This Week in Democracy – Week 39: 'I Love Hitler,' Say Young Republicans, as White House Calls Democrats 'Terrorists' and 'Violent Criminals'
Another week of Zeteo's project to document the ongoing growth of authoritarianism in Trump's second term.
Today, we will witness what truly makes America great: Millions are expected to take to the streets to exercise their right to protest at thousands of “No Kings” rallies across the country.
Apparently, though, at least according to Republican leaders, exercising your First Amendment rights means you “hate America.”
In reality, the “No Kings” protesters are as American as it gets – fighting for democracy and the American values that are under threat by a wannabe dictator and his cronies.
Just this week, we learned that immigration authorities have detained more than 170 US citizens at raids and protests nationwide; we’ve heard the pro-Trump Supreme Court signal it may weaken the Voting Rights Act, which would limit Black representation in Congress; and we’ve read the racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic texts from members of Young Republican organizations.
But, like at today’s rally, we’re also seeing more and more people fighting back – judges blocking Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to US cities, universities refusing to give in to the president’s demands, and news outlets rebuffing the Pentagon’s attempt to clamp down on the free press.
Here’s ‘This Week in Democracy – Week 39’:
Saturday, October 11
A federal appeals court temporarily paused part of a lower judge’s order prohibiting the Trump administration from federalizing National Guard troops in Chicago, but left in place a block on their active deployment in the city, writing that troops “do not need to return to their home states unless further ordered by a court to do so.”
On NewsNation, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon continued to suggest there are plans for Trump to run for an unconstitutional third term in 2028, saying, “I think there are many different alternatives that, at the appropriate term, after the midterms in ‘26, we will roll out…to make sure that President Trump is on the ballot…and if he’s on the ballot, he’ll win.”
Sunday, October 12
On Truth Social, Trump called his first impeachment over his efforts to coerce Ukraine into a quid pro quo to investigate Joe Biden a “far bigger Illegal Hoax than Watergate,” and said he “sincerely hope[s] the necessary authorities, including CONGRESS, are looking into this!” He also baselessly claimed that “So many laws, and protocols, were violated, and just plain broken!!!”
On NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Vice President JD Vance said Trump is “looking at all of his options” to deploy National Guard troops in Democratic-led cities, including invoking the Insurrection Act. He noted that while Trump “has not felt like he needed to” invoke the Insurrection Act “right now,” he also hasn’t ruled out doing so.
Meanwhile, on ABC News, Vance refused to answer questions about whether border czar Tom Homan returned the $50,000 cash bribe he allegedly accepted in 2024 from undercover federal agents posing as business executives in exchange for government contracts if Trump returned to the White House. Vance was also asked about Trump’s calls for Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to be jailed, to which he baselessly claimed that Pritzker “has violated his fundamental oath of office,” something that “seems pretty criminal to me.”
Monday, October 13
House Speaker Mike Johnson warned that the federal government is “barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” saying he “won’t negotiate” with Democratic lawmakers when it comes to their healthcare demands and the government reopens. (The longest shutdown in US history occurred during Trump’s first term, which lasted 34 days.)
Many US airports refused to show a new video intended to play on screens near security lines that features Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democratic lawmakers for the government shutdown. Some airports raised concerns that the video is a violation of the Hatch Act, which generally prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.
The Chicago Tribune reported that ICE agents in the city issued a $130 fine against a 60-year-old legal resident originally from El Salvador for not carrying proof of registration documents with him, a federal law that was rarely enforced before Trump took office in January.
While giving a speech to the Israeli Knesset, Trump once again tried to interfere with the prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking President Isaac Herzog to pardon him.
Tuesday, October 14
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration has been violating his court order barring the DHS from requiring states to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement in order to receive FEMA emergency preparedness grants. In his ruling, the judge said a new guideline issued after his ruling last month “is not a good faith effort to comply with the order; it is a ham-handed attempt to bully the states into making promises they have no obligation to make.”
Trump posthumously awarded Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During the ceremony at the White House, Trump said he was entering Kirk’s name into the “roster of true American heroes,” and continued to blame the majority of political violence on “far-left radicals” who have the “devil’s ideology.” He also bragged about surviving an assassination attempt, saying, “I made a turn at a good time…Charlie couldn’t believe it, actually.”
The New York Times reported that a US attorney in the Western District of Virginia was forced to resign in August after refusing to sideline a high-ranking career prosecutor who didn’t believe criminal charges were warranted in relation to an investigation that aimed to discredit an FBI inquiry into whether Russia engaged in foreign interference to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election.
The Times also reported that since the federal government shutdown began two weeks ago, the Trump administration has frozen or canceled more than $27 billion meant for over 200 projects in Democrat-led districts, compared to less than $750 million in Republican-led districts.
The political news site NOTUS reported that the Trump administration appears to have fired all but one person in the Office of Population Affairs, which oversees family-planning initiatives like teen pregnancy prevention programs and also distributes funding to some Planned Parenthood clinics.
A Ghana civil rights group sued the country’s government to block its arrangement to accept immigrants deported from the US, one day after a group of 14 people were deported to Ghana, bringing the overall total to 42.
On Twitter, the State Department announced it had revoked the visas of at least six people who criticized Charlie Kirk following his killing, writing, “The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”
Arizona’s attorney general sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson accusing him of violating the Constitution by delaying the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who is expected to be the key 218th vote on a petition that would force a vote to require the Trump administration to release the Epstein files.
CNN reported that a lack of weather data due to Trump’s budget cuts at the National Weather Service likely impacted the ability to accurately forecast the severity of a deadly storm in western Alaska over the weekend.
Zeteo reported that Pentagon officials are forcing employees to watch or read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s September “warrior ethos” speech. Officials are even “testing” staff on the speech and threatening consequences if they lie about watching it or speak negatively about it.
The Defense Department said federal agents moved about 20 immigrants to the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, bringing the total number of people who had been temporarily held at the base to 710 since early February.
Trump said his administration will, in the coming days, release a list of cuts to what he baselessly calls “Democrat” and “semi-communist” programs that his government “wanted to close up or that we never wanted to happen,” and added, “we’re not going to let them come back.”
Trump endorsed the Pentagon’s new press restrictions, saying that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace,” and adding, “The press is very dishonest.” Hegseth, who called the restrictions “common sense stuff,” accused reporters of trying to get Defense Department employees to “break the law” by leaking information.
On Twitter, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Meta complied with a Justice Department request to take down a Facebook group page that the agency accused of being utilized to “dox and target” ICE agents in Chicago. A spokesperson for Meta said the page was removed for “violating our policies against coordinated harm.”
On Truth Social, Trump announced that the US conducted a “lethal kinetic strike” against a small boat he alleged was carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people. The strike marked the fifth in the region since early September, killing at least 27 people.
Major media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, said they wouldn’t sign on to a new Defense Department policy that the Pentagon Press Association warned “gags Pentagon employees and threatens retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release.” The move marks a mass exodus of Pentagon reporters, who lost their press badges when outlets refused to sign on to the policy.
Wednesday, October 15
Brown University became the second university to reject an offer from the Trump administration that would provide the school with favorable treatment for federal funds if it agreed to make changes to its policies that reflect the president’s higher education agenda. In a letter to Trump administration officials, the school’s president said she’s concerned that the agreement would “restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance.”
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying the move appeared to be politically motivated and adding, “It’s a human cost that cannot be tolerated.”
Speaking to reporters, Trump called for several of his perceived political enemies to be investigated for what he claimed was “political crime,” including former Special Counsel Jack Smith, chief prosecutor in the Mueller investigation Andrew Weissmann, former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Senator Adam Schiff.
Trump continued to push the “big lie” about the 2020 presidential election, saying he won Georgia despite losing the state by 11,779 votes and pressuring the Georgia secretary of state to overturn the election results. He added that he hopes investigators will “take a real look” at the votes from the election.
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration secretly authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela as part of its growing pressure campaign against the country and its leader, Nicolás Maduro. Trump later told reporters he is considering strikes on Venezuelan territory, saying, “We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control.”
The Times also reported that the Trump administration is considering proposals to radically overhaul the country’s refugee system by gutting the program while favoring English speakers, white South Africans, and Europeans who oppose migration.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is planning to make major changes at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to make it easier for the agency to pursue criminal investigations into left-leaning groups. Notably, a senior IRS official involved in the plans made a list of potential targets, which includes major donors to the Democratic Party.
Politico published a bombshell article about leaked messages exposing racist chats involving the leaders of Young Republican organizations, which featured jokes about gas chambers, slavery, and rape, along with messages like “I love Hitler.” In response, Vice President JD Vance dismissed concerns about the chats, claiming that “kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” despite many of the members already working inside government or party politics, with one currently serving as a state senator. He added, “I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid is telling a stupid joke—telling a very offensive, stupid job—is cause to ruin their lives.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that governors from 15 Democratic-led states, including New York, California, and North Carolina, are forming a public health alliance to coordinate disease tracking and vaccine access amid severe federal funding cuts and policy shifts by the Trump administration. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said of the move, “In light of the assaults on science and medicine coming out of Washington…we really have no choice.”
Watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued the DHS for failing to preserve records of agency business conducted by text messages. The lawsuit also names the National Archives and Records Administration for its failure to initiate enforcement actions against the agency.
Trump signed a presidential memo to use unspent federal funds to pay military members during the government shutdown. It’s unclear whether he has the legal authority to issue the directive.
The Supreme Court re-heard a case that could further undercut the 1965 Voting Rights Act by dismantling Section 2, the law’s main safeguard against racially discriminatory redistricting. If the justices strike down Section 2, Republicans could gain 19 new safe US house seats, enough to lock in one-party control of the House of Representatives for a generation.
Thursday, October 16
A federal judge ordered immigration officers to wear body cameras while conducting operations in the Chicago area, saying she was a “little startled” by footage of agents using tear gas and other tactics as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city and had concerns about her previous order preventing agents from using certain riot control techniques against journalists and protesters.
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from clawing back roughly $34 million in anti-terrorism funds to protect New York City’s transit system – funding that has been appropriated by Congress since 9/11. The judge called the revocation of the funds “arbitrary, capricious, and a blatant violation of the law.”
ProPublica reported that more than 170 US citizens have been detained by immigration agents at raids and protests, some of whom have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased, shot, had their necks kneeled on, and were held outside in the rain in their underwear. More than 20 of them have said they were held for over a day without being able to contact a lawyer or loved one. At least three were pregnant when they were detained.
The US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobbying group, sued the Trump administration to block a new $100,000 fee for skilled foreign workers applying for an H-1B visa, arguing the move violates federal immigration law requirements.
Three labor unions sued the Trump administration to block its efforts to surveil the social media posts of visa holders and purge any existing records associated with the program, arguing it violates the First Amendment.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he would sue the Trump administration if the president deploys National Guard troops to San Francisco.
John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser and prominent critic of the president, was indicted for allegedly mishandling classified information. Bolton faces 18 criminal charges, including eight counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of unlawfully retaining national defense information. In a statement, Bolton said he “look[s] forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose [Trump’s] abuse of power.” He also said Trump “embodies what Joseph Stalin’s head of secret police once said, ‘You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.’”
The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California became the latest post-secondary institutions to reject the Trump administration’s agreement. Penn’s Faculty Senate had passed a resolution that noted the deal “proposes an unprecedented and unconstitutional degree of governmental intrusion on academic freedom.”
On Twitter, the military commander overseeing the Pentagon’s attacks against boats in the Caribbean said he is resigning from his position as the head of the US Southern Command and retiring from the US Navy after a 37-year career, but didn’t offer any explanation for his exit.
The Washington Post reported that of the hundreds of people who cover the Pentagon, just over a dozen of them signed on to the Defense Department’s new press policy. The list of signatories included four reporters from right-wing outlets, reporters from foreign outlets, freelancers for foreign-based publications, and a couple of others from independent publishers that primarily post their work on social media.
On Fox, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt continued to ramp up the Trump administration’s dangerous political rhetoric, saying, “The Democrat[ic] Party’s main constituency [is] made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
Trump refiled his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times and several of its reporters, along with Penguin Random House, after his first original complaint was thrown out by a federal judge last month. In a statement, the Times noted that “nothing has changed today” and that the lawsuit “has no merit.” The statement added, “This is merely an attempt to stifle independent reporting and generate PR attention, but the New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics.”
Trump announced that he would hold another meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue discussions about ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting is set to take place in Budapest, Hungary, the same city where Russia promised not to invade Ukraine three decades ago.
New York’s Republican Party leaders voted to disband their state’s young Republican group following Politico’s reporting on racist group chats that included jokes about gas chambers, slavery, and rape. Several members of the New York State Young Republicans, including a recent chair and vice chair, were part of the chat.
Friday, October 17
John Bolton pleaded not guilty to all 18 criminal charges against him and was released on his own recognizance. As part of his release conditions, Bolton will have to surrender his passport to his attorneys, and is prohibited from traveling outside of the US without pre-approval from the court.
The New York Times reported that Trump continued his pressure campaign for Republican-led states to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections by asking state lawmakers in Indiana to support a new map that would eliminate the only two Democratic districts in the state and give Republicans all nine congressional seats.
A federal judge lifted travel restrictions for Mahmoud Khalil that limited his travel to New York, New Jersey, DC, Louisiana, and Michigan, finding that Khalil is not considered a flight risk and hasn’t violated any of his release conditions. The move will allow Khalil to travel to other parts of the US to attend rallies and other events. His lawyer noted during the hearing that Khalil “wants to travel for the very significant First Amendment reasons that are at the bottom of this case,” adding that “he wants to speak to issues of public concern. Khalil will still be required to notify ICE of his travel plans ahead of time.
Asked about his administration’s negotiations with Venezuela and its leader Nicolás Maduro, which Trump reportedly called off last week, Trump said Maduro “offered everything…because he doesn’t want to fuck around with the United States.”
US officials revealed that two survivors from a sixth strike on a boat suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea that took place on Thursday are being held by the US Navy. Two others were killed.
The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to lift lower-court rulings preventing the president from deploying National Guard troops he federalized to Illinois.
HuffPost asked the Trump administration who chose Budapest as the location for the impending meeting between the president and Vladimir Putin. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded with: “Your mom did.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung added: “Your mom.”
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.
All the things that the republicans are doing under trumps leadership should shame all Americans. The politicians of both parties have no honour as long as they let this go on. Once freedom is lost it will take a war, like Ukraine is experiencing to get it back. The same enemy of Ukraine is now aligned with your American president. Will you have your protest and then go on with your daily life as if that's the end of it I wonder? Then think of Ukraine who already fought and won their freedom and because the enemy wasn't vanquished they came and attacked them again. trump is willing to help them this time. It should disgust you! It should also open your eyes to YOUR fate if trump isn't deposed. He doesn't care about the USA. He cares about making money out of other peoples suffering. Ukraine, Gaza! You will wait for "free and fair elections" that won't happen. Then you will protest again but by then you may not have the right to protest.
Thanks. as always, Medhi and team for all of your hard work in compiling this. I really appreciate your dedication; it certainly can't be easy doing it. I will continue to post these weekly summaries to my FB page but now I pick out certain items that need to be reiterated, or that just piss me off, and comment on each one. I don't know if anyone reads the post but at least I know I did my part in conveying what trump and his toadies are doing. One thing that really gauls me are the cold-blooded murders trump is committing by bombing the boats in international waters. I keep hearing that it 'may' be illegal, which is bullshit, of course it's friggin' illegal! I want to know why trump isn't being held accountable for this. For all we know, these guys could be out fishing or just going for a ride, there is NO proof that they're drug smugglers, and, even if they were, they're certainly not going to make it to our shores in a speed boat. Can anyone shed some light on the illegality and who holds trump accountable for this? It has to stop!