With no shock to anyone, Donald Trump is pushing his way onto the list of the authoritarian leaders of the 21st century. Does he want to become a dictator? The United States of America has always prided itself on freedom, but right now it looks like its government is being led by a dictator.
Sure, you might say that Trump came into power through a valid election. But while elections are a keystone of democracy, it’s Trump’s current actions and words that are causing the greatest concern.
Since entering office the president has declared emergencies left and right: on trade, crime and most recently housing. The problem is that none of these issues warranted the emergency powers that Trump has been giving himself. Emergency powers are there for emergencies, things that threaten the country at large, like a global pandemic.
But the way it looks now, it’s unlikely he’ll stop accumulating emergency powers anytime soon. Soon enough, America will have a government of emergencies, where the president has power over everything because everything is an emergency.
Trump has not been kind to any opposition or criticism of himself or his actions. His critics include former advisor John Bolton, former chief of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Chris Krebs, and former Department of Homeland Security employee Miles Taylor. None of these people work in their government positions anymore, and it makes sense for Trump as a dictator to try silencing his critics.
But while Trump is only using words to try to influence the outcome, forceful and hostile retaliation is a real concern.
No wonder people are scared to oppose him, especially while he’s deploying the military on America’s own cities. Dictators have historically used the military for keeping citizens in line. Soon tanks might just be parading down every street.
Most dictators around the world are begrudgingly tolerated, like North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. But America is a large and powerful country, with a huge presence in the geopolitical arena. Most, if not all, countries would oppose a complete turn towards dictatorship.
Other countries would likely start by imposing sanctions, cutting off trade to and from the U.S., as other countries have done with Russia. The tariffs would pale in comparison. With enough pressure on America, we might be looking at the start of another war. Except, it’s likely, no one would be supporting the U.S.
As a dictator, Trump would find a way to keep himself in power, either by outright rigging the elections or using another set of “emergency powers” to keep himself elected permanently. This would finally be the start of a civil war – between supporters of Trump and those who want him gone. And at that point he would be HAVE to be removed forcefully.
The country would be divided between factions, much like it was during the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
