January, 25 2017, 10:00am EDT
BREAKING: Greenpeace Activists Deploy "Resist" Banner Above the White House
Days after Trump’s Inauguration, Activists Call for a Sustained Movement
WASHINGTON
This morning, seven activists began deploying a 70-foot by 35-foot banner of the word "Resist" above the White House. The activists from around the country are still in place, calling for those who want to resist Trump's attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America.
LIVE UPDATES:
https://www.facebook.com/greenpeaceusa
https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa
PHOTOS:
https://media.greenpeace.org/collection/27MZIFJJH0FTS
"People in this country are ready to resist and rise up in ways they have never done before," said activist and Greenpeace Inc. Board Chair Karen Topakian. "While Trump's disdain and disrespect for our democratic institutions scare me, I am so inspired by the multigenerational movement of progress that is growing in every state. Greenpeace has used nonviolence to resist tyrannical bullies since 1971, and we're not going to stop now."
The Greenpeace USA activists say they are prepared to stay in position throughout the morning to reach as many people as possible through live broadcasts on Greenpeace USA's Facebook page, tweets from the activists' twitter accounts, and media interviews.
"The sun has risen this morning on a new America, but it isn't Donald Trump's," said Pearl Robinson, one of the activists who unfurled the banner. "I fear not only the policies of the incoming administration, but also the people emboldened by this election to commit acts of violence and hate. Now is the time to resist. We won't stand rollbacks on all the progress the people have made on women's reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, the heightened awareness of state-sanctioned violence on black and brown folks, and the progress we have made on access to clean and renewable energy, an issue I have personally worked on my entire adult life."
The action this morning comes after days of sustained protests against Trump, including the four activists who disrupted Rex Tillerson's confirmation hearing with "Reject Rex" signs earlier this month, the veterans arrested in Senator John McCain's office last week, and the hundreds of thousands of participants in Women's Marches across the country over the weekend.
Since Trump has taken office, his administration has removed all mentions of climate change and LGBTQ rights from the White House website, taken steps to bring back the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, and issued a press gag order on all employees of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture.
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For live updates, viewers can tune into the Facebook Live broadcast and follow tweets from the activists.
https://www.facebook.com/greenpeaceusa
https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa
For interviews with the activists:
Cassady Craighill, 828-817-3328
For additional updates and visual requests:
Travis Nichols, tnichols@greenpeace.org, 206-802-8498
Jason Schwartz, jason.schwartz@greenpeace.org, 347-452-3752
Visual location: The Ellipse, White House South Lawn
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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'Authoritarianism in Action': Trump Orders DOJ Probe of Democratic Donation Platform ActBlue
Rep. Jamie Raskin called Trump's memorandum "the kind of edict you'd expect from a power-mad dictator in a Banana Republic."
Apr 25, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launched his latest attack on political opponents by directing the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, a critical fundraising platform for Democrats and progressive organizations.
The order came in the form of a memorandum that the president signed shortly before heading to his Virginia golf course for a $1 million-per-plate fundraiser for MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC that has been accused of receiving illegal straw-donor contributions.
In his memorandum, Trump raised "concerns" about straw donations—when a donor makes a contribution through another person or entity—and directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to "investigate allegations regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make 'straw' or 'dummy' contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees, and to take all appropriate actions to enforce the law."
Trump's memorandum cites a recent report from House Republicans accusing ActBlue of "a lack of commitment to stopping fraud." ActBlue and House Democrats rejected the GOP findings at the time, calling the document "less of a report and more of a desperate effort to change the subject."
"This president, with his approval ratings underwater and sinking like a stone, is desperately seeking to undermine his political opposition by cutting off their access to funding."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday that Trump's broadside against ActBlue marks a similar attempt to divert attention from the president's own corruption.
"Donald Trump pocketed millions of dollars in unlawful payments from foreign governments during his first term, his administration shut down a probe into whether his campaign received an illegal and urgent $10 million bribe from Egypt, and foreign nationals are spending millions on Trump-owned cryptocurrencies right now in apparent hopes of buying their way out of federal criminal investigations through undisclosed payments," Raskin said in a statement.
"The Trump administration has also systematically dismantled crime-fighting efforts at the Department of Justice aimed at foreign corruption of our politics and actually announced its indifference to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," he continued. "So it's rich indeed for Americans to read now that Trump has launched a big initiative to 'crack down on foreign influence' in American politics with one purpose—crippling the fundraising platform of his political opponents."
"Today's presidential decree targeting the campaign infrastructure of the Democratic Party with precisely zero evidence of wrongdoing is the kind of edict you'd expect from a power-mad dictator in a Banana Republic. This president, with his approval ratings underwater and sinking like a stone, is desperately seeking to undermine his political opposition by cutting off their access to funding."
Since its inception in 2004, ActBlue has raised nearly $17 billion through its platform, and it is widely used by Democratic candidates and progressive groups, including organizations critical of the Democratic leadership such as Justice Democrats. (Common Dreams is among the organizations that use ActBlue to process donations.)
According to ActBlue, nearly 15 million Democratic donors have saved their payment information on the platform.
In a statement, ActBlue said that "today's escalation by the White House is blatantly unlawful and needs to be seen for what it is: Donald Trump's latest front in his campaign to stamp out all political, electoral, and ideological opposition."
"ActBlue will immediately pursue all legal avenues to protect and defend itself," the organization added.
Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, called Trump's investigation order "authoritarianism in action." In a joint statement, Martin and the heads of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association said that "Trump's memorandum targeting ActBlue is designed to undermine democratic participation—and it's no wonder why."
"He knows Americans are already fed up with his chaotic agenda that is driving the economy off a cliff, so he's trying to block lawful grassroots donations from supporters giving just $5 or $10 to candidates who oppose him while further empowering the corrupt billionaires who already control his administration," the Democratic leaders said. "As Democrats, we're unified in standing with the millions of Americans who are fighting back against Trump's dangerous abuses of power."
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"The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn't restricted to the ocean floor: It will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it," one campaigner warned.
Apr 24, 2025
Amid global calls for a ban on deep-sea mining to protect marine ecosystems, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to advance the risky practice and "restore American dominance in offshore critical minerals and resources."
"The broad order avoids a direct confrontation with the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority and seeks essentially to jump-start the mining of U.S. waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry," notedReuters, which had previewed the measure aimed at attaining nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, titanium, and rare earth elements.
"The International Seabed Authority—created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the U.S. has not ratified—has for years been considering standards for deep-sea mining in international waters, although it has yet to formalize them due to unresolved differences over acceptable levels of dust, noise, and other factors from the practice," the agency reported.
Trump's order directs Cabinet members including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick—whose department oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—to expedite the permit process and work on various related reports.
"Authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
Deep-sea mining is opposed by over 30 countries as well as academics and advocacy groups worldwide. Among them is Greenpeace USA, whose campaigner Arlo Hemphill said Thursday that "authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
"We condemn this administration's attempt to launch this destructive industry on the high seas in the Pacific by bypassing the United Nations process," Hemphill declared. "This is an insult to multilateralism and a slap in the face to all the countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry."
"But this executive order is not the start of deep-sea mining. Everywhere governments have tried to start deep-sea mining, they have failed. This will be no different," he added. "We call on the international community to stand against this unacceptable undermining of international cooperation by agreeing to a global moratorium on deep-sea mining. The United States government has no right to unilaterally allow an industry to destroy the common heritage of humankind, and rip up the deep sea for the profit of a few corporations."
No exaggeration, deep sea mining could cause the massive collapse of the entire deep sea ecosystem and food chain. This is an existential risk to every person on this planet. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/c...
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— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) April 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Ocean Conservancy vice president for external affairs Jeff Watters also blasted the move, saying that "this executive order flies in the face of NOAA's mission. NOAA is charged with protecting, not imperiling, the ocean and its economic benefits, including fishing and tourism; and scientists agree that deep-sea mining is a deeply dangerous endeavor for our ocean and all of us who depend on it."
"Areas of the U.S. seafloor where test mining took place over 50 years ago still haven't fully recovered," Watters pointed out. "The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn't restricted to the ocean floor: It will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it. Evidence tells us that areas targeted for deep-sea mining often overlap with important fisheries, raising serious concerns about the impacts on the country's $321 billion fishing industry."
He highlighted that "NOAA is already being threatened by this administration's unprecedented cuts. NOAA is the eyes and ears for our water and air. NOAA provides Americans with accessible and accurate weather forecasts; it tracks hurricanes and tsunamis; it responds to oil spills; it keeps seafood on the table; and so much more. Forcing the agency to carry out deep-sea mining permitting while these essential services are slashed will only harm our ocean and our country."
"It's not just our country this executive order would harm: This action has far-reaching implications beyond the U.S.," Watters added, warning that by unilaterally allowing deep-sea mining, "the administration is opening a door for other countries to do the same—and all of us, and the ocean we all depend on, will be worse off for it."
As The New York Timesreported:
The executive order could pave the way for the Metals Company, a prominent seabed mining company, to receive an expedited permit from NOAA to actively mine for the first time. The publicly traded company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, disclosed in March that it would ask the Trump administration through a U.S. subsidiary for approval to mine in international waters. The company has already spent more than $500 million doing exploratory work.
"We have a boat that's production-ready," said Gerard Barron, the company's chief executive, in an interview on Thursday. "We have a means of processing the materials in an allied friendly partner nation. We're just missing the permit to allow us to begin."
In response to the late March disclosure—which came during International Seabed Authority negotiations—Louisa Casson, senior campaigner for Greenpeace International, said that "this is another of the Metals Company's pathetic ploys and an insult to multilateralism. It shows that a moratorium on deep-sea mining is more urgently needed than ever. It also proves that the company's CEO Gerard Barron's plans never focused on solutions for the climate catastrophe."
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Casson stressed that "states, civil society, scientists, companies, and Indigenous communities continue to resist these efforts. Having tried and failed to pressure the international community to meet their demands, this reckless announcement is a slap in the face to international cooperation."
Less than a week later, the Norwegian deep-sea mining company Loke Marine Minerals declared bankruptcy—which Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, a campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, noted came "on the same day that we shut down a deep-sea mining conference in Bergen."
The Norwegian government in December halted plans to move forward with deep-sea mining in the Arctic Ocean, which Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, had called "a testament to the power of principled, courageous political action, and... a moment to celebrate for environmental advocates, ocean ecosystems, and future generations alike."
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"We are an emergency response organization, but we have never seen anything like this massive disruption to global health and humanitarian programs."
Apr 24, 2025
As the Trump administration, spearheaded by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, dramatically slashes U.S. humanitarian assistance, the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders warned Thursday that the cuts are already "having devastating consequences for people who rely upon aid" across the Global South.
"The U.S. has long been the leading supporter of global health and humanitarian programs, responsible for around 40% of all related funding," Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said in a statement. "These U.S. investments have helped improve the health and well-being of communities around the globe—and totaled less than 1% of the annual federal budget."
"It's shocking to see the U.S. abandon its leadership role in advancing global health and humanitarian efforts."
However, with the Trump administration slashing funding for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracts by 90%, including for programs that fed and provided healthcare for millions of people and fought diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS, MSF USA CEO Avril Benoît said there will be "more preventable deaths and untold suffering around the world."
"These sudden cuts by the Trump administration are a human-made disaster for the millions of people struggling to survive amid wars, disease outbreaks, and other emergencies," Benoît warned. "We are an emergency response organization, but we have never seen anything like this massive disruption to global health and humanitarian programs."
"The risks are catastrophic, especially since people who rely on foreign assistance are already among the most vulnerable in the world," she added.
Although MSF received no U.S. government funding, the group noted that "we work closely with other health and humanitarian organizations to deliver vital services, and many of our activities involve programs that have been disrupted due to funding cuts."
"It will be much more difficult and costly to provide care when so many ministries of health have been affected globally and there are fewer community partners overall," the group said. "We will also be facing fewer places to refer patients for specialized services, as well as shortages and stockouts due to hamstrung supply chains."
"It's shocking to see the U.S. abandon its leadership role in advancing global health and humanitarian efforts," Benoît said. "U.S. assistance has been a lifeline for millions of people... We urge the administration and Congress to maintain commitments to support critical global health and humanitarian aid."
The MSF warning comes after the United Nations World Food Program said earlier this month that the Trump cuts to lifesaving aid programs "could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation."
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