On July 14, 2019, President Donald Trump unleashed a brutal Twitter attack on four Democratic members of the House of Representatives who had harshly criticized his anti-immigration policies:     

“So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly……   

“….and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….

“….it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”  

Donald Trump

The Democrats—all female, and all non-white—were:

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York;
• Rashida Tlaib of Michigan;
• Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and
• Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

Of the Congresswomen that Trump singled out:

• Cortez was born in New York City.
• Tlaib was born in Detroit, Michigan. 
• Pressley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Only Omar was born outside the United States—in Somalia. And she became an American citizen in 2000 when she was 17 years old. 

Critics have assailed Trump as racist for implying that these women were not United States citizens. 

Moreover, as members of Congress, they had a legal right to declare “how our government is to be run.” Republicans in the House and Senate vigorously—and often viciously—asserted that right during the Presidency of Barack Obama.

Ocasio-Cortez quickly struck back on Twitter on the same day:

“You are angry because you don’t believe in an America where I represent New York 14, where the good people of Minnesota elected @IlhanMN, where @RashidaTlaib fights for Michigan families, where fi@AyannaPressley champions little girls in Boston.

“You are angry because you can’t conceive of an America that includes us. You rely on a frightened America for your plunder.

“You won’t accept a nation that sees healthcare as a right or education as a #1 priority, especially where we’re the ones fighting for it. Yet here we are.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

But then followed the most significant part of Cortez’ reply: 

“But you know what’s the rub of it all, Mr. President? On top of not accepting an America that elected us, you cannot accept that we don’t fear you, either.

“You can’t accept that we will call your bluff & offer a positive vision for this country. And that’s what makes you seethe.”

“You cannot accept that we don’t fear you, either.” 

For all his adult life, Donald Trump—as a businessman, Presidential candidate and now President—has trafficked in bribery and coercion.  First bribery: 

• Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (later United States Attorney General) personally solicited a political contribution from Trump at the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates.
• After Bondi dropped the Trump University case, he wrote her a $25,000 check for her re-election campaign. The money came from the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
• Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton moved to muzzle a former state regulator who said he was ordered in 2010 to drop a fraud investigation into Trump University for political reasons.
• Paxton’s office issued a cease and desist letter to former Deputy Chief of Consumer Protection John Owens after he made public copies of a 14-page internal summary of the state’s case against Trump for scamming millions from students of his now-defunct real estate seminar.
• After the Texas case was dropped, Trump cut a $35,000 check to the gubernatorial campaign of then-attorney general and now Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

• Throughout his career as a businessman, Trump forced his employees to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements, threatening them with lawsuits if they revealed secrets of his greed and/or criminality. 
• In 1981, Trump bought a 14-story building on prime real estate facing New York City’s Central Park. He planned to tear it down and replace it with luxury condos. But first he needed to evict a small band of rent-stabilized tenants.
• Among his tactics: Threatening evictions, ignoring a rat infestation, and shutting off the heat and hot water. Trump ultimately paid out over $500,000 to the tenants and agreed to government monitoring,  
• n 2016, USA Today found that Trump was involved in over 3,500 lawsuits during the previous 30 years: “At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings” were from contractors claiming they got stiffed.
• During his second Presidential campaign debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016, he stalked her around the stage as she spoke.
• On April 1, 2026, Trump attended oral arguments at the Supreme Court regarding his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. His purpose: To stare down any Justices who might dare oppose him. When it became clear to him the Justices were not intimidated, he left.

But when he has confronted men and women who can’t be bribed or intimidated, Trump has reacted with rage and desperation.