Governors are the new face of the #resistance

The states are the last center of power standing against Trump

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Donald Trump’s war on Democratic-controlled cities in Democratic-controlled states is continuing. Earlier this week he threatened Chicago with “Chipocalypse Now” and added that “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR”. This follows his surge of federal forces in Los Angeles and threats against cities like Baltimore and New York.

Not my creation - Trump posted this on Truth Social

As I wrote in an earlier post, the racial politics of these actions is unmistakeable. Trump is trying to make political hay out of the widespread belief among his base that American cities are hellholes filled with violent immigrants and corrupt Democratic politicians. He wants to make swing voters focus on crime and immigration, because these are two rare issues on which the public tends to be skeptical of Democrats and favor Republicans. And he is also clearly flexing his authoritarian muscles, perhaps in preparation for much worse showdowns to come.

Another consequence of Trump’s actions has been to shove Democratic governors and mayors into the spotlight. Without asking for it, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Maryland Governor Wes Moore have all become a focus of national attention as Trump has targeted their states. How they’re handling the situation tells us something about where the Democratic Party is headed, as well as how Trump’s authoritarian power grab might end.

It’s notable that each of these three governors was already talked about as a major Democratic 2028 presidential candidate even before they became a focus of Trump’s ire. That seems to me unlikely to be a coincidence - part of the point of Trump’s crackdown seems to be to do them political damage. Another point is to stop people talking about the economy, which is performing badly, and get them talking about issues Trump feels more comfortable about instead.

For their part, each of these governors is going all-in on opposition to Trump. They’re blasting him as a wannabe dictator and promising no cooperation with his crackdown. For anyone considering running in a Democratic Party presidential primary in 2028, that’s clearly the right thing to do. But it also sets up a political and constitutional showdown with enormous stakes.

As Trump solidifies his control of the federal government, the states are emerging as one of - perhaps the only - key center of power that it is hard for him to assert his dominance over. They make their own laws, elect their own leaders, and have their own security forces.

This autonomy was intended by the founders to allow for the states to protect themselves against federal encroachment, and their pushback against Trump’s regime is one of the rare instances today of the American constitution working as intended.

This autonomous power base is one reason why governors feel free to hit back against Trump. Democrats in Washington have seemed paralyzed throughout this year and have failed to offer the sort of resistance to Trump’s policies that many Americans want to see. I think that stems in large part from the fact they just suffered a stinging electoral defeat. National Democrats are disorganized, demoralized, and too concerned about which way the political wind is blowing.

These governors, by contrast, are powerful and confident. Newsom won his last election by 20%, Moore by 30%, and Pritzker by 10%. These are politicians with mandates to stand up for the interests of their states and to oppose Trump. Their political worlds might be smaller - a single state rather than the nation - but within that world, they have legitimacy and support. That gives them an independent power base to work from.

Ultimately, what we’re seeing here is a clash of two sovereignties - federal vs. state. And the situation could get really ugly, because both sides have guns. With Trump so set on a crackdown and governors so set on resisting him, it’s easy to see how things could spiral into violence.