--- title: The Violent History of Waco, Trump's Next Rally Location description: What to know about the history of the deadly standoff between an anti-government cult and federal law enforcement thirty years ago. canonical: https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-03-22T20:14:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:45.187Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Violent History of Waco, the Infamous Site of Trump's Next Rally og:description: What to know about the history of the deadly standoff between an anti-government cult and federal law enforcement thirty years ago. og:url: https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa19e192886dff58/698a3b4e929fad171cbf9acb/waco-texas-histrory-1993-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Branch Davidian Compound Burning og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Violent History of Waco, the Infamous Site of Trump's Next Rally twitter:description: What to know about the history of the deadly standoff between an anti-government cult and federal law enforcement thirty years ago. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa19e192886dff58/698a3b4e929fad171cbf9acb/waco-texas-histrory-1993-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Violent History of Waco, the Infamous Site of Trump's Next Rally > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=54a41df7-2713-4553-8174-553d7036a756&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=54a41df7-2713-4553-8174-553d7036a756&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=54a41df7-2713-4553-8174-553d7036a756&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Trump Rallied Supporters in Waco Ahead of Possible Indictment [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Rallied Supporters in Waco Ahead of Possible Indictment](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EBajhXUZ.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2023-03-27. As Donald Trump waits to see if a Manhattan grand jury will choose to indict him, a prospect that he is encouraging his supporters to protest, he also held the first major rally of his 2024 presidential campaign in Waco, Texas, a city that was famously the site of a deadly standoff between an anti-government cult and federal law enforcement._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 22, 2023 8:14 PM UTC  The Branch Davidians' Mount Carmel compound outside of Waco, Texas, burns to the ground during the 1993 raid by the ATF. The Branch Davidians' Mount Carmel compound outside of Waco, Texas, burns to the ground during the 1993 raid by the ATF. Greg Smith—CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 22, 2023 8:14 PM UTC On Saturday, despite [a possible indictment looming](https://time.com/6264352/donald-trump-arrest-what-happen/), former President Donald Trump is holding a [rally](https://time.com/6264019/trump-indictment-charges-campaign-donations/) in Waco, Texas. The Trump 2024 presidential campaign [told TIME](https://time.com/6264959/trump-anti-government-waco-indictment/) they chose the city because of its central location and Texas’ role in the primary, but Waco has an infamous, violent history: it was the site of a deadly standoff between an anti-government cult and federal law enforcement thirty years ago. The conflict started on Feb. 28, 1993, when agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) raided the compound of the Branch Davidians cult near Waco because federal and state law officials were afraid that members were stockpiling weapons. Cult leader David Koresh, who claimed he was God, had convinced more than a hundred people to join him at the armed fortress “to await the end of the world,” [as TIME described](https://time.com/vault/issue/1993-03-15/page/38/) the group’s beliefs back then. Koresh was willing to be a martyr who would “die in a battle against unbelievers, then be joined in heaven by the followers who chose to lay down their lives for him.” As the magazine reported, Koresh got a phone call tipping him off that the federal agents were coming and the Branch Davidians met them with gunfire. Four agents died and 16 were wounded, as well as about a dozen cult members and their children.  Demonstrators opposed to the FBI and ATF actions at the Branch Davidian compound, gather at a roadblock leading to the site near Waco, Texas, as a public safety officer walks past, April 24, 1993. Susan Weems—AP A 51-day standoff ensued. Reporting on the incident at the time, TIME [obtained](https://time.com/vault/issue/1993-05-03/page/1/) two letters that Koresh sent the FBI over the weekend of April 10, dictated to one of his 19 wives on lavender notepaper. “I AM your God,” he wrote, “and you will bow under my feet. Do you think you have the power to stop my will?” The fatal siege culminated on April 19, 1993, when a fire set by the Branch Davidians killed 76 compound members, including children, and several ATF agents. --- ### More from TIME --- **Read More:** [_‘Very Symbolic!’: Trump’s Plan for Waco Rally Spurs Anti-Government Supporters_](https://time.com/6264959/trump-anti-government-waco-indictment/) Waco had long been a hub of white power activity. Among white power activists who were already fearing racial extinction, the disastrous raid just reaffirmed that the state was “inherently evil” and gave rise to “a new surge in militia organizing,” according to _Bring the War Home_ by Kathleen Belew, an expert on the [history of right-wing extremism](https://time.com/5894743/trump-proud-boys-history/). In the aftermath, “the militia movement surged to more than 50,000 members in 47 states, and focused increasingly on taking violent action to stop the rampant federal government.” Belew’s research finds the surge was even greater than the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. And Waco directly inspired another famous act of violence: the mastermind behind the 1995 [Oklahoma City bombing](https://time.com/3822868/oklahoma-city-bombing-20-years/), Timothy McVeigh, [went to Waco during the standoff](https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing) and launched the attack on the two-year anniversary of the April 19 siege, which he saw as “a massacre carried out by a rampant superstate and its corrupt agents,” as Belew put it.  The May 3, 1993 cover of TIME TIME Waco has since [become a pilgrimage site](https://time.com/6258429/waco-pilgrimage-site/) for some members of the far-right who see special significance in the city’s history of civilians confronting what they viewed as government overreach. In an adapted excerpt from the new book _Waco Rising,_ author Kevin Cook writes about how Waco is now a tourist attraction, visited by families and militia members who see it as one of the hubs of the modern-day extremist “patriot movement.” Several thousand people around the world still call themselves Branch Davidians. There’s a chapel on the site of the compound, thanks to a fundraising drive by conspiracist [Alex Jones](https://time.com/5243124/sandy-hook-parents-alex-jones/). Merchandise for sale at the chapel include Trump shirts and a poster with Koresh wielding a rifle over a line directed at President Joe Biden: “SLEEPY JOE, WAKE UP OR WACO! COME GET IT!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/"},"headline":"The Violent History of Waco, the Infamous Site of Trump's Next Rally","datePublished":"2023-03-22T20:14:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:42:45.187Z","description":"What to know about the history of the deadly standoff between an anti-government cult and federal law enforcement thirty years ago.","url":"https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/","keywords":["extremism","Explainer","uspoliticspolicy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa19e192886dff58/698a3b4e929fad171cbf9acb/waco-texas-histrory-1993-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa19e192886dff58/698a3b4e929fad171cbf9acb/waco-texas-histrory-1993-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Branch Davidian Compound Burning","caption":"The Branch Davidians' Mount Carmel compound outside of Waco, Texas, burns to the ground during the 1993 raid by the ATF.","creditText":"Greg Smith—CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/extremism/","name":"extremism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/","name":"The Violent History of Waco, the Infamous Site of Trump's Next Rally"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Rallied Supporters in Waco Ahead of Possible Indictment","description":"As Donald Trump waits to see if a Manhattan grand jury will choose to indict him, a prospect that he is encouraging his supporters to protest, he also held the first major rally of his 2024 presidential campaign in Waco, Texas, a city that was famously the site of a deadly standoff between an anti-government cult and federal law enforcement.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EBajhXUZ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-03-27T16:39:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EBajhXUZ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6265218/waco-texas-history-trump-rally/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```