3d ago

Donald Trump says he is not a dictator. Isn’t he?

www.theguardian.com

Trump has also targeted law firms who have filed lawsuits he opposes, while the Federal Communications Commission, led by a Trump appointee, is investigating every major broadcast network except Fox, which owns the pro-Trump Fox News channel. Trump has personally sued news channels over critical coverage and fired the government’s top labour statistician because she published jobs data that he didn’t like.

He has threatened Democrats with prosecution, and demanded that former president Barack Obama be investigated for treason. Trump has done all this as his family has ostensibly earned millions of dollars from his presidency.

None of these things are typical for a democratic leader. So … is Trump a dictator?

“Yes, of course,” said Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor of sociology at Princeton University who spent years researching autocracies including Hungary and Russia. Scheppele said she had been wavering on using the term “dictatorship” until recently, but said: “If I was hesitating before, it’s this mobilization of the national guard and the indication that he plans to overtake resistance by force that now means we’re in it.”

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3d ago

Donald Trump says he is not a dictator. Isn’t he?

www.theguardian.com /us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/01/trump-dictator-authoritarianism-politics

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4d ago

Donald Trump says he is not a dictator. Isn’t he?

www.theguardian.com /us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/01/trump-dictator-authoritarianism-politics

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3d ago

Donald Trump says he is not a dictator. Isn’t he?

www.theguardian.com /us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/01/trump-dictator-authoritarianism-politics

51 comments

He'll keep tippy toeing towards it while everyone just lets him ... then he'll get right up the edge of becoming one and then die an old senile man
Then his replacement, whoever it will be .... will be the Dictator
I'm not worried about Cheeto Mussolini .... I'm worried about who will come next
Nice job America ... we could always count you guys to be idiots.
- Yeah he's the Julius. I fear Augustus.
  
  Can we fast forward to Nero and just put the empire out of its misery? Let the Eastern Empire be founded and grow.
  
  We're getting the circuses but they're not giving us any bread
- I don't think Vance (or anyone really) can maintain the cult of personality required.
  
  Once the military control and election suppression are in place, you don’t need the “charisma” anymore.
- wtf are you talking about? He's speed running his destruction of all checks and balances, blatantly expanding presidential powers to do things that were previously unthinkable. There is no tiptoeing to be seen, only large strides with little meaningful pushback.
  I'm not worried about whoever takes over next, as the Republican party has been systematically purged of strong leadership by Trump. Maybe some extra slimy Democrat or Republican several years later will be able to capitalize on the damaged system better than Trump has, but immediately after he's gone the GOP is fucked. Against a demoralized base and an energized opposition, someone like Vance will not be able to maintain power.
  I really think many people underestimate Trump because recognizing his competence goes against some inherent beliefs they have about intelligence. They don't want to believe that such an uncultured buffoon actually had the best political instincts out of anyone in Washington for the past decade. It's easier to believe he's a puppet who succeeded because of better men than to recognize what his actual political merits are. He deserves to stand next to Hitler or Mao as a person who, despite being an idiot in many respects, had exceptional political talents that allowed them to be a powerful dictator.
- America - Can't be bothered. We got beer, burgers, sports, oh and Faux news.
The moment he threw out due process it became the case. People taken and renditioned to a foreign gulag based only on his command. Due process determine the legal and thus societal truth of the matter and if there is any legal reason to interfere with someones freedoms by government action. Once its out all our freedoms are gone.
He also says he's smart.
He's absolutely NOT a dictator. He's absolutely an authoritarian who wants to be a dictator though. But I feel like we hyper-focus on the "totalitarian dictator" too much without acknowledging that there are plenty of ways to achieve dictator-like powers without the title. Putin is technically elected for example. But he wields near absolute control.
- Given that like 98% of what has been happening since January 20 is a consequence of unilateral executive orders, I'd have to say that I disagree.
  He's literally been dictating what he wants to happen (and then it happens). I'm not sure what else you could call it...
  
  You're not disagreeing.
- He absolutely is a dictator, undermining the democratic process, and disregarding the laws that are democratically decided.
  He is behaving like a dictator, and way way overstepping the bounds of the office he was elected for. That makes him de facto a dictator despite he was originally elected.
  Putin too is clearly a dictator, he imprison and kill the opposition, and the media and campaigns are rigged to his advantage, and finally elections are rigged to ensure his victory.
  So no technically Putin is not elected, because the elections are staged and fake just to appear legitimate to the population, when obviously they are not.
  To NOT be a dictator, the first requirement is that you are instated by an actual lawful democratic process.
- Isn't the definition of an autocracy, a system where laws are used for leaders to control the people instead of people using laws to control the leaders?
He isn't yet but he really wants to be. At the moment what's left of the US government is still holding him back some, not everyone is willing to go along with his complete disregard for the law. The real turning point will come down to the next election and whether he's managed to rip out enough democracy and replace it with a sham to guarantee his "win" or not. The biggest roadblock towards that is unfortunately the Supreme Court a body that has already been almost entirely corrupted thanks to decades of work by previous Republican presidents.
So yes, he isn't a dictator yet, but it's not looking like there's anything stopping him from getting there eventually.
there’s two things that EVERYONE should be able to recognize about Trump, but really just boils down to one simple fact : he always says the opposite of what is true.
when he says “nobody knows more about this than me,” what he REALKY means is “i am completely clueless about this subject”
when he says “never heard of it,” he is VERY involved.
- And when he says he is not a dictator, it means he is clueless, but very involved, AND of course that he is a dictator.
Well he's DEFINITELY a felon and rapist.
A Dick Tater maybe.
This dude dreams of being Hitler 2; he's certainly acting like he already owns the place.
And surprisingly, the GOP is dead silent about the dictator and all his anti-GOP decisions.
I remember when i was a conservative, this shit would not fly. The minute the orange man even mentioned sending out national guard, the forums, facebook, NRA page, EVERYTHING would have blown up if this was 15 years ago.
But since they have a false sense of power now and the people they don't like are being targeted, they are fine with all of it. It really proves that the GOP doesn't have any plans to make the country better, only revenge and enriching the wealthy.
I hope one day the GOP voter base realizes they are being fooled and lied to, but most of them can't open their mind enough to accept it. It took me decades to realize the error in my ways, but many refuse to change.
Well hopefully he’s a dead man in hell soon
Well, if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
He dosent know or care. He just runs things how he’s use to running his own life, rights be damned. This is what you get from someone with no political experience. 0 respect towards others, the country or the constitution.
Why you even ask? You have to be stupid to think otherwise.
Dicktator.
Nah, he isn’t. He’s just cosplaying, but US citizens are encouraging it and playing along. The “resistance” is already very satisfied with their cute “protests.”
When the entire population is complicit, he might as well be.
- Canada, eh? Sure a lot of news about it gets to you.
  We're just as pissed as you but nobody is going balls out when they can and have just bombed neighborhoods.
  Its going to be simple sabotage and slow burn, the fascists already hold office.
  
  Let me say it louder.
  COWARDS.
  You value your comfort and your relative stability over your country and the lives of the least among you.
  
  Its going to be simple sabotage and slow burn, the fascists already hold office.
  So slow it's nearly indistinguishable from no burn at all.
I'm paraphrasing Zizek, but he said "the left needs a leader that controls executive power" and he's right. There's a difference between a benevolent dictator and a tyrant. Trump is a tyrant, in which he yields his power to prosecute and persecute. A benevolent dictator uses their power as a force for good, think FDR and whatnot.
- But a benevolent dictator can still do considerable harm. Not necessarily out of malice, but as an unintended consequence of poor decision making. So a dictator doesn't just need to be benevolent, they also need to be capable, competent, intelligent, informed, empathetic, and humble enough to listen to people who know more than them and to admit when they're wrong so they can course correct.
- Unfortunately the "heavenly mandate" is just made up by power-hungry narcissists who are searching for an excuse for their corruption and incompetence. Democracy always leads to better long-term policy outcomes than dictatorships.
- No. No benevolent dictator. Also FDR as dictator is quite a stretch.

51 comments