Trump's Authoritarian Escalation Enters Dangerous New Phase, Sparking Backlash
The handcuffing of Senator Padilla. Militarized ICE raids targeting non-criminal immigrants. Deployment of troops to LA. Exploiting the military as political props. This moment demands pushback.
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The scene was shocking.
During a press conference on Thursday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was holding a press conference in Los Angeles, California. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), who was already in the federal building for another meeting, simply walked into the room and asked her a question. As he began to speak, Secret Service and FBI agents physically grabbed him, forcibly shoving him out of the press conference.
“Sir, hands off, hands off! I’m Senator Alex Padilla, and I have a question for the Secretary!” Senator Padilla loudly exclaimed as soon as the agents began to push him out.
Padilla was seeking answers on behalf of his constituents after the Trump Administration launched militarized ICE raids targeting non-criminal immigrants across California, federalized 4,100 National Guard troops, and deployed 700 active duty Marines amid protests.
Padilla’s voice trailed off as he was forced out, struggling against the agents manhandling him. Once they had him out of the room, Padilla stopped struggling, but FBI agents forced Padilla to the ground anyway, handcuffing him.
As Padilla’s staff followed and recorded the incident, agents told them, “There’s no recording allowed out here.”
I have never seen a U.S. Senator treated like this by federal agents, and from what I’ve heard from other reporters, this is clearly unprecedented.
Forcibly removing and handcuffing a sitting U.S. Senator for simply seeking to question a Trump Administration official during a press conference is totally unjustified authoritarian insanity.
After the incident, DHS released a statement, and Secretary Kristi Noem went on Fox News, repeating a lie that Padilla never identified himself, and that once he did, he was freed. Literally the moment Secret Service agents begin forcibly removing him, he says, "I’m Senator Alex Padilla." They still forced him to the ground and handcuffed him anyway.
Even if Padilla wasn’t a U.S. Senator, this was still an unacceptable way to treat a non-violent American, simply asking their government a question.
Senator Padilla was soon uncuffed and met with Secretary Noem. After he left the federal building, Padilla spoke to the media, forcefully putting this attack into perspective:
“If this is how this administration responds to a Senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, and to day laborers throughout California and across the country. We will hold this administration accountable.”
Padilla is right. ICE isn’t focused on violent criminals. As the Trump Administration fails to meet its deportation goals, it’s targeting workplaces, courthouses, and families. Productive undocumented immigrants—people who pay nearly $100 billion in taxes annually—are being swept up in these raids.
Republican lawmakers and right-wing media have largely coalesced around Noem’s false narrative and claim that Padilla “rushed” the podium. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) went as far as to suggest Senator Padilla be censured in the Senate. The spin coming out of the Trump Administration and his Republican allies has been nothing short of Orwellian, gaslighting disinformation telling us to disbelieve our own eyes and ears.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was one exception to the Republicans defending this authoritarian action. Murkowski told reporters, “I've seen that one clip. It's horrible. It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know."
Democratic lawmakers, on the other hand, have unanimously and forcefully spoken out.
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) was among the first to speak out, posting on X: “Senator Alex Padilla is one of the most decent people I know. This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that this will end anytime soon. In fact, it appears to be escalating.
This Padilla incident isn’t happening in a vacuum. It’s the latest example of a federal official being detained or arrested for opposing Trump’s immigration policies. It also comes amid the Trump Administration’s abuse of the military as he seeks to manufacture crises to expand executive power.
I’ve been writing for nearly a decade about Trump’s authoritarian ambitions. In Trump’s second term, I’ve been focused in particular on the Project 2025 effort to reshape the federal government into a tool of the far-right, led by OMB Director Russell Vought. Now, we’re seeing Trump’s authoritarian whims manifest beyond bureaucratic maneuvering and legal efforts into increasingly raw, militarized displays with real-world human impact.
Trump is increasingly punishing dissent with acts of force, and the timing of these abuses of power ahead of President Trump’s military parade on Saturday is no coincidence.
Trump Administration Arresting Political Opponents
The Trump Justice Department (DOJ) arrested and charged Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly obstructing the arrest of an undocumented immigrant. They also arrested Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka (D) outside of an immigration detention facility, and criminally charged Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) for allegedly impeding and interfering with Baraka’s arrest. It’s important to make clear that both Baraka and McIver were entitled to be there under their oversight duties.
These political prosecutions have been followed by threats of more arrests to come.
Border Czar Tom Homan threatened to arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, which he has since walked back. But on the White House lawn, President Trump said that if he were Border Czar Tom Homan, he would arrest Governor Gavin Newsom.
Trump’s attacks on Newsom aren’t just rhetorical.
Trump’s Military Occupation Of California
Without the consent of Governor Newsom, President Trump federalized 4,100 National Guard troops and deployed 700 active duty Marines to California. There are currently more U.S. troops deployed in California than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the occupation would last for 60 days, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said, “We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country."
This comes as President Trump asserts that he single-handedly got the LA protests under control. To be clear, this is a blatant lie. Trump didn’t get LA under control. LA law enforcement did, and protests had already calmed.
Also, to be even clearer, these were not even widespread protests. And the instances of violence were isolated, with even the LAPD saying most of the protests have been peaceful. All of this is exaggerated because Trump wants a larger crisis to assert more executive power.
The Trump Administration has released photos showing National Guard troops guarding ICE agents as they arrest undocumented immigrants. Trump Administration officials told ABC News that while these troops are “protecting” federal personnel, they are not engaging in law enforcement activities. There’s a reason they’re seeking to deny that troops are engaging in law enforcement.
As I outlined in my recent Substack Live with Don Lemon, under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the military is barred from engaging in civilian law enforcement. That’s why Trump is now labeling peaceful protesters “insurrectionists”—to lay the legal groundwork for the potential invocation of the Insurrection Act to sidestep the law entirely.
On Thursday night, a federal judge blocked the Trump Administration’s effort to take control of California’s National Guard, calling it illegal and unconstitutional. But an Appeals Court immediately paused that order while this case works its way through the courts. The Supreme Court will likely have to weigh in on this.
Trump’s exploitation of the military for authoritarian imagery is not new. Trump did this in his first term as well. But in his second term, without people like Defense Secretary Mark Esper and General Mark Milley around to act as guardrails, Trump is increasingly seeking to use the military not just for imagery, but as a show of force against everyday Americans.
Trump’s Exploitation Of Troops As Political Props
Ahead of President Trump’s military parade celebrating the 250-year anniversary of the United States Army this weekend, Trump is seeking to make this event double as a self-serving celebration of his birthday.
In the lead-up to this demonstration, President Trump spoke to U.S. troops at Fort Bragg on Tuesday, delivering an incredibly partisan speech attacking Democrats, soliciting boos and cheers from the crowd. We should never let ourselves get desensitized to this. It can’t be overstated how outrageously unpresidential and un-American it is for Donald Trump to speak to the U.S. military like they’re his personal army.
In the days after the speech, we learned why it appeared the audience of troops was behaving like a MAGA rally.
Military.com published a report that claims the Trump Administration screened the troops in attendance for political allegiance to Trump:
Internal 82nd Airborne Division communications reviewed by Military.com reveal a tightly orchestrated effort to curate the optics of Trump's recent visit, including handpicking soldiers for the audience based on political leanings and physical appearance. The troops ultimately selected to be behind Trump and visible to the cameras were almost exclusively male.
One unit-level message bluntly said "no fat soldiers."
"If soldiers have political views that are in opposition to the current administration and they don't want to be in the audience then they need to speak with their leadership and get swapped out," another note to troops said.
If this is the length the Trump Administration went to curate the appearance of a Fort Bragg speech, what do they have planned for Saturday’s military parade?
President Trump has already indicated that protests of his military parade, peaceful or otherwise, will be met with “force.” Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday:
“If there's any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force. For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force.”
It’s clear Trump sees any dissent as a threat to his power.
There are currently “No Kings” protests planned in 2,000 locations across the United States on Saturday. The demonstrations are expected to draw millions of people. We’ll see how large the demonstrations are and how the Trump Administration and state governments handle them.
One thing is clear: We’ve hit a turning point in Trump’s second term. Americans, in mounting numbers, are speaking out against Trump’s abuses of power. The latest Quinnipiac University National Poll finds Trump’s approval rating at just 38%.
While all of this is deeply worrying, the silver lining is that Trump’s cruel authoritarian overreach is, once again, backfiring—and turning the country against him.
