🚨 Announcement
Starting this week, Zev Shalev and I are taking the Trump Tyranny Tracker to Substack LIVE — every Monday through Thursday at 2 PM ET.
We’ll break down the top stories the media isn’t paying attention to — power grabs, agency purges, surveillance overreach, and the tactics being used to dismantle democracy. Please tune in and spread the word!
7 Alarms You May Have Missed This Week:
1. DOJ Purge Wipes Out Voting Rights Enforcement
Trump officials removed senior DOJ civil rights staff, reassigned voting section lawyers to low-level posts, and shut down all active voting rights cases—radically shifting the department’s mission to serve Trump’s extremist agenda.
This dismantles federal protections for fair elections and weaponizes the DOJ for voter suppression.
Source: The Guardian
2. Trump Declares “National Defense Area” at Southern Border
Trump declared a national emergency to bypass Congress and create a 170-square-mile military installation along the southern border, transferring federal lands to the Department of Defense and empowering the military to arrest, detain, and enforce immigration laws.
This is militarization of U.S. soil and a dangerous blurring of military and civilian law—a test run for domestic use.
Source: Just Security
3. ActBlue Investigation Fueled by Musk-Linked Dark Money
Trump’s DOJ launched an investigation into Democratic platform ActBlue using disinformation from a Musk-funded group, the Fair Election Fund, operating through dark money networks.
This is straight out of the authoritarian playbook—weaponizing the state to attack and silence opponents while protecting loyalists. It’s how power is abused in Russia.
Source: Mother Jones
4. Trump Deputizes Abusive Local Police for Mass Deportations
Trump has signed over 370 new agreements, tripling the number of local law enforcement agencies deputized to enforce federal immigration laws—despite known civil rights violations, abuse scandals, and past rejections. Among them is North Carolina’s Columbus County sheriff’s office, previously denied for its troubling record but now enlisted in Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Trump is building a nationwide deportation network—reviving abusive tactics, empowering corrupt local agencies, and laying the groundwork for a system that will be used against all of us.
Source: The Guardian
5. Ice seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children to deport or prosecute
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting "welfare checks" nationwide on unaccompanied immigrant children, but internal documents reveal these visits are also being used to gather intelligence for deportation and criminal prosecution, raising fears of “backdoor family separation.”
Targeting children reveals the cruelty at the heart of Trump’s agenda, designed to break families and spread terror.
Source: The Guardian
6. Trump Profits from $2B Foreign Crypto Deal and Qatar Golf Resort
Eric Trump and allies announced a $2 billion crypto deal in Dubai involving a Trump stablecoin and a UAE state-backed fund. At the same time, the Trump Organization inked a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, deepening Trump’s direct ties to foreign governments. But it doesn’t stop there—Trump insiders are launching the American Growth Partnership, a MAGA-aligned lobbying group offering CEOs exclusive access to Trump-appointed regulators like the FTC and FCC for a $50,000 fee. Meanwhile, Trump Jr. and allies have created Executive Branch, a $500K invite-only private club in Georgetown for tech moguls and Trump insiders.
Trump is monetizing the presidency, selling access to regulatory power, and turning Washington into a kleptocratic playground for loyal elites. This is what Russia looks like.
Sources: New York Times, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Politico
7. Trump Plans a Military Parade
Internal Army documents reveal plans for a large-scale military parade on June 14—Trump’s 79th birthday—featuring 6,600 soldiers, 150+ military vehicles, tanks, helicopters, and bands. Though tied to the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration, the parade's scale and timing reflect Trump’s long-standing desire for a grand military showcase.
This glorification of military power is straight from the authoritarian playbook, and Trump wants to use it not to honor service but to honor himself.
While the Economy Burns, Trump Plans a Parade
For those who know me, you know I’ve been sounding the alarm on Donald Trump’s behavior since his first term — particularly the tactics that mirror those in Russia and other authoritarian regimes. Time and again, Trump has made his admirati…
Source: Associated Press
👊🏼 Resistance Spotlight
1. May Day Protesters Rally Nationwide Against Trump’s “War on Working People”
Thousands marched across the U.S. on May Day, using the international labor holiday to protest Trump’s policies. Demonstrators denounced sweeping federal job cuts, immigration raids, attacks on unions, defunding of public services, and Elon Musk. Rallies spanned major cities and small towns.
The resistance is alive and mobilized. Across American cities, people are rising up—pushing back, organizing, and refusing to be silenced.
Source: NPR
2. Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Wartime Powers Deportation Scheme
A Trump-appointed federal judge ruled that Trump’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to detain and disappear alleged Venezuelan gang members without hearings violated the law. The court found no legal basis for calling their presence an “invasion” under the statute.
The ruling firmly rejects Trump’s misuse of outdated wartime powers as a legal cover for mass detentions and disappearances.
Source: Wall Street Journal
What We Can Do This Week
Demand Congressional hearings on judicial arrests and disappearances
Find your reps: 5 Calls to Congress
Share verified journalism on every abuse of power. No act is too small, no overreach too minor to expose. That’s how we fight back—by refusing to let any of it go unnoticed.
Support legal aid groups, whistleblower protection efforts, and independent journalists
Organize locally—protest, build coalitions, defend your community
Refuse to normalize any of this, and most importantly, document everything.6/14- Next National Day of Action Follow 50501 for protest information
Substack Live Events
If you haven’t watched yet, check out this insane and eye-opening conversation with Julie Roginsky and Lev Parnas.
Zev Shalev and I have officially launched the Trump Tyranny Tracker LIVE — on Substack Live every weekday at 2 PM EST.
We break down the day’s top headlines, expose the creeping authoritarianism, and connect the dots the media won’t.
Bookmark it and join us…
Don’t miss our new episode of Pax Americana this Thursday at 11 AM EST on Substack Live that dives into the dangerous intersections between Trump’s U.S. and Russia—and what it means for Ukraine, NATO, and the future of American democracy.
In the meantime, catch up on last week’s episode..
Audio content is no good for me. The rest is great.
Thank You Olga... This was Very Informative...