A year ago, Rauch said Trump is not a Fascist, he’s a patrimonialist. Patrimonialist governments don’t follow the rule of law and bend the rules to enrich and empower the leader. They are not ideological. Later, Rauch concluded that Trump was doing too many things associated with Fascism, so decided he is best labeled as a Fascist.
He doesn’t think Fascists will fully take over the US like they did in Germany, so that should limit the extremes, but nevertheless, the actions of the administration fit Fascism. The government isn’t fully Fascist yet, but it has a Fascist leader.
There’s no one true definition of Fascism.
Trump’s demolition of norms about civility is a classic Fascist action.
Trump glorifies violence in his rhetoric. When agents of the state hurt or kill US citizens, he and his supporters make fun of the injured and killed, and lie about them and what happened. His communications revel in the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug smugglers.
Rauch discusses 16 more Fascist actions in his article.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zq9Zh8DjZo
Some Biblical heroes actually did horrible things, but they are praised in the Bible because they were obedient to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J-axlkFbdo
“The move is the latest in a series of initiatives by the Trump administration to try to reduce animal testing. Last year, NIH announced it would devote $87 million to a project to develop a standardized alternative to animal testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to shutter its primate labs, and the Food and Drug Administration published a roadmap for reducing animal testing.
The push to end animal research testing is backed by animal-rights activists close to the administration, like far-right political activist Laura Loomer and President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
But some researchers worry that moving away from animal testing too quickly could mean stalled progress on treatments that could cure disease and save lives.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/04/nih-is-looking-to-turn-a-primate-research-center-into-a-sanctuary-00765449?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQKNjYyODU2ODM3OQABHtmpUB8EJPlkMCciUTndgn-hTTjDJMChO8dDk6kVY3iL0ZlrLoZWDG10Qa_r_aem__R3f1gQTzMH2w9MX5Edsng
“Washington already has tremendous access to Greenland under past agreements with Denmark; U.S. troops already operate in Greenland and Washington can send more. Trump’s demand that Denmark grant the territory to the U.S. is a body blow to U.S. relations with its European allies. It also hurts NATO, a military alliance that includes the U.S. and Denmark — and which would defend Greenland should an adversarial power threaten it.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/21/mag-toosi-greenland-00740006
“Bovino’s coat may not be a Hitlerian symbol, but it is a symbol for something else: the increasing militarization of immigration enforcement.
Uniforms perform three important roles: They reveal what an institution believes itself to be; they shape how the public sees service members; and they affect how service members see themselves.
…
By dressing immigration enforcement officials in battle-ready attire, the agency encourages agents to understand themselves not as civil servants carrying out administrative law, but as frontline combatants operating in hostile terrain. That shift in self-conception may help partially explain the aggressive tactics ICE officers have deployed in Minneapolis”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/24/the-problem-with-greg-bovinos-overcoat-isnt-what-you-think-00745516
“One of the issues here is that in the press, everything is conflated as being ICE. But Border Patrol had a big presence here, and, you know, Border Patrol are trained differently. They’re trained for operation at ports of entry, and it’s a different use of force policy, it is a different method of training. It’s a different environment totally. And I noticed Bovino himself came from the border patrol. He was acting like just a cowboy.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/02/02/jmart-napolitano-homeland-security-q-a-00758973
Is Trump pushing the world toward a realist Westphalian order with less emphasis on permanent alliances and international organizations, or is he really moving us to a royalist system where global actions are less based on countries and more based on personal, familial, and buddy enrichment and aggrandizement.
Greenland is less about the defense of the US and minerals, which the US could do in Greenland without threats of war because Greenland, through Denmark, is a US ally, and instead about Trump making himself look great by adding territory to the US and making his friends with business interests rich. Ronald Lauder, a billionaire with business interests in Greenland, suggested Trump take Greenland back in 2018. Similarly, refineries that benefit from the Venezuela attack include Trump megadonors. Trump raised tariffs on India after Modi said Trump didn’t play an important role in creating peace between India and Pakistan. So this action was more about Trump’s status and aggrandizement than realist and economic strategy for the benefit of the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g37E9ztzxkE
“federal immigration agents are still deployed across the city, with U.S. citizens continuing to have aggressive run-ins with them. Community members remain on edge, avoiding work and keeping children home from school. Both Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday called for a faster and larger drawdown of federal agents, a plea echoed by state, local and federal officials.
“Now we only have 2,300 aggressive, brutal, cosplaying soldiers bursting into people’s homes, brutalizing people on the streets, killing citizens, creating mayhem and chaos,” said state Sen. Scott Dibble, a member of the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party.
…
“You tell us at some point there will only be 2,300, 3.5 times as many police as we have in our city, is that supposed to reassure us?” said Minnesota state Rep. Aisha Gomez, a DFL member who represents parts of South Minneapolis. “They’re in Minneapolis now, but they can be coming for your city next.”
…
White House officials reiterated on Wednesday that Homan’s decision to pull 700 agents was a result of new cooperation with local officials to take custody of immigrants who have committed crimes directly from jails. That meant the government no longer needs as many officers in the state.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/04/trump-administration-is-pulling-700-agents-from-minnesota-democrats-say-not-good-enough-00766328
Republicans at the state level have been packing their state supreme courts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DydX81PEbVQ
The Washington Post is making massive cuts. It could be cutting the stuff that fewer readers care about and focusing on the things they are best at. Or, they could be cutting, then losing readers who wanted that stuff, then cutting, and losing more readers, then cutting and losing more readers before shutting down altogether.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvhTmcNHIYk