Donald Trump has wasted no time in making it very clear that he is ruler of our country. On February 18, 2025, he issued an executive order that gives the Executive Branch authority over regulatory agencies that Congress established as independent from direct White House control. The order requires independent agencies to submit their proposed regulations to the White House for review and asserts power to block such agencies from spending funds on projects the White House doesn’t like.
The order follows Mr. Trump’s firing of the heads of the independent agencies, in direct defiance of statutes that bar their removal without cause. The agencies in question include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and even the Federal Election Commission, which is a very dangerous affront to democracy. If the President controls elections, it doesn’t bode well for any opponent, now does it?
Having a president who controls all the major agencies that govern our country is the very definition of an authoritarian, which is essentially a nice word for dictator; and Mr. Trump’s actions are the actions of a dictator, in every way one can imagine.
To begin with, a dictator must control Congress. That is no problem, since Republicans have majorities in both the Senate and the House Of Representatives, and dissent is not allowed. Every Republican cowers in fear at disputing anything Mr. Trump says or does for fear of retribution. And his partner, Elon Musk, further proved the necessity of blind obedience by threatening any member of Congress who voted for a budget bill they didn’t like with putting vast sums of money to back their opponents in the next election.
Both private citizens and Democrats have responded with lawsuits to try and stop many of the executive orders which Mr. Trump has issued, and which are clearly in violation of the law, of regulations, and even of the Constitution. What is Trump’s response?
That brings us to the next step a dictator must take to consolidate his power, which is authority over the courts. How will he accomplish this?
To begin with, they have declared Mr. Trump is the law. The February 18 executive order states that the president, and the attorney general subject to the president’s control, “shall provide authoritative interpretations of law.” It further states that no one “may advance an interpretation of the law as the position of the United States that contravenes the President or the Attorney General’s opinion on a matter of law, including but not limited to the issuance of regulations, guidance, and positions advanced in litigation, unless authorized to do so by the President or in writing by the Attorney General.”
That’s a scary proposition. Mr. Trump has taken it to its full extreme – a president who decides what the law is. But what if a court, even the Supreme Court, should find that he has exceeded his authority?
The Trump team is already starting the process of preparing the population for the idea that they can ignore court decisions and dispose of any judge who might stand in their way. Vice President J.D. Vance has suggested judges do not have authority over the Trump administration’s executive power, stating that “a president can ignore a court’s order – even a Supreme Court order – he considers illegitimate.” Trump’s partner, Musk, after an unfavorable court ruling, wrote, “There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments.”
Not to be outdone in efforts to please Mr. Trump, House Republicans have started taking action with plans to introduce articles of impeachment against at least two of the Federal judges who’ve issued rulings against Trump’s actions.
Another major facet of becoming a dictator is controlling the press. The Founding Fathers thought that a free press was so important they put it into the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Our president feels differently. They have removed NBC News, the New York Times, NPR, and Politico from the Pentagon press room, and, most recently, the administration announced they will now decide who to let in to White House briefings – something never done before in the history of our country. If a news outlet writes something unflattering of Trump (or Musk), they do so at their own peril. “Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access,” Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, tweeted after seeing what is transpiring.
With the administration now controlling broadcast media regulators, they have already begun investigations of each of the major broadcast outlets, including ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, and PBS, in response to unfavorable coverage.
For Donald Trump, loyalty is the most important factor, as it is with any dictator. All administration and all new Federal workers are vetted very intensely to gauge their loyalty – not loyalty to the United States and not loyalty to the constitution, loyalty to Donald Trump.
Loyalty is indeed the way to gain favor from our leader. If you violently attacked police officers during the January 6 riots at the Capitol, it doesn’t matter; you were showing loyalty to The Donald and will be pardoned. The airtight corruption case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams was ordered shut down by the Justice Department after he met with Mr. Trump and pledged fealty. Multiple charges against several Republican Congressmen have been dropped. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was caught on tape trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat, was pardoned after flattering Trump. Just recently the Trump administration pressured Romanian authorities to release the Tate brothers, despite rape and sex trafficking charges. The Tates, who are social media influencers, have publicly supported President Trump.
The reverse is also true, of course. Anyone on the wrong side of the fence will be dealt with harshly. That shoe is about to drop, as FBI director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi make no bones about the fact that disloyalty will be punished. Examinations have already begun into anyone who was part of the January 6 investigation. The Department of Justice is investigating Jack Smith, who led the investigation into Trump’s stealing of classified documents and attempting to illegally overthrow the 2020 election. The DOJ even sent a threatening letter to Representative Robert Garcia after the California Democrat made unflattering statements about Elon Musk. Beware, ‘Big Brother’ is watching.
And beware, America. Elon Musk (even though he has no authority other than Trump saying he can do what he wants), is gaining access to everyone’s personal data through the IRS and Social Security Administration.
And what would a dictator be if he didn’t enrich himself and his friends? Musk is destroying many government agencies, but his own contracts, reaping him billions of dollars, are not on the cutting block. In fact, a new order was instituted for $400 million of armored vehicles from Tesla, and he is now proposing a $2.4 billion contract for his company to take over air safety at the FAA.
Melania Trump recently signed a $40 million documentary deal with Amazon – three times as high as the next best offer, and the most they’ve ever spent on a documentary. Not to be left out of the plunder, independent auditors estimate Mr. Trump and his businesses have made over $80 million dollars since he took office.
But how can one be a dictator if they can only stay in the office for four years? Trump has mentioned in multiple recent speeches that they need to figure out a way to make “Trump 2028” happen. Indeed, the Republicans at the recent CPAC Conference have started the “Third Term Project” and presented proposals to start the process of figuring out how to do it, and a Republican bill has already been proposed in Congress to allow a third Trump term.
Even President Trump’s non-governmental actions indicate what he feels his position is. After a rant against New York’s congestion pricing, he finished with the statement, “Long Live The King!” Echoing France’s Napoleon Bonaparte, he took to social media to say, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” something Bonaparte said before declaring himself Emperor. His blueprint for developing Gaza included, of course, a gold statue of himself. A Republican bill in Congress proposes to add his face to Mount Rushmore. This is dictator-worship of the highest order.
Democracy only works if our leaders believe in it, and throughout our history, all our presidents did. When one, Richard Nixon, started to abuse his power, all of Congress – both Republicans and Democrats – stopped it in its tracks to save democracy. Unfortunately for us today, the Republican party no longer believes in democracy, making it likely that we are in its last days.
When Benjamin Franklin was asked on the last day of the convention in 1787 what form of government the delegates had created, Franklin said, “A republic, if you can keep it.” We now know the answer, Mr. Franklin. We can’t.
