Purge, Merge, and Surge
Trump is creating a omniforce of armed loyalists to establish his police state
Don Moynihan
Oct 12, 2025
A federal agent points a weapon at a citizen recording them in Chicago. Source.
As Trump deploys a combination of ICE, National Guard troops and other paramilitary forces to multiple American cities, he is implementing a three-step plan. The plan involves different parts of the national security state, immigration enforcement, and the military:
- Purge - eliminating those deemed not to be aligned with Trump.
- Merge - combine different components into a single omniforce.
- Surge - impose Trump’s control over Democratic cities; instigate enough unrest to justify escalation; find examples to brutalize and tamp down any dissent.
Radley Balko [also very much worth a look] describes as this new entity as:...
donmoynihan.substack.com
From the Balko piece:
.... Imagine the sort of person who looks at the recent stories and videos of ICE agents engaging in racist profiling, weaponizing parents’ love for and desire to protect their children, raiding churches and schools, interrogating children, arresting grandmothers, U.S. citizens, beloved community figures, and the hardworking father of three Marines — imagine the sort of person who looks at all of that and says, “Yes, that’s what I want to do for a living.” This is who will soon comprise the bulk of Trump’s immigration force. ... |
