.
“He’s actually a nice guy, very smart, but politically strident and unabashedly MAGA,” said the person who asked not to be named for fear of blowback. “Frankly, I thought that he was headed to law school. He didn’t strike me as some sort of national security and counterterrorism expert.”
In comments to ProPublica, people familiar with the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships — known as CP3 to Washington insiders — said a job candidate with Fugate’s lack of expertise would have been blown off if they sought a junior slot — much less a role leading the center.
“Maybe he’s a wunderkind. Maybe he’s Doogie Howser and has everything at 21 years old, or whatever he is, to lead the office. But that’s not likely the case,” a counterterrorism researcher who has worked with CP3 officials for years told the nonprofit news site. “It sounds like putting the intern in charge.”
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This article appears in May 29 – Jun 11, 2025.