Analysis
Trump turns the US Marines on American protesters
In less than five months, the radicalization of the White House has exceeded all expectations. The Wild West lurks around the corner, and that is precisely what Trump wants.
4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines are on the streets of Los Angeles – a pilot program and day-one launch of a sprawling military operation, a war no longer metaphorical but real, which Donald Trump means to wage with chilling awareness.
During this second presidency he has vowed to annihilate – “obliterate,” in his own words – every form of political and social opposition, even by military force. That goal helps explain why he fired the senior Pentagon leadership within hours of taking office, shattering every procedural norm.
He fired General Charles Brown, the first Black officer ever to chair the Joint Chiefs. Gone too was the security detail of his predecessor, Mark Milley, who foiled Trump’s coup plots during his first mandate and warned of an authoritarian drift during his second. He installed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an alcoholic and abuser, who in four months has cleared out all the top positions in the Defense Department; and with him Dan Cain, the new head of the armed forces, the first to hold the highest military position without even being a four-star general. It won’t be long until we understand the extent of the purge at the Pentagon and whether it is enough to destroy any possible form of internal resistance to the insane adventure of soldiers and marines who are supposed to shoot at unarmed fellow citizens.
What follows is a war scenario fueled by the creation of an imaginary enemy, with the Trumpist world massively spreading carefully crafted or manipulated photographs and videos of “invading migrants”, “terrorist migrants” – in Trump's lexicon, the word “migrant” is now automatically associated with criminal activity. It is the imaginary story of a supposed real insurrection orchestrated and carried out by “foreigners,” a monstrous and outrageous operation given that these are legitimate and peaceful protests, which moreover are only present in certain areas of the Californian metropolis.
California is the first battlefield, the richest US state, and Los Angeles, its premier city, is the target. If it were not part of the United States, California would be among the richest and most prominent nations of the world. This is the state of Governor Gavin Newsom, the Democrats’ strongest figure and presumed presidential hopeful. Now, Trump has stripped him of command of the state’s National Guard and even threatened him with arrest – with the loud backing of Elon Musk, on social media and not only, who after months feuding with blue California is now scrambling to climb back aboard the Trump train.
In less than five months, the radicalization of the White House has exceeded all expectations. The withdrawal of the military from traditional areas of American presence is aimed at the movement and deployment of troops to the borders, but also at their use for control, intervention, and domestic repression, especially in states and cities governed by Democrats.
If this is what the first four-and-a-half months have looked like, the rest will bring a further, progressive and inexorable slide toward raw authoritarian power – which, to a good extent, is already a reality. Newsom warns: “You can’t work with Donald Trump. You can only work FOR him. And I will not – I refuse – to work for Donald Trump.” Unless he is stopped, an authoritarian presidency will harden into outright dictatorship.
The protests in Los Angeles – echoed in Santa Ana, Dallas, Austin and New York – aim to defend the fundamental rights of people who live and work in the United States, even if undocumented. The White House response now lays bare the designs for one-man rule that Trump has harbored ever since entering politics.
The coming days will test whether an iron fist can silence street opposition to round-ups and raids that threaten even immigrants long settled in America. If a wave of peaceful protests and solidarity is outlawed, how far will it radicalize?
There are more firearms in America than people. With a presidency counting on the solid support of the gun lobby, their spread and open presence is uncontrollable. See, for instance, the administration’s recent decision to lift the federal ban on forced-reset triggers, which allows ordinary rifles and pistols to mimic machine-gun fire.
Will the next chapter of Trump’s war feature vigilantes engaging in gunfights against citizens and immigrants to “assist” the troops – and a mirror response from the other side? The Wild West lurks around the corner, and that is precisely what Trump wants. On Saturday, the grand military parade he ordered for his birthday will be a new sign of this new reality.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/trump-apre-il-fronte-interno-dei-marines on 2025-06-11