READ: Red alert. It's all coming true.

They called it alarmist. Now it's our reality -- or will be soon.

The year before the 2024 election, I published a prediction of what would happen in Trump 2.0. I wrote it as a warning, one I hoped would never need validation. Chapter by chapter, I laid out the consequences of a second Trump term.

Many dismissed it as dystopian. Trump and his allies said I was a liar. My predictions were “preposterous” and would never come true. Here’s a little sampling of what they said about my warnings:

Was I wrong? You decide. In just the last few months, many of the predictions from Blowback have gone from "theoretical" to terrifyingly real. I've catalogued them below in a stoplight chart. Green means it already happened. Yellow means it's happening. Red means it hasn’t, at least not fully, but it’s probably next.

This list should scare the hell out of us. Some of the darkest prophecies are already underway, and others are yet to come. One by one, the predictions are becoming policies, and the warnings are becoming reality.

Now what? The question for us is whether we can wake up our fellow Americans to what’s happening in our country … encouraging them to be brave … and inspire more people to stand up. Please share this with folks.

THE BLOWBACK SCORECARD

Here’s a summary of what I predicted would happen in Trump 2.0 — the year before Trump’s reelection. Much of it has come true.
🟢GREEN HAS HAPPENED. 🟡YELLOW IS UNDERWAY. 🔴RED IS COMING.

Weaponization of Power

🟢A revenge machine: Trump will widely use government tools to target enemies, not uphold the law.

🟢The purge of the bureaucracy: People who are disloyal or critical inside the executive branch—career officials or political appointees—will be purged.

🟢Dangerous diehards at the helm: The ‘D Team’ will take over: Expect “fifth-raters” and “yes men” to lead America’s most powerful agencies.

🟢“Shock troops” seeded into the bureaucracy: Only hyper-loyalists will be placed in the key “lieutenant” jobs beneath the yes-men leaders. These will be people who put Trump over Constitution.

🟡Agencies become a MAGA piggy bank: Key departments will become a MAGA piggy bank. The White House will gut a vast array of federal departments and programs to pay for priorities like immigration.

A Fearful & Gutted Government

🟢Chill across the Capital: A climate of fear will grip Washington; career officials will self-censor to avoid retribution.

🟢Exodus of experts: Scientists, civil servants, and national security professionals will be fired and/or quit in droves, leaving agencies hollowed out.

🟡Politicized intelligence: The intelligence and law enforcement agencies will be politicized, with analysts afraid to speak truth to power. Cherry-picked findings used for political aims or retribution, leading to policy failures.

🔴Independence destroyed: Institutions across the government that have historically been independent will come under Trump’s control.

War on the Justice System

🟢Law enforcement becomes personal enforcers: DOJ and the FBI will face unprecedented pressure to prosecute political enemies of the President and protect allies by reprioritization investigative resources.

🟢Lawbreakers take the reins: Trump will surround himself with loyalists willing to break democratic norms and defend his violations of law to the courts and to the public.

🟡Courts come under fire: Trump will mount a sweeping attack on the courts, delegitimizing judges, attempting to remove judges, attempting judicial “gerrymandering,” and ultimately defying the orders of courts who strike down his policies.

🔴Supreme defiance: At some point, when and if the President openly defied the Supreme Court in a major case that breaks against him, the rule of law could be irrevocably damaged.

Suppression of Dissent & Free Speech

🟢Trump critics branded as “traitors”: A second Trump term will escalate attacks on whistleblowers and journalists, accusing them of “treason” and wielding the Espionage Act to punish critics of the President, including through prosecutions.

🟢The new insurrectionists: Trump’s team will label domestic critics as “terrorists” or “insurrectionists.”

🟢Any and all opposition assailed: Trump will go after private business, organizations, and opposition groups deemed to oppose his agenda, using “leverage” of government support and/or prosecution as a tool of coercion.

🟡Death of dissent: Dissent will be reframed as disloyalty, with surveillance and prosecutions to follow.

Subversion of Congress

🟢Power of the purse: The White House will simply ignore Congressional spending directives to do what they want, including moving around money, deleting agencies, and beyond.

🟢A rubber stamp Congress: Congressional MAGA loyalists will act as enforcers, not as a check on the executive, rubber-stamping radical policies and investigating critics instead of wrongdoers.

🟡Show trials and revenge hearings: Hill investigations will be weaponized to punish perceived enemies, from university presidents to former civil servants.

🔴Use impeachment as a weapon: Trump allies in Congress may seek to impeach past officials or judges — not just to remove them from office, but to disqualify them from future service.

🔴“Secret laws”: Congressional allies of Trump could use defense and intelligence bills to insert classified directives that the American people — and many Members of Congress themselves — will not be able to see, in order to advance Trump’s agenda.

State & Local Retaliation

🟢Burying the Blue States: Democratic states and liberal institutions will face coordinated federal retaliation, especially through funding cuts or investigations.

🟡Disaster aid as a weapon: The White House will politicize assistance to Americans — like FEMA aid — using it to bludgeon or coerce uncooperative officials to heed the President’s agenda, or else.

🔴MAGA breakaway movements: States controlled by MAGA governors will defy federal law, selectively enforcing rules based on loyalty to Trump.

Using the Military Against Americans

🟢Troops on U.S. soil: Trump views the military as a tool for internal control, not just defense. He may deploy federal troops on U.S. soil to quash dissent or protests under false pretenses; at a minimum, immigration crackdowns will be used to justify the expansion of domestic military and police powers.

🟡Gitmo for political prisoners: Trump will expand Guantanamo Bay — the terrorist prison — for use against his political targets, from immigrants to other enemies of the state.

🟡Forever wars, at home: Use of force domestically will become normalized. Trump may leverage troop deployments to intimidate or coerce local governments to align with his agenda or shape electoral outcomes.

A New “War on Terror”

🟢Expanded airport and border searches: MAGA leaders could leverage TSA, CBP, and other DHS components to question, delay, or intimidate critics.

🟡DHS retooled for repression: DHS may be directed to prioritize ideological threats — real or imagined — like “antifa,” pro-migrant groups, or even political rivals.

🟡Domestic spying: National security powers like mass data collection, AI, and even FISA could be deployed against journalists, protestors, and political dissenters.

🔴Other emergency powers: Secretive “break glass” powers may allow Trump to restrict travel, silence the press, or detain individuals without due process under the guise of a crisis, including formally designating left-leaning groups as “terrorist organizations” to justify further crackdowns

Civil Unrest … and Political Violence

🟢Vitriol jumps the tracks to violence: Civil unrest will become more widespread; conspiracy theory rhetoric will inspire lone wolves, extremists, and militia groups to engage an attacks, including assassination attempts against opposition figures

🟢Invasions: Trump will declare new “invasions” to bypass due process and implement mass deportations; DHS and DOJ will be directed to carry out these policies even if unconstitutional.

🔴The big one: Trump 2.0 could suspend habeas corpus in the name of “domestic security,” allowing domestic security forces to arrest and detain people without letting them challenge their detention.

Foreign Policy Collapse

🟢Diplomacy destroyed: The State Department will be gutted of non-loyalists, replaced with MAGA operatives willing to enforce the regime’s worldview abroad. What’s more, sanctions, visa bans, and security designations may be deployed not as strategic tools but as means of retribution.

🟡Abandoning allies: Trump will largely disparage America’s democratic allies, leaving them in a state of confusion and corroding the Western alliance; he will also withdraw support from Ukraine, leaving Europe exposed to Russian aggression.

🟡A weakness for strongmen: Trump will cozy up to dictators like Putin, Orbán, and Kim Jong Un while undermining NATO and Western alliances.

Erosion of Truth

🟢The conspiracy house: Trump’s second term will accelerate the spread of disinformation from within the government itself. The White House will become a hub for state-sanctioned conspiracy theories.

🟢Fake populism, real power grab: MAGA leaders will use culture war rhetoric and conspiracy theories to consolidate power.

🟢QAnon mainstreamed: Fringe conspiracies will become guiding beliefs for policymaking and public statements.