Week 69 - The Return
You can see why Trump wanted to change the subject and focus.
Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.
I want to note the stories that were occupying the public’s attention before Trump launched a war of choice on Iran. There was a heavy focus on the Epstein files, after both Clintons testified, more coverage of missing files related to Trump, and more regime members becoming ensnared; reports on efforts to declare a “national emergency,” granting Trump power of midterms; stories of abject cruelty by federal immigration agents, judges’ outrage over their orders being ignored, and an abduction of a Columbia University student on false pretenses; the Supreme Court ruling on tariffs being implemented, despite Trump questioning whether he could appeal their ruling; utter ineptitude, cover ups, and corruption at federal agencies; the regime’s desire to bully Anthropic and use its artificial intelligence tools for mass surveillance on U.S. citizens; the regime also inserting itself into an acquisition battle in which Trump’s perceived foe CNN was part of the sale.
And more. You can see why Trump might well have welcomed an opportunity to change the subject and focus.
Trump ordered his seventh military bombing campaign — to say nothing of the countless alleged drug vessels he has unilaterally destroyed — mere days after convening his so-called Board of Peace, and after basing all three of his presidential campaigns on being a non-interventionist and criticizing endless wars. As we close out the week, there is still no clarity on what prompted the attack, but what is clear is that there was no imminent threat, and hence Congress should have been consulted. We also have yet to learn the objectives of what now has become a war that is spreading. The Trump regime has given different accounts daily on both basic questions.
I encourage you to read through the list in its entirety. While the ongoing war will occupy attention in the coming days, and possibly weeks, there are important broken norms that deserve and need the public’s attention.
Navigator Research found 20% of Americans who voted for Trump in 2024 regret their choice, including 23% of non-MAGA Republicans and 13% of MAGA Republicans. Seven in 10 said Trump’s tariffs were driving up costs, and 62% agreed with the Supreme Court ruling.
WAPO reported that pro-Trump activists are working with the White House on a draft 17 page executive order, that would cite alleged Chinese interference in the 2020 election as grounds for “a national emergency” granting Trump executive power over elections.
Asked about the order by a reporter, Trump said, “Who told you that?” and claimed “no” and “I’ve never heard about it.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations.”
On Wednesday, on a call between the Trump regime and 100 state election officials, Heather Honey, a DHS spokesperson who is a conservative election activist, pushed officials to use a database run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to check citizenship status.
Several high-ranking federal election officials, who were election deniers that worked to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, attended the meeting, including Honey, Michael Flynn, Kurt Olson, and Cleta Mitchell.
On Wednesday, WSJ reported the Trump regime informed Congress that it would block them from seeing the classified intelligence in the whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, citing executive privilege, a rarely used rationale.
WSJ reported that Americans are leaving the U.S. in record numbers, with more departing than entering the U.S. for the first time since the Great Depression. In what some had dubbed the “Donald Dash,” 180,000 moved to 15 countries, and more than 100,000 were studying abroad.
People moving into the U.S. was between around 2.6 and 2.7 million in 2025, down from nearly 6 million in 2023. In addition to U.S. citizens choosing to leave, Department of Homeland Security data showed 675,000 deportations and 2.2 million “self-deportations” for 2025.
On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said Aliya Rahman, a U.S. citizen who was dragged from her vehicle after an ICE agent shattered her window in Minneapolis, and her guest at Trump’s State of the Union, was dragged out by Capitol Police after she stood up in the gallery during his address.
Rahman told Democracy Now she needed medical care at a hospital after, adding she told the officers she had a torn rotator cuff tendon and multiple cartilage tears. She added, “I was standing up. Silently. No buttons, no facial expressions, no gestures, no signs. Not one sound.”
The president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said the name of its marquee event would be changed this year to the “Trump Kennedy Center Honors.” The event will be moved from the center due to Trump closing it for two years.
