Naval Station Great Lakes: Trump’s Staging Ground for a Police State
How Trump Is Turning a Naval Base Into a Launchpad for Domestic Occupation
Naval Station Great Lakes: Trump’s Staging Ground for a Police State
How Trump Is Turning a Naval Base Into a Launchpad for Domestic Occupation
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #512: Saturday, August 30th, 2025.
A Military Base for Immigration? Or a Forward Operating Base for Martial Law?
When most Americans think of a naval base…they picture sailors in dress whites… ships…training drills. They don’t picture federal police…Homeland Security shock troops…and tactical staging for urban crackdowns.
But that’s exactly what’s happening right now outside Chicago.
Trump’s people are preparing to use Naval Station Great Lakes…the Navy’s only boot camp, the largest training facility in the country…not to train sailors…but to house federal forces for “immigration enforcement.”
Let’s cut through the spin: this isn’t about immigration.
This is about occupation.
Naval Station Great Lakes is being rewired into a forward operating base for Trump’s war on sanctuary cities…and for his war on dissent.
Why This Hits Me Harder Than Most
I don’t write about Naval Station Great Lakes as some detached observer. I write about it with memories burned into me.
That base is where my service began. It’s where I stood on the grinder as a raw recruit…where my peers chose me as the Honor Recruit of my company…and where I carried the weight as the Honor Guard RPOC…the most senior and visible recruit leader in a division.
Great Lakes wasn’t just a military installation to me. It was the crucible. It was where words like duty…discipline…and honor weren’t abstract…they were drilled into our bones.
It was where I learned what it meant to lead…to be responsible for something bigger than myself…to set an example when every set of eyes was on me.
That’s why it makes me sick to my stomach to see Trump and his people twisting the same ground into a staging area for political crackdowns.
A base that once stood for service and sacrifice is being corrupted into a forward operating post for suppression.
And that isn’t just an insult to the city of Chicago…it’s an insult to every man and woman who ever wore the uniform and walked those same halls believing they were defending freedom…not dismantling it.
Why Chicago?
Chicago has been Trump’s white whale for years. He’s raged against its crime rates…its Democratic leaders…its sanctuary city policies.
Now he’s found the perfect hammer: Naval Station Great Lakes…just 40 miles north of the city.
Think about the logistics:
Existing housing for thousands of personnel.
Infrastructure for training…supply…and deployment.
Easy road…rail…and water access into Chicago.
It’s the ideal staging ground for federal occupation. The Pentagon knows it. DHS knows it. And Trump knows it.
This isn’t a coincidence. It’s a test run.
The Infrastructure of Suppression
What does a military base provide that ordinary DHS offices don’t?
Scale: You can mass troops by the hundreds.
Secrecy: Movements and operations are shielded from public eyes.
Speed: You can deploy into Chicago in under an hour.
Symbolism: A military base signals power. It intimidates by its very presence.
Naval Station Great Lakes wasn’t chosen because it’s convenient. It was chosen because it transforms a political fight into a military operation.
The Sanctuary City Smokescreen
Trump will tell you this is about immigration.
He’ll say it’s about enforcing federal law against “illegal aliens.” He’ll point to sanctuary policies as a threat.
But here’s the truth: the “immigration” excuse is a Trojan horse.
What starts with raids in Chicago doesn’t stay in Chicago. Once the machinery is in place…the mission creeps:
Sanctuary cities become “lawless cities.”
Lawless cities become “crime-ridden cities.”
Crime-ridden cities become “Democratic cities.”
And before you know it…the playbook is clear: any city that resists Trump’s agenda is a target for occupation.
From Border Patrol to Battle Ready
Consider the personnel. DHS officers…ICE agents…and potentially National Guard troops staged at a naval base.
That’s not policing. That’s not administration. That’s militarization.
When you concentrate armed federal power on a base designed for military readiness… you are not running a law-enforcement operation…you are building a domestic battle group.
This is how authoritarian regimes operate. They don’t say “we’re launching martial law.” They say “we’re protecting the homeland.”
The Historical Echo
Look back at history:
Hitler used military barracks to stage his early police-state crackdowns.
Pinochet staged troops at bases around Santiago before launching his coup.
Mussolini armed his Blackshirts through military depots.
Every authoritarian uses the infrastructure of the military to bleed into civilian control. It’s efficient…it’s intimidating…and it’s deniable.
Naval Station Great Lakes is America’s test case.
Why This Should Concern You
Because it proves the machinery is already being built.
This isn’t theory. It isn’t “maybe someday.”
It’s here. It’s now.
Federal officers housed on a naval base…staged to deploy into Chicago under Trump’s orders…is martial law by another name.
And once this becomes “normal” in Chicago…it becomes repeatable anywhere. Boston. Portland. New York. Atlanta.
The precedent is everything.
What It Means for 2026
Timing isn’t random. The 2026 midterms loom…and Trump needs control over urban centers…especially Democratic strongholds…to tilt the balance.
Imagine troops staged outside major cities in the months leading to the election.
Imagine protests against voter suppression met with DHS units deployed from federal bases.
Imagine polling places “secured” by armed officers.
The chilling effect is enormous. Voter turnout plummets. Dissent evaporates. The opposition is neutralized.
That’s why Naval Station Great Lakes matters: it’s the infrastructure of political control…not public safety.
What You Must See
Here’s the harsh reality: the blueprint is hiding in plain sight.
Trump says “immigration.”
The media says “efficiency.”
But the truth is this: America is being wired for occupation…base by base…city by city.
Naval Station Great Lakes is step one.
Mental and Logistical Preparation Triggers Inspiration
The question isn’t whether Trump will declare martial law with a flourish. The question is whether you’ll notice when he builds it piece by piece…base by base…until it’s too late to stop.
Chicago is the laboratory. Naval Station Great Lakes is the staging ground. The machinery is humming.
You can dismiss it. You can tell yourself it’s “just immigration enforcement.”
Or you can recognize what it is: the skeleton of a police state.
And once that skeleton is fleshed out…it won’t matter whether you believe it or not.
It will be too late.
The time to prepare…resist…and organize is not tomorrow. It’s now.
Because Trump has his staging ground. The only question left is: do we have ours?
We’re NOT Out of The Fight
Make no mistake…what Trump is doing at Great Lakes is dangerous. But dangerous does not mean inevitable.
Authoritarians thrive on despair. They want you convinced it’s already over…that the machine is too big…that you’re powerless to change its direction.
That lie is their strongest weapon. And the moment you reject it…the moment you decide you still have agency…you’ve already stolen back ground they thought was theirs.
History isn’t written in one stroke…it’s bent…redirected…and reshaped by those who refuse to fold.
We’ve seen darker times in this country. We’ve faced wars…depressions…demagogues… and would-be kings. Each time…Americans who were told they had no chance stood up…dug in…and altered the course.
The same is true now.
Every conversation you have…every connection you build…every preparation you make…every truth you refuse to swallow…it all matters. It all stacks. And when stacked together…it becomes force.
We are not out of the fight. Far from it.
If Trump can use a naval station as his staging ground…then we can use our voices…our networks…and our resolve as ours.
What happens next isn’t pre-written. It isn’t sealed. It’s being written right now…by you…by me…by every citizen who refuses to yield.
Survival favors the prepared…freedom favors the vigilant…and history bends for the ones who refuse to quit.
I’ll be back soon.
Standing strong with you,
-Jack
I’ll add Pol Pot to the those mentioned (Hitler, Pinochet, Mussolini). Pol Pot is quoted as saying, “Our policy was to provide an affluent life for the people. There were mistakes made in carrying it out. Several thousand people may have died.” [The Guardian, an interview with Robert Whytman, Dec 11, 1979].
While head of the Khmer Rouge, from the early 1960s until the late 1990s, Pol Pot committed and oversaw atrocities on the Cambodian people. It is estimated, that in the mid to late 1970s, over 1.5 million were murdered. Yet, Pol Pot stated ‘several thousand’.
There was ethnic cleansing and torture to name only a few of the many atrocities.
It is believed that he thought the world admired his Khmer Rouge and its activities.
Hmmm, a gross underestimate of human beings murdered and a gross overestimate of public opinion? Are the similarities in mindset obvious?
I am unable to confirm if Roy Cohn and Pol Pot knew each other. I also do not know who will carry out the intentions of the Trump cartel should Trump leave office.
The time to act is now. The time to contact your elected representatives and senators is now. Please consider simply asking them, regardless of their political affiliation,
a) how far Congress will permit this to go. Let the elected officials know, they cannot hold onto their positions while washing themselves of responsibility.
b) please ask them the date of when they took their oath of office and if they will send a signed photo.
Thank you Jack! Hits close to home for me too as that is where my father was stationed during his Naval service between II and Korea; god did he thread the needle. I appreciate your writing during this time especially, and taking on the challenge of not succumbing to anxiety and overwhelm that is constantly threatening. It's very helpful for building out the necessary and helpful character traits to try and more steadily persevere in resistance. Thank you!