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ACCORDING TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, TRUMP IS A TYRANT [1]

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Date: 2025-04-14

In 1776, the Founding Fathers wrote out 27 “grievances” in the Declaration of Independence against King George III to justify rebellion against the Crown and declare independence. President Trump and his Administration seem intent on replicating those grievances in the modern era as if it were a game of Bingo. The following examples, in no order, illustrate the point:

Grievance 18 criticizes King George III for “depriving” many Colonists of a “Jury trial,” instead subjecting them to admiralty courts where there was little due process and a bias towards the Crown. This is precisely the same conduct President Trump and his Administration have engaged in as it relates to the deportation of immigrants to foreign countries without due process, revocation of immigrants’ lawful residency without due process, revocation of citizens’ and business’ security clearances without due process, and so on.

criticizes King George III for “depriving” many Colonists of a “Jury trial,” instead subjecting them to admiralty courts where there was little due process and a bias towards the Crown. This is precisely the same conduct President Trump and his Administration have engaged in as it relates to the deportation of immigrants to foreign countries without due process, revocation of immigrants’ lawful residency without due process, revocation of citizens’ and business’ security clearances without due process, and so on. Grievance 16 criticizes King George III for cutting off trade with the world, as in when he closed Boston Port following the Boston Tea Party, which was a protest about tariffs on the import of tea. Tariffs need no further explanation. Though, equally, the President’s use of Executive Order to target law firms and businesses that disagree with him politically from being able to work on government contracts (or enter government buildings, obtain security clearances, etc.) is no different than closing a Colony port to the world in response to (again) criticizing the government for its policies.

criticizes King George III for cutting off trade with the world, as in when he closed Boston Port following the Boston Tea Party, which was a protest about tariffs on the import of tea. Tariffs need no further explanation. Though, equally, the President’s use of Executive Order to target law firms and businesses that disagree with him politically from being able to work on government contracts (or enter government buildings, obtain security clearances, etc.) is no different than closing a Colony port to the world in response to (again) criticizing the government for its policies. Grievance 27 criticizes King George III because he had “excited domestic insurrection amongst us.” The King was encouraging Native Americans and other foreign colonies to engage in excursions and attack Colonists to keep the Colonies from expanding westward. This is no different than President Trump’s conduct ever since the election in 2020 – from falsely claiming voting fraud and rigged elections, to inciting a crowd on January 6 th , 2021, to attack Congress, and then pardoning even the most violent offenders who participated in those attacks.

criticizes King George III because he had “excited domestic insurrection amongst us.” The King was encouraging Native Americans and other foreign colonies to engage in excursions and attack Colonists to keep the Colonies from expanding westward. This is no different than President Trump’s conduct ever since the election in 2020 – from falsely claiming voting fraud and rigged elections, to inciting a crowd on January 6 , 2021, to attack Congress, and then pardoning even the most violent offenders who participated in those attacks. Grievance 7 criticizes King George III for “obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass [other laws] to encourage their migrations.” The Crown was concerned with the influx of immigrants into the Colonies because the population growth would increase the Colonies’ power. Similarly, President Trump and his Administration are waging an unprecedented war on both lawful and unlawful immigration conditioned on concerns over voting power and white Christian nationalism. Rather than pass laws to fix immigration systems and better fund border security and immigration courts, President Trump and his Administration are engaging in extreme anti-immigration rhetoric and tactics, from deporting even lawful residents to foreign countries, to revoking lawfully issued social security numbers to lawful residents, revoking residence permits from professors and students who have publicly criticized President Trump, and much more.

criticizes King George III for “obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass [other laws] to encourage their migrations.” The Crown was concerned with the influx of immigrants into the Colonies because the population growth would increase the Colonies’ power. Similarly, President Trump and his Administration are waging an unprecedented war on both lawful and unlawful immigration conditioned on concerns over voting power and white Christian nationalism. Rather than pass laws to fix immigration systems and better fund border security and immigration courts, President Trump and his Administration are engaging in extreme anti-immigration rhetoric and tactics, from deporting even lawful residents to foreign countries, to revoking lawfully issued social security numbers to lawful residents, revoking residence permits from professors and students who have publicly criticized President Trump, and much more. Grievances 8, 9, and 10 criticize King George III for handpicking judges and making their tenure dependent on him alone – thus creating a judiciary that was loyal only to King George III, rather than the rule of law – and creating new government offices “to harass our people” to carry out the King’s will. President Trump and his Administration have routinely criticized judges he did not appoint (to the extent that many routinely receive death threats) and Congress is actively pursuing ways to undermine the independence of the federal judiciary (including withholding funding, shuttering federal circuits, and limiting judicial authority over matters). Moreover, President Trump and his Administration routinely fire and hire federal employees based on whether they are loyal to President Trump (as opposed to the United States and Constitution) and have required job applicants to submit to loyalty tests.

criticize King George III for handpicking judges and making their tenure dependent on him alone – thus creating a judiciary that was loyal only to King George III, rather than the rule of law – and creating new government offices “to harass our people” to carry out the King’s will. President Trump and his Administration have routinely criticized judges he did not appoint (to the extent that many routinely receive death threats) and Congress is actively pursuing ways to undermine the independence of the federal judiciary (including withholding funding, shuttering federal circuits, and limiting judicial authority over matters). Moreover, President Trump and his Administration routinely fire and hire federal employees based on whether they are loyal to President Trump (as opposed to the United States and Constitution) and have required job applicants to submit to loyalty tests. Grievance 15 criticizes King George III for establishing kangaroo courts that enabled soldiers to be acquitted for the murder of Colonists despite overwhelming evidence against them. Again, President Trump has not only lambasted the Department of Justice, intelligence agencies, and courts for punishing criminal conduct (from white collar crimes to violent riots on January 6th), but has pushed to eliminate the judiciary’s independence (or undermine the power of the institution altogether), has pardoned individuals convicted of heinous crimes on the basis that their convictions were “political” (especially when those individuals have donated significant sums to President Trump’s coffers), and has targeted innocent people – including members of his own first presidency – for criticizing him.

One must genuinely wonder how we deviated so far from the inspirational path the Founding Fathers set us on and whether we are likely to see a resurgence in the same rebellious spirit.

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