On January 20, 2025, at a meeting with governors in the White House, the Republican president singled out Maine governor, Janet Mills, and threatened to withhold Federal funds from her state if she didn’t “comply” with his edict (Executive Order) against trans athletes.
The governor, being aware that the president is not a king, and that he cannot expect to govern by proclamation, replied that she was “complying with state and federal law.”
Never one to let the law get in the way of his whims, the president claimed that HE was the federal law and then issued his threat.
“I’m, we are the Federal law. You better do it because you’re not going to get any Federal funding at all.”
February 20, 2025.
After the threat he began to ramble (of course). The governor cut him off by saying “See you in court.” The Republican president seemed to welcome that challenge.
“Do what I say or I will hurt you” is the language of a bully. In this case the Republican administration actually followed through with an attempt to eliminate funding for school lunches for Maine’s children. (See links below).
News organizations
“We have to straighten out the press. Our press is very corrupt, almost as corrupt as our elections.”
December 16, 2024
Since taking office, this Republican administration, like any authoritarion regime, has conducted a rapid assault on the freedom of the press. They have harassed reporters, limted access, sued media companies, and eliminated funding for independent outlets such as Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This Republican administration has deleted thousands of pages of information from government websites, has barred government agencies from speaking to the public, and has politicized the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).
Trump has filed baseless lawsuits against ABC, CBS, the Washington Post and other news organizations claiming “defamation” and “bias.” The point isn’t to win in court and receive “damages” (although Disney/ABC caved and gave him $15 million). The point is to harass and bully reputable, mainstream media and make them afraid of reporting the truth about his actions.
Universities
“I love the poorly educated.”
February 23, 2016
The Republican administration has bullied and attacked our colleges and universities in several ways. They have cancelled millions of dollars of research grants, which are the lifeblood of our major universities. They have harassed, cancelled visas, and deported many international students without due process or any legal recourse. They have demanded control over college hiring, course offerings, course materials, library books, and student admissions.
The authoritarian goal of the Republican administration is to control who can go to college, what they can read, who can teach them, and what they can be taught.
The two most public fights have been against Columbia University and Harvard. Columbia was accused of failing to address the harassment of Jewish students. After the campus pro-Hamas demonstrations in the spring of 2024, this accusation is not without merit. But, coming nearly a year later, this administration is just using the protests as an excuse to bully the University.
In February 2025, the Republican administration used this excuse to take $400 million in Federal funding away from Columbia. Columbia then agreed to enact the campus rule changes the White House demanded. This included a reorganization of the University’s Middle Eastern studies department. Nevertheless, the administration is now threatening to strip away Columbia’s accreditation.
The lesson here is that cooperating with a bully doesn’t make him go away. It just emboldens him to increase his bad behavior.
Law firms
Authoritarian regimes need to undermine the rule of law. Accordingly, this Republican administration has attacked judges, prosecutors, investigators, and lawyers.
The Republican president has issued executive orders and presidential memoranda that cancel federal contracts with American law firms that may have represented positions or who have employees who may have opposed him at any time in the past. He has also denied attorneys from such firms access to government buildings (including court houses!).
The Republican president is not only a bully, he is a resentful and vengeful bully.
Countries
The Republican president has cozied up to America’s enemies while threatening our neighbors and allies. He has threatened to bomb Mexico, and annex Canada. He has threatened to conquer both Greenland and Panama with military force.
Meanwhile, he aids Russia by withholding military support for Ukraine and weakening the NATO alliance. His ill-considered, on again off again, tariffs are a great economic gift to China who is rapidly creating new trade agreements with countries the US is now abusing.
Trump uses threats and force much like a playground bully: while large and outwardly powerful, he actually fears the use of force in any situation even vaguely resembling a fair fight. For the bully, threats are for the purpose of intimidation rather than a prelude to violence. Actual violence only occurs against much weaker foes that have no hope of striking back.
-Jeremy Shapiro
SOURCES:
Governor
— “‘You better comply’ Donald Trump clashes with Maine governor Janet Mills,” YouTube, Febrary 20, 2025.
Hannah Demissie, et al, “Trump clashes with Democratic governer at White House event: ‘See you in court’,” 6abc, February 22, 2025.
Jenna Russell, “Maine Governor, Staring Down Trump, Says She is Unfazed by ‘Loud Men’,” The New York Times, April 10, 2025.
Sam Levin, “Win for Maine as Trump officials agree to halt school funding freeze,” The Guardian, May 2, 2025.
News organizations
David Bauder, “Journalists anticipate a renewed hostility toward their work under the incoming Trump administration,” AP, December 16, 2024.
David Folkenflik, “ABC settles with Trump for $15 million. Now, he wants to sue other news outlets,” NPR, December 16, 2024.
Eugene Robinson, “We cannot abide Donald Trump’s wish for a compliant news media,” The Washington Post, December 23, 2024.
— “One month of Trump: Press freedom under seige,” Reporters without borders (RSF), February 19, 2025.
Universities
Melissa Fares and Gina Cherelus, “Trump loves ‘the poorly educated’…and social media clamors,” Reuters, February 24, 2016.
Jasmin Venet, “Trump threatens Harvard in fiery Memorial Day tirade,” Daily Beast, May 26, 2025.
Alex Henderson, “Political scientist warns that Trump’s ‘vendetta’ against Harvard will not stop’ there,” Alternet, May 26, 2025. (or on MSN).
Max Matza, “Trump administration threatens Columbia University’s accreditation,” BBC June 4, 2025.
Law firms
— “Targeting of law firms and lawyers under the second Trump administration,” Wikipedia.
Katie Balevic, et al, “Here’s where all the firms in the Trump-BigLaw fight stand,” Business Insider, May 28, 2025. (or on MSN).
Countries
Jeremy Shapiro, “The bully’s pulpit: Finding patterns in Trump’s use of military force,” European Council on Foreign Relations, May 8m 2025.
— “Trump Always Chickens Out,” Wikipedia.
My facebook entry:
Trump’s dictatorship is nearly complete. I wish you had helped us Deseret News. You last saw Trump clearly when you asked him to withdraw back in 2016 after his bragging about getting into women’s pants. Since then your response has been calculating and very weak. The D-News can’t handle criticism, refused this, so I post it here.
They should have posted it. Sounds like a simple statement of fact.