This is week three of Trump’s military occupation of LA

ALSO INSIDE: Ukraine ambassador resigns in protest, runs for Congress

Jun 26, 2025

Cam here 👋 bringing you your daily dose of what people are doing – good, bad, and otherwise – in the world of politics. We’re diving into the stories you won’t see anywhere else. And remember, you can also keep up with me over on TikTok and Bluesky.

And if you’re looking for a little more from COURIER, Akilah Hughes’ new series, “How is This Better?” explores how Trump’s anti-DEI crusade is erasing Jackie Robinson, and our docuseries “REPRESENT” follows Deja Foxx’s as she gets real about the highs and lows of running for Congress.

What Happened

As the case over who has authority over the California National Guard saunters through the courts, one detail seems to get overlooked: Nearly 5,000 active military troops are still deployed in Los Angeles.

It’s been almost three weeks since protests against the Trump administration’s worksite raids prompted him to declare California a burning wasteland and activate the National Guard. They weren’t needed for the protests, as city and state leaders repeatedly stated, but Trump sent 2,000 anyway. And then he sent 2,000 more. And then he sent in 700 Marines.

Trump has since used them as his own personal enforcement unit, sending them to act as security for ICE agents while they arrest Californians without cause and on assignments with DEA agents to raid marijuana farms. The order has left the National Guard’s firefighting crews seriously depleted as wildfire season looms, and, as I’ve reported previously, Republican-run states are now inviting Trump to activate their National Guard so they can help ICE arrest, detain, and deport as many people as they can.

The authoritarian allowance allotted to Trump by the sluggish pace of the courts shares similarities to the court cases of immigrants like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was left for months in a Salvadoran mega-prison while Trump’s attorneys stalled with impunity. It’s not only a legal matter whether the president is allowed to deploy troops against civilians on US soil: every day the courts deliberate, millions of Americans are living in a militarized zone with no end to the occupation in sight.

Attempts to Sanewash

Far-Right Spin

Former Ukraine Ambassador to run for Congress

Bridget Brink was one of dozens of public servants who resigned in protest this year when it became clear they couldn’t do their job according to their conscience under the Trump administration. Brink was the first US Ambassador to Ukraine since the country was invaded by Russia in 2022, but when Trump took office, she noticed a stark change in how he approached the war.

“I respect the president’s right and responsibility to determine U.S. foreign policy ― with proper checks and balances by US Congress. It is the role of America’s Foreign Service to execute that policy,” Brink wrote in an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press. “Unfortunately, the policy since the beginning of the Trump administration has been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia.”

In Congress, Brink’s role would be to put a check on the presidency instead of representing it. And since much of Trump’s strategy involves putting a financial strain on Ukraine by withholding aid — with the help of a Republican-controlled Congress—a victory for Brink in the competitive 7th District of Michigan could tip the House to Ukraine’s favor.

So far, she’s off to a good start: Brink raised over $250,000 in the first day she announced her candidacy, although it’s a third of the war chest incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Barrett has amassed for the midterms.

US Rep. Bruce Westerman, Arkansas’ 4th District

Since taking office in 2015, Rep. Bruce Westerman has:

Seen his net worth increase from $468,000 to an estimated $1.8 million
Sponsored 87 bills
Authored four bills that have been signed into law: to rename two post offices, to permit a sale of federal public land to an Arkansas church, and the EXPLORE Act, which aims to make national parks more accessible
Voted to pass a budget that would sell thousands of acres of public land, undercutting 25% of his legislative accomplishments
Tried to ban same-sex marriage at the federal level
Used a display Civil War sword to defend himself while hiding in the bathroom during Jan. 6th Attack on the US Capitol

Fun Facts

While Westerman has had an investment portfolio during his time in public service, he’s never really played the stock market—until this year, when he reported a purchase of up to $1.6 million in stock in about 100 different companies. Included in the shopping spree, which amounts to over 88% of Westerman’s reported net worth, are shares in Shell, BP, Exxon, and a number of other oil and gas companies.

The purchase was made before Westerman used his position as Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee to advance a Republican budget amendment that would allow for the sale of public lands. Oil and gas companies—many of which Westerman is now a stockholder of—have long sought to purchase public lands so they can extract natural resources.

When confronted about his massive stock purchase by Democratic US Rep. Yassamin Ansari, Westerman deflected and said his financial advisor made the purchase without his knowledge. Which would seem to go against any financial advisor’s fiduciary duty—unless they had some sort of inside knowledge that would allow them to confidently take almost all of their client’s personal wealth and throw it in the stock market all at once.

War abroad means trouble at home

Ever since the Trump administration bombed Iran earlier this month, fear of going to war has begun to bubble up in every state COURIER has reporters. Naoka Foreman, political reporter for The Nevadan, had an incredible interview recently with Iraq War veteran Reuben D’Silva about the prospect of the US involving itself in another war in the Middle East:

With Trump set to meet with Iran next week, D’Silva said the current moment calls for Obama-era negotiations from the White House to avoid war and to protect Nevadans deployed in the region. The Military Times reports that there are approximately 40,000 active-duty US troops and Defense Department civilians in the Middle East, including nearly 300 Nevada National Guard members.
Las Vegas has experience with the Iranian government, causing Metro police to urge residents to be vigilant while out and about following the US airstrikes on the country. They asked that people report suspicious behavior on the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas to police. The concern stems from a 2014 cyberattack on the Las Vegas Sands Palazzo and Venetian Casinos, which US intelligence officials linked to the Iranian government the following year.
Despite the escalation of conflicts, D’Silva cautioned against going to war. He was shot through the forearm during a 2007 deployment in Iraq and has permanent damage. Instead, he called for peaceful political strategies.
“We lost a lot in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said. “Tens of thousands of American casualties… and trillions of dollars spent on those conflicts that we could have used for health care, education, or infrastructure.”

Foreman’s article really brings the gravity of global conflict home — if you have a minute, make sure to read the whole thing.

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