And what it tells us about secrecy, symbolism, and the state of American democracy: By the time you've finished reading this...you'll know more about the "renovation," that 99.9% of Americans
This is terrifying! We MUST STAND UP TOGETHER NOW WHILE WE STILL CAN!! Priority #1 for every person in this country. It’s our duty passed down from our families and ancestors to resist authoritarianism. We leave our children and grandchildren to this environment if we do nothing! And it will be u bearable and dangerous. No one is saving us.
You’re exactly right. History doesn’t send a rescue team...we are the rescue team. Here’s how we stand up now:
**I know that many people do not have the time in their day to fill their plate up with all that I offer with "Here's what you can do." Consider it a smorgasbord. If you see something you have time for...do that. Every little bit...helps.**
Call your reps today; demand full transparency on the East Wing rebuild + donor lists.
Fuel watchdogs: support one preservation/oversight org this week.
Be loud locally: letters to editors, school boards, city councils...name the stakes.
Build the phone tree: 10 people each, weekly actions, zero drift.
Share facts, not rumors; starve authoritarians of the chaos they feed on.
Our ancestors didn’t hand us freedom to admire it like a trophy...they handed it to us to use. Let’s move.
My initial reaction to finding out about the secured underground facility was like so many dystopian/thriller movies, but with a pinch of Trump’s reality tv lizard brain mindset.
It is when the ballroom is opened to capacity with him and his cohorts before end of this term with his chosen press corps, when suddenly some type of alarm goes off and the most important people with Trump goes into the underground bunker 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕞 to wait out the catastrophe. They would come out as the only ones left to govern with everything else destroyed in DC and perhaps other parts of the country. Trump has no compunction about the citizens lost in such a situation. Less folks to speak against him and his regime.
Sounds like a movie script, I know.
Ok! Deep breath in and out. Thanks for letting me vent. Back to resisting this mess.
It really does sound like a movie script...and that’s what makes it so concerning. Every dystopia starts with people saying, “That could never happen here.”
You captured that tension perfectly. The antidote is exactly what you ended with: deep breath, stay grounded...and keep resisting. Fear paralyzes...but action...especially collective...focused action...is how we flip the script back to democracy.
This is the reason they had to move so quickly. No way should any private funds be co mingled with government funding. Let them build their own bunkers. Oh, that’s right🤦♀️they can’t run the country from home so they can have to come to OUR HOUSE. Thanks Jack, I needed that jolt of reality.
So impressively researched as always. My rep in Congress is Pramila Jayapal, and I received her weekly update today. There was nothing about the destruction of the East Wing, nothing about the Golden Ballroom, nothing about Democratic plans to do anything at all. But she did go to Chicago this week....I'm wondering at this point if what's going on in Washington DC and elsewhere is just too much for the Democrats to handle, like the Red Queen saying "...it's all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that." They're running as fast as they can...to stay exactly where they are. More and more I can see why the end game on the part of Trump and his minions is for us just to give up.
Thank you. That’s exactly it, Elizabeth...the exhaustion is the strategy. When everything feels like chaos and no one in power seems to be getting traction... most people eventually tune out.
That’s what the authoritarians count on. The goal isn’t just control..it’s collapse by fatigue. That’s why voices like yours...still watching and refusing to give up, matter more than ever.
First thing to mind when I remembered what was under the east wing; PEOC is not a complete secret by now but the lid has actually been ripped away. (Rght after the election we screened all the movies involving destruction of the White House, now coming true, just differently.) I still admire Margaret Atwood for never letting out much on just exactly how her Commanders’ insurrection took place. But I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a likely scenario for retaking our government. (But then neither, I aver, will be the 2026 elections.)
And then second, whilst reading was the secret, subterranean meth lab Gus Fring built under the laundry factory in “Breaking Bad”. And remembering what they did to the German engineer who went rogue makes it not a stretch to see that happen here as well. At least the lab made money, but then all the handouts coming Donny’s way cover *that* exigency.
That’s one hell of a parallel...Randy...and darkly fitting. Atwood warned us, “Never mistake fiction for impossibility,” and here we are watching art bleed into reality. You’re right...this feels less like governance and more like a long con dressed up in ceremony.
The “Breaking Bad” analogy nails it: secrecy...profit...and punishment for anyone who strays from the plan. What matters now is exactly what you’re doing...naming the pattern out loud. That’s how we keep the story from following its worst script.
Appreciate the feedback, seriously. I spent most of my time commenting around here as opposed to composing an actual piece, I do what I can. And I have a few that were Strongly Worded, pretty sure there’s a list and by now I’m probably on it anyway. Substack always seems to have the full panoply of POVs for now, maybe eventually I’ll scrape up enough relatively original material for a note or a stack of my own. I’m just outnumbered by so many who do such a fine job of expressing my opinion.
Thanks for the deep dive Jack! I hope there are enough knowledgeable folks tracking this stuff so we have SOME idea what's getting done before they cover it up (literally as well as figuratively).
Appreciate that...and you’re absolutely right to focus on the watchers. The moment the public stops paying attention, the cover-ups become concrete...literally. The good news is there are sharp eyes on this: preservationists...oversight lawyers...and a few engineers who still believe transparency is patriotic.
The key is to keep the pressure and the spotlight on...because secrecy only thrives in the dark.
Excellent work Mr. Hopkins. It comprehensively describes two things: Just how far Trump’s imposition of fascism has gotten to date and why outfits like Palantir are being employed to develop systems to monitor the American population.
Don’t think for a moment that all of the information on Americans that Musk and the DOGE boys gathered won’t be fed into these surveillance systems.
The conversations we’ll never hear between Trump, Miller and Vought with the mega billionaires contain lots of decision making about just how to rule America in the future. Theil, Andreesen and other billionaires have been clear about their disdain for democracy and their fellow citizens.
Expect in short order that America will look like Russia: Ruled by a strongman with a coterie of oligarchs to help; a huge anonymous police force to enforce their rule and unimaginable corruption. Most of the citizens of Russia live in poverty and fear. Twenty five percent of Russians don’t have indoor plumbing. In America today some fifty percent of our population either lives in poverty or paycheck to paycheck. People in such circumstances are easy to cow and dominate AND fairly easy to whip into a lynch mob. look at MAGA attitudes towards education, science and actual facts. Not too hard to see Trump whipping up a “Mao” style cultural revolution. Not for nothing are the public schools being destroyed, universities being bent to the will of Trump and history being rewritten.
I’d say that by Tuesday next each of us has decision to make: Do we choose to live on our knees or die on our feet in an effort to save our democracy and our country.
Powerfully said, James...and you’re absolutely right. What we’re watching isn’t chaos...it’s architecture. The billionaires...data firms...and demagogues aren’t improvising...they’re aligning.
Surveillance...censorship...and fear are the modern tools of control, and the goal is the same as ever: obedience through exhaustion.
Your last line says it all. We’re at the point where “neutral” is no longer an option. Every citizen has to decide whether to kneel quietly...or stand...speak...and refuse to let democracy die in silence.
This reminds me of “DON’T LOOK UP,” the movie with Meryl Streep as the President, who of course has an escape plan. Not an underground bunker, but a rocket ship taking the elite to another solar system. That film was meant (I believe) to bring attention to the climate crisis. This current situation, however, is more like Idiocracy or Dr Strangelove. What other movies make fun of a president like Donald? Especially one with an underground bunker?
Perfect comparison, Joanne...and you’re right, this moment feels less like Don’t Look Up and more like a mash-up of Idiocracy...Dr. Strangelove...and V for Vendetta.
Each one mocked the idea that power could become that absurd… until reality started taking notes. What’s wild is that satire used to exaggerate truth...now it feels like the evening news just added a laugh track.
Ha! Perfect timing, Cherae. Feels like half the headlines lately could double as movie plots...except the stakes are real and nobody yells “cut.” Glad you caught A House of Dynamite though...it’s eerie how art keeps beating the news to the punch.
When this came up as “I am paying for it!” Ahem, I think not Donald. And then morphed into “Private Donations!” Red flags and emergency alarms went off. First he never pays for anything. Second, private donations ? Yeah, doesn’t pass the smell test or any other. Not having proper approval or definitive plans available? Huh? Who’s funding? Who’s building? Where are the approval channels? Why is this all of the sudden needed? I am certain it is not because Jeffrey’s Dance Hall is a much compelled venue so DJ Con Cankles can jerk to the mortifying music he selects? I wish I could go there and shut the whole operation down!
The bastard mentioned an “ arc” though I think it meant Ark. I have visions of a “ ball” with the guests being its largest, and most loyal donators, and, apparently out of nowhere, a nuclear strike will be imminent. The Ark will be their lifeboat for the foreseeable future, while they rule what’s left of the USA and the world in general. Does Putin have an Ark do you think?
This is terrifying! We MUST STAND UP TOGETHER NOW WHILE WE STILL CAN!! Priority #1 for every person in this country. It’s our duty passed down from our families and ancestors to resist authoritarianism. We leave our children and grandchildren to this environment if we do nothing! And it will be u bearable and dangerous. No one is saving us.
You’re exactly right. History doesn’t send a rescue team...we are the rescue team. Here’s how we stand up now:
**I know that many people do not have the time in their day to fill their plate up with all that I offer with "Here's what you can do." Consider it a smorgasbord. If you see something you have time for...do that. Every little bit...helps.**
Call your reps today; demand full transparency on the East Wing rebuild + donor lists.
Fuel watchdogs: support one preservation/oversight org this week.
Be loud locally: letters to editors, school boards, city councils...name the stakes.
Build the phone tree: 10 people each, weekly actions, zero drift.
Share facts, not rumors; starve authoritarians of the chaos they feed on.
Our ancestors didn’t hand us freedom to admire it like a trophy...they handed it to us to use. Let’s move.
-Jack
My initial reaction to finding out about the secured underground facility was like so many dystopian/thriller movies, but with a pinch of Trump’s reality tv lizard brain mindset.
It is when the ballroom is opened to capacity with him and his cohorts before end of this term with his chosen press corps, when suddenly some type of alarm goes off and the most important people with Trump goes into the underground bunker 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕞 to wait out the catastrophe. They would come out as the only ones left to govern with everything else destroyed in DC and perhaps other parts of the country. Trump has no compunction about the citizens lost in such a situation. Less folks to speak against him and his regime.
Sounds like a movie script, I know.
Ok! Deep breath in and out. Thanks for letting me vent. Back to resisting this mess.
It really does sound like a movie script...and that’s what makes it so concerning. Every dystopia starts with people saying, “That could never happen here.”
You captured that tension perfectly. The antidote is exactly what you ended with: deep breath, stay grounded...and keep resisting. Fear paralyzes...but action...especially collective...focused action...is how we flip the script back to democracy.
-Jack
Your movie script would explain why oligarchs are paying for the ballroom (buying their way onto the ark, so to speak).
From “2012”, yep.
This is the reason they had to move so quickly. No way should any private funds be co mingled with government funding. Let them build their own bunkers. Oh, that’s right🤦♀️they can’t run the country from home so they can have to come to OUR HOUSE. Thanks Jack, I needed that jolt of reality.
This activity makes me wonder what, if any, bunker-like mentality exists at Mar-A-Lago.
So impressively researched as always. My rep in Congress is Pramila Jayapal, and I received her weekly update today. There was nothing about the destruction of the East Wing, nothing about the Golden Ballroom, nothing about Democratic plans to do anything at all. But she did go to Chicago this week....I'm wondering at this point if what's going on in Washington DC and elsewhere is just too much for the Democrats to handle, like the Red Queen saying "...it's all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that." They're running as fast as they can...to stay exactly where they are. More and more I can see why the end game on the part of Trump and his minions is for us just to give up.
Thank you. That’s exactly it, Elizabeth...the exhaustion is the strategy. When everything feels like chaos and no one in power seems to be getting traction... most people eventually tune out.
That’s what the authoritarians count on. The goal isn’t just control..it’s collapse by fatigue. That’s why voices like yours...still watching and refusing to give up, matter more than ever.
-Jack
First thing to mind when I remembered what was under the east wing; PEOC is not a complete secret by now but the lid has actually been ripped away. (Rght after the election we screened all the movies involving destruction of the White House, now coming true, just differently.) I still admire Margaret Atwood for never letting out much on just exactly how her Commanders’ insurrection took place. But I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a likely scenario for retaking our government. (But then neither, I aver, will be the 2026 elections.)
And then second, whilst reading was the secret, subterranean meth lab Gus Fring built under the laundry factory in “Breaking Bad”. And remembering what they did to the German engineer who went rogue makes it not a stretch to see that happen here as well. At least the lab made money, but then all the handouts coming Donny’s way cover *that* exigency.
That’s one hell of a parallel...Randy...and darkly fitting. Atwood warned us, “Never mistake fiction for impossibility,” and here we are watching art bleed into reality. You’re right...this feels less like governance and more like a long con dressed up in ceremony.
The “Breaking Bad” analogy nails it: secrecy...profit...and punishment for anyone who strays from the plan. What matters now is exactly what you’re doing...naming the pattern out loud. That’s how we keep the story from following its worst script.
-Jack
Appreciate the feedback, seriously. I spent most of my time commenting around here as opposed to composing an actual piece, I do what I can. And I have a few that were Strongly Worded, pretty sure there’s a list and by now I’m probably on it anyway. Substack always seems to have the full panoply of POVs for now, maybe eventually I’ll scrape up enough relatively original material for a note or a stack of my own. I’m just outnumbered by so many who do such a fine job of expressing my opinion.
Thanks for the deep dive Jack! I hope there are enough knowledgeable folks tracking this stuff so we have SOME idea what's getting done before they cover it up (literally as well as figuratively).
Appreciate that...and you’re absolutely right to focus on the watchers. The moment the public stops paying attention, the cover-ups become concrete...literally. The good news is there are sharp eyes on this: preservationists...oversight lawyers...and a few engineers who still believe transparency is patriotic.
The key is to keep the pressure and the spotlight on...because secrecy only thrives in the dark.
-Jack
Jack, did you see this? Comes to a different conclusion but the size/cost breakdown of the “ballroom” is consistent with your analysis https://substack.com/@sugarrhi/note/c-169985399?r=dwcb8&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Thank you, Amy. I will give this a look!
-Jack
Excellent work Mr. Hopkins. It comprehensively describes two things: Just how far Trump’s imposition of fascism has gotten to date and why outfits like Palantir are being employed to develop systems to monitor the American population.
Don’t think for a moment that all of the information on Americans that Musk and the DOGE boys gathered won’t be fed into these surveillance systems.
The conversations we’ll never hear between Trump, Miller and Vought with the mega billionaires contain lots of decision making about just how to rule America in the future. Theil, Andreesen and other billionaires have been clear about their disdain for democracy and their fellow citizens.
Expect in short order that America will look like Russia: Ruled by a strongman with a coterie of oligarchs to help; a huge anonymous police force to enforce their rule and unimaginable corruption. Most of the citizens of Russia live in poverty and fear. Twenty five percent of Russians don’t have indoor plumbing. In America today some fifty percent of our population either lives in poverty or paycheck to paycheck. People in such circumstances are easy to cow and dominate AND fairly easy to whip into a lynch mob. look at MAGA attitudes towards education, science and actual facts. Not too hard to see Trump whipping up a “Mao” style cultural revolution. Not for nothing are the public schools being destroyed, universities being bent to the will of Trump and history being rewritten.
I’d say that by Tuesday next each of us has decision to make: Do we choose to live on our knees or die on our feet in an effort to save our democracy and our country.
Powerfully said, James...and you’re absolutely right. What we’re watching isn’t chaos...it’s architecture. The billionaires...data firms...and demagogues aren’t improvising...they’re aligning.
Surveillance...censorship...and fear are the modern tools of control, and the goal is the same as ever: obedience through exhaustion.
Your last line says it all. We’re at the point where “neutral” is no longer an option. Every citizen has to decide whether to kneel quietly...or stand...speak...and refuse to let democracy die in silence.
-Jack
This reminds me of “DON’T LOOK UP,” the movie with Meryl Streep as the President, who of course has an escape plan. Not an underground bunker, but a rocket ship taking the elite to another solar system. That film was meant (I believe) to bring attention to the climate crisis. This current situation, however, is more like Idiocracy or Dr Strangelove. What other movies make fun of a president like Donald? Especially one with an underground bunker?
Perfect comparison, Joanne...and you’re right, this moment feels less like Don’t Look Up and more like a mash-up of Idiocracy...Dr. Strangelove...and V for Vendetta.
Each one mocked the idea that power could become that absurd… until reality started taking notes. What’s wild is that satire used to exaggerate truth...now it feels like the evening news just added a laugh track.
-Jack
Ha!! And I just finished watching “A House of Dynamite.” 🤦🏼♀️
Really good BTW.
Ha! Perfect timing, Cherae. Feels like half the headlines lately could double as movie plots...except the stakes are real and nobody yells “cut.” Glad you caught A House of Dynamite though...it’s eerie how art keeps beating the news to the punch.
-Jack
When this came up as “I am paying for it!” Ahem, I think not Donald. And then morphed into “Private Donations!” Red flags and emergency alarms went off. First he never pays for anything. Second, private donations ? Yeah, doesn’t pass the smell test or any other. Not having proper approval or definitive plans available? Huh? Who’s funding? Who’s building? Where are the approval channels? Why is this all of the sudden needed? I am certain it is not because Jeffrey’s Dance Hall is a much compelled venue so DJ Con Cankles can jerk to the mortifying music he selects? I wish I could go there and shut the whole operation down!
The bastard mentioned an “ arc” though I think it meant Ark. I have visions of a “ ball” with the guests being its largest, and most loyal donators, and, apparently out of nowhere, a nuclear strike will be imminent. The Ark will be their lifeboat for the foreseeable future, while they rule what’s left of the USA and the world in general. Does Putin have an Ark do you think?
Just a fevered thought 😳