Analysis: Does Trump Want a Hot War on U.S. Soil?

The U.S. Government has already fired the proverbial first shot against civilians as right-wing terrorism becomes ever more prominent

There is very little doubt anymore that the U.S. government has waged a war against civilians by using the broadest-reaching agency in its arsenal, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and moving National Guard troops to cities it declared so-called “war zones.” While this is not the Civil War, or race war, that has been promised by far-right white nationalist groups from the Ku Klux Klan to more modern neo-nazi groups like Atomwaffen, it’s impossible to ignore that this is a fantasy started by Trump’s White House. An administration hell bent on war against nonwhite people, who have no interest in such a war.

While no official declaration of war has been made, and barring a sudden shift in the White House’s agenda, we can only expect it to continue escalating without its power being checked, as has been the case for months. What began in Los Angeles, where federal agents provoked citizens and protesters to create an appearance of broader violence, has culminated in two people being shot, one killed, by federal agencies, and hundreds of citizens kidnapped for hours in Chicago after being dragged out in the streets in the middle of the night, among dozens of other acts of oppression and violence being documented every day.

The most recent shooting was described as agents being boxed in by 10 vehicles, leading to a driver (they claim was armed) being shot. However, video footage does not show agents being boxed in by multiple vehicles, and no evidence has been provided of the woman being armed. In other words, like the case of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, who was killed by ICE agents, video footage contradicted official statements, signaling another cover-up by both agents and the agency. When an agency spreads disinformation to cover up extrajudicial executions, it moves significantly closer to state-sponsored murder.

Make no mistake, covering up deaths after “unleashing” law enforcement should be labeled as state-sponsored murder, as evidenced by the constant lies from agents and the government trying to cover up the crimes. In L.A., they accused protesters of assault by falsifying reports, only to have video evidence exonerate the accused. No agents were disciplined for their lies, leading them to continue to escalate their violence against nonwhite civilians under the guise of immigration enforcement. While the violence is focused on Black people, Latinos, and Indigenous people, the targeting of all nonwhite groups is apparent.

Nothing the White House is doing is a mistake. They expressed no condolences for the migrants who were killed at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Dallas, just like they say nothing of the barbarities they have emboldened agents and police to commit. Meanwhile, DHS has used Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner (CBP) Rodney Scott as a liaison to the Department of Defense (DoD) to lobby generals to buy into White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Millier’s violent agenda.

In August, The New Republic reported on a memo written by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Scott playing on the “invasion” narrative. The memo was based on a “principal-level discussion to share needs, priorities, and expectations to enhance operational coordination between DHS and DoD in defense of the homeland.”

“We’ve got Central and South American cartels and gangs trafficking drugs, humans, and terror into American cities at will,” reads the DHS memo. “These same Transnational Criminal Organizations have now been designated by this administration as Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” the memo continued. “That puts this threat on the same plane as having Al Qaeda or ISIS cells and fighters operating freely inside America.”

Indeed, they are equating immigration with terrorism. The administration is running on charges of “red lights blinking everywhere,” regarding terrorism in the U.S., and blaming the false claim of an “open border” for it, while providing no evidence. The last ten years have been reminiscent of the panic spread by the government to create fear of Muslim “terrorists,” leading to an explosion in hate crimes. Now, the target is another Brown group, Latinos, who largely live in proximity to Black people, another target of this administration.

However, they arrest and deport immigrants who aren’t criminals and are doing things the so-called “right way,” racially profile Black people, Indigenous people, and Latinos, and suggest they’re all sexual predators, murderers, and gang members, while only taking handfuls of those types of suspects into custody. The vast majority have committed no crimes and are simply doing things the way the system was designed: working, paying taxes, starting businesses, and raising families, which the U.S. government gleefully separates.

“To Make America Safe Again, DHS and DoD will need to be in lockstep with each other, and I hope today sets the scene for where our partnership is headed,” reads the memo.

There are various questions regarding the legality of what the White House is doing, particularly around the Tenth Amendment, which draws the line between federal and state law enforcement powers. The administration has also been slammed for violating the Posse Comitatus Act, which has been brazenly ignored. The backstops for the violations of the law and the U.S. Constitution are the federal courts, and sadly, by the time they act, many atrocities have already been committed. When a judge rules in favor of the law, the White House labels their decisions as “legal insurrections,” leading to their being targeted for violence by Trump’s supporters.

Escalating things further, the White House is occupying Black communities and targeting them despite their being native born citizens. While Black immigrants are disproportionately targeted for deportations, the Trump administration is targeting Black communities to intimidate them and discourage them, or any other groups, from coming together and speaking out. While it seems to be working against the administration, the White House reacts with more violence.

The current White House is social media-driven. Its entire policy agenda is built on culture wars and not actual problems, highlighting why its popularity is so poor. But with every escalation, it becomes more evident that even without an official declaration, Trump declared war on the people with his invasion of L.A. and intends to make it as hot a war as possible in Chicago, Portland, and beyond, as noted by Stephen Miller’s junior high attempt at provoking gangs and labeling nonwhite people as ruthless.

Meanwhile, right-wing terrorism that supports Trump’s agenda continues to grow. Judges are facing constant death threats, as are lawmakers opposed to Trump’s policies. Liberal politicians have been murdered, and a recent explosion at the home of South Carolina state judicial judge Diane Goodstein is being investigated as a possible attack after her being subjected to a barrage of threats. The threats against her came after she issued a temporary injunction on the release of the state’s voter files to Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ).

The language from the White House is much more inflammatory than it was during Trump’s first term, when we witnessed many mass shooters echo the rhetoric of Republican leaders as motivation to conduct terrorist attacks. After Charlie Kirk’s murder, the attack on a Dallas ICE facility, and the dozens of other far-right attacks, it seems terrorism is becoming the new normal in the U.S., backed by an administration that remains silent about them while launching its own war on civilians.

As we rely on the courts to stop Trump, the question always ends up at the Supreme Court, where conservative unelected extremists are making decisions that impact the whole country. In this moment, those decisions can either save dozens if not hundreds of lives or open the door for the administration to take them with impunity. While the public waits for the slow-moving process that is the court system, the White House is intent on going to war against civilians simply because they aren’t white.

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I’m an independent investigative journalist who enjoys digging deeper into the stories you see on the news. Find my work at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or making a donation via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.