The term "blitzkrieg," German for "lightning war," is used to signify the swift deployment of concentrated military force to overwhelm a line of defense. It's most often used to describe the Nazis' use of tanks to rout first Poland in September 1939 and then the rest of Western Europe in a few short months thereafter. Time Magazine described the Third Reich's quick suppression of Europe as a "war of quick penetration and obliteration."

"Blitzkrieg" has come to mind during President Donald Trump's second presidency, during which he has moved swiftly to dismantle America's democratic norms and institutions, which he regards as his enemies. Truth is, he has American democracy reeling and Americans grappling with a stomach-turning new reality, in which an American president deploys the federal government full throttle to terrify his critics, pulverize civic institutions and dictate national affairs with minimal restrictions.

In the whoosh of proto-fascist proclamations and executive actions, the hypocrisy goes unnoticed, but hypocrisy is the least of our problems. "Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents," declared Trump on Inauguration Day in January 2025, minutes before commencing a regime of weaponizing the immense power of the state to persecute political opponents, unlike anything we've ever conceived of in this country. There's been little subtlety to the president's weaponization of the Justice Department to threaten, intimidate, investigate and prosecute his opponents. He doesn't hide it; he revels in it and in Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and others who pledged personal fealty to him to get their jobs, he has the most craven of yes men. It's been 12 solid months of abuse of power. Those who still label alarms about this "Trump Derangement Syndrome" no longer appear merely ridiculous. They appear complicit.

Last week, Trump's Justice Department arrested journalist Don Lemon, a longtime Trump critic. Less credible, perhaps, than anyone who has ever roamed the earth, Trump denies Lemon's arrest was retributive, but even kindergartners know that's BS. "We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped former President Joe Biden rig presidential elections," vowed Kash Patel, Trump's FBI Director, in December 2023. "We're going to come after you. Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out."

That Trump believes journalists critical of him should be jailed is not speculative. In a speech at the Justice Department he controls in March 2025, he proclaimed that CNN and MSNBC's coverage of him was "illegal." He called for NBC to be investigated for treason, for ABC's license to be revoked for its fact-checking of him and for CBS's license to be revoked for its airing of an interview with his opponent.

Trump ordered Bondi to indict former FBI Director James Comey, who rejected Trump's demand that he terminate the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He ordered Bondi to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully sued Trump for fraud. He ordered Bondi to open a criminal investigation into Senator Adam Schiff, who, while he was in the House, led Trump's first impeachment. She did these things promptly. "We are so proud to work at the direction of Donald Trump," Bondi told an assembly of what are supposed to be independent prosecutors, as Trump looked on approvingly.

Lemon and journalist Georgia Foot were covering a Minnesota protest against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who doubles as a pastor. As happens all the time, the journalists were invited by the organizers to cover the protest, which took place in a church. The Justice Department claims this constituted a criminal assault by the two reporters on a house of worship. Of course, their right to report is protected by the First Amendment. Even more fundamentally, two separate federal judges found that Lemon and Foot had committed no crime. "There is no evidence that (Lemon and Foot) engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so," the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals overseeing the Minnesota federal court wrote.

The charges against the journalists will likely be thrown out eventually. But the message has been sent: Trump critics beware. And journalists who dare to cover Trump unfavorably should pack a toothbrush.

Jeff Robbins' latest book, "Notes From the Brink: A Collection of Columns about Policy at Home and Abroad," is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books and Google Play. Robbins, a former assistant United States attorney and United States delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, was chief counsel for the minority of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. An attorney specializing in the First Amendment and a longtime columnist, he writes on politics, national security, human rights and the Middle East.

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