Democracy Now! Wednesday, May 20, 2026

The Trump administration has launched a sweeping campaign of political retaliation and escalating global aggression, culminating in the creation of a $1.776 billion 'anti-weaponization fund' that could pay January 6 rioters and other Trump allies—while simultaneously blocking the IRS from ever auditing Trump’s finances. This unprecedented move, orchestrated by Trump’s former personal attorney Todd Blanche as acting attorney general, has drawn bipartisan condemnation, with lawmakers warning the fund could reward violent insurrectionists. Meanwhile, the U.S. is preparing to indict 94-year-old former Cuban President Raul Castro over a 1996 plane shootdown, part of a broader strategy to destabilize Cuba amid a deepening humanitarian crisis caused by a U.S. oil blockade. Journalists on the ground report children starving, hospitals without power, and entire communities without clean water. In Iran, executions have surged to a 44-year high—over 2,100 people executed in 2025—many for political dissent, as the regime uses war and repression to crush opposition. The U.S. and Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran have worsened the crisis, fueling a cycle of violence and state terror. At the same time, the U.S. is advancing plans to admit 10,000 white South Africans as refugees while blocking others, and has launched a covert campaign to install former Iranian hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as leader. The episode paints a picture of a U.S.