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Dispatches From The Future - Trump's Pax Americana [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-02-10
Preamble If you think that everything is going to be fine or that certain aspects of our country are permanent, you will not enjoy this. I am writing a series of diaries on future possibilities. These focus, but are not exclusive to, some of the crazy scenarios and places our current trajectory could take us. None of this is inevitable. And NONE of these are what I want or predictions of what I think will happen. I prefer a democratic change scenario within our current parameters of government. I say that all as preamble to cut off freakouts and accusations in the comments, both of which distract from considering these and other future possibilities. The intent is to better recognize risks and stress to then work to avoid them rather than to avert our eyes.
I will be posting this same introduction ahead of every one of these diaries. Here is the last one. Dispatches From The Future - Red Secession In 2029 Be warned, this is probably the darkest future scenario that I will lay out. ********************************************************************** Analysis taken from 21st Century Empire, digital conglomeration and publication, 2093, Sietzman Digi Press, AI edition
“I mourn for our democracy and country every day. But if you had told me back in 2021 that changing the filibuster would have avoided the later violence, would have kept my fellow West Virginians from burning down my homes, I still would not have voted for it. I know in my heart that things would have been worse if the filibuster had been removed sooner.”
Former Senator Joe Manchin from his Ontario estate, 2027
Many historians and commentators regard the 2024 presidential election as the pivotal turning point in the United States’ descent into authoritarian rule. This is inaccurate. Three back-to-back elections were all equally critical in the fall of functioning democracy in the United States in the first half of the 21st century. The first was 2016, which enabled Trumpism to take over and consume the Republican Party. This put a nationalist, anti-democratic stamp on the Grand Old Party, making such positions mainstream in the body politic. The second important election was 2020, which saw a backlash that barely allowed Joe Biden to defeat Trump. Yet that backlash was largely fueled by an incompetent pandemic response, not a change of heart in American politics. Indeed, it was an old phenomena of punishing the party in seen in power for events that happen on their watch (an experience the Democrats and Kamala Harris would suffer in 2024).
By 2024 several states were already no longer functioning democracies. Republican dissenters like Liz Cheney were purged and replaced by full Trump supporters. Meanwhile support for the Democratic Party declined. In a time when Americans were enraged at existing institutions, Democrats were seen as defenders of those same institutions.
2024 Election
The election was as much a referendum on Joe Biden as on Trump, despite the fact that Biden dropped out of the race in the summer. While criticized, Kamala Harris ran an exemplary campaign, but the timing and nature of her message (predominantly “hope and joy” and moving past Trumpism and negativity) was poorly timed. Many Americans faced inflation and longstanding economic decline that neither party had solved. While the Democratic Party prided itself on being forward leaning, much of its communication, infrastructure and leadership was older than what the GOP used.
With a barely functional RNC, the Trump campaign effectively reached more people and leveraged the GOP’s domination of TV news, cable, social media sites and podcasts in ways that have not been done before or since. Meanwhile Democrats excelled at fundraising, but were largely shut out of the right-wing media infrastructure. Legacy media was only slightly more friendly.
Compounding these problems was economics. Inflation had been high during much of Biden’s presidency. Democrats had long relied on social issues like abortion and racial equality to drive votes. This was doubly true after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. These were still effective in 2024, but less so than in previous cycles. Voters under 35, a key Democratic demographic supported the party in lower numbers. This was the first sign of the Anti-Identity Politics movement that would dominate Gen Y and Z. These voters prioritized economic opportunity as highly as equality or equity, or at least saw that as intertwined with social justice.
Trump emphasized both inflation and anti-immigration rhetoric. This was capped off by a virulently racist event at Madison Square Garden where speakers targeted Black Americans and Puerto Rican Americans with racial invective. Despite this, Trump would enjoy a historically high performance among Latino Americans and African Americans. In contrast, Harris suffered drops in support in key swing states like Pennsylvania. Former swing states like Florida were not even close. Some Democrats ignored this performance while others noted that losing Miami-Dade County indicated serious problems with the party’s brand and stance on immigration.
“I mean, what’s it matter? They’re all the same bruh. Not like voting is gonna change my life. Free Gaza and kiss my ass Biden!”
Steve Mcyntire, age 20, on the way to his second work shift between community college classes (Mcyntire was later killed in political violence in 2027)
Unlike 2020, election night 2024 is called relatively quickly with Trump winning all swing states and making inroads into Democratic constituencies. That included women who had lost reproductive choices and racial minorities that Trump had attacked and even promised to deport. Those defections were not large, but key in states like Arizona and Pennsylvania.
A Great Big Mess
Opening Moves
Upon his inauguration President Trump does not waste time. In a flurry of moves he does the following (much of this is of course prepared by staff and supporters):
Various Executive Orders to undo Biden’s orders.
Expanding upon previous Executive Orders like the Muslim Immigration Ban.
Challenging birthright citizenship.
Federal funding is frozen, then partially unfrozen. Infrastructure spending remains frozen for months. In all of this the Democrats appear listless. We now know that several of the party leaders received intelligence that in Trump’s first few months in office he was looking for an excuse to declare a form of martial law. Ideally, that would be in the form of any large protest or civil disturbance. For this reason the party leaders focused on aspects of their resistance minus mass protest or antagonism.
Most of Trump’s administration began actively dismantling agency functions, especially oversight mechanisms. Others started serving to fulfill various favors the administration is doling out in exchange for $$$ and influence. Most federal employees went along with this, fearful to take action. The assassination of Anthony Fauci in April only increased this fear, as did the ongoing disappearances of a few media and online personalities.
Defund the Fed
Following a massive data theft in late January to early February, the Trump administration slowly rolled out defunding of vast swaths of the Federal government. The initial target was the Department of Education, but several other departments and agencies followed. Targeting was both broad and precise. Broad in the sense of agencies whose missions ran counter to a Trump goal (i.e., drill, baby drill), but precise in targeting specific employees. The Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service and Government Accountability Office are among the earlier topics. While some federal employees receive notice of termination, far more are simply not paid. Paychecks stop coming, forcing thousands of federal employees to dip into savings and/or look for other sources of income.
These actions are not legal, but the Department of Justices takes no action. Nor does Congress, not even for GAO, which is a Congressional agency. Elon Musk vocally relays all of the wasted $$$ his data work has uncovered without providing many details. The examples that are offered are quickly debunked, although that information was not carried on most media sites and outlets.
There are occasional legal victories, like unfreezing some federal funding, but those are the exception. Democrats threaten to filibuster Senate business, but largely do not follow through.
Most Americans remain unaware or uncaring about the decline in federal activities, even when it impacts someone that they know. The federal government was seen as rotten and a bane, meaning any reduction in size was a positive. Roughly 42% of Americans strongly support the changes Trump and Musk are bringing about. Protests across the country increase by summer, but a series of foreign policy issues is about to steal the spotlight.
A Limited Panama Invasion
The TRUONG LOC 16 travels through the Panama Canal as the first container ship following the U.S. management takeover.
Following a series of threats and failed negotiations, in June 2025 U.S. forces began a military action in Panama. This is both a limited and a surprise action. There is little actual fighting or resistance and none of the feared sabotage that some feared. The U.S. did not occupy Panama beyond critical air assets and the canal operation zone. This limited occupation temporarily took over management of the Canal, turning back ships of “questionable national origin”. Panama officials and the Trump administration negotiated a withdrawal of U.S. forces. This agreement included much of what Panama had already offered with one notable addition — U.S. authorities gained the right to veto any ship’s access to the canal or charge additional fees for access.
A skeleton U.S. force remained under this agreement. By Fall the Trump administration announced new, steep fees for using the canal for certain countries. China topped the list.
A Change In Status For Greenland
Several U.S. Departments and Agencies created various memes and online graphics to encourage American migration to Greenland.
Following the invasion of Panama, Trump administration officials reached back out to Denmark. The language was terse and short: “Do you want us to do the same to you?” The Trump administration leaned on various European countries to persuade Denmark. Most were uncooperative, but Poland and Germany were more receptive when the Trump administration promised additional forms of aid to Ukraine. In November the United States and Denmark announced an agreement where Greenland’s association with Denmark was replaced by one with the United States. Greenland remained (nominally) independent, but was now an official U.S. protectorate. Shortly following this development the Trump administration announced a program to support populating Greenland. The target was to have 250,000 Americans relocate there. “Anyone want 40 acres and a glacier?” quips Trump. The division of Greenland came with resource and mineral rights. Companies swooped in, but so did roughly 89,000 Americans.
By 2030 a solid American majority would petition the United States government to become a state, which was passed in early 2032. Greenland then becomes a reliably red states.
A Final Solution in Gaza
Most controversial among these foreign policy actions was Trump’s involvement in the Gaza Strip. The Trump administration first floated the idea of emptying the Gaza Strip of Palestinians in February. It was widely panned. Behind the scenes the Trump administration offered money for any country that would agree to take the Palestinians. The requirements were
Taking virtually all of the remaining 2+ million Palestinians in Gaza.
Allowing anyone from the West Bank to emigrate if they chose to.
Having the location in a geographically isolated and controllable spot.
Multiple countries secretly jockeyed for this in a bidding war. These included Egypt, Indonesia and Chile. Egypt offered an isolated strip of Mediterranean coast in the far west of the country roughly 4 times the size of Gaza. Indonesia had a select group of four islands that it would “donate” as a new Palestinian homeland. Chile already had the largest Palestinian population outside of the Middle East and offered a general immigration right.
Indonesia’s won the “bid”, although its government never come out publicly and said so until decades later. In October 2025, the first ship transports arrived off of Gaza. Conditions had (intentionally) not improved in Gaza with no UN access and the population kept on the edge of starvation. Of the roughly 2 million Gazans, 800,000 quickly the transit out of Gaza. This was not unusual, rather a typical response among what amounted to an enormous refugee camp. When those who collaborated with Hamas were asked why they did it, the answer was rarely due to hatred of Israel, rather the opportunity to collect money to perhaps smuggle their children out of the Strp and give them a chance at a better life. The boat transports had better accommodations with easy access to food and medicine.
Over 1 million Gazans refused to leave, regardless of the conditions. A combination of U.S. and Israeli military forces forcibly removed most of this population on later transports throughout the Winter months. This included sporadic violence and gun fights, which declined over time as fewer individuals were left in the strip. Some dissenters successfully remained for years with the last reported in 2042. This Second Nakba ended up transporting over 2 million people in total. The voyage was long as Egypt closed the Suez Canal to the ships in protest (despite bidding on the same transportation). Approximately 2,400 people died on the trips, most due to severe malnutrition predating the trip.
Indonesia did little to prepare the new islands for the arrivals. One of the donated islands was volcanic and barren. In total, the others were approximately 28 times the size of Gaza, but parts of this land were sloped, rocky and uninhabitable. Dense jungle covered much of the rest. The UN was allowed to fully step in, providing aid and temporary shelters. New Palestine never saw any of the money Indonesia was paid. Nor does the United States provide much assistance. However, over $10 billion was invested from other sources in the first 4 years alone, mostly from a combination of Saudi Arabian and Qatari funds. Over 200,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and 150,000 from other Middle Eastern states eventually make the trip. That included 45,000 American citizens later fleeing “Camping Time”.
Today over 4 millions Palestinians make New Palestine their home amidst a thriving technology hub. Most scholars outside of the United States and Israel agree that none of that takes away or justifies the ethnic cleansing of Gaza in 2025-2026.
Schism in the American Left
Despite Trump’s defunding critical federal programs and controversial foreign policy, disunity and chaos in the Democratic Party largely fail to challenge him. Part of that is due to Democrats having no Congressional majority. There was also a lot of theories and blame over how Trump had won again. The larger problem was that the Democratic Party had in many ways become the conservative, institutionalist party when those same institutions were failing and hated. It also had little unity and common ground among its party activists. To fix the challenge of Trump many Democrats had few answers besides leaning harder on norms.
One wing of the Democratic Party wanted a return to workers issues, rights and to eagerly engage in class warfare against the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Others did not, wanting to continue to go light on economic reforms while championing social equity and equality. The consulting class and money backing both parties supported the second position, which ended up winning out. The emphasis would remain on “not being Trump”.
Additionally, much of the energy that had characterized Democratic resistance to Trump’s first term was absent. Many liberals complained that they were too exhausted to mount another defense. There was various mental trauma over losing the country and seemingly democracy. For example, some liberals could not bear to even see Trump’s image, which would illicit a critical response at wherever they saw it.
Instead of showing images of Donald Trump, writers of the time inserted other orange representations to accommodate those who could not view such content.
The Supreme Court Backs A Supreme President
Trump’s defunding of large swaths of the federal government reached the Supreme Court in early 2026. By this time tens of thousands of federal employees had looked for alternate employment after not having been paid in months. The Supreme Court ruled that the Impoundment Control Act was constitutional and required the President to notify Congress of any temporary delays in funding and the reasons for such . The Trump administration complied with the ruling by scheduling weekly Congressional notifications on what funding was paused and specious grounds for such. This decision kept large parts of the federal government defunded. The coding Musk and associates has applied to OPM was now so fine tuned that individual employees could be added to the defunded list based on any ongoing offline or online activity (i.e., buying a “liberal book” on Amazon or visiting Huffington Post or Daily Kos). This practice of notifying Congress on funding delays was also challenged, but when it reached the Supreme Court in 2027 the court refuses to take up the case, leaving a lower ruling in place that the president has complied with the law.
2026 Midterms
Despite division, history was on the Democrats’ side. The economy had not crashed, but inflation remained high and job numbers were down. The price of eggs was still high, along with several other agricultural products. Democrats had gotten messaging down to resist Trump, pairing economic criticism with support for a new Worker Bill of Rights. The targets were blue collar, tech and farmers.
This resulted in the Democrats gaining 30+ House seats and picking up 3 Senate seats (Maine, North Carolina, Ohio). If they could follow up this performance in 2028, Democrats promise to boot Trump and Trumpism to the curb in a new era of Workers Rights. Democrats are also openly stating that Musk and all enablers will be held accountable as homeland security risks.
January 4 Coup
On Monday, January 4 the new Congress gathered to meet for the first time. As Democratic representatives and senators arrived they are taken into custody by federal agents and/or plain clothes military service members. A few made it to the internal offices where they were met by more agents. They were then removed from the building as the Capitol Police looked on, having received orders that morning to not intervene in any necessary police actions that morning.
In all 52 House members were placed in detention, along with 23 Democratic Senators. A few Congressional members received a warning about the arrests and fled D.C. Many of these individuals are never seen or heard from again.
While disinformation and slanted media reporting attempted to characterize this as a homeland security action, it was obvious to most American citizens that this was the Trump administration actively subverting Congress. The remaining House majority reelects Mike Johnson as Speaker (Hakeem Jeffries was one of those arrested) on January 5. The remaining Senate also passed a new rule to engage in business, even if members were absent due to homeland security reasons. The filibuster was also abolished until the crisis had passed.
Large protests, which had been absent, are immediate and far larger than anything seen since the 1960s. Several cities descended into chaos, which the Trump administration described as part of the terrorist plot it was acting against. Many local police departments viciously cracked down on these protests without fear of federal oversight or media reporting beyond local bloggers.
Roughly 600,000 prepared for a huge protest in Washington, D.C., marching from the Capitol Building to the White House. The government approved the permits for Tuesday, January 19. The protest began at 11am EST. Women made up over 60% of the marchers, many mothers and grandmothers marching with daughters and nieces. Some unions were present, as were former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, both of whom planned to speak in front of the White House.
As the protest marched west on Madison Drive NW a line of military members appeared in front of them near the National Gallery of Art – Sculpture Garden. At the same time another force appeared to the north on 7th St. NW. There was no request to turn back, no communication. The forces opened fire.
“I couldn’t see the front of the march, but heard what I thought were fireworks. I saw people in front of me turn and run back toward me screaming. I don’t know how I kept my feet against the rush. I then saw soldiers in masks. I thought they were firing rubber bullets until I saw people falling to the ground. I don’t know how I wasn’t hit. I then heard more firing noises behind me. I turned and tried to run south partially against the crowd. I got clear. The bridges were closed, so I went down to the Tidal Garden, stole a paddle boat and made it across to Virginia. It was only after I made it across that I realized a bullet had grazed my left arm.”
Jenni Garcia, 38, survivor of Bloody Tuesday
National Mall — Red areas are deployed military faces. Blue area is bulk of protester column
Over 132,000 people were injured in what came to be known as “Bloody Tuesday”. Most of the deaths were due to trampling, not gunfire. Approximately 12,000 lost their lives that day, but that may be a severe undercount as local hospitals and other local authorities had unreliable data reporting.
Right-wing media stations, outlets and podcasts all described the violence as unfortunate. Terrorists had infiltrated the protest and planned to detonate a large bomb at the White House. The plot was foiled only at the last minute. Social media posts and counternarratives were deemphasized on X, Facebook and other platforms. Legacy media’s response was also muted, repeating the administration’s terrorist theories without pushback. Websites that actively reported on the events were summarily taken down under new communications rules that quickly passed the new Congress.
With a Sigh
With undemocratic majorities in the House and Senate, Trump and his GOP allies moved quickly. A National Abortion Ban was passed, along with converting many of Trump’s executive orders into law. A few more media figures disappeared and there were rumblings that Musk would directly take over tech competitors unless they showed more loyalty. Musk’s new AI agents had largely taken over for their human counterparts, cutting government functions and its employees even further. This preceded privatized management of the National Weather Service and National Parks system.
Following domestic bombings in Detroit and Dearborn, Congress expanded the Homeland Security Act to allow for rapid detention and indefinite custody of most anyone deemed to be a threat. This led to the targeting and relocation to camps of American Muslims and Arabs. From 2027-2033 approximately 1.2 million Americans were transported, primarily to three camp locations. The camps were located near Atlantic City, Wyoming, Good Grief, Idaho and Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Scores of Wyoming and Idaho residents volunteered time to help keep the camps secure, supplementing Homeland Security forces and shooting trespassers and drones. There were accidental shootings of local property owners on several occasions. Political dissenters and transgender individuals populated the camps too. The primary purpose of the camps were reeducation and to be more “properly American”. Indoctrination included demands to convert to Christianity. Several Arab Americans at Good Grief Camp pointed out that they were already Christian, the camp officials told them to work on becoming the “right sort of Christian”. Suicide and fighting over resources was encouraged. In all, over 183,000 Americans would lose their lives in the camp system.
Several U.S. states protested this action, declaring that the federal government was no longer legitimate. That included every state in the U.S. Northeast, West Coast, parts of the upper Midwest and Hawaii.
Primary Reeducation Camp Locations
An Unconstitutional Constitutional Convention
Just as troubling of the violent crackdown on protest and opening of camps were calls for a new Constitutional Convention. Even with Trump’s various power grabs there were not enough state legislatures to support such a move. To get around this, in June 2027 Trump declared that several states were in rebellion against federal authority. That included most blue states. Trump demanded a statement of loyalty and obedience from the governors, providing a deadline on July 4. Having received not a single statement from any state, Trump declared that those states were no longer states, signing legislation passed by Congress and reverting the states back to territories. This removed remaining representatives and senators from those states serving in Congress and also dropped the necessary number of states needed to call a Constitutional Convention.
The Supreme Court quickly took up the case in what amounted to an emergency session in September 2027. The Court issued a decision stating that the Constitution contained no mechanism for a state going back into territorial status. Thus the Court deferred the issue and power to address it to the legislative and executive branches.
With this tacit approval, the constitutional convention took place in Lebanon, Kansas in October 2027. Less than 1 month later the convention had concluded with a new and very different constitution for the 3rd American Republic.
Key changes include:
Marriage is solely between a man and a woman.
Christianity is the preferred religion of the state.
Income Tax shall only apply to the first $100,000 earned and in all other cases be illegal.
Abortion is illegal with no exceptions.
Voting identification shall not be unchallenged.
The right to bear arms shall not be infringed.
Senators shall be elected to 8 year terms.
State legislatures shall select or appoint senators.
Each 500 square miles of land shall have 1 representatives in the House.
There are no term limits on the presidency.
No territories shall ever be admitted as a state without a super majority vote in both houses of Congress.
The entire District of Columbia shall remain a Federal District in perpetuity.
Corporations have the right to engage in the political process.
Corporations shall not be limited by market share.
Citizenship shall not be conferred by birth, but by citizen panel review.
The Right to Vote shall be limited by political or criminal activity.
National or regional referendums may be called by the President to settle policy disputes.
While not strictly part of the Constitution, it was also decided that Eastern Washington (Lincoln) and Eastern Oregon (Jefferson) should soon be given the chance to vote for statehood, which occurs that Fall.
Official flag of the New American Republic
The GOP’s media machine wholeheartedly supported the new Constitutional Convention as necessary to save the country against forces that would destroy it. The legacy media was also more excited than critical. Most Americans kept their heads down, went to work and were silent after the crackdown of Bloody Tuesday and several other military responses.
“Are there serious questions about whether this is legal or right? Absolutely. Is this an exciting moment, a moment of history for the United States? Absolutely.”
CNN Commentator Van Jones, October 30, 2027
At the conclusion of the convention Trump gave reporters the rare chance to ask him questions. The most pointed question came from an independent news blogger, who observed that NONE of this is constitutional and what does the president have to say about that. Trump shrugged and said in slurred speeech, “This is a crisis. Americans are tired of waiting to fix it.”
A New Lady Liberty For A New Time
Behind the scenes several state governors and legislative leaders of red states were told that they will be removed if they did not ratify the new constitution within 30 days. That ended up playing out in North Carolina where Democratic governor Josh Stein refused and was removed from office, undemocratically replaced by a Republican with the State Supreme Court’s approval. Blue state governors were blunt that they did NOT recognize the new constitution or their new territorial status. Still, there was little that they could do. Few called for active resistance. Democratic leaders like Gavin Newsom fled with his money, seeking international sanctuary in Europe. The state National Guards and over 70% of local law enforcement officials followed Trump’s directives. Trump soon appointed military governors to take over governing most former Blue States.
The legality of the new constitution are questioned with judges citing different precedent based on which constitution they recognize. That declines over the coming months as liberal federal judges were aggressively forced to retire or resignin many parts of the country. By 2029 the new constitution was recognized by a strong majority of Americans residing in the remaining states.
Postscript
We now know that Donald Trump suffered a series of strokes starting in 2025. By the Election of 2028 he was increasingly isolated, despite he and his backers remaking the country. Musk and Big Tech enjoyed increasing influence as Trump declined. In 2028, Big Tech’s preferred candidate, JD Vance, barely won the nomination over Donald Trump Jr. Hopes of a split ended when the two of them formed a fusion MAGA ticket with Trump Jr. as VP. That ticket went on to enjoy a landslide victory with most former blue states no longer having votes in the Electoral College.
In 2029 JD Vance surprisingly began his term seeking reconciliation moving past certain aspects of Trumpism. He still lauded Trump and held the biggest state funeral for Trump when he passed away in April. The system was so skewed in Republicans favor that Vance decided to allow Blue territories some additional power that would alleviate some division...he hoped. It also appeared that Vance had the votes in Congress to enact this soft reconciliation. These efforts were in progress when Vance was assassinated by sniper fire in August 2029. Donald Trump Jr’s took over the presidency and did continue Vance’s reconciliation efforts, preferring to keep the Blue areas of the country as non-voting territories. Since then, California, Colorado, New York and other areas have suffered the vulture capitalism and exploitation that Puerto Rico had already experienced for decades.
In 2032 Donald Trump Jr. won reelection. This was followed by Eric Trump running and winning in 2036 and 2040 and Barron Trump running and winning in 2044 and 2048. To this day the Trump family and its successors continue to control the illiberal United States and its various territories.
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