Donald Trump goes to war with U.S. cities
Oceans will not protect us from this one
See updates through September 30, 2025, at end of post.
It appears that Donald Trump is declaring war on U.S. cities: “‘Chicago [is] about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,’ Trump wrote [on Truth Social]. On Friday [September 5], the president signed an executive order rebranding the Defense Department as the Department of War without congressional approval.”[1]
It’s not just Chicago. “[‘Border Czar’] Tom Homan[] said residents of cities with pro-immigrant policies all over the United States should also expect stepped-up immigration enforcement in their neighborhoods.” Homan branded unauthorized migrants uniformly as “public safety threats”[2] when the vast majority of them, living in the shadows, are otherwise law-abiding, at least in part to avoid contact with white supremacist gangsters (so-called “police”).
Homan also explained that National Guard units will be deployed in support of these ‘enforcement’ actions.[3] These will presumably be fully armed as they are in Washington, D.C.[4]
A judge has already ruled that such a deployment in Los Angeles, for the same ostensible purposes, violated the Posse Comitatus Act.[5] The Trump administration clearly does not care. Cities, not just Chicago, are about to face the National Guard under the so-called “Department of War.”
Update, September 8, 2025: Stepped-up federal immigration enforcement has begun in Chicago and is being rationalized with exaggerated claims of migrants’ criminality.[6] The Supreme Court appears to be giving it the green light.[7]
Update, September 28, 2025: Please see a new post entitled, “Donald Trump’s reign of terror,”[8] at https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trumps-reign-of-terror
Update, September 30, 2025: Donald Trump suggested that military “troops should use ‘dangerous’ American cities as ‘training grounds.’”[9]
[1] Mariana Alfaro, “Trump border czar warns sanctuary cities nationwide to ‘expect action,’” Washington Post, September 7, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/07/trump-sanctuary-cities-ice-operations/
[2] Mariana Alfaro, “Trump border czar warns sanctuary cities nationwide to ‘expect action,’” Washington Post, September 7, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/07/trump-sanctuary-cities-ice-operations/
[3] Mariana Alfaro, “Trump border czar warns sanctuary cities nationwide to ‘expect action,’” Washington Post, September 7, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/07/trump-sanctuary-cities-ice-operations/
[4] Zachary Cohen and Haley Britzky, “National Guard troops in Washington, DC, begin carrying weapons,” Cable News Network, August 25, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/24/politics/national-guard-dc-weapons
[5] Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, “Judge rules Trump can't act as national police chief,” Politico, September 2, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/02/trump-los-angeles-national-guard-ruling-00539393; Devan Cole, “Judge says Trump administration’s use of US military in Los Angeles violated federal law,” Cable News Network, September 3, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/02/politics/national-guard-california-trump-posse-comitatus-act-breyer
[6] Arelis R. Hernández and Marianne LeVine, “ICE launches ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ targeting immigrants in Chicago,” Washington Post, September 8, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/09/08/ice-midway-blitz-chicago-trump/
[7] Justin Jouvenal, “Supreme Court lifts limits on immigration raids in the Los Angeles area,” Washington Post, September 8, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/08/supreme-court-lifts-limits-immigration-raids-los-angeles-area/
[8] David Benfell, “Donald Trump’s reign of terror,” Not Housebroken, September 28, 2025, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trumps-reign-of-terror
[9] Avery Lotz, “Trump says military should use U.S. cities as ‘training grounds,’” Axios, September 30, 2025, https://www.axios.com/2025/09/30/trump-military-training-grounds-chicago-portland