Democratic Governors Must Declare States of Emergency Now

They are building the legal case to deploy active military on our streets. Inaction is not an option—it’s a surrender.

The writing isn’t just on the wall; it’s in the headlines. White House officials are in “increasingly serious discussions” about President Trump invoking the Insurrection Act, a 19th-century law that would give him the power to deploy active-duty military forces as a domestic police force. According to sources within the administration, the debate has alarmingly shifted from if they should use it to how and when it might be invoked.¹²

The administration is already building its pretext, painting protests against ICE operations in cities like Portland and Chicago as a “criminal insurrection”. But this isn’t just about deploying troops. It’s about meticulously building an unassailable legal argument for a military takeover of American cities. As I discussed in my last article on the unforgiving physics of political power, this is a masterclass in applying strategic leverage. And right now, Democratic governors are letting them build that case completely uncontested, applying almost no effective force in return.

Fighting Fascism: The Unforgiving Physics of Political Power

The Insurrection Act Trap: How They Plan to Win in Court

This isn’t chaos; it’s a cynically brilliant legal playbook designed to corner the states and justify the unjustifiable. Here is the trap they are setting:

1. Provoke and Document: The strategy begins by using federal agents like ICE to manufacture chaos and violently escalate confrontations with protestors. Every reaction is then meticulously documented to create a one-sided record of “unlawful obstructions” and “insurrection”.

2. Weaponize Non-Cooperation: The Trump regime takes the morally and legally correct non-cooperation policies passed by Democratic states and reframes them as state-sponsored obstruction. The narrative becomes: “We are trying to enforce federal law, but the states are actively preventing us from doing our job.” Principled resistance is twisted into evidence of state-level complicity in the “chaos.”

3. Exploit the Void: With states refusing to cooperate but also failing to create their own record of action—like deploying their own Guard to protect citizens—the federal government claims a power vacuum. They create the narrative: “The violence is uncontrollable because the states have tied our hands and refuse to act themselves.”

4. Manufacture “Exhaustion of Options”: Trump’s team will point to the lawsuits filed by states to block the use of the National Guard as the final piece of evidence. Their legal argument is now complete: “The states obstructed us, the violence grew, and they even sued to stop us. We have exhausted all other options”.

5. Present the Case to a Captured Court: Trump’s lawyers now have a logically sound, if factually baseless, argument. They can present this clean, deceptive narrative to a friendly Supreme Court. The premises are lies, but without a competing factual record from the states, the logic is dangerously defensible.

Appeasement is Complicity

The current strategy from Democratic governors—relying on the courts to save us—is a delusion. Legal challenges are essential, but they are not enough. While they wait for a judge, the factual record that will matter to a captured SCOTUS is being written by Trump’s loyalists. The courts are being used as an excuse for inaction.

Let’s be clear: this inaction is a betrayal. Federal agents are abusing American residents, and by refusing to intervene, these governors are failing their most basic duty. They are allowing their states to become testing grounds for a fascist takeover. If this continues, the result is not a victory in court; it is the Insurrection Act being invoked with the Supreme Court’s blessing. The result is active-duty U.S. troops on our streets, accountable only to the President.

The Counter-Play: Create a Competing Record

This is not a time for caution; it’s a time for legal warfare. To defuse their trap, Democratic governors must create a competing factual record that exposes the federal government’s narrative as a lie. They must act now:

1. Declare a State of Emergency: In every state where federal agents have used excessive force, governors must declare an emergency. This officially documents that the crisis is the federal government’s violence, not local lawlessness.

2. Activate the National Guard: Deploy the guard with a clear and public mandate: to protect the residents of the state from unlawful violence, regardless of the source. This creates a direct, factual counter-narrative to the federal claim of needing to “restore order.”

3. Enforce State Law: Give explicit orders to state and local police to uphold state laws against assault, kidnapping, and other crimes. These laws must apply to everyone, including federal agents. If a masked federal agent assaults a citizen, they must be arrested.

This strategy isn’t about starting a civil war. It’s about giving the courts an undeniable, competing body of evidence. When Trump’s lawyers present their story of “insurrection,” the states will present their own record: emergency declarations, Guard deployments to protect citizens, and arrests of violent federal agents. It makes the federal claim that the states “did nothing” an obvious lie.

A Final Warning, A Clear Action

Inaction is surrender. Relying on slow-moving lawsuits while the fascists build their case is a fatal error. The Insurrection Act trap is being set, and time is running out.

Not declaring states of emergency, not activating the National Guard, and not enforcing state law against criminal federal agents isn’t just a betrayal of their residents. It’s not just appeasement. It is the final act of complacency that could give the fascists total military control of our cities.

But a warning without a plan is a prelude to defeat. That plan begins now, online, and culminates in the streets.

From this moment until October 18th, we must launch a relentless social media campaign. The target is every Democratic Governor in a state where federal power is being abused. The demand must be unwavering and clear. We must flood their accounts, their hashtags, and their media spaces with three non-negotiable demands:

1. Declare a State of Emergency to address federal overreach.

2. Activate the National Guard with orders to protect your citizens.

3. Enforce State Law against any agent, federal or otherwise, who harms residents.

This online pressure must be a crescendo, building day by day. It sets the stage for October 18th, turning the “No Kings” march into the physical manifestation of our unified demand. The march is not the beginning of the fight; it is the deadline.

For organizers of the October 18th march:

Your mission is to channel this crescendo of public pressure. The target of this march cannot be a general protest against Trump; it must be a direct, unwavering demand aimed at your Governor’s office.

For organizers in all other states:

Your role is to create a cohesive national message that the media and the courts cannot ignore. You must amplify the demands being made in other states and demonstrate a united front against federal overreach.

“No Kings” is catchy, but it is strategically empty. We must replace it with messaging that is sharp, clear, and works in concert with the legal counter-play our governors must execute. Our signs and our chants must reflect the strategy:

• STATE LAW, NOT MARTIAL LAW

• YOUR STATE, YOUR GUARD, OUR RIGHTS

• BUILD THE RECORD, BLOCK THE COUP

This is how we move from passive anger to strategic action. It is how we build a competing record on social media and in the streets that supports the one our governors must build in their offices.

Share this article with every march organizer you know. Get these slogans and demands into the hands of every person planning to attend. This isn’t just a protest anymore. It’s a strategic move in the fight for the Republic.

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If this playbook for countering the Insurrection Act trap is the kind of strategic thinking we need, then join us in executing it. The American Manifesto is more than just analysis—it’s the operations center for a smarter, more disciplined resistance. Every subscription helps us develop these urgent strategies, pressure leaders to act, and arm citizens with the clarity to win this fight for the Republic. Join us, support this work, and let’s build a resistance that is as strategic as our opponents are cynical.

Focus. Amplify. Win. The future depends on it.

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Your Move — Let’s Execute This Strategy Together

This strategy is a starting point, not a final order. It only works if we sharpen it, spread it, and act on it together. We need to hear from you in the comments:

• Does the “Insurrection Act Trap” framework make sense to you? What’s the biggest obstacle you see to governors taking the decisive actions outlined here?

• Are you seeing signs of federal overreach or ICE activity in your state? Is your governor’s response adequate, or is it the kind of complacency this article warns about?

• We proposed three slogans: ‘STATE LAW, NOT MARTIAL LAW,’ ‘YOUR STATE, YOUR GUARD, OUR RIGHTS,’ and ‘BUILD THE RECORD, BLOCK THE COUP.’ Which one resonates most with you, and why? Can you suggest another that’s even stronger?

• Beyond just tweeting at governors, how can we best build a “crescendo of public pressure” online before the October 18th march? What platforms or tactics would be most effective?

• What part of this strategy did I miss? Are there other legal or political pressure points we should be targeting right now?

1. Kube, Courtney, et al. “Trump administration officials seriously discussing invoking Insurrection Act, sources say.” NBC News, 8 Oct. 2025.

This article reports on “increasingly serious discussions” within the White House to invoke the Insurrection Act, noting the debate has shifted from if to how and when the act might be used. The administration is building its case around the pretext of protecting ICE officials from what President Trump has labeled a “criminal insurrection” in major cities. Crucially, the reporting confirms this is a premeditated legal strategy, as officials have already drafted legal defenses and are focused on creating a pathway that can withstand judicial scrutiny. This directly supports the thesis that the administration is actively building a legal justification for deploying the military on American streets.

2. Ward, Myah. “Why Trump hasn’t invoked the Insurrection Act yet.” POLITICO, 8 Oct. 2025.

This article further supports the claim of a premeditated legal strategy, quoting former DHS official Miles Taylor, who stated there was an “active conversation” during the first term about using a second term to push “as many extreme things as fast as possible to get them run up to the Supreme Court as quickly as possible”. The report details the administration’s confidence in prevailing at the Supreme Court , with one legal expert giving “20-1 odds” against lower court rulings surviving its review. The White House is described as “increasingly building the case” to use the measure in blue cities by labeling protestors as “insurrectionists,” a strategy supported by conservative think tanks who believe such a move would be an “open and shut slam dunk” in the courts. This confirms the Insurrection Act is not being considered as a last resort, but as a long-planned tool to be deployed via a carefully constructed legal pretext aimed at a favorable Supreme Court.