The calculated chaos and disruption is well underway

Over the coming weeks, we are going to bear witness to what at first glance may seem unorganised chaos. Don’t be fooled, it is a carefully crafted meticulously planned campaign to cheat.

I can’t just ignore Trump’s promise to give every American adult $5,000 if the Republicans win both the House and the Senate. Aside from the fact that it should be illegal to even make such a statement in a democracy, I keep forgetting that there are no rules, norms, or conventions anymore when it comes to Trump. I wonder how many Americans understand just how the rest of the world is looking on with horror at the blatant corruption, oppression, and deceit that dominate US politics? I suspect the majority simply don’t care.

Before I even begin, we’ve heard this bedtime story before. There was to be a ‘DOGE dividend’ and a ‘tariff dividend ’, neither of which ever materialised. To be clear, this shouldn’t even be a thing, but let’s pretend it’s normal to try to bribe voters. The US is $40 trillion in debt, and this year YOU, the US taxpayer, will pay at least $1.2 trillion in interest alone to service that debt. That’s $1.2 trillion just to stand still. For context, that’s the cost of the US defence budget, or, if you prefer, the average salary ($64,200) of 17.5 million American workers. Put another way, it would eradicate homelessness and food insecurity for 15 years, or cover between 30% and 42% of the federal cost of a Medicare for All system.

Image - Wall Street Journal Instagram

Trump’s electoral bribe would cost $1.35 trillion. For context, that’s 71% of the cost of Biden’s American Rescue Plan that Republicans blamed for ‘destroying the American economy. Trump’s prepared to add a further $1.35 trillion to the debt to give Americans $5000 each, only for them to then fund the cost of servicing the debt required to deliver it. It’s never going to happen, but this is the level of insanity at play as Trump becomes more and more desperate to avoid accountability for his rampant corruption in office. I believe he has economic rabies, and we all know there is only one solution for rabies, and it’s not Trump RX.

Trump in Texas was in his happy place, the ‘theatre of the absurd’, spewing utter nonsense to an ever-dwindling crowd propped up by paid attendees. The reality is that when this venture into dystopia is over, as I am convinced it will be, the mainstream media will have some serious questions to answer when it comes to enabling tyranny. Never in my lifetime has the media been prepared to edit a world leader's malign intent to present something coherent and sane. It is a testament to how money and power have corrupted free speech and taken it hostage at the most dangerous time in modern history. It is a testament to Trump’s total disregard for the law or any form of ethical consideration. He seems to think it’s totally fine to use news outlets to carry his bribe messaging. The media is carrying nothing but free political ads for his plan to cheat in November.

Some would say it’s simply a reflection of the level of desperation he is demonstrating, and to an extent that’s true, but the real question is: how many care that they are being marched into economic slavery? The electoral process has never been as vulnerable as it is now, as Elon Musk jumps back into the fray in another attempt to place the same thumb on the scale he did in 2024. The thumb, a significant body of opinion suggests, had a major impact on the election result.

The America PAC (Musk’s Super PAC) has created votesafe.org, which is the antithesis of its title. Nothing about the site is safe, even to visit. I would highly recommend reading Judd Legum’s piece below for a more detailed warning.

Below is what the site actually collects in terms of your data:

In addition, Judd notes:

Previously, votesafe.org had a privacy policy that provided some limitations on how America PAC could use this data:

Personal Identifying Information collected via the www.votesafe.org will only be used to support America PAC’s activities, and it will not be shared with any advertisers, political organizations, or third parties not directly affiliated with America PAC.

On August 29, 2026, the privacy policy was updated and no longer includes that language. The new version allows America PAC to “share” or “sell” personal information with “our business partners.” This includes selling information about “whether you are registered to vote” and “how you submit your vote… where permitted by law.”

The level of interference and disruption in play is like nothing America has seen before and is truly on par with that of African Banana republics. The closer we get to the elections, the more desperate Trump will become, and that’s when it will get really dangerous, because that’s when I believe he’ll roll out his state-sponsored militia, where ICE will be transformed into an election integrity force put in place to intimidate and harass voters.

As for Trump’s bribe, the obvious question is whether it is illegal, and the simple answer seems to be yes. As noted by Andy Sullivan, Jonathan Stempel and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in a Reuters article yesterday:

Democratic ⁠candidates, including President-elect Joe Biden, promised a third round of COVID-19 relief checks in a Georgia special election in 2021 and delivered when they won control of Congress.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that ​a comparable promise is legal. In a unanimous 1982 decision, the high court overturned a lower-court ruling that had invalidated the election of a Kentucky official who had promised to save taxpayer money by ​lowering county commissioners’ salaries.

This is NOT a spur-of-the-moment thing; it’s a carefully crafted part of a meticulously planned election disruption campaign. Those involved know that there is little chance of any successful legal challenge. They also know that even if they hold onto the House, Congress would not vote to allow another $1.3 trillion in spending; it would not survive the Senate filibuster, and Republicans would not risk trying to pass it under reconciliation. In short, it’s never going to happen; they know it, but it will resonate enough with voters to have some impact. When it fails, Trump will simply blame the Senate. Add to that, people on both sides of the aisle will not stop talking about it, so it’s free messaging.

Over the coming weeks, we are going to see ever more outrageous statements from Trump that are designed solely to capture the media narrative and suck the oxygen out of the room, thus suppressing other important messaging. We'll see the most sophisticated disruption campaign designed to suppress the opposition vote, and absolutely NOTHING will be off the table when it comes to implementation. Sadly, the Democratic messaging machine is not in the same league, I’m afraid, so America really is in the lap of the gods, and that, in my view, is an indictment of Democratic leadership.

This regime wrote down everything they were going to do in Project 2025. While people like me were screaming about the threat twelve months before the election, Democratic leadership were working hard on their brilliant campaign over an Espresso "stained" with a small dollop of foamed Peruvian goat’s milk. A campaign encapsulated in a political IED strategy designed to devastate: “Vote for us because the other guy is a fascist” Unfortunately, it never detonated, and a convicted criminal and adjudicated rapist drove straight over them with a fistful of lies, deceit and disinformation. They were left face down on a plate of jus at their favourite Michelin Star restaurant. Then, for dessert, they blamed the American people, saying they only had themselves to blame for what had happened.

Sad to say, nothing has changed as we approach the most consequential elections in modern American history with exactly the same message and the same plan. The true tragedy is that they are the only game in town. The choices are simple: theocratic autocracy or Republican lite; take your pick. The sole saving grace is that there are far more progressive options on the ballot this time around, and if the American people make a statement by electing them, maybe, just maybe, there is still hope.

If you want to support my work but can’t commit to a paid subscription, you can now make a one-off donation by clicking the image below. By donating, you help to cover the cost of research resources and keep this independent reporting free for all.