Donald Trump’s White House has a threatening message for anyone who might even be perceived to disagree with the president: Don’t. Or else.
Even though he has promised to end what he viewed as “weaponization” of the Department of Justice, Trump is treating people who disagree with him more like the “enemy from within” he talked about during the presidential campaign.
The president took the unusual step this week of issuing official proclamations ordering the federal investigations of people who worked in his first administration.
He’s demanding free work from law firms who represented his perceived enemies, threatening to impeach judges, deporting campus protesters and so much more.
The underlying message, for anyone who hasn’t put all these things together, is that dissent will not be tolerated under Trump 2.0.
To official who said 2020 was a secure election: You’re under investigation
Chris Krebs oversaw the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, during Trump’s first term and affirmed the election Trump lost was free of fraud or tampering.
That’s exactly why Trump wants him investigated. As Trump puts it in the proclamation, Krebs “falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen.” There is still zero compelling evidence the 2020 election was rigged or stolen, but the effect on Krebs’ cybersecurity business could be real. And the message to anyone currently working to secure American elections is unmistakable: There will be consequences for crossing the president, even when the president is alleging election fraud that does not exist.
To the face of first-term ‘resistance’: You’re guilty of treason
The other individual Trump targeted with a proclamation is Miles Taylor, the former Homeland Security official who wrote, first anonymously, during Trump’s first term that there was a “resistance” among government officials working to mute the president’s impact.
Trump did not cite any specific law either man might have broken, but he did say in the Oval Office he thinks Taylor is guilty of treason.
“He’s using every public and private means to try to attack these people, humiliate these people, get them to come and kiss the ring,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jamie Raskin in a video posted to social media.
Trump is taking no chances with a resistance effort during his second term. His layoffs of federal workers, gutting of entire agencies and punitive firings should be message enough.
Key officials, notably, have resigned in key moments rather than follow directives they disagreed with.
To law firms that opposed Trump: Pony up
In the Oval Office, as he signed those proclamations targeting Krebs and Taylor, Trump bragged that law firms who represented his opponents are now lining up to do free work on his behalf after he threatened them with retribution in executive orders.
His aide Stephen Miller said firms have agreed to nearly $700 million in free work for Trump to avoid punitive proclamations. Some law firms, notably Jenner & Block, sued over Trump’s efforts to punish them. A judge said the orders were likely unconstitutional, but many other firms are bending the knee and agreeing to do free work on Trump’s behalf instead.
There are multiple other examples of Trump using the weight of the government to target people and places he opposes.
To cities that don’t want to comply with ICE moves: Federal offices will be closed
Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced the closure of multiple offices in cities “that do not comply” with ICE efforts and relocate them elsewhere. The targeted cities are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy did not mention immigration policy when he announced in a New York Post Op-Ed that HHS would close half of its 10 regional offices. But the targeted offices are a similar list: Boston, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle. Atlanta will keep its regional HHS office, along with Kansas City, Dallas, Denver and Philadelphia.
To universities struggling to balance free speech: Research grants are frozen
Cornell and Northwestern joined a growing list of elite research universities that have had hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in research grants frozen. The administration has demanded that schools end diversity programs and has criticized student protests against the war in Gaza.
To lawful immigrants and students who led campus protests: We’ll deport you
CNN has identified hundreds of students whose visas have been revoked, but the most notable example of a protester targeted for deportation is Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident who has been detained in Louisiana for more than a month. A Louisiana immigration judge ruled Friday that Khalil can be deported, although that likely won’t happen immediately since there is also an ongoing case in New Jersey. Khalil was arrested in New York, not Louisiana, and CNN has reported that immigrant rights advocates fear the administration is effectively shopping for judges by moving detainees like Khalil from the Northeast to the South.
To judges who might rule against the administration: We’ll move to impeach you
Republicans in the House do not appear to have the votes, but Trump and Musk have publicly called for judges who issue rulings they disagree with to be impeached. Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare rebuke of that language. The House did have the votes this week to pass a bill aimed at restricting district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions against Trump’s policies, but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
To the DOJ lawyer who admitted a man was deported in error: You’re suspended
The Supreme Court said this week that Trump’s administration must facilitate the return of a Maryland father who a Department of Justice lawyer admitted in court was mistakenly deported. The lawyer who made the admission has been suspended, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“He shouldn’t have argued it, if that’s what he was going to do,” she said on Fox News.
All of this will have an effect across the country as people who disagree with Trump struggle to figure out how to register their opposition.
CNN’s Michael Williams went to a protest supporting immigrants in Dallas and heard one organizer say that people who take part need to be prepared to be deported.
“As organizers who feel compelled to protest in this day, we have to accept we may be subject to removal,” Jaclyn McJunkin, an immigration-rights organizer and activist, told the group of about 50 people, according to Williams’ report. “It’s just something that you have to embrace, OK? Because if you don’t, then they win, right?”
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