Americans watched helplessly on Wednesday as Trump tore down the entire East Wing just weeks after promising the illegal remodel âwouldnât touchâ the existing White House. It is fair to wonder whether Trumpâs lawless reign can be stopped.
Yes, it can be, and it will be.
Even Trump understands that his performance and policies are wildly unpopular. He is bracing for an overwhelming electoral loss in the 2026 midterms by trying to create dozens of new âsafeâ Republican-leaning House seats. Few seats will be âsafeâ for Republicans in 2026, no matter the current margin. Nearly every Republican seat will be vulnerable by November 2026. Republican âvulnerabilityâ doesnât mean that Democrats will win. It means that they can win.
Dozens of Republican seats in the House will be within the âmargin of effortâ because of Trumpâs increasingly dictatorial actions. No one likes a dictator, especially one who spends his time enriching himself at the expense of hardworking citizens while building vainglorious monuments to satisfy his monstrous ego.
And no one likes to be lied toâespecially when the lie assumes that the listener is too stupid to remember a promise made only weeks ago. See New York Times, Trump Said He Wouldnât Touch the East Wing. Then He Tore It All Down. (Accessible to all.)
I recommend the Timesâ article to your attention. Unlike many other Timesâ articles about Trumpâs actions, it does not attempt to âsane washâ the lawlessness of his conduct, writing
The scope of the demolition, and Mr. Trumpâs repeated promises that the White House itself would not be affected by the work, were in many ways symbolic of how he has conducted his presidency. On a variety of issues, Mr. Trump has blown past norms and traditions, often moving so quickly that it can be too late for courts, Congress or the public to catch up.
Americans are pit-of-the-stomach angry about the complete teardown of the East Wing. They are just as angry about the lapse in healthcare subsidies that will cause premiums to double or triple for tens of millions of Americans. They are angry that their peaceful cities are being maligned as an excuse for military occupation. They are angry that a president who ran on âreleasing the Epstein filesâ has ordered Speaker Johnson to recess the House indefinitely to prevent a floor vote on releasing Epsteinâs files that will expose the perpetrators and co-conspirators.
The lawlessness of Trumpâs action is plain to see. Trumpâs claim that he doesnât need review, oversight, or authorization to demolish the East Wing is ludicrous. If Trump is correct, the same logic would apply if he decided to demolish the entire White Houseâan outcome that no one in America would believe is within the presidentâs powers.
It does not matter that the desecration of the White House will be (allegedly) funded by Trump and some of his friends. Indeed, that makes it worse! Remodels of the White House should be paid for and controlled by the American people.
As reported in the NYTimes, Trump said,
âItâs being paid for 100 percent by me and some friends of mine.â
Who are those âfriends?â Per ABC News,1
Some of the above âdonorsâ agreed to litigation settlements with Trump that specified that the settlement proceeds would go to the National Mall Trust, which Trump has converted into a slush fund dedicated to destroying the White House.
Historically, the National Mall Trust has been a responsible charitable foundation dedicated to maintaining the National Mall and monuments in D.C. Trump is now manipulating the National Mall Trust for purposes antithetical to its missionâa fact that board members of the Trust should reflect upon as they evaluate their continued association with the organization that is funding the destruction of the White House.
As many readers noted in the Comment section a few days ago, it will be difficult to boycott the above companies. For example, Lockheed Martin is a defense contractor, not a consumer company.
But the donor companies have officers and directors who can be blamed and shamed in the press, in shareholder meetings, and on social media. That process cannot begin soon enough.
A reader emailed on Wednesday, suggesting that every Democratic candidate for president in 2028 should run on a platform of restoring the White House to its pre-2025 footprint and structures. The current desecration is akin to the British burning of the âPresidentâs Mansionâ in 1814. We should view the post-Trump restoration of the White House as a repair, not âremodelingâ it again.
Trumpâs desecration of the âotherâ Houseâthe US House of Representatives
The Constitution vests the legislative power of the United States in Congress, which consists of two chambers, the House and the Senate. Each chamber has a duty to perform the functions assigned by the Constitution. One of those functions is to pass an annual budget.
But Speaker Mike Johnson has indefinitely placed the House in suspended animation by calling a ârecess.â Why? What is Johnsonâs theory for placing the House in recess?
The House has passed a proposed âcontinuing resolutionââa stopgap funding bill that keeps the government open while Congress continues to work on a budget.
The Houseâs proposed continuing resolution is stalled in the Senate, leading to a government shutdown. Johnson claims that the House is waiting for the Senate to act on the continuing resolution.
But that fact does not relieve the House of its continuing constitutional mandate to pass a budget, which consists of twelve separate appropriations bills.
To date, the House has passed three of twelve bills (Agriculture, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction & Veterans Affairs).
If you are following the math, that means that the House still has nine more appropriations bills to pass for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2025.
So, the House should be in session, working on the nine appropriations bills awaiting action. Instead, Trump has instructed Johnson to keep the House in recess to avoid a vote on the discharge petition, which would, in turn, force a floor vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Meanwhile, Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva and the Attorney General of Arizona have filed suit in federal court seeking an order that Rep. Grijalva can take the oath of office from a judicial officer and begin her service as a US Representative despite Mike Johnsonâs bad-faith effort to conceal Trumpâs presence in the Epstein files.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley completes a 22-hour speech protesting Trumpâs authoritarian rule
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley held the Senate floor for 22 hours in a marathon protest of Trumpâs increasingly authoritarian behavior. See Politico, Jeff Merkley wraps up marathon speech warning of âauthoritarianâ rule.
Weâre in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War.
President Trump is shredding our Constitution.
Senator Merkleyâs protest is commendableâand a template for other Democratic Senators. Since no business is being conducted in the Senate, Democratic Senators should fill that time with non-stop speeches about the threat to democracy posed by Trump.
Ecuador releases survivor of US strike on alleged ânarco sub.â
As Trump continues his streak of extrajudicial killings of crews operating vessels in international waters, Ecuador concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge one of the survivors of a US military attack on civilians. See CBS News, Ecuador releases survivor of U.S. strike on alleged ânarco subâ
Ecuador has released a man who survived a U.S. strike on a suspected drug-trafficking submersible vessel, the attorney generalâs office said Monday, adding that the authorities had found no evidence that he had committed a crime. [Âś]
In a social media post, Mr. Trump claimed the submarine was loaded with fentanyl and other drugs. There is little evidence to indicate that fentanyl is produced in the Andes region, which includes Ecuador, as the vast majority of it flows into the U.S. through Mexico.
The fact that Ecuador concluded that the survivor could not be charged with crimes due to lack of evidence is a troubling sign that Trumpâs use of the military for extrajudicial killings is simply murder, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and international law.
Trump is exposing enlisted men and officers alike to criminal prosecution for carrying out unlawful orders to kill civilians. Military commanders should protect their soldiers and sailors by refusing to direct them to follow illegal orders.
I will resume my regular Saturday morning âWeekly Dose of Perspectiveâ on October 25 at 9 a.m. Pacific / Noon Eastern. Join me on the Substack App or on your laptop. Instructions here.
The challenges to democracy are coming at us fast and furiously. A large segment of the corporate and social media commentary goes something like this: âThis bad thing happened. We should all be worried. Donât say I didnât warn you.â
If all the doomsday scenarios come true, I doubt that anyone will be sitting around saying, âIf only Social Media blogger XYZ had warned us, everything would have turned out differently.â
Reserving your âI told you soâ rights during a moment of crisis is silly. Worse, it is demotivating to those who need no warning, because they are breaking their picks on the obstacles that undermine the rule of law.
But, to paraphrase Taylor Swift, âPundits are going to pundit,â so we should not expect a decline in âDonât say I didnât warn youâ essays on the latest Trump assault on democracy.
We need more Senator Merkleys. Yes, he spent 22 hours warning us about Trumpâbut he did so in a way intended to motivate and inspire us to further resistance. Indeed, if all Democrats followed Senator Merkleyâs example, we would control a greater portion of the news narrative. While our fight to preserve democracy is much more serious than a P.R. battle, controlling the news narrative is one part of the battle for the hearts and minds of the American people.
So, if pundits are going to report on the latest assault on the rule of law, they should include a paragraph or two on how Democrats can fight back. And if you feel the urge to send me an article that does nothing more than report on the latest outrage, consider adding a paragraph that says, âAnd here is what I think we can do about it.â You will be surprised how much focusing on solutions will improve your outlook for our eventual success.
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
