Dry Run(s)

(I wrote the following a year ago today. Since then, there have been multiple dry runs.)

1/30/25

One of the ways to interpret the Trump administration’s flurry of early moves is that they are part of a dry run, a test of how much chaos each pronouncement causes.

Yesterday’s sudden announcement rescinding the previous day’s freeze on all federal aid payments is a case in point. Since there was a great deal of chaos, the White House backed down — for now.

But in so doing the Trump team gained some valuable intel about how easily they can freak out the population, elected officials and the media. So now they can file those insights away for use at a future time when the specific goal may be to deliberately create chaos as part of a larger strategy involving the centralization of executive power.

Trump is set on gaining absolute power. He doesn’t care how much fear and panic his moves cause others, in fact he intends to use that fear and panic in his drive to establish himself as an autocrat. To quote Joe Biden, this is not hyperbole.

If I am reading Trump’s behavior correctly, and I believe I am, we are witnessing a dry run for how to suspend the constitution during an upcoming, unspecified national “emergency.” Trump is probing for weak spots in the government bureaucracy and testing the various levers at his disposal to see which option will best help accomplish his ultimate objective.

So that’s why it is my opinion that what we’ve seen to date is a dry run.

***

To develop an effective strategy to counteract Trump’s drive for absolute power, pro-democracy Americans need to get out in front of the firestorms he is constantly creating that are diverting public attention from his ultimate goal.

The difficulty of fighting multiple wildfires simultaneously is indeed an appropriate metaphor for what faces Democrats or anyone else in the opposition at the moment. As we saw in L.A. recently, officials could not make much progress toward containment until they could establish burn lines at the perimeters of the multiple fires and pull together huge amounts of resources from all over the place to finish the job.

What complicates this metaphor when we apply it to Trump is that he is the one setting the fires.

HEADLINES:

• Government funding negotiations hit snag after Democrats announce deal (ABC)

• Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong (Atlantic)

• Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested after protest inside Minneapolis church (CBC)

• Shooting Aftermath Leaves Homeland Security Department in Turmoil (NYT)

• Trump’s border tsar suggests possible drawdown in Minneapolis if officials ‘co-operate’ (BBC)

• America at a Boiling Point: Deaths, Threats, Protests and a Town Hall Attack (NYT)

• Trump Shrugs Off the Ilhan Omar Attack (Atlantic)

• More federal prosecutors in Minneapolis are considering quitting their jobs over the handling of the Alex Pretti shooting (Audacy)

• Tim Walz Fears a Fort Sumter Moment in Minneapolis (Atlantic)

• Nervous Allies and Fox News: How Trump Realized He Had a Big Problem in Minneapolis (NYT)

• The powerful tools in ICE’s arsenal to track suspects — and protesters (WP)

• FBI raid in Georgia highlights Trump’s 2020 election obsession and hints at possible future actions (AP)

• Spy Chief Tulsi Gabbard Is Hunting for 2020 Election Fraud (WSJ)

• FBI’s Search of Georgia Election Center Is “Dangerous,” Experts Warn (ProPublica)

• Trump posts discredited conspiracy theories following seizure of 2020 ballots in Georgia (ABC)

• Washington Post’s White House team urges Jeff Bezos to halt massive newsroom cuts (CNN)

• Trading houses involved in past bribery run Trump’s Venezuelan oil sales (WP)

• America can strike anywhere — but can it stay anywhere? (DefenseNews)

• Trump weighs Iran strikes to inspire renewed protests (Reuters)

• The cost of health care, not food or rent, is now Americans’ top worry (WP)

• Haitians Are Vital to U.S. Health Care. Many Are About to Lose Their Right to Work. (NYT)

• How NIH ending funding for human fetal tissue research could affect studies (ABC)

• Kennedy Center’s new programming head resigns days after hire was announced (WP)

• 2028 Democratic primary draft #2 (Silver Bulletin)

• Everyone Really Needs to Pump the Brakes on That Viral Moltbot AI Agent (Gizmodo)

• India is teaching Google how AI in education can scale (TechCrunch)

• Health Speculations Swirl After Trump Spotted Wearing Glove Over Head (Onion)