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Hitler
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Trump
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In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg, marking a pivotal moment in the end of democracy.
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In 2024, Trump was elected President. He won a majority of the electoral vote and a plurality of the popular vote. (This is not sinister. I just wanted to start at the beginning for both.)
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Hitler and the Nazi Party employed extensive propaganda to paint a picture of weakness and instability with the existing democratic system, while also using intimidation and violence to silence opposition.
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Trump employed extensive propaganda depicting several groups as evil. He frequently targeted immigrants as extremely violent. He also targeted pro-Palestinian protestors. He certainly uses intimidation to silence opponents within his party. One major form of intimidation is to threaten to “primary” Republicans who don’t fall in line.
So far, the federal judiciary has been the main obstacle to Trump’s plans. However, federal judges receive an increasing number of anonymous threats. Also, the judges know that Trump has an army of around 1500 convicted felons who have been pardoned by Trump but who have proven their willingness to engage in political violence in support of Trump.
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The Reichstag fire (allegedly set by a Dutch communist) was used as a pretext to issue a decree that suspended civil liberties and allowed for mass arrests of political opponents, including members of the Social Democratic and Communist parties.
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We are not there yet, but we may be on the path. Consider Trump’s taking over the California National Guard over the strong objections of the Governor of California. The pretext for taking over the National Guard was protests against ICE raids that lead to the arrest of many ordinary illegal immigrants. These raids were stimulated by a top White House advisor (Stephen Miller) who lashed out at ICE for not arresting and deporting enough people. Miller suggested that all ICE had to do was go by Home Depot and look for people looking for day jobs. This would allow them to arrest many immigrants. The resultant arrests of ordinary illegal immigrants angered many in Los Angeles.
As time goes on, Trump may manufacture additional pretexts to use the National Guard (or even the Army or Marines) to subjugate the population in other cities.
At this writing, a federal judge has ruled that Trump’s taking over the California National Guard was illegal and unconstitutional. His ruling has been appealed. His Executive order to take over the National Guard was written to apply nationally. If the Executive Order is upheld by higher court’s, Trump will have the authority to nationalize the National Guard everywhere.
On the matter of arresting political opponents, Senator Padilla (D-CA) was taken down and handcuffed when he attempted to ask questions at a press conference held by the Secretary of HHS. Prior to that, LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) was arrested during an encounter with ICE agents at an ICE facility in Newark NJ. (Under federal law, members of Congress are allowed to inspect any ICE facility at any time, without prior notice.)
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The Enabling Act, passed in March 1933, gave Hitler the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or the President, effectively bypassing the checks and balances of the Weimar Constitution.
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Trump has not even needed an Enabling Act. The United States House and the United States Senate have totally abdicated their responsibilities. While Trump has violated many laws and engaged in many unconstitutional actions, the Republican members of Congress have rarely if ever complained. That is, they have failed to live up to their responsibility to uphold and protect the Constitution. Trump has avoided any checks and balances with respect to the Congress, without an Enabling Act.
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The Nazis also dissolved the state parliaments and replaced them with Nazi majorities, further consolidating control at the local level.
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This has not happened. Yet.
However, it is worth noting that many state legislatures are heavily gerrymandered. Studies show that Republican-controlled legislatures are more likely to be gerrymandered than Democratic-controlled legislatures.
The United States Supreme Court has declined to attempt to correct the issue of partisan gerrymandering.
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The Nazi Party banned all other political parties, including the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party, effectively creating a one-party state.
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This has not happened. Yet.
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The Nazis banned trade unions, silencing workers' voices and consolidating their control over the economy.
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Trade unions were already weak, having been weakened by Reagan.
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The Night of Long Knives, a purge of Nazi leaders, eliminated potential rivals within the party and solidified Hitler's authority.
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There really are no rivals to Trump within the Republican party. However, several actions might parallel the Night of the Long Knives. Early in his administration, Trump fired 17 Inspectors General; they were tasked with making sure that the officials in their agency follow all relevant federal laws and ethics guidelines. Also, he fired all three Judge Advocate Generals in the military; they were tasked with, among other things, ensuring that illegal military orders are not carried out. Trump also (illegally) fired many other key officials in the administration. Furthermore, he hired only strong loyalists who would not create the kind of “guardrails” that existed in the first Trump administration. (The decision not to hire the type of people that he hired in the first term might be viewed as a “purge”.)
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The process of "coordination" or "Gleichschaltung" involved integrating all aspects of society under Nazi control, including culture, education, and the legal system.
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Trump has been active on these fronts as well. He is attempting to totally bring the universities under his control. He has tried to neuter law firms that have ever represented person or cases that are antithetical to Trump. He has installed himself as President of key cultural institutions such as the Kennedy Center. He has called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts. He shut down the Peace Institute, a wholly private organization. (This later ruled to be illegal, but that ruling is probably under appeal.)
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The Nazis established the Führerprinzip, a principle of absolute obedience to the Führer (Hitler), in all areas of government and society.
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Trump is attempting to establish a similar principle. He campaigned on the slogan ”I am your retribution.” He meant, “I will seek retribution against anyone who crosses me.” I refer back to his attempt to crush law firms who ever backed a person or a cause that he did not like. (How? He said he would deny security clearances to the lawyers in said firms; he would not allow lawyers in said firms to enter federal buildings; if said firm had clients who had federal contracts, he would cancel the contracts of those clients.) He fired many Department of Justice lawyers because they had been involved in the “January 6” investigation against him. He has asked the Department of Justice to investigate a former Trump official who worked in the first Trump administration because that individual wrote an op-ed that was critical of Trump (Miles Taylor). Similarly, he asked the Department of Justice to investigate the official from the first administration who said that the 2020 election was the most secure election in the history of the country (Chris Krebs).
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