Trump's Rancid Agenda Of Sabotage, Plunder and Betrayal Has Given The Pro-Democracy Movement A Big Opportunity

DNC Chair Ken Martin Joins Us This Thursday Live At 215pm ET - Excited For This One!

Morning all. DNC Chair Ken Martin joins us live this Thursday at 215pm ET. Click on this link at 215pm to join us, and feel free to invite friends and colleagues too. Excited for this one, and remember you can find all of our interviews/podcasts on the Hopium site under Podcast and on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify too. Upcoming events and pods can always be found on our Events page.

We start the week where we ended last week - Trump is struggling, unpopular and we need to be very loud, together, in challenging his rancid agenda of sabotage, plunder and betrayal.

As I wrote last week we now have two big opportunities to explain the details and harms of the extremist agenda Trump has thrust upon this good country:

1) state and localities will now begin to hold hearings and debate what the cuts to clean energy, health care, FEMA; the tariffs; the ICE escalation and mass deportation means for them

2) all of these noxious things Trump has passed and ordered must also now be incorporated in a fiscal year 2026 budget, debated and passed this fall (and perhaps winter). It’s an enormous opportunity to revisit the harms as they are turned into real appropriations and a real annual budget.

We can and should make these next six months into a vibrant national conversation about what Trumpism means for us - poorer, weaker, less healthy, less safe and less free - and every Democratic elected official and Dem/pro-democracy aligned group now as an opportunity to do their part in enabling this conversation. We must move beyond the horserace and vote counts to make their dystopian extremism manifest and concrete. Legal residents disappeared into gulags. “War fighters” on our streets. Crops dying on the vine, higher food costs, farmers going bankrupt. Health care centers shuttering and health care costs skyrocking for tens and tens of millions of working people. Unprecedented official corruption, and blinding illiberal greed. Our closest allies alienated. Higher energy costs. Big climate gains reversed. Research into life saving cures ended. Measles - fucking measles - creating a new national health emergency. Dozens of dead children in Texas.

And then there’s the daily chaos, chaos and more chaos.

Trump starts this big national conversation already deeply unpopular, and his agenda even more so.

From Politico this am, Trump’s Megabill is creating a budget nightmare for the states:

President Donald Trump’s landmark legislation is driving a giant hole in governors’ budgets in a midterm year.

By slashing health care and food assistance for low-income Americans, Republicans in Washington are passing tremendous costs onto the states, leaving local leaders from both parties grasping for ways to make up for billions in lost federal dollars. The cuts are already threatening to endanger governors’ education, public safety and disaster relief funds.

And this is all happening as up to 20 state leaders face reelection in 2026, forcing them to figure out how to message the fallout as their parties battle for control over the House next year.

“We don’t put these budgets together that have a lot of fluff and rainy day funds that are easily accessible,” said Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association. “All of us are trying to figure out how to mitigate the damage that will be done to our constituents.”

Kelly, whose term ends next year, said governors across the country are now in “a world of hurt and concern.”

As we explain to the American people about what they are doing to the country we must also use the opportunity to talk about who we are, and what we believe. I’ve put together this sample draft working agenda. Let it be grist for the pro-democracy mill:

1 - Create A Growing Economy That Works For All, Fight Trump’s Tax and Price Increases - Roll back the terrible tariffs, lift this onerous tax on working people, stop this illegal and unconstitutional abuse of power that is doing so much economic and geopolitical damage to America; fight his raising prices on food, health care and energy and just about everything else

2- Rein In ICE, Protect Our Liberties - Put guardrails on ICE, no more masks or plainclothes agents, mandatory use of warrants and due process, no third country extraditions and a roll back on the additional and unnecessary funding provided in the reconciliation bill

3 - Keep America Safe - Fully fund FEMA, NOAA, FAA, DHS Intel, our cyber defenses etc - keep Americans safe, do not let our guard down against threats foreign and domestic. The unnecessary and tragic death of dozens of young girls should inspire us to action

4 - Protect The Nation’s Health - fire Kennedy, restore our vaccine regime, stand up for science and our world leading universities, fully fund NIH and all ongoing medical research, rescind the tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires to properly fund Medicaid and our public health

5 - Stand With Ukraine and Europe, Not Russia - Implement the Russia sanctions, ensure the world understands that America stands with Ukraine and Europe not Putin and global autocracy

I talked about all this in a new MeidasTouch The Weekend Show with Anthony Davis episode that initially streamed last night:

Here is CNN’s Harry Enten talking about how much the country has turned on Trump on his defining issue, immigration:

Watch our desperate leader crash Chelsea’s Club World Cup victory celebration yesterday. Note the FIFA chief ushering him off stage and he just stays. He embarrassed himself and our country to the entire world last night. Again:

Here’s Drudge today:

From a DNC press release today:

On Friday, Democrats hosted our 138th People’s Town Hall in Utah’s 4th Congressional District. In a few short months, Democrats have shown up in all 50 states to engage with constituents where Republicans have refused.

In cities, towns, rural areas, suburbs, and everywhere in between, Democrats are calling out Republicans for running scared from their failed agenda.

The DNC has conducted 138 People’s Town Halls, an idea this community played a role in selling to Democratic leaders. Great work everyone! It is only the beginning!

They have made it clear who they are. In the coming months we need to make sure everyone knows (though based on current polling folks appear to be figuring it out) while also making it clear - confidently, passionately, compellingly - who we are. Now….

Let’s Get To Work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Support Hopium’s Priority Candidates - Our revised fundraising goals are for Labor Day, remarkably, only two months away, with the November elections now only four months away. Early voting in Virginia starts September 19th. We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Mikie Sherrill NJ Gov (2025) - $200,000 goal, $35k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch Our Interview

• Abigail Spanberger VA Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $152k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch Our Interview

• Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $200,000 goal, $34k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer

• Hopium House 7 (2026) - $250,000 goal, $160k raised - Donate | Learn More, Volunteer, Watch Our Interviews

We also have ongoing campaigns to support the new DNC, Anderson Clayton and the North Carolina Democratic Party and to thank Senator Cory Booker for his spirited leadership in a time of enormous challenge. Lots of choices - do something to support these great candidates and parties today!

As I mentioned I’m in the process of reworking our collective activities, and today have a new number 1….

1 - Call your Senators and Reps To Demand They Stop Trump’s Terrible Tariffs and Pass The Bi-Partisans Russia Sanctions Bill - I will be fleshing this out in coming days but Congress simply must take back its tariff authority that Trump has illegally and unconstitutional seized and dangerously abused; and pass the bipartisan bill (with 82 Senate cosponsors) that would increase sanctions on Russia and make it clear that America stands with Ukraine and Europe not Putin.

2 - Get The Military Off Our Streets, Fight Trump’s Inhumane Immigration Escalation - Contact your Rep and Senators to demand they fight Trump’s illegal use of the National Guard and Marines in California. Encourage Democrats at all levels of government to a stand with Governor Newsom and the California - for Trump is not just attacking California, he is attacking the rights and freedoms of all of us. See my recent interviews with Joe Garcia, Leon Krauze and Senator Chris Van Hollen for more.

In the coming days I want to work with all of you to do something more explicit about demanding the end of masked, plain clothes “police” snatching people here in America without warrants.

3 - Join Our Resolutions Project - Inspired by the tactics of our Founders, learn about how Hopium members are advancing “resolutions of condemnation” in their communities across the country and consider bringing this initiative to your state, country or city/town. Our resolutions passed in two New Mexico counties two weeks ago, and we now have 46 resolutions moving in 15 states. Amazing stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 -Volunteer To Help Your State and/or Local Democratic Parties Stand Up Voter Registration Efforts And Support “Organizing Summer” - In the presentation he made to our community recently Tom Bonier made a persuasive case that Democrats must once again make partisan voter registration a national priority. State and local Democratic Parties are in the planning stages to take this on. Members of our community should consider contacting their state and local parties and offer to help stand up these vital efforts in the coming months.

For more on the need to make partisan voter registration great again see my recent interview with Jane Kleeb, Nebraska Democratic Party Chair, DNC Vice Chair and President of the Association of Democratic State Committees.

Last Monday the DNC, the DSCC, the DCCC, the DGA and the ASDC announced a major new “Organizing Summer” project. Learn more about it here. I hope to have someone join us in the coming days to help us understand how we can support this exciting new initiative. Organizing to win these 29 Republican held House districts will be one of most important collective priorities for the next 16 months:

5 - Stand Up For Science - Sign on to the critically important Bethesda Declaration and watch my interview with Stand Up For Science’s Executive Director Colette Delawalla. Signing on to the Declaration is one concrete way you can take action today. Another is to back over 700 employees of the EPA who have taken a courageous stand challenging EPA Administration Lee Zeldin this week. You can learn more and sign your name in support of this remarkable effort here.

6 - Grow Hopium - We’ve set a goal of trying to grow the Hopium community from the 152,000 we are now to 175,000 by Labor Day. Do what you can to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to become a summer subscriber to Hopium, free or paid. If each current paid subscriber brings in just one new subscriber this summer we will hit our goal.

To encourage the growth of our community annual paid subscriptions are 10% off through Labor Day. Use that link to buy gift or group subscriptions, and join our new referral rewards program too.

Please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder! Been impressive to see how many of you remain involved in local, in person protests of all kinds in your communities. Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you, and a fight it surely is - Simon