Donald Trump is getting desperate—and it’s becoming clear. After a series of major legal defeats and his approval rating continues to plummet, he’s resorting to the tactics of authoritarian leaders around the world: weaponizing government power to target his political opponents.
In his latest move, Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to investigate ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s main fundraising platform, as part of an ongoing campaign to undermine his rivals and maintain control.
This is Trump’s most direct attack yet on the Democratic Party itself—not just political rivals, but the core infrastructure they rely on to fund campaigns and reach voters. It’s not just dirty politics; it’s an authoritarian tactic straight out of the strongman playbook.
And this comes after a string of stinging defeats. Trump has been buried in court losses and his poll numbers are slipping. Now, he’s trying to change the subject by turning the Justice Department into his personal hit squad.
The memo claims that ActBlue may be letting through “straw donations” and money from foreign donors, though it offers no proof that the platform broke any laws. The only evidence? Fraud that ActBlue itself discovered and shut down.
“A recent House of Representatives investigation revealed that a platform named ActBlue had in recent years detected at least 22 ‘significant fraud campaigns,’ nearly half of which had a foreign nexus,” the memo states. But those fraud attempts weren’t hidden—they were caught and reported by ActBlue, not uncovered by any GOP investigation.
ActBlue quickly fired back: “Today’s escalation by the White House is blatantly unlawful and needs to be seen for what it is: Donald Trump’s latest front in his campaign to stamp out all political, electoral and ideological opposition.”
They called the attack a “brazen assault on democracy,” and promised to “pursue all legal avenues to protect and defend itself against the Administration’s baseless claims.”
Let’s be clear: It’s illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. campaigns. It’s illegal to donate using someone else’s name. But there’s no proof that ActBlue broke those laws—and Trump’s memo doesn’t even bother to claim they did. Instead, it relies on vague, misleading claims pumped up by right-wing influencers like Charlie Kirk, who pushed a spreadsheet that misrepresented how donations are reported.
Meanwhile, the Republican fundraising platform WinRed—which has had its own problems with fraud—hasn’t faced any investigation at all. No executive orders. No memos. Nothing.
That’s not a coincidence.
“This president, with his approval ratings underwater and sinking like a stone, is desperately seeking to undermine his political opposition by cutting off their access to funding,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin. “Today’s presidential decree… is the kind of edict you’d expect from a power-mad dictator in a Banana Republic.”
Democratic leaders slammed the memo too, saying it’s about silencing small-dollar donors and grassroots opposition. “He knows Americans are already fed up with his chaotic agenda… so he’s trying to block lawful grassroots donations from supporters giving just $5 or $10,” they said in a joint statement.
Trump isn’t just trying to secure a Republican win in the midterms. He’s trying to rig the system before the votes are even cast. And he’s using the full weight of the federal government to do it.
