A prophetic cover from The New York Times’ opinion section has gone viral on the anniversary of its original publication.
The year-old page came from a Sunday edition published in October 2024—a week-and-a-half before President Donald Trump won his return to the White House. In all caps, it warned what a second, clearly darker, Trump presidency would entail.
“DONALD TRUMP SAYS HE WILL PROSECUTE HIS ENEMIES, ORDER MASS DEPORTATIONS, USE SOLDIERS AGAINST CITIZENS, PLAY POLITICS WITH DISASTERS, ABANDON ALLIES,” it read in dramatic ALL CAPS text. “BELIEVE HIM.”
The cover was reshared on Wednesday by Victor Shi, a spokesperson and “new media” director for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. His post racked up tens of thousands of likes.
“This was published one year ago,” Shi said. “Everything is right.”
He continued in a follow-up post, “And we are only 10 months into this administration. They move fast. They break things. They have no regard for history or norms or laws. They want us to feel overwhelmed and weak, but we can’t submit. We can’t give up. We’ve gotta stay together and sound the alarm constantly.”
Trump has indeed skirted presidential norms in his second term.
As the Times’ cover warned, his administration has deployed American troops to patrol U.S. cities, such as Los Angeles and Portland; indicted enemies, such as ex-National Security Adviser John Bolton; betrayed longtime allies, such as Canada, through its tariff crusade; and unleashed a mass deportation plan that has lead to errant arrests of U.S. citizens and migrants never convicted of a crime.
The editorial in the Times foresaw much of the above—mainly because Trump openly said he planned to do such things.
“Donald Trump has described at length the dangerous and disturbing actions he says he will take if he wins the presidency,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. “His rallies offer a steady stream of such promises and threats—things like prosecuting political opponents and using the military against U.S. citizens. These statements are so outrageous and outlandish, so openly in conflict with the norms and values of American democracy that many find them hard to regard as anything but empty bluster.”
Not long after, late in the evening of Nov. 7, Trump took to a stage at Mar-a-Lago to claim victory over then-Vice President Kamala Harris. He had won not only the popular vote, but also every single swing state—North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, and, most crucially, Pennsylvania.
