Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is accusing President Donald Trump of deliberately trying to spark a civil war.
A longtime critic of Trump, Waters argues that his early wave of presidential actions—including disruptive tariffs, mass firings of federal employees, and giving Elon Musk free rein to dismantle government services—may seem chaotic at first glance. However, she contends there is a clear underlying strategy: Trump is intentionally fueling division and inciting violence.
“This president is putting us in a position where hungry people are going to be on the street. Where nonprofits, who were waiting for their checks, are not going to get them. Where seniors waiting for their Social Security check, will not get it. Where poor families with children will not get what they believe the government has agreed to do,” Waters told reporters during the Democrats’ annual issues retreat in Northern Virginia.
“And so when that happens, what does Trump expect? Oh, I believe he expects violence. I believe he expects confrontation. I believe he’s working towards a civil war.”
Waters asserted that Trump’s efforts will ultimately fail. She emphasized that Democrats will speak out, organize, and mobilize in protest. However, she made it clear that the party—particularly members of the Congressional Black Caucus, where she is a senior member—will not be provoked into violence or fall into Trump’s trap.
“It places the responsibility on us to live and do like Dr. Martin Luther King told us to do. He taught us to organize and to protest, but he taught us nonviolence,” she said.
“He’s going to get closer and closer in our face, and we’re going to have to be real responsible — we’re going to have to pray, we’re going to have to ask god to help us remember what Martin Luther King told us: Don’t ever let them goad you into violence,” she continued. “Because we don’t know what’s waiting in the background for us if we’re silly enough to do something like that.”
Trump has long hinted at the idea that America is on the brink of civil war. During his first impeachment, he amplified comments from a conservative pastor warning that his removal from office would trigger a “civil war-like fracture.” In 2021, he urged thousands of supporters to march to the Capitol in protest of Congress certifying his 2020 election loss—a demonstration that escalated into a violent riot as hundreds stormed the building and clashed with law enforcement.
More recently, after being convicted of 34 felonies last year related to hush money payments to a porn actor, Trump shared a social media post invoking 1776—this time framing the battle not against the British, but against “communist Americans.”
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, explained that Waters was speaking for herself, not the entire Caucus. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, clarified that Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-Calif.) remarks were her own and did not represent the entire Democratic Party. However, Clarke acknowledged that Trump’s hostile plans could potentially lead to a fight.
“It is very clear that what Donald Trump is doing right now is violently impacting the communities that we represent,” Clarke told reporters per a The Hill report. “Whether that ultimately ends in a civil war remains to be seen.”
