By Former U.S. Diplomat and Colonel (Ret) Ann Wright, World BEYOND War, August 4, 2026

Those Who Challenge and Protest U.S. Policies Are Not Terrorists, and They Are Certainly NOT Paid By Other Governments

Thin skinned and heavy handed, the Trump administration apparently feels like it is being singled out by those who dissent from its policies. As a result, Trump appointees are taking drastic “McCarthy” tactics to stop dissent.

In less than one month, alleging that dissent and protests are part of attempts of other governments “to overthrow the government of the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sponsored two major initiatives to frighten those who oppose the Trump administration policies.  The first salvo was orchestrating a conference with 60 countries participating in “Threats From Left-Wing Terrorists.”  The second was the report on Cuba that alleged virtually every group that has ever visited Cuba is paid by the Cuban government.

No One is Paid to Protest—If One is NOT Outraged then You Aren’t Watching

These allegations of paid protest and travelling on the dime of another country are unfounded, untrue, and fly in the face of the history of protests in the U.S. and travel by U.S. citizens to see the effects of U.S. polices on other countries.

Trump’s erratic foreign policy including the disastrous attacks on Iran as a favor to Netanyahu’s Israeli war machine, attacks domestically cutting health and education, horrific treatment of migrants, daily outlandish statements on just about every subject and disregard for facts in virtually every issue, all provide good reasons for protests by outraged U.S. citizens.

No one needs to be paid to be outraged!!!

Dissent is Not Illegal and Is Not Paid by Other Countries

In particular, Secretary of State and National Security advisor Marco Rubio, who has authored the latest “McCarty” report to quell opposition to illegal, immoral policies of his Department and the Trump administration in general, seems to have lost his grasp on the history of dissent in the U.S.

From his 15 years in the U.S. Senate, he should remember that many of each administration’s domestic and international policies have been lawfully and non-violently protested by U.S. citizens in the U.S. Congress.

Having been a part of many protests since I resigned from the State Department in March 2003 in opposition to a war policy– President George W. Bush’s war on Iraq, I know that these protests are NOT a part of attempts of other governments to “overthrow the government of the United States,” but are legitimate shows of concern about specific policies. Rubio’s allegations of other countries’ influence in these protests are unfounded and untrue.

I was not paid by a foreign government to resign. I resigned because I felt the war on Iraq was illegal, immoral and a dangerous action geoparsing the national security of the United States.

I have not been paid by any country to protest U.S. policies, nor do I know anyone who has been paid.  Protest is a legitimate, time-consuming legitimate act of outrage about a policy that people use to bring attention to the policy, and hopefully effect change in the policy.

Marco “McCarthy” Rubio’s Tactics-Blame the Left When the Right Has Violently Attacked the U.S. Government

The first attack against legitimate protest came in the U.S. Department of State sponsored conference called “Far Left Terrorism” held in Washington, DC in July 2026 where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House pitbull Stephen Miller harangued the representatives of 66 nations about terrorists from the left wanting to overthrow the U.S. government.

In his opening statement Rubio railed: “This is a distinctive and unique evil. It has always been driven by a hatred above all else, a hatred for civilization itself. It is a revolt of the worst against the best, a revolt of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called left-wing extremism as a growing threat aimed at “the overthrow of our system and form of government” that officials previously failed to sufficiently address.  Miller railed, “We must stay the course and be completely unflinching in the pursuit of justice against these enemies of civilization. If the left is allowed to use the real or actual threat of violence to destabilize our institutions, then those institutions cannot and will not succeed.”

A White House press release stated …