President Donald Trump’s retribution tour keeps coming back to Colorado. Last week our state appeared on a list with mostly Democratic-controlled states as potential targets for withholding federal funds.
We better get used to it for another three years.
On the campaign trail, Trump made it clear he would use every lever of presidential power to settle scores with his perceived enemies. Unrestrained in his second stint in office, and aided by a cadre of sycophants, Trump has targeted people and states he feels failed to show him fealty.
His Department of (In)Justice sued former FBI chief James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, individuals he believes wronged him through investigations and prosecutions. His bootlickers have similarly started investigations into members of the Federal Reserve Bank, including its head, Jerome Powell, for failing to do his fiscal policy bidding.
In a recent in-depth report, The New York Times documented his purge of FBI agents who were even accidentally associated with investigations into his actions. It has left the once-venerated agency without experienced leadership, pulled off-task to support ICE enforcement actions and increasingly a political bludgeon against his political foes. The safety of the American people runs far behind his revenge agenda.
That became clear when the FBI did not open an investigation into the officer-involved shooting of Renee Good, but rather dedicated its resources to digging up dirt on the dead woman and her grieving widow.
Nonetheless, the greatest damage has been reserved for entire states and regions.
For example, Trump’s choice to veto a bipartisan vote to provide clean drinking water to southeastern Colorado provided him a twofer he could not resist. He stuck it in the eye of Colorado officials who had the temerity to keep convicted felon Tina Peters locked up and he got to browbeat Rep. Lauren Boebert after she refused to be a part of his Epstein coverup.
Most importantly, he got to punish a state that has not voted for him in any election.
The cost? Just a few carcinogens that poison the drinking water for thousands of Coloradans in a region that supported him. Under Trump’s calculus that is an easy choice.
We could highlight the choice to move Space Force command or dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just as easily. The common thread is that they all hurt Colorado, which makes Trump happy.
If we had not grown so accustomed to his callous joy in causing pain, it would be horrifying. No other president has worked so methodically to turn on entire states. No other president has gleefully cut the safety net out from so many people, regardless of who it hurts so long as it hurts some of his opponents.
That is the price we have paid for putting a man of such moral failing into the most powerful position in the world.
Given that history, the latest dictate to identify all federal funding streams can only be taken as a threat. It is neither targeted nor based on any specific concern. Instead, it is a handy list of pressure points for Trump to pinch anytime he gets worked up or bored.
At some point Trump’s attention will return to Colorado, he will throw a fit, randomly point a finger and another program will be cut from the state. It is no more thoughtful or considered than spinning a single bullet in a revolver cylinder. Eventually in Trump Roulette another program gets killed and someone else gets hurt.
Luckily in Colorado we have a history of taking care of our own. And other states suffering Trump’s tantrums have begun to band together. Whether in the form of public health alliances or lawsuits by attorneys general, states have found ways to push back against his administration.
Gov. Gavin Newsom in California has gone as far as threatening to stop remitting taxes to the federal government. Because states like California and Colorado send more money to the federal government than they receive, it would send shockwaves across the country. And taking a page out of Trump’s playbook, taking action before considering whether it is legal or not could be a good long-term ploy.
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It is certainly a better outcome than the one contemplated by Gov. Jared Polis. He appears to be cosplaying Neville Chamberlain while considering a pardon for Peters.
While Polis denies that his continued flirtation with commuting Peters’ sentence, regardless of whether she accepts responsibility or not, is tied in any way to Trump’s threats, it is hard to see it any other way. Polis is a lame duck governor who doesn’t appear interested in absorbing punches from the Trump Administration throughout his final year.
But here is the secret: there is no appeasing Trump. Not for Colorado. We voted for Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Those are three sins he cannot ignore.
So be prepared, Colorado. For the next three years expect arbitrary action taken to punish us for our impudence. Whether he makes it through the entire list is anyone’s guess. But he is not about to let it go entirely unused. As long as he has bullets to use, he will keep spinning that cylinder and pulling the trigger.
Mario Nicolais is an attorney and columnist who writes on law enforcement, the legal system, health care and public policy. Follow him on BlueSky: @MarioNicolais.bsky.social.
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