I’m from the United States of Theater.

Where we’re forced to sit through a show we never even bought tickets for.

Where every stage is built for one man’s ego.
Where every performance is designed not to inform, but to distract.
Where truth itself has been replaced with scripted applause lines and invented victories.

This morning, I watched the latest episode, so you didn’t have to.

Another press conference. Another circus. Another room filled with people not there to ask questions, not there to lead a nation, but to cheer on a dictator. It was billed as an official presidential announcement, but what it really was, like so much of his presidency, was theater. A show for his base. A place where fiction is paraded as fact, where imaginary victories are treated as history, and where the applause is always louder than the truth.

Trump announced that U.S. Space Command would move to Huntsville, Alabama, a place he now wants to rebrand as “Rocket City.” Not because it has anything to do with national defense. Not because it will make America safer. But because it gives him a moment on stage, a line to deliver, and a loyal crowd to clap on cue.

And that was only the beginning.

They spoke of his dream of building a Golden Dome over the United States, and he shared his plan to send the National Guard to Chicago, even though the National Guard is neither needed nor wanted. Remember when he talked big about states’ rights? Just another one of his lies. Illinois doesn’t want the Guard, but theatrics matter more than the Constitution.

It’s the same theater he performs every time he signs a new executive order. Many of these aren’t even within his legal authority. What he tries to accomplish often takes more than a signature. But he waves the pen anyway, because the show matters more than the law.

Here’s the truth: executive orders can’t magically make law. They only work within powers already given by Congress or the Constitution. Trump signs flashy papers to look powerful, even when they’re meaningless. None of this is ever real governance; it’s all more reality TV.

But here’s the thing: theater can be dangerous.

Because while we shake our heads at the absurdity of a Golden Dome, behind the curtain lies the real story. Control. Profit. Consolidation of power. His sons. His companies. His friends. The donors who keep the stage lights burning. Always follow the money. Always watch who benefits. That is the script he never says out loud, but it’s the only one that matters.

And then there are his “truths” on Truth Social.

The posts he blasts out online, dressed up as pronouncements, but in reality they are lines from the same play. They are not truth at all. They are propaganda, scripted monologues meant to shape a new reality for his followers.

They are often incoherent, rambling, more confusing than the last.

Take his declaration that Chicago is the “murder capital of the world.” It is not. Yes, Chicago has high homicide numbers, but cities in Latin America and South Africa have murder rates many times higher. He says this because it makes Democratic cities sound like war zones. It’s not about facts. It’s about propaganda. Fear plays well on stage. Fear justifies the “law and order” strongman persona he clings to. Fear makes people trade freedom for security. And so the line is delivered again and again until it feels true, even when it is not.

Then there is his praise for Woody Allen, a man long shadowed by allegations of sexual abuse. Trump amplified an article about Allen wanting to make a movie with him, calling him a “pleasure to work with” and a “very good actor.” Let’s be clear: Woody Allen has faced serious allegations for decades. By putting him on a pedestal, Trump is sending a message: crimes don’t matter if you’re loyal to me. This isn’t about art or friendship. It’s about lowering the bar until nothing feels disqualifying anymore. Not even his own crimes or what we might soon learn about him.

And then, as if the theater wasn’t already grotesque enough, today he wrote on Truth Social:

“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”

Think about that. A sitting American president sending “warmest regards” to dictators, men who imprison, torture, and kill their own people, men who openly undermine our country. He framed it like a toast, like an inside joke with tyrants conspiring against America. This is not just embarrassing. It is dangerous. Because it is Trump himself who gave them permission to tighten their grip, who praised their brutality, who weakened our alliances and made us vulnerable. He is not only applauding dictators, he is the reason we are here.

That is the point of this theater: to turn villains into heroes and to turn loyalty into the only virtue that matters.

Truth no longer counts. Integrity no longer counts. Only applause. Only obedience. Only the illusion.

And illusions work. History is littered with them. Mussolini promised to make the trains run on time. Stalin staged show trials where guilt was preordained. Hitler filled stadiums with flags and lights and carefully choreographed speeches that cast him as the savior of a nation. Like Trump, they understood that if you repeat lies on a stage long enough, people will stop asking whether they’re true and start cheering anyway.

That’s why we cannot afford to dismiss any of it as comedy. The show is not harmless; it’s the setup for something much worse.

Because while his followers sit mesmerized by the performance, the real work of dismantling democracy continues in the shadows.

The United States of Theater is not entertainment. It is propaganda.

And propaganda is the weapon that prepares a nation to accept the unacceptable. That’s why he keeps lying about Chicago. If people believe his words instead of the facts, he can justify more crackdowns, more corruption, and more power grabs.

And so the question is this: are we content to remain the audience?

Because audiences sit quietly in the dark. They clap when they’re told. They suspend disbelief for the sake of the story. That is exactly what he wants. That is exactly how he wins.

But America was never meant to be his theater.

It was meant to be a democracy. Messy. Unscripted. Full of debate and disagreement and hard truths.

We cannot afford to give that up for a show.

So no, we will not clap. We will not suspend disbelief. We will not call lies “truths” or corruption “loyalty.” We will not accept an illusion as reality.

Because once truth is gone, the stage lights stay on forever, and the show never ends.

We are living in the United States of Theater. But we do not have to stay here.

We can walk out of the audience. We can build something real again. We can pull down the curtain and expose what’s behind it.

And when we do, we will remember: America is not his stage. It is ours.

It’s time we stopped being spectators. It’s time we became the actors who write a better ending.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

P.S. If this post spoke to you, please consider restacking it.