I just wrapped one of the most important conversations I’ve had on the MeidasTouch Podcast—an interview with Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, who is leading the charge against Trump’s descent into authoritarianism.
Before I break it down, please do me a favor and add the MeidasTouch Podcast right now on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify. If you’ve already done so, consider leaving a 5-star review.
Ok, let’s get into it.
Trump 2.0 has been a full-blown assault on our democracy, immigrants, LGBTQ rights, free speech, reproductive freedom, and more. And the ACLU has been ready. Before Trump even set foot back in the Oval Office, they had filed 39 lawsuits, with countless more prepared to go.
One of the most harrowing moments Anthony and I discussed was how the Trump regime tried to deport migrants—without due process—into one of the deadliest prisons in El Salvador. They lied to the courts, claiming everything was above board while secretly loading buses to ship human beings off to what would essentially be concentration camps. It was only thanks to the ACLU’s relentless legal team calling judges at all hours that the Supreme Court intervened at 1 a.m. to stop the deportations. If not for those lawyers, even more migrants would be gone. Disappeared.
But that’s just one example. We covered lawsuits against Trump for book bans, discrimination against LGBTQ Americans, revoking student visas, and for teaming up with Elon Musk to hoard our personal data. The scope of Trump’s authoritarian overreach is staggering, but the ACLU is prepared for every angle.
Anthony laid out how they’ve been preparing for this moment for years, mapping legal strategies, identifying clients, even drafting lawsuits in advance. When Trump signed his executive order to revoke birthright citizenship (yes, the same 14th Amendment that fixed America’s original sin of slavery), the ACLU was the first to file a lawsuit—within two hours. They’re not waiting for disaster to strike. They’re already in the fight.
And when I asked Anthony what happens if Trump and his lackeys just ignore court orders? His answer was clear: We escalate. Civil sanctions. Legal pressure. And—most importantly, building public momentum to make defiance of the rule of law politically toxic. This isn’t just about lawyers; it’s about all of us standing up and saying enough.
As Anthony said, saving our democracy isn’t a one-click affair. It takes all of us. We have to make Trump and his cronies fight for every inch they try to take from us. And with the ACLU and millions of Americans standing together, we will.
Let’s go.
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