Time: Trump Provokes Anger After Threatening Chicago With ‘Department of War’

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President Donald Trump threatened Chicago with his newly-renamed “Department of War” on Saturday, prompting anger from city and state officials who have been preparing for a looming deployment of National Guard troops to the city for weeks.

“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’ Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of War,” Trump’s post on Truth Social said, accompanied by what appeared to be an AI-generated depiction of himself as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore from the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. The words “Chicopolyse Now” were emblazoned on the image, a reference to Apocalypse Now, and the background showed a burning city and helicopters flying away.

The post prompted anger from state and city officials. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Trump a “wannabe dictator” and took the post as a threat to “go to war” with Chicago.

“The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city,” Pritzker wrote on X. “This is not a joke. This is not normal.”

“Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator,” he added. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accused Trump of “authoritarianism.”

“The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution,” he wrote on X.  

The post follows Trump’s Friday executive order that rebranded the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a move the president claimed sent “a message of strength.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during the press conference Friday that the name indicates the department is “going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct.”

Trump’s threats against Chicago follow his decision to federalize D.C.’s police department and deploy National Guard troops on the streets on Aug. 11, citing violent crime—even though data showed that violent crime in the nation’s capital had already been declining significantly. Since then, the President has threatened similar deployments in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, and Oakland.

Johnson and Pritzker have both been staunchly opposed to Trump’s threats of federal intervention. Last weekend, Johnson signed an executive order directing the city’s police force not to cooperate with federal agents in a potential crackdown on crime and immigration.

“We will protect our constitution. We will protect our city. And we will protect our people. We do not want to see tanks in our streets. We do not want to see families ripped apart,” Johnson said as he announced his executive order.

Pritzker has said that he will “absolutely” sue Trump and the federal government if he actually does deploy troops, adding to the multiple lawsuits already filed by Chicago against the President since his return to office in January.

Trump Threatens Chicago with ‘Department of War’
JB Pritzker called Trump a “wannabe dictator” after the president threatened Chicago with his newly-renamed “Department of War.”

https://time.com/7315149/trump-chicago-threat-war-pritzker

CNN: Immigration raid at New York business left workers terrified and slowed production, co-owner says

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When Lenny Schmidt arrived at his family-run nutrition bar manufacturing business in upstate New York Thursday morning, federal immigration agents were already there.

“The agents were swarming the plant,” he said. “There were probably over 100 of these agents, on four-wheelers, on foot, they had dogs.”

“They had surrounded the facility and forced their way through into the plant … using, I think, crowbars,” Schmidt, the company’s co-owner and vice president, told CNN’s Laura Coates on Friday.

By the end of the hourslong raid at Nutrition Bar Confectioners in Cato, a rural community about 30 miles northwest of Syracuse, dozens of employees had been detained.

The raid in Cato coincided with a similar operation in Ellabell, Georgia, where federal agents detained 475 workers, mostly Korean nationals suspected of living or working in the US illegally. It marked the largest sweep yet in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown at worksites, which has increasingly targeted industries like manufacturing and agriculture that often depend on immigrant labor.

At the New York facility, agents sealed the exits, halting production and corralling workers for questioning.

“They cornered all of our workers, seemingly targeting just the Hispanic employees, separated everybody … later on, they ended up escorting them into vans,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said his company, which has been operating since 1978, complies with all federal labor laws.

“We vet each person as best as we can in accordance with those laws and get the correct documentation to support this,” he said, adding that all his employees possessed the necessary documentation to legally work in the US.

ICE told CNN affiliate WSTM the raid was a “court-authorized enforcement operation,” but did not provide further details. Employees told WSTM that around 60 workers were detained. CNN has reached out to the agency for details.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sharply condemned the raid, calling it a cruel disruption to immigrant families.

“What they did was shatter hard-working families who are simply trying to build a life here, just like millions of immigrants before them,” the governor said.

‘Everyone got scared’

The operation began around 9 a.m., according to a Guatemalan worker who has been working on the production line for two years. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the worker described the mounting panic as agents surrounded the building and gathered up to 70 workers – many from Guatemala and Nicaragua – into the lunchroom, where the entire workforce was questioned.

“They surrounded the building. Everyone got scared.”

The worker, a legal US resident, said ICE agents neither showed warrants nor explained the reason for the raid.

“They went straight to the workers,” the employee said. “They asked what country we were from, if we had permission to be in the US. They demanded papers.”

After showing his identification card, the worker was released within half an hour, but others, including coworkers with valid work permits, were taken into custody, he said.

CNN contacted the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find out if the detainees had valid work permits and awaits a response.

Some employees who were released from detention returned to the plant almost immediately, Schmidt said.

“It’s heartbreaking … some of them came back to work. I remember seeing somebody punching the clock and I walked up to him and I couldn’t believe my eyes. So I shook his hand and gave him a hug,” he said.

Production at the plant came to a standstill during the raid, but Schmidt said operations have resumed – though at reduced capacity.

“It’s going to slow us down probably half speed or just less until we get hopefully some of these workers back,” Schmidt said, adding they will also start the hiring process for new workers this weekend.

“What makes us successful is having these wonderful workers,” he said. “We hope and pray for our workers to be safe and to return home to their families and, hopefully, back to work.”

Immigration raid at New York business left workers terrified and slowed production, co-owner says | CNN
When Lenny Schmidt arrived at his family-run nutrition bar manufacturing business in upstate New York Thursday morning, federal immigration agents were already there.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/06/us/cato-new-york-immigration-raid-business-owner-hnk

CNN: Florida’s new immigrant detention site dubbed ‘Deportation Depot’ is now taking detainees, officials say

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Florida has opened its second immigration detention site, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” amid an ongoing legal battle over its controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” facility.

The facility is at a temporarily closed state prison, the Baker Correctional Institution, which is housing 117 detainees with the capacity to hold 1,500 people, according to the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis. It is about 45 miles west of Jacksonville near the Osceola National Forest.

“Deportation Depot” opened a day after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a judge’s order requiring the state and federal government to shut down “Alligator Alcatraz,” located deep in the marshy wetlands of the Everglades.

The facility, wrapped in tall, wire fencing, is made up of a number of a squat, single-story buildings. Guard towers are positioned strategically around the campus and, out front, a Humvee is parked next to a white pop-up tent.

Other states have announced similar sites to supplement what the Trump administration has described as limited capacity in immigration detention centers nationwide. “Deportation Depot” is part of that equation and just one part of the Florida governor’s push for an expansion of the state’s detention centers to hold immigrants.

DeSantis is doubling down on his plans to build a third detention site in Florida’s panhandle, which he has called “Panhandle Pokey,” along with another facility at a Florida National Guard training center known as Camp Blanding, roughly 30 miles southwest of Jacksonville.

Other proposed immigration facilities include Indiana’s “Speedway Slammer” and Louisiana’s “Camp 57,” located at the country’s largest maximum-security prison. The Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola, is an 18,000-acre facility situated an hour north of Baton Rouge.

The new detention facilities are emerging as the White House continues to push authorities to make at least 3,000 immigration-related arrests per day as part of the administration’s mass deportation efforts.

Many detainees have so far been sent to Guantanamo Bay or deported to El Salvador’s CECOT mega prison.

Back in Florida, “Deportation Depot” was announced in August just before a federal judge placed a preliminary injunction on “Alligator Alcatraz” that would have effectively shut that site down.

Since a federal appeals court stayed the lower court’s order to force the closure of “Alligator Alcatraz,” the state has said it will continue transporting detainees out of there.

The ruling was a major blow to environmental groups, who filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to block operations and construction at the site until environmental laws are followed.

The Everglades site had been the subject of intense criticism for its treatment of migrants who had been confined there amid sweltering heat, bug infestations and meager meals, prompting members of Congress and state representatives that witnessed the conditions to demand its immediate closure.

Florida’s new immigrant detention site dubbed ‘Deportation Depot’ is now taking detainees, officials say | CNN
Florida has opened its second immigration detention site, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” amid an ongoing legal battle over its controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” facility.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/us/deportation-depot-florida-open

Buzz Feed: JD Vance Is Really, Really Upset That People Are Questioning RFK Jr.

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“For god sake, bring decency and cordially back to The White House,” one social media user said in response to the Vice President.

Vice President JD Vance had harsh words for the Republican and Democratic senators who dared to ask Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. tough questions during a Thursday hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

Actually, it was just one harsh word, and could be an apt way to describe Vance’s online defense of Kennedy.

During Thursday’s hearing, Kennedy was repeatedly called out for previous claims and contradictions he has made regarding vaccines.

For instance, both Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is also a physician, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) asked Kennedy why he thinks President Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, yet keeps criticizing the vaccines that came from that program, even cutting access to them.

Though Kennedy tried to wiggle out of being pinned down for previous statements, the fact that Vance felt obliged to defend his performance in the hearing is probably a sign it wasn’t great.

Really upset that people are criticizing RFK Jr? The supposed Health Czar bozo who eats road kill and whines about his brain worms? You’d have to be stupid as h*ll to support him.

Which brings me to my prediction: When King Donald finally checks out, JD Dunce will become our stupidest president ever — not as malevolent or whacked out as King Donald, but just dumb, plain dumb and stupid.

JD Vance Is Having An Absolute Meltdown Over People Questioning RFK Jr. And It’s Honestly Embarrassing
“For god sake, bring decency and cordially back to The White House,” one social media user said in response to the Vice President.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmoye/jd-vance-outraged-over-senates-gotcha-questions-to-rfk-jr

Slingshot News: ‘It’s The American Flag’: Trump’s Mental Decline Shows Up Again When He Mistakes The Flag For A Blanket During Oval Office Signing

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‘It’s The American Flag’: Trump’s Mental Decline Shows Up Again When He Mistakes The Flag For A Blanket During Oval Office Signing
President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders yesterday in the Oval Office, the most important of which is renaming the “Department of Defense” back to the “Department of War.” Congressman John Rose (R-TN) had to tell Trump his gift is the American flag when Trump excitedly told him it’s something he could use at night.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/it-s-the-american-flag-trump-s-mental-decline-shows-up-again-when-he-mistakes-the-flag-for-a-blanket-during-oval-office-signing/vi-AA1M0pf6

The Hill: Trump orders takedown of longtime protest tent at White House

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President Trump ordered the removal of the White House Peace Vigil on Friday, marking an end to a 44-year protest against the nation’s nuclear weaponry and warfare. 

A reporter informed the president of the ongoing protest — now manned by Philipos Melaku-Bello and a group of rotating volunteers — Friday in the Oval Office, describing the long-standing tent as an “eye sore” for visitors supported by the “radical left.” 

“I didn’t know that. Take it down. Take it down today, right now,” Trump told staffers inside the White House.

The president has pledged to erase homeless encampments across Washington, D.C., in an effort to clean the streets ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.

Unhoused residents have faced a swarm of police officers and National Guard soldiers in recent weeks who have detained them for sleeping outside.

However, the peace vigil in Lafayette Park stands out as a permanent stakeout for free speech and is widely known as the longest continuous act of political protest in U.S. history. 

Activist William Thomas propped up the free standing structure in June 1981 parallel to the North Lawn, where dignitaries and world leaders arrive for discussion and dissent. 

As years flew by, Thomas remained posted out front of the White House and faithfully manned the station through the course of seven presidents and various wars, until his death in 2016.

Melaku-Bello then took over the site with tattered signs that read “Ban All Nuclear Weapons or Have a Nice Doomsday” and “Live By the Bomb, Die By the Bomb” as a reminder of their push for peace to all who pass by, The Washington Post reported. 

Over the years, the tent has drawn the attention of members of Congress who’ve either supported or condemned the collective mission of the White House Peace Vigil. 

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) was inspired by the protesters and has repeatedly introduced the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Conversion Act on behalf of the group.

The legislation would redirect funding for nuclear weapons to other causes, such as the climate crisis, and human and infrastructure needs, such as housing and health care.

Norton has said it would help reestablish the country’s “moral leadership in the world.“

While she’s rallied behind the demonstrators, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) has advocated for the encampment to be swiftly removed, citing “public safety hazards” in addition to “aesthetic and historical degradation.”

“No group should be above the law, and the continued allowance of this permanent occupation sends the wrong message to law-abiding Americans,” Van Drew wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum obtained by the Post.

“This isn’t about stopping protest. It’s about upholding the rule of law, preserving one of America’s most iconic public spaces, and ending a double standard that’s made a mockery of both,” he added.

However, Norton told the Post that protesters are well within their right to peacefully assemble outside of the White House on public property. 

“The First Amendment protects peaceful protests, even when they’re seen as unsightly or inconvenient, and even when they occur in front of the White House,” Norton said in the statement. 

“The Peace Vigil has stood in front of the White House for more than 30 years, with its organizers engaged in principled activism at considerable personal cost. If Representative Van Drew’s claim that the vigil creates public safety hazards were valid, it would have been removed long ago.”

Just one more First Amendment violation by the White House Grifter with 6 bankruptcies and 34 felony convictions!

Trump orders takedown of longtime protest tent at White House
President Trump ordered the removal of the White House Peace Vigil on Friday, marking an end to a 44-year protest against the nation’s nuclear weaponry and warfare. A reporter informed the president of the ongoing protest — now manned by Philipos Melaku-Bello and a group of rotating volunteers — Friday in the Oval Office, describing…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-orders-takedown-of-longtime-protest-tent-at-white-house/ar-AA1LYUWI

Money Talks News: Foreign Students Face New Reality: 6,000 Visas Revoked for Law Breaking

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Foreign Students Face New Reality: 6,000 Visas Revoked for Law Breaking
Over 6,000 international students have had their visas revoked for criminal violations and overstays as Trump administration increases immigration enforcement.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/foreign-students-face-new-reality-6-000-visas-revoked-for-law-breaking/vi-AA1LRsYP

“Between 200 and 300 students lost visas over [so called] terrorism support allegations.”

Supporting the Palestinians — especially the Gazans who are being abused and slaughtered by the thousands — is a constitutional right protected by the First Amendment. So much for the “Land of the Free”.

Associated Press: A notorious Louisiana prison was chosen for immigrant detainees to urge self-deportation, Noem says

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A notorious Louisiana prison was chosen for immigrant detainees to urge self-deportation, Noem says
Federal authorities say they’ve deliberately chosen a notorious Louisiana prison to hold immigration detainees as a way to encourage people living illegally in the U.S. to self-deport. (AP Video by Stephen Smith)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-notorious-louisiana-prison-was-chosen-for-immigrant-detainees-to-urge-self-deportation-noem-says/vi-AA1LPF8X

The federal policy of official cruelty continues. This depraved regime must end.

Knewz: CBP detains mom with green card over marijuana conviction from decades ago

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A Massachusetts mother of four and longtime U.S. resident has been released from immigration custody after being detained earlier this month at Boston Logan International Airport over a decades-old marijuana conviction. Knewz.com has learned that Jemmy Jimenez Rosa, 42, had traveled to Mexico with her family on vacation and was stopped by Customs and Border Protection upon reentry despite holding a recently renewed green card.

The Massachusetts mom was detained after returning from vacation

On August 11, Rosa returned to the United States with her husband and children. Her husband, Marcel Rosa, said he handed over the family’s passports and his wife’s green card before officers escorted her into a private room. She was then held at Logan Airport for four days. According to her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, she was denied access to a phone, her medications and basic hygiene. “She has diabetes, high blood pressure, mental health issues,” Pomerleau told Newsweek. He added that she was twice hospitalized in those first days of detention. After that period, Rosa was transferred to a detention facility in Maine. “She was in such poor condition that she could barely walk or function,” Pomerleau said.

No official explanation provided for her detention

Pomerleau said he was never given an official explanation for Rosa’s detention, but he believes it stemmed from a 2003 misdemeanor possession charge for a small amount of marijuana. “At most, it could have possibly been a 2003 possession charge for a small amount of marijuana, which was pardoned fully and unconditionally by the governor of Massachusetts. The records were sealed, which means they never would have even had access to them without gaining special permission from the court.” Pomerleau later challenged the old conviction in Roxbury district court, arguing that Rosa did not receive adequate legal counsel when she entered her plea two decades earlier. The judge and prosecutor agreed, vacating the conviction and dismissing the case.

She was later released

Pomerleau filed an emergency motion demanding Rosa’s release, noting she had never been served with a notice to appear. Later that day, she was freed. Her husband described her detention as devastating for the family. In a GoFundMe post, he wrote, “Jemmy is a valid green card holder who was born in Peru and came to the U.S. at the age of 9. No reason for the arrest has been given. She has been held without receiving proper medical care. … Jemmy is very selfless, constantly trying to help out family and friends. Everything’s about the kids with her.” The fundraiser has collected more than $12,500 for legal expenses. Pomerleau said her case illustrates the risks many legal immigrants face under current enforcement policies. “There needs to be fundamental change. Hopefully our case sheds light on the travesty of justice,” he said.

Her detention came amidst broader immigration crackdown

Rosa’s case unfolded against the backdrop of an immigration administration crackdown that has swept up immigrants with legal status as well as undocumented residents. A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement, “A green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused. Lawful Permanent Residents presenting at a U.S. port of entry with previous criminal convictions may be subject to mandatory detention and/or may be asked to provide additional documentation to be set up for an immigration hearing.” However, Pomerleau criticized the government’s actions, saying, “What is happening now is unprecedented. It’s an assault on the rule of law and due process.” Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch said the episode raised “red flags in terms of the delay and what services are available to her as a legal permanent resident.”

CBP detains mom with green card over marijuana conviction from decades ago
A Massachusetts mother has been released from immigration custody after being detained over a decades-old marijuana conviction.

https://knewz.com/cbp-officers-detain-mom-with-green-card-over-marijuana-conviction-from-decades-ago

Western Journal: DOJ Finds Biden Admin ‘Weaponized the Full Weight of the Federal Government Against Christians’

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A new Trump administration report condemned the Biden administration for its treatment of Christians.

The initial report of the Department of Justice’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias has been released, and it categorized what it called “numerous instances of anti-Christian bias during the Biden administration.”

“Joe Biden weaponized the full weight of the federal government against Christians and trampled on their fundamental First Amendment rights,” White House representative Taylor Rogers said, according to Fox News.

“Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump is protecting Christians, not punishing them,” Rogers said.

The report said that in recent years, America’s Christian underpinnings have been “undermined. The political, social, and humanitarian contributions of Christians have been devalued, their beliefs marginalized, and their communities unlawfully targeted by their own government.”

“A review of federal departments and agencies revealed a consistent and systematic pattern of discrimination against Christians during the Biden Administration. Where there should have been ‘equal justice under law’  there was unequal treatment — policies and practices that singled out Christian people, Christian houses of worship, and Christian convictions for disfavored treatment,” the report said.

The report included the task force’s vow that “the federal government will never again be permitted to turn its power against people of faith.”

“Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, in partnership with all members of this Task Force, the rule of law will be enforced with vigor, and every religion will be treated with equality in both policy and action. The days of anti-Christian bias in the federal government are over. Faith is not a liability in America — it is a liberty,” the report said.

The report cited various departments that imposed prejudicial actions against Christians.

For example, it said, the Department of State “provided limited humanitarian relief to Christians relative to other populations and offered muted responses to attacks on Christians compared to other groups.”

In the State Department, “preferential employment practices were afforded adherents of non-Christian religions, while Christian employees were disfavored. It was particularly concerning that employees were less likely to be permitted leave for observation of certain Christian holidays as opposed to non-Christian ones.”

It also “imposed radical LGBTQ gender ideology on foreign governments and State employees, including the forced usage of preferred pronouns and rainbow flags, violating the sincerely held religious beliefs of many Christians and other Americans of faith.”

The Department of Justice “arrested and convicted approximately two dozen individuals under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities. Yet, the same DOJ refused to apply the FACE Act to protect places of worship and crisis pregnancy centers,” per the report.

Over at the Department of Education, “The Biden Administration’s ‘book ban coordinator’ role within ED, investigated school boards for removing age-inappropriate materials from school libraries, typically in response to religious objections by parents.”

“Though these investigations remain in their early stages, the evidence uncovered is unmistakable: during the Biden Administration, people of faith, particularly Christians, were repeatedly subjected to anti-religious bias at the hands of their own government,” the report’s conclusion noted.

“By eradicating anti-Christian bias in the federal government, the Task Force is reaffirming a principle older than the Republic itself, that freedom of religion is not granted by government but guaranteed against it.

“America must remain One Nation Under God if she is to remain Indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for All. The Task Force will never permit the federal government to be used as a weapon against faith.”

This is f*ck*ng ludicrous, just one more gratuitous against Biden by the Trump clan. Biden himself is a Christian (Roman Catholic).

DOJ Finds Biden Admin ‘Weaponized the Full Weight of the Federal Government Against Christians’
A Trump administration task force has tracked the insidious bias against Christians that pervaded the Biden administration.
DOJ Finds Biden Admin ‘Weaponized the Full Weight of the Federal Government Against Christians’