At 12:45 this afternoon, the President of the United States began panicking in front of the entire world from his private golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Tucked away from public view, with his traveling press pool held across the street from the golf course, he began a posting spree that started with threatening Democrats with imprisonment if they dared to investigate those closest to him.
He started by accusing the Democrats of making sham threats and engaging in political persecution, writing, “The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States, and others, with Impeachment and many other forms of punishment, even though they admit they have no reason to do so, and there have been no impeachable acts committed, or even thought of, by the victims of this illegal process.”
He called impeachment an “illegal process,” when it is, in fact, a power written into the United States Constitution by the Founding Fathers specifically to hold presidents and other federal officials accountable for abusing their positions. The very idea that Donald Trump thinks he can declare impeachment illegal because he doesn’t like the possibility of himself or the people closest to him being held accountable shows once again how little respect he has for the Constitution. He forgot once again that he doesn’t get to decide which parts of the Constitution apply to him, and he certainly doesn’t get to threaten to imprison members of Congress for exercising the powers the Constitution gives them. Yet that is exactly what he is doing. In his mind, he thinks he can scare them into backing down.
He went on to call the officials facing these potential investigations “victims of this illegal process.” But they are not victims and never have been. Many of them swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, failed that oath, failed all of us, and now may have to answer for what they did while serving under Donald Trump. The people who carried out this administration’s most destructive and cruel policies are suddenly the ones who need protecting, and he somehow wants us to think that the people asking questions are the criminals. That is not how accountability works. If they have done nothing wrong, they should have nothing to worry about.
He then turned his attention to his Republican donors, writing that Democrats are “threatening our Donors, some of the most respected people anywhere in the World, with imprisonment, and many other levels of punishment, just because they happen to be Republicans, or Republican supporters.” These are some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, people who have poured enormous amounts of money into supporting Donald Trump and the Republican Party, and he is now suggesting that investigating them would somehow be a crime. In Donald Trump’s administration, donating money apparently puts someone above the law. However, this isn’t Donald Trump’s government to control as he pleases. Congressional oversight will be back come January, and if someone broke the law, it doesn’t matter how much money they donated, who they supported, or how close they are to the president. They should be thoroughly investigated and held accountable just like anyone else would be.
He singled out Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, specifically claiming that she “is saying that she is going to go after all young people that believe in Republican Values.” Slotkin, a former CIA analyst with years of national security experience, never said that. What she did say was that Democrats should investigate some of the worst examples of alleged corruption in the administration, including the people who helped make it possible. She also said she wanted young people considering jobs in the Trump administration to think twice about whether they wanted to be involved. There was no mention of ordinary citizens who happen to lean right. Trump twisted her words deliberately, because he needs his base to feel personally targeted and to believe that congressional oversight is coming after regular Americans for their beliefs. He wants to scare his followers and turn them into his own personal army. He is trying to convince them the enemy is not just his, but theirs, too.
Earlier this year, Trump’s Justice Department already went after Slotkin. She was part of the group of Democratic lawmakers with national security backgrounds who released a video urging members of the military and intelligence community to refuse illegal orders. The Justice Department brought the case before a federal grand jury, and the grand jury refused to indict them. They couldn’t make those charges stick then, and whatever they attempt this time will not stick either. But Trump keeps coming back to Slotkin because this was never about the law. It was always about sending a message to anyone else who might be thinking about speaking out against him: speak up, and we will come for you.
Trump went even further, calling Democrats “EXTORTIONISTS” and saying they should be the ones facing imprisonment. He then claimed that “threatening letters” had been sent by “Democrat Political Leaders,” apparently referring to the congressional oversight letters Democrats have been sending requesting documents and information about potential wrongdoing, including the millions of dollars in donations from tech companies and other wealthy donors to fund the massive ballroom Trump is building at the White House. These are not threatening letters. They are requests for information from members of Congress who have every right to investigate what this administration has been doing. This is something Congress has done for generations, under both Republican and Democratic administrations. But now Donald Trump is trying to turn that basic responsibility into a criminal offense.
He closed with this: “By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!” He is ordering a criminal investigation of the incoming congressional majority via a social media post from a golf course.
Many of us grew up believing that Richard Nixon was as corrupt as an American president could get. Nixon broke the law, covered it up, and resigned in disgrace when the walls closed in. But Nixon, for all his crimes, understood the gravity of the office enough to leave it when he knew it was over. Trump has no such instinct, and he has no such shame. Nixon’s corruption was strategic and contained. He was a man who wanted to win and was willing to cheat to do it. Donald Trump’s corruption is on an entirely different scale in comparison. He truly believes that he is special, that the entire government exists to serve him, and that anyone who questions him belongs in prison. Nixon might have tried to cover up a break-in, but Donald Trump is trying to cover up the corruption of an entire administration.
What makes all of this even more concerning is how quickly Donald Trump’s behavior continues to yo-yo and how easily it seems he can be influenced. On Tuesday night, he was almost subdued after such a humiliating defeat. He actually congratulated the Democrats, telling Fox News, “I think the Democrats did a good job. I really do.” He blamed the losses on the fact that he wasn’t on the ballot. He even spent time talking about his building projects, almost as if he was trying to distract himself from what had just happened. Then yesterday came the announcement that right-wing extremist Stephen Miller would be taking over as White House chief of staff on Monday, and whatever brief period of calm we had witnessed was over, and the president was back to threatening his political opponents and making claims about a stolen election.
One hour after the first post, he was back on Truth Social, calling Democrats “SLEAZEBAGS” who “should go to jail for what they are doing.” He told citizens to report their own elected representatives to the Department of Justice, or to send complaints “directly to me, your President.” He is asking Americans to turn on each other and potentially make false claims to stay in his good graces. He is building a snitch line for democracy and telling his followers that the people who just won a free and fair election are criminals, and that loyal citizens should help him punish them.
Between those two posts, he wrote something else that shows just how completely unhinged he and his entire administration have become. He announced that he had offered the White House press secretary position to Dana White, the president and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, calling him “a violent Fighter and Warrior.” He actually used the word “violent” as if it were a positive qualification for someone whose job is to speak on behalf of the United States government. Trump even asked White to bring UFC fighters along as his “assistants,” naming six of them, including fighters who are not American citizens, because, in his own words, “We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left.”
He is not looking for a spokesperson. He is not looking for someone who can explain policy, answer difficult questions, or represent this country with even the slightest bit of seriousness. He is looking for someone who will treat the White House briefing room like a cage match, because that is how he sees the press. He does not see them as the people who hold those in power accountable or as a pillar of democracy. He sees them as a threat and an opponent to be intimidated, overpowered, and silenced. This is just another one of his unserious appointments because he truly does not care about our country.
It is still unclear whether this offer was even real or just another attention-seeking stunt. CNN reported that a source said White had declined the position. But then White himself said he would fly to Washington to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday. There has also been speculation online that there is another person named Dana White who works in the White House press office, and that Trump may have heard that name being discussed as a possible replacement for press secretary and confused that person with his friend from the UFC. We don’t know if that is true, but I think it is worth mentioning because, at this point, neither possibility is surprising. The one takeaway from all of this is that qualifications, experience, and the ability to actually do the job continue to be the least of Donald Trump’s concerns. He only cares that someone is blindly loyal to him and that they make him feel powerful.
So many of us saw this all play out today and just shook our heads at how ridiculous it all is. It was another one of those moments where, if it were not so dangerous, and he wasn’t starting wars and causing instability across the entire planet, we would laugh at how absurd it all is. The president actually threatened Democrats with imprisonment and ordered the Justice Department to investigate them from his private golf club. Then, just minutes later, he announced that he had offered the White House press secretary job to a “violent” UFC promoter and asked him to bring cage fighters to the White House. And about an hour after his first post, he was back to calling those elected officials “SLEAZEBAGS” who should be jailed. When you put it all together, it is embarrassing and maddening, and it is starting to sound very similar to the unhinged things he said after his crushing 2020 defeat. We are watching a man who has lost all connection to the responsibilities of the office he holds. He is flailing and making a mockery of the federal government, the Oval Office, the White House, and every institution that generations of Americans built, bled for, and died protecting. He is trying to take everyone around him down with him, and he does not care who gets caught in the wreckage.
But here is what I keep coming back to. The American people showed up in huge numbers to reject Donald Trump and everything he stands for. They did not just flip Congress, they broke through in places that were supposed to be impenetrable. Kansas had not elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century. Texas had not sent a Democrat to the Senate in almost forty years. South Carolina flipped. Iowa flipped. Ohio flipped. Maine flipped. Voters elected the first Black woman governor in American history. The first Native American woman governor. The first Latina governor of Texas. The first Muslim United States senator. The first Black governors of Nevada and Wisconsin. The first woman governor of Minnesota. Each of those results, on its own, would have been a huge headline in a normal era. Together, they show who we really are and also who we are becoming as a country. We did well.
This is what we need to hold onto in the weeks, months, and years ahead. The foundation for what is to come has been poured. We did what we were told we could not do, in states where they said it was impossible, with candidates they never saw coming. The country this man is trying to destroy showed up on Tuesday and proved it is still here, resisting, and capable of doing the most powerful thing a democracy can do: holding the people in charge accountable through the simple, sacred act of casting a vote. We have already made it nearly two years. We are still standing and still pushing back. We are unstoppable. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
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This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Picture of the day: My daughter sent me this funny picture from the barn during her riding lesson. I will never be convinced that horses aren’t just big puppies with long, awkward legs. At one point, the horse was inside the fence and she was on the outside, and they were chasing each other, running back and forth along the fence. I remain thankful beyond words for animals these days. They bring so much peace and joy into our lives, and I think we could all use a little more of that right now.
On a completely different note, what Donald Trump shared today about going after members of Congress for even mentioning investigations would have been major news even just a year ago. Today, it was just another passing story. The bigger story was his post about Dana White, which received an enormous amount of attention and outrage over how ridiculous it was. When I first saw it, I actually went directly to Truth Social to make sure it was real. I think a lot of people assumed it was fake or some ridiculous parody because it was so absurd that it was hard to believe the president of the United States had actually written it. But what I keep thinking about is how we have reached a point where a president threatening members of Congress with criminal investigations barely gets our attention, while a ridiculous post about putting UFC fighters in the White House becomes the bigger story. Both of these things, and the way we respond to them, say a lot about where we are as Americans and as human beings.
Links to sources used in writing this article:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-orders-doj-look-into-democrats-threatening-people-2026-11-07/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/07/trump-doj-democrats-alleged-threats-slotkin.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-hes-asked-ufcs-dana-white-to-be-his-press-secretary
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/07/trump-ufc-dana-white-press-secretary-offer.html
I am more frightened about Stephen Miller than Trump, as he is the one pot stirring from behind him.
Very very dangerous man who likes being in power but with a shield (I didn’t do it I was told to !!) please remember Hitler and Goebbels, it very similar.
Miller is threatening the press effectively with investigation and hard evidence finding that sounds like torture if they don’t give up sources!
I reckon the press should cease to attend the press briefings at the White House. Trump hated that when he banned them.
How can Miller be removed - is there a way come January. He is really dangerous.
Somebody living in 2/3 of a house looks like he's going to get some lessons in the Laws of the Land. You have to have grounds and evidence presented BEFORE you get an indictment. Similarly, in an Impeachment Hearing, evidence is presented and then the House members vote on what they heard. If Articles of Impeachment are the result, they're typed up and walked over ceremoniously to the Senate who accepts them and should hold a trial of the evidence so the Senators can vote on the guilt or innocence of the accused. If a 2/3 majority votes to impeach, the subject of the impeachment is out of a job.
If Trump had ever read the Constitution he swore an oath to, he'd know that.
And if Trump is impeached and he goes... Stephen Dickbreath Miller goes with him. I look forward to it.