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Trump Tyranny Tracker | Day 602: Sept. 17, 2026
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The Homeland Security Department is on the verge of a shutdown as lawmakers have been unable to reach an agreement on federal immigration enforcement funding ahead of Saturday. Heather Diehl / Getty ImagesWelcome to today’s Trump Tyranny Tracker…
Trump broke with decades of election monitoring ahead of the midterms, ICE was accused of violating nearly 100 court orders, and DHS is sending immigrants to Guantánamo are among today’s top stories.
Today at a Glance
Election Oversight — Trump broke with more than two decades of practice by not inviting international observers to monitor the midterms.
DOJ Politicization — Attorney General Todd Blanche is campaigning for Republican candidates while running the Justice Department.
Iran War — Eighteen U.S. troops have been killed and 824 wounded as Iranian attacks continue hitting American bases across the Middle East.
What We Need to Pay Attention To
Blanche’s Political Activity Breaks an Ethical Norm Going Back to Watergate
What Happened: Attorney General Todd Blanche has repeatedly participated in Republican campaign events since taking office, including speaking at the GOP midterm convention and appearing at a campaign rally for North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley.
Why It Matters: The attorney general controls the country’s most powerful federal law enforcement agency. Campaigning for a political party erases the separation between enforcing the law and partisan politics.
Source: New York Times
Corruption
Trump and Rubio allies are vying for control of Cuba’s assets if regime falls
What Happened: Trump’s sanctions are pushing foreign companies out of Cuba while politically connected U.S. investors pursue the assets they are leaving behind. Trump allies Ray Washburne and Albert Huddleston are competing for Cuban mining interests, while other investors are pursuing hotels and other assets.
Source: The Guardian
Trump’s Friends Are Already Signing Deals to Take Venezuela’s Oil
What Happened: Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources signed a preliminary deal to develop a massive Venezuelan oil field as Trump opens the country’s oil sector to U.S. investment. Hamm is a longtime Trump supporter and energy adviser.
Why It Matters: Trump is reshaping U.S. policy toward Venezuela while a longtime political ally stands to profit from the enormous oil opportunities being created.
Source: Mother Jones
Power Consolidation
Trump Quietly Dumps Longtime Election Observer Group
What Happened: Trump has not invited the OSCE to observe the 2026 midterms, breaking with a practice followed for every U.S. federal election since 2002. The organization says it is still waiting for an invitation as early voting approaches.
Why It Matters: Trump is shutting out independent international observers while expanding control of the midterms. That removes another layer of outside scrutiny over how the election is run.
Source: The New Republic
Weaponization of Institutions
Virginia Attorney General: D.H.S. May Have Broken State Laws in Voter Fraud Investigation
What Happened: Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones ordered DHS to stop investigating the state’s voter rolls, saying federal agents may have illegally accessed voters’ personal information. The investigation is part of a nationwide operation involving hundreds of DHS agents searching state voter rolls for noncitizens.
Why It Matters: Trump officials are using federal immigration agents to investigate state voter rolls ahead of the midterms. Virginia now says they may have broken state law while doing it.
Source: New York Times
Judge Warns Blanche of Possible Contempt Charges Over Epstein Files
What Happened: Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan warned Attorney General Todd Blanche that he could face contempt if DOJ continues failing to comply with court orders involving Epstein records. Blanche has until Sept. 24 to comply with several outstanding requirements.
Source: The Washington Sun
Media Suppression & Authoritarian Tactics
Trump’s Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns
What Happened: Federal Judge Patrick Schiltz said ICE violated nearly 100 court orders during January’s Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. Schiltz said most violations appeared to result from incompetence and understaffing rather than deliberate defiance, but called the repeated violations a “grave threat to the rule of law.”
Source: New York Times
Urgent motion filed to stop carving of Trump’s name into US Institute of Peace building
What Happened: Ousted U.S. Institute of Peace board members filed an emergency motion to stop Trump’s name from being permanently carved into the institute’s Washington headquarters. A contractor has already been selected, and Trump’s name was added to the building with removable lettering in December.
Source: Politico
The Democratic fundraising machine under GOP investigation is fighting back
What Happened: ActBlue presented congressional investigators with an outside review finding that it properly verified nearly all donations from foreign addresses and did not mislead Congress about its safeguards. Republican-led House committees and DOJ are continuing their investigations.
Why It Matters: Using government institutions to attack the opposition, cripple its political infrastructure and criminally prosecute political opponents is a hallmark of authoritarian rule.
Source: The Washington Post
Human & Civil Rights Abuses
Former ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detainee says he was placed in phone booth-sized cage for 15 hours
What Happened: Former detainee Raúl Suárez Herrero says officers kept him in a metal cage roughly the size of a phone booth for more than 15 hours after he prayed aloud for another detainee. A DHS watchdog confirmed the facility used the cages and found they violated standards for humane treatment.
Why It Matters: The U.S. is putting people in cages and subjecting them to inhumane conditions. This is more evidence of human rights abuses being carried out by the Trump regime.
Source: NBC News
Pediatricians raise the alarm on the effect of Trump’s immigration crackdown on kids
What Happened: A national survey found 40% of pediatricians have seen families avoid medical care because of immigration fears, while 30% reported families avoiding programs such as Medicaid. Doctors also reported children being kept home from school because families fear immigration enforcement.
Why It Matters: Trump’s draconian immigration policies are causing children to lose access to healthcare, education and public benefits because their families are afraid of the government. The crackdown is harming children regardless of their immigration status.
Source: NPR
The Trump Administration Is Imprisoning Somali Immigrants in Gitmo
What Happened: ICE sent 12 Somali men to Guantánamo Bay after telling them they were being deported to Somalia, with seven or eight still detained there. One detainee, Adam Abdullah, was living legally in Minnesota with a work permit and has no criminal record.
Why It Matters: The U.S. is using an offshore military prison to hold immigrants, including an asylum seeker with legal work authorization and no criminal record, while cutting them off from attorneys, families and their communities.
Source: Mother Jones
ICE officer charged in non-fatal shooting arrested by Minnesota authorities
What Happened: ICE officer Christian Castro was arrested on assault and false reporting charges after prosecutors say he fired through the closed door of a Minneapolis home and shot 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg. Prosecutors say Castro then lied that he had been attacked with a broom and shovel. He also faces federal charges for lying to investigators.
Source: ABC News
Government Disruption
Scientists challenge US NIH grant screening as unconstitutional
What Happened: Scientists filed a class action lawsuit alleging NIH is using a list of 235 keywords, including “gender,” “Latinx” and “climate change,” to flag research grants for termination, denial or forced changes. The lawsuit argues the screening violates the First Amendment.
Why It Matters: Trump is using federal research funding to control what scientists can study. Scientists are being forced to conform to his political agenda or lose funding.
Source: Reuters
Kennedy tells anti-vaccine group he previously led that he’ll ‘stay in this fight’
What Happened: RFK Jr. delivered the keynote address to Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group he previously led, and told attendees they have a “strong and steadfast friend” in the White House. Kennedy vowed to “stay in this fight” as HHS continues reshaping federal vaccine policy.
Why It Matters: Kennedy is using his position as a top health official to push policies backed by anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists. His policies are driving vaccination rates down while the U.S. faces its largest measles outbreak in decades and other preventable diseases are returning.
Source: CNN
Imperial & Geopolitical Watch
Russia and China Veto U.S. Resolution to Renew U.N. Monitoring of Iran Nuclear Program
What Happened: Russia and China vetoed a U.S. resolution to continue U.N. monitoring of Iran’s nuclear sanctions and efforts to evade them. The vote came weeks after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran was blocking inspectors from its nuclear facilities.
Source: New York Times
Pentagon weighs pulling nearly a third of U.S. forces from Europe
What Happened: The Pentagon is considering withdrawing roughly 25,000 U.S. troops from Europe, nearly a third of the approximately 80,000 stationed there. The proposal comes as NATO countries warn of escalating Russian attacks across Europe.
Why It Matters: A major U.S. troop withdrawal from Europe would be another big gift from Trump to Russia. Trump is considering pulling 25,000 troops while his own intelligence agencies warn that Russia could launch a military attack against a NATO country.
Source: NBC News
Trump Says Allowing Canada to Become Associate Member of EU Could Be ‘Hostile Act’
What Happened: Trump said allowing Canada to become an associate member of the EU could be a “hostile act” and threatened Europe with heavy tariffs or cutting off trade in some areas. His threat came as Canada moves closer to Europe after months of attacks from Trump.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Photos show extensive damage to US Middle East bases
What Happened: Iranian attacks have damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases across the Middle East. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and 824 wounded since the war began.
Source: ABC News
A timeline of US strikes on boats that have killed at least 230
What Happened: The U.S. military has killed at least 230 people and destroyed at least 79 vessels since launching strikes on boats last September. The government has not publicly provided evidence that drugs were aboard the targeted boats or that everyone killed was a cartel member.
Why It Matters: The U.S. military is killing people accused of drug trafficking without arrest, trial or jury. Furthermore, the Pentagon has not released any evidence used to justify the killings.
Source: CNN
Far-Right & Russian Influence Watch
Poland warns Russia is planning drone or rocket strikes on NATO territory
What Happened: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said intelligence from NATO, Ukraine and the U.S. shows Russia is preparing drone or missile attacks against countries on NATO’s eastern flank and could disguise them as accidents. He said the goal would be to weaken NATO’s willingness to respond collectively.
Source: Associated Press
Russia Taps North Korean Workers to Make Drones Under Fake Visas
What Happened: As many as 25,000 North Koreans are working in Russia’s drone industry, including at the Alabuga facility that produces drones used against Ukraine. Workers are entering Russia on student visas to evade sanctions, with most of their wages confiscated by the North Korean government.
Why It Matters: Russia gets thousands of workers to expand drone production while North Korea gets money and experience from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Pyongyang can use that experience to improve its own drone warfare, increasing the threat to South Korea and Japan.
Source: Bloomberg
Economic News
Here’s what a Fed rate hike means for your mortgage, car loan and credit cards
What Happened: The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2023 as it tries to bring persistent inflation under control. Mortgage rates have already climbed to an average 6.76%, while credit cards, adjustable-rate mortgages and some auto loans will also become more expensive.
Source: The Washington Post
How record diesel prices will rip through the U.S. economy. Trucks, rails are only the start
What Happened: U.S. diesel hit a record $6.31 a gallon Wednesday as Trump’s war in Iran disrupts global energy supplies. Higher fuel costs are already hitting trucking and rail and feeding into shipping and delivery costs.
Why It Matters: Nearly everything Americans buy moves by diesel at some point. Record fuel prices mean higher costs for groceries, deliveries, home heating and other everyday expenses.
Source: CNBC
Resistance
Check out 50501 for local and nationwide events…
Source: 50501
By the Numbers
25,000 — U.S. troops the Pentagon is considering withdrawing from Europe
18 — U.S. service members killed in the Iran war
824 — U.S. service members wounded in the Iran war
230 — People killed in U.S. military strikes on boats
100 — Federal court orders ICE violated during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota
25,000 — North Koreans working in Russia’s drone industry
235 — Keywords NIH is accused of using to flag research grants
40% — Pediatricians who report families avoiding medical care because of immigration fears
12 — Somali immigrants ICE sent to Guantánamo
$6.31 — Record price for a gallon of U.S. diesel
6.76% — Average U.S. mortgage rate
What to Watch Next
Trump is shutting out international election observers — What other safeguards will Trump target as the midterms get closer?
Trump is considering pulling 25,000 U.S. troops out of Europe — Will the Pentagon move forward as U.S. intelligence warns that Russia could attack a NATO country?
Diesel prices have hit a record $6.31 a gallon — How much will higher transportation costs push up prices for groceries, deliveries and other everyday expenses?
The Iran war is taking a growing toll on U.S. forces — How much more damage and casualties will American troops face as Trump’s war continues?
Key Takeaways
Election Control — Trump is shutting out international election observers while federal immigration agents investigate state voter rolls ahead of the midterms.
Political Weaponization — The attorney general is campaigning for Republicans while DOJ investigates a major part of Democratic fundraising infrastructure.
Human Rights Abuses — Immigrants are being held in cages, sent to Guantánamo and cut off from attorneys and families.
Gift to Russia — Trump is considering removing 25,000 U.S. troops from Europe as Russia escalates attacks across Europe and U.S. intelligence warns of a possible attack on NATO.
Rising Costs — Interest rates are going up and diesel has hit a record $6.31 a gallon, pushing borrowing, shipping and everyday costs higher.
Call to Action
Document Everything: Document purges, corruption, and power grabs. Share credible information with journalists, watchdogs, and legal experts. Silence enables authoritarianism—see something, say something.
Defend Press Freedom: Support independent journalism by subscribing to and sharing reporting that challenges Trump’s power grab.
Contact Lawmakers: Demand accountability for Trump’s unchecked power and war on oversight.
Mobilize for Action: Organize or join legal efforts and resistance movements to protect democracy and human and civil rights.
Support Whistleblowers: Encourage legal defense funds for government workers facing retaliation for exposing corruption.
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Thanks for reading the Trump Tyranny Tracker. Stay tuned for more updates.
