DONALD TRUMP: AMERICAN FEAR MONGER
THE B-MOVIE LOGIC OF A GOVERNMENT BY GRIEVANCE
Ah, September 26, 2025 – a date that will live in infamy not for some Pearl Harbor redux, but for the latest chapter in Donald J. Trump's endless sequel: *Retribution: The Second Coming*. Picture this: the man who once promised to drain the swamp is now flooding it with subpoenas, indictments, and enough petty vendettas to fill a Roman Colosseum. James Comey, the tall, awkward ex-FBI director whose only apparent crime was being born with a forehead the size of a billboard, has been slapped with charges for allegedly fibbing to Congress about that dusty old Russia probe. It's not justice; it's a grudge match scripted by a reality TV producer with a Napoleon complex. And as Trump himself might tweet (if Twitter were still a thing he controlled), "FAKE NEWS? More like FAKE INDICTMENTS – but for ME, they're PERFECT!"
But let's rewind the tape on this slow-motion train wreck. Trump's not just picking on Comey like a kid with a magnifying glass and an anthill. No, sir – his "enemies list" (he denies it's a list, but come on, it's probably laminated and framed in Mar-a-Lago's panic room) is longer than the line at a Florida early-voting poll during a hurricane warning. We're talking a rogue's gallery of government officials, celebrities, and anyone who's ever looked at him sideways. Letitia James, the New York AG who dared to sue his business empire? She's dodging mortgage fraud allegations that smell fishier than a week-old tuna melt. Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor whose biggest sin was probably setting interest rates too high for Trump's golf cart loans? Accused of the same shady home-financing shenanigans, with whispers of her ouster because, well, independence is so *last administration*. Gen. Mark Milley, the retired Joint Chiefs chair who once called Trump a loose cannon? His security clearance got yanked faster than a bad toupee in a windstorm, and his portrait vanished from the Pentagon like it was cursed by a voodoo doll.
Then there's John Bolton, the mustache-twirling ex-national security adviser whose book deal made Trump see red (or orange, depending on the lighting). The FBI raided his home over classified docs – irony alert: the guy who wrote the book on Trump's mishandling of secrets now gets the same treatment. John Brennan, former CIA director and vocal Trump critic? His clearance is revoked, and he's under the microscope for those pesky Russia election interference probes – the ones Trump calls a "hoax" while conveniently forgetting his campaign's love letters to Putin. Jack Smith, the special counsel who chased Trump through four indictments? Now he's sweating potential Hatch Act violations, because apparently pursuing a president for trying to steal an election is a federal no-no. And Adam Schiff, the impeachment maestro with the elfin grin? Mortgage fraud claims, naturally, as payback for leading the charge on Trump's Ukraine shakedown.
This isn't a hit list; it's a *hit parade*, conducted by the Bondi-led DOJ, where Pam Bondi – Trump's former impeachment defense attorney – plays first violin on a fiddle made of shredded norms. Trump's pressured U.S. attorneys to fast-track these cases, turning the Department of Justice into the Department of Just Us (the "us" being anyone with a MAGA hat). It's McCarthyism 2.0, minus the black-and-white TV but plus Twitter rants and Truth Social screeds. Remember Joe McCarthy? That boozy senator who waved fake lists of communists like a kid with a slingshot? Trump does the same, but his bogeymen are "radical left Democrats," "deep state operatives," and anyone who prefers kale smoothies to Quarter Pounders. Universities? They're getting funding cuts for "antisemitism" and "woke sports" – code for daring to host pro-Palestine rallies or let trans athletes compete. Media outfits like AP, PBS, NPR, and NBC? Under investigation for... existing, I guess. Law firms like Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie? Security clearances stripped because they represented the wrong clients – you know, the ones who think evidence matters.
And don't get me started on the institutions. The Federal Reserve? Trump's treating it like his ex-wife's alimony check – demanding control and firing governors who won't play ball. Public spots like the Smithsonian and Kennedy Center? Gutted for being too "cultural." Even ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising powerhouse, is in the crosshairs with a presidential memo ordering probes to kneecap the opposition's wallet. Trump's executive orders read like a dystopian grocery list: suspend refugee programs, fast-track deportations, ban gender-affirming care, criminalize homelessness in "sanctuary cities." All wrapped in fear-mongering rhetoric – immigrants as "invaders," trans folks as threats, urban poor as loiterers deserving the clink. It's not policy; it's panic porn, designed to make Americans clutch their pearls and vote red out of sheer terror.
Fear, you see, is Trump's superpower – or at least his secret sauce. He's reeked it into every corner of American life: government workers whispering in hallways about loyalty oaths, attorneys lawyering up against IRS audits, universities self-censoring syllabi like it's the Dark Ages. It's chilling, literally – MSNBC's in meltdown mode, universities are capitulating faster than France in '40, and even some Republicans are side-eyeing the boss like he's about to demand they salute his golf clubs. Critics call it an abuse of power, a shatter of norms, a slide into authoritarianism. Trump? He calls it "justice." As he told reporters after Comey's indictment: "It's not a list, but I think there'll be others." Subtle as a sledgehammer, Don. And when pressed on the "radical left" violence? He warns of "retaliation from the right," stoking the very civil war embers he loves to fan.
But here's the delicious twist in this orange-hued horror flick: Trump's fear-mongering is boomeranging. In a nation weaned on FDR's "nothing to fear but fear itself," the 45th president's sequel is breeding its own monster. Whispers of "scary Trump stories" are already bubbling up – parents showing kids grainy photos of that scowl to enforce bedtime: "Eat your veggies, or Trump will tweet about you!" Slasher flicks? Pfft, outdated. The new horror genre: *Trump Retribution Chronicles*, with sequels like *The Bolton Raid* and *Schiff's Mortgage Massacre*. Forget Jason Voorhees; Trump's the slasher with a subpoena instead of a machete, lurking in the shadows of the DOJ, waiting to carve up your career.
Yet, on October 18, America gets its exorcism. Enter No Kings 2.0 – the grassroots uprising that's trading Trump's tyranny for a tonic of hope and hot cocoa. These aren't your grandma's protests; they're international spectacles, from Times Square to Trafalgar Square, where folks in "We the People" tees chant down dictators and hoist signs like "No Crowns, Just Cowbells." Past demos drew crowds from every continent (yes, even Antarctica – penguins hate autocrats too), highlighting anti-dictatorship vibes and reminding everyone that power belongs to the polis, not the pol with the most polls. No Kings isn't just marching; it's mapping a plan to banish Trump's bogeyman schtick to the dustbin of history's horrors – right next to McCarthy's red scares, the Klan's hoodwinked hate, and slavery's chains. We'll vote him into irrelevance, hold him accountable at the ballot box, and maybe even make "retribution" a Jeopardy category: "What is a loser's last resort?"
Trump's proving, day by toxic day, why he'll clinch the title of Worst President Ever – etched in stone, or at least in the annals of bad hair days. His retribution isn't strength; it's the flailing of a man who peaked at *The Apprentice* and can't handle the finale. But We the People? We're the producers now. On October 18, we'll flip the script: from fear to fortitude, from king to commoner. Trump may learn to fear the ballot box – or at least the fine print on his next indictment. And when the credits roll on this farce, history won't whisper; it'll roar: "The end... of the fearmonger."
*Whew. Pass the popcorn – this sequel's getting good.*
Who has Trump targeted so far besides Comey in his retribution campaign? | Donald Trump | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/26/trump-retribution-campaign
Just like McCarthy, Trump spreads fear everywhere before picking off his targets | Kenan Malik | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/30/just-like-mccarthy-trump-spreads-fear-everywhere-before-picking-off-his-targets
A List of Who Trump Has Targeted for Retribution: Biden, Law Firms and Others - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/07/us/trump-revenge-list.html
The Indictment of James Comey - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/podcasts/the-daily/james-comey-indictment.html
Brief Comey Indictment Prompts Questions and Criticism - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/us/politics/comey-indictment-legal-reaction.html
The Authoritarian Logic of Trump’s Early Executive Orders https://www.justsecurity.org/121193/authoritarian-logic-trump-executive-orders/
Trump warns of retribution for 'radical left' political violence https://thehill.com/opinion/lindseys-lens/5523829-escalating-rhetoric-violence-trump/
No Kings 2.0: The Resistance Awakens
Fear has a shelf life. And on October 18, the No Kings 2.0 movement plans to flip the script. Their message? “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Their mission? To banish Trump’s fearmongering to the dustbin of history—alongside slavery, the Klan, and McCarthy’s ghost.
These protests aren’t just rallies. They’re declarations. That power belongs to the people. That democracy isn’t a prop in a reality show. That satire, symbolism, and civic engagement are the antidotes to authoritarianism.
No Kings https://www.nokings.org/
Indivisible https://indivisible.org/
