Emperor Trump

We're closer than you think.

Matt Smith @ Crisis investments

If you were paying attention to the slow chaos of modern American politics, the thought of America as empireNot republics, it's been painfully apparent for years. For a long time, there was a coordinated effort, all the fun to keep the fiction that the US government is inactive a charming institution "through and for Americans." But let's be honest, this ship not only sailed, but it was rebuilt into a battleship and now makes doughnuts in the Caribbean.

When did the mask truly start slipping? Was it with Patriot Act And then "War with Terrorism" erstwhile civilian liberties were thrown into the bonfire at the tune of "God Bless America"? Or possibly it was during The global financial crisisWhen Wall Street received multi-billion-dollar bailouts, and Main Street received a announcement of property seizure? How about hysteria related to COVID was the last drop, masterclass, how to usage public wellness as a weapon to suppress tiny businesses, silence opposition and poison society. And let us not forget the "great invasion of migrants", the logistical miracle of human trafficking financed by the government, which is to defend its borders.

If any of these moments left a shadow of doubt, Trump's second act of administration should have shattered him into a million pieces. In a movement that was refreshing to any and frightening to others, Trump resigned from kindness and accepted the function of emperor with open arms.

He started everything with a release record 225 regulations executives only in 2025, which is simply a stunning display of unilateral power that makes his first word look like a model of congressional cooperation. By comparison, the first 25 US presidents issued a full of only 1,262 executive regulations over about 112 years. Trump is already in a 5th of the way to the end in 1 year. This is not just a president showing his executive power; it is simply a fundamental change in the relation between the American government and its citizens, on a scale unprecedented since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Like the FDR, which utilized the crises of the large Depression and planet War II to permanently grow executive power, Trump is utilizing the perceived crises of our time to make a new, more authoritarian American state. He imposed immense duties, which is in practice the biggest taxation increase in modern history, and bombed record 7 abroad countries within 1 year. "Peace by force" or just a very aggressive marketing run for a military-industrial complex?

Imperial Bumerang

However, the real summit was on 3 January 2026, during Operation Absolute Resolve. In a movement just out of Tom Clancy's novel, American forces stormed Caracas and captured president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. Trump, with its distinctive subtlety, announced that the US would "rule" Venezuela for the close future, planning to sale its oil reserves to the highest bidder. Asked by The fresh York TimesWhether there are any limitations to his global power, Trump's answer was the master lesson of imperial pride:

And to fund this global adventure? Proposed increase in defence budget by $500 billion, which would add up $1.5 trillion. due to the fact that nothing says "we are a peaceful republic" like a military budget that could fund a tiny planet.

Of course, no empire is complete without a small bread and fun for people at home. To satisfy the masses, Trump ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to acquisition mortgage-backed securities to $200 billion, reduced the interest rate on credit cards and proposed an thought stimulator checks with $2,000 fares. This is simply a classical imperial textbook: to keep the residents in the bar, offering them adequate adventures to distract them from the fact that their republic is being liquidated brick by brick.

But the fist of the empire is most felt at home. The historical pattern is clear: expansive and ruthless empires towards alien enemies consistently turn against their own people. Scientists call it "imperial boomerang" — Repressive techniques designed to control colonial territories inevitably return to their homelands and are applied against their own citizens. The surveillance, detention and coercion infrastructure improved abroad does not disappear; It's being diverted to the inside. The United States is no exception. Data surveillance and integration techniques developed for abroad counter-partisan activities are presently being implemented in the country. It is an imperial boomerang in its modern form, consisting of 3 key elements.

The first is digital control network"digital panopticon" where the government can observe the lives of millions of Americans with unprecedented detail. Trump's administration uses "secondary data abuse", where information transmitted to 1 agency is utilized by another without consent, and "data centralization", consolidating data from different agencies and strengthening it by commercially available data into immense databases. The second is Real ID, which became mandatory for home flights on May 7, 2025. It's more than a standardized identifier; It is simply a national surveillance card that connects to centralised databases, facilitating tracking and monitoring. The 3rd is Palantir Technologies, a data integration engine that allows it all. With over a billion dollars in national contracts since Trump took office, Palantir "Foundry" software is being implemented in national agencies to combine data from health, education, law enforcement, immigration and financial systems into comprehensive profiles of American citizens.

This leads us to the most visible manifestation of imperial boomerang: transforming ICE into national police. In 2025, the ICE underwent a historical increase in the number of employees by 120%, employing 12,000 fresh officers during the year. To attract recruits to this fresh army, the administration offered signing bonuses of $50,000 And she gave up on age and education requirements, all driven by a media run worth $100 million "war recruitment".

The paradox is that despite this massive accumulation, Trump's deportation numbers inactive lag behind Obama. During his first term, Trump deported less than 932,000 people, an average of about 233,000 a year. By comparison, Obama's administration, led by the alleged "Chief Deporter", removed over 3.1 million people in 8 years, which accounts for an average of nearly 388,000 per year. Even erstwhile speeding up the pace in his second term, erstwhile DHS declares more than 605 000 deportations by December 2025, after 5 years of office Trump inactive has a long way to go to catch up with Obama.

It must be said that something must be done to deport criminals who crossed the border during the Biden invasion. But it is worth asking — is the answer the action of the ICE on the street? Does it work and at what cost? Is it possible that this expanded force serves a different motive than the deportation of invaders?

Perhaps this fresh formation is not just about catching undocumented immigrants; It's about building a national police specialising in "catching and packing into bags." If that's the case, how long will it be before we Americans have no accent, no tradition, become the mark of a kidnapping and bag-type safety service?

Imagine if Biden had specified a tool at his disposal.

Machine construction

Anyway, preparation is wrong. The same well-funded leftist teams that brought us BLM, Antfa, and Defund the Police — which organized the chaos of "The summertime of Love", the most costly civilian unrest event in American insurance past and ended with 25 deaths, stand inactive today, standing in direct opposition to the ICE.

The masked, aggressive and confrontational tactics of "Operation Metro Surge" ICE have already led to clashes between armed national agents and protestors in cities across the country. This has already led to the death of Renee Nicole Good, a left-wing activist shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, whom the DHS secretary immediately called "national terrorist".

It is now easy to impose the name terrorist. I'm old adequate to remember how terrorists were truly dangerous people who smoked people in cages and cut their heads off. Today, the description refers to the men on the boat, Maduro, and now to the likely mentally sick parent of 3 children who clearly made any mistakes, including throwing the car on the run and stepping on the gas. Stupid, yes. Criminal, sure. But a home terrorist?

ICE seems to be doomed (if not designed) to force itself against left-wing street agitators and origin escalation; something that would prompt Trump to call up on Insurance Act. Upon completion of operations, Trump could send an active military to the US, federalize the National defender units from any state — subject them to national command and keep unlimited deployment without congressional supervision or time constraints. Not to mention that these military units are gaining enforcement powers, including the right to detain without due process.

If Trump calls on the Insurrection Act, the only real limitations of his interior power will be the 1 he has internationally. "His morality. With my own mind."

The Empire is here

Trump will give his beginning speech for the 3rd time on World economical Forum In Davos. This is not a confrontation; this is simply a coronation. In his first speech in 2018, he appeared as an alleged populist disruptor, but left as a recognized pragmatist, effectively winning the global elite with promises of taxation cuts and deregulation. Until his second speech in 2025, he resigned from trading and issued direct instructions on everything, from oil prices to interest rates. Now, in 2026, he returns with his friend Larry Fink as interim co-chair of the WEF, ending his transformation from the outsider who promised to dry the swamp to the emperor who now commands him. A man who has made a career of mocking the global elite will now stand before them not as president but as president of the global empire, holding unlimited power.

The Empire is here and doesn't even effort to hide anymore. We must now recognise that America has changed in a fundamental way and the consequences are enormous. How long will it be before the imperial ambitions that took over Venezuela pay attention to the vast resources of Greenland and Canada or decide to "stabilize" Colombia or Nicaragua? And what actions in the country — those that we cannot yet imagine — will be justified by this fresh reality? These changes are not theoretical. They're coming. The only question is what we're willing to do about it.

Say hello,

Matt Smith

_______
https://www.crisisinvesting.com/p/emperor-trump