During his campaign for the 2024 election Donald Trump made no bones about wanting to be a dictator - starting on Day One - This is one promise he has kept.
Consider -
While the United States remains a constitutional democracy, several developments under Trump’s leadership have prompted scholars, diplomats, and political analysts to highlight authoritarian-like behaviors—not as a complete transformation, but as concerning signals of democratic erosion. I would argue that at the 8 month point he is 67% of the way there (and given the appeals court ruling on 7/8/2025 saying judges cannot find executive lawyers in contempt anymore, courts, including the Supreme Court do not have a way to enforce their rulings then we may be up to 80%).
* Democratic Backsliding Indicators: Research highlights that Trump accelerated the erosion of democratic norms by undermining public confidence in elections, encouraging political violence, vilifying the press, and framing critics as enemies of the state. This aligns with recognized warning signs of democratic regression.
* Expert Warnings: Four retired U.S. ambassadors—veterans of postings in Russia, Ukraine, and other authoritarian contexts—warned of a growing “climate of fear” and erosion of checks and balances, reminiscent of early Putin-era tactics.
* Authoritarian Populism: Analysts describe Trump’s style as “authoritarian populism”—a blend of populist rhetoric with authoritarian methods, including signaling “out-groups,” demanding unquestioning loyalty, and justifying extreme measures in the name of protecting “the people.”
* Unitary Executive Expansion: Trump issued executive orders asserting sweeping control over independent agencies—a practical expansion of presidential power consistent with the “unitary executive theory”—raising separation-of-powers concerns.
* "Firehose of Falsehoods" Tactics: Similar to Russian propaganda strategies, Trump has deployed repetitive, overwhelming messaging to confuse public discourse and undermine trust in traditional media.
* Undermining Statistical Integrity: Recent incidents—like Trump dismissing employment data as “fake” and firing a key labor statistics official—have been called an "authoritarian attack" on factual governance for using political power to discredit objective oversight.
* Emboldening Authoritarian Leaders: Global media reports note that Trump's approach—tolerant or conciliatory toward authoritarian leaders—strengthened illiberal regimes abroad. This includes his muted criticism of crackdowns in Turkey, Israel, etc., reinforcing global authoritarian trends. At the same time he attacks leaders of democracies, especially Ukraine.
* Strategic Human-Rights Changes: The Trump administration significantly reduced critical language about abusive governments in State Department reports—minimizing references to human rights abuses in places like Russia—indicating a shift toward realpolitik at democracy’s expense.
That is just a basic outline of why it is very easy to conclude Trump is acting like a dictator.
The reason I said 67% earlier is that our founding fathers were EXTREMELY worried about somebody like Trump becoming president. They spent many hours and tons of ink discussing how easy it would be for a brilliant demagogue (their words) like Trump to sign the Siren Songs of populism in order to fool the masses. Consequently, they built in checks and balances to stymie a dictator should he or she get elected. They created the three CO-EQUAL branches of government, each with their own powers, responsibilities, limitations, and self-interests. It was designed so that no single branch can dominate the other.
They also knew these protections would only work if the people in each branch chose to uphold them. In the absence of courage or integrity, even the best constitutional design can falter—which is why, in their writings, they stressed that the ultimate safeguard of liberty is an informed, engaged, and vigilant citizenry.
Today, our founders fears are being realized - in spades! Trump is ignoring Congress and doing ANYTHING he wants with zero repercussions from the MAGA Republicans in Congress.
The only thing now standing in the way of Trump and his dream of a Russian-style government are the COURTS.
