Almost 100 days into the most loathsome authoritarian regime in American history, and there’s still uncertainty about if and when we call it a dictatorship.
Most Republicans prefer to believe that Trump is merely fulfilling campaign pledges that a majority of voters endorsed. Many Democrats and independents are outraged but prefer to believe we still live in a democracy, albeit one that Trump is testing.
The question I keep asking politicians, political scientists, pundits, and pollsters is what event will trigger their view that we are no longer living in a democracy. To put the question another way: What’s their definition of a dictatorship?
Let me list below the major responses I’ve received. All appear to be growing more probable by the day. Please register your own view in the poll below.
Which of these triggering events would most clearly turn America into a dictatorship?
1. Trump openly and directly defies the Supreme Court. He does what JD Vance has suggested — tells the court that although it has made its decision, it cannot enforce it. This may occur if and when the court pushes the regime to have Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned from the harsh prison in El Salvador to which he was illegally and unconstitutionally sent. Or it could be triggered by a court decision on birthright citizenship with which Trump disagrees.
2. The Trump regime openly abducts American citizens whom the regime alleges are dangerous, without any hearing. ICE has already done this on several occasions, but it has released them once their citizenship has been established. Yet we seem to be getting close to the point when allegedly “dangerous” American citizens are not released, at least not for months or years.
3. The Trump regime launches criminal investigations of Americans against whom Trump seeks vengeance — people such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former special counsel for the Department of Justice Jack Smith, former President Joe Biden, or anyone else who tried to hold Trump accountable. Trump has threatened such criminal investigations, but none has occurred as yet.
4. The Trump regime directly penalizes individuals or organizations that have criticized it, or explicitly urges Trump supporters to punish any such critic. Here again, Trump and his regime have come close to doing both — consider the penalties imposed on law firms and media corporations that have crossed Trump, or the provocative tweets Trump, Vance, and Musk have posted against perceived enemies — but so far, their efforts have been indirect or made to appear justified by their target’s other alleged malfeasance.
It seems highly likely that at least one of these will tip America into a Trumpian dictatorship. Although some observers believe we’re already in it, most say we’re not there yet but easily could be.
Hence, today’s Office Hours question: What event tips us into a dictatorship?
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/."