Trump's war on his perceived enemies is escalating: faster, broader, harsher -- Christina Pagel

[erronis]

https://christinapagel.substack.com/p/trumps-war-on-his-perceived-enemies

Trump is weaponising the presidency to punish critics, silence dissent, and brand whole states as 'the enemy'.

Today I want to talk about the dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s attacks on its enemies, using whatever means are at its disposal. To date, I’ve logged 172 actions against perceived enemies since Jan 2025. Over half of these actions have come in just the last two months.

Below is a chart of the number of attacks on enemies by month, disaggregated by the target of the attack. Significant growth in attacks against anyone now thwarting or criticizing Trump’s agenda is what is driving the recent escalation.
What’s striking is not just the increase in the number of attacks, but how quickly the circle of “enemies” has widened. What began as a campaign against Biden officials and January 6th investigators has grown into an assault on anyone with power or influence who resists Trump - judges, lawyers, politicians, business leaders, journalists, celebrities, and even whole cities and states. The message is clear: challenge Trump, and you’ll be punished. In what follows, I break down the types of people who are being targeted (previous administrations, institutions, states/cities, individuals) and how the tools of state have been weaponised.



What’s striking is not just the increase in the number of attacks, but how quickly the circle of “enemies” has widened. What began as a campaign against Biden officials and January 6th investigators has grown into an assault on anyone with power or influence who resists Trump - judges, lawyers, politicians, business leaders, journalists, celebrities, and even whole cities and states. The message is clear: challenge Trump, and you’ll be punished. In what follows, I break down the types of people who are being targeted (previous administrations, institutions, states/cities, individuals) and how the tools of state have been weaponised.

. . .

Conclusion

Seven months into his second term, Trump has turned the machinery of the state, the courts, and the loudspeaker of the presidency into tools of personal retribution, ensuring that no judge, journalist, official, politician, business leader or cultural figure is beyond his reach.

Given a lack of effective pushback, Trump will only continue to escalate his attacks on critics. Already the stage is being set to brand opponents as enemies of the state, and norms have been broken by sending the American military to ‘problem’ cities. If this is what seven months in looks like, there is real danger in how much further Trump is willing to go.

[riversedge]

1. whow. Love the graph--it tells Trump's retalition very well.