How Many Red Lines Can a President Cross?

At 3:58 p.m. today, the President of the United States reshared an AI-generated image of himself holding a massive medieval sword in front of the U.S. Capitol, surrounded by lightning, with the words “TIME TO OBLITERATE THE DEEP STATE” written in flaming yellow and red font. The post included the letters “NCSWIC”, a QAnon slogan that stands for Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming.

Donald Trump, the sitting President, personally reshared a QAnon-aligned conspiracy image glorifying political violence.

It might have been a few years since you heard about QAnon, the dangerous conspiracy movement built on the lie that Trump is secretly fighting a satanic child‑trafficking ring run by his political enemies. People believed it so deeply they showed up armed, made threats, and carried out real‑world violence. The FBI has even identified QAnon as a domestic terrorism threat.

And the irony is almost too much to say out loud. The same movement that claims to care about child trafficking worships the one man who has worked harder than anyone to keep the Epstein files sealed and the real predators protected.

This is what he’s doing with his afternoon. This is where we are as a country.

And the worst part is, it doesn’t even feel shocking anymore.

We’ve gotten used to this. We’re watching the man who controls the military repost AI fan fiction of himself as a godlike executioner, and we’ve stopped blinking.

But it’s not just the content that should terrify us. It’s the pattern. The strategy. Because Trump learned from his first term, and what we’re watching now is not randomness, it’s adaptation.

During Trump 1.0, he fired people constantly. Anyone who pushed back, who embarrassed him, who asked questions, or simply told him no, was gone. And a lot of those people came back to haunt him. Michael Cohen is the clearest example. Trump’s personal fixer, the one who paid off Stormy Daniels and buried the skeletons, went to federal prison, stood in open court, and said he committed crimes “at the direction” of Donald Trump. Then he came out and made a second career out of exposing him. He wasn’t the only one. Former staffers. Cabinet officials. Intelligence insiders. They weren’t heroes, but they cracked the illusion of invincibility. Trump learned the hard way that disloyal insiders are more dangerous than his enemies.

So far, Trump 2.0 is different. He doesn’t fire the loyalists, no matter how reckless or compromised they are. He moves them. He protects them. He keeps them close, not because they’re good at their jobs, but because they’re good at keeping secrets.

Pete Hegseth leaked the timing of U.S. airstrikes in a Signal group chat that included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Goldberg had been added by mistake by another Trump loyalist, Mike Waltz. Waltz was later removed as National Security Adviser and quietly reassigned as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

That should have ended the careers of everyone involved. But instead, Waltz just got a new title, and the rest of them kept their power. Sharing classified military strike details outside of secure government systems can endanger lives and compromise entire operations. In a functioning government, that kind of breach would mean immediate removal, and possibly federal charges.

That’s the same logic driving his online presence. When Trump reposts AI-generated images of himself holding a sword or being crowned as a savior, he’s not just feeding his ego, he’s feeding the narrative. He’s strengthening the fantasy. He’s reminding his followers that he is their warrior, their martyr, their God-chosen weapon against the so-called “deep state.” That’s cult messaging.

It’s the same tactic used by authoritarian regimes throughout history, from Mussolini’s fascist posters to Stalin’s airbrushed photographs. When reality doesn’t serve the leader, they invent one. When truth is inconvenient, they replace it with myth. Every image is designed to glorify the man, not the mission.

And in another rambling post today, he attached that cult messaging to a very real policy lie: redistricting.

Trump introduced a new propaganda line, one tailor-made for headlines, hashtags, and parroting in comment threads: “Sue to Blue.” It’s fake. It’s catchy. And like “Stop the Steal” before it, it’s designed to make the truth feel like theft.

He’s trying to blur the lines between legal redistricting and gerrymandering when politicians draw these lines to benefit themselves or their party. Because he knows that gerrymandering is one of the quietest, most powerful ways to rig an election.

When leaders feel threatened, they strip policy down to slogans, simple, angry phrases designed to override thought. We’ve seen it before. “Enemies of the people.” “America First.” “Peace through strength.” And long before that: “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer” (“One People, One Nation, One Leader”). “Lügenpresse” (“lying press”). “Make the lie big, keep it simple, and repeat it often.”

Here’s the full statement he posted on Truth Social:

“It looks like the Indiana Senate Republicans will be coming back in two weeks to take up Redistricting, a very important initiative to balance out the Democrats’ endless ‘Sue to Blue’ and Census rigging strategy that has stolen seats from Republicans, and given them to Democrats who would not have them if they played fairly. Radical Left Democrats have rigged the game for a long time — Remember, until the GREAT Speaker Newt Gingrich, Democrats controlled the House for 40 YEARS in a row, and now, Republicans must fight back for the American People who want and need the Massive Tax and Regulation Cuts, Lower Prices, Strong Borders, Powerful Military, and Safe Cities that Republicans are delivering, and Democrats are fighting against every step of the way. Democrats, if they steal power back, will again give us the Highest Ever Inflation, Sky High Prices, Open Borders, Transgender for Everybody, DEI, and unlimited Violent Crime that they caused and allowed until we came back into Office this year. Republicans must do what is necessary to stop the destruction of our Country by these people who hate America, and are so ungrateful for the opportunities our Nation has given them. Our Country and Democracy is special, and we must do everything we possibly can to defend it from the Far Left infiltrators who want to destroy it. I am glad to hear the Indiana House is stepping up to do the right thing, and I hope the Senate finds the Votes. If they do, I will make sure that all of those people supporting me win their Primaries, and go on to Greatness but, if they don’t, I will partner with the incredibly powerful MAGA Grassroots Republicans to elect STRONG Republicans who are ready to do what is needed to protect our Country and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

This isn’t just propaganda, it’s a loyalty test. He is telling state legislators that if they do what he wants, he’ll reward them. And if they don’t, he’ll destroy their careers with the full force of his cult.

History is full of strongmen who demanded personal loyalty over public duty. Hitler’s inner circle didn’t swear allegiance to the German people or the constitution; they swore it to him. In Chile, Augusto Pinochet built his regime on the same idea: reward loyalty and erase dissent. Military officials weren’t promoted based on merit; they were elevated or disappeared depending on their obedience. Thousands were taken, tortured, executed, or vanished without a trace. Their only crime was refusing to fall in line.

Here’s what Trump wants us all to forget. In Texas, he pressured Gov. Abbott to redraw maps for five more GOP seats by blocking Black and Latino voters. In California, redistricting was done by public vote, not some Democrat conspiracy. And in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court just added oversight to the GOP’s gerrymandered maps.

So “Sue to Blue” isn’t real. What’s real is that Trump tried to rig the system and got caught.

But here’s the part that makes my blood run cold. You can explain all of this. You can show court rulings. You can pull up the ballot initiative history. You can walk someone step-by-step through the difference between fact and fiction, and it won’t matter. If Trump tells them the sky is green, that’s what they’ll believe. You can stand there in broad daylight, point up, show them a photo, bring in a weather expert, and they’ll still say no. Because Trump said it was green. And that’s all that matters to them.

This is why he surrounds himself with people who won’t challenge him. They know he’s lying. They know he’s manipulating the system and ignoring the Constitution. They know exactly where the lines are, and that he’s crossing them. But they stay anyway. Because they like the power. Because they think he’ll protect them. Because they’ve seen how even those who flipped during Trump 1.0 or stayed silent while enabling him have gone on to rebrand themselves, publishing books, landing speaking tours, and building careers off their past proximity to power. For them, loyalty isn’t about truth. It’s about survival. It’s about staying just close enough to the fire to benefit from the heat, without getting burned. And when the whole thing finally collapses, they’ll try to walk away clean, pretending they didn’t know. But they did. They always did.

And if someone does challenge him, like Rep. Eric Swalwell just did, they get targeted. Swalwell filed a federal lawsuit this week accusing Trump’s housing chief of abusing mortgage data to dig into his personal records and fabricate a fraud referral just as he launched his campaign for California governor. That same official has gone after Letitia James, Adam Schiff, and even a Federal Reserve governor. It’s retaliation. This is Trump’s America.

And to be clear, mortgage records are supposed to be protected under federal privacy laws. FHFA oversees the agencies behind most home loans in the country. Using that access to spy on political enemies is not just unethical; it may be illegal. And it is definitely something fascist regimes do.

I’ve said before that Trump is in cognitive decline. I stand by that. But I also believe that decline is not the same as incompetence. There are plenty of 79-year-olds who are sharp and compassionate and working to make this country better. Trump isn’t declining because he’s old. He’s declining because he’s obsessed with himself, detached from reality, and surrounded by enablers.

I just hope they remember this: following orders won’t protect them. Not now. Not later. Not even if Trump says it will and keeps them close instead of firing them. History has already taught us this lesson. After World War II, American prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz stood before the world at Nuremberg and made it clear, “just following orders” is not a defense. He helped convict Nazi officers who were responsible for over a million murders, and not one of them got away with saying they were just doing what they were told. Trump 2.0 is built on that same kind of system, one where people aren’t held accountable as long as they stay loyal. Where being reckless or dishonest doesn’t matter, as long as you protect him, not the country. But no title, no promise, no pardon will erase the choices they’re making now. Every person helping him, who stays quiet, who looks the other way, who mistakes obedience for duty, will have to face the truth eventually. Maybe not today. Maybe not while he’s still in power. But the reckoning always comes. It always does.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

P.S. If you’ve made it this far, chances are we see things the same way. You can help keep this work going by subscribing to my Substack; there’s a free option, or you can become a paid subscriber for just $5 a month. Paid subscriptions help me reach more people, cover more ground, and keep telling the truth about what’s happening to our country.