Guest article by Michael Cohen
If you want to know what it’s like to watch a government rot from the inside out, let me take you back to the belly of the beast, where I once sat at the right hand of the overlord himself: President Trump. Back then, cruelty was a feature, not a bug. But now? Now it’s the whole damn operating system.
Let’s stop pretending this administration gives a shit about the American people. I don’t care how many trucker hats he sells that say “MAGA” or “America First,” or how many rage-tweets he lobs from his golden toilet at 3 a.m. The reality is this: Trump’s second term is a demolition derby aimed squarely at the very people he conned into voting for him. And the wreckage? It’s piling up faster than unpaid bills at Trump University.
Let’s start with FEMA. Remember that agency? The one you pray will show up after a hurricane rips the roof off your house and sends your memories floating in the Atlantic Ocean? Yeah, that one. Thanks to budget hacks and leadership purges that would make Stalin blush, FEMA’s now a hollowed-out shell of what it once was—right as hurricane season rolls in. And guess what? That’s not an oversight. It’s a design. Because Trump and his henchmen don’t do help. They do spectacle. They do punishment.
The Veterans Administration? Slashed. Because apparently “support the troops” only applies if there’s a camera and a flag big enough to double as a MAGA cape. Research for childhood cancer? Gone. Guess sick kids just aren’t polling well with the base. SNAP, Medicare, housing, Social Security—programs that actually help Americans? Starved, gutted, and left for dead in some bureaucratic back alley.
Why? Because Trump doesn’t care about you. He cares about ratings. He cares about power. He cares about inflicting pain on people he sees as weak—and convincing his supporters that they’re the strong ones for cheering it on.
You want proof? He is expected to order up 20,000 National Guardsmen—not for disaster response, not for emergencies—but to boost ICE operations. Because nothing gets the crowd going like storming homes, tearing families apart, and tossing brown bodies into detention centers. This isn’t law enforcement. This is a carnival of cruelty. And the ringmaster? He’s laughing all the way to the chaos bank.
And now, in case the sadism wasn’t interactive enough, the Department of Homeland Security is reportedly floating the idea of a reality show where contestants compete for U.S. citizenship. Let me say that again: Trump’s America is so far gone that citizenship as bloodsport is now being tossed around as a legitimate policy idea. Did he get the idea flying on Air Force One while watching The Running Man? Probably. Hell, he’s probably the only guy who watches dystopian thrillers and thinks, “Great idea, let’s make it real.”
But here’s the kicker: while he distracts the public with sideshows of human suffering, the average American is getting robbed blind. Your healthcare? Slashed. Your retirement? On life support. Your emergency services? MIA. And while you’re trying to figure out how to rebuild after the next flood, fire, or economic collapse, he’ll be on Truth Social bragging about how many “illegals” he deported that week.
Government, in its truest form, is supposed to step in when life hands you the kind of crap you can’t shovel on your own. It’s supposed to be a safety net, not a firing squad. But Trump’s turned it into a circus of pain. He’s selling snake oil while kicking out the nurses. He’s peddling patriotism while gutting the programs that actually keep people afloat.
This isn’t policy. This is punishment.
This isn’t leadership. This is performance.
And the suffering? That’s the point.
So, to all the folks still cheering in the cheap seats—ask yourself: when the storm hits your town, when the check doesn’t come, when the medicine runs out, do you think the showman-in-chief will throw you a lifeline?
Or just toss you into the ring, and let you fight for your citizenship too?
Lights, camera, cruelty. Welcome back to Trump’s America.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PERSONAL NOTE: ARE YOU WITH ME? I CAN’T DO THIS ALONE!
If you’re reading this, it means you care. You care about truth. About justice. About saving our democracy from the grip of grifters, liars, and power-hungry con men. But let’s be real: I can’t carry this weight on my own.
I’m asking—no, urging—you, my loyal Substack readers, to help grow this platform into a force they can’t ignore. We’re not building a newsletter; we’re building a movement. One loud enough, sharp enough, and relentless enough to push back against the lies and hold the corrupt to account.
Now more than ever, independent journalism needs you. Your support keeps this alive—not corporate sponsors, not shady billionaires with agendas. You.
And yes, as a personal thank you, the first 240 Founding Members will receive a rare, signed, numbered Substack edition of my New York Times bestseller, Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice Against His Critics. A collector’s item—and a statement.
But this is bigger than a book. It’s about standing up while others stay silent. It’s about building a community that calls out the bullshit and fights like hell for what’s right.
So here’s what you can do:
Become a supporter.
Share this Substack with family and friends.
Bring your people into the fight.
Do your part. Stand up. Speak out. The time is now—and together, we will be heard.
