It is well past time to connect the dots. The Trump administration’s assault on democracy has entered a new and dangerous phase. Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do, and what many of us warned was coming. He is at the head of a political movement that has long aimed to demolish American democracy, and he and his inner circle of supporters are now backed into a corner where they have few options but to double down. In the next phase of this corrupt takeover of America’s governing institutions, the Trump administration is certain to expand on its already substantial control of both the system of justice and the corporate media, and it will use this control to suppress dissent and spread still more disinformation. Whether the GOP’s plan to destroy American democracy for good will succeed can’t be known. What those who still believe in the promise of America should do is clear.
Dot number one is the conversion of federal law enforcement and the system of justice into an instrument for punishing enemies of the regime and its leader. The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, just days after President Trump said that Attorney Pam Bondi should prosecute him along with other political adversaries, takes us a giant step toward this objective. This radical action is not surprising for a man who appointed many of his own personal defense attorneys to top positions within the Department of Justice. It really doesn’t matter that the case against Comey is unlikely to result in a conviction. Trump’s adversaries will have already gotten the message that federal law enforcement is now a thoroughly political instrument of the leader and the ruling party. That is how corrupt autocracies work.
Dot number two: the executive order declaring “Antifa” a “domestic terrorist organization.” As an article published on the website of the libertarian Cato Institute pointed out, “antifa” is not a formal organization but rather “an idea”—the way Taoism or Crossfit or “going keto” are ideas—and it declared the move “idiotic on multiple levels.” The point of the order is to follow through on the hateful rhetoric with which Trump and many of his followers responded to the horrendous murder of Charlie Kirk. The administration intends to use the coercive power of federal law enforcement to attack all those who disagree with its political views on the pretext that to disagree with the ruler is to invite “terrorism.” With the administration’s attack on the Soros-funded Open Society Foundation, this weaponization of the DOJ and FBI is already well underway.
Dot number three is the deployment of the U.S. military against (so-called) domestic enemies. This began with the deployment of the National Guard and now includes various orders and declarations that make clear that Trump expects to use the military to apply coercive pressure against large sectors of the American population. The transformation of ICE into a federal police force largely outside of traditional law enforcement is a connected part of this project.
Dot number four is the conversion of mainstream media into regime-compliant propaganda and disinformation providers. The big story last week wasn’t the cancellation and (partial) return of Jimmy Kimmel. It was the clear declaration, long foretold, that antitrust regulators now work not for the American public but rather for the advance of Trump administration interests, which include the consolidation of America’s mainstream media industry into the hands of a small number of Trump-boosting billionaires. The sale of TikTok (with a Trump-loving billionaire in charge), the ongoing elevation of Fox News into the semiofficial party-state broadcast network, and other data points—including the involvement of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner in a $50 billion buyout of Electronic Arts, completes the picture. The creation of these media oligopolies will impoverish and misinform the public, which is exactly what authoritarians want.
Dot number five is the capture of the corporate sector. As predicted early on, this has proved the easiest part of the authoritarian project. CEOs with MBAs trained in the shareholder-value theory of management are, all too often, pushovers for autocrats. You just point to the “bottom line” as you enlist their support in depriving the public of its rights. They have no clue that you’ll be coming back later to shake them down too.
Dot number six is the reduction of the legislature to a plate of Jello. As long as Republicans control both chambers of Congress, this mission is done and dusted. The Constitution places the power of the purse in Congress; this Republican Congress has handed it over, along with every other matter of substance, to the president. Congress has also always had the power of oversight. This Congress isn’t just wearing blindfolds; it has poked its own eyes out so that it won’t have to witness the epic levels of corruption and self-dealing at the highest office.
And dot number seven, which is to remove any opposition in the form of expertise by decimating the federal government, has been underway ever since Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, and his 22-year-old minions went on their chain saw rampage through the federal government.
While we have arrived at a dire moment, make no mistake: Now is not the time to curl up in despair. We have work to do—institutions to defend, pro-democracy organizations to support, lawsuits to pursue, corruption to expose, and midterm elections next year.
The same forces that have brought us an antidemocratic movement have succeeded in undermining key institutions: the judiciary, the integrity of religious institutions, and the guardrails of one of our two political parties. If we want better outcomes, we can start by learning how those institutions have been undermined and commit ourselves to the process of restoring them.
Last December, Politico published a terrific piece by the Turkish journalist Asli Aydintasbas, who lived through and documented Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s methodical process of state capture—and the pushback, which is ongoing. It is well worth a read. It takes time for the autocrat to consolidate control, she reminds us, so it is vital to remain active and engaged. She advises that we focus on strategic and broad-based actions that have appeal beyond the professional classes.
She tells us to take a step back from identity politics and purity politics and work with other like-minded people and organizations, even if we don’t agree on everything. She reminds us that nothing is more meaningful than being part of a struggle for democratic principles. “America will survive the next four years,” she writes, if those who support democracy “pick themselves up and start learning from the successes of opponents of autocracy across the globe.”
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