'The F Word' It’s Bad; but is it Fascism?
Is calling Trump literally ‘Fascist’ helpful, harmful or hyperbole? If you want a definitive, detailed answer: and the receipts to back it up, read on and find out.
"You don’t wake up one day and find yourself in a dictatorship. It happens slowly, while people are still laughing at the absurdity of it all."
– Ece Temelkuran1
Table of Contents
Click to navigate to a section.
Foreword
Anyone who already knows Trump is a Fascist doesn’t need an eight-thousand-word proof. Anyone who has an emotional investment in denying he is a Fascist won’t engage with one.
So why write it?
To make sure I fully understand it myself.
To give people a resource they can use: something comprehensive and well-referenced enough to be overwhelmingly watertight.
Trump defenders online - whether they are real people, Russians, or bots- will try to soak up your energy, to engage in bad-faith debates. To waste your time. To overwhelm the online narrative.
My hope now is that when someone says to you “Prove Trump is a Fascist”, or “Define Fascism then” like it’s some sort of ‘Gotcha’ you have a shortcut and can say -
This essay draws on decades of academic research to define Fascism, then shows, in detail and with 100+ fully referenced primary sources, how Trump meets the criteria.
The evidence is overwhelming. If you believe he’s not a fascist, the burden of proof is on you to show how either the definition is wrong or the evidence is.
The F Word
Here we go…
Fascism evokes very specific images.
Hitler, Mussolini, Franco. Jackboots, Swastikas, Hugo Boss and Nazi salutes. Images of openly authoritarian regimes marked by oppression and the suppression of dissent. Even if you can’t comfortably state an exact definition, you probably feel you will recognise it when you see it. So, as Trump gets into his stride on his second term in 2025, does his administration actually embody Fascist principles or is this hyperbole? What is ‘Fascism’ anymore anyway: Hasn’t the word lost its power from being overused by anyone and everyone to describe anything they don’t like?
If you want a definitive, detailed answer and the receipts to back it up, read on and find out.
“The bones of fascism is about capital being in you know, in coordination with the state apparatus, oppressing or controlling the masses, the working class.”
Ece Temelkuran - The New Internationalist November 20242
The term 'fascism' is often misused. Not only did Trump call Kamala Harris a Marxist, a Communist and a Fascist3, but Time magazine reports that 76% of Republicans think fascists are left wing - and 68% of Republicans think Nazis are ‘left-of-centre.’4 The tribal psychology at play genuinely seems to be the puerile -
‘...we understand Nazis are considered bad, and we are right wing, therefore Nazis must be left wing, right?”
A more accurate diagnosis is crucial. Without it, we cannot prescribe the proper treatment. In this essay, I examine the policies, statements, actions, and intentions of Trump's presidency through the lens of established political science definitions of fascism, assessing whether he meets the bar and, if so, suggesting what can be done.
Defining Fascism: A Theoretical Framework
“Although fascism is a notoriously difficult ideology to define, many 20th-century fascist movements shared several characteristics.”
Encyclopedia Britannica5
To assess the current administration, we must first understand what constitutes fascism. There have been various attempts to do this, in terms of examining tactics, ideologies, and aims.
Political scientist Robert O. Paxton - Mellon Professor Emeritus of Social Science in the Department of History at Columbia University,6 and an expert on fascism, defines it as:
"A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."
Paxton - The Anatomy of Fascism7
Umberto Eco, not a political academic but a critical thinker, writer, and philosopher, finds fascism more mellifluous. In his 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism," he outlines thirteen characteristics such as the ‘cult of tradition’, ‘rejection of modernism’, and the ‘appeal to social frustration’ as hallmarks of fascist movements.8 His Ur-Fascism represents almost a Platonic Form of fascism, an abstract and ideal archetype, while the fascist movements we observe in reality are the imperfect, distorted manifestations of this ideal.
Strictly with a taxonomical approach, we would have an academic definition and then every fascism must tick every box, though there would then be further divisions and differentiations. This is the approach taken by Roger Griffin with his ‘fascist minimum’. He defines the essence of what makes something ‘fascist’
“A palingenetic form of ultranationalism.”
Roger Griffin, The Nature of Fascism (1991)9
In layman’s terms: fascism is an extreme nationalist movement that promises to make the nation great again by tearing it down and rebuilding it through violence, authoritarianism, and mythic nostalgia.
Griffin argues that this idea of national rebirth through radical ultranationalism is the bare minimum needed to call something fascist. Other features, like antisemitism, dictatorship, or party uniforms, appear in many fascist movements, but they aren’t essential to the definition.
Griffin’s Fascist minimum also seems to incorporate what other scholars call the non-fascist far right, or new far right- a topic I looked at when analysing if Reform UK are a ‘Far Right’ party.10 The idea of national decline and rebirth is central to the mythology of many nationalist narratives. I identify it as one of the pillars of the Volksgeist.11
In general usage and understanding, commentators like Eco are more flexible in their modelling.
“Fascism became an all-purpose term because one can eliminate from a fascist regime one or more features, and it will still be recognizable as fascist.”
Umberto Eco
Prefiguring Paxton -
“...fascism presents, wherever it manifests itself, characteristics which are varied to the extent that countries and national temperaments vary.”
General Francisco Franco12
Examining the defining characteristics of fascism across historical and contemporary sources, patterns come into focus.
Fascist systems are marked by aggressive nationalism, often wrapped in populist rhetoric that presents the leader as the sole defender of the 'true' people - Mudde’s Manichean worldview of dichotomy, no grey areas - where opponents are delegitimised as not mistaken, but fundamentally morally wrong. They often rely on scapegoating to consolidate power, blaming minorities, migrants, or political opponents for societal problems. While operating through a police state, they show little respect for legal constraints, using coercion, bias and force rather than the rule of law. Dissent is ruthlessly suppressed, whether through direct censorship, intimidation, or the criminalisation and execution of opposition voices, particularly those of the working class.
Control of, or outright attacks on the media ensure that the regime’s narrative goes unchallenged, while civil liberties are eroded under the guise of ‘national security.’ Fascist movements can align closely with corporate and elite interests, as long as they fall in line, protecting wealth and power while stoking anti-intellectual sentiment and vilifying teachers, students, and experts whose knowledge might threaten the regime’s authority. A near-religious veneration of the leader often replaces democratic accountability, with government and faith increasingly blurred. Corruption is rampant, and democracy itself is systematically undermined through overt election tampering and covert erosion of trust in the electoral process itself.
When a system checks most or all of these boxes, we can say it is not ‘merely authoritarian’—it is, by any reasonable interpretation of the word, Fascist.
Mapping MAGA
With that diagnostic criteria in mind, let’s examine how closely Trump’s second presidency aligns with these defined characteristics.
Nationalism and Populism: The Bedrock of Trump's Rhetoric
Trump's political rhetoric is steeped in nationalism. His "America First"13 slogan is a phrase with a long history, most notoriously associated with the “Ku Klux Klan”14
His flag-embracing rhetoric prioritises national interests at the expense of global cooperation. This approach resonates with Paxton's observation of fascist regimes'
"Fascism, unlike the other “isms,” is not for export: each movement jealously guards its own recipe for national revival, and fascist leaders seem to feel little or no kinship with their foreign cousins. It has proved impossible to make any fascist “international” work."
Paxton
We see this repeatedly in Trump’s rhetoric. The very motto “Make America Great Again” ( also borrowed from history,15 but naturally, Trump claims authorship,16 ) is a perfected condensed classic nationalist trope of nostalgia for a mythical national past.17 He has turned against the world with isolationism. One of the earliest moves has been to dismantle and ‘DOGE’ USAID - in ways that seem deliberately cruel. Medical aid in refugee camps,18 early years education, Cambodian landmine removal, South Africa’s Aids programs,19 Fighting deforestation,20 Fighting Cocaine production, Independent Journalism… The list of suddenly cancelled projects goes on and on.21 It must be noted that, while he claims this is in America’s national interests, it most certainly is not. He has destroyed American soft power22 and global standing. China is stepping in to fill that void, and this will speed China’s overtaking of the US globally.23 He has turned on his NATO allies.24 Trump's narrative frequently paints the U.S. as a nation in peril, besieged by external threats and internal decay.
Scapegoating and the Identification of “Common Enemies”
A commonality of fascist regimes, though by no means exclusive to them, is the identification of scapegoats to unify the populace against a common enemy.
“...the only ones who can provide an identity to the nation are its enemies. Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia. But the plot must also come from the inside.”
Eco Ur-Fascism
Eco explains why, for much of the 20th century, Jews were chosen - not just to build on existing anti-semitism - but because they could fulfil the dual role of simultaneously being an internal threat and an external enemy. Trump's policies and anti-immigrant rhetoric fulfil these criteria exactly.
“This assault on the American people and the integrity of America’s sovereign borders represents a grave threat to our Nation.”
Donald Trump - Declaration of a national emergency at the southern border of the United States
He targets specific groups in the liminal space of being portrayed as an enemy that is simultaneously both foreign and domestic. He fired up his xenophobic rhetoric, declaring a ‘border emergency’25 against immigration as an ‘invasion’, portraying undocumented immigrants and refugees as threats to national security and cultural identity. And now he is extending that to try and get rid of Birthright Citizenship26 for the children of immigrants and deporting permanent residents like Mahmoud Khalil.27 This aligns with this pattern. It is not just rhetoric to align with racist voters - by framing immigrants as criminals, they can be made slave labour under the 13th Amendment.28 By classing immigration as an ‘invasion’, he can seize and abuse powers reserved for wartime - and now, as the Brennan Centre for Justice warns, he is doing this and going further.29
That it has progressed to what count as Concentration Camps30 has not been a surprise. It was openly the plan all along.
Supremacy of the Military and Law Enforcement
Fascist regimes typically exalt the military and law enforcement agencies, granting them expansive powers. It should be noted that this isn’t ‘respect for the law’, nor the legislative branch or judiciary. This is, instead, the embodiment of the executive's ability to forcibly coerce the people and the state’s interests merging with corporate interests to protect capital and the designated inner circle.
Trump's administration has demonstrated a proclivity for empowering these institutions. The deployment of federal forces31 during domestic protests and the emphasis on "law and order"32 rhetoric reflects this inclination. Such actions resonate with historical fascist practices of using state apparatus to suppress dissent33 while putting loyal appointees in charge of law enforcement agencies.34
At the forefront of Trump’s state coercion forces are US Immigration and Customs Enforcement - ICE - whose roles and power have been illegally increased, while any oversight or checks and balances have been removed.
ICE can now, effectively, ‘disappear’ people - including citizens.35 Reports have highlighted several instances of blatant overreach and constitutional violations. The Trump administration deported over 250 alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador,36 invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.37 This occurred despite a U.S. District Judge's restraining order intended to halt such deportations. The administration argued that the judge lacked authority to stop the deportations, leading to conflict over the lawful application of the Alien Enemies Act and the balance of powers within the U.S. judicial system.38
As previously examined, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist, was detained by ICE agents in March 2025. Despite being a legal permanent resident, his green card was revoked, and he faced deportation. His lawyers argue that his detention is a retaliatory move against his pro-Palestinian activism, violating his First Amendment rights.39
A coalition of Jewish and Christian groups has filed a lawsuit to block ICE from conducting raids in houses of worship,40 arguing that such actions violate constitutional rights to assemble and practice religion. Specific incidents, such as the arrest of an individual in a Georgia church,41 have been cited to highlight ICE raids' negative impact on religious practice.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported the "disappearance" of 48 individuals detained during an ICE operation in New Mexico.42 The lack of information regarding the identities and whereabouts of these detainees has been criticised as a severe human rights violation, with demands for transparency and oversight from the Department of Homeland Security.
These incidents have sparked significant legal challenges and public debate regarding ICE's adherence to constitutional protections and the potential overreach of its enforcement actions. Even citizens and permanent legal residents are not safe.
Suppression of Labour and Dissent
“Trade unions are the basic defence units of working people, defending jobs, wages and working conditions. Fascism cannot tolerate the fact they are independent organisations upholding the interests of working people.”
Chris Bambery - Counterfire43
The marginalisation of labour movements and the suppression of dissent are common in fascist states. Trump's policies have often been at odds with labour unions,44 and his administration's efforts to curtail the influence of such organisations are well-documented.45 Union-crushing companies like Amazon are aligning with him. The summary dismissal of thousands of federal employees,46 anyone perceived as disloyal47 and the targeting of whistleblowers48 indicate his broader strategy to eliminate opposition within the government.
President Trump reinstated and expanded the controversial "Schedule F"49 executive order, reclassifying tens of thousands of federal employees as "at-will" workers. This change robs them of traditional civil service protections, making it easier to dismiss staff without cause.
Another executive order has aimed to strip collective bargaining rights from federal employees across multiple agencies, citing national security concerns. Trump issued an executive order removing ‘collective bargaining rights’ for federal unions.50 However, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking this order, stating it unlawfully targeted unions opposing the administration's agenda.51 He’s also stripped hundreds of thousands of federal workers of the right to minimum wage.52
Dark MAGA and Techno-Feudalism
Alongside traditional mechanisms of labour suppression, the Trump movement has cultivated deep ties with a new elite: techno-feudal oligarchs. This alliance signals a shift from industrial capitalism to a digitally dominated order, where a handful of ultra-wealthy technocrats control vast concentrations of data and capital.53 As Shoshana Zuboff observes, the rise of “Surveillance Capitalism” enables these corporations first to extract and then monetise human experience, ultimately to manipulate behaviours, creating a system fundamentally hostile to democratic oversight and labour power.54
Trump’s inner circle increasingly overlaps with this new ruling class. Figures such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and venture capitalist David Sacks have either explicitly supported Trump or promoted aligned agendas.55 Whatever the current state of their relationship, Musk reinstated Trump’s Twitter account56 and has amplified right-wing content and conspiracy theories since acquiring the platform.57 Peter Thiel, a long-time supporter, helped bankroll “Dark MAGA”-aligned candidates, including J.D. Vance, through significant donations during the 2022 midterms. Vance, now Vice President, has echoed his anti-democratic themes58 and is seen as the techno-feudalism pick for a post-Trump leader.
“In Yarvin’s view, democratic governments are inefficient and wasteful; they should be replaced with sovereign joint-stock corporations whose major “shareholders” select an executive with total power, who serves at their pleasure.”
Robert Reich59
This convergence of tech oligarchs and authoritarian populism reflects the emergence of a new form of class rule: one that bypasses public accountability and democratic norms by outsourcing governance to algorithms, platforms, and private capital. Under this system, workers are not just economically exploited- they are politically disempowered, isolated from each other, and rendered invisible by digital systems that serve elite interests.
Trump’s policy proposals reinforce this techno-feudal vision. Advisors in his previous administration floated the idea of abolishing the Department of Labor entirely, framing it as unnecessary government interference.60 Simultaneously, his political allies have supported gig economy models that erode labour protections and reduce workers to disposable assets. His growing rapport with tech magnates lends legitimacy to a system where wealth seamlessly converts into political power.
If 20th-century fascism relied on factories and state propaganda to subdue labour, 21st-century authoritarianism may rely on platforms, automation, and anti-labour governance. In both models, organised labour is the enemy, and illusions of freedom conceal increasingly rigid hierarchies of power.
Controlled Mass Media
“Media control is a cornerstone of power maintenance for authoritarian regimes. These governments tightly regulate domestic media, dictating what can be published or broadcasted. By holding a monopoly over information, they manipulate public perception to their benefit. State-run media outlets are prevalent, pushing narratives that paint the regime in a positive light and align with government policies. They routinely censor or discourage any negative reporting. Independent media outlets, if allowed to exist, face significant pressures through regulatory constraints, financial penalties, or asset seizures, ensuring a compliance or an eventual shutdown.”
How Authoritarian Regimes Maintain Power61
Control over information is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes, as attacking the media is a common tactic of demagogues. Trump’s control over the media is no longer limited to hostile rhetoric — it now extends to structural power through alignment with billionaire media moguls who shape the information ecosystem and direct media control.
While the U.S. maintains a nominally free press, Trump's consistent attacks on mainstream media as "fake news"62 and his administration's attempts to delegitimise journalists are concerning. Before regaining power, he threatened to persecute the press he thought were unfair to him, including throwing journalists in jail to face rape if they didn’t disclose confidential sources, and ‘stripping news networks of licences’, including ABC, NBC and CBS.63
Trump also has a track record of suing media companies. In 2022, he filed against CNN for $475m, claiming defamation.64 The case was dismissed.65 In 2023, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post faced a $3.7 Billion defamation lawsuit from Trump’s Media company.66
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, through Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp groups, remains one of the most influential news sources for American voters. He recently paid Trump $25 million in a settlement widely interpreted as an act of fealty after Facebook had removed Trump’s accounts following the January 6th insurrection.67 Similarly, Elon Musk’s x.com paid Trump $10 million for the same offence.68
As for Jeff Bezos, The paper that once broke Watergate has now openly taken an editorial stance in favour of its Billionaire owners' business interest, declined to endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 election - having endorsed Democrats since the 1970s,69 and having given $1 Million to Trump’s ‘inauguration fund’70 is now getting praised by Trump.71 Or at least, was.72
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter (now X) has transformed the platform into a haven for right-wing disinformation and anti-democratic sentiment.73 Musk reinstated Trump’s account74 and has actively suspended independent journalists and dissenting voices through algorithmic manipulation and monetisation schemes.75
Beyond these billionaire alliances, Trump is also attempting direct ownership and control: Truth Social serves as a personal propaganda outlet. However, even being owned by Trump doesn’t stop his instinct to sue - in 2024, it was announced he was suing his Truth Social co-owners.76
He has floated proposals for an officially sanctioned government news channel in an attempt to consolidate narrative control while shutting down funding for pro-democracy media channels such as ‘Voice of America’ & ‘Radio Free Europe’.77 Ironically - or deliberately? His choice of Media name ‘Truth Social’ mirrors the Russian state media outlet ‘Pravda’.
Simultaneously, Trump is clamping down on access: only loyal outlets are granted access to the president,78 while critical journalists are excluded from briefings and presidential events. Most famously, Trump ousted Jim Acosta,79 effectively barring independent scrutiny.
THIS IS NOT A WAR ON THE MEDIA. THIS IS A HOSTILE TAKEOVER.
Disdain for Intellectuals
In Fascist regimes, there is a discernible disdain for intellectuals and experts, with policy decisions often sidelining scientific and scholarly advice.
“In fascist politics, universities, which present a more complex and accurate version of history and current reality, are attacked for being places where dominant traditions or practices are critiqued. Fascist ideology centers loyalty to power rather than truth. In fascist thinking, the university is simply another tool to legitimate various illiberal hierarchies connected to historically dominant traditions.”
Jason Stanley, the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University80
The Trump administration has moved to ‘dismantle the Department of Education.”81 and to assert political control over universities. Columbia University has caved to government oversight of its curriculum after it was threatened with the loss of $400 Million in Federal funding.82 Although Harvard has refused to bow to extortion.83
This antagonism towards intellectuals extends beyond funding threats and curriculum control: it manifests in the strategic vilification of entire fields of knowledge.
Under Trump, disciplines such as gender studies,84 race and ethnic studies,85 and climate science86 have been painted as ‘ideologically suspect.’
The 1776 Commission, hastily assembled by the Trump White House, aimed to rewrite U.S. history along white nationalist lines and explicitly denounced what it termed “left-wing indoctrination” in schools and universities. Its report sought to cast systemic racism as a divisive myth, and instead framed American slavery as a regrettable but ultimately resolved aberration, drawing widespread criticism from historians for its rewhitewashing of history and failure to meet basic scholarly standards.87
There has been a purge of expert advisory panels and scientific bodies. In 2025 Trump announced plans to gut the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)88 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were routinely sidelined during the COVID-19 pandemic in favour of politically loyal figures who echoed the president’s minimising rhetoric.
The Human Cost of Cuts at the CDC and NIH - Distrust of science is fueling such misguided proposals as scaling back critical public-health agencies.
Wall Street Journal89
There is a calculated assault on epistemic authority. As Stanley notes, fascist politics require a reshaping of reality itself: “What is crucial in fascist politics is loyalty, not truth.” Truth becomes malleable, and expertise a threat, precisely because both operate outside the control of charismatic power.
Meanwhile, conservative think tanks and partisan media outlets have worked hard to erode trust in academia. Fox News, especially, has described universities as “liberal indoctrination camps” and frequently platform stories about alleged left-wing bias among professors. These narratives are designed to delegitimise the university as an institution and to normalise the bias that education itself is untrustworthy unless it conforms to nationalist orthodoxy.
This is not only ideological, but also plays to his core demographic.
Consistently, research from places like the World Economic Forum in 2016, the Republican party has been favoured by voters without tertiary education.
And within the party itself -
The higher the education level of Republican leaning voter, the less likely they were to favour Trump.
Republicans without a college education were by far more willing to support Trump’s insurrectionist narrative in 2020 that the election was stolen. Something Trump sees as a strong signal of loyalty to be rewarded.
https://www.statista.com/chart/24171/republican-education-level-election-fraud/
Authoritarian regimes aim for an ‘educational maximum’. They do have an interest in having a partially educated populace - Readers can consume propaganda, and can be trained to do the work of the state. But beyond a basic or vocational education, an educated populace is more media-savvy, can employ critical thinking, and are less easy to subdue.
"Dictators pay to have well-educated third-graders - but do not carry that quality of education forward to higher learning" -
Bruce Bueno De Mesquita and Alistair Smith - The Dictators Handbook
Obsession with National Security and Civil Liberties
An exaggerated fixation on national security is a hallmark of fascist ideology. It provides the pretext for authoritarian control, legitimises the expansion of state power, and justifies the erosion of civil liberties. Paxton observes Fascist movements thrive on a narrative of internal decline and external threat - a common right-wing trope, but here taken to an extreme. These regimes frame the nation as under siege, either by imagined enemies within or hostile powers abroad, which necessitates extraordinary, often violent, responses. The law is no longer a safeguard of rights but a tool of repression:
“Ethical and legal restraints are abandoned,in pursuit of internal cleansing and external expansion”
Paxton - Anatomy of Fascism90
This sense of siege fuels the suppression of dissent and the centralisation of power. It allows fascist leaders to depict criticism as sabotage and protest as treason. Umberto Eco in Ur-Fascism lists the “obsession with a plot” as a feature of fascism. In fascist thought, the state is surrounded by enemies - foreign invaders, internal subversives, ideological conspirators, and national survival requires total vigilance.
“The followers must feel besieged, the easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia... But the plot must also come from the inside.”
Under this logic, civil liberties, freedom of speech, protest, and due process become liabilities, even threats. Fascism doesn't merely violate these rights; it defines them as tools of the enemy.
Framed as necessary sacrifices for security, authoritarian measures are introduced incrementally until they become the norm. The public, gripped by fear or seduced by promises of order, becomes complicit in its own subjugation. This interplay of fear, obedience, and loss of liberty is not a side effect of fascism - it is one of its driving engines.
The second Trump administration is using ‘National Security’ as justification for increased surveillance, the erosion of civil rights, tariffs and trade wars, and outright oppression.
Trump's presidency has been characterised by a supposed emphasis on national security at the expense of civil liberties. However, his string of ex-national security advisors and the persistence of Pete Hegseth91 make it clear he is more interested in loyalty and appearance than competence.
Policies such as enhanced surveillance measures and the justification of controversial practices in the name of security echo the fascist tendency to prioritise the state's security over individual freedoms.
One of his earliest decrees, on January 20th, was entitled
“PROTECTING THE UNITED STATES FROM FOREIGN TERRORISTS AND OTHER NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS”92
Social Media vetting at US borders predates Trump's first presidency but has been ramped up under him - in revisions and expansions using language from his ‘Muslim Travel Ban’. During Trump’s first term, ICE initiated the “Extreme Vetting Initiative,” aiming to utilise machine learning. However, it was unable to find suitable machine learning technology.
In March 2025 the State Department launched “Catch and Revoke”.93 A program which uses artificial intelligence to screen Student visa holders’ social media for “pro-Hamas” activity, taken to mean any open criticism of Israel’s US-backed genocide in Palestine, or support for the Palestinian cause.
In June 2025 requirements were expanded - applicants for visas must provide every social media account they have used in the past five years, and set their profiles to ‘public’ for vetting.94
“To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to "public."
“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit. Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.”
Trump’s Department of Justice has authorised Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to conduct warrantless searches under the Alien Enemies Act. This allows ICE to enter homes and arrest individuals suspected of being "alien enemies" without warrants, without judicial oversight, disregarding the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, violating constitutional rights and opening the door to abuse and racial profiling.95
The administration's actions have led to the United States being placed on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist of countries experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms.96
National Security is being touted as justification for the rhetoric on annexing two close allies, Canada and Greenland.97
“We need Greenland for national security. So we'll, I think, we'll go as far as we have to go… I view it from a security standpoint, we have to be there.”
-Donald Trump.
National Security is the justification for Trade War.
“As President Trump said in the Presidential Memorandum on American First Trade Policy, trade policy is a critical component in national security.”
White House ‘Fact’ Sheet98
The Intertwining of Religious Psychology and Government
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a Bible”
Sinclair Lewis, Attrib.
In some Fascist movements, identity politics acts as its own religion, of faith and belief. In others, they attach to an existing religion, as with Franco, Trump and Israel.99 So while merging with an organised religion may not always be present, where it isn’t, the fascist movement often operates as its own religion.
Trump's alignment with certain religious groups and the infusion of religious symbolism into political discourse reflect this intertwining. Such actions serve to consolidate support among specific demographics while marginalising others.
The symbiosis between Donald Trump and the religious right is not an aberration. It is a textbook case of authoritarian co-option. While some critics dismiss Trump's religious appeals as superficial or cynical, this entirely misses the point. Authoritarian movements often appropriate religious language and symbols not out of personal piety but because religious institutions, particularly those already aligned with hierarchical authority, provide a ready-made infrastructure for legitimacy, mobilisation, and moral cover.100
It is a strategic alliance: a quid pro quo between power-hungry politicians and culture-warrior clerics, in which theocratic ambitions are traded for votes, silence, and judicial appointments. Trump - an adjudicated rapist,101 convicted felon,102 serial adulterer,103 casino magnate, and theological illiterate104 is, by any honest reading, the antithesis of Christian virtue. To square this circle for the evangelical right, he is not a moral exemplar but a blunt instrument of divine retribution. They do not want a shepherd; they want a sword.105 This reflects a broader historical pattern.
Loyalty and truth keep a king in power.
Proverbs 20:28
Jason Stanley, the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University, says that rather -
“Fascist ideology centers loyalty to power rather than truth.”
Jason Stanley - How Fascism Works106
In such systems, religion can serve as a vector for power, especially when reinterpreted to support ethno-nationalist or patriarchal ends.107 As with Franco in Spain, the goal is not to replace religion with the state, but to fuse them. To make loyalty to the regime an article of faith.
The groundwork for this was laid long before Trump. Since the 1970s, elements of the Christian Right in America have steadily transformed from a moral movement into a political machine. Organisations like the Moral Majority, Focus on the Family, and Family Research Council systematically reframed Christianity as a vehicle for opposing abortion, feminism, gay rights, secularism, and racial integration; issues that aligned with revanchist conservative politics.108 By the 1990s, this had evolved into a full-scale effort to capture the Republican Party. Trump started conducting a choir that was already singing in harmony.
In 2016 and again in 2020, white evangelical Protestants voted for Trump in overwhelming numbers, with exit polls showing support above 80%. That’s a level of loyalty higher than that of most dictators' electorates.109 They were not simply holding their noses. As sociologist Andrew Whitehead has documented, a growing segment of Americans espouse Christian Nationalism, the belief that the United States has been, is, and should be a Christian nation, governed by biblical law and traditional values. In this worldview, pluralism is apostasy. Democracy is merely a tool for entrenching righteous rule.110
Trump has repaid this loyalty with policies and appointments designed to roll back decades of progressive social policy; He appointed three Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal right to abortion.111 He backed religious exemptions that allowed employers to deny contraception coverage.112 He’s barred transgender individuals from military service.113 He rolled back protections for LGBTQ+ people across healthcare, education, and housing.114
One hand washed the other. The benefits flowed both ways. The Supreme Court granted Trump effective immunity. In 2020, evangelical non-profits received hundreds of millions in federal COVID relief through the Paycheck Protection Program. Conservative religious colleges, churches, and political lobbying outfits received a windfall while simultaneously campaigning against public health mandates and denying the science of the pandemic.115
Religious leaders like Franklin Graham, Trump's White House ‘spiritual advisor’, televangelist Paula White, and Robert Jeffers cast Trump as a modern-day Cyrus, a flawed vessel chosen by God to restore divine order.116
This has given rise to what some scholars now call theopolitics: a political theology in which salvation and sovereignty are indistinguishable.117
This union of evangelical power and authoritarian politics is not unique to the United States. Viktor Orbán in Hungary has leaned heavily on conservative Christianity to legitimise attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, women's autonomy, and academic freedom.118
Bolsonaro in Brazil courted Pentecostal megachurches to push anti-scientific and patriarchal policies.119 As covered in detail in the “Apocalypse in the Tropics” documentary on Netflix.
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In each case, religious conservatism becomes the cultural wing of authoritarian nationalism.
The irony and hypocrisy is huge. The same movement that claims to stand for "family values" has hitched its fortunes to a man whose own family members have sued him,120 whose marriages have ended in scandal,121 and whose personal life is a catalogue of lies,122 greed,123 and cruelty.124
But Christianity is full of flawed heroes to provide precedent. When he’s not a flawed Cyrus doing God’s will, to the most faithful, his adultery is excused to be like that of King David.125
But cracks are showing. Part of the central identity politics of MAGA has been the belief in a global cabal of elite paedophiles centred around Jeffrey Epstein and that Trump would drain the swamp by 'releasing the Epstein files' and exposing his client list. Many previously vocal supporters are now having their faith challenged by the Trump Administration's announcement that there is no list.126 Or now that there is a list, but despite it being a central plank of MAGA Rhetoric, Obama and Clinton wrote it and it’s fake news.127
The religious right is about control, not morality. Control over women's bodies. Control over classrooms. Control over citizenship. In Trump, they found a leader willing to give them everything they asked for, so long as they didn’t ask where it came from. A blind eye for a blind eye.
Even while he rails against China, he has Trump branded bibles printed for $3 in China that he sells to his faithful for $57. It’s perhaps the perfect metaphor for his business model in microcosm.
Trump’s beliefs are clear in his actions. He has monetised the faithful like a pardoner.
Corporate Power and Economic Policies
“The bones of fascism is about capital being in you know, in coordination with the state apparatus, oppressing or controlling the masses, the working class.”
Ece Temelkuran - The New Internationalist November 2024128
Fascist regimes don't seize factories or nationalise banks as communist states do. Instead, they allow businesses to keep their names on the door, but only if they comply with the regime's rules. It's not a free market; it's a choreographed one where corporate power is allowed to thrive so long as it serves the interests of the state, or the interests of the corrupt elite who equate themselves with the state.
As Paxton puts it, fascist economics seeks to preserve capitalism "under control, in harness to the national interest,"129 subordinating both labour and capital to state power, while rewarding compliant industrialists and punishing dissenters.
In Donald Trump's second term, this nexus between authoritarian governance and elite economic consolidation appears increasingly stark. Trump's first administration cut corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%, delivering enormous gains to the super-wealthy while ballooning the deficit.130 Benefits were concentrated among billionaires, shareholders and executives, reinforcing economic inequality.131
Trump's systematic deregulation agenda, cutting environmental protections, financial oversight, and labour standards, has further privileged corporate power. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, noted (approvingly) that the Trump administration cut over 860 regulations in four years, a figure Trump boasted about as a major achievement.132
This deregulation is not neoliberalism in action; it's a targeted reduction in accountability. Rules limiting corporate influence in politics or mandating transparency were among those slashed and burned, facilitating an oligarchic concentration of influence that aligns with Trump's personal and political interests.
Trump has framed his trade wars and tariff policies as patriotic economic nationalism, but they are not erratic expressions of idealised protectionism. They are a show of power. A profit generator: they created massive market volatility that benefited those with insider knowledge.
According to Forbes Trump's public statements have measurable effects on stock prices, especially in industries like steel and agriculture, where tariff policy was hotly contested.133 The impact of his social posts was also noted in the Guardian Blog as it happened.
Global markets surged after Trump announced his 90-day tariff pause, in one of the biggest gains since the second world war. The S&P 500 surged 5.6%, while the Nasdaq has jumped over 8%. Trump’s Truth Social statement suggests he has backed down on tariffs on most countries for 90 days, applying instead a 10% tariff.
The Guardian Blog
In April 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” Hours later, he reversed his previously announced global tariff plans, sending markets soaring. The S&P 500 jumped over 9%, and the Nasdaq surged by more than 12%. Democrats swiftly accused Trump of manipulating the market for personal or political gain, demanding disclosures from White House officials over potential violations of insider trading laws.134
Shorting the market or timing trades around policy announcements, particularly when you have advance access to those announcements, offers a method of profiting from engineered chaos.
“It's entirely appropriate to have an investigation to make sure that Donald Trump, Donald Trump's family, Donald Trump's inner circle didn't get advance information and trade on that information.”
Elizabeth Warren - to CNN
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also came under fire for stock purchases that appeared strategically timed ahead of Trump’s tariff reversal.135 Ethics experts and legal watchdogs warned that these patterns reflect a deep rot in democratic accountability, where elected officials profit while public trust erodes.136
These are just some of the trades we know we can link directly to his inner circle.
The logical conclusion is that Trump-aligned billionaires and private equity firms are intentionally destabilising markets to buy up distressed assets cheaply. It fits with their modus operandi: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump donors like Blackstone and BlackRock aggressively acquired foreclosed housing stock and small businesses, actions which critics likened to disaster capitalism.137 Naomi Klein's theory of the "shock doctrine" is instructive here: crises are exploited to transfer wealth upwards, entrenching elite power while normalising the suppression of resistance.138
The alignment of Trump's administration with toxic masculine oligarchs - what some have dubbed a "broligarchy", has created a structure in which often pale, male and stale corporate cronies are shielded, subsidised, and empowered while the competition is punished through regulatory threats, public vilification, and loss of government contracts.
What emerges is a weaponised economy. A facade of capitalist freedom with hollowed-out competition, accountability, and regulation.
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Appointing loyalists to key positions, irrespective of qualifications, is indicative of cronyism. In one sense, this is built into the American system of presidential appointees. However, Trump's administration has faced criticism for appointing individuals based solely on loyalty rather than expertise, resulting in poor governance and a lack of accountability.
Fascist regimes do not merely tolerate corruption; they depend on it. Cronyism cements loyalty, and corruption becomes a privilege of power, signalling that the rules are for others. This is the literal meaning, after all, of privilege. A private law for some. As Game Theorist Bruce Bueno de Mesquita explains, this cronyism becomes the powerbase of support that replaces the need to democratically represent the people.
"If you're running a dictatorship, you don't really have to worry about the welfare or the property rights of the ordinary citizen. Only the people who keep you in power, a very small group, matter."
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita - The Dictators Handbook139
Other obvious corruption at the heart of Trump 2.0 is conflicts of interest. Elon Musk attended cabinet meetings while his companies received billions in government funding from the departments he is now seizing control of through DOGE. Meanwhile, he gutted the departments that were investigating his companies.140
It remains to be seen what happens now that Elon and Trump have fallen out - if indeed it is more than just theatre.
In Fascist systems, the state becomes a marketplace of favours for the in-group. We are watching this in real-time. As financial regulation is weakened and transparency evaded, corruption ceases to be a bug and it becomes the system.
Fraudulent Elections and Democratic Erosion
“'They rigged the election, and I became president.'
Donald Trump March 2025
The ‘New Far Right’ or ‘Radical Right’ maintain some belief in democracy - but in a Majoritarian sense, not liberal democracy that allows for minority rights. Fascists, however, are often more openly anti-democratic. However, with Democratic erosion and election manipulation, it may be useful to keep the appearance of democracy in place for purposes of propaganda.
Trump's persistent claims of election fraud in 2020 without substantial evidence eroded public trust in democratic institutions.141 Such tactics are fascist strategies to delegitimise electoral processes and consolidate power.142 The tactic is linked to Russian Disinformation campaigns, first trialled in Scotland in 2014 when Russian online disinformation claimed the independence referendum was ‘rigged’, then rolled out again in the 2020 ‘Stop the Steal’ Trump claims that, ultimately, led to the January 6th Insurrection.
Even more worrying are indications of voting irregularities in the 2024 election in the Swing States. Analysis of voting patterns shows persistent, unexpected, non-random patterns in vote distribution favouring Trump. Analysis of traditional Republican tactics such as voter suppression and Gerrymandering highlights worrying findings. Forensic economist Greg Pallast shared his analysis in the Hartmann Report.
“if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes.”
Greg Palast - The Hartmann Report143
Analysis of data patterns has shown unprecedented non-human type patterns in voting. In some small counties, zero votes were recorded for Kamala, but there are sworn affidavits from several people swearing they voted for them.
Much analysis has been done on “drop off votes” - This is where there are several ballots on the paper - e.g. the Presidential ballot, plus senate candidates. In order for the voting patterns to be true, then tens of thousands of people in just the right counties of just the right states would have needed to vote for Donald Trump, but democratic senators, or vote for Democratic senators but not bother voting for Kamala.
Source -
Across the board, the differences favoured Trump at unprecedented levels, and went against Kamala. In all the swing states, the margin by which Trump won was just enough not to trigger an automatic recount. Eighty-eight counties flipped to Red. Not ONE flipped to blue.
Presentation - https://electiontruthalliance.org/reports-and-presentations
“Pro V&V, one of only two federally accredited testing labs, approved sweeping last-minute updates to ES&S voting machines in the months leading up to the 2024 election—without independent testing, public disclosure, or full certification review.
These changes were labeled “de minimis”—a term meant for trivial tweaks. But they touched ballot scanners, altered reporting software, and modified audit files—yet were all rubber-stamped with no oversight.”
Election Truth Alliance
What is to be done?
Many are astounded and frustrated that the Democrats haven’t done more with this, I sympathise with that. I have been trying to wargame the mentality, or calculations behind it.
I can see that if the Democrats disputed the result of the election, regardless of the evidence, demanding recounts and court cases, one result could be to normalise the disputation. It might simultaneously give credence to Trump's 2020 claims “even Democrats agree elections are rigged” and mean that every future presidential election would be contested - so regardless of how free and fair it would have eroded faith in the democratic process. It would have no impact now that Congress has ratified Trump as president, except maybe in future elections.
If there are future elections….
“...in four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not gonna have to vote.”
Donald J Trump
Who would investigate the 2024 elections now? Straight from the Dictators Hanbook, Trump has put loyalists in control of the areas that should be the checks and balances.
"Once the old leader is gone, it is essential to seize the instruments of power, such as the treasury, as quickly as possible."
The Dictator's Handbook
Who would investigate ballot miscounting - The FBI under Patel? The Department of Justice under Pam Bondi - Trump Loyalists who will u-turn on a dime and do what they are told. Who would make the final decision - the Conservative-stuffed SCOTUS? Who, even when they do rule against Trump, get ignored?
Paths to legal recourse may have been beheaded and cauterised.
Clear and Present Danger
“I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land.” -
Franklin Roosevelt, 1938
Debating whether Trump's presidency fits the exact definition of fascism is more than an academic exercise. Someone doesn’t need to know it meets some ‘fascist threshold’ to understand the tangible impact of his policies on democratic institutions, civil liberties, and societal cohesion. The erosion of norms, the marginalisation of vulnerable groups, and the undermining of checks and balances pose real visible threats. However, by defining it, we can diagnose it, and by diagnosing it, we can start to treat it.
Concrete Actions for Resistance
These are not comprehensive or universal, but they may serve as a starting point.
Support Independent Media:
Uphold journalistic integrity by subscribing to and promoting independent news outlets that hold power accountable. Outlets such as The Guardian, ProPublica, and The Atlantic have been instrumental in investigating corruption, voter suppression, and abuses of power.
Engage in Civic Participation:
Voting is crucial, but it is not the only means of resistance. Engaging in local activism, attending town halls, joining protests, and pressuring representatives to defend democratic norms all contribute to maintaining a functioning democracy.
Strengthen Alliances:
Authoritarianism thrives in isolation. The international community must remain engaged, and diplomatic pressure should be applied where necessary. The European Union, the UK, and other democratic allies can play a role in calling out undemocratic practices and reinforcing global democratic norms.
Educate and Raise Awareness:
Disinformation is a powerful tool used to manipulate public perception. It is essential to counteract this by promoting fact-based journalism, media literacy education, and critical thinking skills. Supporting organisations that track and debunk disinformation campaigns such as the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and Media Matters for America is a vital step.
Support Vulnerable Communities:
Marginalised groups, including immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and racial minorities, often bear the brunt of authoritarian policies. Volunteering with or donating to organisations that provide legal aid, housing, healthcare, and other services can make a tangible difference in people's lives.
Defend the Rule of Law:
If judicial independence and democratic institutions are under attack, legal advocacy groups such as the ACLU and Human Rights Watch can push back through legal challenges. Public awareness campaigns and international scrutiny can also play a role in deterring undemocratic practices.
Call a Fascist a Fascist
“The term fascism needs to be rescued from sloppy usage, not thrown out because of it. It remains indispensable. We need a generic term for what is a general phenomenon, indeed the most important political novelty of the twentieth century: a popular movement against the Left and against liberal individualism. Contemplating fascism, we see most clearly how the twentieth century contrasted with the nineteenth, and what the twenty-first century must avoid.”
Paxton
Fascism is not always accompanied by jackboots and marching bands. Yes, there are still groups with their own uniform and pageantry - such as the Proud Boys, Oath-Keepers and ‘Three Percenters’. But it also creeps in through small erosions of democratic norms such as attacks on the press, vilification of minorities, suppression of opposition, and the gradual normalisation of authoritarian rhetoric. These have all unfolded now, at double speed in 2025, and now we have a Concentration Camp in Florida.
Paxton warns us in “ of Facism” that definitions are limiting, and it might be futile to come up with a “fascist minimum” - some quantitative criteria, or tipping point that is a line from nationalism or authoritarianism into ‘fascism.’ - However said for years that Donald Trump was a right-wing populist and hesitating to call him a fascist.
“Trump's incitement of the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2020 removes my objection to the fascist label. His open encouragement of civic violence to overturn an election crosses a red line. The label now seems not just acceptable but necessary.”
Paxton
The reality is that the exact terminology doesn’t change that his administration's policies are actively harming vulnerable communities, foreign and domestic. They are eroding democratic institutions and enabling corruption at the highest levels. Whether or not you feel it fits neatly into the historical framework of fascism. I certainly hope the argument I have outlined above has been convincing, but even if you are uncomfortable using the term, the danger is real.
“I think that attitude, shall we say, attitude of, you know, not being sterile when it comes to using the word Fascism is a is a historical mistake and also an ideological mistake… we don't need to look like military boots or like funny moustaches when we talk about fascism. If the working class, if the intellectual class is oppressed to the limit that they cannot even ask for their rights, to the limit that they are helpless in terms of changing their precarity, then there is already fascism.”
Ece Temelkuran 144
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Initially, this section was "The intertwining of Religion and Government", but in discussing these criteria, I was challenged to assess if this is a defining feature of fascism, or just a non-fascist trait present in some fascist-like movements. We do see it with Franco, but Griffen says Franco is not a fascist because he was reactionary rather than revolutionary: He wanted to restore and preserve an uber-conservative view of Spain, not tear it down and rebuild a new Spain.
However, I believe it is worth examining to gain an understanding of the psychology of Fascism. As with the psychology of all Cults, people internalise the movement as an aspect of their identity. This makes it incredibly resilient to hypocrisy and criticism. When people criticise their 'religion', they do not process it as a logical conversation where they can be swayed by argument; they close down to protect their sense of self.
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