We are publishing this article, from the anti-fascist media in the USA to show the level of concern on the left about Donald Trump’s assault of previous democratic ‘norms’ in the USA and, in particular, his deployment of the military in US cities.
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Trump has issued more recent Executive Orders (EOs) related to military invasions of our cities. On August 25 he signed an EO to create “specialized” units for “quelling civil disturbances.” They would be created within National Guard units by the Secretary of Defense, who would also create a “quick reaction force…for rapid nationwide deployment.” So going forward, the Pentagon will be focusing more on the US population.
Also created in the August 25 EO is a directive that each law enforcement agency tied to a District of Columbia task force, as well as the Department of Justice agencies, shall create an online portal for recruiting candidates for specialized units to be created for “ensuring public safety and order.” Although these units would be based in DC “they could be deployed…in other cities.” In other words, they too will be nationally focused. As of now, none of these units have a name.
When the White House says that they are fighting crime, that has a certain appeal to the public. In the case of DC the claims of high rates of crime were not true. The majority of the 30 largest US cities are in “red” [Republican] states and many have higher crime rates than “blue” [Democrat] cities. But the National Guards in 19 “red” states will not be used to “fight crime” but will be used to work with ICE to help meet Trump’s goal of one million deportations per year, according to Newsweek.
Only Democratic cities will get troops
Only cities that vote Democratic with Democratic state leaders will get troops in the streets, up in people’s faces, with automatic weapons. Trump has openly announced that he intends to send military forces into Chicago, New York City and Baltimore to “fight crime.” At different times he has said that he will go into “big blue cities” and “big Dem cities.” In other words, he is openly giving political reasons for ordering military invasions of our cities.
Trumpworld has began implementing its plans to invade “big blue cities” with his takeover of Washington, DC’s government and placing troops with armored vehicles on their streets, while arming them with military weapons. His targets are cities with major Black populations.
He is conjuring up images to his MAGA base of rampant, out-of-control crime, a common racist appeal, despite well- known data showing dramatic drops in crime in DC And he is targeting homeless encampment occupants with jail if they do not decamp as he ordered. Trump said on X that they must move out “IMMEDIATELY.”
The City is suing. The Mayor, Muriel Bowser, said that Trump’s takeover is an “authoritarian push” and “an intrusion in our autonomy.” Clinique Chapman, director of the DC Justice Lab, told the New York Times that “young black boys will bear the brunt of this.”
When Trump says he is “fighting crime,” what crimes has he said he wants to target? In a July 24th EO, #14321, he advocates incarcerating homeless and mentally ill people. This is proposed without due process. While this could populate and increase funding for private “detention” centers being built with $45 billion in ICE funds, Trump says that this “will restore public order.”
So how does Trump gain politically by placing armed troops in Dem cities?
Those cities are more likely to have anti-Trump rallies. Trump has said that protests of him or his policies are “insurrectionary” and thus illegal, so he could do mass arrests of protesters or issue threats to do so in order to discourage such rallies. No more first amendment rights if you are a critic.
Sweating on the outcomes of the 2026 elections
In a recent report, radio program host, Thom Hartmann, has raised another motive. Given how Trumpworld is sweating the outcomes of the 2026 elections, he says that Trump could use troops to enforce his unlawful edicts against mailed ballots and even seize voting machines, per an Executive Order, using claims of fraudulent activity. Diminishing the urban vote could help his supporters win state-wide elections. There are organizations in MAGAworld that focus just on changing elections to achieve their preferred outcomes.
On August 12, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon had already developed a plan for a unit called Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force that would have 600 troops on standby around the clock to deploy with one hour’s notice to stop protests or other disturbances.
By invading cities with majority or high percentages of Black, Brown, Middle Eastern and/or Asian residents, Trump also raises his standing with white supremacy in MAGA world. As other scandals diminish his standing, this can encourage his base. Trump did this in 2020, “flooding the streets of Washington with federal agents…to crack down on racial justice demonstrations“, per the Times. They added that “some agents violently cleared protesters from Lafayette Park…” Military helicopters and ground formations were used against protesters.
Trump had planned for 800 troops and 500 agents. Then six states added over a thousand more national guardsmen to DC Trump plans to get extensions for keeping the occupation force in DC for an indefinite future. This federal invasion is actually the first step in Trump’s Executive Order 14288.
Beyond DC
Before our eyes the structural changes of ending a representative constitutional government and ending programs intended to counter historic racism and sexism are happening. There have always been limitations on the impact of such programs. But now we are seeing implementation of agendas of white male supremacy of decades ago.
Today we are living under one-man-rule at the federal level with a Jim Crow agenda for the 50 states and localities. Checks and balances have disappeared. Let’s bullet-point some steps in Trump’s hate agenda:
– Restoration of Confederate statues and names of Confederate generals at major US Army bases
– Ending federal investigations of white supremacist and neo-nazi groups, including
those with a history of violence;
– Creation of a massive ICE police force directly under Trump’s control that seizes people of colour and imprisons them without warrants or court proceedings. He has deported thousands of people to prisons in other countries on his own orders. Trump is a one-man police/judge/executioner for destroying countless lives based on skin color.
– Plans to spend $45 billion more to create what they call detention centres but will be concentration camps for ICE’s huge, openly racist arrest and imprisonment plans.
– Openly denouncing diversity, equity and inclusion plans that modestly seek to address racism and sexism. And firing federal employees based on their race or gender.
Building the Police-State structure
This subject is illuminated by two key documents. First is Executive Order (EO) #14288, signed by Trump on April 28. It orders creation of plans to “unleash the police” and to create US military forces on the streets. The second document is an article in The New Republic (TNR) based on a leaked high-level secret memo that discusses the strategy for militarizing our streets.
The EO calls for “unleashing” police and calls for pressing changes that allow police to perform official actions without any limitations on their conduct. It provides for Department of Justice funding for any cases where police are sued for abuses of any sort, including deadly force. And for training in more aggressive police norms.
Trumpworld wants to replace local police-community relations with their control. They even offer police pay raises to try to buy police loyalty. The EO also says that they will seek abolition of all the hundreds of consent agreements that limited abusive conduct on police departments that were intended to limit systemic problems.
The TNR report tells of a recent very high-level secret document created by Trump appointees in the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon to press the top military officers (who are resisting) to support putting troops in the streets on a long-term basis. They plan (as some suspected) on indoctrinating the public with the message that we are all in mortal danger from the drug cartels.
The plan is to scare the public into believing immigrants are really agents of the drug cartels. They then hope we will support extreme measure taken by Trump. Right after the Pentagon meetings where this was discussed, Trump said that he was going to deploy US military forces in other (unnamed) countries to go after the cartels. This would presumably garner public support for Trump’s larger plan.
Using troops to “fight crime” violates US constitution
In the EO Trump says that he wants troops in the streets to “fight crime, ” which violates the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which specifically bans using troops to fight crime. But Trump says those who protest his policies and politics are “insurrectionists” trying to overthrow the government.
Hence he concludes he can suppress those rallies, ending First Amendment free speech that he does not like. But local officials won’t do the suppression. That is a major reason for him trying to use all armed forces, from local police, federal agents to the Army and Marines, to control the streets.
He knows big rallies are planned against his major cuts to life-sustaining services, hateful conduct, tearing up Union contracts for a million federal workers. Trump’s huge buildup of an agency (ICE+) that disregards all laws and Constitutional rights is his instrument for fighting to control all realms of power. How bad can this get?
Crushing UNHUMANS
This subject has been reported to, but ignored by, elected officials, the commercial press and activists. In July 2024 Trumpworld published a book titled UNHUMANS that says that anyone who advocates for fairness and equality is an UNHUMAN that must be “crushed.” They then have four chapters praising dictators that brutally crushed “unhumans” by mass murder.
One of the authors is a friend of Trump and a known neo-nazi. Only the New York Times ever commented on this book. But the book is endorsed by JD Vance, Steve Bannon (who co-published it), Michael Flynn and Donald Trump Jr. Summarized briefly, Trump inner core leaders have endorsed a book calling for mass murder of opposition to Trump. How bad can this get?
As ICE goes after Latinos, African immigrants and Caribbean peoples, Trump is moving troops into Black cities long term. He said publically in 2023 that as president he can use the military to kill his opposition. He stated that he could even order the Delta Force to kill opponents.
In 2020 Trump ordered the Secretary of Defense to put the Army in the streets to shoot George Floyd protesters. The Secretary refused to carry out the order. This year Trump selected Peter Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. Hegseth is part of a neo-confederate cult whose leader has praised historic slavery and sees himself as still fighting the cause of the Confederacy’s civil war.
Hegseth on several podcasts said last year that he was organizing an “underground army” for “insurrection.” He angrily raises his voice when he talks about DEI and fired people that he claimed were hired or promoted due to DEI. If Trump tells him to have the military shoot citizens, especially at non-white populations, he will almost certainly comply.
Trump’s biggest asset to date is the indifference of activists, elected officials and the media to the public record of speeches, EOs, podcasts and books that tell us their real thoughts and intentions.
Trump organized a huge paramilitary force to attack a sitting session of Congress and was OK with threats to kill his Vice President, Pence, in order to hold on to power on January 6, 2021. How much do you think that he cares about any of us?
This was published in the USA by the Anti-Fascist Organizing Coalition and is sent to Left Horizons by Frank Hammer in Detroit.
Feature picture is of Donald Trump and JD Vance at the 2024 NYC 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony. From Wikimedia Commons, here.
