Bottom Line Up Front
The Trump administration has commenced what’s expected to be a massive immigration operation in Chicago, but the city is still bracing itself for the deployment of U.S. troops. In a chilling conversation this week, former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh, a native Chicagoan, said it flatly: “We are on the precipice of another unconstitutional invasion of an American city.” And he had an urgent message for the people of Chicago to prepare for what’s coming next.
(NOTE: Our conversation about Chicago in the video above begins at ~9 minutes).
WHAT HAPPENED
After weeks of vowing to deploy National Guard troops into Chicago, the Trump administration announced that it has launched a deportation crackdown in Illinois targeting so-called “hardened criminals” among undocumented immigrants. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an online statement that the effort — dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz” — was being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but it offered no details about its scope or tactics.
Chicago officials were blindsided. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats, confirmed that their offices had received no advance notice from the Trump administration. They slammed the move as a political stunt, designed to intimidate immigrant communities and stir up conflict ahead of a potential military deployment.
It remained unclear when exactly Trump would send National Guard troops into Chicago, as he’s already done in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
In an exclusive conversation hosted on TREASON, Joe Walsh and I discussed what most media outlets are still dancing around — Trump’s intent to invoke the Insurrection Act, use military force against U.S. citizens, and crush dissent in the streets of cities like Los Angeles, Baltimore, and now Chicago.
WHAT IT MEANS
Trump is baiting the people of Chicago and hoping for a violent overreaction that he can use as justification to invoke emergency powers, which I wrote about on Monday. Once he does, it will trigger a legal and constitutional crisis the likes of which we’ve never seen.
But former Congressman Walsh made a powerful point. In his view, troop deployments around the country could be used as part of the administration’s broader efforts to shape the 2026 midterm elections, including through voter suppression.
“This is pure in-your-face voter intimidation,” Walsh warned.
“He wants troops in precincts where Black and brown people vote — to scare them off.”
That warning comes at a crucial juncture. We are almost one year out from the midterm elections, and already the Trump administration has launched a coordinated effort to pressure GOP states into gerrymandering their election maps to win new seats, announced an illegal plan to “ban” mail-in voting, and secretly hired an election conspiracist to oversee U.S. “election security,” as I helped expose on TREASON.
As usual, Walsh didn’t hold back when asked what all of this means.
“Fascism is here. The most preeminent feature of any fascist regime in all of human history is the use of the military on streets against a citizenry. Trump wants this image normalized.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Walsh represented his home state of Illinois in Congress, and he had a strong message for people in his hometown of Chicago:
“Come out in numbers like you’ve never come out. Stay out. Protest like you’ve never protested. But do NOT get violent — that’s exactly what he wants.”
He’s right. Chicago is about to become ground zero in the fight for American democracy. Whether it’s in the streets or at the ballot box, this is the moment for peaceful-but-overwhelming resistance. Donald Trump is not going to stop.
I’ll end with this. If you’re like me and you still think this all sounds unbelievable, just remember — this is the same man who told Georgia’s Secretary of State to “find” votes to help him win in 2020 … the same man who told a rally of Christians in 2024 that if they re-elected him “you won’t have to vote again — we’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote” … and the same man who told Texas to “find” five new Republican seats to help him clinch the 2026 midterms.
He’s telling us what he’s going to do. And he’s going to do it, unless the rest of us stop him.
P.S. WHAT’S HAPPENING ON TREASON
Five things to put on your radar screen this week. I told you we were going to ramp things up going into the fall:
ONE: Final hours for the fall discount. Last chance! Due to popular demand, I’ve extended the 25% discount for full-year TREASON subscriptions by one day. It ends late tonight. If you already got one, give one as a gift. Your support is the engine for this newsletter and our fight to protect whistleblowers.
TWO: POSTPONED Tonight (9pET) - tune in to Jen Psaki on MSNBC -
I’ll be on talking about the perilous moment in our country. I hope you’ll join me.And you can catch my appearance on Nicolle Wallace last night here.THREE: Tomorrow (12noonET) - Weekly Wednesday Coffee - We’ll do another small-group coffee on Substack LIVE tomorrow at 12noonET / 9aPT. Exclusively for subscribers. You can join here. Bring questions to ask in the chat.
FOUR: Tomorrow (4pmET) - One-on-one with Katie Phang - I’ll be joined on Substack LIVE by former MSNBC anchor Katie Phang to talk about what’s coming next in America. Tune in for bold predictions. You can join here.
FIVE: Friday (12noonET) - Exclusive chat with the Democratic Governors Association - I’ll be hosting the head of the Democratic Governors Association to talk about two MAJOR governors races that could determine the balance of power in America and whether Trump is held accountable.
