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Dear Reader,

"It felt like we were under siege."

That’s how Darrell Ballard, a 63-year-old Chicago resident, described what happened when hundreds of federal agents stormed his apartment complex, with drones overhead, flash-bangs igniting, and snipers rappelling from helicopters. Armed agents dragged families into the street and zip-tied children together for hours.

Days later, Trump announced that he was declaring "war" on foreign cartels, without the approval of Congress. The president is using "emergency" powers meant for foreign wars to justify airstrikes abroad and mass detentions at home. And now, the same legal pretext used to bomb boats in the Caribbean is being turned inward on American neighborhoods.

This is not hypothetical authoritarianism. It’s here.

At The New Republic, our journalists are documenting how Trump is expanding the definition of "enemy" to include immigrants, protesters, journalists—and now, ordinary citizens. We’re exposing how these abuses spread quietly, under cover of "law enforcement," until resistance becomes criminalized.

But we can’t keep sounding the alarm without your help.

Every contribution powers the kind of fearless, fact-checked reporting that authoritarian governments fear most. If you believe no American should be treated like an enemy of the state, please support TNR today.

As Trump attempts to ignore the orders of judges and send troops into American cities, it would be a mistake to describe this as a crisis that has yet to arrive. Immigrant communities, foreign students, and pro-Palestinian activists have been victims of state violence practically from the moment Trump reentered the White House.

We’re reporting what others won’t: how Trump’s administration is eroding the lines between law enforcement and warfare, journalism and dissent, democracy and dictatorship.

Every donation fuels real reporting to counter the lies. If you can give $100 or more, we’ll send you our TNR tote bag—a symbol of resistance in a moment that demands it.

We need your help to keep that reporting alive. Please chip in whatever you can to help us expose and resist this assault on American democracy.

Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

Michael Tomasky, editor

The New Republic

Contributions to the Fund for The New Republic are not tax-deductible as charitable donations.