The Fascist Takeover Has Arrived. What Now?

By Jessie Seigel / January 22, 2026

Barely 20 days into 2026, the Trump regime is off and running on its nefarious agendas.

Piracy on the Caribbean Seas

Not satisfied with illegally sinking small fishing boats, murdering the survivors, or seizing Venezuelan ships, the Trump regime began the new year by invading and kidnapping the president of Venezuela and his wife to put on show-trial in New York, allegedly for narco-terrorism and gun possession. It will be interesting to see whether Trump's so-called Department of Justice (DOJ) can provide any proof--given the destruction of the boats supposedly containing evidence. And if the Maduros possessed guns when captured, it had to be in Venezuela.

While Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is no saint, the kidnapping was clearly a case of one mobster (Donald J. Trump) kidnapping another mobster (Maduro) in order to take over his territory and its oil. 

As late as December, Trump offered Maduro a deal in which he would, as reported by the New York Times, leave Venezuela for “a gilded exile in Turkey.” Thus, the kidnapping and arrest had nothing to do with violation of U.S. laws or restoration of Venezuelan democracy. In the Godfather’s terms, Trump was offering Maduro “a deal you can’t refuse.” But Maduro did refuse. And is paying the price while Trump moves to take over Maduro’s machine.

Greenland Next?

This week Trump has been threatening a violent take-over of Greenland, a NATO ally. The representatives of Greenland, Denmark and NATO have largely been too diplomatic about it. They've been trying to address Trump’s pretended concerns about security and pondering whether he really wants something else—something they can give him.

But Trump has told them what he wants. He wants Greenland. Judging by past performance, he wants it for himself, not for security, not for the citizens of the U.S., or any legitimate reason. It is likely, of course, that he is also doing the bidding of his patron, Vladimir Putin, so as to destroy the NATO alliance.

Think of Johnny Rocko in the film Key Largo. Rocko, who when asked what he wanted, agreed he wanted “more.” And that he would never have enough. Trying to reason or negotiate with that mentality is following the path of Neville Chamberlain.

When facing a Rocko or an off-balance Trump, NATO nations need to recognize these hard facts: if Trump proposes to do something nefarious—even if he subsequently says the opposite, tries to make his meaning obscure, or temporarily pretends to back off as he just did in his speech at the Davos conference--he and his minions still mean to do it as soon as they can get away with it.

So, Europe and NATO would do well to follow this advice: take Trump’s threats seriously. Recognize that Trump takes diplomacy as weakness. Stop being so damn polite. Instead, consistently respond in the loud terms that he understands. And prepare a powerful, united military defense of Greenland against any possible U.S. attack or invasion. Make a strong public display of doing so.

When the Criminals Run the Government, Everyone is a Criminal

The law as practiced by Trump’s attorney general Pam Bondi is reminiscent of Louis Carroll’s “The Mouse’s Tale” in which the cat, Fury, meets a mouse in the house and insists they “go to law”: “‘I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,’ said cunning old Fury. ‘I’ll try the whole cause and condemn you to death.’”

This is what happens when the mobsters and insurrectionists take over the government. Law does not exist. Any remnant is twisted into an unrecognizable shape that serves their personal interests.

Thus, Trump’s DOJ is beginning fabricated criminal investigations of Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell—adding them to investigations of Senators Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and the attempts to prosecute James Comey, Letitia James, and other men and women standing up for democracy and the rule of law.

Why is the Trump regime trying to investigate and prosecute military heroes like Kelly and Slotkin for quoting the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s requirement that soldiers refuse to obey illegal orders?

Because the regime wants soldiers to obey its illegal orders—like those given to bomb fishing boats in the Caribbean, the kidnapping of Maduro, or the impending violation of Posse Comitatus—setting U.S. troops on U.S. civilians.

Why investigate Walz and Frey?

Because they are Democrats who have pointed out the false pretext for the federal invasion and the lawlessness of ICE’s actions in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Trump’s dog-killer Kristi Noem has upped her ante, unleashing Trump’s ICE berserkers to attack and murder Minnesota citizens—and then claim those murdered were at fault.

Currently, Trump is preparing to invoke the Insurrection Act and add 1500 American troops to the more than 2000 ICE hoodlums roving Minneapolis streets.

Some joke, eh? A government taken over and run by insurrectionists invoking the Insurrection Act against a populace of the United States.

It is apparent that Minnesota is Trump’s test ground for invading other cities, declaring martial law, and cancelling the 2026 election nationwide, or—at a minimum—preventing any city or state that might vote Democratic from voting. Furthermore, even if Trump’s opponents win, there is no guarantee that they will be allowed to take their seats, or that any legislation or impeachment they try to pursue will be permitted or honored.

Yet much of the media continues to cover all of this as if a 2026 election is a given and the Republicans must be afraid they’ll lose because their actions are so unpopular with the American people. They don’t seem to understand that if authoritarians can keep power by force, they don’t care whether the majority of the populace is against their actions.

The Bottom Line

In a recent article in The Atlantic, David Frum pointed out that the Trump movement has "no consistent principles and no concern for truth; many of its boosters don't care whether the success is real or phony." He added: "They celebrate peace plans that don't bring peace, trade deals that don't enhance trade. The Trump movement exists to glorify Trump, in all his erratic mania. Results in the real world don't matter."

All that, we already know.

But Frum also points out that the anti-Trump side “hesitates to speak before it knows what it’s talking about.” Consequently, it is slow to respond to Trump's lies. Frum adds that because they care about fairmness, they "hesitate to accuse Trump of corrupt motives until sufficient evidence emerges to support the accusation." And, because they believe in the rule of law, they "can be drawn into legalistic objections..."

Frum correctly concludes that Trump thrives on this ineffectiveness of his opponents. And also, that "an ineffective anti-Trump movement is an indjulgence that American democracy cannot afford or accept."

Unfortunately, although Frum correctly diagnoses the problem, he does not propose a solution. I cannot fault him for that because, currently, I don't have one either.

The good guys are always at a disadvantage because they follow rules, and the bad guys don’t. So, if we’re living in a time and place where the rules have been eroded or destroyed, what do we do?

Pretend the rule of law is still in effect? Follow the shell of a legal system purged of its substance?

That’s not the answer.

Nor would I want to see the good guys go as lawless as the bad guys in order to stop them.

But there are some things that can be done if pro-democracy leaders have the will to do them:

To media commentators: don’t get bogged down in weighing ad infinitum Trump’s intentions, psychology, or propriety while his regime puts the last nails in the coffin of its coup. Trump’s motives and psychology have long been established for anyone who cares to see. They don’t matter. It’s stopping his regime’s actions that matters. Discuss and weigh the ways in which that might be done.

To the nation’s pro-democracy political leaders: stop playing defense. When Trump claims he’s sending ICE into cities to deal with “the worst of the worst” that allegedly have gotten out of hand, don’t weakly argue that there may be problems but not enough to warrant federal intervention. This only gives his big lie a legitimacy to be debated. And before you can finish your argument, Trump’s got his ICE goons destroying your city and rounding up your residents.

Play offense. Loudly and belligerently call the Trump regime out on all its lies. Make the regime prove that it is not lying.

And finally, rather than get sidetracked chasing each individual outrage, the various pro-democracy forces need to gather together to brainstorm and agree on a strategy to resolve the big question—how, within the law, to rid the country of this lawless regime.

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