Robert B. Livingston

1. Seven Days in June: Trump’s unfolding coup d’état

The deployment of the military onto the streets of Los Angeles—the second-largest city in the United States—marks a qualitative escalation of the Trump administration’s ongoing, well-prepared coup d’état. While troops patrol the streets of Los Angeles under the pretext of responding to protests, the true epicenter of this operation is the White House.

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The 1964 film Seven Days in May depicted the conspiracy of a military-political cabal to take over the government of the United States. Changing what needs to be changed, a similar process is now underway.
The deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles on June 7 will be followed seven days later in a massive military spectacle in Washington D.C., scheduled for June 14—Trump’s birthday. The event will bring more than 6,600 soldiers, 150 military vehicles and 50 helicopters into the capital.
It is dangerously naive to believe that once deployed these forces will depart the nation’s capital. A militarized parade is being organized at the seat of government by a president who is openly carrying out a coup. On Sunday, as troops rolled into Los Angeles, Trump retreated to Camp David in Maryland for what was described as a “retreat of principals.” Behind closed doors, in what now functions as a secure command post, he is consulting with his top lieutenants and preparing the next stages of his offensive.

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As always, Trump is counting on the complicity and fecklessness of the Democratic Party. In response to the military deployment in Los Angeles, a group of Democratic governors issued a timid and toothless statement, describing Trump’s actions as an “alarming abuse of power” and warning that sending US Marines into American neighborhoods “undermines the mission of our service members” and “erodes public trust.”
The Democratic governors say nothing about what must be done to stop the imposition of a police dictatorship. Instead, they insist that local law enforcement—already actively participating in the repression—should be allowed to “do their jobs.” Terrified above all of the emergence of a powerful social movement from below, the Democrats seek not to stop the coup but to contain popular anger.

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We warn workers and youth against falling into the trap of isolated confrontations with the police and ICE, which will simply play into the hands of the Trump administration. However courageous the protests of oppressed communities and outraged students, the settling of accounts with the Trump administration requires the industrial and political mobilization of the working class.
The Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site call on workers to respond to Trump’s unfolding coup with decisive, collective action. Every factory, workplace and neighborhood must become a center of organized opposition to this massive assault on democratic rights.
The necessity of a general strike is becoming ever clearer—but such action will not emerge spontaneously. It must be prepared and led through the building of democratic, fighting organizations of the working class. This attack on democratic rights cannot be stopped through moral appeals, legal maneuvering or reliance on the Democratic Party and the union bureaucracies, many of which are either silent or openly aligned with Trump’s nationalist program.

More headlines from the World Socialist Web Site today:

2. DHL workers strike at Halle/Leipzig Airport: Place no trust in the Verdi union!

3. Demand the dropping of charges against Chinese University of Michigan graduate researchers!

4. Reject the Cantabria metalworkers’ pre-agreement! Build rank-and-file rebellion against Spanish union bureaucrats’ sellout!

5. Los Angeles police, National Guard fire thousands of “less lethal” rounds at residents protesting fascist immigration raids

6. Food used as weapon of war in US-Israeli militarization of aid in Gaza

7. The dead end of the Morenoite Révolution permanente’s anti-war conference in Paris

8. Australia: Workers in flood-affected Taree denounce inadequate government emergency response

9. Samoa faces early election after government’s budget voted down

10. The White Lotus Season 3: A good deal goes on, but what does it add up to?

13. Australian Electoral Commission blocks evidence on its SEP ballot access ban

11. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Shawn Fain endorse Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor