The latest Trump Executive Order Creates a Police State
Weak men create hard times.
The latest EO issued by the White House is, frankly, sickening. Quoting from the text:
Sec. 4. Using National Security Assets for Law and Order. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of agencies as appropriate, shall increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement.
(b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime.
Sec. 5. Holding State and Local Officials Accountable. The Attorney General shall pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to enforce the rights of Americans impacted by crime and shall prioritize prosecution of any applicable violations of Federal criminal law with respect to State and local jurisdictions whose officials:
(a) willfully and unlawfully direct the obstruction of criminal law, including by directly and unlawfully prohibiting law enforcement officers from carrying out duties necessary for public safety and law enforcement; or
(b) unlawfully engage in discrimination or civil-rights violations under the guise of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives that restrict law enforcement activity or endanger citizens.
Sec. 6. Use of Homeland Security Task Forces. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall utilize the Homeland Security Task Forces (HSTFs) formed in accordance with Executive Order 14159 of January 20, 2025 (Protecting the American People Against Invasion) to coordinate and advance the objectives of this order.
(emphasis mine)
Besides the obvious unconstitutionality and the clear violation of states rights, this is perhaps the most blatant slide into authoritarianism America has ever seen.
The definition of a police state, from Wikipedia:
A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive, and the deployment of internal security and police forces play a heightened role in governance.
The definition of martial law, from Wikipedia:
Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers
Trump has already gone after those who disagree with him, including media, universities, law firms, and most recently, pollsters. Through Rubio, he has deported people for their beliefs. Through Bondi, he has weaponized the DOJ and threatened or executed prosecution of people he sees as political enemies. Through Patel, he has started to arrest members of the judiciary. And through the many sycophants in the Senate and House — most obviously, Mike Johnson — he has attempted to institute state oversight of federal elections while simultaneously passing laws designed to curtail the voting ability of his least popular demographics (women and ex-pats).
Trump has gone on air stating that he intends to deport citizens. Trump’s press secretary Leavitt has gone on air stating that Trump would happily arrest SCOTUS judges.
And, finally, a plain reading of his latest EO is that Trump aims to use federal forces to arrest state and local officials and to enforce laws in non-federal-land. It will take a few weeks for this to ramp up, but we should expect to see more cases like that of Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan, who was arrested in such a blatant violation of norms that it blinks at reality. I expect sanctuary city mayors will be put on watch.
The politics aside, I am shocked at how blatant this is, and how many people are still willing to defend the actions of this government. I spend more time than I would like trying to convince MAGAs to stop supporting Trump. Cult deprogramming is not even the half of it. The average MAGA seems filled with bloodlust motivated by grievance. They gleefully support this sort of EO because it is all justified by a laundry list of exaggerated and imaginary prior acts. And there is no principle beyond “pwn the libs”. Any argument is easily twisted, any principle picked up or discarded, as long as it can be used to give cover to whatever the latest atrocity is.
And these are atrocities. We are in the process of destroying something beautiful. America, Pax-Americana, and the ideals of Western Liberal Democracies are all great things. They have led to an unprecedented era of peace and flourishing. So it is a bitter irony that the very same people who have the most to be grateful for — those same billionaires who owe everything in their existence to this country — are going to ruin it all through some combination of spite and pettiness and greed and envy.
If I am being generous, MAGA believes in the strength of our institutions so much that they think it will withstand the wrecking ball they are throwing at it. But they only think this because they did not have to build those institutions themselves; they don’t know its weaknesses because they did not struggle to pull those pillars up from the bloody battlefields.
And so the cycle turns. Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And — as I am increasingly, painfully aware — weak men create hard times.