Democracy at Risk

The Government Has a New Word for Protesters

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 -0900

WIRED obtained more than 1,000 pages of internal, unpublished reports from DHS, the FBI, and fusion centers around the country. What they describe is a coordinated national shift — using the domestic surveillance apparatus to monitor a threat category the government invented itself.

They’re calling it “anti-tech violent extremism.”

The term appears nowhere in any publicly available DHS or FBI extremism framework. No public rulemaking created it. A New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau report obtained by WIRED warns that AI adoption may fuel “large-scale protests that devolve into civil unrest and anti-tech violent extremist activity” — and that this threat is already emerging. People who show up at town halls and budget meetings to object to data centers in their neighborhoods are being surveilled under this label.

Taxpayers Are Gilding Trump's Horses

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 -0800

The National Park Service just handed a $5 million no-bid contract to a Maryland gilding studio. The job: coat four bronze horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial in 23.75-karat gold leaf. Deadline: July 4th.

That’s not a restoration. The horses were last restored in the 1970s and are showing their age — but there’s a reason you don’t rush a $5 million gilding job through without competitive bidding. The reason is usually that you’re not trying to get the best value. You’re trying to get it done fast, for someone who wants it done.

Trump's face on the $250 bill

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Federal law bars putting a living person’s image on U.S. currency. That law exists for a reason. Trump wants an exception.

His allies in Congress have introduced legislation to carve one out, and the Treasury Department isn’t waiting for it to pass. It’s already “conducting appropriate planning and due diligence” on a new $250 bill — featuring Trump’s portrait.

The $250 is framed as honoring the country’s 250th anniversary. That’s the packaging. What’s inside is a president who has spent two terms putting his name and face on airports, schools, military bases, and now money — and rewriting whatever laws get in the way.

They bulldozed a 1,000-year-old sacred site. Then called it a mistake.

Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 -0800

On April 23, a federal contractor building Trump’s border wall bulldozed the Las Playas Intaglio — a roughly 200-foot fish-shaped geoglyph etched into the floor of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. It’s approximately 1,000 years old. It’s sacred to the Tohono O’odham Nation. And it had been flagged by a cultural protection monitor as a site contractors were supposed to avoid.

About 60 to 70 feet of it are just gone.

They pepper-sprayed a U.S. Senator. Here's what they didn't want him to see.

Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 -0800

On Memorial Day, federal agents outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark pepper-sprayed U.S. Senator Andy Kim. He’d been trying to ensure that detainees engaged in a hunger strike weren’t being mistreated. ICE also fired rubber bullets into the crowd.

Let that register: a sitting United States Senator, exercising congressional oversight, got pepper-sprayed by federal agents.

Inside Delaney Hall — a privately run, 1,000-bed facility currently holding around 300 detainees — people have been on a hunger strike for days. Their complaints: medical care they can’t access, food that’s inedible, water problems. Detainees were seen flickering lights and waving from windows in response to protesters chanting outside. ICE’s official position is that there is no hunger strike.

He couldn't even give them one day

Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Yesterday was Memorial Day. A day to honor the men and women who died in service to this country. No politics. No score-settling. Just grief, and gratitude, and silence for the ones who aren’t coming home.

This is what the President of the United States posted on Truth Social yesterday morning:

“Happy Memorial Day to all, including the Dumocrats, who disrespect our Military and all of the tremendous success that it has had over the last year. God Bless those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. I love you all! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Threatening the press into silence

Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

2026-03-16T00:00:00-07:00

This is what state media pressure looks like before it becomes state media.

The Trump administration launched a coordinated campaign against news organizations covering its Middle East military operation — one that a majority of Americans oppose. Pentagon briefings now include attacks on outlets like CNN. Trump is posting on Truth Social accusing news organizations of “LIES” and floating “Charges for TREASON” against journalists. Not off-the-cuff rage — a sustained, multi-front effort to make the press back off.

The convicted felon in the White House

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Let’s just say it plainly: the President of the United States is a convicted felon.

On May 30, 2024, a jury found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The crime: covering up hush money payments to a porn star to hide an affair and influence the 2016 election. The jury deliberated, considered the evidence, and came back guilty. Thirty-four times.

He was sentenced on January 10, 2025 — ten days before taking office. The sentence: unconditional discharge. No jail. No probation. Nothing. He walked out, flew to Mar-a-Lago, and two weeks later was sworn in as President.

Trump mocks McCain's POW service

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

At a conservative forum on July 18, 2015 in Ames, Iowa, Donald Trump looked at a man who spent five and a half years being tortured in a North Vietnamese prison and said he wasn’t really a war hero. Why? Because he got captured.

“He’s a war hero because he was captured,” Trump said. “I like people that weren’t captured.”

John McCain, a Navy pilot shot down over Hanoi, refused early release as a POW because it would have meant leaving his fellow prisoners behind. He came home with both arms permanently damaged. Trump, who received five draft deferments during the same war, decided that didn’t count.

DOJ scrubs Jan. 6 case records

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

They’re erasing the record. Not metaphorically — literally deleting it.

The Trump Justice Department removed official news releases from its website documenting the charges, convictions, and sentences of January 6 defendants. Real criminal cases. Cases that went through the federal court system. Gone. The DOJ called them “partisan propaganda.”

Let me be clear about what just happened: the government prosecuted these people, won those cases, and now is pretending the prosecutions were political bias. They’re not just pardoning the attackers — they’re rewriting the history of the attack itself.

Green cards only if you leave

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

You’ve lived here for years. You work here. Your kids go to school here. You’ve been doing everything right, following the legal path to permanent residency. Now they’re telling you to leave and apply from abroad.

And if you leave? You might not get back in.

The Trump administration announced that large numbers of green card applicants can no longer complete the process from inside the United States. Pack up your life, go back to where you came from, and wait. How long? Nobody knows. What are the chances you get denied reentry on some technicality while you’re waiting? Nobody’s saying.

DOJ 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

He pardoned the January 6 attackers. He erased the prosecution records. He called the whole thing a hoax. And now he’s created a $1.776 billion fund that could pay them.

The Justice Department — his Justice Department — announced an “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of his IRS settlement. It will hear claims from people who say they were victims of government “weaponization and lawfare.” It can award monetary relief. And when asked directly whether January 6 defendants could collect from it, senior DOJ officials would not rule it out.

IRS immunity addendum in Trump settlement

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Remember when he promised to release his taxes? Yeah. Instead he got the government to guarantee they can never be audited again.

Buried in a settlement addendum — not announced, not explained, just quietly signed by his own Acting Attorney General — is a clause saying the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from auditing Trump, his family, his businesses, his trusts, and anyone associated with them for any returns filed before the settlement date. Forever. Not this year. Not ever.

Orders targeting major law firms

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Courts said it was unconstitutional. He’s doing it anyway.

Trump issued executive orders targeting four major law firms — Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey. The punishment: bar their lawyers from federal buildings, revoke security clearances, terminate government contracts with their clients. The crime: representing clients he didn’t like, running diversity programs, having the wrong political associations.

Lower court judges threw the orders out as unconstitutional. The administration appealed. They’re still fighting to make this stick.

Q1 2026 stock trades

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

While running the country, Trump reported 3,642 stock trades in the first quarter of 2026. Not “thousands” — 3,642. That’s 58 trades every single market day. Worth somewhere between $220 million and $750 million — they don’t have to tell you exactly, just a range.

Think about what that means. The man setting trade policy, tariff policy, regulatory policy, and export controls holds massive positions in the companies affected by those decisions. Every policy call he makes, every executive order he signs, every phone call with a foreign leader — all of it happens while he’s sitting on hundreds of millions in corporate securities that go up or down based on what he does.

Rapid deportations to third countries

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

The administration was deporting people to countries they’d never lived in, with as little as six hours’ notice, with no meaningful chance to say “I’ll be killed if you send me there.”

A federal judge ruled it unlawful. An appeals court expressed unease. The administration kept pushing anyway.

This isn’t about whether someone should be deported. It’s about whether the government has to follow basic legal procedure before shipping a human being to a country where they might face persecution, torture, or death. Six hours. That’s what they were offering. Six hours to somehow prove you’ll be murdered if they put you on that plane.

Threatening force against parade protesters

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0700

He threw himself a military parade. And then threatened anyone who showed up to protest it.

Trump warned that demonstrations around his parade would be met with “very big force.” Not “we’ll handle any disturbances appropriately.” Not “law enforcement will maintain order.” Very big force. Said out loud, in public, about American citizens exercising their constitutional right to protest.

This is a president using the language of military intimidation against his own people for disagreeing with him in public.

Army anniversary parade and birthday overlap

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0700

The U.S. Army turned 250 years old. Trump turned 79. Guess whose party it became.

A massive military parade rolled through Washington on Trump’s birthday, with Trump front and center as the focal point of the whole spectacle. The Army’s 250th anniversary — a genuine milestone worth celebrating — got absorbed into a made-for-TV event built around one man’s image.

This is what authoritarian aesthetics look like when they’re trying to seem normal. You don’t announce “I’m having a military parade for myself.” You find a legitimate occasion, you attach yourself to it, and you make sure the cameras can’t tell the difference between honoring the institution and honoring you.

Third-term rhetoric

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0700

He says he’s joking. He’s not joking.

Trump told NBC he was “not joking” about a third term and that there are “methods” to make it happen. The 22nd Amendment is not ambiguous. Two terms. That’s it. That’s been the law since 1951. There is no method. There is no loophole. There is no constitutional path.

But he keeps saying it. And that’s the point.

This is how authoritarian instincts work in a democracy — you don’t announce you’re going to torch the Constitution, you just keep suggesting it’s negotiable. You say it’s a joke when people push back. You say you’re “not joking” when the crowd cheers. You float the idea until it stops sounding outrageous and starts sounding like just another political debate.

January 6 pardons

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0800

On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned the people who attacked the Capitol to stop the certification of an election he lost. Not a few disputed cases — sweeping clemency for most January 6 defendants, sentence commutations for 14 others, and orders to dismiss pending cases and release prisoners immediately.

Let that sink in. People who beat cops, smashed windows, and tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power got pardoned. On day one. Before he did anything else.

The Access Hollywood tape

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0800

In 2005, Donald Trump was caught on a hot mic telling Billy Bush exactly who he is.

“I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

That’s not gossip. That’s not a rumor. That’s him, on tape, in his own voice, bragging about sexual assault. He apologized for it in 2016 — called it “locker room talk.” Then later tried to claim the tape was fake. Access Hollywood went on air to set the record straight: “The tape is very real. He said every one of those words.”

I'm Mad As Hell!

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m a retired engineer in California, and I’ve spent my life believing that American democratic institutions — imperfect as they are — were fundamentally resilient. I no longer believe that without reservation.

Like a lot of people, I’ve felt helpless watching what’s happening. Signing petitions, posting on social media, arguing with strangers online — none of it feels like enough. So I built this.

Democracy at Risk is my attempt to do something useful with the anger. Every entry documents a specific action by the Trump administration — what happened, why it matters, and what democratic norm or institution it puts at risk. Sources are linked. I’m not asking you to take my word for it.

Suggest an Incident

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

See something that belongs on this list? Send it my way.

I read everything. I add what I can verify from credible sources. No guarantees, no promises — but if you’ve spotted something real that I’ve missed, I want to know about it.