The First Amendment and President Donald Trump
President Trump is having a birthday party celebration this Saturday. He has invited the US military to hold an unprecedented parade to honor the day. The expected costs are over $40 million. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/06/13/cost-trump-dc-military-parade/84153816007/
He was warned protestors not to show up as they will be met by very heavy force. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-warns-protesters-military-parade-met-heavy-force/story?id=122692921 This is a clear and obvious violation of every American’s First Amendment rights of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and rights to petition the government for redress of grievances.
President Trump’s approval ratings are badly underwater. Voters strongly disapprove of his job performance and his policies, ranging from Medicaid cuts, to deportations, to tariffs, to the “big beautiful bill” and its large tax cuts for the nation’s billionaires. https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3924
So when your polling numbers are bad, what do you do? Send ICE to Los Angeles to arrest and deport some immigrants (e.g. people working at local car washes, garment factories, nannies taking care of little kids, and people in the parking lots of local churches). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WeHxd2wJQY When local citizens protest, for the most part peacefully, but with some violence from bad apples as well, call out the National Guard and the US Marines and send them to Los Angeles to put down the peaceful protests against your policies. Have the Marines arrest an army veteran going to his doctor’s appointment at the West LA VA facility. While you are at it, rough up and handcuff a US Senator seeking to ask questions of your Secretary of Homeland Security. Then go up to the fields in Ventura County and arrest and detain the very workers who are growing our nation’s food.
The Administration’s goal is quite simply intimidation of peaceful protesters disagreeing with the Trump Administration’s policies and its conduct towards immigrants of all nationalities, but particularly those with brown skins from Mexico, Central America and South America. It’s backfiring badly with the public, as is evident in the huge turnouts at today’s “No King’s Day” rallies. Let’s see if any in the GOP can stand up for the First Amendment or will it continue to bow down and cower before President Trump.