Donald Trump’s reign of terror
Nothing like a little ‘Full Force, if necessary’ to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein files
See update for September 30, 2025, at end of post.
After deploying state National Guard and federal troops to U.S. cities despite there being nothing like an emergency to justify a violation of the Posse Comitatus act, and promising this for more cities,[1] Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called admirals and generals from around the world for what is ostensibly a lecture on “grooming, standards and [Hegseth’s] ‘warrior ethos’ vision.”[2] (Apparently, the latter is about being more aggressive,[3] oh, and about massacring unarmed men, women, and children.[4]) I saw a lot of concern on social media that the ‘loyalty oaths’ might be required of attending brass and now it turns out that Donald Trump will be attending, which surely means he will be trying to turn the gathering into a political rally.[5]
This follows Trump’s announcement of a military deployment to Portland, Oregon, and other locations to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities and operations, authorizing the use of “Full Force, if necessary.”[6]I’m pretty sure my face turned white when I saw this.
It’s all a rather terrifying juxtaposition. Certainly, loyalty oaths would be illegal,[7] but the Supreme Court has been giving Trump a pass on an awful lot of stuff[8] and Trump previously attempted to require loyalty essays of applicants for civil service jobs.[9] And I can’t help but think of this so-called ‘warrior ethos’ and those ‘loyalty oaths’ in application to troop deployments in cities.
This will be, if I surmise correctly, intended to be toxic masculinity on steroids—imperial legions—and with M7 rifles. Which fairly bluntly translates to bloodbaths and a reign of terror in urban areas.
Update, September 30, 2025: Pete Hegseth’s lecture on “grooming, standards and his ‘warrior ethos’ vision”[10] was every bit as stupid, misogynist, and bigoted as anticipated, every bit the waste of time, money, and resources it was anticipated to be.[11] And Donald Trump suggested that military “troops should use ‘dangerous’ American cities as ‘training grounds.’”[12]
[1] David Benfell, “Donald Trump goes to war with U.S. cities,” Not Housebroken, September 27, 2025, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/donald-trump-goes-to-war-with-us
[2] Paul McLeary, “Hegseth’s mysterious meeting with generals will focus on grooming and warrior ethos,” Politico, September 26, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/26/hegseth-meeting-details-00582791
[3] Paul McLeary, “Hegseth’s mysterious meeting with generals will focus on grooming and warrior ethos,” Politico, September 26, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/26/hegseth-meeting-details-00582791
[4] Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (New York: Henry Holt, 2000); Lucy Campbell, “Hegseth says Wounded Knee massacre soldiers will keep Medals of Honor,” Guardian, September 26, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/26/pete-hegseth-wounded-knee-massacre-medals-of-honor
[5] Tara Copp et al., “Trump to attend gathering of top generals, upending last-minute plans,” Washington Post, September 28, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/28/trump-hegseth-speech-generals-quantico-security/
[6] Michael Birnbaum, Dan Lamothe, and Todd C. Frankel, “Trump calls for troops in Portland, escalating use of military inside U.S.,” Washington Post, September 27, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/27/trump-military-portland-ice/; Gregory Svirnovskiy, “Trump says he is authorizing military to use ‘Full Force’ in Portland,” Politico, September 27, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/27/donald-trump-portland-troops-00583380
[7] Timothy Noah, “Trump’s Odious New Demand of the Civil Service: Loyalty Oaths,” New Republic, June 6, 2025, https://newrepublic.com/article/196220/trump-civil-service-loyalty-oaths
[8] Ian Millhiser, “The overwhelming evidence that the Supreme Court is on Donald Trump’s team,” Vox, September 5, 2025, https://apple.news/A4mYLPFs8RtKHqbQlENPtQQ
[9] Timothy Noah, “Trump’s Odious New Demand of the Civil Service: Loyalty Oaths,” New Republic, June 6, 2025, https://newrepublic.com/article/196220/trump-civil-service-loyalty-oaths; Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, “Trump Blinks on Loyalty Oath Essays for Job Applicants,” July 2, 2025, https://peer.org/trump-blinks-on-loyalty-oath-essays-for-job-applicants/
[10] Paul McLeary, “Hegseth’s mysterious meeting with generals will focus on grooming and warrior ethos,” Politico, September 26, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/26/hegseth-meeting-details-00582791
[11] Dan Lamothe, Tara Copp, and Alex Horton, “Trump, Hegseth lecture military leaders in rare, politically charged summit,” Washington Post, September 30, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/30/hegseth-military-meeting-trump-generals/
[12] 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