The courts will save us. How many times have we heard that? The courts will do the right thing and uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. They will uphold the rule of law even against a regime that seems hellbent on dismantling both the rule of law and the constitutional order. And yet every single day we see evidence that the courts will not save us. In fact, the courts—certainly the corrupt, illegitimate super majority of the Supreme Court—have no interest in saving us at all.
Two recent rulings suggest that we are far beyond halfway down the slippery slope. First in New York State, my home state, where Attorney General Letitia James won a massive ruling against Donald, the Trump Organization, and his family for many instances of fraud and got a $500 million judgment against them. In its infinite wisdom, a divided appeals court said that the judgment was excessive and eliminated that half-billion-dollar fine.
In another headline in the New York Times, it says that the court decision to toss the penalty frees the Trump family of financial straits.
Well, of course not the entire Trump family. In a separate ruling, we learned that the corrupt, illegitimate super majority of the Supreme Court has decided—though not issued a final ruling yet—to allow the Trump regime to continue the cuts temporarily to health research grants while appeals continue. As far as I'm aware, these grants total something like $800 million. Again, this is a temporary ruling, but the cuts remain in place as the appeals process continues.
That is not the court's holding. That is a win. Why? Because in the meantime, how much more damage is the Trump regime going to do while the courts sit back and let it all happen? A question I continue to have is why. What is the motivation here? How is it possible that jurists—people who have allegedly dedicated their lives, their careers to the rule of law—could be so reckless, so maniacally determined to undo everything this country stands for? That's a question I desperately want an answer to.
Hello everybody and welcome to this evening's episode of Mary Trump Live. It is wonderful to have you here. Donald's hostile takeover of Washington, D.C. is ramping up. The police presence is increasing and this thing is escalating more every single day.
Here’s a report from ABC 7:
“The vice president personally thanking federal law enforcement for stepping in to help crack down on crime in the city. D.C. is already safer than it was nine days ago, but we're going to make it safer still. According to D.C. Police, 527 arrests have been made since August 7th. Early Wednesday, the White House reported a higher number, saying 551 total arrests have been made in the district in that same time.”
“But the feds say any arrest made during the federal enforcement falls under the operations arrest totals, regardless of which agency makes the arrest.”
“What people have to understand is that with an additional 500 more officers, you're going to have more arrests, you're going to have more traffic stops and those types of things.”
“A White House official said of the 551 reported arrests, 225 were related to immigration enforcement. They say three of those arrested are alleged gang members. As the operation continues, federal officers, including ICE agents, are being met with some vocal opposition in D.C. Streets. This scene in Columbia Heights Tuesday with a crowd chanting at federal officers until they eventually leave.”
Can we please just all agree that this is performative bullshit? Yes, as the D.C. police chief pointed out, the more officers you have on the street, the more arrests there are going to be—especially if you have quotas, if you have edicts from on high that you must arrest people. A lot of those arrests will be illegitimate, even frivolous. What do we expect to happen here?
So what is the ultimate endgame of the Trump regime? They would have us believe that it's to eradicate crime in D.C.—as if it's possible to eradicate crime. We would literally have to jump a couple hundred years into the future and join the United Federation of Planets in order for that to happen.
And also, how can you fully eradicate crime from the city of Washington, D.C. if the most prolific criminal in America continues to live there in the White House? How can you fully eradicate crime when you have Nazis like Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, and J.D. Vance roaming the streets? I'm infinitely more afraid of those people than I am of anybody who's a resident of D.C. who does not belong to the fascist Republican Party.
Donald made a promise today while on air with Todd Starnes. He said he was going to go on patrol with the National Guard in D.C. this evening. This is what he had to say.
“And I'm going to be going out tonight. I'm going to keep it a secret, but I'm going to go—you’re the only one that knows, you and your listeners. I'm going to be going out tonight I think with the police and with the military, of course. So we're going to do a job. The National Guard is great. They've done a fantastic job.”
Yeah, Donald didn't think the National Guard was so great when my dad was a second lieutenant, but that's a story for another time. Yes, I feel safer already knowing that Donald is going to be out on the streets of D.C. with the military, with the National Guard, with the local police forces.
Again, performative bullshit. So what's the point of that? There is none. It's just optics.
What Donald doesn't seem to understand is that if he does indeed carry out this stunt, he'll look like an idiot because that's just natural. Beyond that, do you really think that’s going to have any impact whatsoever? Is that an efficient way to use his time or our resources? Think about how much security would be necessary to allow him to walk the streets of Washington, D.C.
How many Secret Service agents, how many of those local police officers, military officers, National Guardsmen will be there to protect him? How much of our money will be spent on this grotesque show? Just like Vance and Hegseth yesterday, while they were handing out hamburgers, this is just another way of distracting us from Donald's failures. It's just another opportunity for him to act like a tough guy who’s got a handle on everything, while of course he has a handle on nothing.
Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not just a distraction. This is very serious business. The president of the United States of America is engaged in a hostile takeover of an American city because it is a blue city with a diverse population that does not support him. That is dangerous, and he plans it for many other cities as well.
However, that doesn’t mean it can’t be both things at once. It is an egregious misuse of power. It is an alarming escalation of the expansion of executive power. It is yet another way to overturn the results of a free and fair election by essentially neutralizing the government of Washington, D.C., and replacing it with whatever Donald wants.
And it is also a distraction from the fact that, according to Donald's own Department of Justice, his name shows up time and time again in the Jeffrey Epstein files. He is desperate for us not to keep talking about it. Talking about what, you ask? The fact that Donald Trump’s name shows up, according to his own Department of Justice, again and again in the Epstein files, and he doesn’t want us to know why. See, it can be two things at once.
Luckily, blue states like California are fighting back in any way they can. While Donald continues to plan further hostile takeovers of blue cities and states, Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, and the state legislature are doing everything in their power to defy Donald’s orders. They’re also giving as good as he gives. Since Donald is using Texas illegitimately, unconstitutionally, illegally to rig that system to keep Republicans in the House majority in 2026 through gerrymandered redistricting, California is doing everything it can to counter the seats being added by Texas.
The California legislature officially kicked off the process to add five more seats to its map today, and they’re pushing to fast-track passage of the maps by Friday—just in time to place it on the ballot for a special election on November 4th. To which I say: yes, thank you. More of this, please, from other large blue states like Illinois, New York, New Jersey, etc.
California has been fighting back on many of the more egregious policies from the Trump regime, from redistricting to LGBTQ+ rights. But when it comes to California’s defiance of Donald’s transgender policies, Donald is doing his part to punish the state in kind.
Today, he announced that the federal government would be terminating a major grant program in California intended to prevent teen pregnancies and childhood STIs.
Seriously? Wow. Let’s have more teen pregnancy. Let’s have more unwanted pregnancies. Let’s have more childhood STIs. Why? Because the Trump regime is saying that the government of California refused to remove “radical gender ideology” from its curriculum. But this program and transgender policies have nothing to do with each other.
The Personal Responsibility Education Program educates California youth on abstinence and contraception to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). There is a particular focus on children in foster care or living in areas with high teen birth rates.
Donald is doing everything in his power to force blue states to bend the knee and submit to policies that are anathema to them and their populace. But if Gavin Newsom has anything to do with it, that won’t be happening anytime soon. And this is a reminder that states have a lot of power here, especially states like California and New York.
California has the seventh largest economy in the world. If it were a country, it would rank seventh globally. New York is also a very wealthy state. Blue states on average pay more to the federal government in tax dollars than they get back, while red states take more than they give. So why in the world would states like California and New York continue to finance this corrupt fascistic regime?
I know it’s not that simple. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to find a way to counter the obscene power grabs, to counter the bullying and threatening that this executive branch continues to traffic in.
The courts weighed in on Donald and his regime today, handing down a major loss and one win for him.
As I mentioned at the top of the show, the bad news is that Donald was spared by a New York appeals court from having to pay a half-billion-dollar fine. But it wasn’t a total win. The court threw out Donald’s massive financial penalty while narrowly upholding a judge’s finding that he engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades. So while the ruling spares him from the fine, it bars him, Don Jr., and Eric from serving in corporate leadership for a few years in New York.
Well, all right—not sure how much of an impact that’s going to have. But let’s be real. Even if Donald had to pay the fine, do you think they’d actually pay it? Either they’d keep appealing, run out the clock, or find another grift to get their base to pay it for them.
So I’m not sure how much of a difference it makes, except this: I am sick to death of Donald having yet another reason to claim on his failed social media platform, or anywhere else, that he won a “total victory.” Yes, they got reprimanded. Yes, the finding that he engaged in fraud was upheld. Who cares? Quite honestly, who cares? Any opportunity Donald has to run a victory lap is a bad day. And by the way, the fact that he was still found to be a fraud—he takes that as a victory too. His followers love that he commits crimes and gets away with them.
The more important thing to him is that he doesn’t have to pay the money. If the fine had been upheld, even if others paid it for him, it still would’ve stuck. Thanks, New York State Court of Appeals. I have many issues with you. Here’s just another one.
Another loss was handed down today to Alina Habba, who thanks to Donald still has a job as New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney, even though she’s serving illegally. A month after Donald overrode a judge’s panel that voted to replace her, a federal judge ruled that Alina Habba has indeed been serving as U.S. Attorney without legal authority.
“Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not. Because she is not currently qualified to exercise the functions and duties of the office in an acting capacity, she must be disqualified from participating in any ongoing cases.”
Sure. And what army is going to enforce that? That’s probably what Donald is saying right now.
So yes, it is always good when the courts come to the right conclusion. It is always good when the courts uphold the rule of law. But they’re still getting away with it. Donald, the Trump regime, his family—seriously, what are the consequences they have suffered? What accountability has there been? The answer is none.
Where does that leave us? When it comes to the courts, it’s pretty simple: let’s be realistic. The courts are not going to save us. Even if they rule correctly, even if they follow the Constitution and respect the rule of law, what enforcement mechanisms do they have? None.
And as has been so obvious for the last few years—especially given the behavior of the corrupt, illegitimate super majority of the Supreme Court led by perhaps the worst Chief Justice in American history, John Roberts—many jurists in this country do not care at all for the rule of law or the Constitution they are supposed to uphold and defend.
It’s just another reminder that the best thing we can do here is be clear-eyed about what we’re facing. It is a waste of our time and energy to look to institutions to save us that have no intention or ability to save us.
So let’s make sure that more blue state governors and more blue city mayors join the resistance. Let’s act like we are facing a pivotal moment in history, because we are. If they blow this, there’s no coming back.
Now, I don’t like ending on a negative note. But you know us—we don’t pull punches here. We’re never going to lie to you. We’re never going to sugarcoat it. We have to be realistic. The worst thing we can do is lie to ourselves or be deluded about the seriousness of the moment in which we live.
This is not a crossroads we’re facing. It is a tipping point. I don’t mean for that to be demoralizing. What would be demoralizing would be to say, “Well, nothing we can do, oh well.” No. This is not over by any stretch of the imagination. But if we fail to recognize what is possible and what is not, then we might waste precious energy and momentum fighting the wrong fight.
So that’s all. I just want us to all be on the same page about what it is we’re fighting, what tools we have, and what our options are. If we can get that straight, and if we can come together, then I am extraordinarily hopeful about what we can all do together.
