Are we living in a dictatorship yet?

On Inauguration Day, I listed 12 tripwires of tyranny. We’ve hit 5 of them and are close to 5 others.

On Inauguration Day, I listed 12 tripwires of tyranny – developments to keep an eye out for that would indicate our country had become a dictatorship. Seven months into Trump’s term, we’re already there with five of the tripwires, we’re getting there with five others, and we haven’t moved much on two others. Here’s my tally:

1. “Investigators being investigated.” (We’re already there.)

I warned that if Donald Trump’s Justice Department went after former special counsel Jack Smith and others who have investigated him, “it will be an unmistakable sign that Trump has turned federal law enforcement into a goon squad.”

That has come to pass. In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi created a “working group” to investigate Smith and others. Last month, the Office of Special Counsel confirmed that it had opened a separate investigation of Smith. Also this month, Bondi named MAGA hack Ed Martin as a “special attorney” to investigate two others who have investigated Trump: Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

2. “Even worse smears of marginalized groups.” (Not there yet.)

Trump’s smears were already awful before he took office, with accusations that immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country” and eating house pets. Trump demonized transgender people before the election too. It’s bad, but I don’t think it’s gotten worse. I shudder to imagine ways that Trump’s rhetoric could get even more appalling, but I’m sure it can.

3. “Pro-dictator oligarchs dominating major media.” (We’re getting there.)

This was already bad and has gotten marginally worse, with Trump-friendly David Ellison taking control of Paramount, including CBS News.

4. “A torrent of lawsuits harassing the press.” (We’re getting there.)

It’s not exactly a “torrent” yet, but Trump has continued harassing the news media in the courts. He recently sued the Wall Street Journal for its reporting about his friendship with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. I expect much more legal harassment of journalists soon.

5. “More public attention to birth rates.” (We’re already there.)

The Trump regime has talked about a $5,000 “baby bonus” to encourage families to have more children. His supporters in the pronatalism movement call for a “National Medal of Motherhood” for women who give birth to six or more children. This fits into the dictator mindset that childbirth is women’s duty to the state. Remember Vice President JD Vance’s denunciation of “childless cat ladies.”

6. “The return of racist symbols.” (We’re already there.)

Fort Bragg, named for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, was rebranded Fort Liberty by President Joe Biden to lose the racist connotation. Trump restored the name Fort Bragg, but in a too-cute maneuver that fooled no one, he said it was named after a different Bragg: Army Pfc. Ronald L. Bragg, who fought in World War II.

Based on an independent commission’s guidance in 2022, a statue honoring the Confederacy was removed from Arlington National Cemetery. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered it restored and returned to the site at a cost of $10 million.

7. “A growing chorus of Trump worship.” (Not yet.)

Members of the Trump regime praise him publicly in a way that would make a North Korean TV anchor blush. But the level of absurdity hasn’t risen since his second term began. With Trump’s public approval plummeting, perhaps his cultists know the timing isn't right for further deification.

8. “Monopolies flourishing.” (We’re getting there.)

In my Inauguration Day post, I should have avoided the word “monopolies” and referred more precisely to “crony capitalism,” “state capitalism” and “oligarchy.” There’s a clear trend of Trump cutting deals with the super-wealthy to give them the commercial inside track – as long as he benefits too. He made a highly unusual agreement allowing Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to sell AI chips to China if they paid 15% of the revenue to Trump’s government. And Trump arranged for the government to take a 10% stake in the chipmaker Intel. Trump seems determined to control every aspect of what’s supposed to be a free enterprise system.

Another alarming trend is consolidation in the local news industry. Trump is expected to loosen the broadcast station ownership cap to allow Nexstar, the nation’s biggest owner of TV stations, to acquire Tegna and boost its reach to 80% of U.S. households. It’s no coincidence that Nexstar CEO Perry Sook praised Trump when he announced the deal.

9. “Fictional government statistics.” (We’re getting there.)

Trump has undermined the credibility of official information by firing Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for honestly reporting sluggish job numbers.

10. “A powerless Congress.” (We’re already there.)

Both the House and Senate – led by Republicans – are rubber-stamp figurehead assemblies that watch as Trump assumes powers that the Constitution gave to Congress. It’s a betrayal of our democracy.

11. “Suspicious troop deployments.” (We’re already there.)

I wrote in January: “One of my biggest fears is that Trump will turn the U.S. military on American protesters.” What we’ve seen since is Trump citing fictional emergencies to justify sending troops into Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. He is now threatening to send troops into other cities that have Democratic mayors.

12. “Elections as meaningless exercises.” (We’re getting there.)

Trump’s gerrymandering scheme to grab five House seats in Texas makes it clear he’s not going to stand by and let his unpopularity lead to a defeat in the 2026 midterms. Trump also is attacking mail-in balloting, a practice used by nearly a third of American voters. He’s trying to depress turnout, since the more people vote, the more Democrats win. It doesn’t seem to bother Trump that the Constitution gives the president no power to control election processes.

Clearly, we’re far down the road to a dictatorship. But we’re not all the way there. If we were, I probably wouldn’t be allowed to write this, and you probably wouldn't be allowed to read this.

Get active now, while you still can.

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