This Week in Democracy – Week 21: Are We in a Police State? Or Under Military Rule?
Zeteo's project to document the ongoing, week-by-week growth of authoritarianism in the Trump second term.
It took 21 weeks – less than five months – for Donald Trump to turn the military on his own people. The US isn’t sliding toward authoritarianism, as recent headlines suggest, authoritarianism and fascism have been here since Trump began his second term – and that’s exactly why we started this project – ‘This Week in Democracy’ – in the first place.
From sending military troops to Los Angeles in defiance of local leaders to forcibly removing a Democratic senator from a press conference to arresting American citizens (including a pregnant woman) during immigration raids, here’s what Trump and his allies did in the US and abroad during this chaotic week that harm democratic values, undermine the Constitution, and hurt free societies worldwide:
Saturday, June 7
After Trump warned on Truth Social that his administration would intervene to address mass protests in response to ICE raids in Los Angeles, the president signed a memo deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to the city for up to 60 days, despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. (In 2020, Trump said he couldn’t deploy the National Guard without the approval of a governor, adding that “there’s no reason to ever” invoke the Insurrection Act.”)
On Fox, border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration has asked the Justice Department to “look at” statements made by Democratic politicians, including calls for ICE agents to be unmasked, “to see if there is something we can do,” claiming they are “threatening ICE officers.”
On Twitter, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller shared footage of the LA protests, calling it “an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi tweeted, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a judge, a member of Congress, or a protester in Los Angeles: If you obstruct or assault a law enforcement officer, this Department of Justice will prosecute you.”
On Twitter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referred to the protests as “violent mob assaults on ICE and Federal Law Enforcement” and warned that the Defense Department would mobilize active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton “if violence continues.”
Sunday, June 8
On Truth Social, Trump claimed that Los Angeles “has been invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals” and referred to the protests as “lawless riots” and protesters as “violent, insurrectionist mobs.” He also directed Hegseth, Bondi, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “take all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots.” In another post, Trump baselessly claimed the protesters were “Paid Insurrectionists!”
Every Democratic governor signed a joint statement calling Trump’s move to deploy National Guard troops “an alarming abuse of power.”
Newsom formally requested that the Trump administration rescind its deployment of National Guard troops to LA, saying the decision “risks seriously escalating the situation.” He also said the deployment was done in an “unlawful manner” that represents a “serious breach of state sovereignty.”
ABC News suspended senior national correspondent Terry Moran, who recently interviewed Trump in the Oval Office, over his since-deleted tweet that said the president and Stephen Miller were “world-class hater[s].” On Fox, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration “reached out to ABC” and added that “hopefully, this journalist will either be suspended or terminated.”
The BBC reported that a British photojournalist had emergency surgery after he was shot in the thigh by a so-called less-lethal bullet while covering the LA protests. Another reporter, with Australia’s 9News, was also shot in the leg by a less-lethal bullet at close range while she was live on air.
A 28-year-old US citizen who is nine months pregnant was arrested by ICE agents who claimed she obstructed their arrest of two undocumented immigrants. The woman, who told the agents she was a citizen, said she was “shoved” during her arrest, and began experiencing sharp pains in her stomach after she was released from custody. With one week left before her due date, she was hospitalized for a day to be monitored by doctors.
Monday, June 9
Thousands of staffers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) signed an open letter, telling agency director Jay Bhattacharya they “dissent to Administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.” The letter adds that the employees are “compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety and faithful stewardship of public resources.”
About 700 Marines were activated to respond to the LA protests, a move that is only legal if the president invokes the Insurrection Act, which Trump has not done.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he would arrest Newsom if he were border czar Tom Homan, saying that “it would be a great thing.” Later on CNN, Homan admitted that Newsom had not “at this time” done anything to warrant his arrest.
Senior Democrats wrote a letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accusing her of “illegal interference” after she fired the acting counsel to the inspector general of the intelligence community and appointed a “senior adviser” who reports to her, in the inspector general’s office.
CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll was briefly detained by police during a live hit covering the LA protests. While Carroll was released, two of his camera crew members were arrested.
A coalition of over two dozen press and civil liberties organizations published an open letter to Noem to “express alarm that federal officers may have violated the First Amendment rights of journalists” covering the LA protests, adding that reports suggest federal officers “appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news.”
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he would purge the 17 independent vaccine experts from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replace them with members of his choosing, saying the panel has become a “rubber stamp” for vaccines and is “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest.”
The Guardian reported that former staffer of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Justin Fulcher, duped the Pentagon during an investigation into leaks of classified materials by baselessly claiming wiretaps conducted by the National Security Agency identified the leakers, which he ultimately had no evidence of.
On Truth Social, Trump warned protesters who spit on law enforcement officials, writing, “IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before.”
California sued the Trump administration to rescind the president’s deployment of the National Guard to LA, arguing the move “violates the State’s sovereign right to control and have available its National Guard in the absence of a lawful invocation of federal power.”
California also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to prevent the withholding of federal education funds in retaliation over the state’s policies on trans athletes.
The New York Times reported that Trump’s political team is pushing Republican leaders to conduct a rare mid-decade redistricting in Texas in a “ruthless” effort to turn Democratic districts red and help Republicans hold onto a slim majority in the House in the 2026 midterm elections – a move that would likely face legal challenges.
The Wall Street Journal reported that during a meeting at ICE headquarters in May, Stephen Miller encouraged top officials to direct agents to target Home Depot and 7-Eleven locations to arrest undocumented immigrants, rather than the longstanding practice of compiling target lists. The Journal noted there are no written directives for agents, who are being told to “do what you need to do” to ramp up arrests.
A fourth court ruled that Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to send immigrants to El Salvador was illegal and blocked deportations under the act in the Western District of Texas. The ruling also requires that the Trump administration give migrants the government is trying to deport under the act, 30 days to challenge the "alien enemies" designation.
Tuesday, June 10
Politico reported that the Trump administration is considering cutting federal education funds to California, with White House spokesperson Kush Desai saying, “No taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country,” but added “no final decisions” or “any potential future action” has been made.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump warned that protesters at his military parade on Saturday 14 “will be met with very heavy force.”
He also told reporters that the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to LA is “the first, perhaps, of many,” suggesting he could order similar deployments in other parts of the country.
California’s Newsom filed a restraining order request, urging a federal judge to block Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from directing National Guard troops and Marines to assist with ICE raids in LA. Newsom said in a statement, “The federal government is now turning the military against American citizens. Sending trained warfighters onto the streets is unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy.”
Acting Pentagon comptroller Bryn MacDonnell testified at a House budget hearing that Trump’s decision to deploy troops to LA for 60 days will cost an estimated $134 million.
The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is preparing to send thousands of undocumented immigrants to the US military base in Guantanamo Bay with no intention of informing the governments of their home countries ahead of time, which include close US allies like Britain, Germany, and France.
The Associated Press asked for a full appeals court hearing in an effort to overturn a three-judge panel’s ruling allowing the Trump administration to continue blocking the outlet’s access to some presidential events in retaliation for its decision not to change the Gulf of Mexico’s name in its reporting.
ABC News reported that there are now more US troops deployed to LA than in Iraq and Syria combined, with 4,800 personnel in LA compared to 2,500 in Iraq and 1,500 in Syria.
During a campaign-style speech in front of the troops at Fort Bragg, Trump announced that he would restore the names of all Army bases that were named for Confederate generals, defying Congress’ decision to remove Confederate names and symbols from the military.
Also during his speech, Trump called for individuals who burn a US flag to be sentenced to one year in prison, despite the Supreme Court’s longstanding ruling that the action is protected under First Amendment rights.
The New York Post reported that FBI director Kash Patel sued MSNBC columnist Frank Figliuzzi last week, accusing him of “fabricating a specific lie” that Patel had spent more time in “nightclubs” than in his office, a claim the lawsuit calls a “malicious lie and defamatory statement.” The lawsuit also states that Patel hasn’t spent “a single minute inside of a nightclub” since becoming FBI director. One day after Figliuzzi’s accusation, Morning Joe co-host Jonathan Lemire called it a “misstatement” and said the network has not “verified that claim."
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said his administration wants “to wean off of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency after this year’s hurricane season “so the governors can handle it.” FEMA, which Trump has said he wants to completely eliminate, provides federal assistance during and after natural disasters. He added that “if they can’t handle it, they shouldn’t be governor.” (States already take the lead on much of the disaster relief.)
NBC News reported that the HHS proposed 2026 budget seeks to eliminate LGBTQ-specific counseling for youth and young adults calling the 988 suicide prevention hotline, which, according to advocates, has received more than 1.3 million calls since the specialized service launched in 2022. A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said funds for the service can’t be used for a “chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by ‘counselors’ without consent or knowledge of their parents.”
Tulsi Gabbard was accused of parroting Russian talking points after she shared a bizarre video on her personal Twitter account in which she warned of a “nuclear holocaust” and said the world is “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before.” She claimed that “political elite[s] and warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,” and suggested it’s because they have access to secret nuclear bunkers.
A federal grand jury indicted Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver on three criminal counts of “assaulting, resisting, impeding or interfering” with federal officers while they attempted to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside of an ICE detention facility in New Jersey last month. In a statement, McIver called the indictment a “brazen attempt at political intimidation” and said she would plead not guilty to the charges.
ABC News fired Terry Moran two days after he was suspended over a tweet calling Trump and Stephen Miller “world class hater[s],” with the network saying Moran’s contract was ending and they chose not to renew based on his post, “which was a clear violation of ABC News policies.”
USA Today reported that the Pentagon is reviewing a request from the Department of Homeland Security to deploy over 20,000 more National Guard troops to assist with Trump’s mass deportation efforts. One US official told the publication that keeping 20,000 National Guard troops on duty for one year would cost approximately $3.6 billion.
Speaking to reporters, House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested Gov. Newsom should be “tarred and feathered.”
CBS News reported that press access at the Pentagon has become severely restricted, with reporters only allowed escorted visits and fewer briefings. CBS national security correspondent David Martin accused the Trump administration of trying to make it “as difficult to cover [the Pentagon] as possible.” The next step, he said, “is to ban reporters entirely from the Pentagon.”
Wednesday, June 11
The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off on a recommendation to the Treasury Department last month to investigate whether Harvard University violated federal sanctions over the school’s role in a health insurance conference in China “that may have included officials blacklisted by the US government.” The newspaper wrote that experts and former Treasury officials called the move an “unusual attempt from a cabinet secretary to target a domestic entity for sanctions enforcement.”
The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which oversees a prestigious international exchange program, announced all but one of its dozen members resigned. The members accused the Trump administration of political interference and said that continuing their work “would risk legitimizing actions we believe are unlawful and damage the integrity of this storied program and America’s credibility abroad,” adding that the program’s erosion “weakens America and our national security interests.”
Kosovo reached an agreement with the Trump administration to allow the US to deport 50 immigrants to the European country who are not from there.
Trump’s attorney asked an appeals court to transfer the president’s appeal of his felony hush money conviction in New York from state court to federal court.
AP, citing Reporters Without Borders, reported that there have been at least 35 attacks on journalists, including 30 by law enforcement officials, since the start of the LA protests.
Reuters reported that the Trump administration sent a cable to foreign governments urging them not to attend a UN conference next week that is focused on a possible two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians, calling the event “counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages.” The cable also warned that countries engaging in “anti-Israel actions” could face diplomatic consequences by the US, which “opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognize a conjectural Palestinian state.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named eight replacements to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, including vaccine skeptics and individuals who have spread conspiracy theories.
NBC News reported that a DOJ memo directed immigration judges to allow DHS lawyers to make motions to dismiss cases against undocumented immigrants orally and then quickly grant the dismissals, rather than allowing immigrants 10 days to respond to the motion. The memo comes as immigration officials have been arresting immigrants immediately after their cases are dismissed.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration can’t deport or detain Mahmoud Khalil under Rubio’s determination that his "presence or activities would compromise a compelling US foreign policy interest.” The judge gave the administration until Friday to appeal the ruling, in which he wrote, “the Court finds as a matter of fact that [Khalil’s] career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled — and this adds up to irreparable harm.”
On Fox, Gabbard said the Justice Department and FBI are investigating “who is funding these protesters,” baselessly suggesting that anti-ICE demonstrators in LA are being paid.
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge to issue sanctions against Trump administration officials that include fines and an investigation, accusing them of violating court orders to facilitate his return to the US.
Thursday, June 12
Politico reported that the Trump administration is pausing its plan to ramp up transfers of undocumented immigrants to Guantanamo Bay because the LA protests “got in the way.”
A Russian scientist and Harvard University researcher who was charged with smuggling frog embryos into the US was released on bail after being detained since February.
CNN reported that the DHS terminated the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, with a notice warning that they must leave the country or face “enforcement actions, including but not limited to detention and removal.”
The Senate confirmed Billy Long to serve as the head of the Internal Revenue Service. Long, a former Congressman from Missouri, once sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS.
During testimony in front of the House Armed Services Committee, Hegseth didn’t deny that the Pentagon has a plan to take over Greenland and Panama by force, saying, “Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any contingency."
Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and handcuffed. Speaking to reporters following his removal, Padilla said, “If this is how the administration responds to a senator with a question … you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers…” The Homeland Security Twitter account posted a statement, accusing Padilla of “disrespectful political theatre” and said he didn’t identify himself, a claim that has been debunked by footage of the incident.
During that news conference, Noem said DHS would “liberate” Los Angeles from “the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country.”
House Republicans narrowly passed a $9.4 billion “rescissions” bill to codify cuts
recommended by DOGE, including the defunding of public broadcasters NPR and PBS. The bill now moves to the Senate.
An appeals court temporarily blocked a lower court judge’s ruling from earlier in the day ordering Trump to return control of the National Guard back to California.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused her Republican colleague Rep. Gary Palmer of witness intimidation after he suggested during a hearing that sanctuary state Governors Kathy Hochul, JB Pritzker, and Tim Walz should face obstruction charges. Palmer subsequently struck his comment from the record. Additionally, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ludicrously argued the Justice Department should prosecute Hochul for the murder of Laken Riley.
On Fox, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spread baseless and debunked claims about immunization, falsely claiming that the only vaccine to be safety tested is the COVID-19 vaccine, and that “nobody has any idea what the risk profiles are” of vaccines for children, suggesting they have contributed to a rise in chronic diseases.
The Trump administration sued New York over a state law prohibiting immigration agents from arresting undocumented migrants at courthouses.
Friday, June 13
A federal judge blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to overhaul elections, including requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, writing that “The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” and noted that federal voter registration forms already require an attestation of citizenship.
A federal appeals court rejected a request from Trump to rehear his appeal of a $5 million civil judgment after a jury found him liable in 2023 for battery and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery whom Trump announced he was firing last month, said she would resign from her position, a move she believes “is the best way to serve the institution I hold so deeply in my heart.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to charges of human smuggling, one week after he was brought back to the US from El Salvador.
Reuters reported that the number of people arrested by ICE without a criminal record has increased by 800% under the Trump administration.
On Truth Social, Trump addressed Israel’s massive attack on Iran, saying Iran “must make a deal, before there is nothing left.” This messaging regarding the US role was different from what the State Department had issued before.
A federal judge blocked Trump from firing three Biden-appointed members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
AP reported that the Trump administration gave the Department of Homeland Security personal data, including the immigration status, of millions of Medicaid enrollees, with RFK signing off on the transfer of the dataset — making it easier for ICE agents to track immigrants as part of their mass deportation efforts.
A federal judge denied the release of Mahmoud Khalil, siding with the Trump administration, which, at the eleventh hour, argued that a previous court order allowed it to continue to detain the Palestinian green card holder for reasons other than the foreign policy determination made by Rubio.
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I lived through all of this, and I can't even remember it all. Thank you for putting it all together on paper so I can refer to it later - AFTER the Marmalade Mussolini steps down or I croak. DA
Do we need more proof that we are under a Fascist government?