A king pardons his army

J6 was a rehearsal. By pardoning the most violent among them, Trump has begun recruitment for the real event.

Reuters

Declaring himself anointed by God, Trump said during his inaugural speech that God saved him from an assassination attempt to make America great again. Fusing God into MAGA and his own personage, through his words and early post-inaugural deeds, Trump has made his monarchical intentions clear.

Trump is building a monarchy, one that will keep him in the White House until he dies a natural death. His opening salvo in pardoning and commuting the sentences of men who were willing to kill for him on J6 was a recruitment event. Trump is rewarding—and thereby summoning—political violence in his name to prepare for J6 2028.

Trump considers himself king

By the end of last week, Trump had signed expansive executive orders on gender, immigration, hiring, and energy, made the U.S. a climate pariah by leaving the Paris Agreement, withdrawn from the World Health Organization despite 1.13 million American covid deaths, declared that he would ‘tariff and tax’ neighbors and allies into submission, and jettisoned the 14th Amendment to ban birthright citizenship. A king does not require cumbersome state ratifications to amend the Constitution.

Trump has always viewed his presidential powers expansively, claiming in his first term that the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want as president.” When his J6 coup attempt failed to keep him in office after he lost the 2020 election, Trump later suggested “termination” of the Constitution.

Even though the Roberts Court gave Trump carte blanch to break criminal laws in the name of the presidency, an ominous decision 5 justices must rue by now, Trump has made his contempt for the judiciary and the rule of law obvious. In an effort to downplay legislative and judicial authority over him, Trump has already removed the Constitution pages from the White House website, removing all pages that explained how the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches are co-equal within a meticulously guarded separation of powers framework.

Referring to ‘manifest destiny,’ a theme popular among dictators and monarchs in the 1800s, Trump has also claimed the right to rename geographic designations and grab sovereign territories. His declaration that the Gulf of Mexico would henceforth be named the ‘Gulf of America’ doesn’t project American strength to the world; it projects petulance, immaturity, and Trump’s galling ignorance of history.

Abject loyalists serve one purpose only

To enable and enforce his monarchical power grab, Trump has also chosen the least qualified and most inexperienced cabinet in U.S. history. It is hard to conceive of a more dictatorial approach to governance than selecting unqualified sycophants who will do his bidding no matter how unconstitutional.

First buddy Elon Musk, who purchased proximity to power by spending $270 million to get Trump elected, on top of $44 billion he spent to amplify his own far-right, Nazi adjacent views, posted un-ironically on X that Trump’s inauguration heralded “The Return of the King.” He then gave either a Heil Hitler or Roman Salute to wild and frenzied applause from Trump supporters. Kash Patel published the last of his children’s trilogy about investigations into Trump’s criminality, called “The Plot Against the King,” and snagged an FBI directorship as a reward.

Vice President JD Vance seems to share the same imperial views. Vance said that when Trump returned to office, he should defy judicial orders and courts that strike down his unconstitutional policies, pointing out that courts have no enforcement powers of their own. No doubt Vance’s comments were top of mind when Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his year-end judiciary report that the rule of law must be respected:

• Every Administration suffers defeats in the court system — sometimes in cases with major ramifications for executive or legislative power or other consequential topics. Nevertheless, for the past several decades, the decisions of the courts, popular or not, have been followed, and the Nation has avoided the standoffs that plagued the 1950s and 1960s. Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected.

Trump and Vance show no sign of heeding Roberts’ warning.

The J6 pardons were meant to recruit

If Trump’s defiant executive orders provide context, his blanket J6 pardons deliver proof.

After claiming he would only consider J6 pardons on a case by case basis, and after even JD-let-the-courts-enforce-their-own-orders-Vance said rioters who engaged in violence would not be pardoned, Trump pardoned and commuted the sentences of all J6 rioters, including those convicted of bludgeoning and beating police officers.

The blanket pardons are integral to Trump’s plan. Even with an undisciplined drunkard in command of the world’s most lethal military, Trump will still need paramilitary enthusiasts willing to kill in his name to stay in power beyond 2028. Rioters who bludgeoned, beat, bear-and-pepper sprayed, and tased police officers on J6 to keep Trump in power have already shown their willingness to kill for him; there is no more fertile ground for arming his next coup.

Trump also knows that to crown himself king, he must protect his political brand as a “winner” at all costs. That is why, instead of moving on from his 2020 loss, Trump is still denying it four years on. He will use his ‘stolen election’ claim to summon an armed militia in 2028, if not sooner, inciting them to re-claim what Democrats “stole” from them in 2020.

Like many coup attempts throughout history, J6 was a rehearsal. By pardoning the most violent among them, Trump has begun recruitment for the real event.

Trump’s recruitment efforts are already working

The Fraternal Order of Police supported Trump in November, but they were so alarmed by the J6 pardons they issued a formal rebuke. In a joint statement issued along with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the FOP said Trump’s pardon for criminals who assaulted police officers sent a ‘dangerous message.’

The pardons sent more than a dangerous message; they sent an invitation to the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, white supremacists, and other violent extremists to recruit like-minded criminals to fight on Trump’s behalf. One member of the Proud Boys told Reuters that Trump’s J6 pardons would increase recruitment, because violent militia members now consider themselves “bulletproof.”

Just days after the pardons were issued, a pro-Trump website began calling for the execution of judges, police officers or Democratic officials, saying they should be hanged, beaten to death or fed into wood chippers. Some are calling for the murder of judges who oversaw the trials. The “QAnon Shaman” who wore horns on J6 wrote on X, “NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHAFU*KIN GUNS!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!”

To experts on extremism, Trump’s J6 pardons will embolden extremist groups who thrive on political violence. That was exactly Trump’s plan. As he reversed the largest U.S. Justice Department investigation and prosecution in history, even as he was sworn in again, Trump continued to claim the 2020 election was rigged, and that J6 was a peaceful “day of love.”

A federal judge in Chicago has an aggravating sign posted in his courtroom that says, “Warning. Dates on the calendar are closer than they appear.” Calling his violent supporters “hostages,” Trump is keenly aware that 2028 is looming, and has begun to fortify his castle.