This Week in Democracy – Week 41: Trump Threatens Even More Troops on the Streets
Another week of Zeteo's project to document the ongoing growth of authoritarianism in Trump's second term.
Last week it was a ballroom; this week it was a bathroom. While 42 million low-income Americans worried about whether they would lose their food assistance benefits, Donald Trump was posting about the White House bathroom he just renovated. “Highly polished, Statuary marble!” he declared, along with two dozen photos.
Fortunately, two federal judges were looking out for Americans, with one outrightly ruling that the Trump administration must use emergency funds to at least partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the shutdown. Thank goodness for brave judges. Thankfully, at least some levers of democracy are still functioning.
Posting about toilets, bathtubs, and marble wasn’t all that Trump and his cronies were up to. Beyond attempting to leverage food benefits for their own gain, Trump and his allies continued to take a number of other actions that hurt democracy, harm people, and undermine the Constitution.
From ordering the National Guard to create “quick reaction” forces that seemed designed to combat domestic protests to more illegal strikes on boats in international waters to massively restricting the country’s refugee resettlement program, here’s ‘This Week in Democracy – Week 41’:
Saturday, October 25
On Truth Social, Trump announced he would implement an additional 10% tariff on Canada in retaliation for the Ontario government’s ad airing on US television that uses audio from 1987, when President Ronald Reagan warned of the harms of tariffs. Trump called the ad “fraudulent” and once again accused Canada of trying to interfere with the Supreme Court case challenging Trump’s authority to implement unilateral tariffs.
The New York Times reported that the anonymous private donor who gave $130 million to the federal government to provide pay for military service members during the shutdown is billionaire Timothy Mellon, who has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to support Trump and the Republican Party.
Sunday, October 26
British Muslim journalist Sami Hamdi was detained by ICE agents at San Francisco International Airport, apparently at the urging of pro-Israel, anti-Muslim extremists Laura Loomer and Amy Mekelburg.
ABC News published an excerpt of its political correspondent Jonathan Karl’s new book, in which he writes that Trump told then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6 that if he certifies Joe Biden’s victory, “You’ll go down as a wimp.”
The independent media newsletter Status reported that one day after visiting the White House, CNN chief executive Mark Thompson directed staff on a network editorial call to soften their coverage of Trump’s demolition of the White House’s East Wing. CNN denied the reporting, saying in a statement, “This is reckless and irresponsible conjecture without any fact checking done prior to publication.”
On Truth Social, Trump once again baselessly claimed that the 2020 presidential election was “Rigged and Stolen,” and said that he hopes the Justice Department will investigate his claims “with as much ‘gusto’ as befitting the biggest SCANDAL in American history!” If not, he added, “it will happen again, including the upcoming Midterms.” He also repeated calls to ban mail-in and early voting, as well as the implementation of mandatory voter ID.
Also on Truth Social, Trump repeated his calls for pregnant women to abstain from using Tylenol “UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY,” and also said not to give the drug to young children “FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON,” along with other suggested vaccine guidelines that deviate from the current childhood immunization schedule.
Monday, October 27
Aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters that while he’d “be allowed” to run in 2028 as vice president, he would “rule that out because it’s too cute.” However, Trump wouldn’t give a definitive answer about running for an unconstitutional third term as president, saying, “Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me.”
Trump also disclosed for the first time that he had an MRI during his most recent visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. While Trump claimed he “gave [the press] the full results,” the White House readout of his physical only references “advanced imaging” and doesn’t include the results or why one was ordered in the first place.
The Agriculture Department published a notice on its website warning that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which help about one-in-eight Americans buy groceries, won’t be issued on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown.
After Mehdi criticized the late Charlie Kirk’s Islamophobic attacks on New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, Vice President JD Vance came after the Zeteo editor-in-chief on Twitter, and apparently confused him with Mamdani. (Read more in Zeteo’s new morning political newsletter ‘First Draft.’)
HuffPost reported that employees at the Department of Health and Human Services will now be assessed on whether they “clearly and demonstrably support implementation” of Trump’s agenda in annual performance reviews.
The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to uphold the firing of the copyright chief of the Library of Congress, Shira Perlmutter, who is challenging her termination in court.
More than 100 former Justice Department officials signed on to an amicus brief urging the federal judge overseeing James Comey’s criminal case to dismiss charges against the former FBI director. They argue Comey’s indictment “was not an exercise of the evenhanded judgment of a disinterested prosecutor, acting free from personal bias, partisan animus, or divided loyalties,” but one that “represented an act of personal retribution by the President.”
During a court hearing, Justice Department officials announced that the Trump administration is preparing to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia as soon as Friday rather than have him stand trial on human smuggling charges.
In a different hearing, a federal judge ordered officials from the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to stop making “prejudicial” statements about Abrego Garcia and his case, warning that those who fail to comply with his order could “be subject to sanctions.” In his opinion, the judge noted that officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have made “extrajudicial statements that are troubling, especially where many of them are exaggerated if not simply inaccurate,” including alleging that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13.
Politico reported that Justice Department lawyers said in court that ICE is no longer required to accommodate oversight visits from lawmakers to its facilities, arguing that the requirement was part of government funding laws that expired when the federal government shutdown began in September, and that ICE is now operating with appropriations made in Trump’s tax and spending bill, which doesn’t require congressional access to ICE facilities.
At Trump’s direction, the Defense Department conducted three more lethal strikes against four boats in the Eastern Pacific that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed were operated by “Designated Terrorist Organizations” that were “trafficking narcotics.” The strikes killed a total of 14 people. One person survived, and Hegseth said Mexico assumed responsibility for coordinating their rescue.
Trump filed an appeal to overturn his criminal hush money convictions, arguing in part that he should’ve been protected by the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, with his lawyers calling the case the “most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history.”
The Department of Homeland Security said that 1.6 million undocumented immigrants have self-deported from the US since Trump’s term began in January, along with more than 500,000 others who were deported.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release millions of dollars in congressionally approved grants designed to combat a shortage of mental health workers in schools as part of a program created following the 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
A federal judge ruled that a wide-ranging subpoena issued by the Justice Department to an online trans healthcare provider can’t be enforced because it wasn’t part of a legitimate investigation, but was about pursuing Trump’s agenda targeting gender-affirming care. In his ruling, the judge noted, “No clearer evidence of improper purpose could exist than the Government’s own repeated declarations that it seeks to end the very practice it claims to be merely investigating.”
Tuesday, October 28
Over two dozen states sued the Trump administration for refusing to fund SNAP benefits during the government shutdown, a move the states argue is unnecessary and illegal, and could result in food insecurity and financial hardship for approximately 42 million people.
A federal judge extended her temporary block to prevent the Trump administration from carrying out mass layoffs during the government shutdown, saying, “I believe that I will find that their actions are arbitrary and capricious, as shown by the haphazard way in which the [reductions-in-force] have rolled out, and they are intended for the purpose of political retribution.”
Nigerian Nobel Prize-honoree, the writer Wole Soyinka said the Trump administration revoked his visa. Soyinka has been critical of Trump since his first presidency. He destroyed his green card after he was first elected in 2016 and recently compared the president to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Trump’s social media company, Truth Media and Technology Group, announced it will launch a prediction betting marketplace through a partnership with Crypto.com that will allow users to gamble not just on sports, but also on elections, interest rates, inflation rate changes, and commodity prices on gold and crude oil.
On Twitter, Attorney General Pam Bondi said her team “has already initiated a review of the Biden administration’s reported use of autopen for pardons” after the Republican-led House Oversight Committee published a report that argues the former president’s executive actions signed by autopen were “illegitimate.” Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) urged Bondi in an accompanying letter to investigate all of the former president’s executive actions “to ascertain whether they were duly authorized” by Biden.
The Republican-led Senate passed a bill that would overturn Trump’s tariffs against Brazil by terminating the national emergency the president declared in July because the country moved forward with the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro for staging an attempted coup in 2022. Five Republicans voted in favor of the bill, including Senator Mitch McConnell. The bill now moves to the House, where it’s unlikely to pass.
Asked about Trump potentially running for an unconstitutional third presidential term in 2028, House Speaker Mike Johnson conceded that he doesn’t “see a way to amend the Constitution” to allow Trump to do so.
The ethics committee of the DC Bar published a new opinion that could bring new scrutiny to the prominent law firms that made deals with Trump, warning that the moves may require firms to drop or obtain waivers from all clients “who are adverse to the relevant government” and “examine whether the arrangement would prevent the firm from providing conflict-free representation” to new and existing clients.
The Washington Post reported that Trump fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that was expected to review some of the president’s construction projects, including the new White House ballroom.
A federal judge ruled that Trump’s pick to temporarily lead the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California is illegally serving in the role and should have stepped down by July 31, and disqualified him from the position.
Reuters reported that US military officials taking part in the Trump administration’s growing operations in Latin America have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, an unusual move considering the officials are already required to protect national security secrets.
A federal judge admonished senior US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) official Gregory Bovino for apparently disregarding her temporary restraining order. In one case that the judge highlighted, tear gas was used in a neighborhood where children were about to march in a Halloween parade. The judge noted, “Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer … They just don’t. And you can’t use riot control weapons against them.” The judge also ordered Bovino to appear at the federal courthouse at the end of each weekday to provide reports on arrests and incidents.
Reuters reported that the Trump Organization earned about $800 million from the family’s crypto ventures during the first half of 2025, while its real estate, licensing deals, and golf club businesses generated $62 million during the same period.
Senate Democrats, led by Adam Schiff, sent a letter to the White House, demanding full transparency on the private donors funding Donald Trump’s $300 million White House ballroom. The donor list includes major tech and defense contractors with active federal contracts, like Apple, Amazon, and Lockheed Martin. Lawmakers warn that the project could blur the line between public office and private influence. They’ve requested a complete accounting of donations by Nov. 5.
Wednesday, October 29
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump appeared to acknowledge that he can’t run for an unconstitutional third presidential term, saying, “If you read [the Constitution], it’s pretty clear I’m not allowed to run,” and added that “it’s too bad.”
Trump said he would be willing to deploy other branches of the military into US cities, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Without naming the Insurrection Act, Trump said, “If I want to enact a certain act, I’m allowed to do it,” adding that “I’d be allowed to do whatever I want” and claiming that “the courts wouldn’t get involved.”
The Trump administration terminated the automatic extension of employment authorization for holders of certain work visa types applying for renewals. The move could leave thousands of immigrants at risk of losing their authorization to legally work in the country if the US Citizenship and Immigration Services takes too long to process their renewal.
Anti-Trump outlet MeidasTouch reported that top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into the Trump administration’s use of social media platforms like Truth Social and Twitter for official government business.
ABC News reported that the Justice Department placed two federal prosecutors on administrative leave after they filed a sentencing memo for a pardoned Jan. 6 participant who brought guns and ammo to Barack Obama’s neighborhood in 2023, writing in the memo that the insurrection was carried out by a “mob of rioters.” A new memo from the Justice Department removed any language relating to Jan. 6 and Trump’s posting of Obama’s address on Truth Social prior to the incident.
While appearing on the New York Post’s podcast, Vice President JD Vance revived the baseless racist conspiracy theory Trump pushed during the 2024 presidential debate that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were “eating cats and dogs.”
The Washington Post reported that misleading footage was used in at least six videos over the past three months to promote the successes of recent immigration operations, including using footage that was months or even years old and videos that supposedly showed unrest in cities targeted by Trump that included footage from completely different states.
On Truth Social, Trump called for former special counsel Jack Smith, who investigated the president’s handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, to be “investigated and put in prison,” and referred to Smith as a “criminal!!!”
In another post, Trump rattled off a list of political targets he believes should also be investigated, including former FBI Special Agent Walter Giardina and former Assistant US Attorney Andrew Weissmann, who both worked on the Mueller investigation into ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. He also named former Attorney General Merrick Garland; former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, attorney Norm Eisen and his watchdog organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; former DOJ national security prosecutor Jay Bratt; prosecutor Thomas Windom; and former FBI Director Christopher Wray.
CNN reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered a new probe into FEMA after an investigation that began during the Biden administration and concluded after Trump became president cleared the agency of denying aid based on politics. Noem claimed last week that the new investigation found that FEMA “intentionally delayed much-needed aid … on purely political grounds,” calling it “textbook political discrimination” against Trump supporters.
Radio Free Asia (RFA), which is funded by the US Agency for Global Media, announced it would pause operations due to a lack of federal funding as a result of budget cuts made by Trump and delays in new funding due to the government shutdown. In a statement, executive editor Rosa Hwang called the pause “an excruciating moment,” and added, “make no mistake, authoritarian regimes are already celebrating RFA’s potential demise.”
An appeals court paused a federal judge’s order requiring top CBP official Gregory Bovino to appear in court daily to provide updates about immigration enforcement activity in Chicago.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed a resolution to nullify Trump’s tariffs against Canada, marking the second time senators have done so since Trump took office in January.
The Washington Post reported that Bryce McFerran, Trump’s nominee for first vice president of the US Export-Import Bank, withdrew his candidacy after facing scrutiny for his ties to Russia, including his work as a former top executive at a steel-trading company co-owned by one of the country’s wealthiest oligarchs and his marriage with a member of a Russian family with deep connections to the Kremlin.
On Twitter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that, at Trump’s direction, his department conducted another strike on a boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people.
Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) said the Trump administration refused to allow Democratic senators to attend a briefing on military strikes, calling the move “indefensible and dangerous.”
CNN reported that National Guard troops will remain deployed in DC through at least February 2026 after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth extended the orders. There are currently nearly 2,400 troops in DC as part of a mission costing roughly $1 million a day.
CNN also reported that a three-star general serving on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff was pushed out of his position after months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which included challenging Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on issues ranging from Russia and Ukraine to the Trump administration’s military operations in the Caribbean.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requesting a pause in immigration enforcement operations during the Halloween weekend, saying, “No child should be forced to inhale tear gas or other chemical agents while trick or treating in their own neighborhood.” Noem later said on Fox that not only will federal agents “be out on the streets in full force” during the Halloween weekend, but they will also be increasing their enforcement operations.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon ordered the National Guard to create “quick reaction” forces of as many as 500 soldiers in every state and territory by January, who will be expected to respond on short notice to civil unrest and riots domestically. The forces will receive nonlethal training in crowd control, handling detainees, and the use of batons, stun guns, and body shields.
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration lifted sanctions against the Putin-backed Serbian nationalist leader Milorad Dodik following a campaign by Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani, Michael Flynn, and Laura Loomer.
Kat Abughazaleh, a Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives and former Zeteo contributor, announced that she had been indicted for allegedly obstructing and assaulting federal officers during a September ICE protest in Chicago. Prosecutors claim Abughazaleh, along with five other protesters, surrounded and damaged an ICE vehicle. She called the charges a “political prosecution” meant to silence dissent, framing the case as part of the Trump administration’s broader criminalization of protest.
On Piers Morgan Uncensored, Katie Miller, a former Trump administration aide and the wife of deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, threatened political commentator Cenk Uygur with the revocation of his citizenship after he called the couple liars. Miller noted, “You better check your citizenship application and hope that everything was legal and correct.”
Thursday, October 30
A federal judge paused the Trump administration’s introduction of a new annual asylum application fee created under the president’s tax and spending bill, saying that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” when they issued conflicting guidance on how and when the $100 fee must be paid.
The New York Times reported that a man who had worked at a Trump Organization golf club for over a decade was mistakenly deported to Mexico instead of a detention center in Arizona when ICE put him on the wrong plane, a move that probably violated federal immigration laws, as the man didn’t get a deportation hearing in front of a judge.
Democratic lawmakers who attended a classified House briefing on the Trump administration’s strikes in the Caribbean said that Defense Department officials aren’t certain about who they have killed, with Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) telling Politico that department officials “said that they do not need to positively identify individuals on these vessels to do the strikes, they just need to prove a connection to a designated terrorist organization or affiliate.”
The Trump administration announced that it would restrict the number of refugees admitted each year to the US from 125,000 to just 7,500, made up of mostly white South Africans.
James Comey’s lawyers filed two additional motions to dismiss the criminal case against the former FBI director. One of the motions argued that Comey’s congressional testimony was “literally true,” that questions from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) were “fundamentally ambiguous,” and that, “fundamental to any false-statement charges are both clear questions and false answers. Neither exists here.” The second motion argued that the prosecutorial inexperience of interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, resulted in “irregularities so severe and pervasive” in front of the grand jury “that they likely prejudiced the grand jurors’ narrow decision to indict.”
A group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to swear in Congresswoman-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. The survivors noted, “Our trauma is not a pawn in your political games.”
The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration asked a judge to deport a father of two, who was rescued by US forces in 2021, to Afghanistan, where he expects to be killed by the Taliban. The Department of Homeland Security didn’t accuse him of a crime or act of terrorism, but instead claimed that Afghanistan is safe for him to return to.
The Post also reported that a classified report by a US government watchdog concluded that the Israeli military committed “many hundreds” of potential violations of US human rights law in the Gaza Strip that would take “several years” for the State Department to review.
MSNBC reported that the FBI fired a special agent after his name appeared in documents released by Senate Republicans related to the “Arctic Frost” investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
A federal judge granted class action status to a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Trump administration from enforcing mandatory detention, without the possibility of being released on bond, to thousands of immigrants detained by federal agents in New England.
A federal judge praised the two prosecutors placed on administrative leave after writing in a sentencing memo that the Jan. 6 insurrection was comprised of a “mob of rioters,” saying they “upheld the highest standards of professionalism” and “did a truly excellent job in this case.”
The Trump administration moved forward with plans to ban organizations from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and prohibit individuals whose work is deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose.” The change, which is set to take effect in July 2026, will primarily target organizations that work with immigrants and trans youth.
AP reported that the Justice Department is investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors during protests in 2020.
AP also reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo on Monday ordering the military to identify dozens of lawyers who can be temporarily reassigned to serve as special assistant US attorneys for the Justice Department.
A group of 11 Democratic US senators wrote a letter to top immigration officials, demanding transparency into ICE’s use of “WRAP” full-body restraining devices on deportation flights. Citing an AP investigation revealing secretive and prolonged use of the device, the senators want ICE to disclose data on the frequency of its use thus far before ceasing the practice altogether, as critics raise serious human-rights concerns.
The Republican-led Senate voted to terminate the national emergency declared by Trump to impose duties on more than 180 countries. The resolution is unlikely to be taken up by House Republicans.
On Truth Social, Trump announced that he ordered the Pentagon to immediately restart nuclear weapons testing, ending a 33-year moratorium.
Also on Truth Social, Trump called on Republican lawmakers to “play their ‘TRUMP CARD’” and eliminate the filibuster to end the government shutdown.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration has identified targets to strike in Venezuela controlled by the military, including naval facilities and airstrips that US officials allege are used to smuggle drugs.
The Journal also reported that the Trump administration fired roughly a dozen officials from the Federal National Mortgage Association’s ethics and internal investigations unit without providing a reason for the terminations.
Two immigrants detained in Chicago filed a class action lawsuit over what they call “inhumane” conditions at an immigration facility near the city. The lawsuit claims people detained at the facility are being denied water, food, medical care, and hygiene, along with being deprived of sleep and privacy. The suit also alleges that detainees have been denied private calls with their attorneys, and that some of them have been coerced into signing documents they don’t understand, resulting in unknowingly waiving their rights and facing deportation.
Friday, October 31
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for an investigation into the Trump administration’s military strikes against boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, adding that they are “unacceptable” and must stop.
A federal judge ordered the US Department of Agriculture to pay SNAP benefits out of its contingency fund “as soon as possible,” one day before funding for the program was set to expire. The judge also noted that if the contingency funds are insufficient, then the agency must use other funding sources to ensure payments are made. A separate judge ruled the administration’s refusal to release the contingency funding is likely unlawful.
Ohio officials agreed to a new “compromise” congressional map that could help Republicans pick up two additional seats in the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm election.
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with a provision of the president’s executive order targeting election reforms that would require proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms.
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.
Joe Neguse and other democratic congress people should have a daily press conference on the capital steps to explain the many ways republican refusal to govern is hurting all of us while trump and his cronies get richer and richer through their corruption and republican refusal to hold them accountable.
too much to read in one go
i realise you have first draft but re title it "this day in democracy" and make this daily