Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and a professor at UC Berkeley, is warning the country: “We are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state.”
In a scathing column for The Guardian, Reich lays out what he sees as the dangerous rise of authoritarian power under Donald Trump. “Now that Donald Trump’s tariffs have been halted, his big, beautiful bill has been stymied, and his multi-billionaire tech bro has turned on him, how does he demonstrate his power?” Reich asks.
The answer, according to Reich, is brute force.
A Show of Force in Los Angeles
On Friday, a massive raid swept through Los Angeles. Federal agents from ICE, DHS, the FBI, and the DEA stormed two Home Depot stores and a clothing wholesaler, hunting for undocumented immigrants. They arrested 121 people.
Protesters gathered quickly. They chanted. They threw eggs. Then police in full riot gear moved in – with shields, batons, rubber bullets, pepper balls, tear gas, and flash-bangs. The streets turned into a war zone.
By Saturday, the situation escalated. Trump sent at least 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles County. He declared that any protest interfering with immigration officers was a “form of rebellion.” Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, went even further, calling the protests an “insurrection.”
Then came the most chilling threat yet
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said active-duty Marines might be deployed. “The violent mob assaults on ICE and Federal Law Enforcement are designed to prevent the removal of Criminal Illegal Aliens from our soil,” Hegseth declared. “A dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and a huge NATIONAL SECURITY RISK. Under President Trump, violence and destruction against federal agents and federal facilities will NOT be tolerated.”
Beyond Los Angeles
Los Angeles isn’t alone. Reich points to recent ICE raids in San Diego, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Berkshires. Each one triggered outrage and confrontations between federal agents and everyday people.
ICE is also targeting courthouses, lying in wait outside courtrooms to arrest migrants—even when their cases have already been dismissed.
According to Reich, this isn’t just about immigration anymore. It’s about power and control.
The Police State Playbook
Reich outlines a five-step plan he believes Trump is following to lock in authoritarian rule:
1. Declare an emergency – Label protests and immigration as a “rebellion,” “insurrection,” or “invasion.”
2. Unleash militarized federal agents – Send ICE, the FBI, DEA, and the National Guard into cities.
3. Make dragnet arrests – Grab people off the streets without warrants or due process.
4. Expand detention – Build more prison space and detention camps.
5. Move toward martial law – Use violence and chaos as a pretext to eliminate civilian control.
“We are not at martial law yet, thankfully,” Reich writes. “But once in place, the infrastructure of a police state can build on itself.”
Divide and Control
Reich warns that as military power grows, the country divides: “Those who are most vulnerable to it and those who support it.” Fear and anger take over. A dictatorship takes root.
His warning is blunt: “History shows that once an authoritarian ruler establishes the infrastructure of a police state, that same infrastructure can be turned on anyone.”
A Call to Resist—Peacefully
For now, Reich says, the biggest defenses we have are the courts and nonviolent protests. He urges Americans to show up on Saturday, June 14, for the No Kings Day of Action.
“It is imperative that we remain peaceful,” he writes. “That we demonstrate our resolve to combat this tyranny but do so non-violently, and that we let America know about the emerging infrastructure of Trump’s police state and the importance of resisting it.”
These are dark times, he says, but not hopeless ones.
“It takes one authoritarian to establish a police state,” Reich reminds us. “It takes just 3.5% of a population to topple him and end it.”
