Justice Potter Stewart’s old description of pornography, “I know it when I see it,” has been recalled by some observers who point to the current rise of autocracy in the United States as a fitting example.
The personality cult around Donald Trump was on display during a Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. For more than three hours, the session turned into a televised show of praise that even authoritarian rulers would consider excessive.
Inside the Cabinet Room, decorated more lavishly than ever, Steve Witkoff, the president’s chief envoy and negotiator, gave glowing words that drew applause from secretaries of defense, state, and others. He told Trump that the Nobel Prize committee should recognize him as the finest candidate in its history, a statement that echoed flattery usually heard in dictatorships.
Another instance came from Stephen Miller on Fox News, where he described Chicago as a “killing field” and accused the Democratic Party of being a domestic extremist group. He claimed it protected criminals, gangs, undocumented immigrants, and terrorists, even though available data contradicts such claims.
Trump himself joined in by using his Truth Social account to demand the arrest of George Soros and his son, accusing them of supporting violent protests. His post called for criminal charges against the billionaire financier and his family member for backing civil society groups.
Other moments include the withdrawal of Secret Service protection for Kamala Harris, his political rival, and an FBI raid on John Bolton, his former national security adviser who had become one of his strongest critics. Immigration raids, such as the one near an elementary school in Washington, DC, also reflect how normalised these actions have become in everyday America.
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Concerns About Authoritarianism Growing
Writers and scholars have been warning that authoritarian methods once condemned abroad are becoming accepted within the US.
Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan, argued this week that the US is now a “competitive authoritarian system,” with stronger emphasis on the authoritarian side.
In his writing, he explained that consolidating power involves gaining influence over the bureaucracy, military, internal security, courts, civil society, education, elections, media, and all areas of government. According to him, the Trump administration has worked systematically to achieve these aims.
Reflections from Exiled Voices
Abdelrahman ElGendy, who once spent six years in an Egyptian prison on political charges, said he saw familiar signs after moving to America. He had relocated to the US to work on a memoir, but left in April after Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate, was detained. His lawyers advised him to leave after his personal details were exposed online on a website targeting critics of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Speaking from abroad, ElGendy said he was thankful for leaving when he did, as conditions worsened in the US. He compared the patterns he noticed in America to what he had experienced in Egypt, explaining that political persecution was becoming a real concern again.
Dark clouds over the White House in recent weeks have symbolised this mood. For ElGendy, the bigger issue is not just imprisonment but the constant fear of it. He explained that authoritarian rule thrives on the quiet awareness that arrest is always possible, a threat that shapes people’s behaviour.
Authoritarian Models Abroad
Countries like Russia, Turkey, Hungary, and El Salvador are often referenced when activists assess Trump’s rule. Many point out that his administration’s methods reflect those seen in other authoritarian systems.
Recently, the US deported almost 50 Russians, some of whom may have requested asylum. Hundreds of migrants and even American citizens have also been sent to prisons in El Salvador, raising human rights concerns.
Noah Bullock, the chief executive of Cristosal, a respected human rights group in El Salvador, said that developments in America reminded him of similar crackdowns abroad. His organisation, which had documented abuse for 25 years, was forced to leave El Salvador after pressure from authorities.
He said history does not offer any positive examples of powerful law enforcement agencies answering only to the president. Bullock warned that when police and security forces start to view an entire population as enemies, democracy is in grave danger.
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Political Struggles Inside America
Trump’s approach to power has been described as winner-take-all, with his administration claiming a historic mandate despite gaining only one of the narrowest majorities in recent decades.
This has raised worries about federal control of police departments, voter suppression through redistricting in Texas, and efforts in states like California to counter Republican gerrymandering. Many analysts believe these moves are intended to weaken voter turnout ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
Calls for Resistance
Some activists, such as Stacey Abrams and Princeton professor Kim Lane Scheppele, insist it is not too late to stop the rise of autocracy. They wrote that the United States cannot assume democracy will correct itself through elections alone. Instead, they urged people to recognise the gravity of the threat, pointing to countries like Hungary and Venezuela as warnings.
Others, however, argue that this trend is only a continuation of flaws present in American democracy long before Trump.
ElGendy stated that the US system was never completely free of authoritarian tendencies. He said democracy built with such capacity for abuse is always one election away from its return, which he considers not a mistake but a structural flaw in the country’s design.
