The Trump Presidency Timeline
Documenting the chaos since day one. 539 entries and counting.
Category: killing democracy
killing democracy
board of peace, brought to you by the guy who tried to overthrow an election
Israeli soldiers in Hebron, presumably waiting for guidance from Trump's new Board of Peace™, the international governance equivalent of a timeshare pitch.
Donald Trump has launched a brand-new "Board of Peace" — because nothing says respect for international law like trying to spin up your own off-brand U.N. Security Council in Florida between golf rounds. Invitations are flying out to everyone from Israel to Russia to Belarus to the EU, with zero clarity on what this thing actually does, who runs it, or how you square "global peace" with putting Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko on the guest list.
France, understandably not thrilled about burning down the existing international order just to flatter Trump's ego, is "holding off" for now. In response, Trump threatened a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne to pressure Emmanuel Macron into joining, because in this administration, "peace" is apparently enforced via trade war cosplay and petty economic blackmail. Meanwhile, Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Argentina have already signed on, while Israeli officials and far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich are publicly wondering why they should trust a board that claims to oversee a Gaza ceasefire they're actually a party to.
In other words, Trump is trying to build a rival power structure to the U.N., staffed with assorted strongmen and opportunists, run on vibes, tariffs, and his personal grudges. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "a bold new approach to resolving global conflict" and not about one guy who lost the popular vote twice trying to cosplay Secretary-General of Planet Earth.
France, understandably not thrilled about burning down the existing international order just to flatter Trump's ego, is "holding off" for now. In response, Trump threatened a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne to pressure Emmanuel Macron into joining, because in this administration, "peace" is apparently enforced via trade war cosplay and petty economic blackmail. Meanwhile, Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Argentina have already signed on, while Israeli officials and far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich are publicly wondering why they should trust a board that claims to oversee a Gaza ceasefire they're actually a party to.
In other words, Trump is trying to build a rival power structure to the U.N., staffed with assorted strongmen and opportunists, run on vibes, tariffs, and his personal grudges. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "a bold new approach to resolving global conflict" and not about one guy who lost the popular vote twice trying to cosplay Secretary-General of Planet Earth.
#killing-democracy#imperialism
killing democracy
totally normal to war-game against your own president
Gretchen Whitmer at the Detroit Auto Show, calmly explaining why it’s perfectly rational to prep for the president maybe using federal forces to mess with elections — just another day in the best democracy money and tariffs can buy.
In a thriving democracy, governors spend their time cutting ribbons, fixing potholes, and maybe arguing about school funding. In Trump's America, Gretchen Whitmer is doing tabletop exercises on how to stop the White House from using federal muscle to screw with elections. Because nothing says "land of the free" like state leaders quietly gaming out how to respond if the president decides his immigration crackdown troops would look great stationed near ballot boxes.
Whitmer, sitting in front of a shiny red Cadillac Escalade at the Detroit Auto Show — the same venue where pro-Trump protesters tried to shut down vote counting in 2020 — politely explained that it's not "paranoia" to worry Trump might turn his deployed federal personnel into an election control squad. In other words: when someone has already tried to overturn an election once, maybe you don’t give them the benefit of the doubt the second (and third) time.
She also took a sledgehammer to Trump's latest round of "very smart" tariffs, noting they've taken a "terrible toll" on U.S. auto manufacturing and helped contract the very industry he pretends to be rescuing. Auto companies say they got hammered for billions, the union brass says they love tariffs, and rank-and-file workers get to enjoy job losses and higher prices. But sure, tell us more about how this is all 4D chess for the working man.
Meanwhile, Whitmer is out here trying to figure out why Democrats are bleeding male voters and whether the country is ready for a woman president, all while planning for the possibility that the commander-in-chief might point federal agents at the ballot box. Totally normal, healthy republic stuff — just your average day where governors prep for hurricanes, blizzards, and potential federal election subversion from the White House.
Source: npr.org
#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy
authoritarianism but make it hr-compliant
Trump and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles arrive at the White House, where the dress code is business casual and the hiring requirement is unconditional fealty.
Trump’s second-term White House is being hailed as a model of stability because the staff turnover rate has dropped from a record-shattering dumpster fire to merely a routine inferno. According to Brookings’ Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, senior staff turnover is down from 35% in 2017 to a totally normal-for-a-banana-republic 29%. For context, past presidents averaged around 10%, but sure, let’s call this progress because nobody got fired by tweet this week.
The real innovation isn’t less drama, it’s better casting: out with the conflicted adults-in-the-room, in with the fully housebroken loyalists. Trump’s people openly credit the new ‘stability’ to hiring based on loyalty above all else—not expertise, not experience, just unwavering devotion to the guy at the Resolute Desk cosplay set. Promotions like Trump hype-man Sergio Gor becoming ambassador to India are described as wins, because nothing says serious foreign policy like rewarding your staffing czar with a diplomatic posting.
Instead of public meltdowns starring Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, and the 11-day wonder Anthony Scaramucci, the exits this time are lower-profile apparatchiks quietly shuffled around the board. Less public chaos, more disciplined consolidation of power. In other words: the clown car is now a sealed bus, everyone on it has signed a loyalty oath, and the driver has stopped pretending there’s a brake pedal.
Source: npr.org
#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy
trump discovers chagos on a map, demands full tantrum rights
Donald Trump and Keir Starmer smiling politely, back when the plan was to manage US-UK relations with diplomacy instead of whatever Trump’s thumbs felt like that morning.
Keir Starmer spent a year speed‑running the Tony Blair DLC: be the good ally, flatter the US president, brag that your special relationship is specialer than everyone else’s, and sell last year’s tariff deal as proof that hugging Trump close was a genius move. In return, Trump called him a friend, praised him in public, and Washington even officially welcomed the UK–Mauritius agreement over the Chagos Islands — the one designed to protect the Diego Garcia base from legal challenges while finally acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, 1960s‑style imperial land grabs aren’t a great look in 2026.
Now Trump has apparently discovered Chagos on a globe and is firing off ALL‑CAPS rage posts about the very deal his own State Department endorsed. Because nothing says "stable superpower" like reversing strategic policy by social media outburst months after the fact, and casually threatening the viability of a key intelligence and military hub because he woke up mad at a Labour prime minister. The UK government is left insisting the agreement still secures the base and that, yes, the US did like it before Daddy got bored and changed his mind.
And this may just be the warm‑up act. With a decision looming on a new Chinese embassy in London — and Washington already twitchy about the UK looking too cosy with Beijing — everyone’s bracing for the next presidential temper flare. In other words: Starmer built his foreign policy around not getting publicly torched by Trump, and Trump is now publicly torching him. But sure, tell us again how tying your national security strategy to the whims of a man who governs by caps lock is the mark of a serious, grown‑up administration.
Now Trump has apparently discovered Chagos on a globe and is firing off ALL‑CAPS rage posts about the very deal his own State Department endorsed. Because nothing says "stable superpower" like reversing strategic policy by social media outburst months after the fact, and casually threatening the viability of a key intelligence and military hub because he woke up mad at a Labour prime minister. The UK government is left insisting the agreement still secures the base and that, yes, the US did like it before Daddy got bored and changed his mind.
And this may just be the warm‑up act. With a decision looming on a new Chinese embassy in London — and Washington already twitchy about the UK looking too cosy with Beijing — everyone’s bracing for the next presidential temper flare. In other words: Starmer built his foreign policy around not getting publicly torched by Trump, and Trump is now publicly torching him. But sure, tell us again how tying your national security strategy to the whims of a man who governs by caps lock is the mark of a serious, grown‑up administration.
Source: bbc.com
#killing-democracy#imperialism
killing democracy
speaker johnson flies to london to explain that america is only *kind of* a rogue state now
Keir Starmer welcomes Mike Johnson to Downing Street, bravely pretending that a quick photo-op can offset the fact that Trump is out here LARPing as a 19th-century empire with nukes.
Mike Johnson marked 250 years since American independence by traveling to London to reassure Parliament that the United States is not, in fact, being run by a guy trying to buy Greenland at gunpoint. He told President Trump his mission was to "calm the waters"—because nothing says stable democracy like having to personally reassure your closest ally that the commander in chief probably won’t invade Denmark over real estate.
While Johnson waxed poetic about the "spiritual birthplace" of the American nation, the actual president was busy on Truth Social threatening tariffs and refusing to rule out military action to seize a semi-autonomous territory of a NATO ally. At the same time, Trump reversed himself on the U.K.’s decolonization deal over the Chagos Islands—where the U.S. has a key base on Diego Garcia—calling it "great stupidity" and "total weakness." In other words: London is trying to unwind a colonial-era theft under international pressure, and Trump’s mad they’re not clinging harder to the empire we park our bombers on.
British leaders, from Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are doing their best "no, this is fine" routine—cracking jokes about the Boston Tea Party while quietly scrambling to manage a White House that treats allies like tenants and territories like Monopoly properties. Johnson gets history-making honors as the first House speaker to address Parliament; Trump gets history-making honors as the first U.S. president to seriously float invading Denmark and scolding Britain for not being colonial enough. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "shared values."
Source: nbcnews.com
#killing-democracy#imperialism#national-security
killing democracy
trump tries to repossess the fed
Lisa Cook, apparently under the impression that a 14-year Fed term means 14 years, not "until Trump needs a new scapegoat for interest rates."
Jerome Powell is headed to the Supreme Court because in Trump’s America, even setting interest rates now requires a legal defense team. The Court is hearing arguments on whether Donald Trump can just yoink Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook out of her 14‑year term because he got mad about mortgage-fraud allegations that bank documents inconveniently contradict. The Fed Act says presidents can only remove governors for cause; Trump says, essentially, "I’m the cause."
Meanwhile, Powell is openly saying the quiet part out loud: the grand jury subpoenas and threatened criminal indictment over a $2.5 billion Fed building renovation are "pretexts" for one thing—punishing the Fed for not cutting rates fast enough for Dear Leader’s political needs. In other words, follow the president’s preferences or face prosecution, because nothing says "independent central bank" like DOJ breathing down your neck every time you don’t goose the stock market on command.
Trump has already announced he was firing Cook back in August, citing a referral letter and vibes, which her lawyer Abbe Lowell correctly translated as "you absolutely cannot do that." The Supreme Court already had to step in once to keep her in place while it thinks about whether the president can just casually decapitate monetary policy whenever Fox & Friends says the Dow looks sad. Cook’s term runs to 2038; Trump would prefer it run until the next time he gets bored on Truth Social.
So Powell will sit in the gallery and watch nine justices decide whether the Federal Reserve is still a semi-independent institution or just another Trump cabinet meeting where the choices are "praise the boss" or "get indicted." But sure, tell us again how the real threat to the rule of law is student loan forgiveness.
Source: nbcnews.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness#forever-grifting
killing democracy
trump admin bravely declares war on the concept of shelter
Shawn Pleasants, living proof that housing-first works, posing in front of city hall while HUD works overtime to make sure the next Shawn never gets a key, just a cot and a lecture.
The Trump administration has discovered a bold new strategy to fight homelessness: create more of it. After nearly two decades of bipartisan, evidence-based "housing first" policy that actually kept over 100,000 people in permanent housing, HUD decided the real problem wasn’t people sleeping on sidewalks – it was people getting apartments. So they moved to yank federal Continuum of Care funds away from permanent housing and dump them into temporary shelters, slashing what could be spent on real housing from ~90% to 30%. Internal HUD documents warn this could push 117,000 people back onto the streets, so naturally the administration’s response is: sounds perfect.
Because nothing says "serious policy" like calling a legally codified, data-backed strategy a "Biden-era slush fund" and replacing it with mandatory treatment, punishment for jurisdictions that use harm reduction, and penalties for recognizing trans and gender-diverse people – all groups disproportionately affected by homelessness. In other words, it’s not a homelessness plan, it’s a culture-war fever dream with a side of mass eviction. The chaos has been so bad that courts had to step in, forcing HUD to process 2025 projects while the administration clings to its right to keep sabotaging the system that works.
HUD insists it’s ending the "failed" system of "permanently warehousing the homeless at exorbitant taxpayer cost" – a bold claim they couldn’t back up with, you know, evidence when asked. Experts like Dr Margot Kushel, who has actually studied this for a living, call the move "silly, counterintuitive and dangerous" and point out that the root cause is… wait for it… a lack of affordable housing and wages that don’t cover rent. But sure, instead of fixing housing supply, minimum wage, or benefits, this administration is choosing the "more tents, more cops, more suffering" option – because in Trump’s America, stability is socialism and cruelty is the point.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#trumps-america
killing democracy
welcome to trump’s world cup: bring cash, lawyers, and a strong passport
MetLife Stadium, soon to host the World Cup final and the world’s most expensive reminder that in Trump’s America, even watching football requires a private equity budget.
Fifa looked at American late-stage capitalism, Trump’s America, and the phrase “dynamic pricing,” and said: yes, that’s the vibe. Tickets for the 2026 World Cup have gone full hedge-fund, with prices for the final jumping up to nine times the cost of 2022 (inflation-adjusted, because even the spreadsheet has shame). The steepest hikes are on the cheapest seats, because nothing says “global festival of the people” like surgically targeting poor fans first. Fifa then graciously announced that a heroic 1.6% of tickets per match will stay at the $60 floor, which is basically the humanitarian-aid version of tossing a quarter at someone after you steal their wallet.
Fans are furious enough that ticket prices have spilled into actual elections, with New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani running on “maybe don’t price out everyone who isn’t a petrostate prince” and winning. Meanwhile, Fifa hides behind the usual PR line that all this cash will “develop soccer worldwide,” as if we haven’t seen this movie before, starring Swiss lawyers and offshore accounts. On top of that, some supporter groups are reportedly canceling over US domestic and foreign policy under Trump – immigration, security theater, and geopolitical tantrums don’t exactly scream ‘welcoming global party.’ In other words, the world’s biggest sporting event is being run like Ticketmaster married a border patrol checkpoint and moved into MetLife Stadium – but sure, tell us again how this is all about the beautiful game.
And this is all before you even get to travel: long-haul flights into a Trump-era America, four time zones, 16 cities, limited public transport to stadiums, and a visa regime overseen by an administration that thinks “globalism” is a slur. It’s less “World Cup” and more “Amazing Race: Authoritarian Edition,” where the challenge is just getting into the country, across it, and back out without being shaken down by either Fifa’s pricing algorithm or Trump’s border and security apparatus. The ball will eventually roll; the question is how many fans are left in the stands who aren’t oligarchs, sponsors, or whatever friends of Trump and Infantino got comped boxes.
Fans are furious enough that ticket prices have spilled into actual elections, with New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani running on “maybe don’t price out everyone who isn’t a petrostate prince” and winning. Meanwhile, Fifa hides behind the usual PR line that all this cash will “develop soccer worldwide,” as if we haven’t seen this movie before, starring Swiss lawyers and offshore accounts. On top of that, some supporter groups are reportedly canceling over US domestic and foreign policy under Trump – immigration, security theater, and geopolitical tantrums don’t exactly scream ‘welcoming global party.’ In other words, the world’s biggest sporting event is being run like Ticketmaster married a border patrol checkpoint and moved into MetLife Stadium – but sure, tell us again how this is all about the beautiful game.
And this is all before you even get to travel: long-haul flights into a Trump-era America, four time zones, 16 cities, limited public transport to stadiums, and a visa regime overseen by an administration that thinks “globalism” is a slur. It’s less “World Cup” and more “Amazing Race: Authoritarian Edition,” where the challenge is just getting into the country, across it, and back out without being shaken down by either Fifa’s pricing algorithm or Trump’s border and security apparatus. The ball will eventually roll; the question is how many fans are left in the stands who aren’t oligarchs, sponsors, or whatever friends of Trump and Infantino got comped boxes.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#forever-grifting
killing democracy
marco rubio builds 66 new walls, calls it 'diplomacy'
Marco Rubio explains that 66 shredded treaties are just ‘America first,’ as the planet quietly updates its status to ‘America last.’
The Trump administration, now featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his long-awaited role as cuban elf of isolationism, has yanked the U.S. out of 66 international treaties, conventions, and organizations in one go. Climate agreements, migration frameworks, cultural heritage protections, clean water, renewable energy, even rules on timber and minerals — all flushed as "contrary to the interests of the United States." Because nothing says "global leadership" like screaming "I got mine" and slamming the door on a burning planet.
Rubio helpfully explained that these long-standing efforts are "irrelevant" to U.S. interests, which is a bold stance in a world where wildfire smoke crosses borders faster than his talking points. As Anand Pandian points out, this isn’t just policy; it’s the logical endpoint of a culture that treats everything as a fortress: gated neighborhoods, armored SUVs, ring-fenced media bubbles, and a politics that defines freedom as the right to pretend no one else exists. In other words, Trumpism turned America into that neighbor who dumps toxic sludge upstream and then insists the dead fish are a hoax.
While Trump and friends are busy burning climate diplomacy for short-term fossil fuel applause lines, local activists like those in Newburgh, New York are trying to do the radical thing of not drinking forever chemicals and maybe having clean public water, transit, and housing. They organize around the idea that what happens upstream affects people downstream — a concept apparently too advanced for the White House, which prefers the more familiar doctrine of "If you want to go fast, go alone, and if you want to go fascist, convince everyone they’re alone." The administration’s message is clear: going it alone isn’t a bug, it’s the feature — and if democracy, the planet, and a few million people have to choke for it, well, that’s just freedom, baby.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#imperialism
killing democracy
project 2025: from 'never heard of it' to the official user manual
President Trump, seen here pretending he’s never heard of Project 2025 while flying on the plane that’s currently implementing it.
Donald Trump, the man who swore he had "nothing to do with Project 2025," has now basically turned it into the White House employee handbook. The 900-page Heritage Foundation fever dream that he once called "ridiculous" is suddenly looking very familiar in policy form: mass immigration crackdowns, dismantling the Department of Education, nuking diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and declaring in his inaugural address that the official policy of the United States is that there are only two genders. Because nothing says "limited government" like having the federal government legally define your identity for you.
In public, Trump and his campaign treated Project 2025 like a bad smell they couldn’t quite locate. Chris LaCivita whined that its organizers were a "pain in the a**" and insisted they didn’t get to "drive the issue set." In private, Trump did the obvious: he hired them. He tapped Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to run the Office of Management and Budget — a.k.a. the nerve center of the executive branch — and brought in other contributors to help speed-run the authoritarian wish list they totally weren’t coordinating on, no sir.
Meanwhile, Democratic state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, treated the document like what it actually is: a confession. They combed through Project 2025 line by line, pre-wrote their lawsuits, and started blocking some of the fun stuff — like forcing blue states into Trump’s immigration dragnet, freezing domestic federal funding, and mass layoffs at agencies such as the Department of Education. In other words, the administration mailed them a roadmap to its own abuses of power, and the states responded with, "Thanks, we’ll file this under ‘Exhibit A.’" But sure, tell us again how Trump doesn’t know anything about Project 2025 while he reads it off the teleprompter.
Source: npr.org
#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy
doj watches five videos of a killing, investigates none of them
Todd Blanche explains that the DOJ can see the videos just fine and has decided the real suspect is anyone demanding an investigation.
Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche — formerly Trump’s personal lawyer, now apparently America’s chief Nothing To See Here officer — went on Fox News to announce that the Justice Department is “not investigating” the killing of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. This, despite the fact that Good’s death was recorded on at least five phones, including Ross’s own, and happened less than a mile from where George Floyd was murdered. Blanche helpfully explained that DOJ’s civil rights division doesn’t just investigate every time an officer is “forced to defend himself” — a brave new standard under which the only thing that matters is how confidently the killer says "self-defense" on cable news.
Blanche also claimed DOJ never bows to public or political pressure and "never" launches investigations in response to outrage — a lie so blatant it’s practically a confession. In the first Trump administration, the same DOJ opened a "robust" federal civil-rights probe into George Floyd’s death within days, leading to federal convictions of four officers. But sure, this time, with Trump openly running the department like his personal law firm, it’s all about timeless principles and not at all about protecting armed federal agents who just killed a woman in the street.
The video evidence that supposedly "clears" Ross has, inconveniently, already been forensically dissected by the New York Times, Bellingcat, and others, all of whom concluded that Trump’s claim that Good "ran over" the agent is false. That didn’t stop Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem from going on TV to say everyone can see Ross was "attacked with a car," or Harmeet Dhillon — now running the DOJ civil rights division, because nothing says civil rights like a hard-right activist — from amplifying Trump’s lie on X the day Good was killed. Meanwhile, witnesses say federal officers blocked a physician and ambulances from treating Good as she lay dying, which in a functioning rule-of-law system might be the sort of thing the civil rights division looks into.
Instead, Pam Bondi, Trump’s attorney general, skipped right past the dead woman to warn protesters that obstructing or attacking federal agents is a crime. In other words: the only people in legal danger here are the ones upset that an ICE agent shot a woman at point-blank range and then had colleagues allegedly prevent her from receiving medical care. The Trump DOJ has already been repurposed to harass enemies, protect allies, and hand out pardons like loyalty punch cards. Now it’s sending a clearer message: federal law enforcement can kill you on camera, lie about it online, and the nation’s top "law enforcement" agency will proudly refuse to even ask a follow-up question.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness#forever-grifting
killing democracy
white house to cbs: nice news network you got there, shame if someone sued its ass off
Karoline Leavitt explains the First Amendment: you’re free to broadcast whatever you want, as long as it’s all Trump, unedited, and legally indemnified.
The Trump White House has discovered a bold new innovation in media relations: skip the spin, go straight to the mob threat. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt was recorded telling CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil that if the network dared to edit Trump’s 13-minute interview, the president would "sue your ass off." Because nothing says "free press" like the government warning TV networks to air Dear Leader un-cut or face legal retribution.
This all happens after Paramount, CBS’s parent company, already cut Trump a cool $16 million settlement over a 2024 60 Minutes segment, teaching the extremely subtle lesson that if you sue loudly enough, billion-dollar media companies will fold like lawn chairs. Now CBS is run by Bari Weiss— parachuted in with no TV news experience, but with deep ties to conservative media and a boss whose dad is Trump pal Larry Ellison. Shockingly, under this new regime, CBS killed a 60 Minutes piece on Venezuelan men deported by the administration, allegedly because the White House didn’t respond in time. In other words: if Trump doesn’t like it, it doesn’t air.
Leavitt now insists the American people "deserve" unedited Trump interviews, and proudly notes, "And guess what? The interview ran in full." Yes, when the White House threatens a network and the network obediently complies, that’s not transparency, that’s state media cosplay. But sure, tell us again how the real threat to democracy is college kids protesting, not the sitting president using legal intimidation and friendly billionaires to turn a major news network into his personal broadcast arm.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#fascism#forever-grifting
killing democracy
trump-pardoned insurrectionist tries pro-ice rally, gets snowballed into the sidewalk
Jake Lang, freshly pardoned by Trump for trying to overturn democracy, bravely discovers that Minneapolis is less enthusiastic about fascism than his Telegram group chat suggested.
Jake Lang, a January 6 rioter who went from allegedly swinging a baseball bat at cops to getting presidential clemency from Trump, decided his next act should be a tiny pro-ICE, anti-Islam, anti-Somali hate rally in Minneapolis—and it went about as well as his last coup attempt. He threatened on social media to burn a Quran on the steps of City Hall, because nothing says "constitutional patriot" like staging a religious bonfire to celebrate masked federal agents dragging people out of cars.
Instead, only a handful of far-right fans showed up, and they were promptly drowned out and chased off by hundreds of counterprotesters who forced at least one of them to ditch an offensive shirt. Lang left with bruises and scrapes on his head, discovering the hard way that Minneapolis is not, in fact, eager to host a "Nazis for ICE" pop-up event. Meanwhile, police rolled in with an armored van and riot gear, because when Trump’s DHS dumps 2,000 federal officers into a city, the cosplay has to be consistent.
All of this is happening against the backdrop of Trump’s latest immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, where daily protests have erupted over ICE officers breaking down doors, yanking people from homes and cars, and generally treating a major metro area like a live-fire training exercise. The operation has already claimed at least one life: Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot by an ICE officer on 7 January—because nothing says "law and order" like killing citizens in their own communities. A federal judge has now had to explicitly rule that immigration officers may not detain or teargas peaceful protesters who are just watching, which is not the kind of thing a healthy democracy needs spelled out.
One Liberian man, Garrison Gibson, who fled a civil war and has lived in the U.S. for decades, told reporters he’s now afraid to leave his house after federal agents smashed in his door with a battering ram. His T-shirt read "Immigrants make America great"—a risky statement in Trump’s America, where the government’s position is closer to "Immigrants make great targets." But sure, tell us again how this is all about "protecting the border" and not about turning federal law enforcement into a roaming intimidation squad for the president’s culture war.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#anti-immigration
killing democracy
trump discovers the 'illegal orders' are the ones that say no to him
Elissa Slotkin, moments before being informed that citing the Constitution is now a hanging offense in Trump’s America.
Elissa Slotkin, former CIA officer and current senator, made the unforgivable mistake of reminding U.S. troops they don’t have to follow illegal orders. In response, Donald Trump did what any totally normal, definitely-not-authoritarian president would do: call it “treason”, boost posts suggesting the lawmakers should be hanged, and unleash his pet prosecutors and defense secretary to make sure everyone else gets the message.
Slotkin and a group of Democrats with military and intel backgrounds recorded a 90-second video citing the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Constitution – you know, the things Republicans swear they worship until someone actually uses them. Trump labeled it treasonous, amplified calls for their execution, and now his DOJ attack dog in DC, Jeanine Pirro, wants to "interview" Slotkin while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tries to retroactively demote Mark Kelly’s retired Navy rank. Because nothing says "support the troops" like weaponizing the Pentagon to punish a former astronaut for a YouTube video.
Slotkin, who has literally studied authoritarian regimes for a living, points out that Trump is running the classic strongman playbook: physical intimidation, legal intimidation, and public threats to scare critics into silence. In other words, he’s turned the U.S. government into a vibes-based dictatorship where the president screams "treason" at anyone who suggests the military shouldn’t become his personal goon squad. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "law and order."
Slotkin and a group of Democrats with military and intel backgrounds recorded a 90-second video citing the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Constitution – you know, the things Republicans swear they worship until someone actually uses them. Trump labeled it treasonous, amplified calls for their execution, and now his DOJ attack dog in DC, Jeanine Pirro, wants to "interview" Slotkin while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tries to retroactively demote Mark Kelly’s retired Navy rank. Because nothing says "support the troops" like weaponizing the Pentagon to punish a former astronaut for a YouTube video.
Slotkin, who has literally studied authoritarian regimes for a living, points out that Trump is running the classic strongman playbook: physical intimidation, legal intimidation, and public threats to scare critics into silence. In other words, he’s turned the U.S. government into a vibes-based dictatorship where the president screams "treason" at anyone who suggests the military shouldn’t become his personal goon squad. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "law and order."
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#fascism#lawlessness
killing democracy
hillbilly elegy to authoritarianism
JD Vance, seen here workshopping whether to call it populism, nationalism, or just good old-fashioned bootlicking.
JD Vance, once the earnest memoir guy warning about Trumpism, has completed his final Pokémon evolution into Trump’s favorite boot-licking mini-me. Now vice-president and 2028 candidate in everything but FEC paperwork, he tours the country telling heartwarming Mamaw stories while insisting that Democrats invented violent crime, because nothing says "populist authenticity" like using your grandmother as a prop for law-and-order demagoguery.
In office, Vance has helpfully abandoned most of the beliefs he used to say out loud. On foreign policy, free speech, and transparency, the former critic of Trump has "reconsidered"—which in practice means doing exactly what Trump wants and pretending he always has. He played shutdown hardball, leaned on redistricting, and went on a diplomatic cosplay trip to Israel, all while positioning himself as the natural heir to the movement if and when the current Dear Leader term-limits himself via mortality.
The free-speech warrior phase didn’t survive contact with power either. After the assassination of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, Vance turned from "controversial speech must be protected" guy into "we demand retribution for anyone who reacts the wrong way" guy, using the vice-presidency to police political emotion and thought. He literally escorted Kirk’s casket on Air Force Two and guest-hosted the podcast from his ceremonial office—state power and propaganda blending together like it’s totally normal.
And while Vance skipped the Mar-a-Lago situation room cosplay while Trump directed an attack on Venezuela, he was very much present for the part that mattered: the White House meeting with oil executives to carve up the country’s resources. When Trump wandered off to admire the site of his future ballroom—because of course he did—Vance shared a knowing grin with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, another 2028 hopeful. In other words, American imperialism as a reality show, with JD Vance auditioning to be the next host.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#fascism#imperialism
killing democracy
davos 2026: spirit of dialogue meets spirit of coup
Donald Trump explains that seizing foreign presidents with US troops is actually very legal and very cool, flanked by people who definitely know better and are pretending they don’t.
The World Economic Forum picked “A Spirit of Dialogue” as its 2026 theme, and then invited Donald Trump – the guy who spent the last year treating international law like a non-disclosure agreement. He shows up in Davos with the largest US delegation ever, because nothing says “rules-based order” like flying in the whole wrecking crew: Marco Rubio at State, hedge-fund guy Scott Bessent at Treasury, Wall Street broker Howard Lutnick at Commerce, and real-estate pal Steve Witkoff as “special envoy,” which is apparently now a job title for friends of the regime.
Over the past year, Trump threatened blanket tariffs, demanded NATO cough up more cash, ordered the Fed to slash rates “immediately,” and then spent the follow-up months trying to force a pro‑Russian peace on Ukraine. In just the last few weeks, he’s sent US troops to Venezuela to physically seize Nicolás Maduro, talked casually about annexing Greenland, and threatened to attack Iran over its internal repression. In other words, the old postwar order is now whatever Trump felt like tweeting and then half‑remembering in a briefing.
The rest of the world is, very belatedly, noticing this might be a problem. Central bankers – the people who normally think “strongly worded footnote” is going too far – issued an unprecedented joint letter defending Fed chair Jerome Powell’s independence after Trump spent months trying to turn monetary policy into a campaign slush button. UN chief António Guterres is out here saying the quiet part loud: when leaders “pick and choose which rules to follow,” they’re not just undermining global order, they’re setting a perilous precedent. Translation: Russia started shredding the rules in Ukraine, but the United States, under Trump, is now enthusiastically lighting what’s left on fire.
Meanwhile, global military spending has surged to $2.7 trillion as democracies and dictatorships alike panic-buy weapons in response to Russia, China, and the increasingly unhinged US. Senior diplomats quietly admit that Trump’s little adventure of projecting force into places like Venezuela could spark a global backlash – because nothing says “defending freedom” like kidnapping another country’s president. So Davos 2026 is billed as the last‑chance saloon for the old world order: Zelenskyy pleading for Ukraine, Europeans begging for free trade and NATO, Guterres begging for international law – all while Trump roams the Promenade surrounded by US tech giants demoing AI, the same US military machine that just tried regime-snatch in Caracas, and a global elite still pretending this is fine as long as the canapés keep coming.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#imperialism#lawlessness
killing democracy
trump turns louisiana senate race into personal loyalty test
Bill Cassidy, smiling like a man who just realized his real opponent isn’t Julia Letlow or the Democrats, but the guy rage-posting endorsements from the Oval Office.
Donald Trump, still treating the federal government like his personal HR department, has now publicly encouraged Rep. Julia Letlow to primary Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana—because nothing says "healthy democracy" like the president using his office to punish a senator for voting to impeach him for inciting an insurrection. On Truth Social, Trump blasted out that Letlow has his "Complete and Total Endorsement" and urged her to "RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!"—which is less a campaign slogan and more a direct order from the Dear Leader.
Letlow, who reportedly wouldn’t even consider running without Trump’s blessing, dutifully responded that she is "honored" by his endorsement and that her mission is to make the country "safer and stronger"—in other words, more obedient to Trump. She added that the Senate seat "belongs to the people of Louisiana," which is a bold thing to say while openly waiting for Mar-a-Lago to tell her whether she’s allowed to pursue it. The White House, ever the subtle authoritarian project manager, has quietly assured her that support will be there if she jumps in, but didn’t want to move too early and upset Cassidy, who’s been a useful vote for them, including to confirm noted public health menace and conspiracy enthusiast Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS Secretary.
Cassidy, for his part, is insisting he’s running as a "principled conservative" and says he’s confident he’ll win if Letlow runs. This is the same Cassidy who voted to impeach Trump for "incitement of insurrection" and has been critical of RFK Jr., but still hasn’t bothered to actually haul Kennedy back before his committee for promised quarterly oversight hearings. So he’s trying to split the difference: mildly skeptical of the regime, but not so skeptical that he actually uses his power to check it. In Trump’s GOP, though, voting to impeach him is the only thing that really matters, and the punishment is clear: someone younger and more compliant gets a Truth Social coronation and a shot at your job.
So the 2026 Louisiana Senate race is shaping up less as a contest of ideas and more as a public loyalty ritual to a president who demands total fealty, deploys primaries as retribution, and has turned the entire party into a constant audition for his approval. But sure, tell us again how this is just normal politics and not a slow-motion party purge in a personality cult that happens to control the federal government.
Source: nbcnews.com
#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy
trump’s doj bravely defeats cat toy in 35 minutes
Marine One bravely survives direct contact with a homeless man’s cat toy, in what Jeanine Pirro briefly hoped would be her Nuremberg moment.
Jeanine Pirro, now inexplicably in charge of the US attorney’s office in DC, just racked up another stunning loss in her war on reality. A jury took about 35 minutes to acquit Jacob Winkler, a homeless man accused of aiming a laser at Marine One while it ferried Donald Trump—aka the world’s most fragile helicopter passenger. The alleged weapon? A red dot from a cat toy keychain. Because nothing says “serious federal law enforcement” like trying to send a homeless guy to prison for five years over something you buy in a PetSmart impulse bin.
Winkler’s public defenders politely translated this clown show: the federal government in the capital of the richest country on earth is burning scarce resources trying to make a felon out of a man with nothing but a novelty trinket, while “real threats” go unaddressed. In other words, Trump and Pirro are using the justice system as a cosplay security detail for the Dear Leader, and the actual safety of DC residents can go stand in line behind his feelings.
This is all part of Trump’s “crime emergency” in DC, where he sent in troops and had DHS and FBI agents doing neighborhood patrols like some budget Pinochet reboot. Pirro’s office has been cranking out federal cases against locals for “assaulting federal officers” and “threatening” Trump—most memorably losing a case against a guy who threw a Subway-style sandwich at a CBP agent in body armor while calling them “fascists.” The jury, once again, declined to pretend that’s terrorism.
Pirro’s office issued at least 16 press releases this week, but somehow none of them mentioned getting demolished in court over a cat toy and a hoagie. The Trump administration keeps trying to criminalize dissent and poverty; juries in DC keep replying: lol, no. But sure, tell us more about how this is all about “law and order” and not a flailing authoritarian ego trip.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness
killing democracy
congress discovers contempt, still avoiding the mirror
James Comer bravely investigates everyone connected to Epstein except the administration actually sitting on the Epstein files.
House Republicans have discovered a bold new innovation in governance: pretend to investigate Jeffrey Epstein while aggressively not investigating the guy who actually controls the files. James Comer and friends subpoenaed Bill and Hillary Clinton for testimony on Epstein, then clutched their pearls when the Clintons said they wouldn't play along with the Mar-a-Lago Kangaroo Court Cinematic Universe. The response? Threaten them with criminal contempt of Congress — because nothing says "serious child exploitation probe" like using it as a campaign content farm for Fox and Truth Social.
Meanwhile, the actual Trump administration sits on the Epstein files like it's the nuclear codes, infuriating even their own supporters. A pro-Trump podcaster is now publicly raging that he "voted to get these damn files released" and instead got the usual Trump special: promises, conspiracies, and zero transparency. Autoworkers are heckling Trump as a "pedophile protector," which is not exactly the Rust Belt branding reboot his team was hoping for.
So the White House and its congressional appendages are trying to rerun 2016: slap the word "Clinton" on everything, scream "Epstein" a lot, and hope no one notices who's actually in charge of the documents. They blast out old photos of Bill with Epstein and Maxwell, dangle contempt charges, and posture as crusaders for justice — all while slow-walking or stonewalling the full release of the files. In other words: maximum theater, minimum truth.
The punchline is that outside the MAGA Cinematic Universe, nobody worships the Clintons the way the base worships Trump. If the Clintons did something wrong, most Democrats are not going to storm the Capitol over it. But holding them in contempt while hiding key Epstein records just broadcasts the real message: this isn’t about victims, or justice, or transparency. It’s about power, distraction, and protecting the guy in charge — a government so steeped in bad faith it’s now in open contempt of the public, not just Congress.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness#forever-grifting
killing democracy
nationwide coffee break from fascism
Americans briefly stop working to protest the government that keeps trying to work them over—Wall Street calls it a disruption, the rest of us call it Tuesday under Trump.
On the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, the Women’s March organizers are helpfully beta-testing what happens when a country briefly stops pretending everything is normal. They’re calling it the “Free America Walkout,” a coordinated weekday action where people walk out of schools, offices, and businesses to protest the administration’s escalating attacks on immigrants, gender-affirming care, and healthcare, plus the casual deployment of National Guard troops in US cities — because nothing says “totally healthy democracy” like soldiers in the streets and ICE at the door.
Instead of just weekend rallies that let Republicans call protesters “unemployed Antifa,” organizers are going for weekday disruption: no shopping, no working, no commerce — in other words, a one-day simulation of what happens if the people this government is steamrolling decide to hit pause on propping it up. Over 600 local events are planned, from walking into lawmakers’ offices in Houston to mutual aid, teach-ins, and chats with groups like Leaving Maga, where former cult members explain that yes, it really is that bad.
The walkout is being treated as a “stress test” of the democracy Trump is busy stress-fracturing, with American University sociologist Dana Fisher tracking participation like it’s a national EKG. Women’s March director Rachel O’Leary Carmona calls it movement muscle-building to “drive fascism back away from American democracy” — a nice, polite way of saying that when your government is raiding schools, gutting healthcare, and targeting trans people, maybe it’s time to do more than post a sad Instagram story and vote for “norms” every four years.
And based on sign-ups, this is the most engagement the organization has ever seen, which is both inspiring and deeply bleak: the good news is people are “ready to lace up our boots and get out in the street”; the bad news is they have to do it because the president is basically running a live-action authoritarianism pilot and seeing how much he can get away with before the credits roll.
Instead of just weekend rallies that let Republicans call protesters “unemployed Antifa,” organizers are going for weekday disruption: no shopping, no working, no commerce — in other words, a one-day simulation of what happens if the people this government is steamrolling decide to hit pause on propping it up. Over 600 local events are planned, from walking into lawmakers’ offices in Houston to mutual aid, teach-ins, and chats with groups like Leaving Maga, where former cult members explain that yes, it really is that bad.
The walkout is being treated as a “stress test” of the democracy Trump is busy stress-fracturing, with American University sociologist Dana Fisher tracking participation like it’s a national EKG. Women’s March director Rachel O’Leary Carmona calls it movement muscle-building to “drive fascism back away from American democracy” — a nice, polite way of saying that when your government is raiding schools, gutting healthcare, and targeting trans people, maybe it’s time to do more than post a sad Instagram story and vote for “norms” every four years.
And based on sign-ups, this is the most engagement the organization has ever seen, which is both inspiring and deeply bleak: the good news is people are “ready to lace up our boots and get out in the street”; the bad news is they have to do it because the president is basically running a live-action authoritarianism pilot and seeing how much he can get away with before the credits roll.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#fascism