How would you feel about getting a dream gig only to see it end in disgrace because of, well, you?

That’s what Gregory Bovino gets to think about for the rest of his life. Friday is the Border Patrol lifer’s last day on the job after 30 years — and he ain’t leaving because he wants to.

For the last year, the self-described “hillbilly” was the personification of the Trump administration’s xenophobic deportation deluge. Helicopter invasions of apartment complexes, tear gas canisters thrown into large crowds, defying court orders, glamorous photo shoots: There was no municipality too big, no tactic too crazy, no quote too incendiary for Bovino to take on while he treated immigrant neighborhoods like the shores of Normandy.

The North Carolina native’s caravan of cruelty quickly earned him a promotion from El Centro sector chief to Border Patrol commander at large, a new position crafted just for him. He embraced the role of migra bogeyman like a tween boy scarfing down a bowl of Warheads, always promising more deportations, more chaos, more more.

Not anymore.

In January, Border Patrol agents shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti during a protest against them a few weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer did the same to Renée Good, a mother of three. Bovino threw napalm on the matter by claiming Pretti wanted to “massacre law enforcement” without offering any evidence. The incidents so soured the public on immigration agents that a Public Religion Research Institute poll released this week showed only 35% of Americans surveyed approved of how Trump is handling immigration, compared with 48% a year ago.

Bovino was sent back down to El Centro and lost his privileges on social media, where he had long posted cringe-inducing videos about what a swell guy he was. Even Trump turned on his migra man, telling Fox News that Bovino was “a pretty out-there kind of a guy … and in some cases that’s good. Maybe it wasn’t good [in Minneapolis].”

I should’ve warned Bovino the one time we met that failure was his fate.

The setting: the Fox 11 Los Angeles studios in July. Bovino and I were in to do separate interviews with the station’s former anchor Elex Michaelson. Bovino was in the middle of his Los Angeles invasion, which saw immigration agents lay siege to MacArthur Park, storm Home Depots and car washes and show up outside the Japanese American National Museum while politicians inside were decrying Trump.

Dressed in full Border Patrol uniform, complete with a clipped-on walkie-talkie on his shoulder, the guy was billing himself as a modern-day Charles Martel defending the homeland from invading infidels. The nasal-voiced Bovino rambled to Michaelson about how “Ma and Pa America” deserved a country free from undocumented immigrants and vowed to remain in Los Angeles “until the operation is over.”

After his interview, Bovino and three Border Patrol agents strolled into the greenroom to grab some homemade cookies while I sat on a couch. He looked me in the eye while bending down to sign Michaelson’s guest book, as if he expected me to not only recognize him but say something.

It was like staring at someone doing an impersonation that was one part Lt. Col. Kilgore from “Apocalypse Now” and two parts Henery Hawk, the short, brash Looney Tunes character that was always trying to capture the much larger Foghorn Leghorn. He really thought that his scorched-earth assault on L.A. would defeat the city and persuade other communities to offer no pushback once Bovino’s self-titled “Green Machine” trolled into town.

The opposite happened.

People who had never bothered with politics — even some who voted for Trump or at least agreed with deporting immigrants with criminal convictions — rose up to resist. Everywhere became a front — social media, the streets, courtrooms — and activists across Southern California began to share notes among themselves and with communities nationwide to prepare them for la migra. Bovino flailed back at every affront instead of focusing on his mission, not realizing his recklessness was eroding public support for his cause and threatening it altogether.

Really, Bovino lost the day he has long claimed as a victory: the Battle of MacArthur Park.

That’s when he persuaded the Trump administration to send a skeptical National Guard alongside his men to surround the historic L.A. green space in the ludicrously named Operation Excalibur. Armed vehicles parked on Wilshire Boulevard. A grinning Bovino strutted around with media in tow. A wannabe cavalry unit, anchored in the center by an agent on a white horse, swept through a soccer field where children were attending day camp just minutes before.

No one was arrested or detained that day. Instead, Bovino left to a chorus of cuss words and boo birds. The exercise allowed Americans to see the folly of burning millions of taxpayer dollars just so someone could star in a TikTok reel. It also broke the spell Bovino had cast over many critics — myself included — who had feared he truly was an unstoppable Punisher.

Nah, he was just a spiky-haired pendejo.

If Bovino was as smart as he thinks he is, he would’ve followed the longtime strategy of another longtime immigration enforcer. Trump border czar Tom Homan executed a years-long roundup under the Obama administration with numbers Trump has yet to reach and with nowhere near as much public rancor. Homan, who loves the camera almost as much as Bovino, knew then and now that an issue as explosive as deportations must be approached quietly if it’s to be done successfully.

Instead, not only does he have to clean up Bovino’s mess, there’s now a real chance that the Republicans will lose the midterms because Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024 are now furious at his administration. That’s why even Trump is now telling Republicans to tone down their anti-immigrant rhetoric, stat.

Gracias, Bovino!

You thought you would go down in U.S. history as a domestic Patton, a borderlands Sherman. Instead, your last week coincided with the publication of a New York Times profile of you railing at enemies while downing coffee at a burger bar in El Centro.

You called Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott “weak-kneed,” mocked Homan and said you could’ve deported 100 million people — a radically racist number considering that even the Center for Immigration Studies, which has long pushed for reduced immigration of all kinds, estimated a record 15.4 million illegal immigrants were in this country at the start of Trump’s second term.

Instead, you’re heading off to the Tar Heel State to spend your days hunting … coyotes.

“Maybe I get me some dogs and we go hard,” you told the New York Times. “I’ll take it in my own hands.”

Which reminds me of another hapless cartoon character who thought himself a genius but who kept screwing things up in ceaseless pursuit of his quarry: Wile E. Coyote.

As anyone who has ever seen his buildings knows, Donald Trump has always liked to see his name displayed prominently. It’s become a hallmark of his presidency, to the point that the Treasury Department announced on Thursday that President Trump’s signature will appear on U.S. dollars later this year, a first for a sitting U.S. president.

The move is the latest reflecting a push to imprint his personal brand on Washington and the nation in ways that could outlast his presidency.

In total, since the start of Mr. Trump’s second term, there have been more than a dozen instances of his name, image or signature emblazoned on a variety of American initiatives and institutions. Some changes seem as if they could be lasting, some are caught up in the courts, and others may never get off the ground.

Here is a look at that ever-growing list.

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Already approved uses

Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images, Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Mr. Trump’s signature is set to appear on U.S. dollars later this year. It is not clear whether his signature will appear on all currency notes.

U.S. Treasury

The administration is planning to feature Mr. Trump’s face on multiple coins to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary. The move is legally dubious. It’s also rare. Few people have made it onto U.S. currency while still alive.

Eric Lee/The New York Times

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Eric Lee/The New York Times

Trump Card

The administration officially rolled out the program in December but first previewed the name in February 2025. At that Oval Office meeting discussing the program, Mr. Trump said he was willing to lend his name “for free.”

TrumpRX

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who runs Medicare and Medicaid, has said that Mr. Trump was not involved in picking the name. “We thought it had a catchy element to it,” he said.

Trump Accounts

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House Republicans abruptly changed the name from “MAGA Accounts” before passing their wide-ranging domestic policy bill last year. Mr. Trump has said the name was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s idea.

Department of Interior, via Center for Biological Diversity

U.S. Navy

U.S. Air Force

Proposed uses

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Johnny Milano/The New York Times

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

The Trump administration unsuccessfully pressured Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, to rename New York’s Penn Station for him, offering in return to release billions of dollars he had frozen in federal infrastructure funding.

Shawn Thew/EPA, via Shutterstock

In that same pressure campaign, the Trump administration pushed Mr. Schumer to rename Dulles Airport. That wasn’t successful either but still seems to be of interest to the president.

Washington Commanders

Administration officials have discussed Mr. Trump’s desire for the new stadium to be named after him. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it would be a “beautiful name,” as he enabled the stadium’s construction. But the legislation that kicked off the redevelopment process was signed before he took office.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

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Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images

Early in Mr. Trump’s second term, House Republicans introduced several bills that sought to expand his likeness on a number of things, such as a $100 bill and a new $250 bill. Those proposals haven’t gained traction.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In an effort to copy the deep-cutting tactics of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, this bill sought to pare $150 million in annual funding from the Washington, D.C. Metro system unless it renamed itself to honor Mr. Trump. Like the other House bills on this list it has gone nowhere.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers found Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., guilty of more than two dozen ethics violations, but House Democratic leadership is standing by their embattled colleague.

“As I understand it, the Ethics Committee has one final step in their process, so I’m not going to get out ahead of the Ethics Committee process that will be completed upon our return,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Friday morning. “And then I’ll have more to say.”

House Democratic Conference Chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., also told Punchbowl News on Friday that he had not seen the ethics panel’s findings, but added “that doesn’t sound good” when told the body determined that she committed 25 ethics violations. Those charges include money laundering, making false statements on campaign finance reports and seeking special favors from entities receiving federal funding. 

INDICTED DEMOCRAT REP. SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK ONE STEP CLOSER TO EXPULSION

The Florida Democrat is facing a separate federal criminal indictment that could result in more than five decades in prison if convicted. Cherfilus-McCormick, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of illegally transferring millions in disaster relief funds improperly paid to her family’s healthcare company to finance her run for Congress and the purchase of luxury items, including a massive diamond ring.

The House Ethics Committee said it would announce its recommended punishment for Cherfilus-McCormick in April, which could be as severe as expulsion. Under House rules, a two-thirds majority would have to support the resolution to formally remove the Florida Democrat from the chamber.

Jeffries’ refusal so far to condemn Cherfilus-McCormick’s conduct mirrors the relative silence of the Democratic caucus, though some rank-and-file members are beginning to break their silence on the Florida Democrat.

Moderate Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., was the first Democratic lawmaker to publicly issue a statement Friday calling on Cherfilus-McCormick to resign or be removed following the guilty verdict.

“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” Gluesenkamp Perez wrote. “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”

HOUSE DEMOCRAT ACCUSES FELLOW DEM OF VIOLATING A ‘FREE AND FAIR ELECTION’ IN STUNNING PUBLIC MOVE

A handful of other congressional Democrats said Friday that they would consider backing an expulsion resolution if the indicted lawmaker did not leave on her own terms.

A Jeffries spokeperson did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Despite the looming expulsion threat, Cherfilus-McCormick has given no indication that she will resign. She is also running for a fourth term in November’s midterm elections.

“I look forward to proving my innocence,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement Friday. “Until then, my focus remains where it belongs: showing up for the great people of Florida’s 20th District who sent me to Washington to fight for them.”

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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, ripped congressional Democrats’ lack of outrage over Cherfilus-McCormick’s conduct.

“The Ethics Committee just confirmed that Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick broke the rules, and House Democrats are still saying nothing,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said Friday. “Their silence is a choice. Democrats can stand for accountability or keep protecting a proven ethics violator, but voters won’t forget it.”