CovertAction Bulletin

Gaza to Portland: A System in Crisis

The Israeli government has waged the latest campaign of its effort to wipe out and destroy the Palestinian people entirely for over two years now, with the full financial, diplomatic and military backing of the United States government. Using a conservative estimate of 66,600 deaths, the toll from Gaza since October 7, 2023, represents 14% of all conflicts worldwide in that time period according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. As the Trump administration puts forward a supposed deal and applies massive pressure to the Palestinian resistance to accept it, protests around the world have taken the streets in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Israel continues to attack Lebanon as members of the Israeli cabinet urge Netanyahu to increase the terror even further.

And in the United States, the Trump administration renewed its consideration of using the Insurrection Act after multiple judges have issued rulings fully or temporarily blocking his deployments of National Guard troops to cities like Portland. Over the past two weeks, the Trump administration has intensified its domestic deployment of military and federal forces, waging what many are calling Trump’s “war from within.”

In Portland, the White House sought to federalize the Oregon National Guard under the pretext of protecting federal property. That move was blocked by a Trump-appointed federal judge, who declared, “This is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law,” warning that the administration’s arguments risk “blurring the line between civil and military federal power—to the detriment of this nation.” In response, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller accused Judge Immergut of staging a “legal insurrection,” and Trump has since pressed ahead with alternative avenues to deploy the National Guard to Portland.

The multiple global crises all point to a system in crisis, where social constructs and agreements that have held the the national and global order together have been so fractured that they cannot hold.

U.S. on Edge: Trump Prepares Domestic Military Crackdown

At a gathering of senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Tuesday, Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signaled that they’re preparing to imminently expand the scope and size of the U.S. military, both inside and outside the United States. Trump made it clear that he knows sentiment against not only him but the entire capitalist system is growing - as are the movements of organized people in resistance. He said Tuesday, “Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is gonna be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control.”

That August Executive Order, combined with another in September declaring “Antifa” a domestic terrorist organization and a National Security Directive that targets those anti-capitalist and progressive views all come as ICE is ramping up its own militarized terror in Chicago, the National Guard is set to deploy to Portland, OR, and Trump threatens to cut funding from New York City if Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election.

Trump also said Tuesday that the government should deploy the military and National Guard into American cities for training: “we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard, but military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon, that’s a big city with an incompetent governor.” Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois has called on Trump to stop, but not put forward any plan on how to make that happen outside of asking Illinois residents to post what they see on social media. A New York Times / Siena College poll released Tuesday shows that 53% of registered voters think Trump has gone too far by sending the National Guard into U.S. cities.

The fast-moving rise of authoritarianism in the United States is a sign of a system in crisis. If it wasn’t clear before, it should be now that the Trump administration has declared an open war on workers and oppressed people across the country and the world.

Trump at the U.N.: Rambling, Racist, and Out of Touch

In a rambling speech that lasted nearly an hour at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Donald Trump spent a significant amount of time condemning immigration in the west as well as the use and development of clean energy alternatives to coal and oil. In typical Trump fashion, he talked up his supposed accomplishments both in the U.S. and internationally, claiming he has ended seven wars and fixed the U.S. economy. But a new Washington Post/Ipsos poll shows that 53% of Americans oppose Trump’s actions in the first eight months of his presidency, while only 41% support them.

His speech was littered with racist and white supremacist language, telling European nations to close their borders and that immigration was destroying their heritage, and comparing “their countries” to “our countries” when speaking about non-white immigration to Western countries. He also claimed that Christianity is the most persecuted religion around the world. While other world leaders including those from Qatar, Brazil and beyond railed against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Trump’s call to “stop the war immediately” rang hollow as he only condemned Hamas and did not mention the terror that Israel has been waging against the Palestinian people.

As the 80th session of the General Assembly begins, 157 U.N. member states now recognize Palestine, after moves from a number of Western nations over the past few days including Canada, the UK, Australia, France, Belgium and more. As Trump and his few allies continue to play themselves up on the world stage, the reality is that the U.S. and Israel are both extremely isolated on the global stage.

Passport Revocations: Trump’s Repression and the New McCarthyism

Gaza is burning. Anyone who’s watched the livestreamed genocide of the Palestinian people over the last 23 months knows that this is true. But the Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz was boasting when he posted those words on X early Tuesday, also saying “The IDF strikes with an iron fist” and “We will not relent and we will not go back - until the completion of the mission.” His post came as two divisions of the IDF entered Gaza City and with additional reinforcements soon to be joining them. Gaza City has also seen an increase in bombings from the air over recent nights.

Israel’s latest proof to the world that it’s not interested in peace come when pro-Palestinian sentiment is at record highs. At the Emmys the other night, Hannah Einbinder shouted “F- ICE, Free Palestine” and Javier Bardem wore a keffiyeh on the red carpet while saying he “cannot work with someone who justifies or supports the genocide.” 3,900 people signed the Film Workers for Palestine pledge to not “screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions… that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”

And as people around the country and world prepare mobilizations to mark two years of the genocide with a day of action on October 4th, Florida Congressman Brian Mast has introduced a bill in Congress that would let the Secretary of State revoke passports of U.S. citizens who support the Palestinian people and their liberation struggle.

Dems Pay Influencers to Pretend They’re Grassroots

According to recent reporting by Taylor Lorenz in Wired, a secretive dark money group is funding influencers to post pro-Democratic Party messaging on social media services - paying them up to $8,000 per month to do so and holding them to a secretive contract that prevents them from even revealing their relationship to the organization Chorus, backed by the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

Some of those named as affiliated with the program including Brian Tyler Cohen, Olivia Julianna, David Pakman and Pod Save America’s Jon Favreau have posted uncannily similar response statements and videos attacking everything except the facts of the article. Kenneth Walden, behind the account 2RawTooReal, wasn’t even listed in the article but posted an attack video saying “Apparently, we’re not allowed to bash Democrats or actually give them any type of constructive criticism. However, I swear I be on damn Bernie Sanders’ ass like flies on —.” The ironies abound, and the dismissals of the story have fallen flat.

Democrats fully recognize that they need to appeal to young voters, those who are most influenced by social media.  According to Berkeley Political Review, “Biden won youth (ages 18 to 29) voters by 24 points [in 2020], but Harris only led Trump by 11 points [in 2024].” The damning statistics don’t necessarily reflect that young people are actually getting more conservative, but likely that they’re more aware of a corrupt system in which both parties promote more cops, defend genocide and send ICE after innocent people.

D.C. Was Just the Start: Trump Targets Cities Nationwide

In a stark escalation, Donald Trump has armed the National Guard members on the streets of Washington, DC. He’s also signed an executive order getting rid of cashless bail - putting poor people who are arrested at significant risk of being stuck in jail waiting months or longer for trials if they can’t afford outrageous cash bails. He then signed an executive order suggesting a one-year prison sentence for anyone who burns an American flag - in complete contradiction to the 1989 Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson that determined flag burning is protected First Amendment speech.

 

And on Monday the 25th in the Oval Office, Trump said “A lot of people are saying, ‘maybe we need a dictator’... you send in troops, and instead of being praised they’re saying you’re trying to take over the republic. These people are sick.” The remarks also come as Trump looks to send federal troops to cities like Chicago, Baltimore, LA and elsewhere. We all have to take these expansions of the police state and attacks on civil liberties extremely seriously as he talks about dictatorship and crackdowns.

While these developments feel unprecedented, we have a lot to learn from anti-fascist, anti-dictatorship and civil rights struggles throughout U.S. and world history.

We also start this episode with a continuation of last week’s discussion on the inspiring things Rachel saw in China on her recent trip.

U.S. Makes Threats While China Plans Its Infrastructure

The founder of Tech Buzz China, Rui Ma, posted on X after a recent trip to China about her observations on energy there. “Energy is considered a solved problem. The Chinese government’s investment in sustainable energy – from advanced hydropower to next-generation nuclear – means that, relative to many other markets, electricity supply is secure and inexpensive. Everywhere we went, people treated energy availability as a given. This is a stark contrast to the U.S., where AI growth is increasingly tied to debates over data center power consumption and grid limitations.” reads part of Ma’s tweet thread. In fact, in Texas, the anarchy of capitalism has let the state position itself as a haven for energy-sucking datacenters and cryptominers, but a new law in Texas gives utility company ERCOT the ability to cut power to datacenters in times of drastic shortages - which could impact other important or crucial services.

A recent Fortune article also quotes Chinese electricity expert David Fishman as saying, “They’re set up to hit grand slams… The U.S., at best, can get on base.” This disparity between the U.S. and China has AI and tech experts in the U.S. worried about the country falling behind in AI and other key areas, because they see China as a competitor and adversary that has to be beaten.  Fishman goes on to explain that “Capital is really biased toward shorter-term returns,” while in China the state is able to set priorities for national investment.

Rachel was recently in China, and this is part 1 of our discussion about the differences between the Chinese planned system and the US for-profit mess 

Why Trump is Targeting D.C.

Donald Trump has taken yet another step in the ruling class’ quest to trash civil liberties, expand the brutal role of cops and other agents of the state and wage an all-out assault on Black people across the country. On Monday the 11th, he announced that Attorney General Pam Bondi would be in control of the DC police, and that Secret Service, DEA, FBI and National Guard troops would be deployed around the District.

Trump and Bondi’s claims about crime in DC are just an excuse to launch an attack on Black residents in the city, along with the city’s homeless population - about whom Trump said “We’re getting rid of the slums where they live.” Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller even tweeted that DC will be safe, clean, beautiful and that “DC will be set free” - a chilling fascist dogwhistle.

Resistance has already sprung up in DC with protests outside the White House itself, at Dupont Circle and elsewhere, with calls to restore what’s known as home rule and for real statehood for the District to be enacted. On his side, Trump has threatened other cities including Oakland, California; Baltimore; New York; Chicago; and Los Angeles - where he had already deployed militarized troops to counter the rebellion against ICE.

We’re also joined by Walter Smolarek, Editor at LiberationNews.org, to discuss the upcoming Trump/Putin summit in Alaska.

Ventura County Organizes Against ICE

Militarized ICE and Homeland Security raids targeted farms in California’s Central Coast on July 10th, with 200 farm workers ending up arrested, some being critically injured and one tragically losing his life. Masked and heavily armed ICE agents used tear gas and rubber bullets to target workers and those who came to their defense.

As soon as community members got word of the possible raids, they sprung into action, tracking the ICE caravan and sharing notifications through community networks that have been built up to keep residents safe from ICE. Organizations like VC Defensa mobilized to the Glass House Farms in Camarillo, staying for hours. To talk more about what happened in Ventura County, we’re joined by Ryan Drury and Lainy Yompian of the organization VC Defensa.

Is Epstein the Final Straw for Trump’s Base?

In 2024, Donald Trump said he’d declassify and release the files the U.S. government has on notorious child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But recently, responding to disappointment and growing demands from his base to actually release the full files, he told a crowd of reporters in Pennsylvania that “I don’t understand why the Epstein files would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring. And I don’t understand why it keeps going.”

Even among the MAGA faithful, few minds have been changed and calls to release information continue to grow.

Investigation into Epstein’s life and sudden death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City often raises more questions than it answers. How did he go from teaching at the elite Dalton School to being a billionaire financier? Even his connections to Bear Stearns and former Limited Brands chairman Leslie Wexner don’t fully explain it, his friendships with royalty and the elite around the world, or the Austrian passport with a fake name and a Saudi Arabian address found in his home.

When he pleaded guilty to soliciting underage prostitutes, Epstein got a 13 month sentence - and was allowed to leave the jail for 12 hours every day so that he could continue working his home office. And in 2007, he entered into an agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida that he would not be prosecuted as part of another investigation. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta, later said that he was told Epstein “belonged to intelligence” and to “leave it alone.”