https://trumpswarcrimes.com A comprehensive legal archive documenting actions by Donald Trump and his administrations that may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, or serious violations of international law. Covers the first term (2017–2021), the second term (2025–present), and related pre-presidency conduct. Maintained for researchers, attorneys, journalists, and concerned citizens. en-us Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/caribbean-drug-boat-strikes https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/caribbean-drug-boat-strikes A sustained campaign of Hellfire missile strikes on suspected drug boats has killed at least 95 people without due process, public evidence of drug trafficking, or identification of the dead. Legal experts widely classify these as extrajudicial killings and crimes against humanity. Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-arrest-surge-secure-america-act https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-arrest-surge-secure-america-act Trump signed a $70 billion ICE/CBP funding bill on June 10, 2026. Within weeks, ICE arrests surged past 10,000 in five days -- nearly double the prior pace -- after leadership ordered nearly all officers onto arrest duty and reportedly imposed a 3,000-arrests-per-day quota, which government lawyers deny is official policy. Two senior officials were reassigned for insufficient arrest numbers. Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/icc-sanctions https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/icc-sanctions The administration imposed escalating sanctions on ICC officials -- including judges and prosecutors -- for investigating US citizens and allies, obstructing international criminal accountability and drawing broad condemnation from the UN and international legal community. Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/sudan-el-fasher-el-obeid-us-complicity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/sudan-el-fasher-el-obeid-us-complicity Days after warning the UN Security Council of an imminent RSF assault on El Obeid that could repeat the El Fasher mass atrocity, the Trump administration declined to sanction or formally pressure the UAE -- the RSF's alleged arms and mercenary supplier -- reportedly because of a competing $1.4 trillion UAE investment pledge. This entry documents the administration's own complicity through inaction, not the RSF's direct atrocities. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Complicity in Genocide https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-defies-courthouse-arrest-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-defies-courthouse-arrest-order Days after a federal judge restored limits on ICE courthouse arrests, ICE agents arrested three men at Manhattan immigration courts. Advocates call it the first clear breach of two court orders; ICE denies wrongdoing but won't say how the arrests were lawful. The core harm is a federal agency appearing to shrug off a specific, recent judicial order. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/prairieland-antifa-sentencing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/prairieland-antifa-sentencing Fifteen defendants tied to the 2025 Prairieland ICE facility shooting were sentenced June 23 and July 1, 2026, to a combined roughly 500 years — including a 100-year term for the ringleader and a 50-year term for a defendant convicted only of material support to terrorism and rioting. Prosecutors used an 'Antifa cell'/domestic-terrorism framework to secure sentences that exceed those imposed on January 6 Capitol defendants, including seditious-conspiracy convictions — a disproportionate use of the criminal justice system against protest-adjacent conduct. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/voter-suppression-election-interference https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/voter-suppression-election-interference An executive order attempting unprecedented presidential control over federal elections — requiring proof of citizenship to register, decertifying voting machines in 39 states, restricting mail ballots, and demanding state voter files — struck down by three federal courts as unconstitutional but partially implemented by compliant states ahead of the 2026 midterms. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-emoluments-foreign-payments https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-emoluments-foreign-payments An unprecedented pattern of foreign government payments flowing to the president's personal businesses and financial ventures, including real estate deals in Vietnam, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states, the LIV Golf partnership, a $400 million Qatari jet, and cryptocurrency schemes — prompting multiple Senate resolutions condemning the arrangements as Emoluments Clause violations. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-deportation-earthquake-deaths https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-deportation-earthquake-deaths A US deportation flight landed 146 people in Venezuela on the morning of June 24; that evening, the hotel housing them collapsed in a pair of major earthquakes. Only 32 survivors have been confirmed as of June 30. The US government controlled the timing and destination of the removal that placed these people in the building when it collapsed — an unprecedented question of duty of care in forced-transfer operations, though not a settled area of law. Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/scotus-humphreys-executor-overturned https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/scotus-humphreys-executor-overturned The Supreme Court overturned 90 years of settled law protecting independent regulatory agencies from direct presidential control, upholding Trump's firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter in a 6-3 ruling. A companion decision the same day blocked Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — a partial check that survived, though the underlying firing attempt, based on an apparently pretextual mortgage-fraud allegation timed to her resistance on rate policy, is itself the documented harm. Together the rulings reveal a coordinated legal campaign to bring the entire independent regulatory state, including potentially the Fed, under direct presidential control. Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/scotus-tps-asylum-rulings-june2026 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/scotus-tps-asylum-rulings-june2026 Two same-day 6-3 SCOTUS rulings on June 25, 2026 eliminated judicial review of TPS terminations (ending status for ~350,000 Haitians and ~4,000 Syrians) and revived asylum metering at the border. Sotomayor's dissent warned the rulings will get people killed. Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-hormuz-ceasefire-collapse-june2026 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-hormuz-ceasefire-collapse-june2026 A 60-day ceasefire signed June 17 collapsed within eight days: Iran struck a cargo ship near Hormuz, the US launched its third round of strikes in three weeks, Iranian missiles hit US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, a Qatari civilian died in the crossfire with attribution still unconfirmed, and Trump threatened that Iran 'will no longer exist.' No new congressional authorization exists for any of it. Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-threatens-jail-journalists-iran https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-threatens-jail-journalists-iran Trump's threat to jail journalists for reporting on a military rescue mission during the Iran war extends the administration's documented pattern of using national security claims to suppress press freedom and criminalize journalism. Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Press Freedom https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/national-guard-illegal-deployments https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/national-guard-illegal-deployments The administration deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles without the governor's consent, and attempted to send Texas National Guard troops to Chicago. Federal courts ruled both deployments illegal, with the Supreme Court finding no source of authority for the Illinois deployment. Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-detention-deaths https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-detention-deaths 46 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025 mark a two-decade high. ICE's October 2025 halt of medical care payments left detainees without access to health services as the detention population reached record levels, creating conditions that contributed to preventable deaths. Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/minneapolis-anti-ice-protester-prosecutions https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/minneapolis-anti-ice-protester-prosecutions Federal prosecutors charged 15 people, including a Macalester College professor, with felony conspiracy and related charges for protesting Operation Metro Surge. Defense attorneys and a constitutional law scholar call the charges overreach; similar cases nationally have a roughly 50% dismissal rate. A Human Rights Watch report released two days later concluded the operation being protested involved unlawful killings and racial profiling. Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-killing-alex-pretti https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-killing-alex-pretti A second American citizen killed by federal agents during Minneapolis immigration enforcement protests. The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — both unarmed U.S. citizens — during a single enforcement operation constituted a pattern of excessive force that prompted bipartisan calls for accountability. Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-killing-renee-good https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-killing-renee-good An ICE agent shot and killed an American woman during an immigration raid in Minneapolis. Video evidence contradicted the government's claim of self-defense. The administration used the killing to threaten the Insurrection Act and escalate immigration enforcement. Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-kharg-island-strikes https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-kharg-island-strikes U.S. military strikes on Kharg Island — Iran's primary oil export facility handling 90% of crude exports — constitute attacks on critical civilian economic infrastructure. Combined with explicit threats to destroy the entire island, these strikes raise serious questions under the proportionality and distinction principles of international humanitarian law. Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pay-to-play-dell-ballroom-donors https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pay-to-play-dell-ballroom-donors Trump bought Dell stock, then the Pentagon gave Dell a $9.7 billion contract two weeks later. Separately, 14 of 27 corporate donors to Trump's White House ballroom project won a combined $50 billion in new federal contracts within six months of giving. Ethics watchdogs call both pay-to-play; no formal violation has been charged. Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pentagon-ig-civilian-harm-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pentagon-ig-civilian-harm-dismantlement The Pentagon's own Inspector General found that Hegseth gutted every single legally required civilian harm mitigation program during an active war. Zero objectives met. 133 required actions incomplete. Civilian harm staff cut by over 90%. The Army's casualty-tracking database defunded. Released the same day CENTCOM admitted it had no way to investigate hospital and school strike reports. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-ceasefire-collapse-may2026 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-ceasefire-collapse-may2026 Trump rejected Iran's peace proposal, called the ceasefire 'on massive life support,' and had a 'very major attack' planned before Gulf allies talked him out of it hours before execution. Congress was not consulted. Vance publicly declared the US 'locked and loaded.' The episode reveals war-making conducted entirely at presidential whim, with no legal or democratic check. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doj-splc-indictment https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doj-splc-indictment Trump's DOJ indicted the SPLC — the nation's leading hate-group monitor — on fraud and money laundering charges for using paid informants to infiltrate white supremacist organizations, a standard law enforcement and investigative journalism practice. The SPLC pleaded not guilty on May 7–8, 2026. Legal experts called the prosecution 'as unprecedented as it is irregular.' The case is the most direct attack to date on civil society organizations that document extremism. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-operation-project-freedom https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-operation-project-freedom Trump launched a Navy operation to force ships through the Strait of Hormuz during an active ceasefire without notifying Congress. Iran attacked three US destroyers. Saudi Arabia then denied US airspace access, collapsing the operation. The 'pause for negotiations' cover story was contradicted by reporting that Saudi Arabia's airspace denial made the mission militarily impossible. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doj-comey-indictment-2026 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doj-comey-indictment-2026 Trump's DOJ indicted former FBI Director Comey for posting an Instagram photo of seashells reading '86 47,' claiming it was a death threat. Legal experts universally called it unprecedented political prosecution. Comey faces prison time for a social media post expressing opposition to Trump's presidency. The case is part of Trump's documented 'vengeance tour' targeting political enemies. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-crime-of-aggression https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-crime-of-aggression The United States launched a major war against Iran without congressional authorization, without a UN Security Council mandate, and while diplomatic channels remained open. Legal experts, the Brennan Center, and international law scholars have characterized the strikes as unconstitutional and as potentially meeting the definition of a crime of aggression — what the Nuremberg Tribunal called 'the supreme international crime.' Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-hospital-attacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-hospital-attacks A sustained pattern of strikes on Iranian hospitals, ambulances, and medical infrastructure has killed healthcare workers and forced the evacuation of six hospitals. The WHO verified 18 attacks on health sites through mid-March 2026, documenting systematic damage to protected medical facilities including Gandhi Hospital and Iranian Red Crescent centers. The pattern continued through the April 7 ceasefire, and HRW documented further strikes through the ceasefire period in its April 2026 report. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-minab-school-strike https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-minab-school-strike A Tomahawk cruise missile struck a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing up to 180 schoolchildren in one of the deadliest single incidents of civilian harm in the 2026 Iran war. Investigations by the New York Times, CBC, NPR, and BBC Verify confirmed US responsibility. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/abrego-garcia-wrongful-deportation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/abrego-garcia-wrongful-deportation Federal officials removed Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador despite a preexisting withholding order barring that destination, then spent weeks litigating what it meant to 'facilitate' his return after the Supreme Court intervened. Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-hormuz-port-strikes-may2026 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-hormuz-port-strikes-may2026 U.S. strikes on civilian port cities (Qeshm, Bandar Abbas, Bandar Kargan) during an active ceasefire killed at least one sailor, injured ten, and Iran says hit civilian residential zones. A massive oil spill (71 sq km, ~80,000 barrels) from Kharg Island was confirmed by Copernicus satellite imagery. Iran declared the ceasefire violated and said the U.S. had 'crossed the point of no return.' Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-naval-blockade https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-naval-blockade The United States imposed a full naval blockade on all Iranian ports after peace talks in Islamabad collapsed, threatening to destroy any vessel approaching. The blockade — the first U.S. naval blockade since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis — constitutes an act of war under international law, threatens 25% of global seaborne oil, and amounts to siege warfare against Iran's 88 million civilians. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/strait-of-hormuz-crisis https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/strait-of-hormuz-crisis The Iran war triggered closure of the world's most critical energy chokepoint, causing the largest supply disruption since the 1970s. Despite a nominal ceasefire, the US and Iran exchanged fire in the strait on May 7, 2026. The US struck civilian port cities Qeshm and Bandar Abbas; a cargo vessel was hit, killing one sailor. A massive oil spill (71 sq km, ~80,000 barrels) from Kharg Island confirmed by Copernicus satellite imagery. Iran declared the ceasefire violated; the strait remains effectively closed. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/workplace-raids-mass-arrests https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/workplace-raids-mass-arrests ICE conducted at least 40 workplace raids with over 1,100 arrests in seven months, including the largest single-site raid in DHS history at a Hyundai plant in Georgia (475 arrests). The raids triggered diplomatic incidents and devastated communities dependent on immigrant labor. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/academic-freedom-university-funding-coercion https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/academic-freedom-university-funding-coercion Billions in funding frozen or canceled to coerce universities into political compliance, with demands for protest suppression, admissions reform, and 'academic receivership' of specific departments. Columbia capitulated with a $221 million settlement; Harvard resisted and won a court order restoring $2.2 billion. NIH research funding was cut 24%. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/law-firm-retaliation-executive-orders https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/law-firm-retaliation-executive-orders Unprecedented use of executive orders to punish four law firms for representing clients adverse to the president. All four orders were struck down as unconstitutional violations of the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. The campaign chilled legal representation and coerced at least nine other firms into compliance deals that remain operative. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/mass-tps-terminations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/mass-tps-terminations TPS was terminated or targeted for termination across 11 countries, de-documenting over 1 million people. Federal courts have blocked or paused several terminations. The State Department maintains 'Do Not Travel' advisories for many of the same countries DHS claims are safe for return. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/secret-el-salvador-detention-contract https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/secret-el-salvador-detention-contract A secret $6 million contract enabled the US to outsource detention to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where HRW documented systematic torture. The unreleased agreement created an unprecedented mechanism to evade domestic legal protections by transferring detainees to a foreign torture facility. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/greenland-panama-sovereignty-threats https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/greenland-panama-sovereignty-threats The administration threatened military and economic coercion to annex Greenland and reclaim the Panama Canal, with the Pentagon developing actual invasion plans. Greenland annexation threats were renewed in May 2026 — Trump told NBC the US 'will get' Greenland and refused to rule out military force. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/somalia-airstrike-escalation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/somalia-airstrike-escalation US airstrikes in Somalia escalated dramatically in 2025, with AFRICOM claiming zero civilian casualties despite independent monitors documenting dozens of civilian deaths. AFRICOM stopped publishing casualty data and has never paid compensation for civilian harm in the country. Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-civilian-infrastructure-threats https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-civilian-infrastructure-threats Trump's explicit threat to destroy Iran's civilian power infrastructure constitutes a per se violation of international humanitarian law. The threats escalated from 'obliterate' to a promise of 'complete demolition' of all civilian infrastructure. Combined with 3,400+ killed including 1,600+ civilians, this represents a confirmed war crime classification. Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/immigration-judges-purge https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/immigration-judges-purge Over 113 immigration judges have been fired without due process since January 2025 — more firings in one year than in the entire prior history of the immigration court system. The April 2026 firing of two judges specifically because they dismissed deportation cases against pro-Palestinian activists represents direct judicial retaliation: punishing judges for ruling against the administration, fundamentally corrupting the independence of courts adjudicating life-and-death immigration cases. Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/signalgate-classified-information https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/signalgate-classified-information Senior US officials including the Vice President, Defense Secretary, and CIA Director used a personal Signal group chat to discuss classified strike plans targeting Houthi forces in Yemen. A journalist was accidentally added. The Defense Secretary shared specific targeting and timing information. The strikes went ahead as planned and killed civilians. The incident revealed systemic disregard for classified information handling procedures. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/gaza-ethnic-cleansing-proposal https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/gaza-ethnic-cleansing-proposal President Trump publicly called for the forced displacement of 2.3 million Palestinians from Gaza, describing it as 'cleaning out' the territory. The proposal was condemned by the UN, Arab League, and international lawyers as ethnic cleansing. Trump subsequently issued executive orders and pressure on Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinian deportees. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pepfar-hiv-aids-funding-freeze https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pepfar-hiv-aids-funding-freeze The administration froze PEPFAR on Day One, cutting antiretroviral therapy for an estimated 20 million HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa. PEPFAR funded 70% of the global HIV response. Health workers reported clinics closing, drug supplies running out, and patients dying within weeks of the freeze. Even after partial restoration, the damage to supply chains, staffing, and preventive programs is projected to cause hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/lebanon-operation-eternal-darkness https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/lebanon-operation-eternal-darkness Israel launched Operation Eternal Darkness on April 8, 2026 — 100 airstrikes in 10 minutes across Lebanon using 50 jets and ~160 munitions, killing 357 and injuring 1,223. The US remained silent, continued arms supply, and provided diplomatic cover. Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Complicity in Genocide https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-infrastructure-ultimatum https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-infrastructure-ultimatum Trump's explicit threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran — every bridge, every power plant — with the stated goal of ensuring Iran 'could literally never rebuild as a nation again' constitute textbook threats of indiscriminate attack, a war crime under the Rome Statute and customary IHL. Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-b1-bridge-strike https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-b1-bridge-strike US forces destroyed Iran's landmark B1 bridge near Karaj in a double-tap strike during Nowruz holiday celebrations, killing 8 civilians and wounding 95. The bridge — 176 meters tall and 1,050 meters long — was under construction and had never been used for any military purpose. The strike marked the first direct hit on major civilian infrastructure following Trump's 'Stone Ages' threats. Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/phase-ii-mass-deportation-workplace-raids https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/phase-ii-mass-deportation-workplace-raids The administration moved toward a second phase of mass deportation operations, shifting from criminal-focused enforcement to broad workplace raids, backed by a $170 billion budget, an expanding warehouse detention infrastructure, and a stated goal of removing one million people in 2026. Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-f15-shootdown-rescue https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-f15-shootdown-rescue The shootdown of a US F-15E over Iran and the massive rescue operation that followed document the intensity and cost of the 2026 Iran war. The rescue itself was a legitimate military operation, but Trump's threat to jail journalists who covered it raises serious press freedom concerns, and the scale of the operation — including abandoned US aircraft inside Iran — illustrates the escalatory trajectory of the conflict. Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-armed-security-deputization https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-armed-security-deputization The deputization of Musk's private bodyguards as federal agents — with training requirements waived at White House request — represents an unprecedented merger of private security with federal law enforcement authority, bypassing the safeguards that exist to prevent untrained armed individuals from exercising government power. Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-bushehr-nuclear-plant https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-bushehr-nuclear-plant Repeated strikes near Bushehr nuclear power plant violate Additional Protocol I Article 56's specific protection of nuclear electrical generating stations. Even without a radiation release, strikes on or near an active nuclear reactor in a city of 250,000 constitute reckless endangerment of the civilian population and violate the prohibition on disproportionate attacks under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(iv). Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-energy-bureau-gutting-iran-war https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-energy-bureau-gutting-iran-war DOGE's elimination of the State Department's energy diplomacy bureau months before the Iran war left the U.S. without key personnel who monitored energy chokepoints, oil markets, and Iranian energy infrastructure — capabilities now desperately needed during a conflict centered on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's oil economy. Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/noem-fired-mullin-dhs-leadership https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/noem-fired-mullin-dhs-leadership Trump fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem citing 'leadership failures' — not accountability for two civilians killed by federal agents in Minneapolis. Markwayne Mullin was confirmed as replacement. Noem was reshuffled to a diplomatic title, not held responsible for the extrajudicial killings under her watch. Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-weather-service-gutting https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-weather-service-gutting DOGE fired over 600 National Weather Service employees including hurricane hunters, meteorologists, and storm modelers, leaving 30 forecast offices without lead meteorologists. The NWS Goodland, Kansas office became the first to abandon 24/7 operations. Five former NWS directors warned the cuts endanger lives heading into tornado and hurricane season. Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-nuclear-weapons-firings https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-nuclear-weapons-firings DOGE fired 350 NNSA nuclear weapons workers, including warhead assemblers at Pantex and radioactive waste managers at Savannah River, as part of a 2,000-person Department of Energy purge. Most firings were rescinded within 24 hours after bipartisan alarm over nuclear stockpile security, but the incident exposed DOGE's indiscriminate approach to agencies with critical national security functions. Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-cfpb-shutdown https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-cfpb-shutdown DOGE operationally shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — a Congressionally-created agency protecting 330 million Americans from financial fraud — by ordering staff to cease all work, deleting social media accounts, and planning to fire nearly all 1,700 employees. Federal courts intervened but the agency remains gutted. Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/america-first-arms-transfer-strategy https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/america-first-arms-transfer-strategy An executive order stripped human rights safeguards from the US arms transfer framework, replacing decades of bipartisan policy with a commerce-first approach. The subsequent emergency bypass of congressional review for $23+ billion in Gulf arms sales demonstrated the immediate consequences of removing these guardrails. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cluster-munitions-purchase-israel https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cluster-munitions-purchase-israel The US contracted with an Israeli state-owned arms manufacturer for banned cluster munitions at industrial scale, reversing decades of declining reliance on these weapons and funding an Israeli weapons program while cluster munitions continue to kill and maim civilians worldwide. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/new-start-treaty-expiration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/new-start-treaty-expiration The expiration of the last US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty ends over five decades of binding limits on the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. No replacement is under negotiation. The loss of verification mechanisms, data exchange, and warhead caps risks an unconstrained nuclear arms race at a time of peak geopolitical tension. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/nigeria-christmas-airstrikes https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/nigeria-christmas-airstrikes The US unilaterally struck a sovereign African nation for the first time, firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at Sokoto State. Locals disputed the ISIS narrative, unexploded ordnance fell in villages, and the legal basis for striking a non-hostile nation's territory without AUMF authority remains deeply contested. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/syria-operation-hawkeye-strike https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/syria-operation-hawkeye-strike A large-scale US retaliatory bombing campaign in Syria following the deaths of three Americans near Palmyra. The scale of the operation — hundreds of munitions across dozens of targets in populated desert regions — raises serious questions about proportionality and civilian protection under international humanitarian law. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/antipersonnel-landmines-policy-reversal https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/antipersonnel-landmines-policy-reversal The Trump administration reversed decades of bipartisan progress toward eliminating antipersonnel landmines by authorizing their global use and simultaneously dismantling the US humanitarian demining program that had been the world's largest mine-clearing effort. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/equatorial-guinea-deportation-deal https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/equatorial-guinea-deportation-deal A secret agreement with one of the world's most repressive regimes has stranded 29 deportees in Equatorial Guinea, where they face indefinite detention without counsel or forced deportation to the countries they fled. The $7.5 million deal is part of a broader $40 million third-country deportation program targeting migrants from countries that will not accept their return. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/epstein-files-obstruction-cover-up https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/epstein-files-obstruction-cover-up After signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Trump administration's DOJ missed legal deadlines, secretly re-redacted files, and withheld documents containing allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor — prompting a UN finding that the crimes described may amount to crimes against humanity, bipartisan congressional subpoenas of AG Bondi, and calls for a special counsel over alleged perjury. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/immigration-rocket-dockets https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/immigration-rocket-dockets An accelerated immigration court system that fast-tracks cases through mass remote hearings, with two-thirds of all Somali cases nationwide rescheduled on short notice. The process systematically deprives respondents of due process, with 80% of completed rocket docket cases historically resulting in in absentia removal orders. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/nuclear-testing-resumption-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/nuclear-testing-resumption-order Trump directed the Pentagon to match other nations' nuclear testing programs, breaking a moratorium that has held since 1992 and threatening to collapse the global norm against nuclear testing that has been maintained for over three decades. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/guatemalan-children-midnight-deportation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/guatemalan-children-midnight-deportation The administration attempted a mass deportation of unaccompanied minor children in the middle of the night during a holiday weekend, circumventing legal protections that require children to appear before an immigration judge. A federal judge halted the operation after being awakened at 2:35 AM, but one plane had already taken off before turning around. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/medicaid-snap-cuts-one-big-beautiful-bill https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/medicaid-snap-cuts-one-big-beautiful-bill The One Big Beautiful Bill Act slashes $863 billion from Medicaid and $295 billion from SNAP to fund $1 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest, projected to strip healthcare from 10.9 million people and food assistance from hundreds of thousands of older adults. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/afghanistan-frozen-assets-starvation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/afghanistan-frozen-assets-starvation The combined effect of freezing Afghanistan's sovereign assets and terminating all US humanitarian aid has created a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in which millions face starvation. UN officials have explicitly warned the policy will directly cause deaths, particularly among children. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yemen-ras-issa-port-strike https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yemen-ras-issa-port-strike US airstrikes on Yemen's most critical civilian port infrastructure killed 84+ civilians including three children, port workers, truck drivers, and civil defense personnel. HRW found the strikes were an apparent war crime given the port's overwhelmingly civilian character and essential role in sustaining Yemen's population. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/hhs-dismantlement-measles-crisis https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/hhs-dismantlement-measles-crisis RFK Jr.'s dismantlement of federal health agencies during an active measles crisis — including firing vaccine advisors, cutting thousands of positions, and clawing back billions — has resulted in the worst measles outbreak in 30+ years and threatens America's measles-elimination status. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/wrongful-deportations-pattern https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/wrongful-deportations-pattern Multiple US citizens and legally protected individuals have been wrongfully deported, often in direct defiance of federal court orders. The pattern includes deportation of a man with explicit judicial protection, another removed the day after a court barred his removal, and a US citizenship claimant deported despite a restraining order. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yemen-operation-rough-rider https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yemen-operation-rough-rider A 53-day US bombing campaign in Yemen produced an unprecedented civilian death toll, with monitoring organizations documenting at least 224 civilian deaths — matching the previous 23 years of US civilian casualties in Yemen. Strikes hit a migrant detention center, a fuel port, and a cancer hospital. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/native-american-tribal-sovereignty-violations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/native-american-tribal-sovereignty-violations A coordinated erosion of tribal sovereignty through executive order revocation, termination of $1.5 billion in clean energy funding for 574 federally recognized tribes, and ICE encroachments on tribal lands that questioned Native Americans' citizenship status. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/usagm-voa-broadcasting-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/usagm-voa-broadcasting-dismantlement A coordinated attack on US government-funded international broadcasting placed 1,300 journalists on leave, terminated Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's grant, and attempted to gut Voice of America — until a federal judge ruled the actions illegal and ordered staff reinstated. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Press Freedom https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/political-prisoners-campus-activists https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/political-prisoners-campus-activists At least five noncitizen activists and scholars were detained by ICE for pro-Palestinian campus activism or writings, with an estimated 300 student visas revoked. Internal documents confirmed the detentions were based on speech and protest activity, not immigration violations, and multiple federal judges ordered their release. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-social-security-voter-fraud https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-social-security-voter-fraud DOGE employees at SSA secretly worked with a political advocacy group to match Social Security data with voter rolls to find 'evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results.' A signed data-sharing agreement and Hatch Act referrals followed. A whistleblower alleged DOGE copied 300+ million Americans' records into an unsecured virtual database. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/houthi-fto-designation-humanitarian-impact https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/houthi-fto-designation-humanitarian-impact The reimposition of FTO status on the Houthis threatens to deepen what was already the world's worst humanitarian crisis by chilling aid delivery, disrupting commercial imports, and creating legal risks for humanitarian workers operating in areas where more than half of Yemen's population lives. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ukraine-minerals-coercion https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ukraine-minerals-coercion Trump demanded $500 billion from a nation under active invasion, publicly humiliated its president in the Oval Office, suspended aid and intelligence, and conditioned continued support on a minerals deal — leveraging Ukraine's existential crisis for resource extraction. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/emergency-arms-sales-congressional-bypass https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/emergency-arms-sales-congressional-bypass Using emergency waivers under the Arms Export Control Act, the administration has bypassed Congress to approve massive arms sales to Gulf states, including to the UAE despite documented evidence of UAE weapons flowing to the RSF in Sudan's genocide. The simultaneous rescission of NSM-20 removed all human rights conditions from US arms transfers. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/education-department-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/education-department-dismantlement The systematic dismantlement of the Department of Education began with DOGE slashing $881 million in research contracts and eliminating IES, followed by cutting half the workforce, and culminated in an executive order to shutter the entire department. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cfpb-dismantlement-musk-conflict https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cfpb-dismantlement-musk-conflict Musk used his government role leading DOGE to dismantle the CFPB, the agency positioned to regulate his XMoney digital payments platform, while gaining access to competitors' confidential financial data — a textbook conflict of interest that multiple ethics bodies have flagged as potentially criminal. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/white-afrikaner-refugee-discrimination https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/white-afrikaner-refugee-discrimination The US refugee program was restructured to almost exclusively admit white South Africans based on debunked persecution claims, while setting a historic-low refugee cap and shutting down admissions for all other populations — including those fleeing active wars and genocide. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/icc-immunity-demands-rome-statute https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/icc-immunity-demands-rome-statute A systematic campaign to destroy the International Criminal Court's ability to hold Americans accountable for war crimes, combining unprecedented sanctions on judges with demands to rewrite the Rome Statute itself. The campaign goes far beyond any previous US opposition to the ICC, seeking not merely non-cooperation but the permanent restructuring of international criminal justice. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/fda-food-safety-collapse https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/fda-food-safety-collapse Mass layoffs at the FDA driven by the Department of Government Efficiency eliminated over 3,500 staff in 2025, causing foreign food safety inspections to drop by nearly half, outbreak investigations to go unsolved at record rates, and critical programs like avian influenza testing to be halted. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-federal-workforce-mass-firings https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-federal-workforce-mass-firings DOGE directed mass firings of probationary employees, coerced ~75,000 resignations through the 'Fork in the Road' program, and orchestrated reductions in force totaling ~300,000 federal positions. Courts found the probationary firings illegal, but the Supreme Court sided with the administration on appeal. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-unauthorized-data-access https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-unauthorized-data-access DOGE accessed Treasury, OPM, and SSA databases containing millions of Americans' personal data without authorization or completed background checks. Federal judges ordered data disgorged and deleted, finding Privacy Act and APA violations, though the Supreme Court later partially reversed. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cbp-one-shutdown-asylum-elimination https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cbp-one-shutdown-asylum-elimination The immediate shutdown of the CBP One asylum scheduling app on Inauguration Day cancelled 30,000 appointments and stranded 270,000 asylum seekers, eliminating the primary legal pathway to request protection at the US border. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-dei-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-dei-dismantlement Executive Order 14151 directed elimination of all federal DEI programs. DOGE implemented a three-phase purge, firing thousands of workers — including many who had no current DEI role — using AI tools to identify targets. A December 2025 class-action lawsuit alleges the purge targeted minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ employees. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-treasury-payment-system-access https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doge-treasury-payment-system-access DOGE associates including Tom Krause (Broadcom executive) and Marko Elez (25-year-old with racist posts) accessed Treasury's $6 trillion payment system. Elez was mistakenly given write access to payment records. 19 AGs sued. A federal judge blocked access, calling it 'chaotic and haphazard,' but the 4th Circuit later reversed. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/musk-government-contract-self-dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/musk-government-contract-self-dealing The world's richest man led government cost-cutting while his companies held $38 billion in government funding. Zero Musk contracts were cut. SpaceX won new billions in Pentagon contracts during the cuts. No ethics forms were filed. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/osha-workplace-safety-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/osha-workplace-safety-dismantlement A systematic dismantlement of OSHA's regulatory and enforcement capacity through mass deregulation, inspector cuts, and penalty reductions that experts warn will lead to preventable worker deaths across construction, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors. Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-no-quarter-declaration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-no-quarter-declaration The US Defense Secretary's public declaration that no quarter would be given to Iran constitutes a textbook war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii), which criminalizes 'declaring that no quarter will be given.' This prohibition is among the oldest in the laws of war. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-cultural-heritage-strikes https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-cultural-heritage-strikes US and Israeli strikes have damaged UNESCO World Heritage Sites and over 100 cultural heritage sites across Iran, including Golestan Palace, Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan Square complex, the 8th-century Jameh Mosque, and prehistoric sites dating to 63,000 BC. The destruction of cultural heritage during armed conflict is prohibited under the 1954 Hague Convention and constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-iris-dena-sinking https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/iran-war-iris-dena-sinking A US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate returning from a peaceful international naval event, killing 87 sailors. The failure to rescue shipwrecked sailors violates the Second Geneva Convention's obligation to search for and collect the shipwrecked after an engagement. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/lebanon-war-us-complicity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/lebanon-war-us-complicity Israel's 2026 Lebanon offensive — conducted with US-supplied weapons including white phosphorus munitions used over civilian areas — has killed over 1,000 people, wounded nearly 3,000, and displaced 700,000. The United States bears complicity through continued arms transfers despite documented violations. HRW and UN experts have called for suspension of military assistance. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Complicity in Genocide https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-military-intervention https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-military-intervention The United States launched a unilateral military intervention in Venezuela, bombing infrastructure and capturing the sitting head of state, without Congressional authorization, UN Security Council mandate, or self-defense justification. International legal experts, the UN Secretary-General, and governments worldwide condemned the operation as a violation of the UN Charter. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/alligator-alcatraz-detention-torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/alligator-alcatraz-detention-torture Florida immigration detention centers are sites of documented torture including a punitive cage device, prolonged solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, and enforced disappearances facilitated by the absence of any tracking system. At least six people died in Florida ICE facilities since October 2024. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/broadcast-license-threats-media-coercion https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/broadcast-license-threats-media-coercion A campaign of government coercion against media through broadcast license threats from the president and FCC chair, forced cancellation of a television show, pressure to remove apps, and demands that platforms suppress immigration-related content. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Press Freedom https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/systematic-bond-denial-indefinite-detention https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/systematic-bond-denial-indefinite-detention An ICE directive and BIA precedential decision eliminated bond hearings for millions of immigrants, creating a system of indefinite detention without judicial review. 71.7% of the 57,861 ICE detainees had no criminal convictions. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/protest-crackdown-insurrection-act-threats https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/protest-crackdown-insurrection-act-threats A pattern of militarized response to protests including the ICE killing of an American mother, Insurrection Act threats, 3,000-agent deployments, expanded federal police powers, and a presidential memorandum classifying political opposition as domestic terrorism. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/expanded-muslim-travel-ban https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/expanded-muslim-travel-ban A sweeping expansion of travel restrictions targeting predominantly Muslim-majority and African nations, growing from the original first-term ban to cover 39 countries. The bans affect millions of people and have been widely characterized as religious and racial discrimination codified into immigration policy. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/gaza-ceasefire-vetoes https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/gaza-ceasefire-vetoes The US was the sole dissenter blocking Gaza ceasefire resolutions supported by all other Security Council members, while famine and allegations of genocide continued in Gaza. The pattern of vetoes enabled continued military operations with devastating humanitarian consequences. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/third-country-deportations-africa https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/third-country-deportations-africa The US paid Rwanda, Ghana, Eswatini, and South Sudan to accept deportees who are not their nationals, in deals a federal judge ruled unconstitutional. HRW called the expulsion agreements violations of international human rights law, and domestic lawsuits in Ghana challenge the deal's legality. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yemen-migrant-detention-strike https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yemen-migrant-detention-strike US airstrikes killed 68 detained African migrants sleeping in a Sa'ada detention center during Operation Rough Rider. Amnesty International's investigation found no evidence the facility was a military target and concluded the strike was indiscriminate and must be investigated as a war crime. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/disability-rights-rollbacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/disability-rights-rollbacks Systematic dismantlement of disability protections through withdrawal of ADA guidance, cancellation of pending rules, elimination of Section 503 hiring goals, 50% staff cuts at the disability services agency, and an executive order promoting institutionalization — described by the American Bar Association as rolling 'back decades of disability rights.' Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/attacks-on-judiciary https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/attacks-on-judiciary A pattern of court order defiance, threats against judges, calls for impeachment, and DOJ Civil Rights Division gutting that constitutional scholars describe as the most serious executive-judicial confrontation since at least Watergate. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cecot-deportation-torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cecot-deportation-torture Over 260 Venezuelans were secretly deported to CECOT, where HRW documented torture, sexual violence, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of basic necessities. Many deportees had no criminal history and were asylum seekers. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cecot-forced-disappearances-salvadorans https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cecot-forced-disappearances-salvadorans Systematic forced disappearances of Salvadoran nationals deported from the US, held incommunicado in Salvadoran prisons including CECOT with no access to lawyers, families, or courts. The US bears responsibility for knowingly deporting individuals to a country practicing enforced disappearance — a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/dismantlement-civilian-harm-mitigation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/dismantlement-civilian-harm-mitigation The Pentagon's civilian casualty prevention infrastructure was gutted in early 2025, removing safeguards that existed specifically to prevent the kinds of civilian harm documented in the administration's subsequent military operations. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/student-visa-revocations-protests https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/student-visa-revocations-protests Approximately 1,700 student visas revoked in a campaign targeting pro-Palestine campus protest activity, with the State Department using AI screening and testifying that criticism of Israel could justify revocation. The campaign suppresses protected political speech through immigration enforcement. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/guantanamo-immigrant-detention https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/guantanamo-immigrant-detention Immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay face conditions amounting to torture: 23+ hour solitary confinement, punishment chairs, physical abuse, and incommunicado detention. ACLU and CCR lawsuits challenge the offshore detention as unconstitutional and beyond the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/labor-union-suppression https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/labor-union-suppression A multi-pronged attack on organized labor: destruction of the NLRB's quorum through the first-ever mid-term firing of a board member, an executive order stripping collective bargaining from 950,000 federal workers, and extension of the order to additional agencies — described as 'the single most aggressive action against organized labor in US history.' Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/colombia-deportation-standoff https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/colombia-deportation-standoff The US threatened Colombia with 25-50% tariffs, visa bans, and customs inspections to coerce acceptance of military deportation flights. Colombia capitulated within hours, establishing a precedent for weaponizing economic power to override sovereign decisions on migration. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/schedule-f-federal-workforce-purge https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/schedule-f-federal-workforce-purge Schedule F reclassification targets 50,000 federal employees for removal of civil service protections, enabling political firing for 'subversion of presidential directives.' The rule strips appeal rights, whistleblower protections, and Merit Systems Protection Board access, drawing lawsuits from over 30 organizations. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cuba-sanctions-humanitarian-crisis https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cuba-sanctions-humanitarian-crisis The systematically intensified US sanctions regime against Cuba has caused 20-hour blackouts, hospital closures, medication shortages for 5 million chronically ill people, and collapse of essential services. UN experts condemned the measures as collective punishment of civilians. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/death-penalty-expansion-executive-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/death-penalty-expansion-executive-order Executive order reversing the federal execution moratorium and mandating the death penalty be sought for all murders by undocumented immigrants 'regardless of other factors' — creating a discriminatory two-tier system where immigration status, not the severity of the crime, determines whether the government seeks death. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doj-weaponization-political-prosecutions https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/doj-weaponization-political-prosecutions Systematic weaponization of the DOJ through a retaliatory investigations unit, indictments of political opponents that were dismissed as brought by an unlawfully appointed prosecutor, mass departure of career prosecutors, and dismantlement of the Civil Rights Division and Public Integrity Section. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/environmental-regulatory-destruction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/environmental-regulatory-destruction An unprecedented withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, UNFCCC, and IPCC, combined with the rescission of the endangerment finding and rollback of 31+ environmental rules, constitutes the most comprehensive destruction of environmental protections in US history. The actions remove the world's largest historical emitter from the international climate framework while eliminating domestic regulation of greenhouse gases. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/fema-disaster-preparedness-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/fema-disaster-preparedness-dismantlement A systematic effort to dismantle federal disaster preparedness and response capacity through budget cuts, mass layoffs, program terminations, and structural reorganization. FEMA's workforce has already shrunk by one-third, with plans to cut it in half. The disaster response workforce faces a 41% cut and the surge workforce an 85% cut, leaving the country dangerously unprepared for hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and other disasters. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-sensitive-locations-policy-rescission https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-sensitive-locations-policy-rescission The rescission of the sensitive locations policy removed decades-old protections for churches, schools, hospitals, courthouses, and shelters from immigration enforcement. The change unleashed a dramatic surge in arrests of non-criminal immigrants and chilled access to essential services including healthcare and education. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pardons-political-allies-corruption https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pardons-political-allies-corruption A systematic pattern of pardons benefiting political allies, donors, and financial criminals. Over half of 88 clemency grants went to white-collar offenders, erasing $1.3 billion in victim restitution. Twenty corrupt politicians were pardoned. The DOJ's Public Integrity Section — responsible for investigating corruption — has been largely dismantled, and the head of the Pardon Attorney's office was fired and replaced with a political loyalist. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pregnant-detainee-abuse https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/pregnant-detainee-abuse ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in 13 months and recorded 16 miscarriages in detention. Women were shackled while miscarrying, denied prenatal care, and subjected to invasive procedures without consent -- all in violation of ICE's own 2021 directive against detaining pregnant individuals. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/racial-profiling-ice-enforcement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/racial-profiling-ice-enforcement Latinos account for 90% of ICE arrests, 76% of raids target majority-Latino neighborhoods, the Supreme Court has authorized race-based immigration stops, and at least 170 US citizens have been wrongfully detained — constituting systematic racial profiling in violation of equal protection and non-discrimination principles. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/reproductive-rights-restrictions https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/reproductive-rights-restrictions A multi-pronged campaign to restrict reproductive rights through executive action, including withdrawal from EMTALA enforcement, restoration of the Title X gag rule, enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, and preparation to invoke the 1873 Comstock Act as a de facto nationwide abortion ban without Congressional action. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/sanctuary-city-funding-punishment https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/sanctuary-city-funding-punishment Federal funding cutoffs threatened against sanctuary cities and their entire states, lawsuits against 29 states, and pending legislation to condition unrelated federal funding on immigration cooperation — a coercive federalism strategy that courts have repeatedly found unconstitutional. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/security-clearance-political-retaliation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/security-clearance-political-retaliation A systematic campaign of security clearance revocations targeting political opponents, critics, and former officials who investigated or prosecuted Trump, including 51 intelligence officials, prosecutors, state attorneys general, and even an entire private cybersecurity company — constituting an unprecedented use of classification authority for political punishment. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/usaid-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/usaid-dismantlement Systematic destruction of the US Agency for International Development resulted in termination of lifesaving programs across the developing world, with The Lancet projecting 9.4 million additional preventable deaths by 2030. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/whistleblower-retaliation-oversight-destruction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/whistleblower-retaliation-oversight-destruction Systematic destruction of the government oversight apparatus: 17 inspectors general fired, heads of the Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics removed, whistleblower retaliation cases up 9x at DOE, and federal employees reporting fear of speaking up or reporting wrongdoing. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/who-withdrawal-pandemic-preparedness https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/who-withdrawal-pandemic-preparedness The US withdrew from the WHO effective January 2026, removing the organization's largest funder and dismantling pandemic preparedness infrastructure. The WHO announced plans to cut 2,300 jobs — 25% of its workforce. The withdrawal degrades global disease surveillance, influenza vaccine matching, and outbreak response capacity at a time of ongoing zoonotic disease threats. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/gaza-arms-complicity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/gaza-arms-complicity Continued US arms transfers to Israel during ICJ genocide proceedings, including emergency bypasses of Congressional review, combined with active diplomatic defense of Israel at the ICJ, raising serious questions of complicity in genocide under the Genocide Convention. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Complicity in Genocide https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/white-phosphorus-lebanon-complicity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/white-phosphorus-lebanon-complicity Israel deployed US-supplied white phosphorus over Lebanese civilian areas in 191 attacks across 17+ municipalities since October 2023, continuing through March 2026. HRW verified the attacks as unlawfully indiscriminate and called for suspension of US arms transfers. Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Complicity in Genocide https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/family-separations-child-detention https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/family-separations-child-detention Immigration enforcement separated at least 11,000 US citizen children from their parents, with children held in government custody for an average of six months while officials used reunification processes as traps to arrest parents and caregivers. Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/press-freedom-violations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/press-freedom-violations A systematic pattern of press freedom violations including the arrest of journalists covering immigration enforcement, the deportation of a journalist to the country he fled due to death threats, and the detention of reporters in foreign countries covering US deportation operations. Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Press Freedom https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-deportation-flight-expansion https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ice-deportation-flight-expansion ICE Air conducted 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries in one year -- a 46% increase over the Biden era -- including to 25 countries that had never received ICE flights. Domestic transfer flights surged 132%. Airlines increasingly concealed flight details from public tracking. Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cameroon-deportee-torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/cameroon-deportee-torture The US secretly deported 17 people from 9 African countries to Cameroon under a covert agreement. Deportees were immediately beaten by gendarmes, arbitrarily detained, and subjected to torture. Journalists attempting to document conditions were detained. HRW documented systematic abuses including enforced disappearances and rape. Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/haiti-deportation-to-danger https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/haiti-deportation-to-danger The US deported Haitians to a country the FAA banned US airlines from landing in due to gang gunfire, where 90% of the capital is under gang control and 1.4 million are displaced. DHS terminated TPS for 348,000 Haitians while the State Department maintained a Level 4 'Do Not Travel' advisory. Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-naval-blockade https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-naval-blockade A naval blockade of Venezuelan oil exports drew condemnation from UN experts as a violation of fundamental international law, with legal analysts characterizing it as an act of war imposed without Congressional authorization. Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/deportation-traps-due-process https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/deportation-traps-due-process ICE turned mandatory immigration court hearings into arrest traps, coordinating in real time with government attorneys to arrest immigrants whose cases were dismissed. Record-setting asylum denials, in absentia orders tripling to 50,000, and 'rocket dockets' processing cases too fast for legal representation destroyed systematic access to due process. Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/veteran-deportations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/veteran-deportations The administration deported US military veterans including Purple Heart recipients wounded in combat, after replacing Biden-era protections that required ICE to consider military service. An estimated 94,000 non-citizen veterans face potential deportation. Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/birthright-citizenship-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/birthright-citizenship-order An executive order attempting to override the Fourteenth Amendment's birthright citizenship guarantee by executive fiat, blocked by every court to consider it and now before the Supreme Court. Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/solitary-confinement-surge https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/solitary-confinement-surge 10,500+ people subjected to solitary confinement in immigration detention over 14 months, with usage surging under the Trump administration. Nearly 75% of placements exceeded the UN's 15-day torture threshold. DHS oversight offices were simultaneously decimated from 150 to 22 staff. Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/refugee-resettlement-suspension https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/refugee-resettlement-suspension The administration indefinitely suspended refugee resettlement and set the lowest admissions cap in US history at 7,500, prioritizing white Afrikaners, while stranding refugees mid-transit including families who had sold their belongings for the journey. Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-tps-cancellation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/venezuela-tps-cancellation DHS Secretary Noem terminated Venezuela TPS, and the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect, de-documenting approximately 350,000 people and exposing them to removal to a country the State Department itself has characterized as unstable and dangerous. Fri, 03 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/inspectors-general-mass-firing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/inspectors-general-mass-firing Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general across the federal government without the advance notice to Congress that the Inspector General Act generally requires, and a later federal ruling said the notice failure violated the statute. Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/alien-enemies-act-mass-deportations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/alien-enemies-act-mass-deportations The administration invoked a rarely used 1798 wartime statute to justify accelerated removals of Venezuelan nationals, including transfers into El Salvador's detention system, prompting immediate litigation over both process and statutory scope. Wed, 03 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/military-border-deployments https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/military-border-deployments Over 10,000 troops were deployed to the US-Mexico border for immigration enforcement. A federal judge found the administration 'willfully' violated the Posse Comitatus Act -- a foundational law separating military and civilian law enforcement dating to Reconstruction. Tue, 02 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/sanctions-un-special-rapporteur https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/sanctions-un-special-rapporteur The United States sanctioned a UN human rights investigator for performing the duties of her mandate, in what UN experts described as an unprecedented threat to the international human rights system. Fri, 08 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/remain-in-mexico-reimposition https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/remain-in-mexico-reimposition The administration reinstated 'Remain in Mexico,' forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexican cities that the US State Department itself rates as 'Level 4: Do Not Travel' due to kidnapping and violence. MSF documented kidnapping rates as high as 75% among those returned under the policy. Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/asylum-ban-executive-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/asylum-ban-executive-order The administration imposed an unprecedented total ban on asylum claims at the southern border, shutting down the CBP One app and eliminating all avenues for protection. A federal judge ruled the president 'cannot adopt an alternative immigration system which supplants the statutes that Congress has enacted.' Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/mahmoud-khalil-political-deportation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/mahmoud-khalil-political-deportation A Columbia graduate student with a green card was arrested by ICE for his role in Gaza solidarity protests and ordered deported on the novel grounds that his speech posed 'adverse foreign policy consequences,' establishing a dangerous precedent for using immigration enforcement to suppress political dissent. Fri, 20 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/chnv-parole-termination https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/chnv-parole-termination DHS terminated humanitarian parole for 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, stripping legal status effective April 24, 2025. The Supreme Court allowed the mass revocation in a 7-2 ruling, and DHS urged affected individuals to 'self-deport immediately.' Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-tariffs-trade-war-2025 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-tariffs-trade-war-2025 The tariff regime was described by the administration as reciprocal response to trade imbalances, but the methodology for calculating tariff rates — dividing trade deficits by import values — was not a recognized economic method and did not reflect actual foreign tariff levels. Economists across the political spectrum warned of consumer price increases, supply chain disruptions, and reduced trade volumes. The tariffs on Chinese goods — reaching 145% cumulatively — effectively ended routine trade in many product categories. Markets fell sharply; the S&P 500 lost approximately 12% in the two trading days following the announcement, its worst two-day drop since 2008. A 90-day pause was announced for most countries (excluding China) after Treasury Secretary Bessent and other officials lobbied Trump. Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-education-department-abolition https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-education-department-abolition The Department of Education serves approximately 50 million K-12 students through Title I funding to schools serving low-income students, special education grants under IDEA, and civil rights enforcement under Title IX and other statutes. It administers the federal student loan system covering 43 million borrowers. The mass staff reductions — approximately 1,300 of 4,000 positions initially — severely affected the agency's capacity to process loan applications, investigate civil rights complaints, and distribute funding to schools. Schools serving the highest-need students, which depend most heavily on Title I funding, faced the greatest uncertainty. Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ukraine-aid-freeze-second-term-2025 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ukraine-aid-freeze-second-term-2025 Trump's second-term Ukraine policy represented a fundamental reversal from the U.S. position that Russian aggression must not be rewarded with territorial gains. The administration froze intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries to Ukraine, sent officials including Steve Witkoff to meet with Putin without Ukrainian representation, and publicly pressured Zelensky to negotiate terms that Ukraine and European allies considered capitulation. The Oval Office meeting on February 28, 2025 became an international incident when Trump and Vice President Vance confronted Zelensky before cameras, accusing him of ingratitude and warning he was 'gambling with World War III.' Zelensky left Washington without a security guarantee or continued military aid. Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-doge-musk-federal-dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-doge-musk-federal-dismantlement DOGE operated as an unaccountable parallel executive structure. Musk's associates accessed federal payment systems, personnel databases, Social Security administration data, IRS systems, and classified networks. Congress had not authorized DOGE to exist, to fire employees, or to redirect agency funds. Courts issued numerous injunctions against DOGE actions. Multiple agencies had their websites taken offline, their career employees locked out, and their operations functionally suspended within weeks of inauguration. USAID was effectively eliminated — folded into the State Department without Congressional action — ending decades of foreign assistance infrastructure. Federal workers who objected or filed suit faced retaliation. Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-federal-worker-purge-schedule-f https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-federal-worker-purge-schedule-f Schedule F's reclassification potentially covered hundreds of thousands of federal workers, stripping civil service protections that prevent politically-motivated firing. The 'deferred resignation' buyout offer — which OPM claimed would allow employees to stop working but continue receiving pay until late September 2025 — was sent without adequate legal review; courts later found the offer may not have been lawfully authorized. Tens of thousands of workers accepted. Agencies including USAID, the Department of Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were simultaneously subject to mass reductions in force. By spring 2025, an estimated 100,000+ federal workers had left or been terminated. Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-press-freedom-attacks-ap-ban https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-press-freedom-attacks-ap-ban The AP's exclusion from the White House briefing room — a credentialed, nonpartisan wire service that had covered every presidency since 1865 — was triggered by the AP's editorial decision to continue using 'Gulf of Mexico' rather than 'Gulf of America,' the name Trump had issued an executive order to adopt. AP's position was that it followed geographic naming standards and could not adopt a contested renaming while it was politically motivated. The exclusion was condemned by press freedom organizations as the most direct government intervention in editorial content by excluding a news organization from access on the basis of its editorial decisions. Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Press Freedom https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-kids-in-cages-second-term-deportations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-kids-in-cages-second-term-deportations The administration declared a national emergency at the border on January 20, 2025, and directed federal military and law enforcement resources toward immigration enforcement. ICE operations expanded significantly; worksite raids and community arrests became routine. The administration deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national with a U.S. court order protecting him from removal to El Salvador, to CECOT; a federal judge ordered his return; the administration refused. The ACLU and other organizations documented multiple U.S. citizens and green card holders wrongly detained. Trump characterized the deportation operations as removing 'the worst, most violent criminals' despite documented cases of individuals with no criminal history being targeted. Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-greenland-panama-canada-threats https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-greenland-panama-canada-threats Trump's January 7, 2025 press conference at Mar-a-Lago was the clearest statement of the annexation posture: asked whether he would rule out military force to take Greenland, he said 'no.' Asked about economic coercion of Canada, he said tariffs were possible. His son Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland on what was described as a personal trip days before the press conference, raising diplomatic concerns. Denmark's prime minister stated that Greenland was not for sale. Greenland's prime minister stated Greenland's future was for Greenlanders to decide. Panama's president said the canal was and would remain Panamanian. Canada's prime minister described the threats as unacceptable. Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-nato-article5-threats https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-term-nato-article5-threats NATO's collective defense commitment under Article 5 — that an attack against one member is an attack against all — was the foundational guarantee that had maintained European security for 75 years. Trump's statement that he would encourage Russia to attack members he deemed to be underpaying undermined the credibility of the deterrence that Article 5 provided. NATO allies condemned the statements as dangerous; European leaders described them as a fundamental threat to the alliance's deterrence value. In his second term, Trump continued pressing NATO members with threats of U.S. withdrawal contingent on spending levels, while simultaneously pursuing a Ukraine peace framework that European allies described as favorable to Russia. Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/anti-transgender-executive-orders https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/anti-transgender-executive-orders A sweeping executive order redefining sex across the federal government, with material consequences for transgender individuals in detention, healthcare, and civil documentation. Sat, 01 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/january-6-pardons https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/january-6-pardons Trump used his first day back in office to grant sweeping clemency to January 6 defendants, including people convicted of violent attacks on police and leaders of groups convicted of seditious conspiracy. Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-transgender-military-second-term-executive-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-transgender-military-second-term-executive-order The second-term ban was broader and more immediately disruptive than the first-term version. The 2025 executive order directed the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to implement the policy within 60 days, mandating that transgender service members serve in their birth sex or face discharge. Service members who had been receiving hormone therapy and other gender-affirming medical care under a Biden-era policy would have that care immediately terminated. Legal challenges were filed immediately; courts issued preliminary injunctions in several cases. The policy applied to approximately 15,000 service members. Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-federal-election-interference-indictment-2020 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-federal-election-interference-indictment-2020 The indictment described a multi-pronged conspiracy: fabricating slates of Trump electors in seven states that Biden had won; pressuring Pence to refuse to certify or delay certification; pressuring state officials to change election results; coordinating with the Justice Department to send false claims to states; and promoting false claims of election fraud Trump knew to be false. The case was assigned to Judge Tanya Chutkan; the Supreme Court's June-July 2024 ruling on presidential immunity vacated the lower court's immunity decision and required further proceedings; Smith closed the case in November 2024 citing DOJ policy. Mon, 25 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hush-money-cohen-stormy-daniels-conviction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hush-money-cohen-stormy-daniels-conviction The prosecution established that Trump directed Michael Cohen to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 eleven days before the 2016 election. Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of false invoices and checks falsely recorded as 'legal expenses' — the 34 counts all arose from these falsified records. The Manhattan DA alleged the falsification was done to conceal the underlying crime of election fraud (influencing an election through unlawful means). The case also documented the AMI/National Enquirer arrangement in which the tabloid bought and suppressed stories from McDougal and others — the 'catch and kill' scheme. Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge on September 18, 2024, but the conviction remained on record. Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-raffensperger-georgia-call-find-votes https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-raffensperger-georgia-call-find-votes Trump spent approximately an hour on the call with Raffensperger, his deputy, and Trump's attorneys, pressing Raffensperger to reverse Georgia's certified presidential election results. He made multiple false claims about fraud that Raffensperger repeatedly corrected in real time. Trump told Raffensperger 'there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you've recalculated' and that finding 11,780 votes would put Trump ahead in Georgia. Raffensperger refused. The call recording was published; Trump's Georgia indictment in August 2023 cited it as a central piece of evidence. Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-mar-a-lago-classified-documents-indictment https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-mar-a-lago-classified-documents-indictment The indictment alleged that Trump had shown classified documents to people without security clearances, directed his staff to move boxes to avoid document review, and directed his attorney to falsely certify that all subpoenaed materials had been returned — when they had not. Trump's valet Walt Nauta was indicted as a co-conspirator. The case was assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee; she dismissed the case in July 2024 on the grounds that the Special Counsel's appointment was unconstitutional. The Justice Department appealed. Mon, 15 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-january6-incitement-trial-immunity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-january6-incitement-trial-immunity For hours after the Capitol was breached, Trump did not issue a clear call to stop; his 2:44 PM tweet telling rioters they were 'very special' and he 'loved' them was posted while the attack was ongoing. Congressional Republicans and aides documented attempts to get Trump to intervene that he ignored or dismissed. The second impeachment passed with 10 Republican House votes — the most bipartisan presidential impeachment vote in U.S. history. Senate Minority Leader McConnell stated on the Senate floor that Trump was 'practically and morally responsible' for January 6 before voting against conviction on jurisdictional grounds. The Supreme Court's July 1, 2024 immunity ruling effectively ended the federal prosecution. Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/mike-cohen-payment-campaign-finance-felony https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/mike-cohen-payment-campaign-finance-felony The $130,000 payment to Daniels was made by Cohen 11 days before the 2016 election to prevent her account from influencing voters. Trump reimbursed Cohen through Trump Organization checks falsely described as payments for legal services. The Manhattan DA's office prosecuted Trump for the falsification of business records; a jury of 12 New Yorkers convicted Trump on all 34 counts on May 30, 2024. Trump was the first sitting or former U.S. president convicted of criminal offenses. Thu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-new-york-civil-fraud-judgment-454-million https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-new-york-civil-fraud-judgment-454-million Judge Engoron found that Trump had consistently and intentionally misrepresented asset values across a decade of financial statements. His Mar-a-Lago estate was valued in financial statements at up to $739 million — despite its deed restricting it to residential use, with an estimated fair market value of $75-100 million. His Trump Tower triplex was listed at 30,000 square feet when it was actually 10,996 square feet — nearly three times its actual size. The fraud allowed Trump to obtain loans at more favorable rates than he would have received with accurate valuations. Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-nato-article-5-undermining https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-nato-article-5-undermining Trump's first clear signal came in May 2017 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where he delivered a speech at the unveiling of a 9/11 memorial wall without explicitly affirming Article 5 collective defense — the alliance's core commitment. His aides later said the affirmation had been removed from the speech at Trump's direction. Over the following years, Trump repeatedly demanded NATO allies pay 2% of GDP on defense, threatened withdrawal, and reportedly told European leaders in private that the U.S. might not come to their aid. In February 2024, during the 2024 campaign, Trump stated publicly that he would 'encourage' Russia to attack NATO members who he thought hadn't paid enough. Sat, 10 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/e-jean-carroll-sexual-assault https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/e-jean-carroll-sexual-assault E. Jean Carroll first publicly accused Trump of rape in 2019; the legal case was delayed by Trump's claims of immunity as president. In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape under New York's technical definition) and defamation. In January 2024, a second jury awarded $83.3 million in damages for Trump's continuing defamatory statements. Trump called Carroll's account 'a made up Fake story' and said she was 'not my type.' Fri, 26 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-e-jean-carroll-sexual-assault https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-e-jean-carroll-sexual-assault Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, alleged Trump attacked her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in approximately 1996. Trump denied knowing her and described her as 'not my type.' The jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape, under the definition in New York law at the time) and defamation, awarding $5 million. After Trump continued publicly attacking Carroll following the verdict, she filed a second defamation suit; in January 2024, a jury awarded $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages — one of the largest defamation awards in U.S. history. Multiple other women made similar allegations; Trump denied all. Fri, 26 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-georgia-senate-election-interference https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-georgia-senate-election-interference The January 2, 2021 call lasted approximately one hour. Trump told Raffensperger he had won Georgia by 'hundreds of thousands of votes,' cited debunked fraud claims involving suitcases of ballots, a water main break, and Dominion Voting Systems, and asked Raffensperger to recalculate — or simply declare — a Trump victory. Raffensperger told Trump his information was wrong. Trump's lawyers and chief of staff were also on the call. Raffensperger's attorney Ryan Germany debunked specific claims in real time during the call. The recorded call was the most explicit documented example of Trump personally pressuring a state election official to alter certified results. The Fulton County indictment in August 2023 charged Trump under Georgia's RICO statute. Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-organization-criminal-conviction-tax-fraud https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-organization-criminal-conviction-tax-fraud Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's CFO for decades, had pleaded guilty in August 2022 to 15 felony counts and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He testified against the company. The Trump Organization received $1.76 million in off-the-books compensation for Weisselberg and other executives over 15 years. The company was convicted on all 17 counts, including scheme to defraud and falsifying business records. The $1.6 million fine was the maximum allowed but was a fraction of what corporate criminal fines typically run; prosecutors noted the fine was limited by statute. Fri, 13 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-supreme-court-packing-conservative-shift https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-supreme-court-packing-conservative-shift Trump's three appointments fundamentally altered the Supreme Court's ideological composition. The Gorsuch seat had been held open for nearly a year through Senate Majority Leader McConnell's refusal to consider Obama nominee Merrick Garland. Barrett was confirmed October 26, 2020 — eight days before the election, after Republicans had cited 'the Garland rule' (refusing election-year nominations) in 2016. The conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, eliminating federal abortion rights recognized for 49 years. The same term saw rollbacks of administrative agency authority (West Virginia v. EPA) and expansion of Second Amendment rights (Bruen). Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/family-separation-zero-tolerance https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/family-separation-zero-tolerance Attorney General Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy in April 2018 requiring criminal prosecution of all illegal border crossers. Because federal criminal custody excludes children, this automatically separated minors from their parents. Over 5,500 children were separated in six weeks. Courts ordered reunification; as of 2024, hundreds of families remain separated. Thu, 16 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-doha-agreement-afghanistan-taliban https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-doha-agreement-afghanistan-taliban The Trump administration's Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad negotiated the Doha Agreement with Taliban representatives over 18 months. The Afghan government of President Ashraf Ghani was excluded from the negotiations — the Taliban refused to negotiate with the Ghani government and the U.S. accepted this condition. The agreement required the U.S. to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including senior military commanders, in exchange for the Taliban releasing 1,000 Afghan security forces. The Taliban made no commitment to halt offensive operations against Afghan forces. The U.S. military assessment was that the Taliban were not fulfilling the agreement's anti-terrorism requirements before the withdrawal was completed. Tue, 31 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-doha-agreement-afghanistan-withdrawal https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-doha-agreement-afghanistan-withdrawal U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad led 18 months of negotiations with Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar while refusing Taliban demands to include the Afghan government. The Afghan government, which the U.S. had spent nearly two decades and $2 trillion supporting, was effectively presented with the agreement as a fait accompli. Trump personally called Taliban leader Mullah Baradar in a phone call. As part of the deal, the U.S. pressured Afghan President Ghani to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including commanders. After Biden inherited the deal, he extended the deadline and withdrew forces in August 2021; the Afghan government collapsed in days. Mon, 30 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-inaugural-committee-corruption-investigations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-inaugural-committee-corruption-investigations The Southern District of New York opened an investigation into the inaugural committee in 2019 after the Cohen cooperation. Prosecutors subpoenaed records investigating potential coordination with foreign nationals and possible misuse of nonprofit funds. Tom Barrack, who chaired the fundraising effort, was indicted in July 2021 on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the UAE, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. The indictment alleged Barrack had used his position in the Trump campaign and inaugural committee to influence U.S. policy and public statements in favor of the UAE. Barrack was ultimately acquitted at trial. The investigation also found that donors linked to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar may have funneled money through straw donors. Fri, 18 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/khashoggi-cover-up-saudi-impunity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/khashoggi-cover-up-saudi-impunity Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-person hit squad sent from Riyadh. The CIA concluded with high confidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing. Trump publicly sided with Saudi Arabia over his own intelligence agencies, blocked sanctions on MBS, and used the murder as leverage in arms sales negotiations. Fri, 26 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-khashoggi-mbs-defense https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-khashoggi-mbs-defense Khashoggi, a permanent U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. He was killed and his body dismembered by a 15-member Saudi team that included members of MBS's personal security detail. Turkish intelligence recorded audio of the killing and shared it with the CIA. The CIA concluded MBS ordered the operation. Trump's November 2018 statement defending Saudi Arabia cited the CIA assessment as uncertain and emphasized arms sales: '$450 billion of jobs, 450 billion dollars.' Trump resisted congressional pressure for Magnitsky Act sanctions against MBS. The administration characterized MBS's culpability as inconclusive despite CIA findings. Fri, 26 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-impeachment-acquittal-senate https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-second-impeachment-acquittal-senate The House impeachment was adopted 232-197 with ten Republicans voting to impeach — the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in history. The single article charged Trump with incitement of insurrection for his speech at the Ellipse on January 6 and his conduct leading up to the attack. Senate Majority Leader McConnell voted to acquit on the grounds that the Senate lacked jurisdiction to try a former president, then immediately gave a speech from the Senate floor saying Trump was 'practically and morally responsible' for the attack. The acquittal was on procedural grounds, not on the merits. Sat, 13 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/first-term-pardons-political-allies https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/first-term-pardons-political-allies Trump's end-of-term pardons formed a pattern: the beneficiaries were overwhelmingly personal associates, political allies, or people whose silence or loyalty had protected Trump from prosecutorial pressure. Manafort and Stone had both been convicted in Mueller's investigation. Flynn had pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI. Bannon was under indictment for fraud. The pardons rewarded loyalty and silence — establishing that cooperation with investigators would not be protected, while non-cooperation would be. Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pardons-political-allies-first-term https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pardons-political-allies-first-term Trump issued 143 pardons and commutations, including a final batch of 143 on his last day in office. Analysts documented that a disproportionate share of Trump's pardons went to political allies, relatives of political allies, or individuals whose cases were connected to Trump's political interests. The pardons of Manafort, Stone, Flynn, and Bannon were specifically notable because each had been convicted or charged in connection with conduct related to Trump's political activities, and each received executive clemency. The final day pardons also included Steve Bannon, who was awaiting trial. Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/first-term-family-separation-court-order-violation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/first-term-family-separation-court-order-violation A federal judge in the ACLU's Ms. L. v. ICE case ordered the government to reunify all separated families within 30 days. The administration missed the deadline, admitted it lacked a tracking system, and was repeatedly held in contempt. Parents were deported without their children; children were 'lost' in the system; in some cases children remained in U.S. custody for years after their parents had been removed to their home countries. The ACLU's family tracking project located hundreds of deported parents who didn't know where their children were. Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-emoluments-mar-a-lago-payments https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-emoluments-mar-a-lago-payments Trump retained ownership of his business empire throughout his presidency, rejecting the divestment that every modern president had undertaken. The Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. — in the old Post Office Pavilion leased from the General Services Administration — was particularly notable: foreign governments and diplomatic delegations booked the hotel, and the GSA was both the landlord and a federal agency under presidential authority. Three lawsuits were filed against Trump under the Emoluments Clauses; all were ultimately dismissed without reaching the merits after Trump left office. Congressional oversight requests for information about foreign payments were resisted throughout. Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-emoluments-violations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-emoluments-violations Unlike every president in modern history, Trump refused to divest from his businesses, instead placing them in a trust managed by his sons. Foreign governments and domestic government agencies spent millions at Trump properties during his presidency. Courts dismissed emoluments cases on procedural grounds rather than merits; a House investigation documented over $750,000 in government spending at Trump properties through 2020. Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-business-conflicts-no-divestiture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-business-conflicts-no-divestiture Prior presidents had either sold their business assets or placed them in blind trusts managed by independent trustees. Trump placed his holdings in a revocable trust managed by his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, with Trump retaining the ability to revoke the trust at any time and receiving financial reports about the businesses. The Office of Government Ethics stated the arrangement was insufficient to prevent conflicts. The Trump International Hotel in Washington, housed in a federally-owned building under a lease Trump's own government administered, became a center of lobbying activity, with foreign governments and domestic interest groups booking events and rooms to seek favorable treatment. Saudi Arabia spent more than $270,000 at the hotel in a single year. Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/covid-pandemic-response-failures https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/covid-pandemic-response-failures Bob Woodward's taped interviews revealed Trump said in February 2020 that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' and 'more deadly than even your strenuous flus' — while publicly calling it 'no worse than the flu' and 'a Democratic hoax.' The administration rejected WHO tests, blocked CDC mask guidance, slow-walked ventilator production, pressured states to reopen prematurely, promoted hydroxychloroquine against scientific evidence, and suggested people inject disinfectant. By Inauguration Day 2021, 400,000 Americans were dead. Tue, 19 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-intelligence-community-attacks-cia-briefings https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-intelligence-community-attacks-cia-briefings Trump's attacks on the intelligence community followed a pattern: dispute assessments that reflected poorly on him or contradicted foreign governments he was cultivating, attack the officials who provided them, reward officials who shaped assessments to his preferences, and revoke credentials of critics. He disputed the CIA's assessments of Saudi Crown Prince MBS's role in the Khashoggi murder, Russian interference in the 2016 election, North Korean nuclear progress, and Iranian nuclear program compliance. He revoked the security clearances of six former senior officials — all critics — and installed loyalists in acting DNI and other positions. Sun, 17 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-federal-executions-restart https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-federal-executions-restart The Trump DOJ resumed federal executions in July 2020 after 17 years with no federal executions. The 13 executions were the most in any comparable period since at least the 1940s. Attorney General Barr overrode objections from career death penalty specialists about the single-drug protocol. Multiple executions were carried out over last-minute legal challenges. Lisa Montgomery, the first woman executed by the federal government since 1953, was executed despite documented severe mental illness and a history of extreme childhood sexual abuse. Sat, 16 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-election-fraud-claims-60-court-losses https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-election-fraud-claims-60-court-losses Trump's legal team, led at various points by Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, made dramatic claims in press conferences — coordinated election fraud, Dominion Voting Systems switching votes, Venezuelan electoral interference, suitcases of fake ballots — that were not supported by evidence filed in court. Judges demanded evidence; Trump's lawyers repeatedly stated in court filings that they were not alleging fraud, only procedural irregularities. CISA Director Christopher Krebs called the 2020 election 'the most secure in American history'; Trump fired him. Attorney General Barr stated the DOJ had found no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome; Trump pressured him to say otherwise and Barr resigned. Thu, 07 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/january-6-insurrection https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/january-6-insurrection Following months of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, Trump held a rally on January 6 and incited his supporters to march to the Capitol. A mob of thousands stormed and occupied the building for hours, injuring 140 police officers, causing multiple deaths, and forcing the evacuation of Congress. Trump watched on television and, despite multiple requests, refused to call off the mob for over three hours. Wed, 06 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-justice-dept-independence-attacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-justice-dept-independence-attacks Trump's attacks on DOJ independence were systematic across four years. He publicly tweeted demands for prosecution of Clinton and others; pressured Sessions to unrecuse and Rosenstein to limit Mueller's investigation; fired Comey; asked Mueller to be fired (stopped only by White House counsel Don McGahn's threatened resignation); demanded investigation of the FBI's origins investigation; and in December 2020–January 2021 pressured acting AG Jeffrey Rosen to pursue election fraud claims after Bill Barr had resigned rather than act on them. The January 3, 2021 Oval Office meeting in which Trump demanded Rosen be replaced with Jeffrey Clark — who would have sent false letters to state officials claiming DOJ had found election fraud — was documented in Senate Judiciary Committee testimony. Sun, 03 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/georgia-election-interference-call https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/georgia-election-interference-call Trump's January 2, 2021 phone call with Raffensperger was a direct attempt to pressure a state election official to falsify vote tallies. Trump made factually false claims about the election, threatened Raffensperger with unspecified legal 'risk,' and specifically demanded he 'find' a precise number of votes matching the margin Trump needed to win Georgia. Raffensperger refused. The conversation was recorded and published; Trump was later indicted for conspiracy and RICO violations in Georgia. Sat, 02 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/immigrant-detention-deaths-conditions https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/immigrant-detention-deaths-conditions Under Trump, ICE detention grew from approximately 41,000 to over 55,000 people at peak. At least 41 people died in ICE custody during the first term; a DHS OIG inspection found facilities with standing sewage, rotten food, and detainees unable to access medical care. Multiple investigations documented sexual abuse, inadequate mental health care, and coerced medical procedures. Thu, 31 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-roger-stone-pardon-commutation-obstruction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-roger-stone-pardon-commutation-obstruction Stone was convicted of lying to Congress about his contacts with WikiLeaks, which had published emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta by Russian intelligence. The jury found he had also tampered with a witness — elderly former radio host Randy Credico — to prevent him from contradicting Stone's false congressional testimony. Four prosecutors resigned from the case after political appointees overrode their sentencing recommendation. A fifth prosecutor withdrew entirely. Trump commuted Stone's sentence days before Stone was to report to prison; he issued a full pardon seven months later. Wed, 23 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-roger-stone-conviction-pardon https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-roger-stone-conviction-pardon Stone was charged with lying to the House Intelligence Committee about his contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, when he served as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks regarding the release of hacked Democratic emails. He also threatened a witness — radio personality Randy Credico, whom he called a 'rat' and threatened to harm his therapy dog — to prevent him from contradicting Stone's testimony. The jury of twelve convicted Stone on every count after deliberating for two days. Four prosecutors resigned from the case after the Justice Department overrode their sentencing recommendation of 7 to 9 years with a more lenient one, following Trump's tweet calling the original recommendation 'very unfair.' The federal judge sentenced Stone to 40 months. Wed, 23 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-manafort-pardon-money-laundering-ukraine https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-manafort-pardon-money-laundering-ukraine Manafort received over $65 million to manage political campaigns for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian Ukrainian president later forced from office and who fled to Russia. Manafort hid the income in offshore accounts and spent lavishly while lying on tax returns and bank loan applications. Mueller's investigation documented that Manafort had also shared internal Trump campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian political consultant assessed by the U.S. Senate to have ties to Russian intelligence — data sharing that occurred during the period when Russia was conducting its interference operation. Wed, 23 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-scott-atlas-herd-immunity-covid-misinformation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-scott-atlas-herd-immunity-covid-misinformation Atlas was a Hoover Institution senior fellow and media commentator with no relevant credentials for pandemic response. Trump appointed him after seeing him on Fox News. Atlas advocated the Great Barrington Declaration approach — allowing the virus to spread among the young and healthy while 'protecting' the vulnerable. Public health experts pointed out this approach was not operationally feasible and would require accepting enormous numbers of preventable deaths. CDC Director Robert Redfield and the Coronavirus Task Force's other scientific advisors repeatedly contradicted Atlas. Deborah Birx described Atlas in her memoir as actively harmful to the pandemic response. Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/drone-strike-civilian-casualties-expansion https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/drone-strike-civilian-casualties-expansion Trump granted the military broader strike authority, designated large areas as 'Areas of Active Hostility' enabling expanded strike approvals, removed mandatory civilian harm mitigation steps, and stopped requiring senior White House approval for counterterrorism strikes. Airwars and the UN documented a sharp rise in civilian casualties across Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-deregulation-environment-rollbacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-deregulation-environment-rollbacks The administration's approach was systematic: identify Obama-era environmental regulations, determine legal and administrative mechanisms for reversal, and implement reversals. The rollbacks covered air quality, water quality, climate, wildlife, and chemical safety. The vehicle emissions standards rollback was estimated to add approximately one billion tons of additional carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2035. Courts overturned many of the rollbacks, finding procedural defects. The Biden administration reversed the majority of the remaining reversals. The cumulative effect on environmental law precedent and the transition costs of the repeated changes were lasting. Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-michael-flynn-lies-pardon https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-michael-flynn-lies-pardon Flynn's conversations with Kislyak on December 29, 2016 — the day President Obama announced sanctions against Russia for election interference — were intercepted by U.S. intelligence. Flynn told Pence the conversations had not touched on sanctions; Pence publicly repeated that claim. After the Washington Post reported Flynn had indeed discussed sanctions, Flynn resigned. On January 27, 2017, Trump told Comey at a one-on-one dinner that he hoped Comey could let the Flynn investigation go. Comey did not drop it. Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017. Flynn pleaded guilty December 1, 2017. His cooperation with Mueller provided significant intelligence about the transition period. Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020, after Flynn had withdrawn his guilty plea. Wed, 25 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-open-skies-treaty-withdrawal https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-open-skies-treaty-withdrawal The Open Skies Treaty allows its 35 signatories — including the United States, Russia, and most NATO and former Warsaw Pact nations — to conduct scheduled unarmed reconnaissance flights over each other's territory. The flights collect imagery that member states share, building collective military transparency. Trump administration officials argued Russia had violated the treaty by restricting U.S. flight paths over certain territories. European allies agreed Russia had compliance issues but argued the U.S. should address them within the treaty framework rather than withdraw, and warned that U.S. withdrawal would give Russia an excuse to exit entirely. Russia did subsequently withdraw from the treaty in January 2021, after Trump's withdrawal had set the precedent. The Biden administration reviewed but did not rejoin the treaty due to concerns about congressional opposition. Sun, 22 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/saudi-arms-deal-yemen-war-complicity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/saudi-arms-deal-yemen-war-complicity Trump's first foreign trip was to Riyadh, where he announced a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. continued to provide refueling, intelligence, and targeting support for Saudi-led coalition strikes in Yemen throughout the first term, even as the UN documented mass civilian casualties, attacks on protected sites, and a blockade causing mass starvation. Congress passed resolutions invoking the War Powers Act to end U.S. involvement; Trump vetoed both. Mon, 16 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Complicity in Genocide https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-paris-climate-withdrawal-2017 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-paris-climate-withdrawal-2017 Trump announced the withdrawal in the Rose Garden, framing it as a defense of American workers against an agreement he claimed was economically harmful. The U.S. had committed under Paris to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26–28% below 2005 levels by 2025. Trump claimed the accord would cost 2.7 million jobs — a figure taken from a Koch-funded study that most economists disputed. The U.S. was the only major nation to withdraw. The formal withdrawal process took three years under treaty terms; the U.S. officially left the day after the 2020 election. President Biden rejoined on his first day in office. Wed, 04 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hatch-act-violations-political-use-government https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hatch-act-violations-political-use-government The Office of Special Counsel — an independent federal watchdog — found that Trump administration officials committed the most extensive Hatch Act violations in the law's history. The 2020 Republican National Convention used the White House as a backdrop for campaign speeches by administration officials, naturalization ceremonies were used as political props, and senior White House staff used official accounts and positions to campaign. The administration declined to take any corrective action, with Conway reportedly saying she 'didn't care.' Wed, 04 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-postal-service-dejoy-election-interference https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-postal-service-dejoy-election-interference Louis DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General in May 2020 despite having no postal service background and being a major Republican donor. Within weeks, DeJoy implemented changes including eliminating overtime (which slowed mail delivery), removing letter-sorting machines (which processed mail faster), reducing post office hours, and ordering trucks to depart on schedule rather than wait for mail. Mail piled up. First-class mail delivery times — the metric by which election mail is typically processed — deteriorated significantly. Trump simultaneously told Fox Business the slowdown was deliberate, saying he was withholding USPS funding specifically because it would facilitate mail-in voting he opposed. Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ms13-dehumanizing-rhetoric-racial https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ms13-dehumanizing-rhetoric-racial Trump's use of 'animals' to describe MS-13 members — and his conflation of the gang label with immigrants broadly — followed the same pattern documented in incitement to ethnic violence: dehumanization of a group, followed by calls for harsh treatment. Scholars of political violence noted the specific language echoed anti-Tutsi propaganda before the Rwandan genocide and Nazi propaganda before the Holocaust. Trump used similar dehumanizing framing for other immigrant groups, describing Central American migrants as an 'infestation' and an 'invasion.' Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-charlottesville-anti-semitism https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-charlottesville-anti-semitism Trump's failure to clearly condemn the Charlottesville marchers — who carried torches and chanted neo-Nazi slogans — was part of a documented pattern of engagement with white nationalist and anti-Semitic content. Trump retweeted accounts associated with white nationalism, used the word 'invasion' for Hispanic immigration (a term that appeared in the El Paso mass shooter's manifesto), shared memes created by neo-Nazi accounts, and refused to commit to accepting election results — all while white nationalist and anti-Semitic incidents rose sharply. Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/first-term-press-freedom-attacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/first-term-press-freedom-attacks Trump used the phrase 'enemy of the people' to describe mainstream media more than 30 times, echoing language used by Stalin, Mao, and other authoritarian leaders. His administration attempted to ban reporters from press briefings, challenged broadcast licenses in apparent retaliation for critical coverage, encouraged legal changes to make it easier to sue journalists, and called for investigations of reporters. International press freedom organizations documented the global impact: Trump's rhetoric gave cover to authoritarian leaders from Turkey to the Philippines to justify imprisoning journalists. Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-judicial-appointments https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-judicial-appointments The Trump-McConnell judicial project placed 226 federal judges and three Supreme Court justices — the highest court transformation since Reagan. Kavanaugh was confirmed in a process widely criticized for inadequate FBI investigation of sexual assault allegations. Barrett was confirmed after McConnell refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland for 293 days, then confirmed Barrett in 27 days. Justices Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Gorsuch each made statements about settled law at confirmation that were contradicted by their votes in Dobbs v. Jackson. Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hatch-act-use-white-house-campaign https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hatch-act-use-white-house-campaign The 2020 Republican National Convention featured events staged at the White House — a building owned by the federal government and maintained with taxpayer funds — in ways that previous administrations of both parties had avoided. The OSC, which enforces the Hatch Act prohibiting federal employees from using their official capacity or government resources for political activity, found multiple violations. Secretary Pompeo's Jerusalem speech was the highest-profile Hatch Act referral; the OSC concluded he had violated the act. Other officials investigated included Kellyanne Conway (previously recommended for removal for Hatch Act violations in 2019). The naturalization ceremony conducted by USCIS Director Cuccinelli at the convention for five new citizens was also reviewed. Mon, 02 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-media-attacks-enemy-of-the-people https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-media-attacks-enemy-of-the-people Trump's attacks on the press were systematic and escalating: he labeled specific organizations (CNN, NBC, the New York Times, Washington Post) 'fake news,' called reporters 'enemies of the people,' suggested revoking NBC's broadcast license, threatened to revoke press credentials, and cheered when supporters physically confronted journalists at rallies. Body-slammed a reporter (Greg Gianforte in Montana) and Trump endorsed him. Reporters covering Trump rallies documented being surrounded by hostile crowds. The Annenberg Foundation documented 2,000+ attacks on press freedom during the Trump presidency. Authoritarian governments around the world cited Trump's 'fake news' rhetoric when expelling journalists or restricting press access. Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Press Freedom https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-aca-sabotage-healthcare https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-aca-sabotage-healthcare Having failed to repeal the ACA legislatively (defeated by the 51-49 Senate vote, including John McCain's thumbs-down), the Trump administration used regulatory and administrative mechanisms to undermine it: eliminating the individual mandate penalty, cutting navigator and outreach funding from $63 million to $10 million, supporting a lawsuit arguing the entire ACA was unconstitutional, and expanding short-term health plans that excluded pre-existing conditions. CBO projected these actions would cause 10-13 million people to lose insurance. Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-family-separation-policy https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-family-separation-policy The zero tolerance policy was the direct cause of mass family separations: parents were referred for criminal prosecution, children were taken to Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters, and the two systems — criminal justice and child welfare — did not have adequate mechanisms to track and reunite families. Senior administration officials including Chief of Staff John Kelly had discussed using family separation as a deterrent as early as 2017. Trump publicly and repeatedly denied a family separation policy existed while it was operating. A federal court ordered family reunification; the government struggled to comply, partly because adequate records had not been kept linking children to parents. Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-covid-personal-infection-walter-reed https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-covid-personal-infection-walter-reed Trump's COVID infection came after months of publicly downplaying the disease, refusing to wear masks, and holding indoor rallies. His treatment at Walter Reed included Regeneron's experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail (not yet FDA-authorized), dexamethasone — a steroid given only to patients with severe COVID per WHO protocols — and supplemental oxygen. His doctor Sean Conley gave contradictory statements about whether Trump had needed supplemental oxygen and on what days his oxygen saturation had dropped. Trump staged a motorcade through COVID patients outside Walter Reed while contagious. Upon returning to the White House, he removed his mask for a photo op while potentially still infectious to staff. Thu, 08 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-family-separation-zero-tolerance-statistics https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-family-separation-zero-tolerance-statistics Zero tolerance created systematic family separation as deliberate policy — not incidentally but intentionally, with separation designed as a deterrent. The administration did not build a system to track which children belonged to which parents. A federal judge ordered reunification within 30 days; the government said it could not comply. By October 2020, the ACLU reported that 628 children had parents who still could not be found — many of whom had been deported to Central America without their children, without being told where their children were. Fri, 02 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-cdc-fda-political-interference-covid https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-cdc-fda-political-interference-covid The Washington Post and New York Times documented a pattern of White House interference with CDC scientific publications. CDC reports in the MMWR — the agency's flagship peer-reviewed publication that had never previously been subject to political review — were reviewed and in some cases altered by Michael Caputo, a political appointee installed at HHS with no public health credentials. Caputo was later placed on leave after a Facebook video in which he accused CDC scientists of a 'resistance unit' against Trump. CDC Director Redfield testified that CDC school reopening guidance was replaced after Trump tweeted that it was 'very tough and expensive.' The FDA's hydroxychloroquine EUA and convalescent plasma approval were both accompanied by documented political pressure. Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-sexual-misconduct-allegations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-sexual-misconduct-allegations The women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct covered a range of circumstances: models and contestants at Trump-owned beauty pageants, women at events and parties, employees in business settings, and strangers at social venues. The common elements across many accounts were unwanted kissing or groping in private settings with no witnesses. After the October 2016 Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump said 'when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy,' multiple women came forward stating the tape described what Trump had done to them. Trump called all accusers liars and threatened to sue them. Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-tax-returns-nyt-losses https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-tax-returns-nyt-losses The 2019 NYT investigation used IRS data from 1985-1994, finding Trump declared $1.17 billion in losses — an average of $117 million per year — largely from casino and real estate failures. The losses were so large that Trump paid no income tax in eight of the ten years. The 2020 investigation of complete tax returns found Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and $750 in 2017 through aggressive deductions, carried-forward losses, and tax credits. Trump had for decades refused to release his tax returns, claiming he was under IRS audit. He remained the only presidential candidate in modern history to refuse release until his returns were eventually obtained by courts after litigation. Tue, 29 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-tax-fraud-ny-times-investigation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-tax-fraud-ny-times-investigation The Times obtained decades of Fred Trump's tax records showing the family used fraudulent asset undervaluation, sham consulting fees, and a dummy corporation ('All County Building Supply') to transfer over $1 billion in wealth to Trump and his siblings while evading hundreds of millions in estate and gift taxes. A separate 2020 investigation found Trump had paid virtually no federal income tax for years. Sun, 27 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-usps-dejoy-mail-slowdown-2020-election https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-usps-dejoy-mail-slowdown-2020-election DeJoy's operational changes caused immediate and documented mail delays across the country. The changes were implemented months before the presidential election in which mail-in voting was expected to reach record levels due to COVID. Trump stated publicly that he was blocking Post Office funding to prevent mail-in voting. USPS removed 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines; some were dismantled before DeJoy announced a suspension of the changes in response to congressional and legal pressure. Multiple states sued. The sorting machine removals were not reversed even after the suspension. Mon, 21 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pentagon-military-funds-border-wall-diversion https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pentagon-military-funds-border-wall-diversion In February 2020, the Trump administration announced the diversion of an additional $3.8 billion in military construction funds to border wall construction — funds that had been appropriated by Congress for specific military purposes including school construction at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; housing at Guantanamo; and facilities in Germany. Military families were directly affected when promised construction projects were canceled. The GAO had previously found that Trump's withholding of congressionally appropriated Ukraine security assistance violated the Impoundment Control Act; the same statutory framework applied to the Pentagon diversions. Tue, 15 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-gassing-protesters-lafayette-square-bible https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-gassing-protesters-lafayette-square-bible Tear gas, pepper spray, and mounted police were deployed against peaceful protesters who were within their legal rights to be in Lafayette Square until the 7 PM curfew. The clearing operation began approximately 30 minutes before the curfew. Once the square was cleared, Trump walked out of the White House to St. John's Church, stood in front of it holding a Bible, and had photographs taken. The Episcopal bishop whose church was used said she was 'outraged' and had not been notified. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley later apologized for participating in the walk. Defense Secretary Esper publicly opposed using active-duty troops as Trump had suggested. Wed, 09 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-covid-downplaying-woodward-tapes https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-covid-downplaying-woodward-tapes Trump told Woodward on February 7, 2020 that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' and acknowledged it was much more dangerous than the flu. On the same days he was giving Woodward these assessments, Trump was telling the public the virus was 'like the flu' and 'will disappear.' On March 19, 2020, Trump told Woodward: 'I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't like to panic people.' The Woodward recordings also captured Trump describing COVID's airborne transmission weeks before public health officials acknowledged it. The U.S. death toll reached 200,000 by September 2020 when the recordings were published. Wed, 09 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-pompeo-state-dept-personal-errands https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-pompeo-state-dept-personal-errands The State Department IG's report, released in September 2020, found that Pompeo had used department staff and resources for personal and political purposes in violation of federal regulations. Staff described being directed to walk Pompeo's dog, pick up his dry cleaning, make restaurant reservations, and run other personal errands. Susan Pompeo, who had an official role as diplomatic spouse, used State Department resources for what the IG characterized as non-official events. At least 17 dinners charged to the State Department were found to include politically-oriented guests or personal guests rather than serving diplomatic purposes. Pompeo had fired IG Steve Linick in May 2020; Linick said the firing was retaliation for the investigation. Pompeo denied wrongdoing. Thu, 03 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hydroxychloroquine-bleach-covid-misinformation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hydroxychloroquine-bleach-covid-misinformation Trump promoted hydroxychloroquine at least 65 times in White House briefings before studies established it was ineffective and potentially dangerous for COVID. He suggested at an April 23, 2020 briefing that injecting disinfectants might work as treatment and asked officials to study inserting UV light 'inside the body.' Poison control centers reported a spike in calls after the disinfectant comments. The FDA granted hydroxychloroquine an Emergency Use Authorization in March 2020 under White House pressure, then revoked it in June 2020 citing 'serious cardiac adverse events.' Trump campaign donors funded oleander extract studies. His false '35% mortality improvement' claim for convalescent plasma prompted FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to issue a correction the same day. Sun, 23 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-russia-election-interference-acceptance-2016 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-russia-election-interference-acceptance-2016 The Senate Intelligence Committee's August 2020 bipartisan report documented that Paul Manafort shared confidential Trump campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian political consultant the committee assessed had ties to Russian intelligence. The report characterized this as 'a grave counterintelligence threat.' The report also documented extensive contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian nationals. Mueller found the hacking and dumping of Democratic emails benefited the Trump campaign and that the campaign was aware of, and made use of, the releases — but did not find sufficient evidence of criminal conspiracy between the campaign and the Russian government. Tue, 18 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-betsy-devos-education-deregulation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-betsy-devos-education-deregulation DeVos, a billionaire Michigan donor with ties to the for-profit education industry through her family's investment portfolio, was confirmed in February 2017 in a 50-50 Senate vote — the first cabinet confirmation requiring Vice President Pence's tiebreaking vote in history. She immediately moved to suspend the Obama administration's Borrower Defense to Repayment rules, which provided a path for students defrauded by schools to have their federal loans discharged. More than 100,000 borrower defense applications accumulated while DeVos's department delayed processing them. Courts found the delays violated federal law. She also rescinded the Gainful Employment rule that required for-profit programs to demonstrate graduates could earn enough to service their student debt. Mon, 10 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/portland-federal-agents-protest-abductions https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/portland-federal-agents-protest-abductions Federal agents from CBP, ICE, BORTAC, and other agencies, deployed by Trump to Portland amid George Floyd protests, began conducting clandestine arrests: pulling protesters into unmarked vans without identifying themselves, not stating reasons for arrest, and holding them in undisclosed locations. Trump's acting DHS secretary and senior officials defended the tactics. Oregon's AG filed suit; federal courts issued temporary restraining orders. Tue, 14 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-withdrawal-who-pandemic-response https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-withdrawal-who-pandemic-response Trump had previously threatened to withdraw or defund the WHO in April 2020; in May he made the withdrawal formal. Critics noted that withdrawing from the WHO during a pandemic eliminated U.S. influence over the global response to the same pandemic — including over vaccine development coordination, variant tracking, and equitable distribution programs. The U.S. would lose voting rights, committee seats, and the ability to shape WHO standards and guidelines. Allies and public health experts across the political spectrum criticized the decision. Biden rejoined the WHO within hours of taking office on January 20, 2021. Tue, 07 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hbcu-executive-order-historically-black-colleges https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-hbcu-executive-order-historically-black-colleges Trump used HBCUs as a political prop — signing executive orders promising prioritization while his budgets cut the funding those schools depended on. His administration cut the HBCU STEM research program, redirected grants, and proposed eliminating subsidized student loans on which HBCU students disproportionately relied. HBCU presidents who came to the White House for the high-profile signing ceremony were criticized by other HBCU advocates for lending legitimacy to a performance. Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-daca-rescission-2017 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-daca-rescission-2017 DACA recipients — sometimes called Dreamers — had arrived in the United States as children, had lived here for years or decades, had submitted to background checks, and had registered with the government in reliance on the Obama administration's promise of temporary protection. Sessions announced the rescission by describing immigrants in terms that critics said echoed nativist rhetoric. The administration's stated legal basis was that DACA was an unconstitutional executive overreach; the Supreme Court did not reach this question, instead finding the rescission procedurally defective — the DHS Secretary had failed to adequately explain the agency's reasoning as required by the APA. Thu, 18 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-in-cages-policy-graphic https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-in-cages-policy-graphic DACA recipients — called 'Dreamers' — are people who arrived in the United States as children, grew up here, attended American schools, and in many cases speak no other language. The rescission announcement gave recipients a six-month wind-down period and urged Congress to pass legislation. Congress failed to act; the Supreme Court blocked the rescission in June 2020, ruling the administration's process was procedurally defective. DACA remained in legal limbo through the remainder of the first term. Thu, 18 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-lgbtq-rights-attacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-lgbtq-rights-attacks Trump's first executive actions on LGBTQ issues included rescinding a 2016 guidance protecting transgender students' bathroom access in public schools. In July 2017, Trump tweeted the military ban without notifying the Joint Chiefs; the tweet came after DOD had already been studying how to implement transgender service. The administration also reversed Obama-era healthcare anti-discrimination guidance, removed LGBTQ survey questions from the Census and government surveys, and reversed protections for LGBTQ workers in federal contracting. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in June 2020 that Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination covers LGBTQ workers. Mon, 15 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-george-floyd-protests-response https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-george-floyd-protests-response The clearing of Lafayette Square occurred approximately 30 minutes before the 7:00 PM curfew was to take effect. Independent investigators and journalists documented that the protesters were peaceful at the time of the clearing. The chemical agent used was later identified as a pepper chemical agent (technically not 'tear gas') deployed without warning. Trump had convened a call with governors the same day, calling them 'weak' and urging them to 'dominate' protesters. Attorney General Barr appeared in person to supervise the clearing. The Bible photo-op that followed was condemned by Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde, whose church was used as a prop without her knowledge or consent. Wed, 10 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/lafayette-square-protest-crackdown https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/lafayette-square-protest-crackdown Amid nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, federal law enforcement — including National Guard units, Secret Service, Park Police, and Bureau of Prisons officers — forcibly dispersed a peaceful crowd in Lafayette Square using pepper balls, chemical irritants, rubber bullets, and mounted police. Minutes later, Trump walked through the cleared square to hold a Bible at St. John's Church in a staged photo. Mon, 01 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-nuclear-testing-resumption-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-nuclear-testing-resumption-order The Washington Post reported in May 2020 that senior Trump administration officials — including representatives from the Defense and State Departments — discussed at a meeting whether to conduct a nuclear test explosion. The discussions were presented as leverage in arms control negotiations with Russia and China. No test took place, but the public discussion of resuming testing — after a 28-year U.S. moratorium — was treated by arms control experts as a significant destabilization of the global non-proliferation architecture. The Trump administration had already withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and signaled disinterest in extending New START. Fri, 22 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-russia-election-interference-response https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-russia-election-interference-response Standing next to Putin at a joint press conference, Trump declined to affirm the intelligence community's unanimous assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit him. He also refused to implement congressionally-mandated sanctions against Russia following the Salisbury chemical weapons attack and on other grounds. The Senate Intelligence Committee's 2020 bipartisan report confirmed not only Russian interference but that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared internal polling data with a Russian intelligence operative. Tue, 25 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/comey-firing-obstruction-justice https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/comey-firing-obstruction-justice Trump fired FBI Director Comey while Comey's bureau was investigating Trump campaign ties to Russia. Trump's own statements to Lester Holt and to Russian officials — that the firing relieved 'great pressure' from the Russia investigation — directly contradicted the White House's stated justifications. Mueller's report identified ten episodes of potential obstruction and declined to exonerate Trump; it explicitly left open the question of indictment. Tue, 25 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-social-security-medicaid-cuts-proposals https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-social-security-medicaid-cuts-proposals Trump's first budget proposal, released May 23, 2017, proposed over $3 trillion in safety net cuts over 10 years — including $610 billion in Medicaid cuts through block grant conversion, $193 billion in SNAP cuts, and $64 billion in Social Security disability cuts. The proposals contradicted Trump's repeated campaign promise not to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. While the budgets were largely dead on arrival in Congress, they represented the administration's stated priorities and established the ideological context for the ACA repeal effort. In February 2020, Trump's budget proposed cutting Social Security disability insurance by $70 billion. Mon, 10 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-impeachment-first-ukraine-acquittal https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-impeachment-first-ukraine-acquittal The first impeachment arose from a July 25, 2019 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky in which Trump asked Ukraine to 'do us a favor' by investigating the Bidens and the 2016 election, while $391 million in congressionally approved military aid was being withheld. Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified that there was an explicit quid pro quo and 'everyone was in the loop.' Ambassador William Taylor testified that U.S. officials were told the aid was conditioned on the announcement of investigations. The Senate acquitted on party-line votes except for Romney, who voted to convict on the abuse of power article. Trump fired Sondland and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (who had raised the alarm about the call) two days after the acquittal. Wed, 05 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ukraine-military-aid-withheld-election-interference https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ukraine-military-aid-withheld-election-interference Ukraine had been under Russian military pressure since 2014. The $391 million in security assistance — congressionally appropriated bipartisan aid that had nothing to do with Biden — was withheld by Trump's Office of Management and Budget while the White House sought a Ukrainian announcement of investigations. The July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky documented the pressure: Trump told Zelensky he needed a 'favor' — an investigation of the 2016 election and of Biden — before the U.S. would proceed. A White House national security official filed a whistleblower complaint. The aid was eventually released in September 2019 after the whistleblower complaint became public. Wed, 05 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ukraine-extortion-first-impeachment https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/ukraine-extortion-first-impeachment Trump conditioned release of congressionally-approved military aid on Ukraine's announcement of investigations targeting his political rival. The scheme, exposed by a whistleblower and confirmed by multiple witnesses including Trump's own ambassador to the EU, made national security funds contingent on Trump's personal electoral interests. The House voted to impeach; the Senate acquitted on party lines after blocking witness testimony. Wed, 05 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-muslim-ban-expansion-third-country https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-muslim-ban-expansion-third-country The travel ban evolved through three executive orders as earlier versions were blocked by courts for discriminatory purpose and due process violations. The third version added non-Muslim-majority countries to provide legal cover, and was upheld by the Supreme Court 5-4 in June 2018. The Court's majority expressly declined to consider Trump's public statements calling for a Muslim ban; Sotomayor's dissent quoted those statements at length and compared the ruling to Korematsu v. United States. Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-cages-immigration-detention https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-cages-immigration-detention The DHS Inspector General's July 2019 report documented conditions at Border Patrol facilities in El Paso, Texas: some detainees held for over a month in single-occupancy holding rooms, standing room only conditions, limited access to showers and clean clothing, insufficient food, and inadequate medical care. The Clint facility conditions, documented by attorneys visiting to conduct interviews, included children sleeping on floors, a 2-year-old with dirty clothes, limited access to soap and toothbrushes, and sick children not separated from healthy ones. The administration's response was that the facilities were overwhelmed by a surge in arrivals and that Congress needed to provide additional funding. Wed, 15 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Deportation & Immigration https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-steel-tariffs-trade-war https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-steel-tariffs-trade-war Trump's Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs disrupted U.S. trade relationships with allies and adversaries alike. The steel and aluminum tariffs targeted Canada, the EU, Japan, and South Korea — treaty allies — under a national security designation that even many Republicans criticized as pretextual. Retaliatory tariffs by China on soybeans, pork, and other agricultural goods caused severe damage to American farmers, requiring $28 billion in emergency agricultural assistance. Wed, 15 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-soleimani-assassination-iran-escalation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-soleimani-assassination-iran-escalation Soleimani was one of the most senior military commanders of a foreign government. His killing — outside declared combat zones, in the territory of a third country (Iraq) — raised significant questions under international law and the U.S. War Powers Resolution. Congressional leaders, including Senate majority leader McConnell, were not briefed in advance. Iran's ballistic missile response struck Al Asad Air Base and injured 110 U.S. service members; Trump initially told the public no one was hurt. The administration's justification for the strike — an 'imminent threat' — was not substantiated with specific intelligence that was shared with Congress. Wed, 08 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/soleimani-assassination https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/soleimani-assassination Trump ordered the killing of Iran's most senior military commander without consulting Congress and without a clear and credible imminent threat justification. The strike killed Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles against U.S. forces in Iraq. The administration offered contradictory and later-disputed justifications for the 'imminence' of the claimed threat. Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/jcpoa-iran-deal-withdrawal https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/jcpoa-iran-deal-withdrawal The IAEA confirmed Iran was fully complying with the JCPOA when Trump withdrew. His 'maximum pressure' campaign reimposed crippling economic sanctions, including on Iran's banking system, oil exports, and humanitarian goods. Iran resumed enrichment and crossed successive JCPOA limits. The campaign ended with the assassination of IRGC General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 and Iran further accelerating its nuclear program — ultimately leaving Iran closer to a bomb than when the deal was in force. Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-withdrawal-iran-nuclear-deal-jcpoa https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-withdrawal-iran-nuclear-deal-jcpoa The JCPOA had halted Iran's path to nuclear weapons by removing sanctions in exchange for verifiable limits on enrichment. The IAEA had certified Iranian compliance in each of its inspections. Trump characterized the deal as 'the worst deal ever made' and the withdrawal as correcting an Obama-era mistake. European allies, who had spent years negotiating the agreement, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Trump to stay in. Following the withdrawal, Iran accelerated its nuclear program, enriched uranium to higher levels than were permitted before the JCPOA, and the U.S. assassination of General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 brought the two countries to the brink of direct military conflict. Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/children-cages-cbp-overcrowding-crisis https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/children-cages-cbp-overcrowding-crisis The CBP Border Patrol stations along the southern border were designed for 72-hour holding. Under the Trump administration's enforcement surge, they held children for days and weeks, sometimes in chainlink-fenced areas — the 'cages' — without adequate food, water, sleep, or sanitation. At least seven children died in custody in fiscal years 2018-2019, compared to zero in the previous decade. The DHS OIG described conditions presenting 'immediate risk' to detainee health and safety. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-obamacare-repeal-attempts https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-obamacare-repeal-attempts The administration's attempt to repeal and replace the ACA failed through three separate legislative vehicles: the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed the House but died in the Senate; the Better Care Reconciliation Act failed to advance in the Senate; and the 'skinny repeal' (Health Care Freedom Act) failed 51-49 when McCain, Murkowski, and Collins voted against it. Following legislative failure, the administration cut the Navigator program (enrollment assistance) from $63 million to $10 million, reduced the open enrollment window, and created an association of short-term health plans that could deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Termination of cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers triggered premium increases and a complex subsidy dynamic that ultimately cost the government more than the payments themselves. Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-jerome-powell-fed-attacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-jerome-powell-fed-attacks Trump nominated Powell to chair the Federal Reserve in November 2017 and he was confirmed in February 2018. By July 2018, Trump was publicly criticizing Powell's interest rate decisions — the first time in decades a sitting president had publicly pressured the Fed chair in this manner. Over the following 18 months, Trump made more than 100 public statements criticizing the Fed's rate decisions. He called the Fed 'the biggest risk to the economy,' said the Fed had gone 'crazy' with rate increases, asked why he should have a Fed that was tightening while Europe was loosening, and repeatedly compared Powell unfavorably to Chinese central bank policy. Trump also inquired about whether he could demote or fire Powell, which advisers told him he could not legally do under the Federal Reserve Act. Wed, 11 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-tower-moscow-cohen-lie https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-tower-moscow-cohen-lie The Trump Tower Moscow project involved Cohen emailing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's office in January 2016 seeking Putin's personal assistance advancing the project. Trump signed a letter of intent in October 2015. Negotiations continued through June 2016. Cohen testified to Congress in 2017 that negotiations ended in January 2016 — a lie he later admitted under oath. The project would have been the largest Trump deal ever, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars and requiring Russian government approval. Throughout this period, Trump repeatedly denied any Russian business dealings and publicly advocated for lifting sanctions on Russia. Wed, 27 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-war-criminal-pardons-gallagher https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-war-criminal-pardons-gallagher The Gallagher case was the most prominent: he had been reported by his own platoon members, who described him as 'freaking evil' and said they feared he would shoot civilians and colleagues. He was convicted by court-martial of posing with a corpse but acquitted of murder after a key prosecution witness changed his testimony. Trump followed the verdict by restoring Gallagher's rank and then, overriding Defense Secretary Esper's objections, blocking the Navy SEALs from removing Gallagher's Trident pin (the insignia of qualification). Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was fired after he sought a compromise with the White House outside normal channels. The pardons were condemned by military ethics experts as undermining the uniform code and the military's commitment to the laws of armed conflict. Thu, 21 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-sondland-quid-pro-quo-everyone-was-in-the-loop https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-sondland-quid-pro-quo-everyone-was-in-the-loop Sondland had originally testified in closed session that he had no knowledge of a quid pro quo involving military aid. After two other diplomats — William Taylor and Tim Morrison — submitted testimony contradicting Sondland's account, Sondland submitted a supplemental declaration amending his prior testimony to acknowledge he had told a Ukrainian official that the release of military assistance would likely not occur until Ukraine announced investigations. In his public testimony, Sondland went further, naming Pompeo, Mulvaney, and Bolton as aware of the arrangement and stating the quid pro quo was explicit. Wed, 20 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-foundation-shut-down-fraud-charity https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-foundation-shut-down-fraud-charity The Trump Foundation, a charitable organization, was found by the New York AG to have engaged in a pattern of illegal conduct including: making a $25,000 donation to Florida AG Pam Bondi (who was deciding whether to open a Trump University investigation), purchasing a $20,000 portrait of Trump, paying off legal settlements for Trump businesses, and illegally coordinating with the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Trump had also used foundation money to pay personal legal settlements — including $258,000 to resolve lawsuits involving his businesses. Thu, 07 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-foundation-self-dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-foundation-self-dealing The New York AG investigation found that the Trump Foundation was used as a checkbook for Trump's personal and business interests rather than charitable purposes: charitable funds settled legal disputes for Trump businesses, purchased a $10,000 portrait of Trump, made politically timed donations, and were illegally coordinated with the 2016 campaign. Trump was required to pay $2 million to legitimate charities as a penalty. Thu, 07 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-trump-foundation-fraud https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-trump-foundation-fraud The New York AG's investigation found: Trump used foundation funds to settle legal obligations of his businesses (including a $100,000 payment from the foundation to settle a lawsuit against Mar-a-Lago), purchased items for personal use (including a $10,000 portrait of himself and a $12,000 signed Tim Tebow helmet), directed foundation funds to charities at political events in exchange for applause in possible violation of campaign finance law, and improperly used the foundation to pay a $25,000 contribution to a political organization supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi — who subsequently declined to investigate Trump University fraud claims. Trump did not have meaningful control over the foundation, which was run largely by his children without proper board oversight. Thu, 07 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/syrian-kurds-betrayal-turkey-offensive https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/syrian-kurds-betrayal-turkey-offensive After a phone call with Erdoğan, Trump announced U.S. forces would step aside from the Turkish-Syrian border, describing the Syrian Kurds as 'no angels' and suggesting the region's conflicts were 'not our problem.' Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring within hours. The SDF — which had lost 11,000 fighters combating ISIS — was forced to divert troops from guarding ISIS prisoner facilities; hundreds of ISIS prisoners escaped. Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-north-korea-diplomacy-failed-denuclearization https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-north-korea-diplomacy-failed-denuclearization Trump's three meetings with Kim Jong-un (Singapore June 2018, Hanoi February 2019, DMZ June 2019) produced vague joint statements but no binding agreements. North Korea did not submit to inspections, did not provide a declaration of nuclear assets, and did not halt weapons development. Trump unilaterally suspended U.S.-South Korea military exercises after the Singapore summit, calling them 'very expensive war games' and using language Kim had used — a significant concession military commanders opposed. North Korea tested missiles throughout 2019. Talks broke down at Hanoi when the U.S. declined to trade all sanctions for only partial denuclearization. Sat, 05 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-national-emergency-declaration-wall-funding https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-national-emergency-declaration-wall-funding Trump had explicitly asked Congress for $5.7 billion for the border wall; Congress appropriated $1.375 billion for fencing, far less than requested. Trump signed the appropriations bill and then simultaneously declared a national emergency to bypass the congressional decision and access Pentagon funds Congress had not authorized for this purpose. He acknowledged the emergency framing was pretextual, saying at the announcement: 'I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster.' Congress voted to terminate the emergency; Trump vetoed. Courts blocked parts of the diversion; the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed pending litigation. Fri, 27 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-sharpiegate-alabama-hurricane-dorian https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-sharpiegate-alabama-hurricane-dorian Trump's September 1 tweet falsely included Alabama in Hurricane Dorian's path. The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a correction saying Alabama was not at risk. Trump then displayed an Oval Office map showing the altered cone reaching into Alabama. Multiple officials at NOAA described feeling pressured not to contradict the president. The Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly threatened firings if NOAA scientists publicly contradicted Trump's Alabama claim. An unsigned statement supporting Trump's position was issued by NOAA over scientists' objections. A formal Inspector General investigation was opened. Mon, 09 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-epstein-connections-parties-decades https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-epstein-connections-parties-decades Trump and Epstein were documented social associates from the late 1980s through the mid-2000s. They attended parties together at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and in Manhattan. In a 2002 New York magazine interview, Trump described Epstein as 'a terrific guy' who enjoyed 'the younger side' of women — a statement that took on significance after Epstein's arrest. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's primary victims, alleged in court filings that she encountered Trump at events hosted by Epstein. Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago around 2004-2005 after Epstein allegedly assaulted the daughter of a Mar-a-Lago member. Acosta, Trump's later Secretary of Labor, was the U.S. Attorney who gave Epstein a controversial 2008 plea deal. Sat, 10 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-nda-employee-silencing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-nda-employee-silencing Trump's NDA culture predated the presidency. Former Trump Organization employees described comprehensive NDAs covering all aspects of their employment. The campaign NDAs were drafted by Trump's attorneys and covered staffers, volunteers, and contractors. Several current and former employees who spoke to journalists anonymously or were approached by journalists described fear of legal action as the primary reason they declined to speak on the record. Michael Cohen's 'catch and kill' operation with AMI (American Media Inc.) extended the silencing mechanism to women who alleged sexual misconduct. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House employee, claimed she was pressured to sign an NDA after her departure that would have prohibited any public criticism of Trump. Thu, 01 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-jeffrey-epstein-connection https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-jeffrey-epstein-connection The relationship between Trump and Epstein was documented through photographs, a 1992 party video, Trump's 2002 New York magazine comment, and Epstein's own court documents. After Epstein's 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges involving minors, documents in the case referenced Trump. A 2015 deposition of a Epstein associate indicated Trump was involved in social circles that intersected with Epstein's activities — though the deposition document was disputed. Trump denied involvement in any of Epstein's criminal activities, and no charges were brought against Trump in connection with Epstein. The nature and extent of the social relationship were documented; the 2019 distancing contradicted the warmth of the 2002 description. Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-central-park-five-death-penalty-ads https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-central-park-five-death-penalty-ads The 1989 Central Park jogger case involved the assault and rape of Trisha Meili. Police coerced confessions from five teenagers — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — who ranged in age from 14 to 16. All five served sentences after conviction. In 2002, convicted serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the attack alone; DNA evidence confirmed only his DNA. The convictions were vacated. In 2014, New York City settled their lawsuit for $41 million. Trump ran full-page ads in four newspapers in 1989 calling for the death penalty; in 2019, he told reporters 'You have people on both sides of that' and that the settlement 'doesn't mean they were innocent.' Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-census-citizenship-question https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-census-citizenship-question Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed the Census Bureau had been asked by the DOJ to add the citizenship question for Voting Rights enforcement. This explanation was false: Ross had asked the DOJ to request the question, not the reverse. The Supreme Court ruled the pretext was evident and blocked the question. Post-decision, documents from the hard drives of Thomas Hofeller — a Republican redistricting expert who died in 2018 — revealed he had written a memo years earlier stating that a citizenship question would allow Republicans to draw districts based on citizen (rather than total) population, 'which would be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.' The question was designed to suppress Census participation among immigrant communities, reducing their political representation. Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/central-park-five-injustice https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/central-park-five-injustice Following the 1989 Central Park jogger case, Trump took out full-page ads in four New York newspapers calling for the death penalty for five teenagers — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — then aged 14-16. All five were convicted after making coerced false confessions. In 2002, the actual perpetrator confessed and DNA confirmed the exonerations. Trump refused to accept the exonerations for decades and called their civil settlement a 'disgrace' while running for president. Tue, 18 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-central-park-five https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-central-park-five The five teenagers — Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — were 14 to 16 years old at the time of their arrest. They gave confessions that were later found to have been coerced during lengthy interrogations without parents present. In 2002, Matias Reyes confessed to the attack; DNA evidence confirmed his account and proved the five had not committed the rape. The city of New York settled with them for $41 million in 2014. Trump called the settlement a disgrace and continued to maintain the five were guilty. His 1989 ads ran in the New York Times, Daily News, New York Post, and New York Newsday. Tue, 18 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-sarah-huckabee-sanders-lies https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-sarah-huckabee-sanders-lies Sanders told reporters in May 2017 that the reason Trump fired Comey was that FBI rank-and-file agents had lost confidence in him — a claim supported by the White House's stated justification for the firing. When Mueller's investigators interviewed Sanders, she acknowledged that statement had not been based on anything, that she had made it up in the moment, and that it was a 'slip of the tongue.' The Mueller Report quoted her directly: the claim was not based on 'any of the things you heard.' Other documented false claims from the briefing room included statements about the Trump Tower meeting, Trump's involvement in drafting a misleading statement about the meeting, and numerous false claims about immigration, trade, and policy matters that fact-checkers documented. Fri, 14 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-barr-mueller-report-misrepresentation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-barr-mueller-report-misrepresentation Mueller's investigation documented ten episodes of potential obstruction of justice and concluded that while it could not exonerate Trump, it also could not reach a traditional prosecutorial judgment because of the OLC opinion barring indictment of a sitting president. Barr's summary letter stated 'the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia' and that Mueller had 'not established that members of the Trump campaign conspired.' On obstruction, Barr stated on his own authority that the evidence was 'not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense' — an independent judgment Mueller had explicitly declined to make. Wed, 29 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-kushner-security-clearance-overrule-cia https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-kushner-security-clearance-overrule-cia Kushner had 40 contacts with foreign nationals from more than 20 countries that he failed to disclose on his original security clearance form — submitting three amended versions before all contacts were documented. Career security officials recommended denying or limiting Kushner's clearance; Trump overruled them in May 2018. A White House personnel security director told a congressional committee that she had been pressured to grant the clearance against her professional judgment. Both Trump and Ivanka publicly denied Trump had intervened, before the New York Times reported he had personally ordered the clearance. Wed, 01 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-gag-orders-mueller-witnesses https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-gag-orders-mueller-witnesses The Mueller Report documented a sustained pattern of obstruction. Trump ordered McGahn to fire Mueller in June 2017; McGahn refused and prepared to resign. Trump later ordered McGahn to publicly deny having received this order; McGahn refused. Trump publicly praised associates who did not cooperate and attacked those who did. His private communications with Manafort were described in court filings as reassuring Manafort that a pardon was a possibility, potentially discouraging cooperation. Mueller concluded that Congress, not the Special Counsel, was the appropriate institution to address obstruction given OLC policy against indicting a sitting president. Thu, 18 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-tax-cuts-jobs-act-corporate-windfall https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-tax-cuts-jobs-act-corporate-windfall The TCJA was passed through the budget reconciliation process with no Democratic votes; the process required the individual tax cuts to expire (via budget rules) while making the corporate rate cut permanent. Trump claimed the cut would generate economic growth sufficient to pay for itself — a prediction rejected by the CBO, the JCT, and most economists. The $1.9 trillion corporate stock buyback surge in 2018 documented that the primary immediate effect was share buybacks rather than business investment or wage growth. The Trump family directly benefited from the pass-through deduction. Trump signed it into law and called it 'one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people.' Mon, 15 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-trans-military-ban https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-trans-military-ban Trump's tweet announcing the transgender military ban was not coordinated with military leadership. The Joint Chiefs issued an unusual public statement saying they would not change policy until they received 'formal guidance.' Multiple federal courts issued injunctions blocking the original ban. After losing court cases, the administration issued a modified 'Mattis plan' that imposed restrictions based on gender dysphoria treatment; it was implemented in 2019 and reversed by Biden in 2021. An estimated 14,700 transgender people were serving in the military. Fri, 12 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/somalia-targeting-rules-civilian-casualties https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/somalia-targeting-rules-civilian-casualties Trump's Somalia designation and overall loosening of targeting rules — including relaxing the 'near-certainty' standard for civilian safety — significantly increased the pace of airstrikes across multiple theaters. Airwars and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism documented substantial increases in civilian casualties in Somalia under the new rules. The administration also reduced the reporting requirements for civilian harm assessments, eliminating the only systematic public accounting of civilian harm. Fri, 01 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-kushner-security-clearance-override https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-kushner-security-clearance-override Kushner's initial SF-86 security clearance form, filed in January 2017, omitted more than 100 foreign contacts, including meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. He amended the form multiple times. Career intelligence and law enforcement officials raised concerns about his business's financial entanglements with foreign nationals, including a $1.4 billion loan his family company received from Qatari-linked investors, and meetings he had had with foreign officials during the transition. Chief of Staff John Kelly wrote an internal memo stating he personally overruled the career professionals' recommendation against granting clearance. Trump later denied to journalists that he had ordered the clearance, contradicting Kelly's memo. Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-khashoggi-mbs-cover-intelligence https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-khashoggi-mbs-cover-intelligence Khashoggi, a permanent U.S. resident and Washington Post contributor, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain marriage documents and was killed by a Saudi hit squad. Turkish intelligence recordings documented the killing. The CIA assessed with high confidence that MBS had ordered it. Trump's response was to prioritize the Saudi relationship over accountability: he repeatedly questioned the CIA's conclusion, cited a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, and issued an unprecedented presidential statement that effectively exonerated MBS by saying even if he was responsible, the U.S. would stand by Saudi Arabia. A bipartisan Senate resolution holding MBS responsible was passed; Trump threatened to veto related legislation. Fri, 15 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-shutdown-longest-in-us-history https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-shutdown-longest-in-us-history The shutdown began when Trump refused to sign a continuing resolution that did not include wall funding, after initially indicating he would sign a bipartisan agreement. Approximately 800,000 federal workers went without pay; those deemed 'essential' — including air traffic controllers, TSA agents, Coast Guard personnel, and federal law enforcement — were required to work without compensation. The TSA began calling out sick in significant numbers, raising aviation safety concerns. Trump reopened the government after 35 days without receiving any wall funding. Fri, 25 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-ben-carson-hud-dining-set https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-ben-carson-hud-dining-set The $31,561 dining set — table, chairs, and hutch — was ordered in September 2017 for Carson's HUD suite. A career HUD employee, Helen Foster, filed a complaint alleging she was reassigned after she raised concerns about the legality of the purchase. Foster said she was told by HUD leadership that the order would go forward and that 'someone' had ordered it who outranked her. After the purchase became public in February 2018, Carson and his wife initially disputed involvement; subsequent reporting found text messages showing his wife Candy Carson personally directed the purchase and selected items. Carson reimbursed HUD and the set was canceled. The HUD inspector general investigated. Mon, 14 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-mattis-resignation-letter-rebuke https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-mattis-resignation-letter-rebuke Mattis had served as Defense Secretary since January 2017. His resignation came after Trump announced — via tweet, without military consultation — that he was withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, effectively abandoning the Kurdish partners who had done the ground fighting against ISIS. Mattis's resignation letter was unusual in its directness: it stated that he believed Trump had not treated allies with 'respect and seriousness' and had not been 'clear-eyed' about the threats posed by adversaries including Russia and China. Trump, initially describing the departure as planned, later forced Mattis out before the end of his original tenure after the letter's contents became widely circulated. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-vietnam-draft-deferments https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-vietnam-draft-deferments The four student deferments were legal and widely used by college students of the era. The 1968 bone spurs medical deferment, obtained after Trump's student deferments expired at graduation, came from Dr. Larry Braunstein, a podiatrist in Jamaica, Queens — a building owner named Fred Trump. Braunstein's daughters told the New York Times in 2018 that their father provided the diagnosis as a 'favor' to Fred Trump, the landlord. Trump has described his bone spurs in varying ways over the years, at times saying they had healed on their own and at other times appearing not to remember which foot was affected. He has praised military service at Veterans events while criticizing specific veterans including John McCain for being captured. Wed, 26 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ryan-zinke-interior-department-corruption https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ryan-zinke-interior-department-corruption Zinke used government aircraft for personal travel, including a trip to attend a hockey game and a flight to meet a donor. He pursued a real estate development near his Montana property with a company connected to Halliburton CEO David Lesar — while Halliburton had business before the Interior Department. He intervened in tribal gaming compacts in Connecticut to benefit a political donor's competing casino operation. He reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half — the largest rollback of protected federal land in U.S. history. He resigned in December 2018; the DOJ referred his conduct for further investigation. Sat, 15 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-michael-cohen-tax-fraud-bank-fraud https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-michael-cohen-tax-fraud-bank-fraud Cohen's guilty plea was not just his own conviction — it was Trump's implication. Cohen stated in federal court that the campaign finance crimes (the Daniels and McDougal payments) were committed 'in coordination with and at the direction of' a candidate for federal office. The federal prosecutors who accepted his plea treated Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator. Cohen served three years in federal prison; Trump, protected by the OLC no-indictment policy, was not indicted federally until after leaving office. Wed, 12 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-catch-and-kill-national-enquirer https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-catch-and-kill-national-enquirer The National Enquirer's 'catch and kill' program operated by buying the rights to stories from people with negative accounts of Trump — paying them for exclusives and then killing the stories. AMI purchased stories involving alleged sexual affairs and other damaging material. Federal prosecutors concluded the scheme constituted illegal campaign contributions; AMI entered a non-prosecution agreement admitting this. David Pecker's cooperation was central to the conviction of Michael Cohen and the eventual conviction of Trump himself. Wed, 12 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-steel-aluminum-tariffs-trade-war https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-steel-aluminum-tariffs-trade-war The Section 232 tariffs were challenged immediately as legally dubious — U.S. national security law did not contemplate allies as threats, and Canada, Germany, South Korea, and Japan supply steel and aluminum to U.S. defense contractors. The EU, Canada, and Mexico all retaliated with targeted tariffs on politically sensitive U.S. products (Bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, soybeans). The broader China trade war — separate from the steel tariffs — involved escalating rounds of tariffs reaching 25% on $250 billion in Chinese goods; China retaliated against agricultural products; the U.S. government paid $28 billion in direct payments to American farmers to compensate for lost Chinese export markets. Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-sessions-recusal-firing-obstruction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-sessions-recusal-firing-obstruction Sessions's recusal created the conditions for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, since it meant Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein oversaw the Russia investigation. Trump spent 20 months publicly attacking Sessions for his recusal — including in tweets, press statements, and reporting — while his private conduct (documented by Mueller) included repeated instructions that Sessions should 'unrecuse' himself and take control of the investigation. The day after the 2018 midterm elections, Trump demanded and received Sessions's resignation, replacing him with Matthew Whitaker — a move DOJ legal scholars argued was designed to install an acting AG who would not be recused from the Russia investigation. Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-inheritance-tax-fraud-413-million https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-inheritance-tax-fraud-413-million The Times investigation identified multiple strategies: Fred Trump created a shell company called All County Building Supply & Maintenance to collect money from Trump properties, which was then used to justify large increases in maintenance fees that were passed to Trump children as untaxed income; Fred Trump's estate was valued at far below market rates to reduce estate taxes; and the children, acting in concert, were able to receive hundreds of millions in what amounted to gifts but were legally classified in ways that minimized tax exposure. The New York Department of Taxation opened a review. Tue, 02 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-separation-tender-age https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-separation-tender-age While the Zero Tolerance policy is documented elsewhere, the specific treatment of children under 5 — the 'tender age' population — constituted a distinct category of harm. Infants as young as a few months old were taken from parents and placed in facilities where they were cared for by strangers. Whistleblowers described children crying inconsolably. The American Academy of Pediatrics called the policy 'child abuse.' A federal court gave the government 30 days to reunify this group; the administration missed the deadline. Mon, 01 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT Deportation to Torture https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-veterans-affairs-reforms-failures https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-veterans-affairs-reforms-failures The ProPublica investigation documented a 'shadow VA' in which the three Mar-a-Lago members — who paid $200,000 entry fees — exchanged hundreds of calls and emails with VA officials, reviewed candidates for top positions, influenced multimillion-dollar contract decisions including a $10 billion electronic health records contract, and shaped the VA's strategic direction without any official appointment. VA Secretary Shulkin had cooperated with the arrangements. He was fired amid internal feuding; Trump nominated his personal physician Ronny Jackson as replacement; Jackson withdrew after Senate investigators documented allegations of drunk driving, overprescribing, and creating a 'toxic work environment.' Sat, 01 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-puerto-rico-paper-towels-maria-response https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-puerto-rico-paper-towels-maria-response Trump visited Puerto Rico nine days after a storm that killed nearly 3,000 people and left the island without power for months — the longest blackout in U.S. history. His visit featured a trophy-style photo op where he tossed paper towels to survivors. He told them their death toll compared favorably to 'a real disaster like Katrina.' Months later, as the official death toll was revised upward toward 3,000, Trump claimed the number was fabricated. Puerto Rico remained without power for 11 months in some areas — the longest blackout in U.S. territory history. FEMA's response was widely criticized as inadequate. Tue, 28 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-response https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-response Maria caused the largest blackout in U.S. history and destroyed Puerto Rico's infrastructure. The Trump administration delayed FEMA resources, deployed far fewer personnel and supplies than comparable mainland disasters, slow-walked waiver of the Jones Act, sent paper towels rather than aid at a critical moment, and accused Puerto Rican officials of corruption when they asked for more help. Harvard researchers estimated 2,975 excess deaths; the Trump administration initially reported 64. Tue, 28 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-response https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-response Puerto Rico lost nearly all electrical power — the largest power outage in U.S. history at that point. FEMA's response was slower and less resourced than its response to simultaneous Hurricane Harvey in Texas. The Jones Act (prohibiting foreign ships from transporting cargo between U.S. ports) was waived immediately for Texas and Florida but not for Puerto Rico until 11 days after landfall. Trump attacked Mayor Cruz personally, calling her 'nasty' and suggesting Puerto Ricans wanted 'everything done for them.' Trump's visit ten days after the storm became notorious when he tossed paper towel rolls into a crowd of disaster survivors. Harvard's independent study estimated 4,645 deaths attributable to the storm and its aftermath — 73 times the official government count. Tue, 28 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-helsinki-summit-putin-siding-against-cia https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-helsinki-summit-putin-siding-against-cia Trump and Putin met privately for approximately two hours with only translators present; there was no U.S. notetaker and Trump reportedly had his interpreter's notes confiscated. At the public press conference, Trump said he didn't 'see any reason why it would be Russia' that interfered in the election — contradicting the unanimous assessment of the U.S. intelligence community. When asked the next day, Trump claimed he had misspoken and meant to say 'wouldn't' instead of 'would.' The statement provoked condemnation from Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, and dozens of Republican members of Congress. Tue, 17 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-scott-pruitt-epa-corruption https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-scott-pruitt-epa-corruption Pruitt's tenure combined serious corruption with aggressive deregulation — two goals that reinforced each other. His 24/7 security detail, which EPA Inspector General reports found was not justified by credible threats, cost taxpayers approximately $3.5 million in his 17 months at the agency. He flew first-class on domestic flights, claiming security concerns, while his own security detail said coach was adequate. He rented a condo from the wife of a lobbyist — at $50/night — while her clients' matters were pending before the EPA. He granted unprecedented raises to two staff members through CAA authority after the White House had denied the raises. He was ultimately undone by the accumulation of scandal but had already implemented dozens of deregulatory actions. Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-scott-pruitt-epa-corruption https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-scott-pruitt-epa-corruption Pruitt's EPA tenure was defined by serial self-dealing: he flew first-class and chartered government planes citing 'security threats' that his own security detail denied, leased a Capitol Hill condo for $50/night from the wife of an energy lobbyist (when the EPA was processing that lobbyist's clients' cases), directed his security detail to run personal errands and sourced a used mattress from Trump International Hotel, and asked his scheduler to seek Chick-fil-A franchise opportunities for his wife. He resigned in July 2018 as 14 separate federal ethics investigations were underway. Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-immigration-travel-ban-muslim-countries https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-immigration-travel-ban-muslim-countries The travel ban's anti-Muslim intent was documented in Trump's own public statements: before the first order, Trump had called for 'a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States'; Rudy Giuliani publicly stated Trump had asked him how to create 'a Muslim ban' legally. The first order's implementation — without agency coordination, applying immediately to green card holders, causing chaos and hundreds of detentions at airports — forced a broad injunction within hours. Courts repeatedly found discriminatory intent. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the third version, with Chief Justice Roberts's majority explicitly declining to assess whether the stated national security justification was pretextual. Tue, 26 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-net-neutrality-fcc-rollback https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-net-neutrality-fcc-rollback Net neutrality rules prevented ISPs from discriminating between different types of internet traffic — from blocking competitors' services, throttling streaming video, or creating 'fast lanes' for content providers willing to pay. The Trump FCC repeal removed those protections, reclassifying broadband as an information service rather than a utility. States including California passed their own net neutrality rules; the legal status remained contested through Trump's first term. Mon, 11 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-net-neutrality-repeal-fcc https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-net-neutrality-repeal-fcc Net neutrality rules required internet service providers to treat all internet traffic equally — not to slow down or block Netflix while favoring their own streaming service, or charge websites for premium delivery. The repeal allowed ISPs to create tiered access to the internet. The FCC's public comment process was flooded with millions of fake comments submitted using stolen identities; the New York attorney general investigated. Pai's arguments that the repeal would increase broadband investment were contradicted by ISPs' own earnings statements and CEO comments to investors. Mon, 11 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-school-shooting-response-inaction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-children-school-shooting-response-inaction In the week following Parkland, Trump held a remarkable televised meeting with lawmakers in which he expressed support for raising the minimum age for rifle purchases to 21, comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and even taking guns from dangerous people before due process. He told Republican lawmakers they were 'afraid' of the NRA. Within weeks, after meetings with NRA president Wayne LaPierre, Trump had reversed on raising the purchase age and most other proposals. The final federal response was an executive action banning bump stocks — the device used in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre (58 dead) — which was later struck down by the Supreme Court. Mon, 09 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-opioid-crisis-declaration-no-funding https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-opioid-crisis-declaration-no-funding The Christie Commission had explicitly recommended declaring a national emergency under the Stafford Act or the Public Health Service Act, which would have freed up billions in emergency funding and allowed waiver of normal bureaucratic requirements. Trump instead declared a 'public health emergency' under a different statute (the Public Health Service Act § 319), which allowed no new money unless Congress appropriated it. Congress had not appropriated it. The declaration was described by public health experts as largely symbolic. Drug overdose deaths continued to rise throughout Trump's term. Mon, 26 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-shithole-countries-comments https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-shithole-countries-comments The meeting was called to discuss a bipartisan immigration framework. Present were Senators Durbin (D-IL), Graham (R-SC), Flake (R-AZ), Perdue (R-GA), Cotton (R-AR), and others, along with DHS Secretary Nielsen. Multiple attendees confirmed the substance of the comments. The 'shithole' characterization was directed at Haiti and African nations; Trump contrasted them with Norway, where he had met with the prime minister the previous day. Nielsen testified to Congress that she did not recall the exact words used. Perdue and Cotton initially said they didn't recall the comments then claimed Trump hadn't used those specific words — a position contradicted by Durbin's direct confirmation and Graham's reported in-room response. Fri, 12 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-voter-fraud-commission-kobach-disbanded https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-voter-fraud-commission-kobach-disbanded Trump established the election integrity commission in response to his false claim that 3-5 million illegal votes had been cast in the 2016 election — a claim he made to explain why he had lost the popular vote. The commission's first action was a sweeping data request to all 50 states seeking voter rolls with personal data. States across the partisan spectrum refused. The commission operated for seven months, producing no findings. A member filed a lawsuit against the commission for operating without proper transparency. The commission was disbanded January 3, 2018; Trump attributed its dissolution to Democratic obstructionism. Wed, 03 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-voter-fraud-commission-kobach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-voter-fraud-commission-kobach The commission was predicated on Trump's false claim that he had lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million due to illegal voting. It attempted to collect sensitive voter data including partial Social Security numbers, party affiliation, and voting history from all states. The ACLU and states sued over the data collection demands. The commission found no fraud, was shut down in January 2018, and its work was handed to DHS — where it also produced no substantive findings. Critics documented its primary purpose as political: to validate Trump's fraud claims and build infrastructure for voter suppression. Wed, 03 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-travel-ban-hurricane-response-virgin-islands https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-travel-ban-hurricane-response-virgin-islands Hurricane Irma was among the most powerful Atlantic storms ever recorded at the time of landfall. The U.S. Virgin Islands sustained catastrophic damage: Saint John lost 90% of its structures, the power grid was destroyed, and the water supply was disrupted. Federal response, while eventually mobilized, faced significant delays and resource gaps compared to responses to Florida and Texas in the same hurricane season. The Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp criticized the federal response as inadequate. The contrast between response speeds for voting-status U.S. territories (Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) versus states became a subject of policy debate and congressional hearings. Fri, 01 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-michael-flynn-turkey-lobbying-lies https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-michael-flynn-turkey-lobbying-lies Flynn was paid over $530,000 by a Turkish-controlled entity while serving as one of Trump's most prominent campaign surrogates in 2016 — work he initially did not disclose and later retroactively registered as foreign agent activity. He lied to FBI investigators about his December 2016 contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, in which he discussed sanctions that the Obama administration had just imposed on Russia for election interference. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2017, cooperated with Mueller, then attempted to withdraw his plea, and was ultimately pardoned by Trump in November 2020. Fri, 01 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-mnuchin-private-jet-honeymoon https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-mnuchin-private-jet-honeymoon The government plane honeymoon request was denied after it became public in August 2017. Mnuchin said he had made the request for security reasons and had not been aware of the cost. The Kentucky solar eclipse trip drew IG scrutiny when reports emerged that Linton had asked whether she could accompany Mnuchin on the official trip specifically to watch the eclipse. The IG found the trip had a legitimate official purpose — Mnuchin was scheduled to attend meetings at the Fort Knox federal reserve — but noted concerns about the process and the optics of combining official travel with personal viewing of the solar eclipse. Linton's Instagram post — she tagged designer brands she was wearing and responded hostilely to a commenter — became a symbol of administration attitudes toward wealth and public service. Wed, 29 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-withdrawal-paris-climate-agreement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-withdrawal-paris-climate-agreement The Paris Agreement was the result of two decades of diplomatic effort to establish a global framework for addressing climate change. Trump withdrew citing economic impacts that were disputed by most economists, a commitment to the 'forgotten workers' of coal country, and a broader rejection of international cooperation he described as harmful to American sovereignty. Scientists and diplomats documented the withdrawal's immediate effect on global climate negotiations and the precedent it set for other countries. Sat, 04 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT Federal Dismantlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-niger-ambush-four-soldiers-killed https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-niger-ambush-four-soldiers-killed The four soldiers — Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, and Sgt. La David Johnson — were killed in an ambush 12 days before Trump publicly acknowledged their deaths. Trump's delayed response and his disputed call to Johnson's widow — in which witnesses say he told her her husband 'knew what he signed up for' — became a national controversy. Trump denied the account. The incident also exposed the extent of U.S. military operations in Africa that Congress had not been notified about. Wed, 01 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/muslim-ban-executive-order https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/muslim-ban-executive-order Trump signed an initial travel ban on January 27, 2017, halting entry from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspending the refugee program. After courts blocked it, the administration issued revised versions that scaled back explicit language while preserving the core country-specific restrictions. The Supreme Court allowed a third version to take full effect in December 2017. Tue, 24 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-tom-price-private-jets-resignation https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-first-term-tom-price-private-jets-resignation Price's private jet use was revealed by Politico, which reported in September 2017 that he had taken multiple private charter flights at costs far exceeding commercial alternatives — including a $25,000 flight from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia, a route served by Amtrak trains for under $80 and commercial flights for under $200. After the initial Politico report, additional flights were disclosed including trips to Europe, Africa, and Asia on military aircraft. Trump initially said he was 'not happy' about the reports while keeping Price in office, then accepted Price's resignation on September 29, 2017. Price offered to reimburse approximately $52,000 — the cost of his seat only on the flights — but not the full charter costs. Fri, 29 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-charlottesville-very-fine-people-2017 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-charlottesville-very-fine-people-2017 The Unite the Right rally was organized by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, included marchers with torches chanting 'Jews will not replace us' on the night of August 11, and included violence against counter-protesters on August 12 before James Alex Fields Jr. drove into the crowd. Fields was later convicted of first-degree murder and federal hate crimes. Trump's August 15 press conference response defended those attending the rally as 'people who were very fine people' who were there because they 'protested the taking down of a statue' of Robert E. Lee, and drew a moral equivalence between the white supremacist rally and counter-protesters. Republican leaders including Paul Ryan, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and both former President Bushes publicly criticized the 'both sides' framing. Tue, 15 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/charlottesville-very-fine-people https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/charlottesville-very-fine-people The August 12, 2017 Unite the Right rally drew hundreds of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, and white nationalists to Charlottesville. A rally participant drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer. Trump initially blamed 'many sides,' then under pressure condemned white supremacists, then two days later reinstated the 'very fine people on both sides' framing in a combative press conference. The statements were widely understood as a signal of presidential sympathy to white nationalist movements. Sat, 12 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-aca-repeal-mccain-thumbs-down https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-aca-repeal-mccain-thumbs-down The Republican-led repeal effort over seven months produced several bills that the CBO estimated would cause tens of millions of Americans to lose health insurance. The final attempt — 'skinny repeal' — was a bill so limited in scope that even its Republican proponents did not want it to become law; its stated purpose was to pass something into conference. John McCain, who had returned from brain cancer treatment to cast the deciding vote, gave a thumbs-down at 1:30 AM to defeat the bill 51-49. Trump's response was to blame Republicans and to threaten to withhold the cost-sharing reduction payments that stabilized the ACA market, causing premiums to rise. Fri, 28 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-james-comey-firing-obstruction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-james-comey-firing-obstruction The Comey firing followed Trump's request to Comey for 'loyalty' and a request to drop the investigation of Michael Flynn. Comey had declined both. After the firing, Trump told NBC: 'When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.' In a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak the next day, Trump reportedly said firing Comey had taken 'great pressure' off him. The Mueller report identified 10 instances of potential obstruction; regarding the Comey firing specifically, Mueller found 'substantial evidence' of corrupt intent but did not recommend charges based on DOJ policy. Thu, 11 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/moab-afghanistan-strike https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/moab-afghanistan-strike U.S. forces dropped the MOAB on an ISIS-Khorasan tunnel complex in Achin district, Nangarhar Province. It was the bomb's first combat use. Trump said he had authorized 'another successful job' but defense officials indicated the decision was made at the field commander level without direct presidential sign-off. Afghan and UN officials disputed casualty figures and raised concerns about civilian impact in surrounding villages. Thu, 13 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/syria-shayrat-tomahawk-strike https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/syria-shayrat-tomahawk-strike Following a chemical weapons attack on Khan Shaykhun attributed to the Assad regime, Trump ordered a cruise missile strike on the airbase allegedly used to launch the attack. The strike was conducted without Congressional authorization and without a UN Security Council mandate. U.S. officials pre-warned Russia, which warned Syrian forces. The airbase was operational again within hours. Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT Military Overreach https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yakla-yemen-raid-civilian-massacre https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/yakla-yemen-raid-civilian-massacre The Yakla raid was authorized by Trump without the standard national security review process. The operation went wrong from the start: intelligence may have been compromised, the element of surprise was lost, and the ensuing firefight resulted in the deaths of a U.S. service member, three wounded Americans, and an estimated 23–30 Yemeni civilians including at least 8 children. Among the civilians killed was 8-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen — the daughter of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had been killed in a 2011 Obama-era drone strike. Tue, 28 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT Extrajudicial Killing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-2017-muslim-ban-airport-chaos-legal-stays https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-2017-muslim-ban-airport-chaos-legal-stays The executive order was signed without coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. Customs and Border Protection received no guidance before implementation. Within hours, hundreds of travelers from the seven countries — including green card holders, refugees, and visa holders — were detained at airports or turned away from flights. Federal judges in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington state issued emergency stays within 24-48 hours. The order was eventually replaced by revised versions that were also challenged legally; the Supreme Court upheld the third version in Trump v. Hawaii (2018). Thu, 09 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-tpp-withdrawal-trade-agreements https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-tpp-withdrawal-trade-agreements The TPP was designed explicitly to be a counterweight to Chinese economic influence in the Asia-Pacific region — establishing labor standards, intellectual property rules, and trade norms that reflected democratic values rather than Chinese state capitalism. Trump's withdrawal handed China the diplomatic and economic initiative in the region it had been seeking. The 11 remaining nations completed the CPTPP without the U.S.; China has since established its own trade framework covering much of the same region. Mon, 23 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT Foreign Policy & War https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-inauguration-crowd-lies https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-inauguration-crowd-lies Trump demanded his Press Secretary go before the press to insist crowd comparisons showing his inauguration was smaller than Obama's were dishonest — a claim contradicted by photographic evidence, aerial comparisons, Metro ridership figures, and National Park Service estimates. Counselor Kellyanne Conway defended Spicer by coining the phrase 'alternative facts.' The incident, on the first full day of the administration, set the template for four years of routine government deception. Sun, 22 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT Rule of Law https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-university-fraud https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-university-fraud Trump University promised to teach students Trump's real estate 'secrets' through courses taught by his handpicked instructors. In practice, it was found to be a high-pressure sales operation that extracted money from vulnerable people — including elderly retirees — through a series of escalating upsells. New York's attorney general sued for $40 million; a California class action settled for $25 million in 2016. Fri, 18 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-trump-university-fraud https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-trump-university-fraud Trump University was not a real university — it had no degree programs, no accreditation, and was not approved to use the word 'university' in New York. Students paid from $1,495 for a preview seminar to $35,000 for a 'Trump Elite' mentorship package. Former employees provided sworn declarations that they were instructed to aggressively upsell students to higher-priced programs and use high-pressure sales tactics. Student evaluation forms praised instructors at the time — but these were collected before students could assess outcomes. Former Trump University president Michael Sexton acknowledged the program was selling a brand, not education. Trump had selected none of the instructors himself, contradicting his marketing claims. Fri, 18 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-university-fraud-25-million-settlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-university-fraud-25-million-settlement Trump University was not an accredited university and did not grant degrees. It marketed heavily using Trump's image and promises that students would learn from Trump's 'handpicked instructors.' Playbooks obtained by Washington Post showed instructors were coached to identify students' financial resources and upsell them to higher tiers; students were encouraged to raise credit card limits to pay for more expensive packages. Former employees testified to high-pressure sales tactics. The $25 million settlement resolved claims by approximately 6,000 students and was approved by a federal judge in April 2017. Fri, 18 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-2016-campaign-rally-incitement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-2016-campaign-rally-incitement Trump's 2016 campaign rallies were sites of documented violence against protesters, directly preceded by Trump's explicit incitements from the stage. Trump offered to pay legal fees for supporters who assaulted protesters, described violence against protesters nostalgically, and encouraged crowds. Multiple protesters were punched, kicked, shoved, or sprayed with mace; in at least one case Trump faced civil liability for the conduct of his supporters. A federal appeals court allowed a lawsuit by injured protesters to proceed. Tue, 08 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-stiffed-workers-wages https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-stiffed-workers-wages Workers at Trump properties documented wage theft in multiple documented cases: dishwashers and waiters at Trump's Atlantic City casinos said they were told management had decided not to pay them; golf course workers in New York, Florida, and New Jersey described being denied overtime and having wages disputed after work was completed; cleaning and maintenance workers at Trump properties reported underpayment of hourly wages. The pattern was consistent with the contractor nonpayment strategy — dispute the amount after work is done, offer less than owed, and rely on the economics of litigation to prevent recovery. The Department of Labor found violations at Trump properties in multiple investigations. Sat, 05 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-miss-universe-teen-usa-allegations https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-miss-universe-teen-usa-allegations At least 5 women who competed in Miss Universe or Miss Teen USA pageants publicly described Trump entering backstage areas while contestants were changing. In a 2005 Howard Stern interview, Trump explicitly described walking through dressing rooms at his pageants as a privilege of ownership, saying he could 'get away with' it. Former contestants described the experience as shocking and uncomfortable. Miss Teen USA contestants who were minors at the time of the alleged incidents described the same pattern. Trump denied the specific allegations made in 2016 while his Stern interview statements directly contradicted aspects of his denial. Fri, 14 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-miss-universe-miss-teen-usa-misconduct https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-miss-universe-miss-teen-usa-misconduct Trump bragged on the Howard Stern show that he would 'go backstage' before shows and that contestants 'are standing there with no clothes' — and that 'I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant.' Multiple former Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA contestants confirmed the behavior; for the teen pageant, the contestants were as young as 15. Trump's ownership gave him structural access that contestants could not refuse without losing their competition standing. Wed, 12 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/roy-cohn-mob-connections-corruption https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/roy-cohn-mob-connections-corruption Roy Cohn served as Donald Trump's attorney and mentor from the early 1970s until Cohn's death in 1986. Cohn — who had been Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Red Scare, was later disbarred, and died of AIDS while denying he had it — introduced Trump to organized crime figures connected to the Genovese and Gambino families, taught him to use litigation as a weapon rather than a legitimate process, and instilled the maxim 'never apologize, never admit.' Trump's operating philosophy throughout his career directly reflects Cohn's explicit teachings. Sat, 01 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-casino-failures-bankruptcy https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-casino-failures-bankruptcy Trump's Atlantic City casinos were overleveraged from the beginning: the Taj Mahal alone carried $675 million in junk bonds at 14% interest when it opened in 1990. When revenue fell short of the debt service requirements, bankruptcy followed. Through six rounds of bankruptcy, Trump negotiated deals that preserved his equity stake or management role while bondholders received cents on the dollar. He personally profited $82 million in salary and fees from the casinos between 1995 and 2009 while publicly traded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts lost $1.4 billion. Trump repeatedly characterized the bankruptcies as strategic use of 'the laws of this country' and claimed he had made 'a lot of money' on Atlantic City. Mon, 26 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-birther-campaign-obama-2011 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-birther-campaign-obama-2011 Trump began promoting birtherism on television in 2011, claiming Obama was 'born in Kenya' and demanding proof of U.S. birth. When Obama released his birth certificate in April 2011, Trump claimed credit. He continued to make or amplify birther claims through 2012, 2013, 2014, and as late as August 2016. The birther movement was not factually novel — it was a conspiracy theory that had circulated in fringe circles — but Trump elevated it to mainstream political discourse. Scholars and civil rights groups documented that the theory's premise was inseparable from the claim that a Black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama could not legitimately be an American president. Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-birther-campaign-obama https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-birther-campaign-obama The birther conspiracy theory — the claim that Obama was born in Kenya or elsewhere outside the U.S. — had no factual basis. Hawaii state officials repeatedly confirmed the birth certificate's authenticity. Obama released both a short-form and long-form birth certificate. Federal courts dismissed challenges to Obama's eligibility. The theory persisted in certain quarters as a form of racial delegitimization of the first Black president. Trump became its most prominent mainstream advocate, using it to build his political profile before his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump's 2016 acknowledgment that Obama was born in the U.S. came without apology and included the false claim that Clinton had started the birther controversy. Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-racial-birther-campaign-obama https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-racial-birther-campaign-obama Trump spent five years as the most high-profile national birther — making repeated media appearances questioning Obama's birth certificate, demanding documents, and insisting Hawaii was hiding something. Obama released his long-form birth certificate in April 2011 specifically in response to Trump's media campaign. Trump continued the campaign for years afterward. In September 2016, he held a press conference in which he acknowledged Obama was born in the United States — and falsely blamed Hillary Clinton for starting the theory. Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-khan-family-gold-star-attacks https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-khan-family-gold-star-attacks Captain Humayun Khan had received the Bronze Star and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his actions on June 8, 2004, when he was killed stopping a suicide car bomb that would have killed many more soldiers. His parents appeared at the DNC in support of Hillary Clinton and against Trump's Muslim ban, which would have prevented their family's immigration. Trump responded by suggesting Ghazala Khan had been silent at the podium because she was 'not allowed' to speak under Islamic tradition — she said she was too overcome by grief to speak. Trump described himself as having made 'sacrifices' comparable to the Khans' loss. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-art-of-deal-ghostwriter https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-art-of-deal-ghostwriter Tony Schwartz spent 18 months with Trump to research and write The Art of the Deal. By his account, Trump's attention span was limited, he rarely focused on any topic for more than a few minutes, and most of what appeared in the book was invented or shaped by Schwartz from fragments of Trump's statements. The book created the public image of Trump as a brilliant real estate dealmaker — an image Trump leveraged throughout his political career as evidence of his fitness for office. Schwartz's 2016 interviews in The New Yorker and subsequent public statements described the book as a fabrication of Trump's public identity and said he feared Trump becoming president. Mon, 25 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-atlantic-city-casino-bankruptcies https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-atlantic-city-casino-bankruptcies Trump's Atlantic City ventures were financed substantially through junk bonds. The Trump Taj Mahal opened in April 1990 carrying $675 million in junk bond debt at interest rates of 14 percent; by December 1990 it was behind on interest payments. The first bankruptcy followed in 1991. Trump subsequently filed bankruptcies involving his casino holdings in 1992, 2004, and 2009. In each restructuring, bondholders and creditors took substantial haircuts. Trump negotiated to retain management fees and significant equity stakes as conditions of restructuring. He ultimately sold his remaining stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009 and 2010. Trump characterized the repeated bankruptcies as smart use of the legal system; critics noted the losses were borne primarily by investors and creditors, not Trump personally. Tue, 21 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/atlantic-city-contractors-wage-theft https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/atlantic-city-contractors-wage-theft USA Today and other outlets documented a decades-long pattern in which Trump companies refused to pay contractors, vendors, and workers after completion of their work. Affected businesses included a dishware supplier, a plumbing contractor, a piano bar operator, and hundreds of others. Trump's negotiating strategy, described by associates, was to refuse payment and force small businesses to accept pennies on the dollar rather than face litigation. Thu, 09 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-contractor-nonpayment https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-contractor-nonpayment The USA Today investigation identified at least 200 contractors, companies, and individuals who claimed Trump failed to pay them for their work. Victims included small businesses that were left near bankruptcy by the nonpayments. A Venetian glass supplier from the Trump Tower lobby renovation said Trump reduced his payment by $350,000 and told him to sue; the supplier could not afford protracted litigation. Dishwashers and waiters at Trump's Atlantic City casinos described being denied wages and having to sue to recover even small amounts. Trump's lawyers routinely challenged the quality of work performed, even for long-completed projects, and offered settlements far below what was owed. Thu, 09 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-stiffing-contractors-vendors https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-stiffing-contractors-vendors USA Today's 2016 investigation found that Trump and his companies had been sued more than 3,500 times in U.S. federal and state courts over the previous three decades, with a significant portion related to nonpayment claims by contractors, vendors, and employees. Among those who reported not being paid: drapery installers, piano players, porters, waiters, dishwashers, real estate brokers, plumbers, and hundreds of hourly workers. Trump's standard response was to challenge the quality of work — often leaving small contractors to choose between expensive litigation or accepting partial payment. Thu, 09 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-mafia-connections-fat-tony https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-mafia-connections-fat-tony Building in 1980s New York required navigating a concrete industry dominated by organized crime. Trump Tower, built 1980-1983, used S&A Concrete, a company co-owned by Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno (Genovese crime boss) and Paul Castellano (Gambino crime boss) through intermediaries. Trump's relationship with Roy Cohn — who simultaneously represented multiple mob clients — connected him to the broader organized crime ecosystem. His Atlantic City casinos dealt with labor unions whose pension funds and leadership had documented mob ties. These relationships did not make Trump a mobster; they documented the environment in which he built his early business empire and the tolerance or accommodation he showed to organized crime-connected business partners. Sun, 22 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-nye-casino-illegal-chips https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-nye-casino-illegal-chips The Bank Secrecy Act requires casinos to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for cash transactions over $10,000 and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for transactions that appear to involve money laundering. FinCEN found that Trump Taj Mahal had willfully failed to file CTRs and SARs, allowed transactions structured to avoid reporting thresholds (known as structuring — itself a federal crime), and maintained an anti-money laundering program with known deficiencies for years without correction. The settlement required payment of $10 million and an admission that violations occurred. The casino had also received a previous warning from regulators in the 1990s about similar violations — meaning the failures were repeated over more than two decades. Fri, 06 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-taj-mahal-casino-finCEN-money-laundering-fine https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-taj-mahal-casino-finCEN-money-laundering-fine FinCEN found that the Trump Taj Mahal had, over the course of years, failed to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) on large cash transactions as required under the Bank Secrecy Act, failed to maintain adequate Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) programs, and failed to maintain basic anti-money-laundering controls. The violations were documented across thousands of transactions. FinCEN described the violations as 'willful' — meaning the casino knew what was required and did not comply. The $10 million fine was FinCEN's largest-ever against a casino; the previous Trump casinos had also faced regulatory action. Fri, 06 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-trump-soho-fraud-investors https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-trump-soho-fraud-investors Trump SoHo buyers, including an investor group led by Sateesh Bhagat, discovered that marketing materials claiming 60% of units were sold were false — fewer than 15% had been sold. They sued for fraud. The Manhattan DA opened a parallel criminal investigation. In 2012, after Trump lawyers met with DA Vance, the investigation was dropped. Vance later received a $25,000 campaign contribution from Kasowitz's law firm, which he initially kept and later returned; Vance denied it influenced his decision. The Bhagat investor group settled civilly for $3.16 million. The pattern — criminal investigation followed by dropped charges after private meeting — resembled the Bondi situation in Florida. Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-casino-casino-bankruptcies-fraud https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-casino-casino-bankruptcies-fraud Trump's Atlantic City casinos — the Taj Mahal, Plaza, Castle, and related entities — were financed with junk bonds carrying interest rates of 14-17%, which were unsustainable given the revenue the casinos could generate. Trump had collected hundreds of millions in management fees, licensing fees, and development profits before the bankruptcies. When the companies collapsed, thousands of bondholders, including retirees who had purchased the high-yield bonds, received pennies on the dollar or nothing. Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-business-failures-airlines https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-business-failures-airlines Trump purchased the Eastern Air Shuttle for $365 million in 1988 and renamed it Trump Shuttle. Unable to make debt service payments on the junk bonds used to finance the purchase, Trump lost control of the airline to creditors in 1992 — it operated for only four years. Trump Steaks were sold through The Sharper Image beginning in 2007 and discontinued within two months due to poor sales. Trump Magazine was launched in 2007 and folded within five months. Trump Vodka was launched in 2005 and discontinued by 2011. The pattern across these ventures was consistent: launch with celebrity promotion, heavy licensing of the Trump name, and eventual failure attributed to market conditions. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/polish-workers-trump-tower-construction https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/polish-workers-trump-tower-construction Trump hired contractor William Kaszycki who used approximately 200 undocumented Polish workers to demolish the Bonwit Teller building for below-minimum wages — approximately $4-5 per hour, no overtime. Workers say they were not provided safety equipment for handling asbestos-laden material. When they complained about nonpayment, a foreman told them to 'get back to work or they'll be reported to immigration.' Trump settled a class action suit in 1998. Mon, 01 Jun 1998 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-racial-discrimination-employees https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-racial-discrimination-employees John O'Donnell's 1991 memoir 'Trumped!' quoted Trump making explicitly racist remarks about a Black accountant: criticizing the employee's work and saying he preferred having 'short guys that wear yarmulkes every day' do his accounting rather than Black men. In a 1997 Playboy interview, Trump was asked about the quotes and replied the book was 'probably true' — then added that he had been 'playing golf' when he said it and denied the remarks were racist. New Jersey Casino Control Commission records documented that supervisors at Trump's Castle were instructed to remove Black dealers from tables when certain high-rolling guests requested it, a discriminatory practice that resulted in regulatory sanctions. Tue, 01 Apr 1997 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ivana-trump-rape-allegation-deposition https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-ivana-trump-rape-allegation-deposition Ivana Trump's deposition account described a violent sexual assault during their marriage: Trump had been infuriated by the pain from a scalp surgery and, Ivana said, tore out her hair, pinned her to the bed, and raped her. The account appeared in Harry Hurt III's 'Lost Tycoon' (1993). Ivana issued a statement walking back the word 'rape,' saying she did not use it in a criminal sense but used the word in an 'emotional, not literal sense.' Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, when the account was reported in the press during the 2016 campaign, threatened a reporter and falsely stated that 'you cannot rape your spouse' — a claim that was wrong under New York law even then. Tue, 01 Jun 1993 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-discrimination-central-park-ad https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-discrimination-central-park-ad Trump's racial views in the 1980s and early 1990s were documented through multiple sources: a former Trump Organization executive documented Trump expressing that he didn't want Black people managing his money; Trump testified before Congress that Native American casino operators had an unfair advantage and made racially charged statements about their appearance and background; Trump made public comments about crime in Black neighborhoods. These documented patterns preceded and contextualized his political career. Sun, 31 Dec 1989 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-mob-connections-roy-cohn https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-mob-connections-roy-cohn Trump met Roy Cohn at Studio 54 in 1973 during the housing discrimination lawsuit. Cohn became his attorney, fixer, and strategic advisor for over a decade. Cohn represented Trump in multiple legal matters and taught him a specific political and legal style: never settle (except when you do), never apologize, and reframe every defense as an attack. Cohn's other clients during this period included mob boss Fat Tony Salerno, Gambino crime family figures, and New York tabloid figures. Trump's Atlantic City casino construction involved documented relationships with contractors controlled by the Genovese crime family; the concrete supplier for Trump Tower and other Trump projects was S&A Concrete, co-owned by Salerno and Paul Castellano. Sat, 02 Aug 1986 00:00:00 GMT Corruption & Self-Dealing https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-1973-housing-discrimination-doj-settlement https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-1973-housing-discrimination-doj-settlement Black applicants at Trump apartment buildings were systematically denied housing that was simultaneously offered to white applicants. A Black doorman described being instructed to discourage Black applicants; the government documented instances where the Trumps coded applications with a 'C' (for 'colored') to identify Black applicants for rejection. Trump hired Roy Cohn to fight the lawsuit, countersuing the government for $100 million. He settled without admitting guilt in 1975. Three years later, DOJ filed a second suit alleging violations of the settlement terms. Tue, 10 Jun 1975 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-housing-discrimination https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-housing-discrimination The DOJ brought one of the largest housing discrimination lawsuits of 1973 against the Trumps, alleging their agents told Black rental applicants apartments were not available when they were available to white applicants, coded applications by race, and directed minority applicants to housing in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Trump denied the allegations vigorously and counterattacked the DOJ. The company settled in 1975 and allegedly violated the decree by 1978. Tue, 10 Jun 1975 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-housing-discrimination-1927-case https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-pre-presidency-housing-discrimination-1927-case The DOJ suit was based on a year-long investigation by the Fair Housing Division, including undercover testers who posed as prospective renters. Black testers were told no apartments were available or were given discouraging treatment; white testers at the same buildings were shown units and given applications. Trump applications were alleged to contain a 'C' code — interpreted as standing for 'colored' — to flag non-white applicants. Trump hired Roy Cohn, who filed a $100 million countersuit against the DOJ (dismissed). The 1975 consent decree required anti-discriminatory practices but did not require Trump to admit wrongdoing. Three years later, the DOJ found Trump Management had violated the decree. Tue, 10 Jun 1975 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-racial-housing-discrimination-doj-1973 https://trumpswarcrimes.com/incident/trump-racial-housing-discrimination-doj-1973 The DOJ complaint documented specific evidence including testers — white and Black individuals sent to inquire about the same apartments — where Black applicants were told there were no vacancies while white applicants were offered leases for the same units. An employee named Elyse Goldweber documented that a Trump employee had marked rental applications with the letter 'C' (for 'colored') to identify minority applicants. Trump's response was to hire Roy Cohn, file a $100 million countersuit against the DOJ (which was dismissed), and ultimately settle via consent decree in 1975. The consent decree required Trump Management to place ads in minority newspapers and to notify the Urban League of vacancies; Trump violated the decree within two years and a second agreement had to be negotiated. Tue, 10 Jun 1975 00:00:00 GMT Civil Rights