> the administration is willing to inflict unlimited pain on Americans (no electricity, no water) to get and maintain power. You haven't done anything to cast

> the administration is willing to inflict unlimited pain on Americans (no electricity, no water) to get and maintain power. You haven't done anything to cast doubt on this premise. The administration has already taken drastic action that inflicts pain on Americans (unconstitutional searches and detentions, tariffs, disabling or dismantling important agencies) in the name of the keeping power. It's not hard to imagine that they are willing to continue to inflict pain on Americans. If you're quibbling about whether that pain can be "unlimited," I would argue that yes, it can be, insofar as that pain doesn't stop them from getting power. I can hedge this by saying that Trump still needs some support from the American people, as I described in another comment. In particular, he needs support of wealthy donors and local officials, and especially in purple states. But he has proven he will hurt people in solidly blue states [1] [2] because he's already decided he doesn't need them. Concrete example: would Trump turn off the entire electrical grid? Yes, if he thought it would help him. Whether it helps him depends on weighing the pain that it causes his supporters against its benefits. In other words: yes, he is willing to inflict unlimited pain, including for utterly petty reasons, but not if he thinks it will stop him from holding power. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/climate/wind-solar-projects.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/climate/wind-solar-projec... [2] https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/gateway-tunnel-project-funding-deadline-trump-administration-ny-nj/ https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/gateway-tunnel-project-...