January 19, 2026, editorial of the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French.
The year 2026 has barely begun, and already threats are mounting. After bombing Nigeria on December 25, Trump had Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro kidnapped on January 3 to get his hands on the country’s oil. Then he once again threatened to bomb Iran. He is now targeting Greenland and its underground riches, threatening new economic sanctions against countries that refuse to comply. In response, European countries have deployed troops to Greenland and are considering retaliating against Trump’s trade sanctions with counter-sanctions.
A message of violence against the working class…
Troops being deployed, blackmail, threats… In the meantime, military budgets are skyrocketing and, to finance them, our leaders want to further attack healthcare, education, and everything that serves the needs of ordinary people. The war for raw materials has been declared, and while it may not immediately lead to a widespread war, it is already killing people in Ukraine and Africa and is coupled with a war against the workers.
In the United States, Trump is deploying ICE—the immigration police, gangs of masked, armed thugs who hunt down anyone they deem to be a “migrant.” People, including pregnant women, have been pulled out of their vehicles, thrown to the ground, and arrested. ICE is engaging in outright kidnapping, including of children, in schools, workplaces, and restaurants. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, an ICE cop shot a woman, Renee Good, three times in the head when she came to protest their actions. U.S. leaders are standing by and daring to accuse her of terrorism, even though the video of the murder has been viewed millions of times and everyone could hear the killer cop, known for his far-right views, shout “F…ing bitch!” as he shot her. Trump’s message is directed at all workers: no one is safe from his attacks.
… a message that applies here, too!
This is happening in the United States. But France is in no position to lecture anyone, especially when cops destroy refugees’ tents, burn their belongings, hunt down migrants crammed into makeshift boats at sea, and prevent rescuers from helping them? During the night of January 14, El Hacen Diarra, a 35-year-old Mauritanian worker, died in police custody in Paris. He had been arrested while sitting quietly in front of the shelter where he lived: videos show the cops beating him violently while he was on the ground, covered in blood. Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the police station on Sunday. This is a first response to the recurring racist police violence in France, and it calls for more!
We must organize so that fear changes sides!
Trump and the leaders of the capitalist countries are fighting over the planet’s wealth, but the real dividing line they are all drawing is the one that separates the billionaires, on whose behalf they govern, from the rest of us. It is against us all that Trump, but also [French President] Macron, have declared war. Except that they are far from winning! By unleashing his thugs in Minnesota, Trump has provoked a popular reaction: thousands of people are patrolling to track ICE commandos, thwart them, and demand they get out! And Trump’s abuses may have finally created the conditions for a state-wide general strike: all Minnesota workers are being called to strike by their unions on Friday, January 23.
As powerful as they think they are, the world’s leaders can do nothing without us, because we are the ones who make everything run. So, we must prepare to fight back to set the record straight, so that fear finally changes sides!
