Trump’s Saturday: golf, threaten citizens, extort allies

On the eight-minute drive back from Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach to Mar-a-Lago, inside his blacked-out motorcade, surrounded by Secret Service, escorted by a full security detail, Donald Trump unleashed one of the most dangerous statements of his presidency so far:

“There must be a price to pay, and it has got to be a BIG ONE.”

This wasn’t directed at a foreign nation threatening our country. This was the President speaking about his fellow citizens. But to understand how we got here, we need to start with what he said an hour earlier, still at the golf course, between holes, when he pushed us closer to global conflict than we’ve been in our lifetimes.

I want to ask you something before we even get into what he said. Stop and really think about this. Picture that car ride. Picture that golf course. Picture the president of the United States, this specific man, the one who was caught snoring in a televised Oval Office meeting last week, the one who gave the middle finger to a factory worker and screamed “F you” at him, picture him typing these out.

Does that feel real to you? Did Donald Trump actually write these? Did he dictate them? Did someone else write them entirely, and he just nodded along? I’m not going to speculate about who’s authoring these statements. But I want you to think about what that possibility means. Because what’s in these posts isn’t a rant. It’s a strategy, an escalation of his already open authoritarianism. It reads like someone using a playbook, trying to make the next phase of this regime look inevitable. This was not Trump lashing out online at 2 AM. These were deliberate political declarations, one aimed outward at the world, and one aimed inward at Americans. And now I want to show you exactly what he said, in full, so you can see his words and the reality behind them.

Here’s the first post of the day, made while he was still at the golf course. This one isn’t aimed at Americans; it’s aimed at the world.

“We have subsidized Denmark, and all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration. Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back, World Peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it. They currently have two dogsleds as protection, one added recently. Only the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game, and very successfully, at that! Nobody will touch this sacred piece of Land, especially since the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake.

On top of everything else, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown. This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable.

Therefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect Global Peace and Security, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation end quickly, and without question. Starting on February 1st, 2026, all of the above mentioned Countries will be charged a 10 percent Tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America. On June 1st, 2026, the Tariff will be increased to 25 percent. This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”

Let’s break down what you just read.

The President of the United States just accused eight allied democracies, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland, of putting the “Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet” at risk. Their crime? Visiting Greenland. “For purposes unknown,” he says, like he’s narrating a Cold War thriller instead of describing routine diplomatic engagement among allies.

He mocks Denmark’s military. “Two dogsleds,” he sneers. This is a NATO ally. A country that has stood beside us for decades. A nation that lost soldiers fighting alongside Americans in Afghanistan. And the President of the United States is publicly humiliating them because they won’t sell him an island.

He frames himself as the only person who can protect the world. “Only the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game.” Not the United States. The United States under him. He’s not representing our country. He’s claiming ownership of it.

And then comes the threat. Tariffs on all eight countries, 10 percent starting February 1st, escalating to 25 percent by June, “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.” He is holding our closest allies economically hostage until they agree to sell him territory that belongs to another sovereign nation. This is not negotiation. This is extortion.

And there is no good option here. Trump, or whoever is crafting this strategy, knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s forcing these countries to choose between their own economies and betraying a fellow ally. Comply and abandon Denmark, or resist and watch your exports to America get strangled. Either way, the alliance fractures. Either way, he wins.

And few are talking about the people of Greenland. Fifty-seven thousand people who get no real say in any of this. Their “choice” is to submit to a fascist takeover or face economic punishment that destabilizes all of Europe. That’s not a choice. That’s a hostage situation.

He just declared a non-military war on our allies. He may get Greenland. But the cost will be the annihilation of U.S. alliances across Europe. Decades of trust. Gone. Leaving us isolated, exposed, and dangerously vulnerable, exactly what our actual adversaries have wanted for years.

Because this isn’t Trump outsmarting China and Russia. This is China and Russia watching him play directly into their hands. They don’t need to fire a single shot. They don’t need to hack a single election. They just need to sit back and watch as the President of the United States destroys Western alliances from the inside.

And he’s not going to stop at Greenland. This is not diplomacy. This is not strategy. This is how empires behave when they’ve decided that alliances don’t matter anymore. This is how dictators talk when they believe no one can stop them.

Now here’s the second post, the one he made while riding home in the motorcade.

“Everyone is asking about the Autopen? What was done is totally illegal, and anything signed that way is of ‘no further force or effect.’ The person who ‘worked’ the Autopen had no idea whether or not Biden approved of what he was doing. There was no ORDER in writing, and it was an absolutely illegal act perpetrated by the Radical Left Insurrectionists who illegally ran the Biden Administration. Every one of them should be arrested for what they have done to our Country. They didn’t win the Presidency but, when you think of it, neither did Joe Biden. The whole thing was RIGGED. There must be a price to pay, and it has got to be a BIG ONE!”

Let me walk you through every piece of this. Because there is so much packed into these few sentences, and every word is doing work.

“Everyone is asking about the Autopen?” No one was asking about the autopen. This is a manufactured controversy. The autopen is not some shadowy tool of corruption. It’s a mechanical signature device that every modern president has used. Obama used it. George W. Bush used it. Trump himself used it during his first term. It’s a routine, legal instrument for signing documents once the president has authorized them. Trump doesn’t care about the autopen. He’s using it as a vehicle to get somewhere else.

“What was done is totally illegal, and anything signed that way is of ‘no further force or effect.’” Here’s where it gets dangerous. He’s not making a legal argument; no court would take this seriously. He’s making a political declaration. He’s asserting, unilaterally, that he gets to decide what is and isn’t valid from the previous administration. If he can convince his followers that the autopen was illegal, then anything Biden signed with it becomes void. Not just executive orders. Not just regulations. Pardons.

The pardons Biden issued in his final days, for the January 6th committee members, for witnesses who testified against Trump, for election workers who faced threats and harassment, for officials who refused to overturn the 2020 election, for members of his own family, Trump is signaling that he intends to treat those pardons as meaningless. Unenforceable. Null. Which means those people are no longer protected. The shield Biden tried to give them? Trump is saying it doesn’t exist.

“The person who ‘worked’ the Autopen had no idea whether or not Biden approved of what he was doing. There was no ORDER in writing.” This is him building a case, not a legal one, but a narrative one. He’s suggesting that Biden wasn’t really in charge. That someone else was making decisions. That the entire administration was operating without legitimate authority. He’s planting the seed that Biden was a puppet, that the “Radical Left” was pulling the strings, and that nothing that happened for four years was real. This isn’t new. Authoritarian leaders always delegitimize the governments that came before them. It’s not enough to replace them. You have to erase them. You have to make your followers believe that your rule is the only legitimate rule and that everything before you was a crime.

“An absolutely illegal act perpetrated by the Radical Left Insurrectionists who illegally ran the Biden Administration.” Read that word. Insurrectionists. He’s taking the word that describes what his supporters did on January 6th, the word that led to prosecutions, convictions, and prison sentences, and he’s flipping it. Now the insurrectionists aren’t the people who stormed the Capitol. They’re the people who worked in the Biden administration. They’re the people who certified the election. They’re the people who investigated him. This is classic authoritarian projection. Accuse your enemies of the very thing you did. Muddy the water so thoroughly that your followers don’t know what’s true anymore. Make “insurrection” meaningless by applying it to everyone.

“Every one of them should be arrested for what they have done to our Country.” Every one of them. Not specific people. Not people accused of specific crimes. Everyone. Everyone who worked in the Biden administration. Everyone who served in a government he now claims was illegitimate. Arrested. For the crime of... what? Doing their jobs? Following the law? Not being loyal to him? This is a call for mass political prosecution. This is a president saying that everyone who served in the previous government is a criminal.

“They didn’t win the Presidency but, when you think of it, neither did Joe Biden. The whole thing was RIGGED.” He’s still saying the 2020 election was stolen. After every court case was thrown out. After every recount confirmed the exact same thing. After his own officials told him he lost. After January 6th. After everything. He’s not just relitigating the past. He’s rewriting it. Because if Biden didn’t really win, then Biden was never really president. And if Biden was never really president, then everything he did was illegitimate. Every law. Every appointment. Every pardon. Every protection. And that means Trump can undo all of it. Not through Congress. Not through the courts. Just by declaring it so.

“There must be a price to pay, and it has got to be a BIG ONE!” And here’s the threat. The promise. The part that’s meant to make people afraid. He doesn’t say what the price is. He doesn’t have to. That’s how fear works. The vagueness is the point. It’s meant to let people fill in the blank with their worst fear. Will it be prosecution? Imprisonment? Public humiliation? Financial ruin? Or worse?

He leaves it open so that everyone who ever opposed him has to wonder if they’re next. That’s what every strongman does. That’s what Stalin did. That’s what Pinochet did. That’s what every authoritarian does when they’re consolidating power. They don’t have to punish everyone. They just have to make everyone afraid that they might be punished. The fear does the work. People silence themselves. People fall in line. People stop resisting, not because they’ve been convicted of anything, but because they’re terrified of what might happen if they don’t.

This is not just rhetoric. The machinery is already in motion. His DOJ is moving against perceived enemies. Loyalty purges are sweeping through federal agencies. Career civil servants, people who have dedicated their lives to public service under presidents of both parties, are being forced out, investigated, and threatened. People are losing their jobs for the crime of having served in a Democratic administration. For the crime of having told the truth.

And at the same time, Trump is threatening retribution against his political enemies, and he’s sending federal agents into American communities. Minnesota continues to be occupied by federal forces. Families are being terrorized. Not criminals. Not threats to public safety. Families. Parents. Children. People whose only crime is existing in a country that no longer wants them.

But not all is lost. We’re already seeing cracks. Republican members of Congress are speaking out. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told the Omaha World-Herald that if Trump attempts to take Greenland by force, it could end his presidency.

“I’ll be candid with you: There’s so many Republicans mad about this,” Bacon said. “If he went through with the threats, I think it would be the end of his presidency.” A Republican congressman is openly saying that members of his own party are furious, and that Trump’s actions could lead to his removal.

And just before I hit publish on this, ABC reported that approximately 1,500 active-duty soldiers are on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota. If he does that, if he sends the U.S. Army against American civilians, I believe that will be another step too far. We will see more backlash. More people breaking from him. More cracks in the wall.

This is the balance I keep reminding myself of. Yes, it’s only been a year, and he’s done this much destruction. But the midterms are only eleven months away. We survived the first year. Not everyone did, and I will never minimize that. But his approval ratings continue to drop. And the farther he pushes, the more people will break.

I remain convinced that at some point, enough Republicans in Congress will say enough is enough. And when they do, they won’t just push back. They’ll remove him. I know what comes next if that happens. J.D. Vance scares me just as much, if not more. I believe he is a truly dangerous person, smarter, more calculated, and driven by an ideology that is deeply racist and deeply authoritarian. Trump, I think, is driven by ego and self-preservation. Vance is driven by something colder.

But here’s the thing about Vance: he doesn’t have the cult. He is deeply unlikable. There is no one in Congress who feels loyalty to him the way they do to Trump. If Trump is removed, that loyalty dissolves. The spell breaks. And we have a real chance, not a guaranteed one, but a real one, to dismantle this first layer of MAGA and start rebuilding. It’s going to get uglier before it gets better. I expect it to get uglier soon. But I also believe the uglier it gets, the faster the breaking point comes.

We are eleven months from the midterms. Eleven months from a chance to change the balance of power. Eleven months from the possibility of accountability. We just have to survive until then. And we have to make sure we don’t do it alone.

And that’s why I still have hope for America. I hope you do too.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

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