Trump’s MAGA militia strategy and the erosion of restraint

As the midterms approach, Trump’s politics of force are reshaping both foreign policy and domestic policing, writes James May.

IT’S A DRAMATIC start to 2026 for the Trump Administration. Early this month, it launched a military incursion in Venezuela and ousted dictator Nicolás Maduro. He was hauled to New York City to stand trial for allegedly trafficking narcotics to the United States.

Tensions have also subsided in Iran after weeks of deadly protests and the brutal killing of thousands of citizens. Donald Trump dared to intervene and bring the slaughter to an end, but it was just bluster from the President.

Trump denounced both regimes as brutal, self-serving and corrupt. This is clearly true, but Donald Trump and his authoritarian government are far from perfect.

In the United States, more than 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) agents have rampaged through Minnesota, detaining scores of migrants and killing an unarmed woman, Renee Good, by shooting her three times at close range.

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The Trump Administration refused to take responsibility for her death or remove I.C.E. agents from the state. Instead, they deployed hundreds more troops and inflamed a dangerous situation.

Since the murder of Renee Good, an I.C.E. agent shot a Venezuelan national at a traffic stop in Minneapolis, and two migrants were also shot by border control agents in Portland, Oregon.

The Trump Administration has doubled down with Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem calling Renee Good a “domestic terrorist” and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt referring to protesters as “left-wing agitators”.

Donald Trump claims that protesters in Minneapolis are high-paid professionals and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 if Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz don’t bring the situation under control.

This announcement comes from a man who led an insurrection against the democratically-elected Biden Government on 6 January 2021.

The truth is, most protesters are not high-paid professionals or left-wing extremists. They are citizens of Minnesota who are concerned about I.C.E. invading their communities and using violence to detain migrants — many of whom are law-abiding members of society.

It's not the first time I.C.E. has rampaged through U.S. cities. They were also deployed during operation Midway Blitz in Chicago in 2025. Large-scale raids were carried out and tear gas was used against protesters, which led to injuries and deaths.

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The same calamity unfolded in Los Angeles. Once again, widespread raids occurred in migrant districts, but many citizens were caught in the mayhem. A war of words erupted between Governor of California Gavin Newsom and the Trump Administration, which accused him of losing control of law and order in the city.

I.C.E. agents were also deployed in Washington DC in 2025 when Trump declared a “crime emergency”, even though Mayor Muriel Bowser and city officials vehemently disagreed. They said hostile tactics like street patrols and checkpoints were used to detain large numbers of migrants without criminal records.

Many observers are concerned about the power of I.C.E. to patrol the streets of U.S. cities. They hold grave concerns about the ability of poorly-trained, masked individuals to detain migrants for no legal reason and harm U.S. citizens without impunity.

Their fears are well-founded, with Vice President JD Vance lashing out at the media for maligning I.C.E. and the work they do on behalf of the Trump Administration. He called Renee Good a “deranged leftist” who died in a “tragedy of her own making”. His remarks fly in the face of video evidence that shows a scared woman trying to flee the scene.

White House deputy chief of staff and Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller has emboldened I.C.E. agents in Minneapolis since the death of Renee Good:

“You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties, and anybody who lays a hand on you, or tries to stop you, or tries to obstruct you, is committing a felony.”

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By kidnapping a foreign leader, the Trump Administration has stripped the West of any credibility on international law.

Staggering sums of money have been poured into anti-immigration operations and I.C.E. agents are being recruited in vast numbers with generous remuneration. The Trump Administration vowed to deport one million migrants each year and its fierce warrior, Stephen Miller, will do whatever it takes to make it happen.

The U.S. midterms are in November, and some observers are concerned that I.C.E. agents and federal troops could be used to intimidate and discourage people from voting. This is possible with the Trump Administration lagging in the polls and most Americans disapproving of its anti-immigration raids.

Donald Trump said in an address to House Republicans at the Kennedy Centre, now known as the Trump-Kennedy Centre:

“You gotta win the midterms [or] I’ll get impeached.”

The comment highlights his focus on himself and his presidency, rather than the welfare of his constituents.

Donald Trump is not concerned about Iranians, Venezuelans or the people of Greenland. He’s not concerned about Palestinians or Ukrainians. He doesn’t care about the human rights of U.S. citizens either. He is exercising power for his own wealth and gain. He uses hollow words like “peace and security” and “liberating the oppressed” abroad to conceal his corrupt, selfish agenda. His administration is heartless and cruel and his MAGA militia is a bunch of thugs imposing his will on the American people.