Indivisibles,

16%. That's the proportion of Americans who approved of Trump's birthday cage fight yesterday. Americans are divided in a lot of ways these days, but just about all of us can agree the tragicomic birthday fight fest sucked. We can laugh about it (and I have!), but I think Trump's total disregard for public approval this year tells us where we're headed in the lead-up to the midterms.

Trump’s birthday lawn party came on the same day of a humiliating "deal" with Iran. It's good that the needless bloodshed is over -- if this unsigned framework holds -- but let's be clear, this is little more than another inglorious off-ramp from a war Trump promised he would never start, then started anyway over the objections of a supermajority of Americans.

The Iran "deal" comes as Trump’s unpopular secret police force ramps up attacks on communities across the country. Trump’s xenophobia czar Tom Homan threatened to flood New York City with "more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen" days before Republicans shoveled $70 billion more to Trump’s secret police and burgeoning concentration camp industry.

Why is a politician doing unpopular things in an election year? Between violence at home, violence abroad, the ridiculous birthday party, the gaping corruption, and the continued stonewalling on Epstein, we're inundated with layer upon layer of outrage. But beneath the surface, there are two things going on at once:

1. Desperation. Trump is floundering. His approvals keep plummeting. His congressional coalition hobbles forward. He wields enormous power, yet he keeps losing the things he actually wants: he pushed a slush fund for January 6th insurrectionists and lost it; pushed for billions for his ballroom and lost it; pushed to deface the Kennedy Center with his name and, as of Sunday, lost that too.
2. Midterm strategy. Look at the timing. Most politicians spend an election year doing popular things. Trump is doing the opposite -- destabilizing, cruel, and at times just plain weird outbursts and campaigns four months before midterms he can't afford to lose. The point isn't to win voters back. The point is to weaken institutions and weaken our resolve. Trump doesn't plan to win the midterms by normal means. He plans to sabotage them any way he can get away with.

Our job is to make sure he can't get away with it. We do that by organizing now, humiliating him electorally in November, and protecting that result from his schemes. It's not enough to oppose his birthday parties, his wars, his gestapo. Unorganized discontent is politically irrelevant. Our job is to organize that discontent into real opposition. If you're looking to help build it ahead of the midterms, we've got some ideas this week. 

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Phonebank for Indivisible endorsed candidates Brad Lander (NY-10) and Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY-13) this Tuesday and/or Wednesday (5:30pm ET/2:30pm PT). Lander and Chevalier are up against entrenched and establishment Dems and are running bold campaigns to upend the status quo. Their primaries are in just over a week on June 23, so your calls can make a big difference, especially for voters heading to the polls to vote early this week. Paid for by Indivisible Action. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
2. Call your US senators and demand they oppose the Trump regime’s warrantless mass surveillance. FISA -- the War-on-Terror era legislation that authorized mass surveillance and is now under threat of being supercharged by AI -- expired on June 12. Now, our Members of Congress have a choice to make: Uphold the Constitution and protect freedom of speech, or greenlight more of Trump’s authoritarian power grabs.
3. Then, call your US representative and demand the same. Two years ago, legislation to reauthorize FISA breezed through Congress with bipartisan support. That can’t happen again. To increase your impact, follow up with an email to your Members of Congress.
4. Tell your senators to oppose the confirmation of Trump lackey Jay Clayton for DNI. Last week, we flooded Congress with calls and emails opposing Trump’s dangerous, unqualified pick to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence. The pressure worked, and he named a less obviously terrible permanent nominee -- but a terrible nominee nonetheless. So we need to keep up the pressure until he puts forward a qualified intelligence professional instead of another loyalist hack. Please email your senators today. 
5. Join us tomorrow, June 16, for our next Solidarity in Action Speaker Series virtual event, Leading with Inclusion: Courageous Solidarity Across LGBTQ+ Communities (7pm ET/4pm PT). Joined by featured speakers Katie Blair and Jamie Henkel from PFLAG national, we’ll celebrate the history, resilience, and leadership of LGBTQ+ people, learn practical strategies for accountable allyship, identify concrete steps we can take to build more affirming and effective movement spaces, and more.

P.S. Indivisible continues to be on the frontlines defending our communities and democracy. But, for the first time since the election, we missed our fundraising goal last month. We can absolutely weather a slow month -- we’re not about to start sending ‘the sky is falling’ emails -- but over time (and especially heading into midterms), we need to make up some lost ground. So please chip in, if you can, to fuel our fight to defeat authoritarianism in America.

Join the Immigrant Justice Summer Training Series

When ICE comes to your community, do you know what to do? This summer, Indivisible is giving you a blueprint. 

Immigrant Justice Summer is a five-call national training series that will level up how you show up for immigrant justice. You’ll learn how to build up hyper-local networks and connect to experienced organizations to respond to ICE surges or new concentration camps in your area. 

With ICE buying up warehouses and anti-immigration agencies turbocharged by the GOP’s recent infusion of $70 billion into their coffers, we all need to be prepared. 

By the end of our series, you’ll be equipped to mount a safe, immigrant-aligned response when there’s an emergency action needed in your community to protect your neighbors from Trump’s detention and deportation regime.

Sessions begin on July 9. Learn more and register to secure your spot here.

 Upcoming events + Election shifts

These nationwide events, calls, training sessions, and electoral volunteer opportunities are coming up soon. For even more Indivisible happenings, check our national calendar and get in touch with Indivisible groups near you!