How to Talk About This Week
Some Friday thoughts on how to put what has happened this week into context.
Happy Friday. Before the week ends, I wanted to share a quick note with some thoughts and framing on two of the hottest topics this week.
Senator Padilla
By now, you’ve likely seen the footage: Senator Alex Padilla being physically removed by members of DHS and the FBI while trying to ask a question at a press conference held by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
This moment will dominate the conversation this week—and it should. Here’s how to frame what happened:
Senator Padilla represents over 6 million Californians. He wasn’t some protester interrupting a speech. He’s a sitting U.S. Senator with direct oversight authority over DHS.
Padilla clearly identified himself. Despite Kristi Noem’s claims, there is no ambiguity about who he was or why he was there.
Even if you thought his tone was too sharp, the response was outrageous. Manhandling a sitting Senator for asking a question is a profound breach of democratic norms.
He was only there because Noem ignored his prior outreach. She refused to meet or answer questions through formal channels, so he showed up publicly.
Let’s be clear: This wasn’t a press conference. It was a campaign rally disguised as an official event, in which Noem used a government platform to attack California and its elected officials. That’s not just inappropriate. It’s authoritarian.
In a functioning democracy, once Padilla identified himself, the situation should have de-escalated immediately. Instead, Noem doubled down—just like the Trump administration always does. Conflict is the point. Escalation is the strategy.
Which brings us to. . .
Trump’s Immigration Raids and the Use of Military Force Against Civilians
Another major story this week: Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines against peaceful protestors in California. To understand how we got here, it’s important to follow the timeline:
Trump promised “mass deportations,” claiming he’d target undocumented immigrants who had committed crimes.
He soon realized the numbers didn’t meet his demands. There simply weren’t enough “criminals” to satisfy his appetite for spectacle.
In May, Stephen Miller lashed out at ICE officials for not deporting enough people. He ordered 3,000 deportations per day—an arbitrary figure—and demanded raids at schools, churches, even Home Depot.
ICE complied. Masked agents began terrorizing communities—ripping families apart, deporting long-standing residents with no criminal record.
Deportations of people with no criminal background surged by 900%.
Protests erupted in Los Angeles.
Trump responded by sending in the National Guard, against the explicit objections of Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass.
That’s how we got here.
This isn’t about border security or public safety. It’s about optics. Creating chaos for the cameras. The administration set a daily deportation quota not based on need or security, but on what looked good on TV.
And that chaos had real consequences: Children with cancer. Teenage students. Parents ripped from their homes. All to create a political show of force.
This weekend, you may hear people criticizing the protesters. They’ve likely seen the same cherry-picked clips on Fox News. If they bring it up, remind them:
People are protesting because their neighbors, friends, and families were being violently removed from their homes, schools, and workplaces by masked federal agents. No hearings. No due process. Just cruelty.
California’s leadership—including Governor Newsom, Mayor Bass, and the LAPD—said the protests were under control. They explicitly rejected the need for federal troops.
It is the job of the President to de-escalate conflict. Instead, Trump actively manufactures it.
This was never about law and order. It’s about fear and control.