President Trump descending into authoritarianism
David Smith wrote an article detailing his belief that President Trump and his administration are descending into authoritarianism. Smith accused Trump of instigating a coup on January 6, 2021 and further claimed that the latter would endanger the American experiment. Smith’s other arguments included Trump’s consolidating executive power, undermining checks and balances, and challenging legal and institutional norms.
From The Guardian:
Trump, 78, has declared “We are the federal law” and posted a social media image of himself wearing a crown with the words “Long live the king”. He also channeled Napoleon with the words: “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” And JD Vance has stated that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power”.
Trump quickly pardoned those who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, placed loyalists in key positions within the FBI and military and purged the justice department, which also suffered resignations in response to the dismissal of corruption charges against New York mayor Eric Adams after his cooperation on hardline immigration measures.
The president now has the courts in his sights. Last weekend the White House defied a judge’s verbal order blocking it from invoking the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law meant only to be used in wartime, to justify the deportation of 250 Venezuelan alleged gang members to El Salvador, where they will be held in a 40,000-person megaprison.
Trump accused James Boasberg, the chief district judge in Washington who made the ruling, of being “crooked”, said he should be “impeached” and labelled him a “radical left lunatic of a judge”. The outburst prompted John Roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court, to deliver a rare rebuke of the president, emphasing that “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision”.
In an interview on the conservative Fox News network, Trump denied defying a court order and said he would not do so in future. But he added ominously: “We have very bad judges and these are judges that shouldn’t be allowed. I think at a certain point, you have to start looking at what do you do when you have a rogue judge?”
David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W Bush, posted on the X social media platform: “Almost every major Trump action is intentionally illegal. Trump is gambling that the US democratic system is too broken to stop him. He assumes, to borrow a phrase: ‘All we’ve got to do is kick the door in and the whole edifice will come crumbling down.’ Testing hour is here.”
Additional Reading:
Smith, D. (2025, March 22). The Trump administration is descending into authoritarianism. The Guardian. Link.
Category: Donald Trump, Politics, Society
Smith?
What an A-Hole smith is. Well maybe I shouldn’t have said that since TDS is now considered a mental illness.
What checks and balances did we have in the government during the four years of Biden?
Dr. Jill’sautopen Or: How I Learned To Stop Trusting Anything That Comes Out Of DC And Anyfuckingthing The Media Says, But Why Do They Keep Talking?
“[D]escending into authoritarianism” by reducing the mechanics of state-power, both real and the ones cobbled together over years of malfeasance?
I get it you’re uncomfortable with the pacifiers being removed from your orifice(s), Misters Frum, Smith, and Boasberg, but yous gonna havta get your cheese the fuck somewheres else.
We the People ain’t buying it no more..
Justice and legality are not synonyms and you’re upset People have awoken of it.
Cry harder.
But they continue to insist that it is okay if the Democratic Communists do it.
I keep saying it, we need to require civics tests before one can vote.
The baseline of having a pulse should be step #1.
You must mean a pulse by a real, live, eligible voter who is restricted to one vote per election? What a radical idea.
I’m sure he championed Draconian lockdowns, and firings for non compliance during the WuFlu. He now supports the nullification of elections by having judges appointed by past administrations possibly going back decades making domestic and foreign policy. I bet he giggles at the coordinated violence against Tesla and Tesla owners mirroring the SA/Brown Shirts in Germany in 1930’s. Worse of all, I bet he is fully onboard for censorship. Nothing like a “journalist” against the truth getting out. He’s just another full-of-shit activist pushing an actual authoritarian narrative telling on himself.
Destruction of the deep state they’ve had all their lives, what’s given multiple generations of the right families a terrific free ride, the kickbacks for favors, etcetera, it’s crashing into a solid wall and they’re in a turbocharged panic! Oooh the schadenfreude, popcorn anyone? Nachos?
I got enough beer for a couple people, but not everbody.
Dang. I was hoping for a few cases of Shiner Bock with the nachos.
Speaking of nachos, dave Smith we are nacho pansies. Quit trying to tell us your cow patty is a Moon Pie.
The Guardian is always left wing propaganda.
You are pravdaly correct.
Did someone say “King”? Here ya go…
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTfWAJy1JaiuQK6yq7PFh3aL7FZ1fMDv-Wfm_GjAzvJJwhRw1FXfrNh0pc&s
Now that is some big guns.
It’s good to the be the king!
Al Bundy approves this message.
Smith is pretty far left in his thinking. And Frum is a Rhino, just like Bush. At the time I voted for Bush, it was the only choice. Better than a demoncrat, not by much though.