Trump Brings Fascism to the United States

This morning I want to cut right to the chase. Admittedly, I am not a historian, I am not a politician, and I am not some special font of wisdom. I own a website that affords me a small platform to spout my opinions. Nothing more. But, with those caveats in mind, I think that yesterday marks a turning point in U.S. history: it was the first day of fascism in America. The United States is no longer a country that abides by the rule of law. Our system of three co-equal branches of government has failed. The reason that I believe this transition from democracy concluded yesterday is because, yesterday, the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump openly ignored two court rulings and clearly telegraphed its intention to ignore court rulings with which it disagrees. Congress had already become little more than a rubber stamp for Trump's preferences. Now Trump intends to treat the judiciary branch as little more than an advisory council. As a result, we have rule by Sharpie as Trump scribbles out executive orders that are clearly unlawful, but are treated as if they have the force of law.

If there were a formal announcement that fascism has arrived in America, it took place yesterday in the Oval Office during a meeting between Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Bukele oversees the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, that houses over 15,000 prisoners. Recently, Trump sent three airplanes full of migrants, most accused of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, to be confined in CECOT. Included in this group was a citizen of El Salvador named Kilmar Abrego García. In the U.S., Abrego García was protected by a "withholding of removal" order granted by an immigration judge and should not have been deported. Several U.S. officials have conceded that Abrego García was wrongly removed, attributing it to an administrative error. A U.S. District judge ruled that the government should "effectuate" Abrego García's return to the U.S. This ruling was appealed by the Trump administration, ultimately reaching the U.S. Supreme Court where all nine justices ruled that the government should "facilitate" Abrego García's return. The matter was then returned to the District Court. The District Court Judge, Paula Xinis, has been wholly unable to get the government to respond in any substantive way to her orders. Xinis has made specific demands for information that have been ignored by the government. Yesterday, Bukele visited Washington and, during an Oval Office meeting with Trump, was asked by a reporter whether he would return Abrego García. Bukele claimed to have no ability to do so, referring to Abrego García as a "terrorist" — an entirely unsupported allegation. Trump also claimed not to have the ability to bring about Abrego García's return. Obviously, both men were lying. Either or both could easily arrange for Abrego García to be released and returned to the U.S. Instead, Trump telegraphed his intention to ignore a very clear Supreme Court ruling. This revelation was made with television cameras rolling and for everyone to see. Fascism did not arrive under the cover of darkness, but in the full light of day.

That was not the only court judgement that the Trump administration ignored yesterday. Soon after Trump's inauguration, he ordered that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the "Gulf of America". When the Associated Press decided to stick with the original name, Trump banned AP reporters and photographers from the presidential press pool, the Oval Office, and Air Force One. The AP went to court, arguing that this was an infringement on the First Amendment. A District Court ruled in favor of the AP and ordered the Trump administration to reinstate all privileges to the news organization. That order was stayed until Sunday night. The Trump administration appealed the ruling, which is currently before the Appeals Court. However, that court did not issue its own stay, even after being prodded to do so by government lawyers. Therefore, the original stay expired and was not replaced by another one, meaning that the District Court ruling went into effect. However, yesterday in direct contravention of this ruling, Trump officials continued to ban AP reporters and photographers.

The American system of government has always required a certain amount of cooperation on the part of those in power. Neither Congress nor the Judiciary has an army or a way of forcing adherence to their decisions. An executive is bound to laws not because he faces fines or arrest if he ignores them, but simply because he agrees to obey them. Indeed, the Supreme Court has granted Trump immunity for all official acts. As such, he has little to fear in terms of punishment. Our system was simply not prepared for someone like Trump who is willing to ignore all norms and simply do what he believes to be in his interest with little regard for other branches of government. Realistically, checks and balances have been eliminated, and there is now nothing to stop Trump. The result is that he is ruling as a dictator.

The plight of a migrant from El Salvador or AP reporters may not seem significant relative to everything else that is happening in the U.S. The stock market is down, prices are up, and on and off again tariffs are making business planning impossible. In fact, almost all aspects of our society are under Trump's attack. That includes individuals, law firms, universities, students, and any other potential source of opposition to Trump's rule. He is even decimating his own government and turning power over to Shadow President Elon Musk and the U.S. DOGE Service. With all of this going on, you may wonder why I am concerned about one man and a few reporters. As the metaphor of the boiling frog goes, the heat is slowly turned up without the frog noticing until it is too late. The plight of Kilmar Abrego García and the Associated Press are not symptoms of the water getting hotter. I am sorry to say that they are indications that we are boiled. Having established these precedents, Trump is unlikely to stop. If he can ignore two court rulings, he can ignore all of them.

If Trump's open refusal to abide by the Supreme Court's judgement regarding Abrego García was not enough to convince you that he plans to rule as a dictator, Trump went even further. In remarks before the official meeting with Bukele, Trump was recorded saying to the Salvadoran President, "Homegrown criminals next...I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places." CECOT has a capacity of 40,000 and currently houses less than half that number of prisoners. Trump is suggesting that he hopes to send somewhere on the order of 220,000 Americans to El Salvador. When reporters asked Trump about sending U.S. citizens to El Salvador, he said that "we're studying the laws right now...If we can do that, that's good." Keep in mind that Trump does not believe that those being deported deserve access to judicial review. What he is contemplating is a situation in which Americans can be grabbed off the street and placed on an airplane to El Salvador where they are out of reach of our judicial system and where Trump claims even he has no authority. This is not exaggeration, it is not hyperbole, and it is not fear-mongering. It is something that Trump clearly announced his desire to do.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination to predict how Trump will orchestrate such an endeavor. His administration will find the most vile, despicable, heinous criminal available. A child rapist, mass murderer, or a cannibal. He will deport that person and simply wait for opponents to come to the criminal's defense. We will be demagogued with accusations that we support child rape or canibalism. Many will cower in acceptance, afraid to stand on principle. Once the precedent is established, it will be easy for Trump to replicate. The judicial branch will become irrelevant other than for occasional show trials that Trump arranges.

Trump and his MAGA cult are constantly talking about patriotism. The founding principle of American patriotism is that we have no king. MAGAs have clearly given this idea a second thought and concluded that we actually should have a king, as long as the king is Trump. This is just one aspect of the founding of the United States with which Trump is in contravention. Reading the Declaration of Independence today has a newfound relevance when considered in light of Trump's actions. Among the list of injuries attributed to the King of Great Britain was the removal of self-rule, much as Trump is threatening to remove self-governance from the District of Columbia. Another grievance was that the King was "obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners". Just as Trump is now challenging birthright citizenship and deporting migrants who have legal standing to stay in the United States. Another grievance was "For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury", which is exactly what Trump is attempting to do with his seizures and deportations. Following that was a similar grievance, "For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses." Trump doesn't even plan foreign trials, just foreign imprisonment. A movement whose adherents once dressed in patriotic clothing from the colonial era has been transformed into a collection of supplicants jostling for the privilege of kissing the King's ring.

Today a hearing is scheduled in Judge Xinis' court at which the government is supposed to update her on efforts to return Kilmar Abrego García. Most likely, the government will not have much to offer. It will be interesting to see whether Xinis will attempt to exert her authority and make demands of the government or whether she will simply accept that the judicial branch has, thanks to Trump, become irrelevant.

Update: Politico has an article that analyzes the number of bills signed into law by previous presidents at this point of their presidencies. According to the article, "Trump has signed fewer bills into law at this point in his presidency than any new president taking office for the last seven decades, according to government records." This is not surprising and is another indicator that Trump has abandoned the rule of law in favor of rule by Sharpie. Trump does not rely on passing legislation and has little use for Congress. Instead, he simply rules by decree.