authoritarianism

A protest against President-elect Donald Trump in New York City on November 9, 2016.

Trump Is Rooting Around in the Public Trough Trump Is Rooting Around in the Public Trough

Trump’s second term is unabashedly a project of self-enrichment and oligarchic rule.

May 15, 2026 / Column / Sasha Abramsky

President Donald Trump greets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 7, 2025.

Hungary Just Showed How to Kick Out a Strongman Hungary Just Showed How to Kick Out a Strongman

Trump is using authoritarian tactics that were perfected by Viktor Orbán. But the Hungarian authoritarian leader’s defeat may also offer a road map for beating Trumpism.

May 8, 2026 / Column / Sasha Abramsky

An image of a proposed Trump passport as posted by the White House on X.

As Trump’s Poll Numbers Fall, His Authoritarian Instincts Grow More Extreme As Trump’s Poll Numbers Fall, His Authoritarian Instincts Grow More Extreme

Increasingly unpopular and facing a fracturing coalition, Trump is using government power to punish his critics, take political revenge, and revel in his own cruelty.

May 1, 2026 / Column / Sasha Abramsky

A poster on a wall in Margate, United Kingdom, showing President Donald Trump in an SS uniform.

The Rapid and “Unprecedented” Collapse of American Democracy The Rapid and “Unprecedented” Collapse of American Democracy

The V-Dem Institute, the world’s chronicler of democracy and autocracy, has determined that the United States is no longer “a liberal democracy.”

Mar 27, 2026 / Column / Sasha Abramsky

President Donald Trump departs after making an announcement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 12, 2026.

The Republican Crack-Up Has Begun The Republican Crack-Up Has Begun

Even conservatives are fleeing the GOP as more and more Americans turn against Trump’s authoritarian project.

Feb 13, 2026 / Column / Sasha Abramsky

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