Hidden in Plain Sight, Trump’s Authoritarianism Is on the March

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One of the big problems with the chaos that Donald Trump creates on a daily basis, with his lawlessness and endless corruption, is that it is difficult to keep the big picture in mind. With so much happening, it seems impossible to focus on any one thing. 

His threats to allies were followed by the tariff mess. There continue to be extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers in violation of the US’s rules of war; ICE keeps terrorizing immigrants and Americans alike. Right when the Epstein cover-up came to a head, attention shifted to a foolhardy war that made prices soar. 

And, of course, there are the constant lies, the self-enrichment of the president and his brood, the vendettas against political adversaries, and the never-ending attacks on democracy. And, finally, let’s not forget the sideshows — like the ballroom, Trump putting his name and face on anything and everything, and a relentless slew of insane social media posts.

But there is a big picture, and it is that the US is marching toward authoritarianism.

We don’t talk about this enough anymore. Perhaps that’s because those of us who did eventually came to realize that many people are determined to avoid facing how dire the situation is. Or perhaps it’s because not enough Americans paid attention in their world history classes. Or maybe it is just too easy to get distracted by the Trump circus.

Or maybe it’s because those who heard the warnings concluded they were exaggerated because very little in their lives has changed.

But here is the thing about authoritarianism: It rarely arrives overnight, especially not in a democracy that lasted nearly 250 years before it finally buckled.

That doesn’t mean the bad stuff is not coming.

This is a good time to recall the famous words of German pastor Martin Niemöller, who said:

When the Nazis came for the communists, I stayed silent because I wasn’t a communist.

When they came for the unionists, I stayed silent because I wasn’t a unionist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I stayed silent because I wasn’t a social democrat.

When they locked up the Jews, I stayed silent because I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me, there was nobody left who could protest.

While many Americans may be familiar with his words, they may not know that, at first, Niemöller was a Nazi sympathizer and could have been described as a Christian nationalist.

A year into Adolf Hitler’s reign, the pastor even met with the German leader, which led to a change of heart that turned him into a member of the resistance who ended up in a concentration camp in 1938.

Even though his political views may have aligned with the Nazis, Niemöller still realized early on that his country was headed toward a dictatorship — and that this was aided by people either being silenced or choosing to remain quiet.

And that brings us to an article WhoWhatWhy published yesterday. It is a piece from one of the interns participating in our Mentor Apprentice Program.

Silenced

Reporting from New York City, she compared the situation at Columbia University in 2024, when it was one of the centers of college protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, to the one today, in which international students in particular have stopped speaking out because they are afraid of the Trump administration.

Notably, none of the students or professors interviewed for her piece dared to go on the record.

This is how young people in Saudi Arabia talk, or in Russia, but it’s not supposed to be like that in the US.

Why? Because they know that, in Donald Trump’s America, exercising your First Amendment rights comes at a cost.

Now, it doesn’t matter how you feel about what Israel is doing in Gaza, and whether you think it’s a righteous cause or genocide. In the United States, you ought to be able to express your opinion without being worried that the government will ruin your life.

But that’s no longer the case.

Instead, students who are already here have begun self-censoring while others have chosen to pursue their academic careers elsewhere. These are real losses that may not become apparent immediately, but they will be felt down the line.Here is what one of the students told our apprentice reporter: 

I miss caring about things; it was nice to care and voice my opinions.

This is how young people in Saudi Arabia talk, or in Russia, but it’s not supposed to be like that in the US.

Now, you may shrug your shoulders because, why should you care about foreign students? After all, you’re not a foreign student.

Wait, that sounds eerily familiar…

And that’s the point, of course.

Underneath all of the chaos and the noise that Trump generates, there is a plan to turn the US into an autocracy.

If you look at all of the things we mentioned at the outset of this column, they have one thing in common: They are about the kind of abuses of power with no regard for accountability that you do not see in democracies.

And, sure, there are those who say that it’s not necessarily the president’s plan but rather that of the likes of Russ Vought and Stephen Miller.

But that won’t really matter once only those people who say that Trump won in 2020 are considered full citizens.

The bottom line is that the people currently occupying the White House, no matter which interests they are pursuing, are running the country as though they have no intention of ever leaving office again — with zero regard for consequences.

And that should alarm everybody who believes in democracy.

Because, while they might not be coming for you yet, one day they will.