Death by Executive Order

From Miller’s war on antifascists to Trump’s tariffs on vanities and pharma, Hegseth’s loyalty summons, Noem’s FEMA-for-donors scheme, and Soros in the crosshairs, the authoritarian circus keeps roll

Good morning! If you woke up thinking maybe the fascist muscle-flexing would take a breather today, I regret to inform you that Stephen Miller is still alive and talking. Trump rolled him out this week to trumpet a new executive order creating an “all-of-government” crackdown on so-called left-wing terrorism. Translation: if you’ve ever marched in a protest, donated to a progressive cause, or tweeted something snide about Trump, congratulations, you’re now a terrorist. Miller, pale as ever, practically hissed with glee as he described how the Joint Terrorism Task Force will be weaponized against antifascist activists. Fascists gonna fascist, and Miller looks so much like a vampire he’d probably draft an executive order banning garlic and wooden stakes just to be safe.

And since the appetite for repression is never sated, the next target is philanthropy itself. The New York Times reports that Trump’s Justice Department is circulating memos on how to criminally charge George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, with racketeering, arson, even terrorism. Arson. Against a nonprofit. The Soros foundation, which has funded civil society programs around the globe, fired back that this is a “politically motivated attack” meant to silence speech. But the message is clear: Miller opens the door by branding antifascists as terrorists, and Trump happily strolls through it to declare that any nonprofit he dislikes is basically Al Qaeda with better accounting software.

Next, Trump tried on the peacemaker costume at the White House, telling reporters with a straight face, “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.” As if Netanyahu’s far-right coalition, desperate to block a Palestinian state, is waiting for Daddy Trump to say no. The reality: Europe is rushing to recognize Palestine, the UN has ruled Israel’s campaign in Gaza a genocide, and half of Gaza’s children are dead or starving. Trump, ever desperate to reclaim the spotlight, insists a ceasefire is “pretty close.” Sure it is, just like peace in Ukraine was coming in “24 hours” back in 2022.

Speaking of Ukraine, Russia’s foreign minister is now openly declaring his country in a “real war with NATO.” That should set off klaxons in Washington. Instead, Trump’s response was to announce 50% tariffs on bathroom vanities and 100% tariffs on pharmaceuticals. As Moscow escalates toward World War III, Trump decided the true national security threat was your medicine cabinet. It’s like governing by roulette wheel: one day tariffs on furniture, the next on insulin. Courts have already ruled his tariffs unlawful, but with the Supreme Court handing him immunity, he just keeps spinning the wheel. Americans pay higher prices, corporations stop investing, and Trump gets to cosplay as a strongman.

Contrast that with Ukraine’s DeepStrike campaign, which is actually making a difference. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi revealed that in just two months, Ukraine has destroyed or disabled 85 high-value targets inside Russia, from refineries to airfields, creating a genuine fuel crisis. Half the gas stations in occupied Crimea are dry, Russian diesel exports are halted, and Putin’s war machine is sputtering. While Trump fiddles with vanities and pharma prices, Ukraine is showing the world how scrappy determination and a fleet of drones can blunt a superpower’s aggression.

Back home, Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Fox host in epaulets, has summoned every U.S. general and admiral to Virginia with no agenda, no rationale, just “show up.” For officers who’ve led combat operations, negotiated with NATO, and overseen nuclear deterrence, being ordered around by a cable-news personality turned political enforcer feels less like strategy and more like a loyalty test.

Hegseth rebranded the Pentagon as the “Department of War” like he was workshopping a podcast title, and now treats the officer corps not as stewards of national defense but as extras in his stage show. The U.S. military depends on professional norms and steady civilian oversight; instead it’s getting firings without cause, performative summons, and whiplash from a man whose résumé highlights include Fox & Friends segments and “Friends of Pete” at Princeton.

And in case you thought the corruption was only confined to the military-industrial spectacle, Kristi Noem has you covered. As Homeland Security Secretary, she personally bottlenecked FEMA disaster relief, forcing her signature on every expense over $100,000. Communities in Texas and North Carolina waited weeks while lives were lost. But when a Florida donor texted her about rebuilding Naples’ historic pier, a tourist attraction in a wealthy enclave, suddenly $11 million in federal aid materialized in record time. Noem jetted down on a government plane, toured the pier, and then spent the weekend dining on foie gras with her benefactor. If you’re a flood victim in Texas, too bad; you should have been a cardiologist with a taste for French cuisine and $25,000 to spare for Noem’s campaign fund.

As if to underline how far this has all gone, Trump also rolled out a death penalty memo, the kind of document that cloaks brutality in the language of “national security” and leaves the definitions deliberately vague. One minute he’s talking about Erdoğan, the next about hostages, and then suddenly certain crimes will now warrant execution. He doesn’t need specifics; he just needs the power. Pair that with Miller’s terrorism order, the Soros memo, and you can see the machinery being built: define dissent as terrorism, let loyalist prosecutors invent the charges, and have the execution order sitting there ready to go.

The through-line is unmistakable: abroad, Russia rattles sabers and Ukraine grinds it down; at home, Trump consolidates power with tariffs, loyalty tests, and authoritarian decrees. In between, his cronies funnel disaster relief to their donors and turn the White House into Club Rose Garden. It’s corruption as governance, repression as policy, and chaos as branding. The only surprise anymore is how casually they say the quiet part out loud.