Trump declared war on blue states — but they can hit back with a soft secession

The U.S. government views Colorado as enemy territory. The Trump administration’s abuse of the state has caused anguish and loss for its residents, including those who voted for President Donald Trump. He has obliterated trust with the state, and it no longer makes sense for Colorado to treat the federal government as a partner.

The state would better serve its people if it took aggressive steps to disengage from the federal government, protect residents from Trump’s malevolence, and assume more responsibility for serving Coloradans.

In other words, it should pursue a “soft secession.”

Individual and allied states soft secede when under federalism they leverage their autonomy to practice noncooperation with federal authority, which they substitute with their own systems.

Federal abuse in the past year is hard to exaggerate. Trump’s mass deportation program has resulted in news-making abuses in Minnesota, California, Illinois and Oregon, for example, but it has also disrupted lives and trampled rights in Colorado. In just one representative example, federal authorities targeted Denver immigrant rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra over protected speech, then they kept her locked up for nine months until a judge ruled she was entitled to a bond hearing.

Immigration arrests in Colorado dramatically increased in the last year, and the cases often involve scant due process. More than a third of arrests in 2025 involved people who had no criminal charges or convictions.

In addition to the harm he’s caused generally across the country, Trump has inflicted many forms of retaliation specifically against Colorado. He denied the state disaster recovery funds for wildfire and flooding. He froze federal funds in Colorado for food and child care, prompting a lawsuit from the Colorado attorney general. He vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have supported a clean water project in the southeastern part of the state. He is relocating Space Command from Colorado Springs to Alabama. He’s breaking up the world-class atmospheric science hub NCAR in Boulder.

As U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado said, “The president has declared war on our state.”

What can Colorado do?

The state can reinforce or forge alliances with other like-minded states. A model for this cooperation was established by the Democratic-led states, including Colorado, that formed the Governors Public Health Alliance in response to anti-science federal policies.

Conversely, the state can withdraw from alliances that have turned counterproductive, such as the National Governors Association, which includes the influence of Republican-led states whose leaders supported Trump’s deployment of military troops to Democratic-led cities.

Elected officials and state agencies in Colorado can strictly limit their cooperation and data-sharing with the federal government and step up the state’s own capacity to fill gaps where it previously relied on federal resources. It could start by abandoning the Colorado Information Analysis Center, one of the nation’s so-called fusion centers. These are anti-terrorism information-sharing hubs for state and federal partners under the Department of Homeland Security. Since the Trump administration labels virtually any American who opposes it a terrorist, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem zealously bases her work on that perspective, the state’s participation in the center puts every Coloradan in danger.

Gov. Jared Polis has long been eager to share other forms of information with federal authorities, such as personal data about residents who live in Colorado without authorization. This posture not only puts members of the Colorado community at risk, it’s a form of complicity.

The state has billions of dollars it invests, and how it invests matters. The state treasurer’s office and the state pension plan, the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, can allow public money to support interests that boost authoritarianism or not. Millions in public money in Colorado backs such corporate bootlickers as Palantir, Amazon, Meta and Alphabet. A state can’t say it’s opposed to fascism if it funds fascism’s accomplices.

When federal agents commit crimes in Colorado, district attorneys and other state legal authorities can hold them accountable, including through prosecution. Federal agents are protected by the Constitution if the act in question is reasonable and performed as part of official duties. But they do not enjoy absolute immunity. Attorney General Phil Weiser took a step in this direction last week when his office launched an online complaint submission form through which community members can report misconduct by federal agents.

Earlier this month, Trump said the federal government will stop making payments to “sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities,” which includes Colorado. But revenue obligations go both ways.

Colorado sends billions more to the federal government than it gets in return. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has suggested his state — which is also deemed a sanctuary jurisdiction by the administration and also sends more money to the federal government than it receives — could cut off money to Washington. Newsom’s office has not explained how the state would do that.

But there are ways. Some have suggested that multiple states could enter a compact and hold federal taxes in trust until the administration ceases to attack them.

This could be among the most powerful measures in a program of soft secession.

• Quentin Young is the editor of Colorado Newsline. Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.