Countering "King" Trump [Second Draft]

Constructive Actions Citizens Can Take to Counter Trump 

To counter the authoritarian drift of Donald Trump’s second-term executive agenda (see https://wa8thld-dems.blogspot.com/2025/06/where-is-donald-trump-headed-in-his.html), private citizens have a range of constructive, nonviolent, and democratic tools at their disposal. These actions—when informed, strategic, and sustained—can strengthen institutional resilience, protect civil liberties, and preserve the foundational norms of a liberal democracy. 

Introduction

Donald Trump’s second-term agenda poses significant threats to democratic institutions, civil liberties, and constitutional checks and balances. From efforts to centralize executive power and defund higher education to the rollback of environmental regulations and voter suppression, citizens in Benton County and the Tri-Cities must take coordinated, informed action to resist authoritarian encroachment.*

*This post will remain a "draft" as we update with new and better content. Your contributions will be incorporated.

1. Educate Yourself and Your Community

Use reliable sources:

• Lawfare Blog (https://www.lawfareblog.com)
• Just Security (https://www.justsecurity.org)
• Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org)
• ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org)
• PBS NewsHour NPR (https://www.pbs.org/newshour)
• The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com)
• Snopes, fact checker (https://www.snopes.com/)

Host teach-ins, table talks, and discussion groups:

Focus on topics like presidential immunity, removal of Schedule F/Schedule Policy-Career designations, or the attack on higher education, e.g., Harvard.

Share knowledge:

Write letters to the editor, post fact-based content online (e.g., by using the "comment" option in some on-line news stories), and challenge disinformation within your networks.

2. Support Vulnerable Institutions

Defend public and higher education:

• Advocate for Washington’s universities and international students. 
• Support organizations like Scholars at Risk, and the American Association of University Professors.

Back civil liberties groups:

ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Knight First Amendment Institute

Donate or volunteer locally:

Support local school boards, libraries, and educational programs in the Tri-Cities.

"No Kings," June 14, 2025

3. Engage Locally

Attend public meetings: Tri-Cities city councils, school boards, Port of Benton Commission

Run for office or support pro-democracy candidates in local races

Build coalitions: Partner with groups like League of Women Voters of Benton & Franklin Counties, local NAACP branches, and faith-based justice coalitions

4. Defend Voting Rights

Volunteer with election protection organizations:

• League of Women Voters of Benton & Franklin counties (LWV-BF)
• Election Protection (866-OUR-VOTE)
• VoteRiders
  

Monitor local elections and ballot initiatives

Educate your community about changes in voting laws or redistricting (check LWVWA website, https://www.lwvwa.org/)

Help register voters and assist them with ID or ballot navigation

5. Use Your Skills and Platforms

Artists, teachers, veterans, retirees, and tech workers all have unique power:

• Teach civic literacy
• Create accessible content
• Support youth organizing
• Build transparency tools

Support grassroots journalism: Fund or contribute to independent outlets like Northwest Public Broadcasting

6. Mobilize Resources

Donate strategically:

Give to organizations that both mobilize action and take action, especially legal action against unlawful/unconstitutional acts by the current administration, including, Democracy Fund, Fair Fight, LWV, and ACLU, plus:

• Indivisible Tri-Cities (https://www.indivisibletricitieswa.org/)
  
• Northwest Justice Project (https://nwjustice.org/home)
• SARC (https://supportadvocacyresourcecenter.org/about-sarc.html)
• EarthJustice (https://earthjustice.org/) 
• GiveWell, for other vetted nonprofits (https://www.givewell.org/) 
• Tri-Cities Immigrant Coalition

"The new Trump administration is threatening everything we’ve fought so hard to protect – clean air, fresh water, and a healthy environment for all. But we won’t stop. In courtrooms across the country, we are fighting back." Earth Justice 

Crowdfund locally:

Use GoFundMe or ActBlue for civic causes or candidate support

Use advocacy tools:

• 5Calls.org for lobbying (https://5calls.org/)

• ActionNetwork.org for organizing
   
• Vote Smart (https://www.votesmart.org/)
  

Boycott strategically:

• Boycott Trump/MAGA supporting businesses, like Chick-fil-A, Home Depot, and Tesla
• Boycott industries that undermine democracy, like; ExxonMobil, and Blackstone (https://www.ituc-csi.org/blackstone-group-en)

 Leverage and Amplify Efforts

Method	Tools/Platforms
Petition & Lobby	Change.org](https://www.change.org/), [5Calls.org](https://5calls.org/)
Protest & Organize	[Indivisible](https://indivisible.org/), [Action Network](https://actionnetwork.org/)
Social media advocacy	Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky — amplify truth, call out lies
Crowdfunding	[GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/), [ActBlue](https://secure.actblue.com/)
Join or start civic groups	Local chapters of LWV, NAACP, Sunrise Movement, Veterans for American Ideals

 



"Hands Off!" April 5, 2025




A Final Word

This is a time for vigilance, courage, and solidarity. Every email, every meeting, every shared article, and every voter registered counts. The future of democracy in Washington and across the U.S. depends on engaged communities like Indivisible Tri-Cities rising to the moment.

Authoritarianism thrives on apathy, disinformation, and the slow erosion of shared civic values. The antidote is an engaged, educated, courageous citizenry willing to use every peaceful tool available to uphold constitutional democracy.

 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing."

(Edmund Burke)

Where is Donald Trump Headed in his Second Term?

Note: This essay was generated using ChatGPT. The following questions were put to the app:

1."What are the principal components of President Donald Trump's executive agenda, and what overall objective do those components apparently aim to achieve?"

2. "It seems to me that Trump's attack on institutions of higher education, illustrated most recently by his attempts to freeze funding for Harvard, and to eliminate Harvard's ability to enroll foreign students, is another component of his agenda."

To which the app responded:

You're absolutely right—and your observation pinpoints an increasingly prominent component of Trump’s second-term agenda: an ideologically driven campaign against institutions of higher education, particularly elite and research-oriented universities like Harvard. This campaign serves multiple functions within his broader authoritarian-nationalist strategy.

The response of ChatGPT to each question has been consolidated an reproduced below.

Part II, posted separately, will be an outline of what we, as private citizens, can do to thwart Trump's authoritarian agenda.

 

Artist's conception of Donald Trump in "King Trump vs. The Bond Market," by Kenneth Rogoff, in Project Syndicate, June 2, 2025.

 

President Donald Trump’s second-term executive agenda—based on public statements, policy actions, Executive/administrative orders, and aligned legislative efforts—revolves around a set of core themes that emphasize executive power, national sovereignty, economic nationalism, and a rollback of liberal democratic norms. These components appear to aim at consolidating presidential authority, remaking the federal bureaucracy in his image, and reshaping US governance and international posture according to his ideological framework.

Principal Components of Trump’s Executive Agenda (Second Term)

1. Expansion of Presidential Power

• Emphasis on “unitary executive” theory: Trump and his legal advisors argue for nearly unchecked presidential control over the executive branch.

• Claims of immunity: He asserts legal immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office, with the Supreme Court taking up these questions.

• Defiance of checks and balances: Trump has shown a willingness to ignore judicial rulings and marginalize congressional oversight, particularly regarding subpoenas, budget authority, and the administrative state.

2. Control and Purge of the Federal Bureaucracy

• Reinstatement of Schedule F: Reclassifying civil service employees to allow for their dismissal and replacement with ideological loyalists.

• Loyalty tests: Efforts to ensure government employees align with Trump’s agenda, including investigations into “deep state” influence.

• Curtailment of independent agencies: Moves to bring agencies like the Department of Justice and the Federal Reserve under tighter presidential control.

3. Hardline Immigration and Border Policies

• Mass deportations: Plans for large-scale removal of undocumented immigrants, including use of the National Guard.

• Use of military for domestic enforcement: Expanding the role of federal and even military forces in policing the border and urban protests.

• Asylum system rollback: Policies to deny or severely restrict refugee and asylum claims.

4. Retrenchment from International Institutions and Alliances

• Threats to withdraw from NATO: Continuing efforts to reduce US commitments to collective defense structures.

• America First foreign policy: Prioritizing bilateral deals over multilateral frameworks; reducing U.S. foreign aid and engagement.

• Appeasement or realignment with authoritarian leaders: Favorable posture toward leaders like Putin and Orbán.

5. Rollback of Environmental and Regulatory Protections

• Elimination of climate regulations: Withdrawal from international climate commitments and dismantling EPA authority.

• Deregulation: Broad dismantling of financial, environmental, labor, and consumer protections under the guise of economic growth.

6. Weaponization of Federal Agencies Against Political Opponents

• Justice Department investigations: Politicized investigations into Trump’s critics and adversaries.

• Use of IRS, DHS, and other agencies: Allegations of using federal power to intimidate or punish perceived enemies.

7. Curtailment of Voting Rights and Electoral Oversight

• Restricting mail-in and early voting: Advocating for measures that limit access to the ballot.

• Challenging electoral legitimacy: Continued refusal to accept past results and groundwork to undermine future electoral outcomes.

8.  Delegitimizing and Defunding Higher Education Institutions*

• Suppress Dissent and Intellectual Independence:

1. Universities have historically been sources of resistance to authoritarianism, offering platforms for critical thinking, research, protest, and investigative journalism.
2. Weakening these institutions undermines a major check on government overreach and narrows the space for ideological pluralism.

• Undermine Meritocratic Elites and Reshape the Knowledge Economy:

1. Trump’s broader populist narrative hinges on attacking “elites” and replacing professional expertise with loyalty and ideology.
2. By degrading the authority of academic institutions, Trump delegitimizes the scientific, legal, and journalistic communities that challenge his claims.

• Cultural engineering:

1. The university is one of the last bastions of multiculturalism, globalism, and critical inquiry—all targets of the “America First” worldview.
2. Attacks on DEI programs, gender studies, climate science, and global partnerships aim to reorient education toward a narrow, state-aligned ideology.

• Appeal to Authoritarian Voters:

1. For Trump’s base, especially white evangelical and ultranationalist voters, these attacks resonate deeply as a defense of “traditional values” against cosmopolitanism and liberal secularism.
2. It’s not just about policy—it’s a symbolic assault on a class and culture they resent.

_________________________
*Like attacks on the press or the judiciary, these efforts to control or silence universities follow a familiar pattern from autocratic regimes—think of Hungary under Orbán, or Turkey under Erdoğan—where academic independence is crushed as a threat to national unity.

Overall Objective: Autocratic Executive Realignment

These components point toward a systematic restructuring of American governance to concentrate power in the executive branch, erode democratic guardrails, and transform the presidency into a more authoritarian institution. The assault on higher education complements his attacks on the judiciary, media, civil service, and voting systems—each a pillar of a constitutional democracy that resists authoritarian consolidation.

 
This is often framed by Trump and his allies as a restoration of American greatness and sovereignty, but operationally it resembles an effort to:

• Undermine institutional checks on the presidency (courts, Congress, civil service, education)

• Reorient loyalty from the Constitution to the president personally ("Re-educate" the populace)

• Reinforce a nationalist-populist ideology hostile to globalism, immigration, and pluralism

• Secure long-term political dominance by altering the administrative and electoral infrastructure

In essence, Trump’s agenda aims not just to govern differently, but to change the nature of governance itself, shifting the US toward an executive-centered regime with fewer constraints, less transparency, and a more exclusionary vision of national identity.