Power Plays, Ultimatums and Fault Lines - A Week in the Political State of Emergency Under Donald Trump

It was one of those weeks in which the headlines from Washington, Austin, London, Moscow and Geneva did not stand side by side, but merged into a single breathless panorama of power politics, legislative shifts, international signals and societal fault lines. President Donald Trump, whose style of governance has returned to a mode of permanent escalation since his return to the White House, spanned the spectrum from domestic displays of power to geopolitical maneuvers - leaving behind a trail of controversy stretching from the streets of the US capital to diplomatic reception halls across Europe. The starting point was an announcement from the White House on Thursday evening: for at least one week, the presence of federal police in Washington, D.C. would be increased in order - according to the official reasoning - to combat urban crime. At the same time, Trump left open whether he might revoke the city’s home rule altogether and return full control to the federal government. The basis for this would be the repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 - a step that would not only be legally precarious but could also provoke massive political resistance. On his platform Truth Social, he stated the threat unambiguously: “If D.C. doesn’t get its act together quickly, we’ll have no choice but to take control and run the city the way it should be run.” The trigger was an attack on a high-ranking employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, allegedly an attempted car theft by teenagers - an incident with no discernible link to the man’s work. Notably, a nighttime patrol by journalists revealed no visible sign of the promised “flood” of uniformed forces.

At the same time, Trump initiated a series of decisions and actions that reached far beyond the capital. Under his directive, the US Air Force announced the removal of all transgender service members from duty. Especially bitter for those with 15 to 18 years of service: they will lose not only their positions but also any chance of early retirement - a step described by affected individuals as “betrayal” and “the destruction of a life’s work.” In parallel, Trump signed an executive order requiring banks to disclose and prevent alleged discrimination on political or religious grounds - a reaction to complaints about so-called “debanking.” In another decree, he opened the door to allowing 401(k) retirement plans to be invested in riskier assets such as private equity and cryptocurrencies. While no immediate changes take effect, the direction is clear: financial regulators are to adjust rules to enable these options. While Washington debates control and civil rights, a political power struggle is intensifying in Texas. Democratic lawmakers remain outside the state to block the vote on new congressional maps drawn by Republicans. These maps were designed according to Trump’s instructions to create more safe GOP seats. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton are responding with daily fines, civil arrest warrants, and even an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. US Senator John Cornyn announced that the FBI would help locate the “missing” lawmakers. At the same time, Abbott is threatening endless special sessions until the Democrats return.

Legal tension was fueled by a ruling from an appeals court that overturned a decision by federal judge James Boasberg. Boasberg had accused the Trump administration of using the Alien Enemies Act to accelerate deportations to El Salvador and of defying his orders to bring planes with affected individuals back to the US. Republicans interpret the reversal as a validation of their stance, while critics see it as yet another example of legal gray zone politics. Internationally, Trump set two signals this week. First, he brought Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev together at the White House. The goal: a peace treaty after nearly four decades of conflict. In addition to a promise of Armenia’s territorial integrity and a new transit corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan - dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” by the US government - the deal involves energy, technology and economic agreements with Washington. Observers interpret the agreement as a targeted blow to Russian influence in the South Caucasus. Second, Friday marked the expiration of the deadline Trump had given the Kremlin to “stop the killing.” The background: his push to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nearly two weeks earlier, Trump had moved the ultimatum forward and announced additional sanctions and secondary tariffs against countries purchasing Russian oil unless Moscow took steps toward a ceasefire. But little has changed on the Ukrainian front, with Russian bombardments continuing. Soldiers express little hope for a quick diplomatic breakthrough. What specific actions Trump will now take remains unclear - but what is clear is that his strategy is meant to increase pressure on Putin without revealing his own room for maneuver too early.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance traveled to the United Kingdom, where he met Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the historic Chevening House and spoke - alluding to European debates over free speech - of a dangerous “comfort zone of censorship” during the Biden years. Vance also made clear that under Trump, the US would not recognize a Palestinian state. The trip, which combined family vacation with political meetings, also included encounters with Pope Leo XIV and symbolic images of fishing in English lakes. In Geneva, the US delegation surprisingly took an active role in UN negotiations on a global plastics agreement - one of the few international forums in which Trump does not take a confrontational approach. The US government argues that the interests of the domestic plastics industry, worth $500 billion, must be protected, and opposes clear production limits. Domestically, Trump’s tax hikes on elite universities are already having an effect before taking effect. Harvard, Yale, Stanford and others are warning of cuts to research and scholarships, as the new levies on large endowments - 8% for the richest, 4% for the next tier - will lead to massive additional burdens. Finally, a lawsuit is putting new pressure on the Justice Department: the NGO Democracy Forward is demanding, under the Freedom of Information Act, the release of all government records related to Jeffrey Epstein, his contacts with Trump, and the communication channels surrounding the investigation. It is the first known lawsuit of its kind and is likely to further extend the political shadow of the Epstein case.

A week, then, in which Trump played on multiple chessboards simultaneously: in the capital, he threatens a federal takeover; in Texas, he drives partisan redistricting battles; in the Ukraine issue, he sets a deadline for Putin; abroad, he presents himself as a peacemaker - all while flanking these moves with a mix of economic policy shifts, cultural provocations and legal flashpoints. A pattern that has defined his political comeback so far - and that keeps the United States in a constant state of tense anticipation.

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