President Donald Trump attends a Governors Dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 21, 2026. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
A former Republican congressman says President Donald Trump’s worldwide warmongering is like the 1997 movie “Wag the Dog,” in which a president plausibly accused of pedophilia distracts the public with a fake war.
“Look, this is a ‘Wag the Dog’ situation on steroids,” Walsh said in his Thursday Substack post. “He may go to war seven times this year. He’ll do whatever he can.” Describing Trump as a “traitorous fascist,” he speculated that Trump might attack North Korea, Cuba or Greenland.
“He’s America’s enemy,” Walsh argued. “He’s attacking our elections. Elections are the heartbeat of our democracy. If you destroy elections in a representative democracy, the democracy dies. So Trump is our enemy.”
When one commenter described Trump as an enemy of the people, Walsh elaborated on her observation by saying “Trump is not just the enemy of the people — he’s the enemy of this country. Think about it. He’s against every single one of our founding principles.”
Earlier on Thursday, Walsh speculated that Republicans will lose the upcoming midterm elections because Trump is so “cruel.”
“We disagree on a lot of issues, but America is not a cruel place and the American people are not cruel,” Walsh argued. “We do not f—-- support the cruelty that these mass federal thugs have been engaged in on our streets. Cruelty more than anything else is going to kick Republicans in the a— in November. By the way, a lot of Republicans know it.”
Earlier this month, Walsh described the culture behind supporting Trump as more akin to a cult than a normal political movement.
“I do my damnedest not to call Trump voters cultists, because I used to be a Trump voter,” Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) said on his Substack podcast. “I don't always hold to that rule, but I try my best. But when it comes to my former congressional colleagues — these Republican members of Congress, and all these conservative right-wing talk radio guys and Fox News guys, the world I used to be a part of — man, I'll call them members of a cult till the cows come home.”
Walsh has also described border patrol and ICE agents, as operating under Trump, as “thugs” who regularly violate the Constitution.
“What these heavily armed masked thugs lawlessly roaming our streets are doing is the utter opposite of law enforcement,” Walsh said. “And there's a reason, by the way — I talk to cops regularly — most cops in this country detest what ICE is doing.”
Walsh took particular umbrage with the notion that ICE and border patrol agents should not follow the Constitution, which they are alleged to have repeatedly not done.
“Can you believe it?” Walsh said, sarcastically acting like someone receiving an unreasonable order. “They want judicial warrants! The American people are demanding that ICE have and use judicial warrants if they want to enter a home or a private business, you know, those pesky judicial warrants! That pesky Constitution!”