The Trump Admin is Preparing for an Uprising

The wealthy and the powerful are increasingly living in fear. The rich obviously realize that the immense and growing wealth gap presents a danger to them. If they had not already seen the signs, the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson made their peril eminently clear. But rather than take steps to reverse inequity, they are building luxurious bunkers and hiring military-style security to protect them from what they expect to be a societal collapse. Leery of the loyalty of paid security staff, some billionaires hope to replace humans with armies of robots. Those with the greatest wealth plan to rocket off to another planet entirely, leaving the rest of us to deal with the mess they helped to create. They view the average person not as a fellow human being, but rather as a resource to be exploited. They dread the day that the masses might be pushed too far and rise up. Now, the American political elite is demonstrating similar concerns and engaging in similar reactions. Two recent revelations demonstrate that top Republicans in particular are preparing for a potential mass upheaval.

The Atlantic reported yesterday that at least six senior political appointees of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump have moved into Washington-area military housing. As the article says:

These civilian officials can now depend on the U.S. military to augment their personal security. But so many have made the move that they are now straining the availability of housing for the nation’s top uniformed officers.

The first administration figure discussed was White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller who recently moved to a Washington-area military base. According to the article, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has moved "into the home designated for the Coast Guard commandant on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, across the river from the capital". In addition, "[b]oth Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live on ‘Generals’ Row’ at Fort McNair, an Army enclave along the Anacostia River". Other Trump administration officials who are living on military bases include Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and another unnamed senior political appointee. The publication did not identify the sixth administration official due to security concerns, but said that the person moved at the urging of security officials after the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard apparently attempted to move to Fort McNair, but there was no space available. It is not clear whether Gabbard found housing on another installation. Military housing is becoming another status symbol within the Trump administration:

The secure housing does confer upon the recipient a certain sheen of importance that sets them apart from all of the other officials ferried about in armored black SUVs. Administration officials now find themselves vying for the largest houses, not unlike the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that has long played out among senior military officers.

The New York Times ran its version of the same story several hours after The Atlantic article was published. The Times added Navy Secretary John Phelan to the list of civilian political appointees currently living in military housing. Both publications noted that officials in previous administrations had occasionally lived in military housing as well, but never to this extent. Moreover, generally the officials that they identified were cabinet secretaries. Miller, who is White House Deputy Chief of Staff, is an unusually low-level official for such a privilege. This does, however, give some support to allegations that Miller is much more powerful within the government than his title would suggest.

The second development involved revelations about a military "quick reaction force" that Trump has ordered to be created. The Guardian reported that:

A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and US territories to form “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control”, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers, and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive reviewed by the Guardian.

The memo reviewed by the Guardian was written on October 8 and further said:

the Pentagon will deploy military trainers to every state and US territories as far away as Guam with the goal of making the quick reaction forces “operational” by 1 January 2026. Each state will also be provided “100 sets of crowd control equipment to be used to support this requirement”.

Furthermore:

Another Pentagon document reviewed by the Guardian, dated 24 September, mandates the creation of a “specialized military police battalion within the District of Columbia National Guard” that is “dedicated to ensuring safety and public order in the Nation’s capital as the circumstances may necessitate”.

Trump's support for a quick reaction force has been known for a while. The idea was included in an August executive order signed by Trump. But the Guardian article provides more information about the actual implementation of the idea.

Taken together, the fact that Trump officials are moving to secure military bases and that the Pentagon is creating a quick reaction force to control demonstrations suggests that the administration is already living in fear and expects more threats in the future. The need for a quick reaction force strongly suggests that the Trump administration expects that its policies will result in civil unrest. Like the tech billionaires who prefer robot armies over decreasing inequity, Trump officials prefer military forces trained to suppress other Americans rather than policies that won't cause an uprising.

Our society is transitioning into one in which economic and political elites live behind security barriers protected by militarized private armies or the national military. Living in fear of the common people, they appear to be preparing for the masses to rise up. The Trump administration is taking increasingly undemocratic steps and seems to be planning the military takeover of most major Democratic cities, potentially putting future elections in doubt. It is not surprising that the administration expects that such actions might provoke protests. Trump has already shown that he supports dumping feces on peaceful protestors. But he may have determined that using National Guard forces is a more realistic alternative.