Five Fascist Acts in 24 Hours—America's Ongoing Blitzkrieg

It is critical we call out this fascism for what it is, document its reality, and stay united to counter its harmful impact

Last week Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy (correctly) stated that Trump’s barrage of Executive Orders was a blitzkrieg attempt to seize control. Blitzkrieg, which translates to Lighting War, was a Nazi strategy to overwhelm and disorient the populace and assume command. Yesterday, in just 24 hours, Donald Trump continued his blitzkrieg on the American people with at least five authoritarian, immoral, and illegal actions that should alarm every American. Each of these acts violates constitutional and international law, yet there has been little to no real pushback from those who should be holding him accountable. While his goal is to leave us confused and exhausted, it is that much more critical we understand what happened, why it’s dangerous, and what we must do to stop this descent into full-blown fascism.

Let’s Address This.

1. Trump Withdraws the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) exists to investigate human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. is not only a blatant endorsement of human rights abuses, but a clear sign that his administration will not tolerate any international scrutiny of its actions.

Withdrawing from the UNHRC is a move straight out of the fascist playbook—isolating the nation from international law to commit atrocities unchecked. The United States already refuses to recognize the ICC or the ICJ. Now, Trump does not want human rights oversight on any aspect of his regime because he knows his regime is actively violating human rights. The withdrawal is an admission of guilt, and a foreshadowing that he intends to violate the rights, not just of non-citizens, but also of U.S. citizens.

2. Trump Declares U.S. Control Over Gaza & Backs Ethnic Cleansing

Trump openly declared that the U.S. would "take over Gaza"—an illegal, colonial, and imperialist act that violates international law. At the same time, he endorsed Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, confirming that every building in Gaza has been leveled. And to be clear, this also affirms what many lawyers and activists such as myself implored for the last 16 months—Biden’s indiscriminate arming of Netanyahu was illegal, and Netanyahu’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza’s civilians, hospitals, and schools were war crimes.

Let’s be clear: forced displacement is ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing is genocide. The U.S. taking over Gaza is an admission that Netanyahu’s war crimes were intentional, coordinated, and backed by the Biden administration and now backed by the Trump administration.

And the hypocrisy is staggering. Trump’s base pushes “Stand Your Ground” laws to justify killing anyone who encroaches on their land. But when it comes to brown and Black people, they argue the victims of genocide should simply "leave their ancestral homes" and hand them over to their oppressors.

This is not just about foreign policy. It is about who is allowed to have rights and who is not.

3. Trump Begins Sending Migrants to a Concentration Camp in Guantanamo Bay

February 4th witnessed the first flight of migrants rounded up and flown to be detained in a mass concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay. This is not speculation. This is happening. As I reported earlier, Trump has ordered building a mass camp in Gitmo to house at least 30,000 migrants.

This move is eerily reminiscent of Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It also bears resemblance to Nazi concentration camps, which initially began as detention centers before escalating into something much darker.

And yet, where is the outcry?

Incidentally, February 5 is the 108 year anniversary of The Immigration Act of 1917, which banned Asians, Africans, Latinos, and other non-white people from entering the United States.1 It also banned people with criminal records, people who didn’t speak English, and people with disabilities from immigrating. More than a century later this white supremacist policy is almost verbatim Trump’s immigration policy. But there’s a deeper hypocrisy here.

During that same period of bans on Asian, African, and Latino immigration, European immigrants entered the United States, undocumented and through open borders. One such immigrant during that time was a man who was undocumented, had a criminal record, and was unable to speak English, yet was allowed to enter the United STates anyway. His name was Freidrich Drumpf—grandfather of Donald Trump.2 The staggering hypocrisy of Donald Trump is undeniable. His grandfather was a white undocumented immigrant with a criminal record who did not speak English—yet he was allowed to stay in America. Now, Trump is trying to block non-white immigrants who have no criminal record, do speak English, and came here legally.

And on top of that, he shouts about "merit"—even though he himself has none—while reviving racist policies that punish Black and brown immigrants simply for existing.

This isn’t just hypocrisy. This is fascism.

4. Trump Endorses El Salvador’s Plan to Imprison U.S. Citizens

Trump, through his unanimously confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, endorsed the El Salvadoran government’s plan to imprison U.S. citizens. Yes, you read that right.

The GOP constantly fearmongers about crime and lawlessness, yet they applaud authoritarian regimes imprisoning Americans. The hypocrisy is beyond absurd—it is criminal neglect of U.S. citizens.

Trump constantly screams about “America first.” But when it comes to latino American citizens being arrested and detained in El Salvador, “America first” goes out the window. This is another reminder that this slogan has nothing to do with America first and everything to do with putting white supremacy first.

5. Trump Places U.S. Aid Workers on Permanent Leave

In a final act of cruelty, Trump has removed nearly all U.S. humanitarian aid workers from their posts, cutting off food, water, and medical relief to millions worldwide.

This decision is a direct attack on the world’s most vulnerable populations. It means more people will starve. More people will die of preventable diseases. More children will suffer.

And who benefits? War profiteers, military contractors, and corrupt corporate elites who capitalize on human suffering.

This is the same Trump who claims to be a "strong Christian," yet his actions are the very definition of evil.

What Do These Five Acts Tell Us?

These five actions in a single day should be setting off alarms across the nation. Trump is actively dismantling democracy, endorsing human rights abuses, and laying the groundwork for mass persecution. And if you’ve read my articles over the last few days, you’d be well aware of the privacy violations, the attacks on DEIA, the dismantling of FAA safety protocols, and the list goes on.

The parallels to historical fascism are undeniable. And history tells us what happens when people ignore the warning signs.

MAGA is not about patriotism. It is not about law and order. It is about power—brutal, unaccountable power.

Do Not Let This Be Normalized

If you do nothing else today, remember this: Do not let this be normalized.

This is not how a functioning democracy operates. This is not the country we are supposed to be. This is not acceptable.

We must resist this fascism at every turn.

Take Action:

✅ Call your representatives—Demand they speak out and take meaningful action against these attempts to advance MAGA fascism. File lawsuits, block hearings, conduct public protests. Do something more than tweeting their disappointment.
✅ Support independent media—Corporate media is normalizing this. Subscribe and share platforms that are accountable to people, like yours truly, not to shareholders.
✅ Join advocacy organizations—Groups fighting for immigrant rights, Palestinian rights, and democracy need our help. Start local. I provide seven detailed ideas here.
✅ Stay loud, stay active, stay vigilant—The worst thing we can do is stay silent. Make sure your voice is heard, exercise your 1A rights, and bring your network with you.

I will not stop calling out these injustices. I will not let these horrors be ignored. And I will continue to fight for human rights—but I need and welcome your help.

Join our movement and let’s continue the fight for justice, united. Because silence is complicity. And we cannot afford to be complicit.

1 https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/feb/05

2 https://www.history.com/news/donald-trump-father-mother-ancestry