From Bush’s war on terror to Trump’s war on immigrants
Mass surveillance. Pre-emptive military strikes in the Middle East. Shipping people to domestic and foreign prisons. Citing national security to hide information from the courts. Labeling people as “terrorists” as a political and legal strategy.
Why it matters: Donald Trump became president in part by running against the legacy of George W. Bush, the last Republican in the White House before him. But now Trump is supercharging many of the post-9/11 legal, tactical and political strategies Bush used.
Driving the news: Trump’s push to deport “millions” of unauthorized immigrants and his strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in particular have many parallels to Bush’s “War on Terror.”
- Trump’s sending unauthorized immigrants to high-security prisons in the U.S. and abroad — sometimes denying them due process.
- Bush sent alleged terrorists — including undocumented people in the U.S. — to prisons around the world and the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Trump administration is now using “Gitmo” for detainees it says have criminal histories.
- Trump preemptively, and unilaterally, attacked Iran with 14 bunker-buster bombs and launched missiles at an Iranian-backed proxy group in Yemen, killing dozens.
- He said he ordered the first attack out of concern Iran was close to gaining a nuclear weapon. Bush used a similar rationale for invading Iraq, though unlike Trump he got Congress’ approval beforehand.
The similarities don’t stop there:
- Surveillance: Trump has enlisted tech company and defense contractor Palantir to help surveil and track unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Bush enlisted telecom companies such as AT&T and Sprint for most of his domestic surveillance in the name of stopping terrorists. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” provides billions to expand such programs. (Palantir told Axios that its software doesn’t proactively collect data, and said its work is in accordance with the law.)
- Executive orders: Trump’s administration has invoked some of Bush’s executive orders made after 9/11 to justify his immigration actions, as Semafor pointed out.
- Rhetoric: Trump has labeled alleged members of Latin American gangs as “terrorists” and “alien enemies” to justify expedited deportations. He has said his administration is focused mostly on “the worst of the worst” — the same phrase Bush’s administration used in its anti-terror campaign.
- Courts: Trump and Bush’s administrations both concealed information from judges and court hearings using the “state secrets privilege,” claiming there would be a national security risk for transparency.
- Habeas corpus: Trump has floated suspending habeas corpus — suspects’ right to use the courts to fight unlawful detentions. Bush tried to do that in 2006 before it was overturned by the Supreme Court.