Trump 2.0: The Path to Autocracy

We are now 90 days into the second Presidential term of Donald J Trump. It is hardly analogous substantively to the first 100 days of Roosevelt’s New Deal, but the energy level and the ambitious agenda are certainly similar. Mr Trump is striving to enter the history books. He has succeeded in his primary personal and political objective- being the national and international centre of attention. He has flooded the zone with a barrage of executive orders that may impact every corner of the American political, economic and security universe. His Cabinet selections, including some extraordinarily unorthodox choices, were all confirmed by a politically subservient Republican controlled Senate. He has executed the Project 2025 playbook to the letter. The chaos and incoherence of his first term is missing. He has been purposeful in his policy announcements and projects great confidence in his instincts and judgements. He recruited the world’s richest man to deconstruct the entire federal bureaucracy. He has hosted a parade of foreign leaders, most deferential and accommodating. When they weren’t, he humiliated them savagely on national television. He has succeeded in closing our southern border. He has announced his tariff regime. He is aggressively re-ordering our relationships with allies and adversaries. I have kept my promise and generally avoided instant analysis of policy, although I did weigh in on the crazy tariffs. Otherwise, patience ruled until broad patterns could be identified with confidence. We are there! How is it going?

Well, to put it succinctly- POORLY! Before doing an overview on policy proposals and actions, let’s establish what has not changed since Trump 1.0. I refer to his “character” or more specifically, his lack of it. His personality is unchanged, probably more offensive now. His leadership and communication style is simply AWFUL. He is reckless. He is flirting with lawlessness. He has no shame. He is abusive and cruel. He has no guardrails. He is narcissistic. He is juvenile. He is arrogant. He is child-like. He in intemperate. He is a sociopath. He has no respect for the truth. He has no capacity for empathy. He is crude. He is attracted to “yes men”, sycophants, charlatans, grifters and second raters. He is ignorant of history and clueless on economics. He remains unfit and unqualified to hold the world’s most powerful position. These fundamental defects color every decision he makes as President. They appear to be incurable and we have 45 months to go which is depressing. Citizens Unite!

But, you say, all the action? How about his clarity of purpose and his energy. Plus, he is certainly transparent. Isn’t he what the doctor ordered for a complacent country suffering from brain fog and malaise after 4 years of sleepy Joe Biden? Unfortunately NO! Every act and utterance of Donald Trump since January 20, 2025 confirms his absolute commitment to ruling as an autocrat. His authoritarian outlook on Presidential power is undeniable. He is dismissive of constitutional or legal limitations on his freedom of action. This is a fundamental challenge to our Republic. The evidence is everywhere. He continues to dismiss the press and media as “Enemies of the People” and promoters of “fake news.” He sues journalists and threatens to pull the broadcast license of CBS. His press Secretary is Orwellian. He denies White House press access to the traditional and long serving wire services and replace them with extremist propaganda organs. He clearly prefers a quasi state controlled media universe- one that is trained not to challenge his constant stream of falsehoods. He admires the Orban and Erdogan model on quashing the press. He regularly attacks the judiciary and rages against judges who apply constitutional principles to his unprecedented executive orders. His supporters call for impeachment of judges who display independence from MAGA and physical threats are common on “X”- the Musk platform which has become a sewer in terms of public enlightenment. He abandoned the rule of law on his first day in office when he pardoned ALL of the convicted January 6 insurrectionists. He is deporting people without notice or due process. He relies on the 1798 Foreign Enemies Act which is only activated during wartime. He is ignoring federal court orders. A constitutional crisis looms. We are in dangerous terrain here.

He has also intimidated the legislative branch. His own party is allowing long time legislative prerogatives to be eroded and tossed aside. Congress has the “power of the purse”, but Trump is undermining that function by asserting his right to “impound” funds appropriated by Congress. He is dismantling agencies and departments created and funded by Congress- eg The Department of Education, the Voice of America, the EPA and USAID. Congress created independent agencies, the SEC, FTC, FCC, NLRB which provided an appointment power for the President but limited his dismissal powers to “for cause" situations. Trump claims a unilateral power to terminate any executive agency commissioner under the unitary power theory of the Executive and has already dismissed several without a whimper from the Republican controlled House or Senate. He is also making noises about dismissing the Federal Reserve Chairman under the same theory. Raw and unsubtle attempts to greatly expand Presidential power. Be alert people!

Personnel control is a major theme. He fired the leaders of all the military branches and terminated six key officials of the National Security Agency based on the recommendation of his buddy Laura Loomer, a crazy conspiracy theorist who believes September 11th was an inside job. I am not making this up. It is truly insane. DOGE, the Elon Musk project is also breaking new ground on centralising authority in the White House. Thousands of federal employees have been terminated without notice, many with civil service protection. Probationary employees are discharged in toto with no effort to evaluate job performance. Again, legal challenges will be made but the damage is done. People need to move on with their lives. There is no observable accountability for DOGE. It should be renamed the Department of Presidential Control. This is not about efficiency or cost cutting- it is focused on ideological targets, foreign aid, consumer protection, human rights, refugee support and any NGO with a philosophy opposed by Donald Trump or Elon Musk. It is a power play and I expect there will be negative consequences associated with this irrational and arbitrary government downsizing.

Trump also wants private actors to “bend the knee.” He is whipsawing law firms who had the temerity to represent people or causes President Trump does nor approve of. He issued an order barring lawyers from certain firms from entering federal buildings or courthouses- a clear threat to their firm’s livelihood. Now they have agreed to do pro bono work for him and the chilling effect on each firms willingness to challenge Trump administration actions is clear. He attacks elite universities by threatening to cancel their federal research grants unless they allow the Trump administration to basically control who they hire, who they admit and what the faculty may teach. Again, the unbridled nature of these broadsided attacks on freedom of speech and academic freedom are outrageous.

All of these individual silos of power madness will be subject to my critiques in the next 30 days. But, the theme is crystal clear. The White House resembles a medieval court, jesters included. One pundit described Trump as King Lear with Vance and Musk playing the evil daughters. His fundamental premise is that no one should challenge his authority - NEVER! David Brooks has said this is not “normal” and we have a “crisis.” Ezra Klein has concluded “This is an Emergency.” They are not being histrionic. Trump is directly challenging the checks and balances built into our constitutional framework. He also has little use for the Bill of Rights. The stakes could not be higher

The rejection of limits on Presidential power is bad enough. But, we also have “The Emperor Has No Clothes” problem as well. President Trump is making bad policy decisions because he lacks the capacity to make good ones. The Wall Street Journal says his tariff policies are dumb. Brett Stephens says the Ukraine policy is idiotic. They are both correct. His decision making process is burdened by hubris, challenged by an overt ignorance of history and overwhelmed by cluelessness on economics. He is not a curious person. He is NOT a master strategist with a grand plan, making subtle and sophisticated moves designed to confuse his opponents. Stop being delusional! He has a couple of base concepts engrained in his brain and an abiding belief that he can accomplish his goals thru bullying. The world may not cooperate.

The number of otherwise intelligent and successful people who accept the Trump as a cunning dealmaker and Master of the Universe actor is disconcerting. His tariff policies are insane- condemned by every mainstream economist- conservative to liberal. They will increase prices and slow growth. His tariff poster board announcement in the Rose Garden eliminated trillions of dollars of wealth in 24 hours. America will not re-industrialize. They will not make us rich. The entire project is erratic and confusing and is causing incredible business uncertainty worldwide. The only hope is that things will go so bad so quickly that he will be forced to reverse course. Otherwise, The Day of Liberation may be remembered as the Day of Ruination. His foreign policy is intellectually vacuous and morally deficient. He is abandoning and violating treaties and agreements. He threatens allies, the EU, NATO, Denmark, Greenland, Panama and yes... CANADA! He openly expresses his admiration for Vladimir Putin, a tyrant who invades his neighbour and poisons political opponents. Ukraine did not start this war and is not the aggressor here. Basic stuff. Trumps ceasefire plan unilaterally conceded the legitimacy of Russia’s demands and applied all the pressure to Ukraine. The Art of the Deal- I don’t think so! He then proceeded to shakedown Ukraine. The cult of venality surrounding Trump has almost no limit. The televised Oval Office meetings with cabinet members expressing their adoration of the “Leader” could be from George Orwells 1984 or Animal Farm. He openly despises Europe. The original complaint was that Europe was a “free rider” on defence because they failed to increase their military budgets. The current disdain goes much deeper and is extraordinarily disruptive. He does not share Western Europe’s or Canada’s values or policy priorities. He has no patience for irritating discussions on the primacy of the rule of law, the importance of defending human rights, recognising the reality of climate change or commitment to solving global problems thru cooperation and multi-lateral cooperation coordination. Instead, he openly supports Orban in Hungary, AFD in Germany and the right wing party in Poland. He admires authoritarians and believes European progressives, with their acceptance of LGTBQ movements are “corrupt”, “woke” and “weak.” He ignores the fact that the political and governing structures we built after WWII have been incredibly successful- ushering in political stability, no major European wars and amazing economic prosperity. His replacement model is manifestly unclear. Trump’s world view has created a global profile that is ultra dangerous and potentially a nightmare.

But do not despair! Right and reason will rise again. Stay tuned!