Donald Trump’s Authoritarian Threat
Liberal democracies can take different forms, but all require that individuals be able to live without fear of government.
HAVANA TIMES – When we think of the imposition of an authoritarian regime, the image that usually comes to mind is that of an army seizing power, leaders overthrown and freedoms immediately suspended. In today’s world, however, authoritarianism is less and less imposed abruptly. The preferred style of autocratic leaders is to gradually erode democratic institutions. This allows them to concentrate more and more power while maintaining a democratic façade.
As Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt show in their book How Democracies Die, contemporary autocrats prefer to manipulate rather than abolish elections, to control parliaments rather than shut them down, to favour the press that supports them while silencing the press that denounces them. Oxford political scientist Nancy Bermeo describes this phenomenon as “autocratic coups”, to distinguish it from traditional “coups d’état”.
The evidence is everywhere. Viktor Orbán (the same man whom Trump proudly pointed to as an example of the support he has among foreign leaders, praising him as “one of the most respected men” and celebrating his intelligence) has turned Hungary into a full-blown autocratic regime. Erdoğan has manipulated elections, purged institutions and imprisoned journalists in Turkey.
Vladimir Putin, the great poisoner, has stung the opposition in Russia in every conceivable way, while continuing to hold elections. Chávez and Maduro in Venezuela, Ortega in Nicaragua, Duterte in the Philippines, Modi in India and Bukele (the “coolest dictator”) in El Salvador have employed similar tactics: capture of the judiciary, pressure and harassment of journalists, illegal surveillance mechanisms, and persecution of critics.
Whatever techniques each chooses (some poison, others imprison or exile), the result is always the same: a gradual weakening of democracy and a docile state at the service of one man, or a political elite.
Donald Trump has shown tendencies that align with several of the tactics used by these authoritarian leaders, albeit in a context where institutions are incomparably stronger and have so far offered resistance. Like Maduro after the 2015 parliamentary elections, Trump has sought to undermine the legitimacy of electoral processes. His refusal to accept defeat in 2020, his insistence on electoral fraud without evidence, and his attempt to reverse the results reflect tactics of political manipulation. Added to this is his central role in the assault on the Capitol on 6 January 2021, an unprecedented and direct attack on the heart of American democracy.
Most recently, in July 2024, at a rally in Florida, Trump declared that, if re-elected, in four years, there would be no need to vote again: “We will have fixed it so well that you won’t need to vote,” he told a crowd of Christians. Remember dictator Fidel Castro’s “elections for what?” Well, that.
Trump has not only expressed his intention to use the state apparatus to punish his critics, he has begun to do so. In his first days in office, he has used his power as commander-in-chief to attack his enemies inside and outside the government. He has announced the restructuring of the Kennedy Center’s board, appointing himself as chairman of the board, with the aim of reshaping the cultural arena and security policies to suit his agenda.
In an attempt to control institutional memory and government transparency, Trump removed the national archivist, a traditionally non-partisan figure, thus weakening institutional oversight and facilitating the consolidation of his unaccountable power. For the time being, it is his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who assumes the position, while the guardian of former Republican president Nixon’s legacy, Jim Byron, has been appointed Senior Advisor at the National Archives. This position gives him a role in the management and oversight of historical and government documents, which has raised concerns about possible interventions in their preservation and public access.
Not only that, Trump has vowed to use the Justice Department against his opponents, which is characteristic of dictators like Chávez, Maduro and Ortega. He has expressed his desire to prosecute critics and opponents, including journalists and members of the deep state. Like Duterte or Modi, Trump has used aggressive and polarising rhetoric, presenting himself as the defender of the “real people” against corrupt elites, immigrants and political opponents.
And what about his attitude towards the press, the cornerstone of any democracy? Well, Trump has tried to undermine its credibility, calling it the “enemy of the people” while celebrating only media that fawn over him. He is unlikely to gain control of the press like Orbán or Putin, but like them he has encouraged disinformation and media polarisation. Suffice it to think that during his first presidency Donald Trump made more than 30,500 false or misleading claims, according to the Washington Post’s Fact Checker analysis. Most recently, he has vetoed the Associated Press (AP) news agency from his press conferences and from access to the Oval Office and Air Force One.
Not only that: he has just taken direct control of the press pool covering the president, displacing the White House Correspondents’ Association. In other words, he will now be able to select which journalists have access and which do not. This has obviously set off alarm bells about press freedom and reflects a common pattern of authoritarian leaders: silencing and punishing the press that criticises them. To put it another way, only media that support their narrative will be allowed to ask questions or report from the White House.
His strategy of media control has been documented by Maria Marron in Misogyny and Media in the Age of Trump. The book shows that Trump has followed the same pattern as modern autocrats: discrediting truthful information while flooding the public space with propaganda. His social media presence and his use of inflammatory speeches have enabled the radicalisation of his base. Politics seems to be reduced to unconditional loyalty to his figurehead. Only authoritarian leaders make loyalty an absolute requirement.
None of this should come as a surprise. After all, political science studies have shown Donald Trump’s authoritarian profile, as well as that of many of his white voters. To mention just one example, a study by Jonathan Knuckey and Komysha Hassan showed that authoritarianism was a determining factor in support for Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Using data from the American National Election Studies, the authors found that white voters with authoritarian tendencies were significantly more likely to support him, regardless of their educational level. The article concludes that Trump’s campaign not only activated authoritarianism as a key criterion in the voting decision, but did so like no other campaign that has been studied.
Now, if there is one thing authoritarian leaders share wholeheartedly, it is the use of fear as a political weapon, something viscerally antithetical to liberal democracy. Liberal democracies may take different forms, but they all require individuals to be able to live without fear of government. It is precisely fear that has allowed dictatorships like Cuba’s to violate rights, destroy the dignity of citizens, divide them into loyalists and enemies, and even condemn them to misery. Fear paralyses, demoralises, outrages.
The truth is that many Latinos who voted for Trump now not only regret it, but live in a permanent state of terror. Their family members are at risk of raids, expedited deportations and even confinement in Guantánamo without due process, measures that are more reminiscent of totalitarian regimes than liberal democracies. They live in fear of going out on the streets, going to the markets or working in the strawberry fields. Note that Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, which criminalises Latinos, has direct consequences on the perception of the Latino community by so-called “real Americans”. Those with nativist instincts do not know whether the person in front of them has papers or not, so they discriminate or harass them equally.
In addition, a part of its Latino electorate has been affected by the elimination of Humanitarian Parole, [SEE ALSO] which allowed reunification with family members who were given a chance to escape totalitarian regimes. More than a few fear for their fate. And this is not to mention the fear that some are afraid to speak out publicly against Trump, and even feel compelled to praise him, in order to avoid criticism from the fanatics who once applauded Fidel Castro and now applaud Trump, no matter how much damage and suffering results from the narcissism and megalomania of both.
But it is not just immigrants that are affected by fear. The American scientific community has been under attack with funding cuts and censorship. Feeling anxious and distressed, some have begun to turn to their Canadian colleagues for help. Clinics and community health centres have closed and essential educational programmes have been defunded. Federal employees describe a climate of “fear” and “chaos” as they face a barrage of executive orders from Donald Trump and threats to their jobs from the Office of Personnel Management, now controlled by billionaire Elon Musk.
As The New York Times warns in its editorial Standing Up to Donald Trump’s Fear Tactics, Trump has used fear as a tool to intimidate opponents and deter resistance in Congress, the judiciary, the business sector, higher education and the media. His aim is to make the cost of challenging him intolerable and thus reduce the limits on his power. Is this not, after all, the aspiration of every authoritarian leader?
Many Americans, used to living in a system where, regardless of the party in power, they always felt exempt from the fear so characteristic of dictatorships, no longer feel safe. The question is not whether Trump will try to consolidate his power through authoritarian strategies, but whether America’s democratic institutions will be able to resist his advance.
And, as with that barn wall in Animal Farm, the rules may continue to change bit by bit, until, when citizens finally realize, the democracy they thought they were protecting will be gone and MAGA will by then be an acronym for Make Authoritarianism Great Again.
Translated by GH for Translating Cuba.
One thing comes to mind on how Trump and his buddies can make a killing with the stock market instability. It’s called insider trading. When they know Trump is going to decree something that will make the market drop they sell. After it drops they buy when they know Trump is going to backtrack and cause the market to rise. It’s a great opportunity.
Well . . . well . . . well . . . look who blinked first and fast in the tariff trade war in less than a few news cycles. Yes, Donald Trump – not resolute Canada or Mexico as expected. How could he not have seen that coming? The height of hubris humbled.
First, Trump walks back, for one month, his sacrosanct 25% tariffs aimed at car manufacturers who assemble cars simultaneously in Canada , Mexico and the United States. The stock market, sacrosanct to Trump, sent a very sobering sensible message to him as the markets tanked precipitously because of his across the board 25% tariff talk and immediate implementation.
Consequently, Trump was schooled (if that is even possible) by the leaders of the “Big 3” automakers on Wednesday (March 05): Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. The combined realistic CEOs know full well that indiscriminate tariffs on Canada and Mexico car manufacturers – Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis – will cause irreparable and irreversible damage to all three countries’ economies, but more importantly to Trump – his home turf – his American economy. That is not within Trump’s MAGA modus operandi.
Subsequent to that, today, March 06, Trump provides another one month tariff walk back, reprieve, pause, capitulation, call it what you want, and that pause is to CUSMA (Canada, U.S., Mexico trade agreement) compliant goods making him and his administration appear obviously clueless, whimsical, yes, perhaps even “dumb” to use Prime Minister Trudeau’s adjective in actually knowing what Donald Trump is intent on doing. Who knows?
Again, in this economic constant of uncertainty the stock markets, the pulse of the North American financial nations, which absolutely despise uncertainty roil in roller coaster confusion rolling up and down making investors’ head spin – not good for business, especially American business – MAGA style.
So, for how long will this economic roller coaster of uncertainty, aimlessness, walk backs, psycho- drama going to persist: hourly, daily, weekly, monthly?
That is anyone’s guess. One thing that is absolutely unequivocal is that Canada, whatever the time line, will never, ever, back down from whatever financial negativity that Donald Trump throws its way, especially surrendering Canadian sovereignty.
Canada possesses, in vast abundance, the critical minerals and energy (electricity, oil, gas) so coveted by Trump in order to realize his MAGA goal that in the final analysis, similarly like his Presidential first term, he will eventually sit down and re-negotiate the CUSMA economic agreement that will benefit all three countries: Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
In the meanwhile, Trump may want to revise his book: Trump: The Art of the Deal by adding another chapter entitled: “How not to look Dumb when delivering Dumb disastrous decrees.”
Very good critique Dennis, defending the Trump lies and distortions. Here are just a few of your falsehoods from my point of view.
1) While I would agree that the Democratic Party leadership has been out of touch and that helped lead to Trump winning the election, you are way off in calling the Democratic Party socialist. Around most of the world the US Democratic Party is considered a center or center-right party. That goes for within the party in the USA as well.
2) I believe Trump is a wannabe dictator and just like he respects Putin more than what were until recently the United States’ democratic allies, his tactics, along with his billionaire buddies, is to destroy any democratic institutions that have been the checks and balances of the imperfect democracy.
3) Calling the Associated Press an organ of socialist Europe is ridiculous as it has been an objective centrist US agency for umpteen years under many administrations. I don’t pity their journalists who now won’t have to sit in on Trump’s bombastic speeches and lies in person.
4) You say Trump likes being around the less fortunate. What a joke, he likes being around billionaries and white supremists, racists and sexists. What he likes the less fortunate for is pulling the wool over their eyes so they vote against even their own self interests.
It puzzles me as to why the Cuban and Central American so called journalists are having a congical meltdown with an out of tune concert with the out of touch US Democrat Party. The writer states oh so many of President Trump’s bad deeds and false statements but only attributes the data to “noted or respected studies” which actually are a collection of papers penned by liberal Harvard professors.
As aJournalist for more than 40 years I learned one very important fact about politics; no matter the nation believe in the leader that doesn’t just make promises, but actually confronts the 800 lb gorilla in the room and wins. Trump is doing exactly what he promised the American people he would do. He listened to the American Majority tired of the weak bile that has left America politically and financially weaker than ever since its founding. Finally someone that knows what it takes to stop the bleeding, rebuild the American Dream and bring peace to an ever increasing war torn world.
To compare Trump to Maduro or any of the hardline authoritarian regimes that have ruled central and South America for decades is frankly offensive. For writer’s who obviously live under the yoke of Authortarian Communism to “analyze and predict” the fall of democracy in America is like the pundits and so called experts on US politics predicting that Trump would lose Last November. News Alert; he won by the combined electoral and popular vote the largest seen in more than 60 years.
As far as Mr.Trump becoming a dictator; here in America we have a document we live by. It’s called the Constitution of The United States of America which is defined and administered by a Supreme Court ,members of which cannot be removed or replaced until death. The only politicians who want to weaken that austere body are the liberal socialist of the American Democrat party.
Donald Trump likes being among people less fortunate than he as much as hashing out multi billion dollar deals with other world leaders, Most Americans see that. He has answered more questions in four weeks in office than any other American President in two terms, eight years. He is transparent; he learned then importance of that in his first term when trying to keep his family from the media. Now his modus operandi is to give them world more information than they ever dreamed of. Oh and About that tiff with The Associated Press.; Besides being an organ of Socialist Europe, AP never hired a reporter that did not have a political agenda, Refusing to accept the name change to the Gulf of America was a political hissy fit that blew up on them and now they are on the outside looking in. They fell for the Trump Trap.
Personally I don’t particularly like his public persona. But for now Donald Trump is the right man for the job and for a hope of world peace without dominant dictators. Before you call me a crazy Yankee, look around your domicile and ask yourself if your are satisfied with the government under which you live. I find it ironic that many of those living under dictators continue to demonize the longest lasting and most prosperous democracy on earth. We only have power outages due to storms, not as a part of life. I feel for the Cuban people who one day will throw off the yoke and lie of Communism and build a democracy built on individual freedom.
Thanks for considering my opinion from inside what you see as the Belly of the Beast.
Dennis
One particular prudent point Karel Leyva did not mention is Donald Trump’s penchant to side with brutal dictators like Russia’s Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong while economically abusing and outright abandoning long standing geographic allies, namely Canada and Mexico.
Donald Trump and his minions (his loyal cast of billionaires) have basically thrown Canada and Mexico under the proverbial bus. His imposition of 25 % tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports to the United States will cost thousands of jobs in all three countries. And for what?
According to Canadian current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump’s tariffs against Canada, besides calling them “ dumb “, are trying to prompt a total collapse of the Canadian economy because Trump believes (erroneously of, course) that his onslaught will make it easier to annex Canada. Trump has been publicly musing repeatedly that he wants to make Canada the 51st American state.
As if that scary scenario can conceivably be realized? Perhaps in a fictional novel. Canadians are too proud and resilient to simply rollover at the dictates of a wannabe dictator. When Canadian sovereignty is at stake, Canadians will rise to the challenge.
Trump’s fictional fantasy begins with his pronounced Executive Orders. Specifically for Canada and Mexico both countries were to drastically reduce the illegal drug – fentanyl – from entering the United States, plus drastically reduce illegal immigration.
Well, Canada did exactly that. But, obviously to no avail.
Canada demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that it spent billions to shore up its border with the U.S. With regard to the illegal drug – fentanyl – Canada reduced the amount being trafficked into the U.S. to a fraction of one percent! Trump, was that not what you wanted for tariffs not to be implemented?
In terms of reliable statistics: Canada represented less than one per cent of all seized fentanyl imports into the U.S., according to federal data. About 19.5 kilograms was seized at the northern border last year compared to 9,570 kilograms at the southwestern border.
But now we know, in retrospect, the official American explanation for tariffs was not at all about fentanyl and illegal immigration – completely bogus, if you will.
The fentanyl excuse for the tariffs was something of a cover — a “legal justification” to tap emergency presidential trade powers so Trump can invoke tariffs that clearly violate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) that he himself signed in his first term. Trump’s clear intention is to crush Canada economically beginning first with devastating tariffs.
In the final analysis, Trump’s overall agenda is clearly masked in his public imposition of the 1930s “Smoot–Hawley Tariff” Act for the annexing of his northern neighbour: Canada. He wants to do this by economically crushing Canada’s economy. It’s all about bringing manufacturing to the U.S. Trump, for example, wants cars to be completely assembled and built in the U S.
So, here we are today – March 04 – with Canada pummelled unmercifully with an economic tariff war. Thousands of good paying jobs will be jeopardized, if not lost forever, in Canada, in Mexico and ironically in the Republican States that elected Donald Trump – MAGA electors.
Donald Trump can admire and adore autocratic dictators the likes of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, North Korea’s Kim Jong, and others. However, Trump in his current dismantling of democratic institutions in the U. S. does not have enough legislative time – enough legislative runway- to reach and implement his absolute autocratic vision.
With regard to Canada and Mexico tariffs, it will be the MAGA author who will blink first and back off fast.