Trump Is Creating an Authoritarian Dictatorship - Here's Why

By almost every act, Trump is building an oligarchic authoritarian dictatorship

If there is an overarching pattern in the Trump regime's first months, it is a steady move toward oligarchy verging on authoritarian dictatorship. I am a political scientist by training and I didn't write the above sentence unthinkingly. Putting aside Trump's Russian role model, Putin, the pattern is clear.

• appointing wealthy businessmen (and one businesswoman) to key government positions)
• refusing to release taxes
• signing controversial executive orders out of the public eye
• ignoring reporters' questions
• running the country by, to be kind, deceptive tweets
• stopping publication of the White House guest list
• living a rich lifestyle supported by public funds
• benefiting personally from public office
• placing family members in key governmental positions
• appointing an FCC Chairman who will significantly reduce access to the Internet
• attacking the press as the "enemy of the people"
• claiming that the president cannot be held accountable for behaviors committed before or, potentially, after was election
• thug-like behavior in relation to perceived political enemies
• scapegoating of specific ethnic or religious groups directly or by implication
• mysogynistic and anti-LGBTQ behaviors
• engaging in grossly exaggerated policy swings
• supporting massive fines and imprisonment for Inauguration Day protestors and protestors in general

Whether intentional or not, the above has the effect of creating an American Presidency very different from any we have ever seen and one that should frighten anyone who understands political, economic and social history.