We all saw Trump lose control today

The President of the United States flipped off a worker at a Ford facility in Michigan today and mouthed the words “f*ck you.” To be honest, those are words I never thought I’d have to say about a sitting American president. But here we are.

The worker had shouted at him from the line below, calling him a “pedophile protector.” And in full view of everyone, Donald Trump turned, raised his middle finger, and responded like a schoolyard bully. This is how the President of the United States handled a moment of public criticism. In a free society, people are allowed to speak out, even at the president. That’s part of the deal. But the office demands composure. It demands discipline. What we saw instead was a man unable to tolerate dissent, lashing out at a working-class American who dared to speak the truth. And while that tells us everything we need to know about Trump, it also reveals something else: more and more people aren’t afraid to say it to his face.

And we now know who that man was. His name is TJ Sabula, and he was just suspended from his job by Ford. He called Trump a “pedophile protector” because someone had to. And he paid the price. But listen to what he said afterward: “As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever… I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity.” That took guts. Imagine standing in the middle of a worksite, surrounded by people who might be MAGA, and still shouting what you know needs to be said. He understood the risk, and he spoke anyway. That’s what resistance really looks like. It’s not always massive marches or headlines. Sometimes it’s one person, in the middle of a photo op, interrupting the story they’re trying to sell and forcing the truth into the frame. Sabula reminded me that defiance is still alive. That even when it feels like hope is slipping, courage hasn’t gone anywhere. And it’s contagious.

And that wasn’t the only thing on Trump’s mind today. After losing control and lashing out at the auto plant, Trump took to Truth Social to continue his public pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of their major tariff ruling. In the post, the President warned of “severe disruption” if the Court rules against his illegal tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Two lower courts have already ruled the tariffs unlawful. If the Supreme Court upholds those rulings, it could trigger $133 billion in refunds to small businesses and consumers. That’s our money. That’s what he’s trying to block. And he knows what’s coming. Treasury Chief Scott Bessent says they have $800 billion on hand and that “It won’t be a problem if we have to do it” when referring to covering reimbursements. Trump is terrified that the Court will expose the truth: his entire economic model is based on illegal taxes that punish working Americans while protecting his donors and crony profiteers. He’s trying to intimidate the Court into silence. And the terrifying part? It might work.

Meanwhile, over at the Pentagon, Trump’s yes man, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, announced that Elon Musk’s Grok AI is being integrated into every classified and unclassified military network. Hegseth bragged that Grok, an untested chatbot that has already generated sexualized deepfake images of children and adults without consent, is now being fed operational military data and intelligence. This isn’t just foolish. It’s dangerous. AI is only as good as the people training it. And in this case, it’s a platform from a man who’s been posting antisemitic conspiracy theories and openly talks about buying elections. That’s who we’re trusting with military-grade decision-making.

These are just the signs of the times in Trump’s America, where we’re governed by the most unserious, unqualified people imaginable, and the most dangerous part is how intentional all of this is. These aren’t missteps. They’re a blueprint for control and to concentrate the wealth to Trump and his 1% crony enablers. Not because they need more money, but because our desperation gives them leverage. They already have more than they could ever spend. This isn’t about survival for them; it’s a game. They raise the cost of everything we can’t live without: housing, healthcare, food, and gas, so that we’re one emergency away from losing it all. And when we’re desperate, we’re easier to control. We can’t take time off to protest. We can’t risk losing jobs. We can’t afford to look away from the next paycheck long enough to organize. And every dollar we’re forced to spend just to stay afloat ends up right back in their hands. It’s not just wealth hoarding. It’s an engineered dependence. That’s the real goal: not just to rule us, but to make us rely on them for everything. Because for them, this isn’t hardship. It’s entertainment. The only real thrill left is seeing how far they can push people before they break.

And while we are all living in reality, paying bills, watching the news, feeling the weight of every policy change, Trump continues to exist in his gaudy gold lamé fantasy world, where nothing is real, and he never faces consequences. While working-class Americans are getting suspended for speaking the truth, he’s posting propaganda on Truth Social like a dictator surrounded by mirrors. And I want you to read what he wrote today through the lens of everything above, through the lens of a man who just flipped off a factory worker. He wrote:

“Under my stewardship, the Economy is booming! A Manufacturing Renaissance and soaring Household Incomes are powering GDP gains that have not been seen in decades, and we are undergoing a DIS-inflationary boom. The Private Sector is growing by over 5% thanks to the most Business Investment we have ever seen, maybe in History, and Inflation trends are looking GOOD. All the smart money knows the “HOTTEST” Economy in the World is the U.S.A. TIME TO INVEST!”

He knows the Supreme Court could take it all down with one decision. That’s why he’s lying louder than ever and demanding blind obedience, not facts, because blind obedience is the only thing holding this illusion together. And while he’s focused on preserving that fantasy, the consequences are crashing into the real world. Across the country, federal immigration officers are being deployed in unprecedented numbers. Thousands of ICE agents have been sent into Minneapolis in what the administration is calling the largest enforcement operation ever. It’s not just raids. It’s a full assault on the city. I’ve watched the videos, horrors I never imagined could happen on American soil, carried out by our own citizens in ICE uniforms. I’ve seen people pulled over with no explanation. I’ve seen residents trembling, unsure if a knock at the door means their life is about to change forever. They’re arresting Americans. Roughing them up. Releasing them later, but not before inflicting trauma that can’t be undone. There is no due process or justification. Just chaos and cruelty.

And I keep thinking back to the America we became right after September 11th, when even rival gangs put down their rivalries. Everyone felt it. We were all just Americans. The flag meant something then. It meant freedom and unity. And it meant that no matter where you were from or what you believed, we were in this together.

I never thought that 25 years later, this would be the country I’d wake up to, where we’re watching our own people torturing each other. Where Americans are being arrested without cause, roughed up, and released like nothing happened. I can’t believe we’ve gone through everything we’ve been through as a nation, and this is what we’ve become.

And Congress? For lack of a better word, they’re useless. Not all of them, but too many. Democratic leaders are frozen. Republican leaders are worse. Cowards chasing MAGA approval. Hoping for protection. Or clinging to power through silence. They weren’t elected to let federal agents roam unchecked and terrorize neighborhoods. They were elected to serve the people. And their refusal to act is just one more sign of the times under the Trump Regime.

We need to say it plainly: Congress isn’t protecting us. They’re protecting themselves. They’re too busy guarding their careers, their comfort, and their connections to care about the people they’re supposed to serve. And if we don’t start pressuring them relentlessly, every day, from every direction, they will keep ignoring what’s happening. They will let this get worse. Because silence is easier than courage. And most of them have already chosen it.

The truth is, we’re running out of options. We can either accept this authoritarian reality as permanent and teach ourselves to live with it, learn to swallow the fear, justify the violence, adjust to fewer rights, fewer choices, fewer protections, or we can face what comes next. And that next step is not theoretical. If we don’t stop this now, we are headed toward something far worse. People talk about civil war like it’s unthinkable, like it could never happen here, but the truth is we’re much closer to that than anyone wants to admit. Because the moment people fully realize they have no peaceful way out, no democratic path forward, and no leaders willing to represent them, the only thing left is to rise up. And if that happens, it will be chaotic and deadly.

That’s why the real choice right now, the only nonviolent path left, is to fight like hell while we still can. Not with weapons, but with our voices. With coordinated pressure and unrelenting protest. With a level of public outrage that Congress cannot ignore. Because if we don’t rise up now in numbers this country has never seen, then we are choosing to let this stand. And if we let it stand, we need to be honest with ourselves about what that means. It means watching a full collapse in slow motion while giving up the future. And it means looking the other way while people suffer, until there is no one left to stop it.

And when I say giving up the future, I mean our children’s and grandchildren’s. A future being stolen right now by a president who never cared whether they have rights or protections or peace of mind. And we cannot stand by and let this happen. Not without a fight. We all owe our kids more than that. We owe them the kind of courage that generations before us showed when democracy was on the line. We owe them a country that still belongs to the people, not one ruled by threats, lies, and unchecked power. If we back down now, they’ll inherit a nation that’s too far gone to fix. And we must refuse to be part of that surrender.

This is the part that matters most: we have to demand Congress take action. Every single day. Call them, write them, show up at their offices. Make them feel the pressure. Make them remember they work for us. Because if we don’t hold them accountable, no one will. They need to know that their inaction is being watched, recorded, and will be remembered.

And while we do that, we have to talk. About all of it. Loudly and relentlessly. With everyone. Not just online. Not just in safe spaces. But with coworkers. Neighbors. Friends. Strangers. People you’ve been avoiding the hard conversations with. Let everyone you come into contact with know exactly what’s happening. Tell them about the ICE raids and the detentions without due process. Make it real for them. Because so many people are still in denial or living in distraction. And the only way to pull them out is by refusing to stay quiet.

We can’t afford politeness anymore. We can’t worry about making people uncomfortable when the truth is this disturbing. Speak it anyway. Say it over and over again. Until it breaks through. That’s how movements grow and how power shifts.

We are standing inside one of the darkest chapters our country has ever written, but the story isn’t over yet. We’ve survived low points before. We’ve seen corruption, violence, and collapse. But we’ve also seen courage rise in the middle of it. And it can again.

Because what we’re up against now isn’t normal politics. These aren’t reasonable people with different visions. We are facing a movement rooted in cruelty and power, a cult that’s hijacked an entire political party and is trying to hijack our future. They don’t want to compromise. They want control. And the only thing standing in their way is us.

I want to be honest with you, like I always promise to be. In this moment, I’m scared, not in the way where hope is lost, but in a deeper way for what’s to come. I’m scared for the people we will lose, because there is going to be continued loss of life if this keeps going. I want only non‑violence, that’s all I want. But ICE doesn’t seem to play by the same rules, and what I’m seeing makes me afraid of how bad this is going to get before it gets better.

I’m scared for the world. I’m scared for what this is doing to other countries and the people who live in them, people who have no voice in the matter, who are still having to deal with the fallout. I’m scared for the destabilization of the world, and what that means for Greenland, Canada, Mexico, and any other country he decides he wants to pick fights with next. I’m scared for our economy.

I’m scared, but not in a way that makes you freeze. I’m scared in a way that sharpens you. That makes you move quicker, speak louder, think harder, and dig deeper. I’m scared for my kids, for yours, for everyone growing up in this country, wondering what freedom will still mean a year from now. But that fear? That fear is fuel now.

And no, I’m not giving up. I’m not backing down. I’ll keep writing. I’ll keep speaking. I’ll keep resisting until the very end. Because this is still our country. I still have hope for America. And I hope you do too.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

You can help me reach a much larger audience with the truth about the destruction unfolding in our country just by subscribing to my Substack. There’s a free option, and a $5/month subscription that directly supports this work and helps get it in front of more people.