This Week in Democracy – Week 22: Dem Politician Assassinated, Millions Say 'No Kings,' and a MAGA Rift Emerges
Zeteo's project to document the ongoing, week-by-week growth of authoritarianism in the Trump second term.
A week that kicked off with a military parade (just in time for Donald Trump’s 79th birthday) costing tens of millions of dollars ended without an official White House Juneteenth celebration marking the end of slavery in the US. Trump, who once claimed he made Juneteenth “very famous,” instead complained about “too many non-working holidays.” The president didn’t seem to care too much about the horrific political violence the country witnessed this week, either. The Trump administration’s true values were on full display, to say the least.
At the same time, we witnessed major resistance to Trump and his devastating policies, with 5 million people marching at ‘No Kings’ rallies nationwide, swamping the sad turnout for Trump’s parade. It was also a week that exposed major divisions within the MAGA movement as Trump weighed joining Israel in directly striking Iran.
It certainly was a rollercoaster of a week. From chastising America’s allies to unhinged late-night tirades, here is what Trump and his administration did this week that undermine the Constitution, harm American values, and hurt people around the world:
Saturday, June 14
Authorities said a man dressed as a police officer shot and killed Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, who had served as the speaker of the state House from 2019 until earlier this year, and her husband at their home in what Governor Tim Walz called “a politically motivated assassination.” The alleged gunman also shot and wounded State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in their home.
Trump held his military parade in DC, which reportedly cost an estimated $40 million. The event was sponsored by crypto exchange Coinbase, defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin, and Palantir, the data software company that Trump recently tapped to compile data on US citizens. While Trump’s team claimed that over 250,000 people attended the parade, AP reported that the event “appeared to fall far short of early predictions” of 200,000 attendees.
Meanwhile, more than 5 million people across the country took part in over 2,100 “No Kings” protests in opposition to Trump’s abuses of power, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The protests were potentially the largest in US history.
The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is considering adding 36 countries to its travel ban, including 25 countries in Africa, along with others in the Caribbean, Central Asia, and Pacific Island nations.
Sunday, June 15
On Truth Social, Trump announced that ICE would expand its efforts to “detain and deport” undocumented immigrants in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, which he claims are at “the core of the Democrat Power Center.”
Monday, June 16
The Guardian reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs issued new guidelines that remove language prohibiting medical staff from engaging in discrimination based on the political beliefs or marital status of patients. Additionally, protections for medical staff based on their political party affiliation or union activity were also removed.
Axios reported that ICE could run out of federal funds as early as next month. One estimate found that the agency is $1 billion over budget with more than three months left in the fiscal year. Lawmakers have also warned that the Department of Homeland Security is at risk of violating federal law if spending continues at its current rate.
The commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Christopher Hanson, said Trump fired him last week “without cause” and “contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.”
The Government Accountability Office concluded that the Trump administration broke the law when it froze federal funding for libraries, archives, and museums that had already been approved by Congress.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s termination of hundreds of National Institutes of Health grants was “void and illegal,” and ordered some of them to be reinstated. During the hearing, the judge called the decision to ban the NIH from funding grants related to DEI “racial discrimination” and “discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community.” He noted that “I have never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable.”
The Trump Organization announced its latest business venture, “Trump Mobile,” a cellular service and $499 smartphone. Information about the family’s partner in the venture and the financial terms of their licensing deal was not disclosed publicly. The move comes amid Trump’s threats to put tariffs on Apple, which could raise the cost of his family’s now-competitor’s products.
Speaking to reporters alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 Summit, Trump called the decision by Barack Obama and other world leaders to remove Russia from the G8 in 2014 for its annexation of Crimea a “mistake,” and added, “I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in.” Trump also blamed former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Russia’s removal, despite Trudeau not coming into power until 2015.
Trump also baselessly claimed that “most of” the protesters in Los Angeles were not from the city or the state of California.
On Truth Social, Trump said that Iran “should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign” and urged the 10 million residents of Tehran, the country’s capital, to “immediately evacuate.”
The American Bar Association sued the Trump administration in response to the president’s executive orders targeting prominent law firms, which it argues is a “deliberate policy designed to intimidate and coerce law firms and lawyers to refrain from challenging the President or his Administration in court, or from even speaking publicly in support of policies or causes that the President does not like.”
The head of the CDC’s surveillance of hospitalizations for COVID-19 and RSV resigned from her post, writing in an email to colleagues, “Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions.”
Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara, who has lived in the US for over 20 years, was transferred to ICE custody after being arrested Saturday while covering the “No Kings” protest. Guevara, who had a valid work permit, was charged with improperly entering a roadway, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, and unlawful assembly. Local news organization Atlanta Civil Circle, who had journalists covering the same protest, reported Guevara had been complying with officer orders before he was detained.
A jury found that Trump ally, conspiracy theorist, and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems following the 2020 presidential election, and was ordered to pay $2.3 million in damages.
The Washington Post reported that DHS reversed its guidelines preventing agents from conducting immigration raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants, allowing the raids to move forward despite concerns about their impact on the agriculture and hospitality industries.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that nearly 70,000 people signed up to be on a waitlist for a $5 million “Trump Card” that would give them permanent residency in the US. It remains unclear when the program will launch.
The 17 members Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired from their positions on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices spoke out in an editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They warned that their dismissals, the new appointees, and other reductions in staffing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “have stripped the [US vaccine] program of the institutional knowledge and continuity that have been essential to its success over decades.”
State coalitions representing non-profit organizations that received federal funding from the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women sued the Trump administration to reverse the termination of their grants, warning that the groups and the victims they serve “are now in grave jeopardy.”
The New York Times reported that in April, Katie Miller, the former adviser and spokesperson for the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, told then-Social Security Administration Commissioner Leland Dudek on a call on April 1 to not “contradict the president” when it came to a Elon Musk’s false claim that 40% of calls to Social Security came from scammers.
Tuesday, June 17
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from prohibiting trans or nonbinary people from using an “X” identification marker on their passports.
New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by masked ICE agents at an immigration court while escorting an individual from a courtroom and asking the agents to present a judicial warrant. In a statement, a DHS spokesperson accused Lander of “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer,” claims that are disputed by footage of his arrest.
On Truth Social, Trump said that the US has “complete and total control of the skies over Iran.” In another post, he added, “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” calling Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an “easy target” and saying “Our patience is wearing thin.” He also wrote a post calling for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
After leaving the G7 Summit early, Trump referred to French President Emmanuel Macron on Truth Social as “publicity seeking” and added, “Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong,” after Macron suggested Trump left the Summit to work on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Asked about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony from March that Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon, Trump told reporters, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.”
Meanwhile, CNN reported that US intelligence assessments concluded that Iran was not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, and that it was also “up to three years away from being able to produce and deliver one to a target of its choosing.”
A clip posted by Tucker Carlson in which he grills Senator Ted Cruz goes viral. Cruz, who advocates for regime change in Tehran, can’t answer simple questions about Iran, including about its population. The clip exposes a rift within Trump’s MAGA base between Iran hawks, who are pushing for US military intervention, and those – Carlson, Steve Bannon, Marjorie Taylor Greene – who want the president to stick to his campaign promise of not getting the US involved in more foreign wars.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released a report estimating that Trump’s pardons have cost taxpayers more than $1.3 billion in fines and restitution.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he would not call Governor Walz in the wake of the targeted shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses, saying it would only “waste time.” He also called Walz “slick” and “whacked out.”
The NAACP announced that it will not invite Trump to its national convention next month, marking the first time in the organization’s 116-year history it has not invited the sitting president to the event. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement that Trump “is attacking our democracy and our civil rights,” and that he “continually undermines every pillar of our democracy to make himself more powerful and to personally benefit from the US government.”
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna introduced a bipartisan War Powers Resolution to block US Armed Forces from “unauthorized hostilities” in Iran.
While appearing on right-wing commentator and YouTuber Benny Johnson’s show, Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler engaged in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and the 2021 Senate run-off that she lost in Georgia.
A Texas judge said a 28-year-old Venezuelan man who was deported to El Salvador must be returned to the US to face state charges of trespassing on private property. Lawyers for the man, who was accused by state police of being in the Tren de Aragua gang, say they made that determination solely after finding a photo of him on a phone posing with another man with tattoos, but his return is not being requested due to the gang allegations.
Wednesday, June 18
In a major blow to transgender rights, the Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for trans youth. The ruling also shielded similar laws in over 20 other states. On Twitter, Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the ruling, baselessly and dangerously claiming it protects vulnerable children from “genital mutilation” and other care that leaves them “permanently disfigured and scarred.”
A federal judge blocked the EPA’s cancellation of $600 million in environmental justice grants issued to underserved communities during the Biden administration.
Speaking to reporters about his post calling for an “unconditional surrender” by Iran, Trump said it means that “I’ve had it. I give up, no more. Then we go blow up all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place there.”
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration issued a stop-work order, effective July 17, for staff at the national suicide prevention hotline who offer specialized support to LGBTQ callers, telling them that clients can use the hotline’s general services going forward.
The Times also reported that the State Department will review the social media accounts of individuals applying for student and visiting scholar visas as it resumes processing applications, with consular officers being directed to look for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.” Applicants will also be required to make their social media accounts “public” for the review.
Trump suggested that he may withhold federal disaster aid funding to California because of Governor Gavin Newsom’s response to the president deploying National Guard troops and Marines to crack down on protests in Los Angeles. The state has requested $40 billion to help deal with wildfires. Speaking to reporters, Trump said: “Hatred is never a good thing in politics. When you don’t like somebody, you don’t respect somebody, it’s harder for that person to get money if you’re on top.”
Trump also promoted an unsubstantiated allegation spread by FBI Director Kash Patel about “allegations of interference” by the Chinese Communist Party in the 2020 presidential election.
The Justice Department is planning to cut two-thirds of staffers responsible for inspecting federally licensed gun dealers to ensure they are following laws and regulations to prevent gun sales to traffickers, as well as those with criminal records or who have severe mental illness
A federal appeals court rejected a request from Trump to have Justice Department lawyers represent him in his appeal of columnist E. Jean Carroll’s $83 million defamation case.
A group of journalists, legal observers, and protesters sued DHS and its secretary, Kristi Noem, to prevent agents “from using unnecessary and excessive violence to prevent them from exercising their First Amendment rights to report on, observe, and protest government actions.” The lawsuit states that “suppressing the rights of the free press and protesters is the calling card of cowardly dictators and threatens to destroy our nation.”
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out mass firings at the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
Thursday, June 19
A federal appeals court ruled that Trump can temporarily maintain control over California’s National Guard troops in Los Angeles.
DHS issued new rules limiting the ability of members of Congress and their staff to conduct oversight visits of immigration detention facilities. The new guidance asks members of Congress to give at least 72 hours notice for a visit to its facilities, despite federal law allowing lawmakers to do so without any prior notice. A DHS spokesperson went even further, saying “a week is sufficient to ensure no intrusion on the president’s constitutional authority,” adding that “any request to shorten that time must be approved” by Noem.
Australian writer Alistair Kitchen penned an article in the New Yorker after he was denied entry, detained, and deported from the US last week due to his coverage of Columbia student protests while he was a graduate student. According to Kitchen, Customs and Border Patrol agents asked him about his opinion of Israel, whether he had any friends that are Jewish, his views on a two-state solution, and who was at fault: Israel or Palestine. He was also asked to name students involved in the protests.
Trump renewed his attacks against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, calling him “truly one of the dumbest, and most destructive, people in Government” and an “American Disgrace!” after the Fed didn’t heed Trump’s calls to lower the interest rate.
Trump signed an executive order extending the TikTok ban deadline for an additional 90 days, again ignoring a ban approved by Congress and upheld by a Supreme Court ruling.
After failing to issue a proclamation recognizing Juneteenth, Trump complained that there are “too many non-working holidays” in the US and said “it must change.” (On the campaign trail in 2020, Trump pledged to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.)
Meanwhile, Rolling Stone reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office recommended the Pentagon take “a passive approach to Juneteenth messaging.”
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from tying billions in federal transportation grant funding for 20 Democratic-led states to their cooperation with immigration enforcement, saying the condition violates the Constitution.
Friday, June 20
On Truth Social, Trump called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate the 2020 presidential election, calling it a “total FRAUD!” and baselessly claiming Biden lost by a “LANDSLIDE!”
The Trump administration issued layoff notices to over 600 employees at Voice of America, with staffers expected to be put on paid leave until Sept. 1 when their employment is terminated. The layoffs are expected to leave the news organization with less than 200 employees, about one-seventh of the staff it had at the beginning of the year.
A federal judge in New Jersey ordered Mahmoud Khalil to be released from ICE detention on bail. Khalil, a Palestinian green card holder who helped lead student protests at Columbia University, has been in custody since March. The judge said: “[T]here is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner — and, of course, that would be unconstitutional.”
Trump suggested that his administration could announce a deal with Harvard University “over the next week or so,” claiming the settlement being discussed would be “‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC.”
Meanwhile, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from prohibiting Harvard University to admit international students, saying the government is forbidden from “implementing, instituting, maintaining, or giving any force or effect” to its plan to remove the school from the Student and Visitor Exchange Program.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said his administration is considering allowing farmers to continue employing undocumented immigrants under a system where they would take “responsibility” for them. It’s unclear what that system would look like.
Zeteo’s Prem Thakker reported that sources said USAID is being forced by higher-ups to approve tens of millions of dollars in funding for the disastrous Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The funding request is not going through the traditional process for such applications, and sources told Prem the agency likely would not approve it under normal circumstances.
Did you miss previous weeks? Catch up here.
Subscribe to Zeteo to make sure you get ‘This Week in Democracy’ in your inbox every week.
If you are already a Zeteo subscriber but would like to increase your support for our accountability journalism in this era of Trump and authoritarianism, please do consider a donation, too.
Melissa Hortman assassinated : Mapping the political violence destroying American democracy
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/06/15/mapping-the-political-violence-destroying-american-democracy-melissa-hortman-john-hoffman-alex-padilla/
Regarding the bombing in Iran...trump doesn't listen to his own intel, which is nothing new. He bypasses Congress. But he listens to the genocidal maniac, who has been playing him like a fiddle. It is so dangerous for the country to have a so-called president who is so easily swayed. All Netanyahu had to do was lavish trump with flattery and praise, and he had trump eating out of his hand. There is no doubt that Iran will retaliate, people are going to get killed. Let's just pray that innocent people don't lose their lives because of trump's incompetence and irresponsible decisions.