His foreign and domestic policies are becoming one and the same, and their purpose isn’t complicated.
Friends,
At the same time agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol are swarming into Minnesota and other states and cities, Trump is planning bombing raids on other countries.
Domestically and internationally, he is putting America on a war footing.
ICE is reportedly investing $100 million on what it calls âwartime recruitmentâ of 10,000 new agents, in addition to the 20,000 already employed. Its recruitment is targeting gun and military enthusiasts, people who listen to right-wing radio, who have gone to Ultimate Fighting Championship fights or shopped for guns and tactical gear, live near military bases, and attend NASCAR races. Itâs calling for recruits willing to perform their âsacred dutyâ and âdefend the homelandâ by repelling âforeign invaders.â
Meanwhile, Trump has announced that heâll ask Congress for a $1.5 trillion defense budget for the next fiscal year â a 66 percent increase over the 2026 defense budget Congress just authorized.
Thereâs coming to be no difference between Trumpâs foreign and domestic policies.
Both are based on the same eight maniacal ideas:
(1) Might makes right.
(2) Law is irrelevant.
(3) America is at war with the worldâs âradical left,â who are defined chiefly by their opposition to Trump.
(4) Fear and force are better weapons in this war than hope and compromise.
(5) The U.S. stock market is the best measure of Trumpâs success.
(6) Personal enrichment by Trump and other officials is justified in pursuit of victory.
(7) So are lies, cover-ups, and the illegal use of force. (Trump is invincible and omnipotent.)
These ideas are at such fundamental odds with the norms most of us share about what America is all about and how a president should think and behave that itâs difficult to accept that Trump believes them or that his White House thugs eagerly endorse them. But he does, and they do.
Rather than some âdoctrineâ or set of principles, theyâre more like guttural discharges. Trump is not rational, and the people around him trying to give him a patina of rationality â his White House assistants and spokespeople â surely know it.
The media tries to confer on Trump a coherence that evaporates almost as soon as itâs stated. The New York Timesâs breathless coverage of its recent Oval Office interview with Trump â describing his âmany facesâ â is a model of such a vapidity.
According to the Times, Trump âtook unpredictable turnsâ during the interview. But instead of seeing this unpredictability as a symptom of Trumpâs diminishing capacities and ever-shorter attention span, the Times reported it as âa tactic he embraces as president, particularly on the world stage. If no one knows what you might do, they often do what you want them to do.â
Attempts to show inconsistencies or hypocrisies in Trumpâs domestic or foreign policies are fruitless because they have no consistency or truthfulness to begin with.
Nor is it possible for the media to describe a âbig pictureâ of America and the world under Trump because there is nothing to picture other than his malignant, impulsive, unbridled grandiosity all the way up and all the way down.
Trump has unleashed violence on Americaâs streets for much the same reason he has unleashed violence on Latin America and is planning to unleash it elsewhere: to display his own strength. His motive is to gain more power and, along the way, more wealth. (On Sunday, he even posted an image referring to himself as the âActing President of Venezuela.â)
âPolicyâ implies thought. But under Trump, there is no domestic or foreign policy because it is all thoughtless. It is not even improvised. It is just Trumpâs ego â as interpreted by the toadies around him (Miller, Vought, Vance, Kennedy, Rubio, Noem) trying to guess what his ego craves or detests, or fulfilling their own fanatical goals by manipulating it.
We must stop trying to make rational sense out of what Trump is doing. He is a ruthless dictator, plan and simple.
All analyses of what is happening â all reporting, all efforts to understand, all attempts at strategizing â are doomed. The only reality is that an increasingly dangerous and irrational sociopath is now exercising brutal and unconstrained power over America and, hence, the world.
Trump is putting America on a war footing because war is good for him as it is for all dictators.
War confers emergency powers. It justifies ignoring the niceties of elections. It allows dictators to imprison and intimidate opponents and enemies. It enables them to create their own personal slush funds. It distracts the public from other things (remember Jeffrey Epstein?).
War gives dictators like Trump more power and more wealth. Period.
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âWe donât have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.â â Howard Zinn
What it is:Â A time of intense violence and fear, often by a ruling group against its own people.Â
 A “Reign of Terror” is a period of extreme violence and political repression where those in power use fear, mass arrests, and executions to eliminate perceived enemies and enforce control [as] famously seen during the French Revolution when thousands were guillotined for opposing the revolutionary government. It’s characterized by arbitrary trials, paranoia, and the suppression of rights to maintain power and revolutionary ideals.
(Definition GoogleAI)Â
Unlike the French Revolution when the ruling elite (aristocracy) were guillotined by the revolutionaries, in the US those being oppressed are in opposition to an authoritarian neo-fascist takeover and support immigrant rights and condemn the presence of ICE agents making arrests and putting people in unsafe and often inadequate of even the most basic needs such as clean water. Often they are beaten and abused as well. Many are then deported to their country of origin or sometimes to a country they are not familiar with at all. American citizens are sometimes arrested as well.
The policies that support aggression internationally and backed by hyper-militarism with a goal of world domination characterized by neo-colonialism pursued by the Trump regime are opposed.Â
Building a Reign of Terror at Home and Abroad
In recent years the hot wars and bombings are conducted by proxies as in Ukraine and some African countries, and in Palestine/Gaza while financially supported by the US. The war against Venezuela is now a hot war with the recent bombing and the kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife. This escalation is of concern worldwide as it signals the intent of Trump and his administration to move into a hot-war mode.Â
Trump’s reign of terror against people within the United States is not always a literal bloody one. Trump’s assault on the United States continues in several forms.
Bruce Springsteen sums up well the travesties of the Trump administration as millions step forward to save Democracy. MEGA? I think not.
Instead for the Trump regime it means pursuing worldwide hegemony and empire in a new neo-colonialism that robs the resources of other countries and puts money into the coffers of multinational corporations with no conscience and where the only Green revolution acceptable is the US dollar. At the same time the Trump administration is attacking America as Springsteen’s video enumerates its many crimes against humanity and the American people.
Climate Crisis
While other countries worldwide are creating new innovations to reduce the results of human-created climate change by the greedy, the US moves backward into promoting fossil fuel and remains the largest polluter of fossil fuel (CO2) worldwide with its over 1000 military bases. The claim is that the US is second to China in CO2 pollution, but that is only the territorial United States and does not include the worldwide bases.
In a vicious circle the polluting of military bases relates to the mistaken hyper-military buildup of the US that leads to the US government’s domination by oil and gas industry and also the weapons industry. The bombing of Venezuela and the attempt to take it over is all about oil of course. To remind you, Venezula has the largest oil resources in the WORLD. US-based multinational corporations like Chevron, Citco, and more have been lusting after it for years.
In the meantime, in the US energy costs increase and Trump tries to destroy any other energy source, no matter how Green, such as the turbine windmills on the East Coast he has had shut down as part of the reign of terror inside our country, as fossil fuel and CO2 prevail, threatening our planet.
Google AI:Â Â DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in education is facing significant challenges, with numerous state laws banning DEI offices, trainings, and curriculum, alongside federal actions from the U.S. Education Department and Justice Department targeting related programs, leading to college restructuring, funding cuts, and legal battles over free speech and equity initiatives. This wave of anti-DEI efforts aims to curtail efforts supporting marginalized students, sparking debates about educational access, inclusion, and the future of campus diversity initiatives.
Much of the resistance began on college campuses such as Columbia University with students protesting genocide in Palestine/Gaza. In a weaponization of antisemitism these students were punished for their opposition to genocide and their college administrations were told their federal funding would be cut under the auspices of the Trump administration if they did not shut the student protests down. Academic freedom and freedom of speech were debated and questions raised, but most college administrations caved to the Trumpites because losing the federal funding for research and other programs seemed too much. Essentially they were blackmailed. (I thought that was against the law.)
Only Harvard, with a huge endowment, held out. With the court cases going back and forth between Harvard and the Trump administration, on January 5, 2026 a ruling considered favorable to Harvard was issued regarding research expenses. The ruling may prove important for other colleges as well.
Healthcare and Social Security
The reign of terror also includes the planned cutting of Medicare and Medicaid and shutting down of Obama Care. Ridiculously high rates proposed for healthcare hover around us. Serious cuts to social security are also being proposed.
Immigrant Rights and the Creation of ICE
Where is all this money from the cuts going? In great measure to fund ICE and into the pockets of corporations and billionaires, including the president’s family. Meanwhile the news is saying 500,000 immigrants have been detained or deported although the worst crime of many was getting a parking ticket, or maybe it was a headlight out on a car. Modeled after the Nazi Gestapo, ICE so far has operated with impunity, arresting people off the street or even invading schools and other public areas. These arrests often involve unnecessary violence on the part of the ICE agents.
It is the kind of thing happening to immigrants nationwide, these so-called criminals. Some hold green cards, others are US citizens. They clean our office buildings and hotels, work in construction, all kinds of jobs. Some own shops, are small business owners, and in one way or another contribute to the economy.
Are they taking jobs away from US citizens? Probably not, because all those disgruntled workers, many men who support Trump, don’t do those jobs anyway, or if they do their whiteness gives them priviledge. I don’t like to say it, but even with the gains in feminism, women are used to getting short-shrift with lower wages and being discriminared against in jobs although clearly there has been progress with women who are governors, legislators, managers, heads of departments, etc.
Making America Great Again translates into one simple goal: white male supremacy. Not all men are falling for that, of course, but some still just don’t get it. Why suddenly are they no longer supreme no matter what? Between feminism and DEI they feel attacked.
Women’s Rights
Men traditionally have been taught that they are superior to women in brain power and at performing most jobs. Although that is not true as women have proved their equality in many areas again and again although men have ruled the roost. The shadow of this belief still hangs over us. I am old enough that I remember it, suffered from it.
For example, I was talking to a young helper I had and mentioned to her that women could not get charge cards at stores; they had to be in their husband’s or father’s name. She was flabbergasted.
Similarly, women could not dine in certain restaurants such as the Oak Room in Dayton’s Department Store. Until women broke that taboo, too.
Even as I was effected by discrimination, I also benefited from white supremacy. I could always find a job, even if only a job that was part of shuffling women into low-paying clerical-type work.
These may seem like small things in what was a major women’s revolution, but they illustrate what is part of a larger picture.
Once a man about ten years younger complained to me that his girlfriend was going to a meeting at which no men were allowed He was very hurt by that, having no idea of the centuries of that kind of treatment of women as they were also barred from professions such as doctors and lawyers, even managers, and more.
Trump has created a list of 66 organizations he is withdrawing from; 31 are part of the UN, including UN Women. Trump’s disdain for women is well known. If he is unhappy with men he does criticize them and cut them out of his favored advisors, but he attacks women verbally using disparaging and degrading language. He goes after reporters who ask him hard questions about the Epstein files, but other woman as well. For a number of years he has verbally abused Congressional Representative Ilhan Omar. Born in Somalia, she is of course a US citizen. He derides her for her political positions and her origins and religion in racist rants against her.
International Politics
The United States is now the main threat to the sovereignty of Nations.  âDavid Miller
A short satirical poem about international politics, by Susu Jeffrey.
Letâs Be Consistent (a poem)
If Israel gets Palestine
then Russia gets Ukraine
and China gets Tiawan
and the U.S. gets Greenland.
Susu’s poem is not necessarily logical. Not much is now logical internationally, and Trump is anything but consistent. His vision is to go back to the unilateral domination of the world by the US which has been lost. These greedy men, with Trump at the top, want it all. They have a neo-colonial vision. MEGA. Much of the rest of the world is not in agreement. The battle for hegemony goes on, as does the struggle of nations to be sovereign. Trump and Company will not accept that US empire just is not predominant anymore. They think the way to retain their power and control is through a hyper-military, which uses massive amounts of oil/fossil fuel (CO2), and is destroying the planet, that vicious circle.
Trump’s inconsistency whether in foreign or domestic policy is very common. He often says one thing one day and the next day contradicts himself. Or he pardons a drug lord in a US prison while accusing Maduro of drug trafficking and also now attacking the president of Colombia for the same reason. He kept declaring at one time that the targeting of Venezuela was about sending drugs to the United States but immediately after the attack he declares it is all about oil, not drugs. On and on…
The bombing of Venezuela also serves as a distraction from the release of the Epstein files. Whether this timing was planned is unclear, but certainly is at mimimum specious.
Not only are peoples worldwide suffering, the current “ruling elite” and their cronies are attacking us, their own people, to satisfy their greed and their beliefs with their big egos; somehow they think they are superior to others, especially people of color. The evidence is definitely there in the history of the world, including present day ramifications: Genius does not belong to any one race or gender or any one nation. Intelligence does not belong exclusively to any race or gender or nation. Unfortunately, at the same time no race or gender in the history of the world lacks its villains or cruel people who crave and sometimes attain power.
On the Democracy Now! January 6, 2026 program Amy Goodman talks with Wall Street Journal reporter David Uberti in a three-part interview. Evidently in the year since Trump took office he has acquired $4 billion dollars for his family through Crypto. That us what is known, There may be more.
Data Centers
On January 6 Amy continues what is a three-part interview with David Uberti of the Wall Street Journal. The third segment is about Data Centers and AI. These Data Centers are being built across the country.
What are they? Google AI: A data center is a physical facility that houses an organization’s critical IT infrastructure, including servers, storage systems, and networking equipment. Essentially, data centers are the hardware backbone, and AI provides the software intelligence to optimize these facilities, creating a symbiotic, high-demand relationship.
Data Centers are controversial across the country because of their high energy use. Another threat is to water; these centers require water to cool them. From Google AI: “Data centers consume massive amounts of water, primarily for cooling servers, with large facilities using millions of gallons daily, comparable to towns of thousands of people, raising concerns in water-stressed areas.”
There are already at least 61 data centers in Minnesota. What is frightening is that several megacenters are being proposed for Minnesota. “With at least 10 planned, these Big Tech projects could consume as much electricity as every home in Minnesota.”
Some communities have succeeded in banning them or putting restrictions on them. Donald Trump is a great supporter of these AI and Data Centers. He is now talking about creating nuclear fusion to power both. While the technology has not yet been developed, he is setting up investments although a usuable product may be decades away. He has now banned individual states from exercising control over Data Centers in their states with an executive order.
Also of concern is their use of water. From Google AI: “Data centers consume massive amounts of water, primarily for cooling servers, with large facilities using millions of gallons daily, comparable to towns of thousands of people, raising concerns in water-stressed areas.”
Minnesota has a lot of water, more than many states. But that does not mean that water should be squandered. It is important to provide drinking water and water for recreation on the Boundary Waters and the many smaller lakes throughout the state, including in Minneapolis. The Mississippi River also starts in northern Minnesota and flows through Minneapolis/St. Paul. It is still an important route for transportation of goods on barges in addition to recreational uses.
David Uberti is predicting that Data Centers will be an important issue in the 2026 election because of their connection to the economy as they can create jobs and boost economies, particularly in rural areas. The question is at what cost to the environment.
Google AI:
Proposed National Moratorium: Over 230 environmental groups (including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth) have called on the U.S. Congress to pass a national moratorium on new data center construction.
Hyper-Militarism
One topic I have touched on but not addressed directly is Trump’s fascination with and glorification of militarism as the solution to everything. The Trump regime’s recent attacks on the boats off Venezula supposedly carrying drugs and the recent bombing and capture of President Maduro proves he can pick on small countries that have limited resources to resist. He can be the bully on the playground. He did not contact Congress, who are supposed by US law to be consulted for approval for all war; instead he contacted the oil barons, Congress is rightfully upset with him: another flagrant violation of the US Constitution.
Trump started building the military in his first term and has continued with vengeance in his second. Most recent is the passing of the trillion dollar bill for money for the military. Chris Hedges discusses what this means as he interviews veteran military political commentator William Hartung.
Chris Hedges:Â The historian Arnold Toynbee cites an unchecked rampant militarism as the key factor in the collapse of a civilization. This militarism disembowels a society. It fosters social breakdown, the rise of authoritarian governments and demagogues. It deforms a society until it is unable to respond to existential crises, in our case the climate crisis and a growing social inequality. The ruling elites, Toynbee warns, abandon the common good and become sycophantic appendages of oligarchs and a military machine that functions as a state within a state. The United States now spends nearly a trillion dollars a year on its military.
Trump’s hyper-militarism fits with the strong-man theory on the road to fascism and is related to creating fear.
FEAR
Building fear is one of the main attributes of neo-fascism. Once that fear is built, people look for a strong leader to “save” them. So Trump, although he is personally weak, has to put forth the strong-man image that Stephen Miller has chosen to glorify through hyper-militarism. He is going to Make America Great Again (MEGA). While Trump’s popularity is at an all-time low in the polls, and the myth of MAGA is fading, the reign of terror continues. And it expands after the DOGE cuts of essential jobs and of funding for essential services like FEMA nationally to the cutting of USAID internationally.
On Democracy Now! January 7, 2026 there are several excellent speakers, one addressing the attack on Venezuela and what that means for Latin American countries, especially Colombia. The next speaker discusses Trump’s threats to take over Greenland and what that means, particularly for NATO as Denmark a member., Greenland is a self-governing autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Another speaker represents the Inuit population of Greenland and their call for sovereignty. The final speaker is the author of a new book about the LA fires.
These informative speakers have a common theme: FEAR. Fear of bringing the world to the brink of and into war in their respective areas of expertise. In the case of Venezuela it has already resulted in a bombing, the dealth of at least 80 Venezuelan people and the abduction of a leader of a sovereign nation to get control of their resources, especially their oil. Each speaker made the connections of their particular topic to what that means nationally and internationally and expressed concern and fear of situations escalating or hampered by lack of resources due to the Trump administration cuts of programs such as FEMA for disaster relief.
Also included is a clip of Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s policy drivers, glorifying US military strength and how the rest of the world fears the US because of it. I don’t know what history books he has read. As far as I can see none, or he would know that ultimately the use of force in the history of the world always eventually leads to disaster. In the meantime it leads to the death of many innocent people as it did during both WWI and WWII and many wars that preceeded them and as it did in Vietnam and has in Ukraine and Palestine/Gaza. Somalia is also periodically bombed by the U.S. Yemen is another example.
Our Rogue governent under Trump is a government of death and destruction. It has not only continued policies that also were part of death and destruction under different US presidents, it has escalated them.
The attack on America, the flagrant violations of the US Constitution, has escalated exponentially from the abolishing of important agencies to the rise of ICE raids, especially in targeted cities, and the deportation of essential immigrant workers who are important to keeping the US economy functioning. That is, of course, part of the current reign of terror and the neo-fascism that characterizes the Trump regime.
We are manipulated into being afraid. For many it is the threatened cuts to social security, the cuts to programs that are essential to many Americans, such as Medicare and Medicaid, as SNAP (food to survive), and now child care for low-income families. If not affected by those cuts many working US citizens are seeing a significant rise in the cost of their healthcare, a doubling and tripling of rates.
All of these actions are part of the Trump regime’s reign of terror inside the United States and directed at US citizens. Trump’s propaganda then blames the Democrats, and targets Democratic states; Minnesota is one. California, also targeted, has many more more Electoral College votes than Minnesota, as well as more representatives in Congress. But it does not have Ilhan Omar, Somali-born representative for the 5th District in Congress, who Trump has consistently attacked for years. Now he is including the whole Somali population in Minnesota (most are naturalized citizens), which is the second largest group of Somalians in the world after Somalia itself. Trump has declared war on Minnesota where large populations of Hmong and Hispanics also live, especially in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul.
As I write this:
ICE in Minneapolis has crossed the line. On January 7, 2026: With Trump sending 2000 more ICE agents into Minnesota, in Minneapolis today a woman was shot and murdered by ICE. Although there has been violence by ICE agents before, no outright arbitrary shootings such as this naked travesty have previously occurred ln Minnesota. The woman was shot in the head through her car window as she was trying to trying to move her car out of the way. Her behavior was at no time violent.Â
The outright murder of Renee Nicole Good could be seen as an attempt to create FEAR in Minneapolitans and other Minnesotans if they continue to protest ICE’s presence. As Gov. Walz says in the related video from MeidasTouch below, do not give in to the hope of Trump and Kristi Noem for violence so they can send in the military.
Instead of Democrats vs, Republicans what is at stake is Democracy as Bruce Springsteen describes.Trump and his cronies ignore the Constitution.
Although the US Constitution may not always be perfect, it is still the law of the land and very much better than a fascist state. And so very much better than the reign of terror the Trump regime has inflicted upon US citizens and the world.
Coming back to Democracy Now!, I recommend viewing or listening to the very informative speakers on the January 7 program on democracy now.org or on YouTube, radio,or as a podcast They are also available individually as videos on YouTube.
Each if us continues what Roger Waters calls ‘steadfast perseverance’ in our own way, as do many around us, to oppose what is happening in the world, in the nation, and closer to home in our own world of Minnesota.
Today (January 10, 2026) I witnessed thousands gather in my neighborhood with NO FEAR even after the murder of Renee Good as we marched down Lake Street in Minneapolis. I drove through the traffic jam that preceeded the march as people gathered. I watched sidewalks full of people walk with determination and in collaboration and solidarity speak out with signs and with their walking bodies on another cold and windy day in Minneapolis.
Actions can speak louder than words. High above them an American flag flew from the Midtown building and as the wind unfurled the flag seemed to say these are my people and I am proud. It was a change from the shame I and others have so often felt when America exercises its neo-colonialism and disregard for so many people of the earth and for our own citizens, while other countries often hate the American flag.
As ICE haunts our streets we stand together in nonviolent protest against a tyrant, a Rogue regime creating a Reign of Terror. As others around the country join in protest of the murder of Renee Good and the invasion of our city and state we also stand with other cities that have been targeted and with our new neighbors who have become part of the fabric of America, We are all immigrants. We took the land from the Native Americans but now stand with themâStanding Rock, the pipelines Line 3 and now Line 5âas they stand with us.
I have always struggled to understand Robert Frost when he said “The land was ours before we were the land’s” from his poem The Gift Outright. But now I understand.
The land was ours before we were the landâs.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were Englandâs, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.
Frost recited this poem at John Kennedy’s presidential inauguration. Kennedy asked him to change the word ‘would’ in the last line to ‘will.’
America is still becoming,
Woody Guthrie
This Land is Your Land: Woody Guthrie many years after the American Revolution wrote a new song, what many call a national anthem instread of the Star Spangled Banner’s “bombs bursting in air.” Written during the great depession, it still stands as the land has claimed us.
First Verse
This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York island, From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters; This land was made for you and me.
Sixth Verse
As I went walking I saw a sign there, And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.” But on the other side it didn’t say nothing. That side was made for you and me.
Seventh verse
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, By the relief office I seen my people; As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking Is this land made for you and me?
Eighth verse
Nobody living can ever stop me, As I go walking that freedom highway; Nobody living can ever make me turn back This land was made for you and me.
Â
Sue Ann
RELATED â One of many media responses to the shooting in Minneapolis with filmed clips from Kristi Noem, from a person living in the area, and from members of Congress in Washington DC, along with a response from Gov. Walz.
I have not discussed the role of the media in this Reign of Terror. It is a very important role and of course touches all else I have written here. Here is an revealing commentary from FAIR about the coverage of many mainstream corporate media responses to the video of the death of Renee Good that is a critique of the effect of much of their coverage that illustrates how they operate. They may not lie, but they often waffle the truth.
âThe Money They Stole” –Troops are banging at the door –Will they dare to start a war? –Venezuela faces its gravest hour –Since Bolivar fought the Spanish power –Fishermen have been burned and drowned –By orders of a man donning a crown –Peddling sinister fentanyl lies –Posting snuff films of the people who die –And if you wonder whatâs the empireâs goal –Just follow the money they stole . . .
âThis is the world we now live in â the world according to Donald Trump.â Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
The world will be anxious, and rightly so. For a man so bent on a peace prize, Trump appears to revel in conflict.
The overthrow and reported capture by invading US forces of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelaâs hardline socialist president, will send a shiver of fear and consternation around the world. The coup is illegal, unprovoked and regionally and globally destabilising. It upends international norms, ignores sovereign territorial rights, and potentially creates an anarchic situation inside Venezuela itself.
It is chaos made policy. But this is the world we now live in â the world according to Donald Trump.
The direct attack on Venezuela marks an extraordinary, dangerous assertion of unfettered US power and comes in the same week that Trump threatened military strikes against another unpopular anti-western regime: that of Iran. It follows months of escalating US military, economic and political pressure on Maduro, including lethal maritime attacks on the boats of alleged drug traffickers.
Trump claims to be acting to prevent illegal narcotics flowing into the US via Venezuela and to halt an alleged influx of âcriminalâ migrants. In an echo of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, he is also accused of coveting Venezuelaâs huge oil and gas resources â suspicions reinforced by repeated, illegal US seizures of Venezuelan oil tankers.
But Trumpâs primary motives appear to be personal animosity directed at Maduro, and a desire to revive the 19th-century Monroe doctrine by creating a US sphere of influence and dominance throughout the west.
Regional leaders, including Colombiaâs president, Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump in recent months, greeted the coup with outrage and alarm; not least, perhaps, because they fear they too could become victims of Washingtonâs aggressive new hegemony. Cubaâs leftwing government has particular cause for concern. It relies heavily on Venezuelaâs regime for cheap energy and political and economic support.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has made no secret of his wish to see regime change in Havana. In Panama, too, anxiety levels will be running high. Trump has previously threatened military action there, over control of the Panama canal. Indeed, the reported capture of Maduro recalls the 1989 US invasion of Panama and the toppling and arrest of its then dictator, Manuel Noriega.
Authoritarian, anti-democratic regimes around the world will be carefully watching Trumpâs next steps, as will Washingtonâs democratic allies. Iran condemned the coup. It has good reason to be fearful. But Vladimir Putin, Russiaâs president, may not be totally displeased by the defenestration of his Venezuelan ally.
Trumpâs unprovoked resort to violence is not so very different from Putinâs actions in invading Ukraine. Both have illegally attacked a neighbouring country and sought to remove its leadership. For Chinaâs Xi Jinping, whose forces were last week practising military action against the âseparatistsâ of Taiwan, Trump has just set a precedent he may one day gladly follow.
Trumpâs coup is of great concern to Britain, the EU and western democracies. They should, and must, unequivocally condemn it. It directly challenges the rules and principles of the international order they hold dear. The US has once again ignored the UN and traditional methods of addressing inter-state grievances. And it is acting with apparently scant regard or thought for what happens next in Venezuela.
The Caracas government has been decapitated, but other senior members of the regime appear still to be in place. They are urging resistance and, potentially, retaliation against the US. There are unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties. If a power vacuum develops, public order could collapse, sparking civil war or a possible military coup. And it is unclear whether the latest US military action has ended, or may escalate further.
The idea that exiled opposition leaders, such as the 2025 Nobel peace prizewinner MarĂa Corina Machado, will swiftly return and that full democracy will now be restored is naive. The coming days will be critical. And itâs all down to Trump.
Trumpâs reckless action should finally lay to rest his always misleading characterisation of himself as a âglobal peacemakerâ. Itâs high time Keir Starmer and other European leaders publicly recognise him for what he is â a global warmaker, a universal menace.
Each time he blunders noisily into conflict zones, such as Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Palestine, setting deadlines, issuing ultimatums, picking favourites and monetising misery, the quest for just and lasting peace is set back.
Little wonder peace is elusive. And bizarrely, even while posing as a disinterested peacemaker and non-interventionist, Trump simultaneously wages war on the world. The US conducted record numbers of air strikes in the Middle East and Africa last year, surveys show.
Since returning to office a year ago, peace-loving Trump has bombed Yemen, carelessly killing numerous civilians after loosening rules of engagement; bombed Nigeria, to counter-productive effect; bombed Somalia, Iraq and Syria; and bombed Iran, where he mendaciously exaggerated the success of US strikes on nuclear facilities. He even refuses to rule out bombing Greenland, a sovereign territory of Nato ally Denmark.
Whatâs going on inside Trumpâs head? A benign interpretation is that in matters of war and peace, he has no idea what he is doing â no strategy, no clue â and makes up policy as he goes, depending on how he feels.
The sinister interpretation says he knows exactly what heâs at, that more and worse is to come. Like previous second-term presidents who ran out of road domestically, Trump finds the world stage offers greater possibilities for the exercise of power and ego. He is building a legacy in blood.
Trumpâs irresponsible, dangerously erratic behaviour is getting measurably worse. His Venezuela âsuccessâ may encourage him to attempt more and bigger, unhinged outrages. Like Mark Antony minus the toga and brains, he struts and preens, cries havoc! and lets slip the dogs of war.
Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator.
This song confronts the economic warfare, stolen resources, and military threats facing Venezuela from US imperialism. It traces a line from historic extraction to today’s financial blockadeâand affirms the right of a sovereign people to resist.
đ WHY THIS SONG NOW? As military threats against Venezuela escalate, this song focuses on the less visible front: the economic war. For years, Venezuelan assetsâfrom CITGO to gold reservesâhave been frozen or seized by U.S. and European banks under the banner of âsanctions.â This is a song about that theft.
CREDITS ⢠Music & Lyrics: Ben Grosscup ⢠Bass, Banjo & Studio Production: Chet Gardiner (http://chetgardiner.com/) ⢠Video Production: Ben Grosscup, with support from Chet Gardiner ⢠Lyrical inspiration: Based on the chorus and structure of David Rovicsâ âTerrorizing Venezuela.â Read the original here: https://davidrovics.substack.com/p/te… đ
As the Trump administration escalates its military campaign against Venezuela, [DN!] speaks to Venezuelan journalist AndreĂna ChĂĄvez about the latest developments.
Amy Goodman:
AndreĂna ChĂĄvez, speaking to us from Caracas. We want to thank you for being with us, and encourage people to read your article at Drop Site News. The article, â’War of the entire people’: Venezuelaâs Grassroots Rise to Resist Trumpâs Naval Blockade.â
Undeterred, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus vowed to âcontinue to fight to stop Trumpâs illegal war on Venezuela.â
A mobile billboard sponsored by Win Without War urging members of Congress to pass a war powers resolution is seen outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Win Without War)
House Republicans on Wednesday defeated a pair of war powers resolutions aimed at reining in US President Donald Trumpâs airstrikes on alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean and his increasingly aggressive provocations that critics fear are leading to a war on Venezuela.
The first resolution, introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), demanded that the US refrain from armed hostilities âwith any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere, unless authorized by a declaration of war or a specific congressional authorization for use of military force.â
Trump dubiously designated drug cartelsâincluding the Venezuela-based group Tren de Araguaâas foreign terrorist organizations in an executive order signed on his first day back in the White House.
The resolution was defeated 210-216, with seven lawmakers not voting. Two RepublicansâReps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentuckyâvoted in favor of the measure. Democratic Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez joined their GOP colleagues in voting down the proposal.
The second resolution, introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), would have directed Trump to âremove the use of United States armed forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization for use of military force.â
âThe Trump administrationâs ongoing lethal US military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Western Hemisphere are legally questionable, and ineffective,â Meeks and Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)âall members of the House Foreign Affairs Committeeâsaid in a statement following the vote.
âUnder existing US law, these vessels could have been interdicted and their occupants subjected to judicial process,â the lawmakers noted. âInstead of pursuing prosecutions, this administration has deliberately avoided judicial scrutiny by conducting lethal strikes, repatriating survivors, and in at least one instance, carrying out a second strike on defenseless persons.â
The Democrats continued:
The president has failed to demonstrate the necessary authority under US or international law to conduct lethal military strikes on these boats. No one can credibly claim that these vessels, in some cases not even traveling to the United States and located thousands of miles from US soil, posed an imminent threat to the American people warranting the use of military force. Our war powers resolution sought to terminate these extrajudicial strikes, yet most Republicans chose loyalty to Donald Trump over their oath to the Constitution. By not reining in Trumpâs gross abuse of power, they are sending a dangerous signal that any president can unilaterally commit US armed forces to hostilities without congressional authorization. We hope our Republican colleagues find their courage in the face of President Trumpâs threats to expand this military operation into Venezuela. Should he be allowed to do so, he will no doubt provoke another forever war that the American people do not support and Congress has certainly not authorized.
The House votes follow two failed Senate attempts to stop Trump from continuing military action against alleged drug cartels without congressional approval. A vote on a war powers resolution introduced earlier this month by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is expected this week. Meanwhile, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) on Monday announced a separate resolution to stop US forces from launching more boat strikes.
Wednesdayâs votes came after Trump escalated US aggression toward Venezuela by ordering a âtotal and complete blockadeâ on âall sanctioned oil tankersâ approaching and leaving the South American country. In a social media post divorced from historical fact, Trump accused Venezuela of stealing âoil, land, and other assetsâ from the United States.
This, after Trumpâs deployment of an armada of warships and thousands of troops to the southern Caribbean, his authorization of CIA covert action against the government of Venezuelan President NicolĂĄs Maduro, and his threats of a land invasion of Venezuela. Most of the at least 95 people killed in the more than two dozen US strikes on boats allegedly transporting drugs have also been Venezuelans.
Undeterred by Wednesdayâs votes, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) vowed to âcontinue to fight to stop Trumpâs illegal war on Venezuela.â
âTonightâs razor-thin, 211-to-213 vote on the bipartisan war powers resolution to end these illegal hostilities puts Trump on notice,â Omar, the deputy CPC chair, said in a statement.
Omar continued:
Nearly a quarter-century ago, the American people were misled by a lawless president promoting lies about weapons of mass destruction, all to invade an oil-rich country that posed no threat to us. The result was a disaster that killed thousands of American service members, triggered a humanitarian crisis in Iraq, and destabilized the entire region. Trump is pursuing the same course today in Venezuela, absurdly designating fentanyl a WMD while blockading Venezuela until the country gives him âall of the Oil, Land, and other Assets.â
âTrump has no mandate to push his unconstitutional military campaign against Venezuela,â Omar added. âIf Trump continues to carry out oil tanker seizures, impose a naval blockade, and put American service members in harmâs way for an illegal regime change war, he can surely expect a vote to immediately stop this disastrous conflict.â
Trump started building the military in his first term and has continued with vengeance in his second. Most recent is the passing of the trillion dollar bill for money for the military. Chris Hedges discusses what this means as he interviews veteran military political commentator William Hartung.
ICE in Minneapolis has crossed the line. On January 7, 2026: With Trump sending 2000 more ICE agents into Minnesota, in Minneapolis today 
As ICE haunts our streets we stand together in nonviolent protest against a tyrant, a Rogue regime creating a Reign of Terror. As others around the country join in protest of the murder of Renee Good and the invasion of our city and state we also stand with other cities that have been targeted and with our new neighbors who have become part of the fabric of America, We are all immigrants. We took the land from the Native Americans but now stand with themâStanding Rock, the pipelines Line 3 and now Line 5âas they stand with us.
