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Trump Tyranny Tracker | Day 594: Sept. 9, 2026
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In this file photo from 2024, Pennsylvania poll workers demonstrate how ballots are are received, processed, scanned and securely stored. Matthew Hatcher/Getty ImagesWelcome to today’s Trump Tyranny Tracker…
Election officials preparing for possible federal ballot seizures, Trump’s oil investments gaining millions during the Iran war, and his immigration crackdown sweeping up legal immigrants and tearing apart families are among today’s top stories.
Today at a Glance
Trump’s oil and gas investments gained millions during the Iran war as his accounts continued trading energy stocks.
Election officials and judges are preparing for the possibility of federal agents seizing ballots or election equipment during the midterms.
Trump officials proposed excluding millions of immigrants from the 2030 census, potentially reshaping congressional representation and federal funding.
What We Need to Pay Attention To
Ballot seizures seemed impossible. But judges and officials are prepping for them now
What Happened: Election officials and judges are preparing for the possibility that federal agents could seek warrants to seize ballots or voting equipment during the midterms. One state has already held three statewide trainings, while election law experts issued guidance for judges on how to handle such requests.
Why It Matters: We are weeks from the midterms and election officials are training for the unprecedented possibility of federal agents showing up and seizing ballots or voting machines. This will throw counting into chaos, break the chain of custody and threaten certification which is exactly what Trump wants to achieve.
Source: NPR
Corruption
Trump’s oil investments have gained millions during Iran war as his accounts keep trading
What Happened: Trump’s nine largest disclosed oil and gas holdings gained an estimated $1.5 million to $4.4 million between the eve of the Iran war and August 31. His accounts continued trading energy stocks during the war, including on days when his decisions moved oil markets.
Why It Matters: Trump has millions invested in oil and gas while making decisions about a war that directly affects energy prices and the value of those investments. Even with outside managers controlling the trades, he is profiting from an industry directly affected by his decisions.
Source: CNBC
Chasing Side Deals, Flexing Influence: Lewandowski’s Power Moves at DHS
What Happened: Corey Lewandowski reportedly sought private work from officials in Qatar and the UAE while serving as a special government employee at DHS. He offered to help with issues handled by the department, including visas, while wielding significant influence over billions in DHS spending and contracts.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to Natalie Harp, two other close aides
What Happened: Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to three of his close White House aides, Natalie Harp, Margo Martin and Chamberlain Harris, equal to nearly one-third of their $150,000 government salaries. He also gave $20,000 to Walt Nauta, his director of Oval Office operations.
Source: The Washington Post
Trump says he would consider pardon for former fixer Michael Cohen
What Happened: Trump said he would consider pardoning his former lawyer Michael Cohen, whose testimony helped prosecutors secure Trump’s 2024 felony conviction. Cohen is seeking a pardon and recently said he felt “pressured and coerced,” prompting Trump to praise him for “rectifying the situation.”
Source: Reuters
Power Consolidation
Ballots discounted for late postmarks surged in Washington and Oregon after Postal Service changes
What Happened: More than 20,000 ballots in Washington and 7,314 in Oregon were thrown out for late postmarks during this year’s primaries, even though many voters mailed them on time. Postal Service changes are delaying when some mail gets postmarked, with rural communities hit especially hard.
Source: Associated Press
Election Officials Grapple With Uncertainty as Supreme Court Considers Mail Ballot Plan
What Happened: With the midterms just weeks away, election officials still don’t know what mail ballot rules they will need to follow. The Supreme Court is considering whether to allow Trump’s new restrictions to take effect, even as some states have already mailed ballots and the federal system needed to implement the rules is not yet ready.
Why It Matters: This is part of Trump’s broader agenda to seize control over elections. Election officials from both parties warn the changes will disenfranchise voters, and Utah officials have called implementing them this late an “unmitigated disaster.”
Source: New York Times
Weaponization of Institutions
Here’s How the Postal Service Could Refuse to Deliver Your Mail Ballot
What Happened: Trump’s mail voting plan would require the Postal Service to screen ballots before delivering them to voters. States would have to submit voter lists to a new federal portal and use approved envelopes with barcodes that match those records. If they don’t, entire batches of ballots could be sent back instead of delivered. Two dozen states are challenging the plan.
Why It Matters: Trump’s plan would allow the Postal Service to stop ballots from reaching Americans, giving the federal government a new role in deciding whose ballots get delivered.
Source: New York Times
Memphis Has Spent a Year Under Federal Occupation. ICE Would Rather You Didn’t Notice.
What Happened: Federal officers in Memphis arrested activist Hunter Demster while he was filming an immigration operation from 25 feet away. Demster says officers repeatedly pushed him farther from the scene until he refused to move again. He was then tackled and arrested under Tennessee’s Halo Law.
Source: Mother Jones
Media Suppression & Authoritarian Tactics
The Inside Story of What Happened at Stars and Stripes
What Happened: The Pentagon revoked longstanding protections for Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence, restricted what the military newspaper could publish, and purged editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, reporter Lara Korte and publisher Max Lederer after they publicly defended the paper’s independence. Slavin said he was fired after warning that refusing to publish an accurate story at the Pentagon’s direction would cross a “red line.”
Source: The Atlantic
Human & Civil Rights Abuses
ICE Sends Legal Immigrant to Guantánamo Bay
What Happened: ICE sent Adam Abdullah, a Somali asylum seeker who was living legally in Minnesota and has no criminal record, to Guantánamo Bay after arresting him during a traffic stop. Abdullah had a work permit and Social Security number and regularly checked in with ICE. He says authorities never explained why he was targeted. MPR independently confirms those core facts.
Why It Matters: Abdullah was living legally in America, followed immigration rules and has no criminal record. Now he is being held at Guantánamo with limited access to his lawyer, without knowing why he was targeted.
Source: The New Republic
A generation of kids suffers as Trump destabilizes immigrant families
What Happened: An estimated 205,000 children have had a parent detained by immigration authorities since Trump returned to office, including roughly 145,000 U.S. citizen children. Some have been left with relatives or neighbors, missed school or medical care, and now live with the fear that a parent could be taken away.
Source: CBS News
He showed up for a routine green card appointment. Then ICE detained him.
What Happened: ICE arrested Douglas Sura Cruz when he showed up for a routine green card interview with his U.S. citizen wife. Cruz had lived in the U.S. for 11 years, has two U.S. citizen children and no criminal record. A federal judge ruled that holding him without a bond hearing violated federal law and his constitutional due process rights, ordering the government to give him a hearing or release him.
Source: MS NOW
Government Disruption
Treasury CIO pulled from AI work after upsetting West Wing
What Happened: Treasury Secretary Bessent removed CIO and former DOGE operative Sam Corcos from AI policy work after Corcos privately warned OpenAI and Anthropic executives that the White House was considering restrictive AI licensing rules. Corcos reportedly held the talks without White House approval and was later barred from discussing AI policy with industry
Source: Politico
Citing the ‘Deep State,’ Trump overhauls the intelligence community
What Happened: Trump has removed career officials and cut offices across the U.S. intelligence community, part of his campaign against what he calls the ‘deep state.’ Former intelligence officials say the changes are costing agencies experienced people and damaging intelligence sharing and relationships with U.S. allies.
Why It Matters: The point of the intelligence community is to give a president an honest assessment of all threats. This reminds me of Russia, where Putin is surrounded by loyalists who afraid to tell him the truth.
Source: NPR
Trump administration proposes dropping huge swath of immigrants from US census
What Happened: Trump officials want the 2030 census to count only U.S. citizens and permanent residents. That would leave out undocumented immigrants as well as millions of people who are legally living in the country on temporary status. They also want to remove questions about race and ethnicity.
Why It Matters: The census determines congressional representation and federal funding. Excluding millions of residents would shift both, even though the Constitution requires House seats to be based on the “whole number of persons” in each state.
Source: Reuters
Imperial & Geopolitical Watch
Iran is forging a new ring of proxies to threaten US allies in the Gulf, officials say
What Happened: Iran is coordinating the Houthis in Yemen with Iran-backed militias in Iraq to attack Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies in the Gulf. Officials say Houthi operatives helped Iraqi militias plan July drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, while the Houthis have carried out more than a dozen attacks on Saudi oil facilities and tankers since late July.
Why It Matters: Iran is bringing its proxies together across the region, making it easier to strike U.S. allies, oil facilities and shipping routes from multiple countries at once.
Source: Associated Press
‘Surge in construction’ at suspected Iranian nuclear site, analysts say, as US considers ways to strike deep underground
What Happened: Satellite imagery shows a surge in construction at Iran’s deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain facility, which intelligence agencies suspect could be used to protect parts of Iran’s nuclear program. The Pentagon has operational plans for a possible strike and has been examining capabilities against deeply buried targets. Trump has also repeatedly threatened to attack the site.
Source: CNN
Trump ratchets up trade war, moves to ban many Canadian goods from entering US
What Happened: Trump is escalating his trade war with Canada again. Starting Sept. 29, several Canadian products, including some alcohol, dairy products and motorcycles, will be banned from entering the U.S. He is also expanding 50% tariffs and ordering federal agencies to remove Canadian goods from government contracts.
Source: ABC News
Europe pans ‘disturbing’ Trump map that shows all of North America as US territory
What Happened: Trump posted a map depicting Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Greenland and Iceland under the American flag and labeled “United States of America.” Denmark condemned the image as “completely inappropriate,” while Iceland summoned the U.S. ambassador.
Source: Politico EU
Far-Right & Russian Influence Watch
Trump says he had “great conversation” with Putin, but Putin and Zelenskyy “hate each other”
What Happened: Trump said he had a “great conversation” with Putin and again insisted that Putin wants a deal to end the war. He blamed the lack of an agreement on Putin and Zelenskyy “hating” each other.
Why It Matters: Trump continues to provide cover for Putin and Russia’s genocidal invasion. Russia invaded sovereign Ukraine, and Putin can end the war by withdrawing his forces. Framing the aggressor and the country defending itself as equally responsible normalizes Russia’s genocide and invasion.
Source: CBS News
Russia tells Trump ending US support for Ukraine could help end war
What Happened: After Putin and Trump’s phone call, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the U.S. should stop all support for Ukraine to help end Russia’s war. U.S. support has already dropped sharply since Trump returned to office, and now Moscow is openly demanding the U.S. cut off what is left.
Source: Kyiv Independent
Unmasking RussiaWhy Is the Son of Medvedev’s Alleged “Wallet” Building in Silicon Valley?As Russia continues its genocidal war against Ukraine and escalates its attacks against NATO countries, a Russian businessman whose family has repeatedly been identified as a financial “wallet” for Dmitry Medvedev is trying to build a massive development in the heart of Silicon Valley…Read morea day ago · 148 likes · 12 comments · Olga LautmanEconomic News
Brent crude oil tops $101 to close at highest level since May as fighting escalates in Persian Gulf
What Happened: Brent crude closed above $101 a barrel as fighting between the U.S. and Iran escalated in the Persian Gulf. U.S. gasoline hit a Labor Day record of $4.15 a gallon, while diesel is expected to reach $6 a gallon for the first time.
Source: CNBC
Bond market rebuffs US treasury’s plan to buy back $6bn in government debt
What Happened: Treasury announced it would buy back $6 billion in longer term U.S. debt in an effort to calm the bond selloff and lower borrowing costs. The market barely budged with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing to nearly 4.86%, its highest in almost three years, while the 30-year remained above 5%.
Source: The Guardian
Resistance
Check out 50501 for local and nationwide events…
Source: 50501
By the Numbers
20,000+ — Washington primary ballots rejected for late postmarks after Postal Service changes
7,314 — Oregon ballots rejected for late postmarks
205,000 — Estimated children who have had a parent detained by immigration authorities, including around 145,000 U.S. citizen children
$1.5–$4.4 million — Estimated gains in Trump’s nine largest disclosed oil and gas holdings since the eve of the Iran war
$45,000 — Cash Trump gave each of his three close White House aides
$101+ — Price of a barrel of Brent crude as Trump’s Iran war continues
What to Watch Next
Election officials are preparing for possible federal ballot seizures during the midterms — What happens if federal agents actually try to seize ballots or voting equipment?
Trump is pushing new mail voting rules as states are already sending ballots — Will the Supreme Court allow the changes to take effect weeks before the election?
The Iran war has pushed oil above $100 and is spreading across the Gulf — How much further will the war expand and how much more will Americans pay for it?
Russia is pressing Trump to end what remains of U.S. support for Ukraine — How much further will Trump move toward Moscow’s demands?
Key Takeaways
Rising Costs — The Iran war pushed oil above $100 as Trump escalated his trade fight with Canada, putting more pressure on prices and American households.
Election Chaos — Election officials are preparing for possible federal ballot seizures while Trump pushes new mail voting rules and Postal Service changes are already causing ballots to be rejected.
Personal Profits — Trump’s oil investments gained millions as his Iran war drove energy prices higher.
Immigration Crackdown — Legal immigrants are being detained, families are being separated, and thousands of American children are losing parents to immigration detention.
Government Loyalty — Trump continues to purge career intelligence officials while former officials warn that experience is being lost and relationships with U.S. allies are suffering.
Iran War Spreads — Fighting is spreading across the Gulf, Iran is coordinating attacks through its proxies, and the Pentagon is considering another major strike as oil climbs above $100.
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.
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.
Thanks for reading the Trump Tyranny Tracker. Stay tuned for more updates.
