Odds are you have seen Lutheran theologian Martin Niemoller's "First They Came" poem making its way around the internet lately. What many don't realize, however, is just how biographical the work truly is. Niemoller, initially a staunch antisemite and Nazi supporter, had his change of heart only after "they came" and imprisoned him in Germany's Dachau concentration camp. Now, as the Trump administration expands its criteria for who can be removed from this country, it's worth asking which stage of Niemoller's poem seems most applicable today. 

Rafi Schwartz
The Week Digital

President Donald Trump this week defended partner Elon Musk and his "baby," e-vehicle manufacturer Tesla, accusing participants in the growing #TeslaTakedown movement of "illegally and collusively" boycotting the company in a lengthy post on Truth Social. Tesla's stock has dropped precipitously since Trump's election, and recent dips have "wiped out the last of any remaining gains" made by the company since November, said CNN. 

Despite hawking the electric vehicles on the White House lawn in support of his DOGE deputy yesterday, Trump's pro-Musk move comes as industry analysts attribute Tesla's losses to "fear" that the company won't meet production targets and a "drop in sales over the past year," rather than any coordinated boycott effort, said the BBC. Some investors also worry that Musk remains too focused on his White House role and has "not been spending enough time managing the company when sales of its cars are dropping," said The New York Times.

The arrest, detention and White House-backed plan to deport Columbia University graduate student and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil for his role in protesting the Israel-Gaza war has sparked an outcry among civil rights groups and legal scholars. Now, many experts are warning that Khalil is being targeted for political dissidence and it's likely a precursor to broader deportation efforts by the Trump administration. 

Khalil's case is "one of the biggest threats, if not the biggest threats to First Amendment freedoms in 50 years," said American Civil Liberties Union Senior Staff Attorney Brian Hauss to The New York Times. It's the "first step to others, not just green card holders but citizens getting rounded up in the middle of the night," said Josh Marshall, of Talking Points Memo, on Bluesky. 

Khalil has "not been charged with any crime related to his activism," said The Associated Press. He's the "first person known to be detained for deportation" in Trump's promised crackdown on student protesters, of which, the president promised on Truth Social, there will be "many to come."

Despite GOP control of Congress, the path to averting a government shutdown by this Friday deadline "remains murky," said NBC News. Senate Democrats have "overwhelmingly reacted negatively" to a Republican-proposed stopgap funding bill that will require at least seven party defections to pass. Democrats have rejected the bill because they "hate Elon Musk and Donald Trump more than they love their country," said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). 

By teeing up a House vote on the GOP bill this week despite long odds, House Speaker Mike Johnson is "essentially daring" Democrats to oppose it and be blamed for an ensuing shutdown, said The Associated Press. While Democrats have a rare moment of "leverage" in the shutdown dilemma, the GOP-led bill has them "backed into a corner with few, if any, good options," said The Wall Street Journal. Blocking a bill to keep the government open will be seen as "counterproductive" and will hand "even more power to the president to manage federal operations."

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