Dear MoveOn member,

Donald Trump posted and pinned this to the top of his X account, the White
House X account, and his Truth Social account on Saturday:^1

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

Absolutely appalling.

There are numerous cases throughout history when previously democratic
countries fell to fascism—a government where the country is led by a
single far-right leader. Now we have Trump declaring to the world that his
actions are above the law if he "saves his country."

Make no mistake, his ludicrous claim will resound through future tellings
of this time period and what happened to our country. The only question
that remains is: What will history say we did about it?

We won't pretend this is business as usual, John. And we cannot
allow the media or our representatives to act as if it is, either. We are
reaching a critical turning point in the Trump administration, and we must
speak out and organize powerfully to stop Trump and Elon's takeover.

[ [link removed] ]Congress must pass a budget in just a few weeks to avoid a government
shutdown, which provides us with one of our biggest opportunities we may
ever get to stop Trump and Elon from taking away our Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid, and more. Will you pitch in $9 to help
MoveOn have the resources lead that fight? As a grassroots organization,
our resources come from people chipping in what they can. If you've saved
your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go
through immediately.

Trump has already signaled in so many ways that he doesn't care what
Congress or the judiciary has to say when it comes to his DOGE-ing of our
federal government.

Dozens of lawsuits against everything from his federal funding cuts to his
birthright citizenship executive order have moved forward, and yet Trump
continues to double down on these policies. The president is already
refusing to comply with a court order to release federal funds.^2

Vice President JD Vance floated the White House's position by saying,
"Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power."^3 And
if there was any doubt, Trump's post on Saturday made it crystal clear.

And his actions have followed his words. Thousands of government workers
have lost their jobs or have been ordered to stop work. People in charge
of overseeing air traffic control and our national security have been
removed from their posts.^4 Information about outbreaks of
life-threatening illness has been limited.^5

On top of all of that, it's incredibly too many media outlets and members
of Congress are acting like these are ordinary times.

It might be tempting to give in to the "shock and awe." It might feel
hopeless in moments such as when the Senate approved Robert F. Kennedy
Jr., a known anti-vaxxer and health conspiracy theorist.^6 Nothing can be
further from the truth.

[ [link removed] ]The next few weeks are incredibly consequential to shutting down
Trump's attacks on our country and crucial services that people need to
survive. Pitch in $9 to help make sure we don't miss this
shot. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
donation will go through immediately.

We at MoveOn have more than 25 years' experience in changing the narrative
of the media and the direction of government, and it's going to take all
of our grassroots power and skill to ensure that we don't lose this fight.

We need to continue to focus on the needs of the people and the truth
about Trump when the media refuses to do so. When the media is focusing on
the stock market and the statistics about government funding, we will
elevate the stories of the millions of people who will lose health care,
the millions of kids who will lose access to school meals, the teachers
who will lose their jobs en masse while elementary class sizes soar, and
the urgent and lifesaving research into curing and treating cancer lost if
Trump, Musk, and Republicans push tax cuts for billionaires over all of
us. We will highlight the National Parks workers, the scientists and
health care workers, and the veterans' support workers who can't provide
essential services because of Trump's actions.

And we need to demand that our legislators use every tool at their
disposal to stop Trump from pushing his tax cuts for the wealthy and his
drastic slashing of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security into the
upcoming budget bill. One Democratic member of Congress was quoted as
saying, "People are concerned that they're saying we're not doing enough,
but we're not in the majority."^7 That's just not a good excuse. With the
Republican majority razor thin (and fractured) in the House and not
filibuster-proof in the Senate, Democrats have incredible power to hold
firm against a Trump budget. Trump can't get his cuts passed without
Democrats' support, and we are not going to let that happen.^8

We are rallying outside our representatives' offices during this week's
congressional recess, and we will continue to use billboards, flood
Congress with phone calls, and do more to let our legislators know where
the people stand on Trump and his march to fascism. Our effort is working,
and what happens in the next few weeks could make all the difference.

[ [link removed] ]Don't look back on this moment and know you should have done more.
Support MoveOn's resistance to Trump with a donation of
$9. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue
Express, your donation will go through immediately.

Thanks for all you do.

–Britt, Amanda D., Kelly, Olga, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Donald Trump Just Shared A Very Ominous Post, And People Are Calling
It 'One Of The Worst Statements Ever Made By A Sitting US President,'"
BuzzFeed, February 16, 2025
[link removed]

2. "White House Failed to Comply With Court Order, Judge Rules," The New
York Times, February 12, 2025
[link removed]

3. "According to Musk and Vance, checks and balances on Trump are … bad
now? | Opinion," USA Today, February 15, 2025
[link removed]

4. "Trump administration begins mass firings across government," NBC News,
February 14, 2025
[link removed]

5. "'Suppressing essential health information': Some officials frustrated
by Trump administration's limits on health agencies," CNN, February 17,
2025
[link removed]

6. "Senate confirms RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary," CNN,
February 13, 2025
[link removed]

7. "Scoop: Dems 'pissed' at liberal groups MoveOn, Indivisible," Axios,
February 11, 2025
[link removed]

8. "Democrats in Congress see potential shutdown as leverage to counter
Trump," The Guardian, February 15, 2025
[link removed]
Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump and his MAGA allies expect us
to give up. But we will not give them what they want. We will never stop
working to defend our fundamental freedoms and protect our democracy.
MoveOn has been leading the movement against right-wing extremism for 26
years, and we promise you that we will still be here every step of the way
forward.

Will you donate to power MoveOn's work to protect our freedoms and
democracy under Trump's administration?

[ [link removed] ]Click here to chip in $9, or whatever you can afford.



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