Trump: Towards the Downfall of American Democracy

Donald Trump and his supporters expect a radical expansion of presidential power if he returns to the White House in 2025, concentrating all the levers of the American state in his hands. according to The New York TimesIn particular, the former president intends to end the independence of the Department of Justice with regard to the White House.

Trump and his followers want to change the balance of power by upsetting the balance of Congress and bringing all federal administrations under Trump’s order. Newspaper It is based on an examination of his political campaign platform and interviews with people close to him.

For his part, the former White House Chief of Staff, Marine General John Kelly, said that Trump’s return to power will create chaos and lead to a series of clashes with judges and elected officials.

CNN already reported in 2020 that Kelly had confided to friends: “The depth of his dishonesty is amazing to me. […] He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.”

Presidency 2024, Murdoch vs. Trump

Despite right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s well-known disdain for Trump and reports that he wants to back someone else for president, his Fox News network continues to sweet-talk the man in the long red tie. It’s a matter of money. Trump remains popular with the channel’s less educated and talented viewers.

Murdoch’s efforts to find a replacement for him have so far proved futile. Despite her promotion of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, her campaign is faltering. Polls show Trump is leading his rivals for the Republican nomination by more than 30 points. Goodbye, DeSantis!

Murdoch will now set his sights on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin if he can convince him to join the race. But given Trump’s “Mussolini” fascination with Republicans, Yongkin undoubtedly believes his chances of outrunning him are slim. Even with Murdoch’s support.

Barring unexpected political upheavals, I fear we are heading toward a Trumpian dictatorship.

Trump, is not the first Mad Emperor

Trump is not the first madman to lead the most powerful empire of his time. Rome was ruled by at least three mad emperors (Tiberius, Caligula and Nero).

What is surprising in the case of the United States is that after being ruled for four years by a madman who elected him, about 70 million Americans still show their unconditional support for it, despite its lies, transgressions, crimes and involuntary actions.

British historian Tom Holland wrote: “Trump said and did things quite shocking by the standards of conventional political morality, but far from making him unpopular with the masses, it made him the people’s hero.”

Similarities between the unpredictable and chaotic reign of Caligula and the reign of 45^H The President of the United States is clear. When Caligula became emperor in AD 37, he denounced his predecessor and wanted to undo everything he had done. Like Trump with Obama. Like Trump, Caligula enjoyed hurting and humiliating people. Narcissistic and paranoid, he was assassinated by a member of his own Praetorian Guard, while his mental equilibrium was increasingly in doubt.

Edward Gibbon, in his book History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, notes about the Mad Emperors: “If the successors of Augustus escape from oblivion, they owe it to the transcendence of their vices and to the greatness of the stage on which they appeared.” This fully applies to the United States under Trump.