Saturday Morning Covfefe: 5 Things with Olivia

Voters were promised cheaper groceries if they re-elected Trump to office. Remember all that rage over the price of eggs? Eggs are still high, beef just hit a record, and coffee prices jumped 21% in a year. Tariffs, tighter immigration rules, and climate shocks are driving prices up, not down. I’m going to sip my (expensive) cup of coffee slowly this morning and take a look at what else the week brought. Guess MAGA doesn’t stand for “Make Affordability Great Again.”

1. Birthright Citizenship on the Chopping Block

The Trump administration has officially requested that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decide once and for all whether it can end birthright citizenship by executive order. For more than a century, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment has guaranteed that anyone born on U.S. soil, except children of diplomats, is a citizen. Trump’s Solicitor General, D. John Sauer, now calls that “a mistaken view” with “destructive consequences.”

Stephen Miller’s argument (which I’ve heard him espouse firsthand during Trump 1.0 policy meetings): children of undocumented immigrants or even legal visitors don’t qualify. If SCOTUS agrees, millions of Americans could wake up to find their citizenship questioned, a seismic break with constitutional precedent. This isn’t just another Trump order. It’s a direct strike at the very definition of what it means to be an American, the difference between citizenship by right, or citizenship by permission slip from the president.

👶 Trump Takes Aim at the 14th Amendment: NBC

2. Trump Officially Rebrands Dissent as Terrorism

On Thursday, Trump sat in the Oval Office in his red tie and flag pin, pursing his lips as cameras rolled, to sign a presidential memorandum on “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” The directive dramatically expands federal powers to investigate, surveil, and prosecute U.S. citizens, nonprofits, and funders accused of supporting what Trump calls “radical left extremism.” He singled out democratic donors George Soros and Reid Hoffman by name.

The memo does three things:

• Orders DOJ and Homeland Security to treat protests, doxing, and even “anti-capitalist” rhetoric as potential terrorism.

• Directs the IRS to strip nonprofits of tax-exempt status if linked to “political violence.”

• Gives Treasury power to choke off financial flows to groups the administration deems threatening.

What looks like a crackdown on violence is really a framework to brand dissent, philanthropy, and protest as “terrorism.” I warned this was coming. The question now: will the rule of law hold, or break?

📜 Read The Fine Print | 📰 The Axios Breakdown

3. DoD Pep Rally or Purge? Hegseth Summons the Generals

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): This isn’t normal. Whether it’s a pep rally, a purge, or a pivot to domestic militarization, the fact that we even have to ask tells you how far outside democratic guardrails this is.

This one should send chills: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered nearly every U.S. general and admiral to report in person to Quantico next week. Up to 800 flag officers in one place, an assembly without precedent in modern U.S. history. What’s on the agenda? Grooming, “standards,” and his so-called “warrior ethos.” It sounds cosmetic. It’s not.

Speculation is rampant. Here are some possibilities:

• A loyalty oath to Trump. The military already swears allegiance to the Constitution, not a man. A parallel oath would be a breach of law and tradition.

• A mission refocus. Reporting suggests Hegseth’s National Defense Strategy will shift away from deterring China and toward homeland operations. Watch for the blurring of the lines between the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security. Is this another step towards Trump’s obsession with using the military domestically?

• A purge. Trumpworld has been laying the groundwork for firing senior brass who resist. A “get on board or resign” ultimatum could be coming.

Security will be a nightmare: hundreds of top commanders gathered at one Marine base is a glaring vulnerability.

🪖 The Warrior Ethos Summit: NY Times | 🚨 Posse Comitatus Refresher

4. ICE Courtroom Violence Caught on Camera

A video from New York’s immigration court went viral this week: an ICE officer shoving Ecuadorian immigrant Monica Moreta-Galarza to the ground as she begged for her husband’s release, her young daughter standing by, crying. I felt rage.

Even DHS, not exactly known for hand-wringing, called the officer’s actions “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE.” He’s been “relieved of duty” while they investigate, which feels like bureaucratic code for “we’ll hope you forget about this.”

U.S. Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) isn’t forgetting. He urged felony prosecution, calling ICE “secret police attacking our communities with excessive violence.” Local reports say the same officer was spotted last month yanking a teenage girl from her father’s arms. Meanwhile, deaths in ICE custody have climbed to at least 16 this year, and the majority of detainees now have no criminal history.

🎥 ICE Agent Assault Caught on Video: The Guardian

5. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 2025

Every September, New York becomes the diplomatic Super Bowl as the UN General Assembly convenes. I know because for two years I had the UN portfolio in the Trump 1.0 White House—setting diplomatic agendas, managing motorcades, and dealing with political staffers who thought their titles meant they belonged in every meeting with heads of state. Spoiler: they didn’t. Here are the flashpoints, theater, and fireworks.

• Escalator-gate: Trump claimed “triple sabotage” (the escalator, teleprompter, and audio failed during his appearance). He then delivered a speech that included “Your countries are going to hell,” and a bunch of anti-immigrant and anti-climate change rhetoric. In 2019, they laughed. This time? Silence.

• Netanyahu’s “sheer madness”: Recognition of Palestine triggered walkouts, boos, and balcony applause.

• Ukraine & Russia: Zelenskyy warned Ukraine is “only the first target.” Trump also seemed to reverse his stance on Ukraine, but I’m calling TACO on this one.

• Lula vs. Trump: Brazil’s Lula hailed democracy, blasted U.S. sanctions.

• Palestinian statehood: France and other Western nations recognized Palestinian sovereignty sending a sharp, if symbolic, message to Israel and the U.S. as the Gaza war nears its second year.

• Mike Waltz cosplay: Trump’s demoted ex–national security adviser showed up as UN ambassador, hashtagging #MUNGA—Make the U.N. Great Again. (Are you serious? People already think you’re a joke, and this didn’t help it.)

• Colombia clash: U.S. revoked Colombian President Petro’s visa after he told U.S. soldiers to “disobey Trump’s order.” He also blasted U.S. strikes in the Caribbean as tyranny.

UNGA 2025 showed a world as fractured as ever. Shout out to the nameless staff who keep the circus running, and to the NYPD, who wrangle motorcades in a city that mostly just wants its streets back.

🚀 Inspiration: From Space Camp Dreams to Mars—History in the Making

As someone who went to Space Camp and once dreamed of being an astronaut, I’ll admit this headline got me a little teary. For the first time in history, women outnumber men in NASA’s newest astronaut class. Six of the ten recruits—pilots, engineers, scientists, even a former U.S. women’s rugby player—will spend the next two years training in jets, geology, robotics, survival, and spacewalks before they’re eligible for missions to the space station, the Moon, and one day, Mars. This milestone isn’t just about who gets to wear the spacesuit, it’s about who gets to dream. A generation of girls just got proof that they belong not only in the classroom, but in the cockpit and on the launchpad to the future. And to the men and loved ones who support these journeys: thank you for standing beside us as we reach higher together.

Note: while NASA is training women for Mars, Pete Hegseth was busy killing the Pentagon’s women’s advisory committee. Good thing he doesn’t run the space program.

🌎 NASA’s Trailblazing 2025 Astronaut Class: NY Times

A reminder: I’ll be live with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck this Monday, September 29, at 11am ET for a conversation on his new documentary Orwell: 2+2=5 — and on truth and authoritarianism in 2025. Hope you can join us. The link will be posted on Substack at Olivia of Troye, and the recording will be available afterward. Trailer below (double-click on Watch on YouTube).

See you on Monday!
Olivia