During Donald Trump‘s final weeks of his 2024 re-election campaign, he fantasized about “one really violent day” of policing as an answer to eradicating crime in America. Speaking to supporters gathered at the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, in late September, Trump mused, “One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know?”
On Monday, as he prepared to celebrate his 100th day back in the White House, President Trump signed an executive order ramping up his efforts to embolden law enforcement across the country and shield them from accountability. The president instructed his administration to “unleash high-impact local police forces; protect and defend law enforcement officers wrongly accused and abused by State or local officials; and surge resources to officers in need.”
Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch a program providing free legal resources to police officers accused of wrongdoing, while also ordering his administration to increase the supply of “excess military and national security assets” to local law enforcement.
In one paragraph of the order, the Attorney General and associated agencies are instructed to “maximize the use of Federal resources” to support state and local law enforcement training, increased pay for officers, enhanced sentences for crimes against law enforcement, and “investment in the security and capacity of prisons.”
The signed order also encourages the prosecution of state and local officials for “unlawfully prohibiting law enforcement officers from carrying out duties.” And it calls on the Justice Department to prosecute state and local officials who promote “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives that supposedly “restrict law enforcement activity or endanger citizens” — on the grounds that diversity-related measures constitute discrimination or civil-rights violations.
The directive was issued alongside a separate executive order calling on the Attorney General to identify and punish so-called sanctuary cities that “obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
Trump’s latest executive orders follow the president’s documented history of promoting police violence. During his first term as president, Trump reportedly floated the idea of conducting mass executions, and having U.S. police units kill scores of suspected drug dealers and criminals in urban areas.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly voiced his dreams of being a dictator on “day one” and spoke frequently about giving police “immunity from prosecution” in his push to carry out the largest mass-deportation regime in U.S. history. Now, just over three months into his second term, the president’s purge of the federal government, removal of U.S. citizens from the country, clashes between his administration and judicial powers, and escalating moves to expand his power have thrown the country into a moral and constitutional crisis.
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