How to fight the Trump regime’s use of fear and intimidation

Three rules for responding to his tyranny

Friends,

The major weapon of the Trump-Vance-Musk regime is fear that causes people to be intimidated into silence and submission.

The regime is using fear — of being deported, job loss, loss of federal contracts, loss of access to sources of news, of arrest and imprisonment — to intimidate potential critics.

This is what all tyrants do, but we are unaccustomed to it in the United States.

I want to share with you three rules for fighting tyrannical fear and intimidation, gleaned from discussions I’ve had with a number of people who have lived in repressive regimes.

1. If at all possible, do not give into it.

Fear works only if people are intimidated. Intimidation is effective only if people surrender to it.

I cannot presume to tell anyone how to balance their personal well-being against their obligations to the nation or the world. I’m in no position to suggest that anyone sacrifice their livelihood or freedom to make a point.

So if you’re a civil servant in the U.S. government, especially an attorney in the Justice Department, I can understand your fear that speaking out or refusing to follow Trump’s orders will get you fired. If you’re a journalist or editor, you may be justifiably fearful that if you report the truth you’ll be barred from Trump press briefings or may even lose your job.

Likewise, if you’re in America on a student visa or even hold a green card, you may be understandably reluctant to speak your mind now. Trump has threatened that the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University grad student who is a permanent resident of the United States and who peacefully spoke out against Netanyahu’s policies in Gaza, will be the first of “many to come.”

On the other hand, if you’re the president of Columbia University, you’re in a different position altogether. I can understand your concern that your institution will suffer loss of federal funds if you allow full freedom of speech on your campus, yet that doesn’t mean you should surrender to Trump’s tyranny. If you do not stand up to it, you and your institution and other American universities will sacrifice far more over the long term.

If you’re a Republican lawmaker, you have every reason to worry that if you vote against Trump, you’ll be primaried in the next election. But that doesn’t justify your silence in the face of Trump’s tyranny, either. What’s the point of being in politics if you have no principles?

If you’re a Democratic lawmaker, you might worry that if you speak out — as did Congressman Al Green during Trump’s address to Congress — you’ll be tagged by Trump as a radical “left-wing” troublemaker. Good! Make good trouble, as Congressman John Lewis used to say. Stand up and speak out! Americans want to know there’s a loud and vital Democratic opposition to Trump.

If you’re a partner in a law firm that Trump has targeted for punishment because your firm has represented clients he deems his enemy, you should not be intimidated from representing others he considers enemies. To the contrary, hold a press conference and announce that you will represent even more people Trump hates, and you’ll do it pro bono.

At a time like this, people who occupy positions of power and visibility — members of Congress, university presidents, top editors and CEOs of major media enterprises, senior partners in major law firms — must not cow to Trump’s threats. Now is the time for them and their institutions to stand up to his tyranny — and be seen and heard by the public as exemplars of democratic courage.

Giving in to intimidation only invites more intimidation.

If the Trump regime can “detain” a graduate student with a green card for peacefully protesting the policies of the Netanyahu government, what’s to stop the regime from “detaining” full citizens who engage in such protest or in any protest against the Trump regime?

If the regime can silence Republican lawmakers by threatening to finance opponents in primary contests, what’s to stop it from trying to silence Democratic lawmakers by threatening to finance opponents in Democratic primaries?

If Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic senators so easily surrender to Trump and Republicans on a continuing resolution to fund the government, how can they hold the line against Musk and Trump’s illegal impoundments and mass firings?

If the Trump regime can intimidate law firms that have helped Democrats or other clients Trump considers to be his enemies, what’s to stop the regime from trying to intimidate anyone who funds Democratic candidates?

If the Trump regime can remove money from New York City’s own bank account with Citibank, rescinding funds that Congress appropriated to house refugees (as has been recently reported), what’s to stop the regime from threatening to remove funds from your bank account if you criticize the regime?

The fear and intimidation must be stopped. The most direct way to stop it is not to give in to it.

2. Join with others who are similarly situated to sue the regime and speak out.

Sometimes there’s safety in numbers. When the Trump regime targets one institution or one group or one person, it may be difficult for that target to respond on its own. But when joined with others who are potentially threatened, the targets can fight back.

Rather than Columbia University fighting the Trump regime solely on its own, Columbia should also join with other universities that have been targeted and sue the regime for violating their rights and the rights of their students under the First Amendment to the Constitution. The group should also sound the alarm about the regime’s attack on higher education and freedom of speech. (The American Association of University Professors would be one obvious vehicle for this.)

Individually, public servants who lose their jobs or who are threatened with job loss have very little power. But when joined together under the auspices of, say, the American Federation of Government Employees, the UAW (which represents many public employees), or the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, they have considerable clout. Together, they should sue the regime for violating the law and mount a major campaign to alert the public to what is happening.

Individual law firms and individual attorneys are more likely to be intimidated than the American Bar Association, which should now be an active vehicle for uniting many firms and attorneys against the Trump regime’s threats.

Individual journalists or media companies are more easily threatened than the American Society of Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists, or PEN America. Now is the time for these groups to be heard as well.

In sum, now is the time for a concerted and organized public response to the regime’s attempts to sow fear and intimidation. National organizations with the necessary breadth and status must stand up to the Trump regime — loudly and clearly rejecting his brazen attempts to sow fear and intimidate opposition.

3. The rest of us must support these efforts.

All of us have a stake in stopping the regime’s fearmongering and intimidation. All of us can help targeted individuals, institutions, and organizations take a stand.

To the extent we are able, for example, we can contribute to the legal defense of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, here. We can ensure that students and faculty know what to do if ICE comes to their campus, here.

We can contribute to other universities now under the Trump regime’s gun — and encourage these institutions to stand up to Trump’s tyranny rather than submit to it.

We can contribute to groups such as the PhD project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups earn doctoral degrees in business — which the Trump regime absurdly claims violates the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against white students.

We can support the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause, Indivisible, and other groups that are showing the leadership and courage needed these days to take on Trump.

We can buy subscriptions to media organizations that are helping to lead the charge against the tyranny of the Trump regime (such as the nonprofit I helped launch and continue to work with, Inequality Media Civic Action).

We can show up at town halls where our senators and representatives are appearing, tell them exactly what we think of the Trump-Vance-Musk regime, and ask them to join us in opposition.

Finally, we can — and must — protect people who are being targeted by the regime. In addition to university students, this includes hardworking members of our communities who are being hunted down for not having the right documents to prove citizenship; LGBTQ+ people who are being demeaned and discriminated against because of their sexual identities or orientations; and public servants — public prosecutors, judges, and government workers — who are being hounded because they have done their duty.

Tyranny is possible only if people submit to it. The Trump regime cannot control us through fear and intimidation if we’re energized, mobilized, and organized.

This is a time for all of us — and every institution in America — to stand up to Trump’s tyranny.