Part I
When History writes about Trump and his slavish minions it’s important to make note of who he is and what he is. Heather Cox Richardson, an historian of today, records his comings and goings Here was her letter from the 25th of August:
This morning, President Donald J. Trump talked to reporters as he signed several executive orders in the Oval Office. Trump sat behind the Resolute Desk as he has been doing lately, seeming to put its bulk between him and the reporters. Also as he has been doing lately, he kept his left hand over the right, seemingly to hide a large bruise.
Trump was there to announce an executive order charging Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth with creating “specialized units” in the National Guard that will be “specifically trained and equipped to deal with public order issues,” apparently setting them up to take on domestic law enforcement as part of Trump’s attempt to take control of Democratic-run cities.
At the press opportunity, Trump claimed that he saved Washington, D.C.—where crime was at a 30-year low before he took control of the Metropolitan Police Department and mobilized the National Guard—from such rampant crime that no one dared to wear jewelry or carry purses. “People,” he said, “are free for the first time ever.”
Although in 1989 the Supreme Court ruled that burning a flag is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment, Trump ordered the Department of Justice to prosecute anyone who burns a flag, claiming they would automatically go to prison for a year (he has no authority to make such an order). After seven European leaders rushed to the White House to stabilize the U.S. approach to Russia after Trump’s disastrous meeting with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on August 15, Trump claimed that the seven leaders actually represented 38 countries and that they refer to Trump as “the president of Europe.”
Calling Chicago, Illinois, a “a disaster” and “a killing field,” Trump referred to Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker as “a slob.” Trump complained that Pritzker had said Trump was infringing on American freedom and called Trump a dictator. Trump went on: “A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator. I don't like a dictator. I'm not a dictator. I'm a man with great common sense and a smart person. And when I see what's happening to our cities, and then you send in troops instead of being praised, they're saying you're trying to take over the Republic. These people are sick.”
This afternoon, standing flanked by leaders from business, law enforcement, faith communities, education, local communities, and politics at the Chicago waterfront near the Trump Tower there, Governor Pritzker responded to the news that Trump is planning to send troops to Chicago.
He began by saying: “I want to speak plainly about the moment that we are in and the actual crisis, not the manufactured one, that we are facing in the city and as a state and as a country. If it sounds to you like I am alarmist, that is because I am ringing an alarm, one that I hope every person listening will heed, both here in Illinois and across the country.”
He acknowledged that “[o]ver the weekend, we learned from the media that Donald Trump has been planning for quite a while now to deploy armed military personnel to the streets of Chicago. This is exactly the type of overreach that our country's founders warned against. And it’s the reason that they established a federal system with a separation of powers built on checks and balances. What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal, it is unconstitutional. It is un-American.”
Pritzker noted that neither his office nor that of Chicago’s mayor had received any communications from the White House. “We found out what Donald Trump was planning the same way that all of you did. We read a story in the Washington Post. If this was really about fighting crime and making the streets safe, what possible justification could the White House have for planning such an exceptional action without any conversations or consultations with the governor, the mayor or the police?”
“Let me answer that question,” he said. “This is not about fighting crime. This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city in a blue state to try and intimidate his political rivals. This is about the president of the United States and his complicit lackey Stephen Miller searching for ways to lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities, and end elections. There is no emergency in Chicago that calls for armed military intervention. There is no insurrection.”
Pritzker noted that every major American city deals with crime, but that the rate of violent crime is actually higher in Republican-dominated states and cities than in those run by Democrats. Illinois, he said, had “hired more police and given them more funding. We banned assault weapons, ghost guns, bump stops, and high-capacity magazines” and “invested historic amounts into community violence intervention programs.” Those actions have cut violent crime down dramatically. Pritzker pointed out that “thirteen of the top twenty cities in homicide rates have Republican governors. None of these cities is Chicago. Eight of the top ten states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states is Illinois.”
If Trump were serious about combatting crime, Pritzker asked, why did he, along with congressional Republicans, cut more than $800 million in public safety and crime prevention grants? “Trump,” Pritzker said, “is defunding the police.”
Then Pritzker turned to the larger national story. “To the members of the press who are assembled here today and listening across the country,” he said, “I am asking for your courage to tell it like it is. This is not a time to pretend here that there are two sides to this story. This is not a time to fall back into the reflexive crouch that I so often see where the authoritarian creep by this administration is ignored in favor of some horse race piece on who will be helped politically by the president's actions. Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a U.S. city, punish his dissidents, and score political points. If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is: a dangerous power grab.”
Pritzker continued: “Earlier today in the Oval Office, Donald Trump looked at the assembled cameras and asked for me personally to say, ‘Mr. President, can you do us the honor of protecting our city?’ Instead, I say, ‘Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here. Your remarks about this effort over the last several weeks have betrayed a continuing slip in your mental faculties and are not fit for the auspicious office that you occupy.’”
The governor called out the president for his willingness to drag National Guard personnel from their homes and communities to be used as political props. They are not trained to serve as law enforcement, he said, and did not “sign up for the National Guard to fight crime.” “It is insulting to their integrity and to the extraordinary sacrifices that they make to serve in the guard, to use them as a political prop, where they could be put in situations where they will be at odds with their local communities, the ones that they seek to serve.”
Pritzker said he hoped that Trump would “reconsider this dangerous and misguided encroachment upon our state and our city's sovereignty” and that “rational voices, if there are any left inside the White House or the Pentagon, will prevail in the coming days.”
But if not, he urged Chicagoans to protest peacefully and to remember that most members of the military and the National Guard stationed in Chicago would be there unwillingly. He asked protesters to “remember that they can be court martialed, and their lives ruined, if they resist deployment.” He suggested protesters should look to members of the faith community for guidance on how to mobilize.
Then Pritzker turned to a warning. “To my fellow governors across the nation who would consider pulling your national guards from their duties at home to come into my state against the wishes of its elected representatives and its people,” he said, “cooperation and coordination between our states is vital to the fabric of our nation, and it benefits us all. Any action undercutting that and violating the sacred sovereignty of our state to cater to the ego of a dictator will be responded to.”
He went on: “The state of Illinois is ready to stand against this military deployment with every peaceful tool we have. We will see the Trump administration in court. We will use every lever in our disposal to protect the people of Illinois and their rights.”
“Finally,” he said, “to the Trump administration officials who are complicit in this scheme, to the public servants who have forsaken their oath to the Constitution to serve the petty whims of an arrogant little man, to any federal official who would come to Chicago and try to incite my people into violence as a pretext for something darker and more dangerous, we are watching, and we are taking names. This country has survived darker periods than the one that we are going through right now. And eventually, the pendulum will swing back, maybe even next year. Donald Trump has already shown himself to have little regard for the many acolytes that he has encouraged to commit crimes on his behalf. You can delay justice for a time, but history shows you cannot prevent it from finding you eventually.
“If you hurt my people, nothing will stop me, not time or political circumstance, from making sure that you face justice under our constitutional rule of law. As Dr. King once said, the arc of the moral Universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Humbly, I would add, it doesn't bend on its own. History tells us we often have to apply force needed to make sure that the arc gets where it needs to go. This is one of those times.”
Part 2
The Psychology of Trolling a Tyrant: Why Gavin Newsom Has Trump’s Number
By Jack Hopkins
If you’re still waiting for Democrats to grow a spine…look no further than California’s slick-haired governor…Gavin Newsom.
Now…before you roll your eyes…mutter something about French Laundry dinners or California crime rates…let me tell you why you need to pay attention.
Because in the high-stakes game of psychological warfare…optics…and manipulation…Newsom is the only Democrat who has cracked the code for getting under Donald Trump’s skin. And he isn’t just poking the bear…he’s making the bear dance.
The stakes aren’t about policy white papers or which candidate can rattle off the most bullet points on CNN. This is about who can win the mental war. Who can dominate the frame. Who can drive the other man insane under the hot lights of the biggest stage in the world.
And right now…Newsom is showing he’s the one guy in American politics who can step into the Thunderdome with Trump and make him look like the clown he is.
I know what you’re thinking.
“But Jack… Newsom has baggage. He’s too polished. Too coastal. Too California.”
Fair. But let’s not kid ourselves. Every candidate has flaws.
Biden’s age. Harris’s stiff style. Bernie’s socialist baggage. Even Obama had the “aloof professor” rap.
Flaws…are the tax of entry.
They don’t disqualify you unless they define you. And Newsom’s flaws don’t define him. What defines him is that he’s the first Democrat in 20 years to look Trump straight in the eye and smirk. Not lecture. Not fumble. Not cower. Smirk.
Because here’s the dirty secret of bullies: They can dish it out…but they can’t take it.
And Newsom knows it.
The Psychological Breakdown
Here’s where I step out of the consultant role and put on my behavioral expert and psy-ops hat.
Let’s break down why Newsom’s trolling works so damn well.
1. Trump’s Narcissistic Fragility
Trump is a textbook narcissist. Grandiosity on the outside…but brittle as glass on the inside. When someone challenges his dominance without playing his game…it destabilizes him.
Newsom doesn’t argue with Trump on Trump’s terms. He doesn’t moralize or rage. He needles. He mocks. He mirrors Trump’s energy…then flips it back with a sly grin. It’s like aikido for the ego.
Trump expects fear. Newsom gives him laughter. And nothing enrages a narcissist more than being laughed at.
2. The Frame War
Politics isn’t a debate club…it’s a frame war. Whoever controls the frame controls perception.
Trump usually controls it by branding his opponents (“Crooked Hillary,” “Sleepy Joe,” “Little Marco”). But Newsom doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t look wounded when Trump attacks…he looks amused. And when he smiles that California smile and tosses a barb right back…he steals the frame.
That smile says: “You’re not the alpha here. I am.”
3. Psy-Ops 101: Control the Battlefield
In psy-ops…you never fight the enemy where they’re strong. You lure them to where they’re weak.
Trump’s strength is in bluster and dominance. His weakness? Insecurity about his image. Newsom exploits this brilliantly…mocking Trump’s looks…his insecurities…his desperation. It’s not “presidential,” but it’s devastatingly effective.
When Newsom quips…he’s not just talking to voters. He’s inserting himself into Trump’s head rent-free. He’s making Trump waste precious bandwidth thinking about him.
4. The Group Dynamics Angle
Social psychology tells us: groups rally around leaders who look strong…calm…and confident under pressure.
Newsom…with his movie-star looks and smooth delivery…projects exactly that. When he goes toe-to-toe with Trump…he makes Trump look like the sweaty…flailing uncle at Thanksgiving.
And remember: perception is reality.
Why It’s Working
Let’s be blunt: Trump is rattled.
You can see it in his reactions. The rage posts. The extra insults. The way he breaks his usual script when talking about Newsom. That’s not control. That’s reactivity.
And in politics…reactivity is weakness. It’s prey behavior.
Voters don’t consciously parse this…but they feel it. When they see Trump barking and Newsom smirking…they instinctively sense who’s in charge of the exchange.
This is why trolling matters.
Not because it’s “nice” or “fair,” but because it signals dominance. And dominance is the real currency of politics in the Trump era.
This is exactly why…on occasion…on social media…I will cut a troll to ribbons. It’s not so much for them…as it is for other trolls who see it.
I do it in a way that humiliates and makes the troll appear ignorant. Even faceless trolls hate how that feels. As a result…I have fewer trolls than most larger accounts. This holds true on X…as well.
Newsom does it…and I do it…because it’s effective…when used strategically.
Why Newsom Is The Person to Beat Trump
Now let’s deal with the elephant in the room.
Is Newsom perfect? Hell no. He’s a walking opposition research file. He’s got ties… flaws…hypocrisies…the works.
But here’s the raw truth: defeating Trump won’t come from perfection. It’ll come from mastery of the psychological battlefield.
And Newsom’s the only Democrat who’s demonstrated that mastery.
Biden beat Trump once…but that was pre-insurrection…pre-indictments…pre-Epstein files…pre-authoritarian power grab. The game has escalated.
I’ve studied the assessments that have been done on the big players, as well as conducting my own.
You may not like what you see in a moment. You may disagree. However…behind closed doors…the people who drill down on this stuff…come to similar conclusions:
Harris? Too stiff. Too reactive.
Whitmer? Strong on policy…but untested in trench warfare.
Buttigieg? Brilliant debater…but comes off too clinical.
Keep in mind…that personally…I like all of the above. However…doesn’t factor in when I’m doing my assessment. For most of the “big dog” folks behind the scenes…it doesn’t matter much to them…either.
Newsom? He enjoys the fight. He relishes the mind games. He doesn’t just respond…he plays offense.
That’s the edge. That’s why…regardless of your reservations…he’s the one person who can meet Trump in the mud…get dirty…and still walk out looking clean.
What Now?
So what do we do with this?
If you’re serious about saving democracy…you stop searching for a flawless savior. You start looking for a warrior who can fight on the terrain the enemy has chosen.
Trump’s battlefield is trolling…branding…and psychological warfare. Newsom is showing he can not only fight there…he can win there.
And that changes the entire 2026–2028 landscape.
What Are Elections?
Let me wrap this up with the blunt Jack Hopkins truth:
Elections aren’t beauty pageants. They’re street fights. And in a street fight…you don’t want the guy who looks good on paper…you want the person who can bloody the bully’s nose.
Gavin Newsom…slick…smirking…flawed Gavin Newsom…is that guy.
So if you’re tired of watching Democrats bring a white paper to a knife fight…you better start paying attention. Because for the first time in a long time…we’ve got a fighter who actually enjoys the brawl.
And that…my friends…is how you beat Donald Trump at his own game.
