While the world watched Trump fall apart, something worse was brewing

An angry and physically deteriorating Donald Trump sat slumped forward at the head of the Cabinet Room table, his shoulders sagging and his eyes so swollen they struggled to stay open as live cameras aired his twelfth Cabinet meeting. Marco Rubio sat stiffly to his right while Pete Hegseth watched from his left, both men wearing the tense, uneasy expression of people realizing the president was once again slipping off course in front of the world. But today's meeting had one purpose only: to distract from the unraveling of his presidency and to serve as cover for the dangerous things his administration is doing away from the cameras.

Based on the events of 5-27-2026

The Breakdown:

• Trump slumped forward at his twelfth Cabinet meeting, with Rubio and Hegseth repeatedly trying to redirect him
• Asked about the economic pain Americans are feeling, Trump immediately brought up the midterms unprompted and snapped "I don't care about the midterms"
• WIRED published an investigation based on more than 1,000 pages of unpublished documents from DHS, the FBI, and fusion centers across the country
• The government has invented an entirely new category of domestic threat called "anti-tech violent extremism," a phrase that appears nowhere in publicly available DHS or FBI frameworks
• Fusion centers are now tracking ordinary people showing up at town halls to object to data centers being built in their neighborhoods
• A New York intelligence report predicted protests over AI and pre-labeled the people who might show up as extremists before anyone has done anything
• The behaviors flagged as suspicious include photography, observation, and "implied threats," the exact same conduct as peaceful, constitutionally protected protest
• How this sits on top of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, signed in September, which instructs the DOJ to investigate networks built around "anti-American," "anti-Christian," and "anti-capitalism" beliefs
• Stephen Miller calling it the first all-of-government effort to dismantle "left-wing terrorism"
• Sebastian Gorka formally ranking left-wing extremists alongside narcoterrorists and foreign Islamist groups
• Why the dissent being criminalized is dissent against the very industry propping up this administration
• How the Soviet Union reclassified critics as psychiatric patients, and how the Stasi built files from who you talked to and where you stood
• Why regardless of how we feel about AI, we all need to take this seriously, because evil regimes never stop at their first targets
• Congressman Robert Garcia: "We've got a team on Epstein, we have a team on family corruption, we have a team on DHS and ICE"
• Congressman Joe Neguse: you have to go back to the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s to find an administration this immersed in corruption
• Every unanswered document request becomes a subpoena, hearing, and sworn deposition the day the gavel changes hands
• Governor Gavin Newsom announced California will tax 100% of any "anti-weaponization" fund proceeds received by Californians
• A wall built at the state level against a federal payout designed to reward loyalty to Trump

His presidency is crashing down, and the Democrats are standing by, waiting for us to do our part at the midterms. And when we do, they are going to make every single day after that politically unbearable for Trump and the people who enabled him.

This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

I'm Heather Delaney Reese, and you're listening to Hope for America, where every day I bring you the truth about our politics, our country, and the forces trying to destroy them. Together, we cut through the noise, expose the lies, and stay focused on what really matters, fighting for the survival of our country. Just after 11 a.m. yesterday morning, an angry and physically deteriorating Donald Trump sat slumped forward at the head of the cabinet room table, his shoulders sagging and his eyes so swollen they struggled to stay open as live cameras aired his 12th cabinet meeting. Marco Rubio sat stiffly to his right while Pete Hegseth watched from his left. Both men wearing the tense, uneasy expression of people realizing that the president was once again slipping off course in front of the world. Several times they tried to pull him back from another one of his rambling spirals, and each time they failed, because even with reminders and redirections, Donald Trump seemed unable to fully follow what was happening around him. The entire time he appeared far more interested in reliving imaginary victories, talking about how much people supposedly love him and obsessing over Barack Obama than addressing the reality facing the country. But much like he always does, he tried to hide what was really making him so angry and unstable. He was asked whether the economic pain Americans are feeling from the Iran war, the high gas prices, and the rising cost of travel gave him any urgency to reach a deal. And he immediately lashed out and brought up the midterms all on his own, admitting that others believe he will lose power after the elections before snapping back at the question, I don't care about the midterms. His reaction might have been the clearest sign yet of just how consumed he actually is by them before, behind closed doors. Because underneath all of it, the confusion, the performance, the endless attempts at appearing strong and in control, yesterday's meeting had one purpose and one purpose only, to distract from the unraveling of his presidency and to serve as cover for the dangerous things his administration is doing away from the cameras. And here's what they were hoping we would miss while the camera stayed fixed on a president who could barely keep his eyes open. Because the day before, WIRE published an investigation based on more than a thousand pages of unpublished documents from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and Fusion Centros the country, obtained through public records requests. Now, fusion centers are the sprawling intelligence sharing hubs where federal, state, and local law enforcement quietly pull information and circulate it between agencies. They were at the center of the investigation. And what those documents reveal is chilling. Our own government has now invented an entirely new category of domestic threat that could be used to investigate, monitor, and potentially criminalize ordinary Americans for their political beliefs and online speech. They are calling it anti-tech violent extremism. It is a phrase that appears nowhere in publicly available DHS or FBI extremism frameworks or threat assessment guidelines. They created it themselves. And now they are already using it to monitor Americans. So what counts as an anti-tech extremist? Well, on one hand, the documents point to a genuinely dangerous fringe group tied to violence. That is the example they lead with, because it makes the whole thing sound reasonable. But on the other hand, and this is the part we should be deeply concerned about, fusion centers are tracking ordinary people that are showing up at town halls and budget committee meetings to object to data centers being built in their neighborhoods. One report from the New York Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Bureau warned that the chaotic atmosphere that may result from an emergent AI technology in the next five years may fuel large-scale protests that devolve into civil unrest and anti-tech violent extremist activity, especially in large urban areas such as New York City. They are not describing a crime that happened. They are predicting protests and pre-labeling the people who might show up as extremists before anyone has done anything at all. And the activities they flagged as suspicious are a new level of authoritarian overreach, all on their own, because according to documents, the behaviors that drew attention included photography, observation, and what the reports vaguely refer to as implied threats. It's like taking a picture or watching, standing somewhere and paying attention. Civil liberty experts pointed out the obvious. This is the exact same conduct as peaceful, constitutionally protected protests. There is no clear line between what a threat and a civilian exercising the First Amendment looks like. And that blurred line is the entire point. Because this did not come out of nowhere. It sits on top of something Trump signed back in September called National Security Presidential Memorandum 7. That directive instructs the Justice Department to investigate and disrupt networks built around what it calls anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-capitalism beliefs. These aren't actions, beliefs. It treats an idea in our head as an indicator of terrorism. And Stephen Miller, Trump's propaganda architect, called it the first time in American history that there is an all-of-government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism. And in May, Trump's counter-terrorism advisor, Sebastian Gorka, formerly named left-wing extremism a top-tier threat, ranking ordinary American political opposition alongside narco-terrorism and foreign Islamic groups. The anti-tech extremist label is just the newest thing they have decided to use to potentially criminalize people who recognize the grave danger we are in with Donald Trump as the president. And we have to be clear-eyed about who benefits. This is the same administration that has handed the tech and AI industry nearly everything it has asked for. In December, Trump moved to block states from regulating AI. He has cut red tape, shielded the industry, and treats its executives like partners. And now the same government that protects those companies is treating the people who criticize them as a security threat. The documents describe efforts to direct federal resources to protect AI executives and AI infrastructure. So we just follow the logic all the way down here. The dissent being criminalized is dissent against the very industry that is propping up this administration. Silencing the critics protects the enablers. The two things are the same. But this is much bigger than data centers and bigger than AI. Because once a government decides it can label a belief as extremism, the specific belief almost does not matter. Yesterday it was people worried about AI. The framework does not care what you are worried about. It cares whether your worry is aimed at them. This is another test. It is a way of finding out how far they can stretch the definition of threat before anyone pushes back and whether the public will accept a world where having the wrong opinion or simply standing up in a room and watching is enough to land you in a federal intelligence report. That is the next step. A quiet expansion of who gets to be called an enemy until the category is wide enough to hold any of us. We have watched this almost exact move before and regimes that history warns us about. The state never announces that dissent is now illegal. It reclassifies the dissenter in the Soviet Union. Opposition was not a political position, it was a psychiatric diagnosis, and critics were not arrested as critics, they were committed as sick. In East Germany, the Stasi did not need you to commit a crime. They needed a file built from who you talked to, where you stood, and what you seemed to believe. The goal was never really to catch the violent few. The goal was to make everyone else aware that they were being watched so they would police themselves and stay quiet. A surveillance state does not have to arrest many people to work. It just has to make you feel like you might be next. That is the chill they're creating. And that is what a thousand pages of documents about photography and town hall meetings are quietly building here. And here's something we all need to really think about in this moment. This is another way to define this, another way to point one side as threats and criminals by the very people who instigated an insurrection. And this is also important, regardless of how we feel about AI and the tech industry. Whether we think that it can be a useful tool, and if it's something that we think, if there was important regulations that is something good for our country, it doesn't matter because evil regimes never stop where they start. This isn't about how we feel about AI, at least not in the long term. We can think that it could be a good thing, we could think it could be a bad thing, but they are using it as another target to go after people who have opinions and are using their voices. And they will eventually come for all of us. We must take a stand together against this kind of criminalization, against surveillance and against free speech. We must take a stand against this now. We must fight back now, and hopefully after we take back Congress in the midterms as well. And thankfully, it sounds like the Democrats are already gearing up and getting ready. They are preparing now. Congressman Robert Garcia, who would chair the House Oversight Committee if we do take back the House in November, said this week that his team is already preparing and gearing up. He laid it out we've got a team on Epstein, we have a team on family corruption, we have a team on DHS and ICE. Right now, the administration simply ignores the document requests Democrats send because, in the minority, they have no power to compel anything, but that changes the moment we flip the house. All of that groundwork, every unanswered letter becomes subpoenas, hearings, and sworn depositions. Congressman Joe Negus said you have to go all the way back to the teapot dome scandal of 1920s to find an administration this immersed in corruption. The investigations are not a fantasy for after a win. They are being built, staffed, and readied right now, so that the day that Gavel changes hands, the accountability starts. This is what we need in this moment. Not just accountability now, but investigations and safeguards to make sure this never happens again. And California is not messing around either. Yesterday, Gavin Newsom made an announcement that the Trump administration's anti-weaponization nearly $1.8 billion fund saying that California will not let it happen without resistance. Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we want to tax 100% of the proceeds. That's what he said. There's an action the state of California can take. It's an action we look forward to taking 100%. If you live in California and you try to cash a check from that fund, the state intends to take all of it. It's a wall built at the state level against a federal payout designed to reward Trump loyalists. Regardless of whether this actually happens, it sends a very clear message. Now, Donald Trump was angry yesterday. He did not want to be in that meeting. He did not want to talk about anything he was there to discuss. His strategically placed protectors couldn't keep him focused. His presidency is crashing down. And the Democrats are standing by waiting for us to do our part at the midterms. And when we do, they're going to make every single day after that politically unbearable for Trump and the people who enabled him. And that is why I still have hope for America, and you should too. And remember, no matter how dark the days get, I will be here every single day. And together, we will always find hope for America. I'll see you tomorrow.