One of the first things that fascist governments do is attempt to take control over sources of news to silence dissent and spread propaganda. Under the Trump regime we have seen many examples of this: suing news organizations over journalism protected under the First Amendment, abusing regulatory powers to influence the ownership of news organizations, and denying the press access to important press briefings based on prior critical coverage.
Here are some of our favorite sources that remain trustworthy even as the regime attempts to control the public narrative.
Table of Contents
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is an American professor, author, lawyer, and political commentator who worked in the administrations of presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and served as secretary of labor in the cabinet of President Bill Clinton. He was also a member of President Barack Obama’s economic transition advisory board.
He currently writes a daily newsletter and a regular podcast to keep people informed about what the Trump regime is doing, and offers educational resources on current socioeconomic issues.
You can find him at his Substack here:
Robert ReichHeather Cox Richardson
Heather Cox Richardson is an American historian who works as a professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians. She previously taught history at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Her nightly newsletter, “Letters from an American”, focuses on the evaluating the health of American democracy and chronicles current events through the larger context of American history.
You can find the “Letters from an American” Substack here:
Letters from an AmericanProject Salt Box
Project Salt Box is a Maryland-focused source that nevertheless closely monitors federal government spending throughout the nation. Their current focus is on how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is spending the money appropriated under OBBBA, covering important developments such as new infrastructure and facilities, private vendor and local government partnerships, and government acquisition of new tools and systems funded by these expanded budgets. They do this by combing through publicly available information such as federal procurement databases and local land records.
In January of 2026 they released a new tool, the DHS Contract Visualizer, to aggregate federal procurement records and allow users to see how OBBBA funding is being obligated as contracts are awarded and modified. Users can see which agencies and offices are awarding contracts, which private companies are receiving this money (and how much they are receiving, and where geographically that spending is going. This is a fantastic tool for journalists, researchers, and advocates.