We’ve just hit a more dangerous phase of Trump’s reign

Trump’s reign of error and terror is spinning out of control. Minneapolis becoming a war zone. Americans murdered in the street. The Justice Department declaring the shooter innocent. Investigators quitting. Oligarchs contributing to the shooter’s defense fund. The FBI investigating the victim’s wife. Meanwhile, a criminal indictment of the head of the Federal Reserve because he won’t cut interest rates. Investigations of Democratic senators. Trump and Hegseth committing war crimes. Trump claiming to be president of Venezuela. Deciding for himself which companies will get access to its oil. Setting up slush funds in other countries to take the spoils. Threatening imminent war on Iran. Refusing to turn over the Epstein files, even though Congress demanded them. From Minneapolis to Caracas, from Chicago to Greenland, from Washington, D.C., to Tehran, Trump’s lawless violence — and his threats of even more violence — are increasing. The civil liberties of Americans are ever more endangered. His flouting of Congress and defiance of international law are growing. What can and should be done? I’m in contact with a range of people and institutions engaged in resisting Trump. Earlier this week I asked them to tell me what, in their view, is the most important thing we can do over the next several months to stop or at least slow this catastrophe. Here are their responses:1. Target a few Republican senators and House members to switch parties and thereby give Democrats a congressional majority in at least one chamber. Several of the people I contacted said the single most important thing we can do now is target a few Republican senators and representatives to switch sides or become independents who caucus with the Democrats — giving Democrats a majority in at least one chamber. That will be stop or at least slow Trump.Republican majorities are razor-thin in both chambers, but as long as they’re in the majority, it’s extremely difficult to stop Trump. Yet some Republicans represent purple districts and states and are struggling to keep their Republican supporters behind them. They’re also struggling with their own consciences in continuing to support Trump’s authoritarian fascism. They’re “gettable,” I’m told. I recall in 2001 when Vermont Republican Senator Jim Jeffords became an independent and caucused with the Democrats — thereby giving Democrats control of the Senate. Jeffords was a principled man who thought George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were destroying the GOP. Trump is far worse than Bush and Cheney.Skeptics tell me this won’t work because the forces holding Republican senators and representatives in place are way stronger than they were in 2001. 2. Undertake the largest demonstration against Trump in American history, aiming for at least 10 million marching in the streets, along with a national strike.Some of the people I spoke with believe that the two No Kings demonstrations last year generated a powerful wave of solidarity and that a third, far larger, would shake the GOP and Trump to the core. They recommend a giant demonstration coupled with a general strike during which no one goes to work — all designed to reveal the depth and breadth of the opposition to Trump. They note that the second No Kings Day got under Trump’s skin so effectively that he posted an AI-generated video of himself s——- on demonstrators. They also cite research showing that when 3.5 percent of a population takes to the streets, even the most intransigent regimes begin to fold. Skeptics say a giant demonstration will only cause Trump to dig in and send even more ICE and Border Patrol agents into places where the largest demonstrations are occurring in hopes of provoking violence, which he’d use to justify even more repression. 3. Get the liberal establishment to stand up against Trump and threaten boycotts against corporations and banks that won’t. Several of the people I spoke with pointed to the wave of establishment protest in recent days against Trump’s criminal indictment of Jerome Powell — including major financial institutions, former Fed chiefs, global finance ministers, and former Republican secretaries of the treasury. They see this as the potential start of an establishment backlash against Trump’s authoritarian fascism. What’s needed now, they say, is for these people to broaden their protest into a giant public repudiation of Trump. They recommend we pressure particular CEOs to do so (for example, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase) and threaten to boycott their products and services if they don’t. Skeptics tell me this is pie-in-the-sky. There’s no way the liberal corporate establishment is going to risk Trump’s wrath. They have too much to lose. The only reason they’re joining together to protect Jerome Powell is they’re afraid Trump’s attack on the Fed will hurt their own bottom lines. 4. Let Trump overreach to the point where Americans are so disgusted they overwhelmingly repudiate him in the midterms — resulting in a Democratic takeover of both chambers of Congress by wide margins, which severely limits what he’s able to do after January 2027. Others I contacted tell me nothing more can or should be done over the next year, beyond organizing and mobilizing for November’s midterms. They say we should aim for an overwhelming vote against Trump’s Republicans — so large as to constrain Trump’s every move from then on. Skeptics tell me that if Trump senses a huge midterm wave election against congressional Republicans, he won’t allow a free and fair election in November. They also say that unless action is taken between now and then to stop Trump, irrevocable damage will be done to America, so by January 2027 our democracy will be gone. Hence, today’s Office Hours discussion question: What if anything should be done to counteract this new and far more dangerous stage of the Trump regime? (You may have other ideas than those listed above; please include them in the comments.)Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.

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