The Trump Presidency Timeline
Documenting the chaos since day one. 1625 entries and counting.
imperialism
annexing greenland to own the libs
Trump staring at a map of Greenland like it’s a foreclosure he can flip, while JD Vance helpfully labels it “freedom minerals.”
Trump has apparently decided that if you can’t run the United States competently, you might as well try conquering Greenland. He’s announced the US will seize the island “one way or the other,” because nothing says "defending freedom" like threatening to invade a NATO ally’s territory for its mineral rights and a couple of billionaire techno-playgrounds. Meanwhile, JD Vance is doing his best cosplay of a serious statesman while Europe debates whether maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop pretending this is all a normal policy disagreement and not literal imperial predation.
The Trump crew isn’t even bothering with subtlety. The white supremacist brain trust is pumping out government-branded slogans like “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage” — a totally original idea that definitely doesn’t sound like it was ripped straight from the "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer" starter kit. The grifters and techno-nihilists are drooling over the prospect of neofeudal city-states on Greenland’s coast, because what’s the point of collapsing American democracy if you don’t get a private petro-feudalist sandbox out of it? Trump helpfully clarifies that the only check on his power is “my own morality,” which, translated from Trumpese, means no check at all.
Behind the cosplay geopolitics is a very real MAGA empire fantasy. The movement’s been circulating maps based on a 1930s "Technate of America" scheme: a US-dominated super-state running from Greenland down through Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and all the way to French Guiana — inconveniently still part of France and thus a speed bump for the new "Donroe Doctrine." While Trump, Vance, and Steve Bannon work to bankroll far-right, anti-EU parties to blow up the EU from within (Putin sends his regards), Europe is being told, again, to keep calm and hope the next coup attempt is less organized.
The article’s basic argument: if Trump’s America is going full imperial fascism, Europe needs to stop acting like it’s 2013 and start acting like it’s 1938. That means kicking US military bases out, sanctioning US officials, walling off US tech oligarchs, expanding the carbon border tax, building up its own defense and intelligence union, and funding public media as information armor. In other words: cut the cord before Washington finishes turning itself into an openly hostile neo-authoritarian empire. But sure, let’s keep calling it a "special relationship" while Trump tries to annex Greenland like it’s a golf course with better lithium.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#fascism
killing democracy
president of the united states flips off factory worker, republic survives somehow
The leader of the free world demonstrates his comprehensive policy on transparency, ethics, and accountability in one elegant gesture.
In Dearborn, Michigan, the dignity of the presidency made a brief, doomed appearance on the Ford factory floor before being immediately flipped off by its current occupant. While touring a Ford truck plant, Donald Trump responded to someone calling him a "pedophile protector" by literally stopping, pointing, and giving them the middle finger — on camera, of course, because this administration never misses an opportunity to turn governance into a low-rent TMZ exclusive.
The White House line, via professional spin sprinkler Steven Cheung, was that a "lunatic" was "wildly screaming expletives" and that the president delivered an "appropriate and unambiguous response" — because nothing says "steady leadership" like the commander in chief reacting to hecklers like a bored 8th grader on the back of the bus. Ford, whose "core values" allegedly include respect, bravely condemned "inappropriate" comments in their facilities while very pointedly not saying a single word about the 79-year-old man-child flipping people off on their assembly line.
Hanging over this little motor-city tantrum: Trump’s name appearing in the newly released Epstein files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, including records indicating he flew on Epstein’s plane at least eight times in the 1990s, once with an unnamed 20-year-old woman. Authorities haven’t accused him of a crime, DOJ is waving around disclaimers about "untrue and sensationalist" claims, and Trump insists he did nothing wrong. In other words: you ask the president about a documented history of flying with Jeffrey Epstein, and what you get back is not answers, not transparency, but the presidential middle finger — a perfect visual metaphor for how this administration treats accountability.
Source: nbcnews.com
#killing-democracy#full-stupid
oligarchy
president explains journalism is now a loyalty program
Donald Trump explains to Tony Dokoupil that journalism is now a performance review conducted by the president and his billionaire friends.
Donald Trump sat down with new CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil and, in classic mob-boss-meets-game-show-host fashion, informed him that his job only exists because Trump won the election. "You wouldn’t have a job right now" if Kamala Harris had won, Trump said, before clarifying that, okay, maybe Dokoupil would still have a job, but at a "lesser salary"—because nothing says independent press like the president personally rating your compensation package on live TV.
Trump then helpfully reminded Dokoupil that his billionaire boss, David Ellison, is an "amazing guy" who might be "bust" if Trump had lost. Ellison’s family just took over Paramount Global, installed Bari Weiss to "shake up" CBS News, and conveniently settled a widely derided, meritless Trump lawsuit over a 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview for $16m—right before regulators signed off on the Ellison takeover. In other words, America’s free press is doing great: the president sues a network for covering his opponent, the network pays him off, then gets bought by his billionaire pals, who are now trying a hostile takeover of Warner Bros Discovery while the White House quietly cheers from the sidelines.
Meanwhile, CBS is under fire for its editing decisions, its 60 Minutes segment on Venezuelans in a Salvadoran hell-prison gets "postponed" for more reporting, and the Golden Globes host jokes that "the award for most editing goes to … CBS News." Dokoupil closes his broadcast by assuring viewers, "we trust you to decide for yourself"—on a network whose new owners just demonstrated that the quickest way to shape what viewers can "decide" about is to stroke the president’s ego, pay him off, and hope the regulators stay friendly. But sure, tell us more about how the real threat to democracy is student protesters and pronouns.
Source: theguardian.com
#oligarchy#killing-democracy
imperialism
america first, venezuelans last, trump always
Tammy Duckworth patiently explaining that ‘America First’ doesn’t usually involve random Venezuela side quests for a bored wannabe strongman.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth went on TV to say the quiet part out loud: Trump’s saber-rattling and meddling in Venezuela makes his whole “America First” routine look like what it’s always been — basically bs. Because nothing says defending American workers like using a foreign crisis as a stage for cheap strongman cosplay and oil-adjacent geopolitics.
While Trump world keeps insisting this is all about “freedom” and “democracy,” Duckworth points out the obvious: if this were really about putting Americans first, maybe the administration wouldn’t be so eager to lurch into another Latin American adventure with zero coherent strategy and a whole lot of chest-thumping. In other words, it looks less like principled foreign policy and more like the usual Trump blend of distraction, ego, and made-for-Fox News imperialism.
So we get the worst of both worlds: a president who screams about endless wars while flirting with regime change, claims to hate globalism while playing Great Power games, and pretends to care about stability while lighting matches in a powder keg. But sure, tell us again how this is all about protecting the American people and not about Trump needing a new crisis to yell about on Truth Social.
Source: nbcnews.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
forever grifting
white house declares recession a ‘messaging issue,’ americans declare rent a ‘money issue’
Trump economic advisers bravely explaining that if you close your eyes and repeat "strong fundamentals" three times, your overdraft fees turn into stock gains.
Trump is reportedly "fighting a messaging war" over the state of the economy, because nothing says "serious governance" like treating people’s lost jobs, wiped-out savings, and sky-high prices as a vibes problem that can be fixed with better slogans and a fresh chyron on Fox.
Instead of, say, changing policies that shovel money to billionaires and corporate donors, the administration is workshopping talking points to convince you that your empty bank account is actually historic prosperity and that if you’d just stop looking at your bills, you’d see how great everything is. In other words, it’s not the economy that’s broken, it’s you for noticing.
So the White House comms shop is out here trying to rebrand pain as success, insisting this is all a "messaging war" while Americans are conducting a daily "how do I pay for groceries" war. But sure, if they just say "best economy ever" enough times, your rent will spontaneously drop and your credit card debt will patriotically disappear.
Source: nbcnews.com
#forever-grifting#money#full-stupid
fascism
trump admin heroically fights antisemitism by demanding… a federal list of jews
The Trump-era EEOC, bravely standing up to antisemitism by demanding the one thing history has always shown to be safe: a centralized government list of Jews.
The Trump administration has discovered a bold new strategy to combat antisemitism on campus: force universities to hand over the names, emails, phone numbers, and home addresses of Jews to the federal government. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), now apparently rebranded as the Equal Ethno‑Origin Cataloguing Commission, subpoenaed the University of Pennsylvania for a comprehensive registry of Jewish students, staff, and faculty – plus anyone tied to Jewish organizations or who spoke in confidential antisemitism listening sessions. Because nothing says "protecting a vulnerable minority" like demanding a centralized government list of Jews.
Penn, to its minimal credit, said absolutely not, pointing out that violating people’s privacy and trust might actually make them feel less safe. Jewish faculty groups, Hillel, and national academic organizations are now in court trying to stop the administration from dragging the country back into the greatest hits of 20th‑century horror. As Norm Eisen put it, we’re in territory that should "shock every single one of us" – though in Trump’s America that bar gets lower every week.
The EEOC, led by Andrea Lucas, insists this is all about identifying victims of antisemitic harassment, and if that requires the government to demand a campus-wide Jewish registry, well, what could possibly go wrong? Jewish scholars at Penn helpfully reminded everyone that the last time governments asked universities for "lists of Jews", it did not end in robust civil rights protections. But sure, we’re told, it’s totally benign this time. Just trust the same administration that’s built its brand on bigotry and authoritarian impulses to carefully safeguard a nationwide database of Jews.
Source: theguardian.com
#fascism#killing-democracy
imperialism
john bolton dusted off for sequel: 'bomb iran, but make it freedom'
John Bolton, patiently explaining that this time when we light the Middle East on fire, it will definitely work out great.
NPR decided that what the world really needed in 2026 was a fresh dose of John Bolton, the mustachioed spirit animal of every half-baked regime-change fantasy since 2003. So Rob Schmitz politely asks America's favorite war hobbyist how Trump might act on Iran as protests unfold — because nothing says “let’s support democratic movements” like calling the guy whose foreign policy Mad Libs always end in airstrikes.
Instead of talking to, say, Iranian protesters, human rights lawyers, or anyone who doesn’t list "invade a Middle Eastern country" under hobbies, we get Bolton explaining Trump’s likely moves as if this is all just an exciting strategic puzzle and not the same playbook that has repeatedly turned real countries into smoking craters. In other words: brave people in Iran risk their lives for basic rights, and Washington’s answer is to bring back the guy who sees every uprising as a branding opportunity for regime change: the expanded universe.
The subtext, as always: Trump gets a foreign crisis he can spin into macho posturing, Bolton gets another shot at his lifelong dream of bombing Tehran, and the U.S. political/media class gets to pretend this is a serious policy conversation instead of a rerun of the same disastrous interventionist fantasies that helped wreck the region in the first place. But sure, let’s call it "how Trump may act on Iran" and not "how the same guys who were wrong about everything want another swing at history."
Source: npr.org
#imperialism#national-security
killing democracy
trump tries to cancel a whistleblower lawyer, judge says 'nice try'
Artist’s rendering of the Trump White House clearance process: a giant shredder labeled "ENEMIES LIST" next to a rubber stamp that just says "NO LONGER IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST."
The Trump White House decided that the best way to handle pesky national security whistleblowers was to kneecap their lawyer, Mark Zaid, by yanking his security clearance in March. No hearing, no individualized review, just a good old-fashioned enemies list memo declaring it was "no longer in the national interest" for Zaid – and a grab bag of Trump foes from Joe Biden to Hillary Clinton – to see classified information. Because nothing says "rule of law" like the president personally deciding who can work in their profession based on how annoying they were during his first impeachment.
Unfortunately for the Retribution Administration, an actual judge intervened. Federal judge Amir H Ali granted a preliminary injunction ordering the White House to "immediately and fully restore" Zaid’s clearance, finding that Zaid’s representation of whistleblowers and other clients adverse to the government was the sole reason it was summarily revoked, and that he’d been denied even the minimal process given to everyone else. In other words: yes, this was blatant political punishment, and no, you can’t just blacklist the Ukraine whistleblower’s lawyer because you’re still mad about that phone call.
Zaid now has his access to classified information back, meaning he can once again represent clients whose cases involve secrets the president would prefer stay buried under a golf course in Bedminster. The White House, having been told its revenge memo is no longer in effect for Zaid, did not respond to requests for comment – presumably busy drafting the next list of people it thinks are a "national security threat" for the crime of holding it accountable.
Unfortunately for the Retribution Administration, an actual judge intervened. Federal judge Amir H Ali granted a preliminary injunction ordering the White House to "immediately and fully restore" Zaid’s clearance, finding that Zaid’s representation of whistleblowers and other clients adverse to the government was the sole reason it was summarily revoked, and that he’d been denied even the minimal process given to everyone else. In other words: yes, this was blatant political punishment, and no, you can’t just blacklist the Ukraine whistleblower’s lawyer because you’re still mad about that phone call.
Zaid now has his access to classified information back, meaning he can once again represent clients whose cases involve secrets the president would prefer stay buried under a golf course in Bedminster. The White House, having been told its revenge memo is no longer in effect for Zaid, did not respond to requests for comment – presumably busy drafting the next list of people it thinks are a "national security threat" for the crime of holding it accountable.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness#retribution
imperialism
trump crowdsources the timing of his next iran war
Trump’s national security ‘brain trust’ prepares to liberate Iranians by bombing them, again, but this time with more focus-grouped timing.
The Trump White House is apparently running foreign policy like a group chat, with Israeli and Arab officials quietly advising him to wait on the big Iran strikes until the regime is a little more wobbly—because nothing says commitment to human rights like treating a bloody crackdown as a market timing problem. The concern isn’t whether launching another U.S. war is legal, moral, or remotely sane, but whether the bombs would be decisive enough to finish off the government.
Trump, meanwhile, is on social media telling Iranian protesters to “KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS” and promising “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” as if regime change is an Amazon Prime delivery. While the regime guns people down and shuts off the internet, the geniuses in Washington and Jerusalem kick around fun options like tighter sanctions, cyberattacks, boosting comms to destabilize the government, and even “very targeted” hits on specific Iranian leaders—assassinations, but make it focus-grouped.
The White House insists “all options are at President Trump’s disposal,” which is a polite way of saying there’s no meaningful congressional debate, no public discussion, and certainly no legal constraint on anything from airstrikes to covert ops. Even regional allies are warning that U.S. or Israeli attacks could backfire and unite Iranians, but Trump’s response is to threaten to hit Iran “at levels that they’ve never been hit before.” In other words: the Middle East is begging Washington not to light another match, and Trump is bragging about how big his flamethrower is.
Source: nbcnews.com
#imperialism#national-security#killing-democracy
killing democracy
comer bravely investigates hot-tub photos, ignores actual epstein cover-up
James Comer, valiantly defending the republic from the clear and present danger of Bill Clinton in a swimming pool.
House Oversight Chair James Comer has discovered the true heart of the Epstein scandal: Bill Clinton in a hot tub. The Republican-led committee subpoenaed Bill and Hillary Clinton for testimony, then acted shocked – shocked! – when the Clintons told them to pound sand, calling the subpoenas “invalid and legally unenforceable” and “a ploy to attempt to embarrass political rivals, as President Trump has directed.” Because nothing says serious child sex-trafficking investigation like doing whatever Donald Trump tells you to do on Truth Social.
The Clintons point out that Comer’s crusade has managed to interview a grand total of two officials – Alexander Acosta and William Barr – while somehow not bothering to question seven other top officials who were actually subpoenaed. In other words: maximum cable-news theater, minimum interest in what the government really did to botch, bury, or bungle the Epstein case. But sure, let’s rush a contempt vote on the Clintons while the rest of the witnesses enjoy witness protection by way of Republican leadership.
Meanwhile, Trump and GOP leaders opposed the bipartisan bill to release all Epstein files, and DOJ is still slow-walking the document dump past the statutory deadline. Lawmakers are now begging a judge to appoint a special master just to get the government to follow its own law. So yes, the same crowd that screams about the Deep State cover-up is working overtime to keep the files redacted, stall the releases, and turn Congress into a taxpayer-funded oppo-research shop. But don’t worry – Comer swears this isn’t about accusing Clinton of wrongdoing. They “just have questions.” Mainly: how many fundraising emails can you squeeze out of a subpoena that goes nowhere?
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness
forever grifting
trump sues bbc for $10bn, accidentally threatens to expose his own finances
Donald Trump, seen here imagining $10bn in "brand damage" while silently praying the BBC doesn’t ask what the brand is actually worth.
Donald Trump has launched a $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC over a Panorama documentary that used a misleadingly spliced clip of his 6 January speech—and in doing so may have pulled the pin on his own financial grenade. His lawyers say the edit damaged the "value of his brand, properties and businesses", which is adorable, because claiming massive financial harm is exactly how you invite the other side to demand chapter-and-verse on what your brand, properties and businesses are actually worth.
The BBC is asking a Florida court to toss the case for lack of jurisdiction, improper venue, and failure to state a claim, while also begging the judge to put discovery on ice so they don’t have to hand over internal editorial documents before the dismissal is decided. Trump, meanwhile, is effectively arguing: "My global empire is so yuge that one edited TV segment cost me billions"—which opens the door for the BBC to say: "Cool story, now show us the books." For a man who fought like hell to hide his tax returns, only to have them eventually reveal business losses and creative accounting, this is a bold new chapter in suing himself into transparency.
The broadcaster has already apologized for the edit, calling it an "error of judgment," but insists that’s not the same thing as defamation, and also notes a fun detail: Trump’s claim that the documentary was on BritBox in the US is apparently just made up. Their court filing basically says, "you could have clicked the link yourself, Mr. President," which is a nice way of saying "we checked the internet; you should try it sometime." They also argue he hasn’t plausibly alleged "actual malice," a requirement for public officials who want to sue the press instead of reading the First Amendment.
So to recap: Trump is demanding $5bn per count because a British broadcaster aired a bad edit of the speech he gave before a mob he spent weeks riling up attacked the US Capitol. The BBC wants the whole thing thrown out, but if it survives long enough to reach discovery, Trump may finally have to cough up detailed info about his "brand" and business empire. In other words, in his quest to punish the media and rewrite 6 January, he might accidentally do the one thing he’s avoided for decades: let the world see what’s really behind the gold-plated curtain—but sure, this is all about protecting his reputation.
Source: theguardian.com
#forever-grifting#money
anti immigration
trump discovers 'temporary' means 'whenever we feel like deporting somalis'
Karoline Leavitt and Kristi Noem bravely defend America from the terrifying threat of people who’ve lived here legally since the first George Bush administration.
The Trump administration has decided that after more than three decades, now is the perfect time to end Temporary Protected Status for Somali immigrants, ordering them to leave the U.S. by March 17, 2026. Because nothing says "land of opportunity" like telling people who fled civil war and state collapse that their time is up, please proceed to the nearest "hellhole" you narrowly escaped.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the move on X, while U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services helpfully clarified that Somali TPS holders are now required to get out. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking to Fox News first because of course she did, declared that "temporary means temporary" and claimed Somalia has improved enough to yank protections — and that letting Somalis stay is "contrary to our national interests." In other words: we checked the racism focus group numbers and they’re great.
This comes after Trump spent weeks singling out Somalis, especially in Minnesota, accusing them of "destroying the country" and insisting "the Somalians should be out of here." At a December rally he called Somalia and several other nations "hellholes," describing them as "filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime" and saying the only thing Somalis are good at is "going after ships." But sure, this TPS decision is definitely about neutral "country conditions" and not about a president who talks like a YouTube comments section with Secret Service protection.
TPS for Somalia has been in place since 1991, which apparently only became a constitutional crisis once Trump decided he needed a fresh scapegoat to feed the base. The administration is dressing it up as "putting Americans first," a phrase that now reliably translates to kicking vulnerable people in the teeth to score a news cycle. Welcome to Trump’s America, where the cruelty is the point and the immigration policy is written in rally chants.
Source: nbcnews.com
#anti-immigration#racism#killing-democracy
anti science
trump deregulates your lunch, hopes you survive
FDA headquarters, where America once regulated food safety instead of crowdsourcing it to listeria.
The Trump administration has discovered a bold new frontier in deregulation: your dinner plate. After firing and driving out thousands of FDA staff and hacking away at CDC surveillance, former agency scientists are now warning that food safety lapses are basically the new house special. We already got a preview course in 2025, when a listeria outbreak tied to prepared pasta meals killed six people and sickened 27 across 18 states — because nothing says "pro-life" like turning fettuccine alfredo into Russian roulette.
Foreign and domestic food inspections have cratered to historic lows, CDC’s FoodNet surveillance has been gutted from tracking eight pathogens down to two, and food recalls are on the rise. Inside the agencies, the professionals who used to quietly keep people from dying are being replaced by chaos, temps, and podcasts: policy rolled out via media appearances instead of formal guidance and public comment. Meanwhile, Trump’s budget hatchet-man Russell Vought brags that "we want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected", while rightwing media calls them "worthless parasites" — a bold take about the people standing between you and botulism.
At the top of this food safety Jenga tower, Trump installed FDA chief Martin Makary and HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, both of whom treat conspiracy theories like they’re peer-reviewed science. Makary is out pushing HIV and Lyme lab-leak musings on podcasts, RFK Jr is busy mainstreaming chemtrail brainworms, and veteran FDA leaders are either pushed out or fleeing because scientific integrity has been torched. The official line from HHS: nothing to see here, inspectors weren’t impacted, everything is fine. In other words: the US just voluntarily gave up being a world leader in public health so Trump and RFK Jr could own the libs by making your lunch less regulated than a Telegram group.
Source: theguardian.com
#anti-science#killing-democracy
killing democracy
trump fixes immigration backlog by deleting the court
People wait outside an immigration court that the Trump administration is methodically emptying of judges so it can later claim it "doesn’t work" and must be closed. Very efficient, if your goal is deportations, not justice.
The Trump administration has discovered an exciting new way to handle the massive immigration court backlog: eliminate the court. San Francisco’s immigration court, one of the busiest in the country, is being shuttered by the end of the year. Judges and staff got the news the modern way — a short email — informing them they’ll be shipped 30 miles away to Concord, because nothing says access to justice like forcing immigrants and their lawyers to commute even farther to a court that’s already drowning in cases.
This comes after Trump’s DOJ spent 2025 firing immigration judges like they were hosting a reality show reboot. San Francisco went from 21 judges to just four and a single supervisor, even as they were left holding roughly 120,935 cases. Nationwide, nearly 100 judges were axed, including at least 19 veterans who actually knew what they were doing. The official line from EOIR is that moving everything to Concord is "more cost-effective" — in other words, we broke the system on purpose, and now we’re saving money by not fixing it.
The Concord court, which was originally opened to help relieve San Francisco’s overload, has itself been bleeding judges and staff and already has a growing backlog. So naturally, the solution is to dump San Francisco’s six-figure caseload on top of it or run hearings remotely, because what could possibly go wrong with life-or-death asylum decisions handled over glitchy video from a gutted judiciary. This isn’t about efficiency; it’s about constricting due process until people just give up and get deported. But sure, tell us again how this is all about the "rule of law."
Source: npr.org
#killing-democracy#anti-immigration#lawlessness
killing democracy
jack smith volunteers as tribute in jim jordan’s kangaroo court
Jack Smith, pausing briefly from being declared illegal by Trump judges and targeted by Trump himself, prepares to explain on live TV why trying to overturn an election is, shockingly, a crime.
Jim Jordan has finally agreed to let former special counsel Jack Smith testify in public about his Trump investigations, after first insisting on an eight-hour, closed-door struggle session where Republicans tried and failed to turn "criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election" into "totally normal presidential behavior." Smith, who has been begging to answer questions where Americans can actually hear him, will now get to explain on camera how he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump led a scheme to overturn the election and repeatedly tried to obstruct justice in the classified documents case.
Naturally, this comes after Trump’s favorite federal bodyguard in a robe, Judge Aileen Cannon, helpfully declared Smith’s appointment illegal and tossed the classified documents case in the trash, while Smith was forced to drop the election case entirely because DOJ policy says you can’t prosecute a sitting president — especially one who got back into office by attacking the very election system he’s now shielded from. But sure, tell us more about how the real authoritarian threat here is the guy trying to enforce the law, not the guy demanding his prosecutor be prosecuted.
Ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin is already pre-writing the epitaph for this hearing, noting that Republicans "could not lay a glove" on Smith or his evidence in private and are about to humiliate themselves in public, too. Trump, meanwhile, is still calling for Smith to be prosecuted for the crime of documenting his crimes, while House Republicans dutifully turn the Judiciary Committee into a live-streamed loyalty test for the Dear Leader. In other words: another day in Trump’s America, where the president allegedly runs criminal schemes to overturn elections, the courts and Congress trip over themselves to protect him, and anyone who investigates it gets dragged in front of a camera as the villain.
Source: nbcnews.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness
killing democracy
ice raids city hall because following the law is now suspicious
ICE agents wait at a so-called 'routine' immigration appointment, otherwise known as the part of the process where you get punished for following the process.
Federal immigration agents have apparently decided that New York City Hall is now part of the border, detaining a legally authorized NYC council employee during a "routine immigration appointment"—because nothing says "rule of law" like kidnapping someone who's doing exactly what the law requires. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it an "assault on our democracy" while DHS, in a very on-brand move, provided no basis for the detention and quietly shipped the staffer off to a Manhattan detention center.
Council speaker Julie Menin confirmed the employee has authorization to remain in the US through October 2026, and Congressman Dan Goldman spelled it out: there is no indication of anything other than his immigration status being used as a pretext. In other words, ICE under Trump is now openly targeting law-abiding immigrants who show up to mandatory check-ins—a trap experts have been warning about for years. The message is clear: if you follow the rules, Trump’s deportation machine will meet you at the front desk.
All this is unfolding as the Trump administration brags about surging ICE deployments nationwide, protesters flood the streets after an ICE agent killed Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good, and Minnesota AG Keith Ellison sues DHS over "warrantless, racist arrests" and lethal force. Courts, churches, schools, immigration offices—every space is fair game for an unaccountable federal police force executing the president’s deportation agenda. But sure, tell us again how this isn’t an attempt to build a nationwide fear state for immigrants and anyone who dares work in government while not being white enough for Stephen Miller’s vision board.
Source: theguardian.com
#anti-immigration#killing-democracy#lawlessness
killing democracy
trump’s war on wind gets a reagan-judge reality check
Artist’s impression of Trump pointing at an offshore wind farm and yelling ‘national security threat’ while a Reagan-appointed judge quietly reaches for the Constitution.
A federal judge just told Donald Trump that he can’t randomly nuke a nearly finished offshore wind project because he suddenly discovered feelings about “national security.” Danish wind developer Ørsted can resume work on its 87%-complete Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island, after US district judge Royce Lamberth — a Reagan appointee, no less — granted an injunction and openly mocked the administration’s plan to bleed the company for $1.5 million a day while it "decides what it wants to do."
The Trump Interior Department had suspended five offshore wind leases in December, citing mysterious classified Pentagon intel about wind turbines being a threat to national security. Developers weren’t allowed to see this secret doom memo, of course, but were expected to quietly eat millions in losses. Ørsted’s lawyer politely suggested the court be “very skeptical” of the government’s true motives, which is lawyer-speak for: this smells like Trump’s long-running personal vendetta against wind dressed up in a cheap national security costume.
So now, thanks to a Reagan judge who apparently still remembers what due process is, one of Trump’s latest attempts to kneecap clean energy and handcuff multibillion-dollar projects has hit a legal wall. In other words: the administration tried to turn “I think wind turbines are ugly” into federal policy, and the judiciary responded with, "that’s not how any of this works." But sure, tell us more about how this is the administration that respects the rule of law.
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#anti-science
killing democracy
supreme court asked to legalize trump’s emergency tantrum tariffs
The Supreme Court at sunrise, moments before being asked to retroactively bless Trump’s ‘because I said so’ tariff doctrine.
Donald Trump is warning of a "complete mess" if the Supreme Court rules that, actually, the president can’t just scream "EMERGENCY" and slap global tariffs on everything like a toddler playing SimNation. Two lower courts have already said he overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, but Trump is now pre‑blaming the justices for the chaos that would follow if the government has to refund some of the $130bn it vacuumed up through his trade cosplay.
On Truth Social, the president declared that if the tariffs are struck down, "WE'RE SCREWED"—a refreshing admission that his grand economic strategy hinges on legally dubious taxes that Congress never approved and the statute never actually mentions. His new argument is basically: sure, it might have been unconstitutional, but undoing it would be too hard, so let’s just keep the money and pretend this was all fine. Because nothing says "rule of law" like "it’d be a paperwork nightmare to follow the Constitution".
The White House is already shopping for backup schemes, hinting it’ll rummage around in other statutes to find any lever that still lets Trump slap tariffs on imports like a bored autocrat with a label maker. Meanwhile, businesses and states that have been bleeding cash under these "national security" tariffs are begging the Court to call this what it is: an abuse of emergency powers dressed up as trade policy. Even Trump’s own appointee Amy Coney Barrett called the potential refund process a "complete mess"—which Trump promptly echoed, because if there’s one thing this administration excels at, it’s turning its own legal defeats into talking points about how democracy is just too inconvenient.
On Truth Social, the president declared that if the tariffs are struck down, "WE'RE SCREWED"—a refreshing admission that his grand economic strategy hinges on legally dubious taxes that Congress never approved and the statute never actually mentions. His new argument is basically: sure, it might have been unconstitutional, but undoing it would be too hard, so let’s just keep the money and pretend this was all fine. Because nothing says "rule of law" like "it’d be a paperwork nightmare to follow the Constitution".
The White House is already shopping for backup schemes, hinting it’ll rummage around in other statutes to find any lever that still lets Trump slap tariffs on imports like a bored autocrat with a label maker. Meanwhile, businesses and states that have been bleeding cash under these "national security" tariffs are begging the Court to call this what it is: an abuse of emergency powers dressed up as trade policy. Even Trump’s own appointee Amy Coney Barrett called the potential refund process a "complete mess"—which Trump promptly echoed, because if there’s one thing this administration excels at, it’s turning its own legal defeats into talking points about how democracy is just too inconvenient.
#killing-democracy#trade-war
killing democracy
hegseth invents retroactive rank-cancelling for disloyal veterans
Pete Hegseth, hard at work testing the theory that if you punish veterans for disloyal speech, the Constitution will eventually just demote itself.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth has apparently decided that the Uniform Code of Justice now includes a "hurt Trump’s feelings" clause. He launched a process to demote retired Navy captain, astronaut, and current US senator Mark Kelly and cut his pension because Kelly appeared in a short video reminding service members they can refuse illegal orders. In other words: "please obey the law" is now "sedition" in Trump’s America.
Kelly’s lawsuit lays it out: Hegseth, the Pentagon, the Navy, and Navy secretary John Phelan are accused of "trampling" constitutional protections that keep Congress independent and the military apolitical. This all kicked into gear after Donald Trump went on Truth Social to accuse Kelly and five other Democratic veterans of "seditious behavior punishable by death" for daring to say troops don’t have to blindly follow unlawful commands. Hegseth then dutifully echoed the treason talk, issued a formal censure, and started a retirement-grade review whose outcome, Kelly notes, is basically pre-written.
Kelly is asking a federal court to throw the whole thing out as unlawful and unconstitutional, and to remind the executive branch that it doesn’t get to financially kneecap senators for saying "the president can’t order you to commit crimes." Because nothing says "apolitical military" like threatening to strip veterans of rank and pay years after they retire if they don’t sufficiently worship the commander-in-chief. But sure, tell us again how this crowd is all about "freedom" and "supporting the troops".
Source: theguardian.com
#killing-democracy#fascism
killing democracy
judge says illegal, doj says ‘lol anyway’
Lindsey Halligan, seen here in the Oval Office auditioning for the role of ‘acting U.S. attorney’ in a government that treats the Constitution as a suggestion box.
The Eastern District of Virginia, now apparently operating as the Trump Personal Vendetta Annex, just pushed out top attorney Robert McBride while the Justice Department continues insisting that Lindsey Halligan is in charge — despite a federal judge ruling her appointment illegal. Because nothing says "independent justice system" like doubling down on an unlawfully-installed Trump loyalist.
A judge already tossed the criminal cases Halligan’s office brought against James Comey and New York AG Letitia James, finding she was wrongly appointed. That makes at least five acting U.S. attorneys unlawfully installed under this administration, but DOJ leadership is still pretending Halligan’s title is real, like a kid insisting their imaginary friend can sign legal documents.
McBride’s exit reportedly followed a dispute over whether he’d lead any effort to re-indict Comey — because of course the priority is retrying Trump’s political enemies, not fixing the blatantly illegal appointments. To make things even more normal and fine, McBride apparently met quietly with federal judges to see if the court would appoint him acting U.S. attorney instead, behind the administration’s back. The response from DOJ leadership? Fire him, keep the illegal appointee, and dare the judiciary to do something about it.
In other words: the judge says the prosecutor was unlawfully installed, the Constitution says this is not how any of this works, and the Trump DOJ says, "We have noted your concerns and will be ignoring them in their entirety." Rule of law is for suckers; loyalty is the only credential that matters.
Source: nbcnews.com
#killing-democracy#lawlessness#forever-grifting