However, Americans who have been following political news since that time should by now realize that Trump and his administration have amplified Bannon's statements to also mean strengthening and widening executive branch authority and tearing away at the balance of power between the branches of government.
We are now seeing what the founding fathers could never have imagined. The office of the President of the United States has always had great authority and power, but there were limitations on that power. Trump has seized power that was never intended by the founding fathers.
During Trump's first term he has been able to replace administration officials that many thought would keep him in line. Anyone in his administration who would not comply with or simply spoke out against Trump's actions, especially when those actions were illegal or Constitutionally subversive, was fired. Any Justice Department official who was investigating him was fired or publicly humiliated by Trump. Trump replaced those officials with people who would be subservient and loyal to him and not to the Constitution of the United States or any oath they took for office.
In order to gain complete control of government so that no other branch has authority over him, Trump would need to have the cooperation of the Congress, cooperation of the Justice Department and a Judicial branch that would favor his policies without question. Trump is testing those waters now.
When he fired Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Trump himself took the first step in creating his autocracy by hiring William Barr. Trump knew that Barr would be loyal to him and not the Constitution since he had written a memo in June of 2018, that some saw as a resume letter for the job of Attorney General. The letter showed he believed Trump could not be guilty of obstruction of justice. Barr had been known to be a proponent of the unitary executive theory ascribing to a nearly unhampered presidential authority.
Barr had criticized the Mueller report before taking office. While Attorney General, he summarized it publicly before the report was made available. Barr's summary indicated that the Mueller report was a complete exoneration of Donald Trump. It was not.
The investigation of the Mueller investigators requested by Trump showed no evidence that there was political bias against Trump, but Barr publicly stated that he did not believe his Inspector General. Barr was born to be Trump's second Roy Cohn and the person most likely to create an American dictator. With Barr at his side, Trump has complete control over the Justice Department.
Trump and his Republican cronies in Congress have already shown that they band together like a criminal organization where loyalty to the leader means more to them than loyalty to the nation. We know that the GOP meets with Trump to corroborate policies with him. They are in lock-step with Trump. The GOP has given up their Congressional power in this submission to Trump. To them, violating their oaths of office and the Constitution of the United States means nothing.
In allowing Trump to trample on the Constitution without rebuke, the Republican party has taken the second step into making Trump an autocrat. As long as Senate Republicans do not vote with the Democrats, Trump will not be removed from office. That is a priority in becoming a dictator. You must first be the President. Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has publicly stated that he will not be an impartial juror and will be coordinating with the White House lawyers during any Senate impeachment trial. McConnell has also stated that he does not want any witnesses to appear. McConnell has said that Trump will never be removed from office, effectively admitting that the GOP will run a scam trial in order to acquit Trump.
The third step in becoming an autocrat is getting a docile and cooperative Judicial branch. Under Mitch McConnell, this began many years ago. The Republican party has been working diligently on the lifetime appointments of many conservative judges. More conservative judges have been appointed during Trump's term than ever before. With the GOP giving up their power to Trump, the judicial branch of Republican judges should fall in line with the needs of the party on substantial issues.
McConnell had prevented Obama from appointing a Supreme Court judge for two years of his Presidency in hopes that a Republican would become the next President to appoint another Supreme Court conservative judge. That is exactly what happened. Judgeships are important to the Republican party and a key element in giving Donald J. Trump autocratic rule. But cooperating with the Judicial branch is not really very important to Donald Trump. White House officials have reported that Trump has already questioned the need for judges, signaling an end to the judiciary if he becomes the first United States dictator.
So all of the steps are in motion. Without some other intervening force, it seems very likely that Donald Trump will become the first United States dictator. Some readers may think this is impossible, but isn't it strange that Donald Trump has not been stopped yet? His plan is clear. His violations of Constitutional law are obvious. His mental state is questionable and many experts have stated that he is a danger to the security of America. Trump has been continuously assaulting American democracy since he was elected. This assault has not been prevented and appears will be encouraged by the Republican party. In a real democracy where there is a respect for the constitution and checks and balances, he would have been stopped long ago. Those checks and balances are no longer effective. Not much else is in his way.
Don't count on the American voter to remove Trump. If Trump is not removed from office, he will advertise it as complete exoneration. He is guilty of asking a foreign nation to interfere in an American election for his personal advantage. Knowing he can get away with it will inspire more of the same with other countries. We may have many foreign nations interfering in our elections. Who can tell if the vote tallies will be affected?
Don't count on the military to remove Trump. The President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. They won't be able to help.
In a world where the President has unlimited power and malignant narcissism, expect the worst. My guess is that Trump will establish himself and family as the present and future rulers of America for the rest of our lifetimes. Why should he stop at himself being the dictator when he could have his family rule as American royalty for as long as Trumps exist.
Am I being too unrealistic and negative? I don't think so. I think Trump is totally capable of making a monarchy out of American democracy.
Who's going to stop him?
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