Hardee’s pokes fun at Mike Lindell after FBI agents seized his phone at one of their restaurants

Donald Trump's second administration will find itself unable to rely on a key restraint that prevented the former president from pursuing bad federal policy during his first term, a one-time staffer warned Wednesday.

Former Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews appeared on CNN to share her fears that Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will surround himself with easily swayed staffers should he regain the White House in 2025.

"It's going to be a bunch of yes men and women who will do and say what he pleases," Matthews warned. "It's extremely worrisome because I think that competency and experience are gonna be out the window."

Matthews issued this warning on the heels of a Time Magazine exposé detailing the actions Trump hopes to take as commander in chief, among them prosecuting President Joe Biden, mass deportations and government pregnancy monitoring.

The former press secretary suggested the threat Trump presents would not be evaded should he lose the presidential election on Nov. 5.

"We know with Donald Trump that an election is only fair if he wins," Matthews said. "It almost sounded like a threat of political violence if he loses."

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Matthews then argued future "yes" staffers will not be able to rely on a key tactic Trump's former White House team successfully used to dissuade him from pursuing bad policy: raising the specter of reelection.

The argument will be rendered moot by presidential term limits, she explained.

"If he is elected president again, that won't be a concern," Matthews said. "You're not really going to be able to steer him off of some of these bad policies."

Finally, Matthews expressed her outrage that Trump has suggested pardons for people convicted on criminal charges related to the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

"He calls them hostages and patriots," Matthews said. "It's really just disgusting to me."

Watch the video below or click here.

Former President Donald Trump has a new demeaning nickname for Maggie Haberman, the New York Times reporter who revealed unflattering details about his criminal trial behavior and challenged his excuses for a lack of protesters outside.

The former president laid out his new insults Tuesday in a lengthy Truth Social rant in which he also argued his supporters had been blocked by police from gathering outside the Manhattan court house where his hush money trial is unfolding.

"Thousands of people were turned away from the Courthouse in Lower Manhattan by steel stanchions and police, literally blocks from the tiny side door from where I enter and leave," Trump wrote. "It is an armed camp to keep people away."

This is a repeat of an earlier claim debunked by reporters at the scene who say it is blatantly false.

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"Maggot Hagerman of The Failing New York Times, falsely reported that I was disappointed with the crowds," Trump declared. "No, I’m disappointed with Maggot, and her lack of writing skill, and that some of these many police aren’t being sent to Columbia and NYU to keep the schools open and the students safe. The Legal Scholars call the case a Scam that should never have been brought. I call it Election Interference and a personal hit job by a conflicted and corrupt Judge who shouldn’t be allowed to preside over this Political Hoax. New York Justice is being reduced to ashes, and the World is breathlessly watching. Hopefully, Appellate Courts can save it, and all of the companies that are fleeing to other jurisdictions. They can no longer take a chance on New York Justice!"

Haberman, who has been covering Trump for years, long enjoyed close access to him while he was in the White House, even posing with him for a smiling photo. But Trump's attitude toward Haberman has soured as she has covered his behavior in the courtroom, including his embarrassing inability to stay awake.

Trump's other claim in the post, that huge crowds of his supporters turned up to rally for him in Manhattan and were turned away by police, also appears not to be true, as NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard posted video footage of the streets around the courthouse open to traffic, and barely anyone demonstrating in support of the former president.

Haberman herself has also debunked the idea that local streets were closed off during the trial, a point that has further enraged Trump.