The news of the moment is that Trump is trying to send National Guard troops into Los Angeles, allegedly to protect ICE agents who have been aggressively arresting peaceful working people in that city. Emptywheel has a great summary of what is happening, but what Trump (or more accurately, Steven Miller) is doing all boils down to this:
“Create chaos, and then use that chaos to try to codify authoritarian power.”
They’re creating what they hope will be “RIOTS AND LOOTING” so they can scare everyone into passage of their One Big Abomination Bill to pour money into deportations, cut taxes for the wealthy, and cut medicare, medicaid, SNAP, and whatever little social safety net remaining. This is the playbook: “Create chaos, and then use that chaos to try to codify authoritarian power.”
This is what’s happening right now.