SHARE: Postcards From The Edge of Dictatorship

Trump is attacking our Democracy on every front. Add your examples.

May 18, 2025

There are any number of lists/steps pointing out how a nation can march down the road to Dictatorship and Authoritarianism. I’ve chosen one written by the Horizons Project that is simple to understand and very easy to relate to our current state under the Trump Regime.

This isn’t meant to be an essay digging deep into the parallels — more a pictorial travelogue, providing a key photo or two and brief descriptions to prove the point.

It’s also meant to spark conversation since many of these steps are rife with examples. Please feel free to add your thoughts on additional examples in each category.

10. DIVIDE AND RULE

Foment mistrust and fear in the population.

"Children will be taught to love America. Children will be taught to be patriots," Miller, 39, said. "Children will be taught civic values for schools that want federal taxpayer funding."

The examples are endless here. I chose this recent quote from Miller because it reeks of full-on fascism — public school indoctrination that you know damn well would not be some generalized patriotism but cultish devotion. What we need in schools is a return to objective civics classes.

9. SPREAD LIES AND CONSPIRACIES

Undermine the public’s belief in truth.

This has been a hallmark during the rise and reign of Trump. Virtually everything out of his mouth at this point is a provable lie.

But, this Oval Office presentation of a manipulated image to justify an illegal and mistaken deportation feels like a chilling escalation of pure disinformation.

8. DESTROY CHECKS AND BALANCES

Quietly use legal or pseudo-legal rationales to gut institutions, weaken opposition, and/or declare national emergencies to seize unconstitutional powers.

Powered buy Project 2025 the new Trump Regime is advancing this agenda on every possible front — from usurping the power of Congress to attacking (and ignoring) the Judicial Branch at every turn. His unConstitutional use of “Executive Orders” are beyond anything ever attempted by a POTUS.

7. DEMONIZE OPPONENTS AND INDEPENDENT MEDIA

Undermine the public’s trust in those actors and institutions that hold the state accountable.

The fake fake news claims have been there since the beginning. But, after laying the groundwork for years the Trump 2.0 attacks on free speech are now institutionalized with a weaponized Justice Department at his control.

The laughable lawsuit against 60 Minutes seemed like a legal joke, but it cowered one of the most respected shows in American media. Further and more direct attacks by the FCC and Justice Department are coming.

6. UNDERMINE CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

Actively suppress free speech, the right to assembly and protest and the rights of women and minority groups.

We know that Trump wanted to sent the United States military against BLM protestors during his first term. That desire hasn’t gone away and his unqualified Secretary of Defense is purging the top ranks of the military to quell dissent when he does it again.

He is already normalizing that concept with his followers and media enablers by detaining foreign students and sending the Secret Service to interview political opponents.

5. BLAME MINORITIES, IMMIGRANTS, AND “OUTSIDERS” FOR PROBLEMS

Exploit national humiliation while promising to restore national glory.

This lies at the heart of Trump’s rise to power and constitutes one of his biggest threats to Democracy. While the shock and awe of his immigration plans have yet to fully materialize it is still playing out across the country with detention camps on our border and foreign gulags where supposed terrorists have been sent without the Due Process clearly stated in our Constitution.

You can read my essay on immigration here.

4. REWARD LOYALISTS AND PUNISH DEFECTORS

Make in-group members fearful to voice dissension.

Trump turned on virtually his entire first-term cabinet and has made countless Republicans bend to his will. For Trump 2.0 he has rewarded his most rabid supporters with key jobs in government — radical and unqualified people who will do his bidding no matter what. He has also very likely used his stock market manipulation to reward supporters with insider trading tips.

Corruption is always at the core of Dictatorship. You can read an overview of Trump’s rampant fraud here.

3. ENCOURAGE OR CONDONE VIOLENCE TO ADVANCE GOALS

Dehumanize opposition and/or out-groups to justify violence against them.

Trump has fomented violence since the very beginning, but nothing will compare to the January 6th attacks — the most serious assault on American Democracy since the Civil War.

2. ORGANIZE MASS RALLIES

To keep supporters mobilized against made-up threats: Use fear-mongering and hate speech to consolidate in-group identity and solidarity.

Trump has continued his rallies after the election, but we have yet to see this on a mass scale. But, make no mistake: When he triggers truly mass protests he will also encourage opposition protests as a means to trigger violence and chaos. It will be that violence that he uses as an excuse to deploy the military against Americans and likely declare Martial Law.

1. MAKE PEOPLE FEEL POWERLESS

Make the citizenry fearful and believe that solutions will only come from the top.

Trump has long ago convinced his MAGA core that he alone can fix it — creating a near-religious cult that shuns reality.

But, for the general population fear is a biproduct of everything the Trump Regime is now doing — meant to scare and cower opposition. From random ICE raids to attacks on the 1st Amendment and the Rule of Law it is all meant to stop us.

It wont.

BONUS: ALIGNING WITH DICTATORS

Trump has made his intentions know since his first term — from Putin and Kim Jong Un to Turkey’s Erdoğan. His years long normalization of dictatorship has convinced a sizable number of his core followers to welcome it.

In Trump 2.0 he’s taken it to the next level — collaborating with El Salvador’s elected strong man Nayib Bukele to develop a prison system that could be used for anyone who dissents.

You can read an overview of Trump’s disastrous first 100 days here.

Please SHARE this article and add your examples in the comments!