Trump orders his Justice Department to investigate the Democrats who will soon run Congress

US President Donald Trump has ordered the Justice Department to investigate Democratic leaders he accuses of threatening members of his administration and Republican donors, in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, US time (Sunday morning AWST).

“I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!” Trump wrote. He said “threatening letters” had been sent to “many people, all innocent”, but did not say who wrote them, who received them or what they said. He gave no evidence of criminal conduct.

The order came days after Democrats won majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, which will hand them the power to subpoena officials, hold hearings and, in the House, impeach.

Who is Trump pointing at?

The only person Trump named was Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic senator from Michigan and former CIA analyst. He claimed she planned to “go after all young people that believe in Republican Values”.

That appears to refer to a 13 October speech at the University of Chicago in which Slotkin argued Congress should pursue cases against people who had enabled Trump’s policies, saying: “I want that deterrence message sent.”

Trump also said Democrats were threatening to impeach Attorney-General Todd Blanche, and that donors were being threatened “with imprisonment”. Since Election Day, two House Democrats, Hank Johnson of Georgia and Deborah Ross of North Carolina, have said they would support impeaching Blanche. Trump did not name either of them, and did not name any donor.

Slotkin did not respond to requests for comment, and the Justice Department had not responded publicly by Sunday afternoon AWST.

Can a president do this?

Presidents traditionally keep a distance from individual criminal cases. Trump has repeatedly broken with that, and his administration has already been here with Slotkin.

In November 2025 she and other Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds posted a video urging service members to refuse illegal orders. Trump called it treason and said “an example must be set”. The FBI contacted the lawmakers, Slotkin refused a Justice Department interview in February, and a federal grand jury later declined to indict them.

That history matters: a grand jury refusal is rare, and it shows the limits of an investigation launched from the president’s social media account.

Why now?

Because the balance of power in Washington is about to flip. When the new Congress sits in January, Democrats will chair every committee. They have signalled they want to examine the administration and some of its biggest backers, including donors to the White House ballroom project, and impeachment of cabinet members is openly discussed. Separately, Republican congressman Thomas Massie is expected to reintroduce impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Trump’s post frames that coming oversight as a crime before it has begun. Slotkin has said of past pressure on her: “the intimidation is the point”.

What does it mean beyond Washington?

For allies including Australia, the fight is about how much a weakened president can still do alone. With Congress lost, Trump’s levers are executive ones: agencies, prosecutors and orders. How far the Justice Department goes with this instruction will be an early sign of how the next two years of divided government will run.