As Donald Trump continues to try to escalate[1] his war on U.S. cities,[2] I am wondering at what point civilian patience runs out—and frankly, what happens then—and at what point Trump sends in a massive military force to put down a rebellion, whether it exists or not.
U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut ruled that Trump’s portrayal of the situation in Portland was delusional or, more politely, “Immergut said Trump had not met the standard to call up troops and pointed to ‘substantial evidence that the protests at the Portland ICE facility were not significantly violent or disruptive in the days — or even weeks — leading up to the President’s directive,’ prompting White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to accuse the judge of ‘legal insurrection.’” Immergut, by the way, is a Trump appointee.[3]
Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker, reacting also to Trump’s move to send National Guard troops to Chicago, said, “We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.”[4]
All this is at least a reign of terror as I have previously described it.[5] But as Trump escalates, I have to wonder when, if at all, he stops.
I absolutely do not advocate capitulation to this escalation. But the speeches Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave to generals assembled from around the world[6] may be more than hyperbole. We now also have to consider worst case scenarios involving an all out war.[7]
[1] Holly Bailey et al., “Judge deals Trump new setback in plans to deploy troops to Portland,” Washington Post, October 6, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/10/05/chicago-portland-protests-trump-national-guard/
[2] 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
[3] Holly Bailey et al., “Judge deals Trump new setback in plans to deploy troops to Portland,” Washington Post, October 6, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/10/05/chicago-portland-protests-trump-national-guard/
[4] Holly Bailey et al., “Judge deals Trump new setback in plans to deploy troops to Portland,” Washington Post, October 6, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/10/05/chicago-portland-protests-trump-national-guard/
[5] David Benfell, “Donald Trump’s reign of terror,” Not Housebroken, September 30, 2025, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/donald-trumps-reign-of-terror
[6] 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/; 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
[7] 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