SARAH CAULDER / DAILY NEXUS
News outlets top the notifications on my phone, as there seems to be constant news-breaking headlines from the Trump administration every day. Averaging four hours a day on The New York Times app, my anxiety has never been higher — and time has never gone slower.
On Jan. 20, 2025, 45th and 47th President Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second nonconsecutive term in the most powerful seat of our country. This time, he has made seemingly irreparable damage to the core of our democracy and the foundation of our country. Yet, despite the constant terror and tragedy happening around me, life eerily moves on.
I see families being torn apart, books being banned, universities being threatened for their curriculum, civilians being murdered in broad daylight and our tenured government systems wielding unchecked power like never before. This question sends chills down my spine yet persists in my mind: Are we losing our democracy?
Countries that typically slide away from democracy into autocracy have uncannily similar patterns and tendencies. There is undeniably democratic erosion happening in the United States, and the sobering reality is that we have been slowly, but consistently, regressing in different ways.
Despite us not being close to a true autocratic government, like Russia or China, our current government is still taking conscious steps away from our predetermined democracy. It becomes even scarier in the modern era when authoritarian takeovers don’t begin with an outright military coup; the takeover is slow, calculated and an attempt to consolidate all authority to one elected leader. In this case, the convicted felon, rapist and joke of a leader: Donald Trump.
Trump’s attempt to make political opposition more difficult has been successful so far, with many forward measures to stifle free speech, but more importantly, speech that does not praise him. The best way to get ahead about what’s going to happen next is to read what’s happened before: we’ve seen this happen with known authoritarian leaders. Namely, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and, to lesser degrees, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Narendra Modi in India. With a heavy hand, these leaders have attempted and succeeded at stifling free speech in both miniscule and larger ways. The Trump administration, following in their footsteps it seems, has begun to repress dissent against them. From suspending late night talk shows for speaking out against Trump, signing two major executive orders against free speech on his inaugural day of office last year, verbally assaulting female reporters asking him questions, defunding public news stations and denouncing free speech on his own media platform, Truth Social, Trump is not new to media censorship.
As a writer, journalist, reader and woman, Trump’s actions are a direct attack against who I am and what I stand for. This level of infringement on a constitutional right in the U.S. has not happened since, arguably, the second Red Scare in the 1940s and 1950s. Free speech and speech against the Trump administration still remain vibrant, despite the president’s attempts to dull or quiet them. Trump is a fearmonger above all; his evident goal is to scare journalists and civilians that they will pay a price for criticizing him, his allies or his agenda.
In addition to restricting speech and dissent, the Trump administration has influenced and contributed to over 6,870 instances of book bans within the 2024-25 school year. Notable books like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Wicked,” “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Catcher in the Rye” have all been banned in multiple states across the country. This is blatant censorship and an unprecedented attempt to attack authors and stories, an attempt to attack the beautiful power that literature has.
When a democracy slides toward autocracy, the current leader makes an effort to neuter the legislature, allotting themselves more power than legally allowed; we see our Congress following this path. The Trump administration has violated federal law by withholding funding authorized by Congress for libraries, scientific research and preschools, to name a few. He has heavily gutted funding or dismantled authorized agencies like the Department of Education and USAID, and even imposed new taxes, his tariffs, without congressional approval. More recently, Trump’s Executive Order 13987 has been completed as the United States has officially pulled out of the World Health Organization — while still owing them $278 million. We are at the mercy of a leader who is consciously plowing through checks and balances, and Trump is consistently making illegal power grabs, defying the Constitution by trampling on Congress’ power of the purse.
An authoritarian vilifies marginalized groups, which Trump has been known to do through his first term and even more in his second term. History shows that authoritarians attempt to demean, bully and harm minority groups by turning them into a falsely perceived threat that provides a justification for a leader to amass power. Trump has consistently stated through his presidencies that marginalized groups, particularly immigrants, are responsible for the nation’s problems.
For Trump and his administration, it seems that verbal assault towards immigrants was not sufficient. His mockery and violence started via social media in an attempt to dehumanize them; posting videos of shackled immigrants and making commercials out of immigration detention centers. However, Trump’s need for fear in his citizens has superseded any bit of morality he had left; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) has been raiding our country and slaughtering citizens in broad daylight.
Most recently, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed in broad daylight. The story is being falsified as Trump tries to puppeteer a false narrative that instills fear into the American people. Renee Good was shot in the head under false pretenses, with unwarranted and unnecessary force from I.C.E. Trump’s attempt to use the military for domestic control is him trying to suppress dissent, instill fear and convey supreme power. From the National Guard being deployed to tour large cities to crack down on protests this summer, to I.C.E. agents forcibly entering homes and purposefully preying around Home Depot parking lots for people of interest, Trump has shown his willingness to use our own military against us.
He has shown us that it was never about immigrants “taking up” jobs, or not obtaining citizenship the correct way, or “cheating the system.” It was never about the betterment of our country, it’s always been about racism. It’s always been a pro-violence plot on our home soil.
Authoritarians seek to suppress inconvenient truths, truths that do not side with the persona they create for the media. This is a stark difference from democratic governments, supposedly us, who prize accurate information as a guide to decision-making for the betterment of the country.
Trump has sought to manipulate government information in several ways: from firing the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics after they reported disappointing job growth that he didn’t want to hear, to shutting down federal data collection related to worsening climate change, to taking steps in controlling public media.
He’s pushed Congress to end funding for public radio and television, taking out multimillion-dollar payments from ABC, Paramount, YouTube and Meta to settle baseless claims that he’s been treated unfairly. He’s trying to reduce coverage that does not parrot his views; a toddler throwing a fit in his booster seat. Except it’s the president. And this is our country.
In regards to coverage, whether intentional or not, we see a lack of media coverage regarding other documented murders linked to I.C.E.; Silverio Villegas González, Keith Porter Jr. and others have been killed by off-duty I.C.E. agents and have failed to make national headlines. This should be a wake-up call to signal a wider pattern of violence, something inherently disturbing and brutal, within these I.C.E. agents.
We’re also seeing Trump falsify a story and directly contradict video evidence regarding the unjust murder of Pretti. He’s lying to our faces, and the federal government owes Americans a thorough investigation and truthful account of this cold-blooded murder. When the government kills, they have an expectation to defend themselves by saying it was in the best interest of the nation. Truth to the people is a line of demarcation between a democratic government and an authoritarian regime. Pretti and Good are dead. The administration refuses to explain why.
While Trump’s first term and campaigns for his second held many harrowing promises, he has unfortunately followed through with them in his second term. In place of an independent and free press, Trump evidently hopes to create a shallow ecosystem only willing to promote his interests, violence and false talking points.
Lastly, almost all emperors and kings have glorified themselves by displaying their portraits everywhere. Talking about themselves to the highest degree. Holding their narcissistic heads high as they assume civilians bow to them. Trump is no different — despite the American tradition being to reject that kind of hagiography for living presidents.
Banners of Trump line government buildings, his name is being plastered onto historical monuments, he posts AI memes wearing a crown, holds military parades on his birthday and the Treasury Department plans to make a commemorative coin with Trump’s face on it. His false, unwavering confidence, despite his complete lack of competency, is common among autocrats. Trump comes at the country’s problems assuming that he alone can fix them. He is equating himself with the entire federal government, centering himself and assuming it cannot exist without him.
He’s greedy. His culture of corruption eerily resembles the behavior of foreign autocrats. He’s using what belongs to the American citizens, the power and resources of our fair democratic government, to benefit himself. He’s not even trying to hide it.
Civilians are being killed. Foreign leaders are being captured. Threats to occupy international land are looming. Military forces are entering cities. Congress is seemingly powerless. No one can stop him.
So, this poses the question: Are we losing our democracy?
No.
No, and I sigh. No, because I see the American people fighting back. I see protestors in Minneapolis holding their ground against their own military. I see protestors in Washington D.C. objecting to the anniversary of Trump’s first full year in office.
No, and I exhale. No, because that has to be the answer. I see obstetrician-gynecologists fighting against his war on science. I see “Not my President” shirts in my family’s closets. I see hope.
The clearest sign that a democracy has died is when a leader and their party make it impossible for their opponents to win an election.
The United States is notan autocracy today. We still have a mostly free press and independent judiciary, we have Americans attending protests in their cities. We have still started down an anti-democratic path, and many Americans — including people in positions of power — remain complacent about this looming threat.
Kira Logan thinks we should ban guns, not books.
