Trump’s likely response to growing 'defiance' — 'lash out in dangerous, unimaginable ways': experts

19 June

President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. on June 14, 2024 (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Rakeem Carter/Wikimedia Commons)

On Saturday, June 14, two radically different political views were on full display in the United States.

President Donald Trump, turning 79, held a military/birthday parade in Washington, D.C., while millions of Americans expressed their opposition via No Kings Day protests. More than 2000 were held, and a demonstration in Philadelphia that was considered the flagship protest drew, according to estimates, around 80,000 people.

In an article published on June 19, Salon's Chauncey DeVega applauds the No Kings protests but warns that the more desperate Trump feels, the more dangerous he will become.

"In split-screen images," DeVega explains, "the 'No Kings' marches were playing out across the nation in protest of Trump's attempts to end America's multiracial democracy and to crush civil society. An estimated 5 million people participated at more than 2100 locations across the country, making the protests among the largest in American history. They also reflect deeper currents: Public opinion polls and other data increasingly show Trump's approval ratings are sagging."

DeVega continues, "Like someone who has suffered a narcissistic injury, he responded to the protests with anger and fury…. Trump's rhetoric and actions seem to mark a long-planned escalation of tensions with the goal of creating civil unrest — a situation he could use to invoke the Insurrection Act and suspend civil liberties and the Constitution."

DeVega discussed the No Kings protests and the state of the anti-Trump opposition with four political experts, including The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson — a Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist.

Wilson described Trump's military/birthday parade as "authoritarian theater designed to normalize Americans seeing troops on the street," adding, "I am, however, still optimistic because of the 'No Kings' protests. Americans of all walks of life from around the nation hit the streets to stand up for true American ideals of democracy and in support of the rule of law. That's what I will be paying attention to — not the small man with a big stage using the military to stroke his overinflated ego."

Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade, a legal analyst for MSNBC and NBC News, told DeVega, "I see the parade on Trump's birthday as an effort to create imagery of a strongman leader…. As for what comes next? I worry that Trump's divisive tactics will further fracture American society, leading to political and vigilante violence. I also worry that by using law enforcement and military personnel to advance his goals, he is tainting their reputations in a way that will be hard to shake, making it difficult for them to recruit and do their jobs."

Author/journalist Timothy Ryback, who is known for his books on Adolf Hitler and serves as director of Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in The Hague, told DeVega, "My thoughts on what comes next? Let's start with what I hope does not come next: a dramatic event like the 1933 Reichstag Fire that became an excuse for declaring a national emergency and suspending civil liberties. That event paved the way for the Hitler dictatorship. As to what I hope comes next in America: free and open midterm elections in November 2026. This is when the American people will have a chance to pass judgment on their elected representatives, those who hold the chief executive accountable for his actions."

Author E. Earl Stephens told DeVega, "I feel no different than I did the second the election was called for him: dread, and absolute defiance. June 14 ended one of the most consequential weeks in American history, yet it's fair to wonder if, in three weeks, it will be remembered at all, given the furious pace of Trump's unrelenting attacks on America…. The worse things get for Trump, the worse he will try to make things for everybody else. He is a dangerous person who is trying to make his disintegrating grasp of reality into America's reality."

Stephens continued, "We need to continue to pay close attention to his use of our military as a prop for his strongman act to satisfy his insatiable ego, but mostly as a weaponized force to be used against those millions of Americans who marched against him on Saturday…. As his poll numbers continue to drop, and the heat from the fires he has started begins to burn more and more Americans, Trump will become cornered and lash out in dangerous, unimaginable ways "

Chauncey DeVega's full article for Salon is available at this link.

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