The Trump administration is quietly pushing FEMA money toward local police to watch Americans for signs of "domestic terrorism" before any crime happens — a serious hit to civil liberties and disaster response.

• A July FEMA bulletin tells states to spend grant money spotting people whose online posts or behavior might point toward future violence.
• Police are being told to buy surveillance tools, train analysts to monitor social media, and track "persons of concern" who have not broken any law.
• The focus is openly partisan, aimed at what officials label "far-left terrorism," ramped up after the Charlie Kirk killing and the Trump assassination attempt.
• Roughly a billion dollars in grants is tied to it, with a warning that agencies must prioritize this or lose funding — pulling money from real disaster relief.
• AI now lets the government buy and scan huge amounts of social media data, getting around Fourth Amendment limits and making mass monitoring far easier.

Outlook: Expect the program to expand quietly with little media attention, building a surveillance system that any future administration could turn on its own opponents.