Week 88 - The Return
Trump pushed boundaries, while the judicial branch him back
Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.
This week Trump pushed boundaries to new extremes, while the judicial branch pushed him back on others. In the aftermath of NYT reporting that Trump had switched Air Force One planes to return from the NATO summit in Turkey due to security concerns, federal agents showed up at the homes of some Times reporters with subpoenas, an extraordinary measure of targeting the press. At the same time, Trump and his regime suffered some dramatic losses and pushback from judges this week on his IRS settlement, his attempts to interfere with midterms, and his efforts to avoid payment to E. Jean Carroll, which this week he finally made.
In the days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Iran had hatched a new plot to kill Trump, he returned to strikes against them, bringing the U.S. back into an active war. Trump, who is used to relying on his impulses and improvisation, gyrated from saying the U.S. would control the Strait of Hormuz and charge a 20 percent protection fee, to flip-flopping back to alleged investments from Gulf states. It was unclear where Trump’s Iran War, which he is running unilaterally, was heading, or how it could possibly end.
As Trump pressed to ramp up deportations, this week three men were killed by ICE, two of whom were shot in their cars despite not being ICE agents’ intended targets. While the Department of Homeland Security sought to pull back traffic stop arrests in the aftermath, Trump overruled them the next day. Notably, the ICE agents did not have body cameras in any of the incidents, despite promises to equip officers two months ago.
This week Trump lost one of his closest allies with the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, while the state of Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has been out of public sight for weeks, is unknown. While speaking of the loss of Graham, Trump pivoted to his SAVE America Act, continued his push to interfere in the midterms, and baselessly cast doubt about election results. Overall, it was a week of pandemonium.
On Wednesday, at the NATO summit, Trump made an unusual number of gaffes, calling Iran the “Islamic Republic of Japan;” renaming the JCPOA as PCPOC; referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was sitting next to him, as “President Putin;” calling Elon “Leon,” and more.
Trump left the summit by unexpectedly switching plans to fly on his former Air Force One out to Turkey, before changing planes in Britain to the newer AF1 donated by Qatar for the second leg of the trip. Trump had flown to the NATO summit on the newer AF1.
Trump claimed on Truth Social that the last minute change was “for old time’s sake,” and would allow U.S. troops stationed in Britain to see his new AF1, a move that if true, would be unprecedented.
On Wednesday, NYT reported that security precautions had led Trump to use the older AF1, finding that the newer plane was not equipped with all the defensive countermeasures of the older AF1. The switch to the older AF1 came at the recommendation of the Secret Service.
On Thursday, WSJ reported Israel had shared intelligence with the U.S. indicating that Iran had come up with a fresh plot to kill Trump. At a funeral for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, mourners chanted for Trump’s death, and held a banner saying, “We Will Kill Trump.”
Trump had alluded to the threat at the NATO summit, telling reporters, “They want to take out the U.S. leader — me,” adding, “I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
Trump had also threatened to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, a war crime, telling reporters, “In one day, we could knock down every single bridge in Iran,” adding, “They have desalinization plants. We’ll take them out if we have to,” and “maybe we’ll take over Kharg island.”
On Friday, the Trump regime issued subpoenas to the NYT reporters who had covered the story of security concernson the new AF1, including in some cases federal agents showing up at the reporters’ homes, an extraordinary escalation.
The Times also said an FBI official had contacted a reporter and a senior editor there to ask that their Wednesday story be held, calling it an issue of national security, but being unwilling to explain why. The official also asked them to disclose their sources, which the Times declined.
The Times lawyer said in a statement, “The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” calling it a “brazen act.”
CNN reported that Trump had been fuming about the security concerns surrounding the Qatari AF1, and was embarrassed and angry when it became public through reporting that the plane could not be flown home from the NATO summit.
NYT reported Trump summoned FBI Director Kash Patel to the White House on Friday, where he spent eight hours, to oversee the investigation of the Times from the White House rather than from FBI headquarters, a major departure from traditional practice.
On Monday, a federal judge voided Trump’s settlement with the IRS of his $10 billion lawsuit in a scathing ruling, finding that both sides, Trump’s personal lawyers and lawyers for the DOJ and IRS, had misused the legal system to “provide some legitimacy,” and calling it self-dealing.
