Fredonia Project Sitrep 16 Us Domestic
DATE-TIME GROUP: 311800ZAUGUST25
FROM: EMBASSY OF FREDONIA, WASHINGTON, D.C.
TO: MFA NAGADOCHES
CLASSIFICATION: CONEOFSILENCE//FREDONIAN EYES ONLY
SUBJECT: SITREP 16: “ THE FREDONIA PROJECT” OBSERVATIONAL DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA IN CRISIS AUGUST 31 2025
SUMMARY: IN ACCORDANCE WITH MFA DIRECTIVE 1826-APRIL-1, THIS EMBASSY HAS INITIATED A REGULAR SERIES OF ANALYTICAL DISPATCHES REGARDING THE INTERNAL DYNAMICS OF THE UNITED STATES. THE SERIES, DESIGNATED “THE FREDONIA PROJECT,” WILL BE CIRCULATED UNDER STANDARD SITREP PROTOCOL. UNAUTHORIZED PUBLICATION HAS BEEN OBSERVED VIA THIRD-PARTY ENTITY KNOWN AS “THE STEADY STATE.” PRESUMED LEAK. NO ACTION REQUIRED.
Tariffs and Economic Policies: The administration continued its use of tariffs as a primary tool of economic foreign policy. On August 19, an Executive Order was published that further modified reciprocal tariff rates with China, following up on a previous policy. While the Trump administration hailed the action as a victory for American workers and a way to rebalance trade, there is continued debate over whether these tariffs are paid by American businesses and consumers. (Ambassador comment: The ambassador is quite confused that any weight at all is given to the argument that tariffs are not paid by the country imposing them. Who else would be paying them?)
On August 29, a federal appeals court ruled that some of the Trump tariffs are illegal. Still after that ruling, the tariffs have been left in place pending a Supreme Court appeal. The ongoing tariffs are a continuing source of friction with international trading partners, including China. Some, more recent trade deals have lowered tariff rates with certain countries. The court ruling from August 29 is creating additional uncertainty for international businesses and governments. (Ambassador Comment: It is no surprise that President Trump has no repeat no grasp of any aspect of business. He was and is a failed businessman, who managed to stay financially afloat only with the help of his tv show, the Apprentice. The words Trump and business success do not belong in the same sentence.)
Visa Rules Have and Are Changing: The Department of Homeland Security took a significant step by proposing a new rule to limit the duration of stay for various visa holders, including international students and journalists. The action was framed as a national security measure and a way to curb visa overstays. (Ambassador Comment: we continue to be surprised that Trump is concerned by visa overstays since his 2024 campaign was financed to a significant degree from one of the world’s most flagrant visa Overstayer, Elon Musk.)
Unsurprisingly, this proposal was met with strong opposition from US universities and research institutions who argued it would limit their ability to attract global talent and have a negative economic impact. This proposal was seen by many countries as restrictive and unwelcoming (Ambassador comment: Duh. It’s Donald Trump.) The proposal raised concerns about the US as a global leader in higher education and research. (Ambassador comment: When viewed together with HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine block, it should be clear to all that the US will not be considered a world leader in anything other than ignorance and bigotry.)
Executive Order on Collegiate Athletics: An executive order related to collegiate athletics, was, during the late August 2025 timeframe, issued by the least athletic US President in recent history. The goal of the order was to protect scholarships in non-revenue sports and prevent “Pay for Play” schemes. (Ambassador comment: irony is not dead.) This was a follow up from previous talks and actions related to the changing landscape of college sports. Needless to say, the order began a debate among college sports fans, University administrators and student athlete advocates. The Trump administration claimed this was done to protect the integrity of amateur sports, and the critics point to attempts to slow or stop increased support for student athlete compensation and labor rights. (Ambassador Comments: again, one of the world’s most powerful convicted felons and easily the largest couch potato passing something to ensure the “integrity” of a sports program for young, not wealthy citizens. No words.)
August 18, Multilateral Meeting with European Leaders: President Trump participated in a multilateral meeting with several European leaders on August 18. The meeting was portrayed by the President and his supporters as a demonstration of US commitment to strengthening alliances and cooperating on shared security and economic interests. (Ambassador comment: which was news to all US allies former and current, who have seen nothing like a continuing commitment to alliances from January 20 2025, until now.). European leaders spent their time at the meeting trying to address ongoing disagreements on issues like trade and defense spending, and trying to prevent any compromises possible on Russian and Chinese foreign policy.
Executive Order on Foreign Aid: The Trump administration announced further actions undertaken to review foreign policy and align foreign aid with Trump policy priorities. The Executive Order sparked concern among some international aid organizations and foreign governments who rely on US assistance. Not surprisingly, this underscored (again) the Administration’s “America First” approach to foreign policy. In that context, US aid is seen as a national interest rather than as assistance for global development and/or diplomacy.
Jeffrey Epstein / Ghislaine Maxwell Related Inquiries: As of 31 Aug 2025 there is active congressional interest and litigation to obtain more documents; the DOJ has begun sharing materials with Congress but critics (and survivors’ advocates) say important lines of inquiry remain incompletely pursued. No new public criminal charges tied directly to the President’s personal relationship to Epstein have been announced in this period; oversight and FOIA litigation are ongoing. The Justice Department agreed to provide Congress (committees including House Oversight) with documents from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation; litigation and FOIA requests seeking fuller records continue. Advocates and some lawmakers have criticized the pace and completeness of disclosures. Reporting on Maxwell’s interviews/portions of transcripts raised new questions about who she hinted were Epstein associates; critics say prosecutors did not fully probe potential high-level connections. Calls for fuller transparency continued. (Ambassador Comment: There is something astounding about this entire proceeding. The focus of all of this is the President of the United States, and he hails from the party that’s always focused on family values and how many they have and how few the rest of Americans have.)
Statements on Law and Order and the Military: Throughout the period, there were multiple statements and actions related to law and order, which have been routinely violated by the current Trump administration. A federal court blocked the administration’s fast-track deportation policy, which had been criticized by the ACLU. The court’s decision was viewed as a limiting power on the administration’s immigration policy; the ACLU called it a win for due process. The Trump administration continued to emphasize its “tough on crime” and border security stances. (Ambassador comment: statistics across the board show crime to be down to 30 year lows across the country. Instead of continuing along a successful path of crime reduction, Trump and his acolytes are trying to send National Guard troops into a number of states, into capital cities that are run by Democratic, and frequently of color, mayors. Trump is portraying it as a way to slow down terrible crime sprees, which, if you watch what Guard troops are doing in Washington D.C. seems to be over or non-existent. Trump fired plenty of US government specialists to care for the grounds of the federal government in DC; thankfully, the Guard are on hand to clean up. Also, this week Trump insisted that the Guard troops be armed. And how prescient: how many of us have needed an M16 while attending to our weeds. Hmmm? Also, during this last part of August, Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker, took his place among the three top Democratic governors standing between Trump and their citizens. Gavin Newsom of California, Wes Moore of Maryland and JB Pritzker are positioned to stand between Trump’s troops and the citizens of Democratic states. In this outsider’s opinion, this show of presence by the Democratic governors was a long time coming and very welcome; visible, aggressive, “bring it on,” confrontation tactics from Democrats is to some degree what Americans who don’t want to live under Trump or his autocracy have been looking for. )
Cabinet Meeting and Remarks: On August 26, President Trump held his seventh Cabinet meeting, during which he and his cabinet celebrated what they called successes for American workers. Much of it was televised although we at the Fredonia Mission are not certain that it was televised live. The script called for a public relations performance, highlighting what we can only refer to as a creative view of current events and Trump’s economic achievements before Labor Day. The Cabinet secretaries spent much time congratulating the President on his marvelous achievements, and auditioning to provide supportive testimony to the Nobel Prize Committee ahead of Trump’s securing the prize. The Cabinet members present at the Cabinet meeting repeatedly praised “rising wages, job growth, and deregulation as the benefits of the President’s “pro-worker” agenda.” (Ambassador Comment: It would be interesting to meet and speak with even a fraction of the 290,000 former federal employees said to have been fired by the DOGE since Trump’s inauguration. It would also be interesting to speak with the employees of restaurants and hotels in the District of Columbia who are experiencing significant vacancies and no shows under the Trump regime. All of which were happening before the National Guard showed up here, and all of which are significantly worse at the end of the summer than they were when Trump showed up here in Washington.)
From our Ambassador: A Day in the Life of the United States
I am sharing excerpts from my personal journal to add to the record about the extraordinarily troubling events I’m observing in Washington D.C.
Fredonia had such a trying 20th century. First the violence of the first World War, then the evil of the Nazis, followed by the brutality of the communists. It was with such hope that we became a democracy. We were so proud to join NATO and be allies with the United States, a country that represented what we wanted to be.
I thought being posted to the United States as the representative of my country would be the highlight of my career. Yet, here we are 8 months into the second Trump administration and it is starting here to feel more like the communism of my youth than the democracy that Fredonia’s government embraced.
Today in Washington, I drove through the city and saw Trump banners hanging from government buildings. It looked like a film set of the Nazi era or a Soviet parade, or perhaps modern-day North Korea.
America was about “for the people, of the people, by the people,” not about one man. America was about separation of powers and checks and balances, yet every day there is a new order from Trump claiming more power. They call it the “Unitary Executive Theory.” Most people on the street call it a monarchy. Did Trump not study George Washington, who turned down the title of King and voluntarily left office when he could have easily won a third term, because the country needed to “move on”? He could have at least watched “Hamilton;” there is a song about it.
And the Trump cabinet members are downright scary: The Secretary of Defense posted classified information on Signal. The Secretary of Homeland Security shows up to paint a fence on the border black (ironically it was the US side of the border, so I am unsure what good that did). The Secretary of Health and Human Services cut millions of dollars of medical research and is an anti-vaxxer. He cut funding for the ongoing MNRA research that saved the world from the worst outcomes of the COVID pandemic . The Secretary of Education can’t pronounce AI. America has some of the greatest minds in the world, yet they are missing from senior government positions. At least Elon is gone. DOGE may have done more harm in a few months than any non-military force to weaken the United States. .
Then there are the immigration raids. There are weapon-toting federal authorities wearing masks who are pulling people off the street. Some of those arrested have legal status, and are being targeted because they spoke or wrote about something. So much for free speech.
It kind of reminds me of the old cold war joke: An American goes up to a Russian and says, “I can stand in front of the White House and say Reagan is an idiot and nothing will happen to me.” The Russian then responds, “I can stand in front of the Kremlin and shout Reagan is an idiot and get paid 5 Rubles.” Except it’s not funny. DC has been taken over by Federal law enforcement and the National Guard. It is very reminiscent of a security state.
Until Next Time.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 300 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.