Trumps first 100 days of Presidency, or : A Textbook example of a takeover

Even though I grew up in Vienna, I am very much emotionally involved in what happens in the USA, as my grandpa and his parents had to rebuild their life there after having to flee Austria under the Nazi dictatorship. My dad grew up in New Jersey, before returning to Austria, curious about where his family originated from. After Musks Nazi salute on stage it was clear to me, that what I am witnessing, is alarming. Almost six months after Donald Trumps inauguration, I feel obliged to speak up, because things went from bad to worse at high speed. It feels like Trump and his team have deliberately jumped from one horrible decision to the next, to make it impossible for people to digest what was happening and to make it harder to react accordingly. After publishing this article, I will not be able to go to the States as long as Trump is in power, because I could just end up in a detention center or a prison in El Salvador, where they put people without legal procedure for months now. Not only that, Trumps administration is talking about suspending “habeas corpus”, the right of defending oneself at court in case of detention - even though legally “habeas corpus” can only be suspended in case of rebellion. Suspending “habeas corpus” means a free ticket to rule without having to answer uncomfortable questions about the whereabouts of critics and other troublemakers. Practically speaking, all Trump needs is an excuse to suspend it, like a riot. It would not be the first time in history, that escalation is propagated to be able to unifiy the power of a former democratic State under one ruling hand. What we see right now, is almost a textbook guide for “how to install a regime”. And I am not alone with this assessment – Jason Stanley, a Yale professor with an expertise on the topic of fascism and author of the book “How fascism works”, is about to leave the US for a position at a Canadian University. He fears, like other intellectuals, that what we see are the beginnings of a fascist regime emerging. Together with Marci Shore and Timothy Snyder, who have a similar topic of research, he spoke up via “The New York Times” to make aware of the dire circumstances. As always, you find the links, the sources and further readings at the end of this article. As in times of terms like “fake news” and the fast progression of AI, sources to cite are more important than ever. So, in this article you are invited to slip into the shoes of a wannabe dictator. I will give a short and incomplete overview of the steps you might want to take to get rid of democracy altogether.

Step 1 - Rebuild the governmental landscape:

Fire uncomfortable people.
Cut down the impact of agencies or close them.
Hollow out the rest.

Not only, that the lawyers connected to the investigation of Donald Trumps criminal charges were fired by Acting Attorney James Mc Henry, as he doubted that they would implement Trumps agenda faithfully, some key figures like the US Archivist Colleen Shogan, Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, or Democratic Federal Elections Committee chair Ellen Weintraub, whose purpose was to oversee federal elections, were also fired. FBI officials involved in the investigation of the Capitol riots had to go, and a list of all FBI agents involved in the investigation was requested by the new government. Trump ordered to shut down all federal DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives and put the staff on paid leave and signed executive orders to curb “gender ideology” and “racial indoctrination”. Trump went on to fire the inspectors general from 17 different federal agencies – without providing reasons. By that, he eliminated the heads of the only independent offices within those agencies, which were designed to ensure the legal use of taxpayer money and prevent corruption. Even though Trump has the power to let inspectors general go, he has to do that with a 30-day notice to Congress, which did not happen.

Some of the fired inspectors general sued the Trump administration over their termination, but the Judge in charge, Ana C. Reyes of the Federal District Court in Washington, refused to reinistate them immediately.

On 20th of January, he established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was tasked with streamlining the Government by implementing something one could subsume under the term “algorithmic governance”. Elon Musk, the “chainsaw of democracy” – wielding tech billionaire, who made the Nazi salute twice on stage – allegedly to “send his heart out to the crowd”, became DOGEs poster child as Trumps senior advisor. DOGE went on to size down federal agencies, cut down on programs, freezing money and firing staff. Tens of thousands of Government employees were fired or put on leave during this process.

Althought some of them were reinstated due to court orders, the legal battle is not over, as the courts decisions could get overthrown again in a legal battle over the legitimacy of DOGEs actions. USAID was only one of the programs that was cut down radically during DOGEs dismantling of the State, meaning that health programs formerly funded do not exist any more, including health programs involved in HIV-prevention medication. You think things cannot get any worse? Then, buckle up, because the company, whose contracts were expanded and will cooperate to implement that “algorithmic governance” is Palantir. CEO of Palantir is Peter Thiel, a republican megadonor, who does not believe, that freedom and Democracy are compatible and would rather prefer a world, where big tech-companies act upon the world, unhindered by democratic processes. No wonder, that former Palantir employees warned in an open letter about the companies normalization of authoritarianism.

Ignore what the court is saying or get rid of the courts power altogether

Of course, as a wannabe dictator, it is a bit of a problem that the courts will undo decisions they will have found to be unlawful. Of course, it is possible to ignore the courts decisions, for example in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to CECOT mega prison in El Salvador completely without justification. And he is not the only one, but later more on this part of the story. Legally, it was a mistake to send him away. The state was found to be responsible for his return, yet nothing had happened for the longest time. The White House claimed, there was nothing they could do to retreive him. Just recently, he was sent back to the States, where he waits for his trial now. But he is not the only one who was sent away.

Ignoring court orders is just a short term solution, as it is still uncomfortable background noise, disturbing the true agenda of unchallenged ruling. So, it would be best to make it almost impossible for the court to be able to exert any control by national injunctions. Section 70302 of what Trump called “The Big Beautiful Bill” aka the Budget Bill, which now is on hold due to the Congress voting on May 17th 2025 basically undermines the courts ability to fight unconstitutional executive orders. Right now, the White House is building up pressure to wave that bill through, as they say that the National Fraternal Order of Police, and others, urge for the quick passing of it. And, as already mentioned, Trump is actively thinking about the suspension of “habeas corpus”, the legal right to battle ones incarceration.

Why not ensure your power by making the process of voting harder accessible?

The Safguard American Voter Eligibility Act is a proposed law, that if passed would require every person to prove U.S. citizenship before registering to vote by providing documents like the birth certificate, a passport or the documents provided after receiving the U.S. citizenship, as well as ID-cards satisfying the Real ID Act. Compared to Austria, where 86% of inhabitants own a valid passport, the number of Americans holding one is estimated at more than 170 million, which is around 49,7% of the 341 million Americans as of May 2025. Which means, that married women, who changed their last name after marriage and whose name on the birth certificate does not match their ID, need to do extra work to be able to vote, as they will need to get a passport or another document to prove their citizenship. The same goes for transgender people, elderly or very young people. According to Emily Burns article on campaignlegal.org, more than 21 million Americans will not be able to access these additional documents.

Step 2- Streamline reality according to your needs:

Support medias yes-men, exclude the others.

By talking a lot of gibberish, like thinking loudly about making Canada the 51st state of the U.S., or making Gaza “the Riviera of the middle east”, you will create a mysterious veil of insecurity about reality itself around you and make it impossible for your opponents to know the next steps you are really about to take. Rename the Golf of Mexico “Golf of America”, to demonstrate your power and ban the media outlets, who do not comply with your new reality immediately.

The AP, Assosiated Press, was excluded from the pool rotation of media outlets who have access to the press conferences in the White House and the Oval Office after refusing to rename the Golf of Mexico due to it’s international business partners. Just as Ap, Reuters and other media were also excluded from the permanent slot of the press pool. AP has batteled this decision, which was confirmed by a federal appeals court. Due to this this ruling, The White House was allowed to exclude media outlets intentionally, which is a fundamental attack on free speech.

Ban books, restrict access to them. Cut grants for education and science, unless compliance to the political agenda is gained.

Pen America, a U.S. organisation fighting censorship and monitoring the banning of books, has documented nearly 16.000 book bans since 2021, and documents those bans in an online list, which is rapidly growing due to conservative forces trying to exert control over what is taught in schools. The new policy responsible for stopping all DEI-programs and initiatives is the ground on which books are getting banned under Trumps administration. Which means, books about diversity, equity and inclusion disappear from libraries across the country and are banned from schools. Recently, Julianne Moores children’s book “Freckleface Strawberry” about a redheaded girl accepting her freckles was suspended for a closer review.

Other books on the list include Margaret Atwoods “The Handmaids tale”, Toni Morrissons “The Bluest Eye” , Art Spiegelmans Graphic novel about the Holocaust “Maus 1: A Survivors Tale”, Maya Angelous autobiography “I know why the caged bird sings” and also books like “LGBTQ Families: The Ultimate Teen Guide” or “The Friendship Code (Girls Who Code Series)”. A book by Carla Mooney titled “Should abortion be legal?” is also banned. But unsurprisingly so, as the constitutional right to abortion was eliminated in 2022 and 19 States have banned or severely restricted the access, with dire consequences. Pregnant women with health complications of some sort, for example the loss of a child mid term or other severe health risks, are denied help, because doctors fear getting sued. Looking at the list, one could conclude, that anything that is different than the conservative right wing canon of “how to be” will be banned, eventually.

But, Trumps administration is not only actively banning books that interfere with his crusade against DEI-content, but also removes words from the internet which are deemed “too DEI” and cuts funding for scientific papers using restricted words and phrases. The list of collected words which are flagged by federal agencies include words like “gay” (which made the Defense Department erase pictures of the World War 2 aircraft Enola Gay), but also “abortion”, “activism”, “anti-racism”, “Black”, “black and latinx” and “climate change”. The list goes on and is comprised by more than 200 words and phrases. Sharon Strickland, an official at the Department of Agriculture, sent a Mail with words restricted from submission, which was eventually leaked and include words like “climate change”, “clean water” “people of color”, “gender”, climate science” and “carbon markets”, just to mention a few. For all readers who are interested in the whole list, please check the sources for further info. Scientists, who are researching topicks including womens health, black history, climate change and other areas deemed “too DEI” will have a hard time getting funds for their research.

Making things even worse, Schools and Universities with federal grants and contracts, like Harvard and Princeton, are targeted by Trumps team in an attempt to stop unwanted theories being taught. After pro-Palestinian protests on campuses last year, Harvard and other Universities are deemed a breeding-ground for Anti-Semitism by the government. Even though, Anti-Semitism is on the rise, being called Anti-Semitic because of criticising the War in Gaza is mixing up two things and does not help the cause. One is hatred against jewish members of the community, the other is critique against a devastating war. The letter the government sent to Harvard is online for everyone to read. There, the government wants Harvard to share all staff and students admissions data to certify that they are no enemies of the State and the “Discontinuation of DEI. The University must immediately shutter all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives, under whatever name, and stop all DEI-based policies, including DEI-based disciplinary or speech control policies, under whatever name; demonstrate that it has done so to the satisfaction of the federal government; and demonstrate to the satisfaction of the federal government that these reforms are durable and effective through structural and personnel changes”.
(source:https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Letter-Sent-to-Harvard-2025-04-11.pdf
page 3, accessed on 9th of June 2025)

All these changes would have to be shared with the government for audit and certified by deans of admissions. Harvard declined, other Universities, like Columbia University, obeyed. In total, over 50 Universities are investigated for propagating DEI and “excluding white and Asian American students” .

Step 3 - Create a cult around your person as the leader figure:

Put Christian fundamentalism into the mix

Not only that Donald Trump is seen as some sort of a hero for the QAnon-conspiracy theorists who “makes America great again”, he also signed an executive order to form a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” inside the Government and established The White House Faith Office, which replaced the former White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, established during George W. Bush.

Paula White-Cain, a conservative Christian televangelist, has the lead in this faith office now. In 2020, she prophesized, that demonic forces are about to steal Trumps election, which certainly played a role in the attack on the capitol in January 2021, where five people died. in the first week of his presidency, he pardoned around 1500 defendants who were involved in the attack of the Capitol in January of 2021. Now, in 2025, after Trumps reelection, Whites job as the head of the Faith office is making recommendations to the president and to agencies. She was criticized after selling easter blessings and supernatural gifts on TV for only 1000 Dollars, which include a personal angel, the promise of prosperity, a long life and “a special year of blessing”. But it’s not as if you would send your money without getting something physical. The blessings come with a 10-inch crystal cross, for you to be able remind yourself where the money went. Paula White is convinced, that Trump is chosen by God to do his work. And she is not alone with this belief. Other Evangelists like Franklin Graham and Hank Kunneman, also a TV evangelist, describe Trump as “being chosen by god”. Which means, when you are against him, it is for devilish reasons.

source:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114588777076099501%20Read%20more%20at:%20https:,
accessed on 01.06.25, 18:47

Noone knows whether or not Trump himself believes in his godly mission – at least, it suits his grandiose self perception.
As he posted this picture on 29th of May 2025.

Earn money for your lavish dictator lifestyle and let your followers earn money, too:

Trumps tariffs could fill another book and will inspire scientific papers, for sure. We can talk about the rising prices for the population for example. But, wouldn’t it be a cool thing to know, when the best time to buy and sell would be? Hours before putting a 90-day pause on the implemented tariffs, the President of the United States himself, posted a “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” on his account on truthsocial.com.

source: https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114308272725981913,
screenshot taken on 9th of June, 2025

People, who took his advice, made tons of money. Insider trading accusations by Democratic senators were soon to follow, as Trump himself was not shy to comment on how much money people he knew made during the pause of the tariffs. Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Trumps social media platform “Truth Social”, made a huge win on this day.

Step 4 - Create “THE OTHER” as a scapegoat, spread seedlings of fear by snatching people away in broad daylight.

As a presidential candidate, Trump promised the largest deportation of illegal immigrants ever undertaken, as he sees them “poisoning the blood of our country”. This quote is from a rally in New Hampshire in December 2023. An estimated 13 to 14 million immigrants with no or with a temporary status are currently in the US. Trump made it clear, that he will make them leave. Under the expedited removal program, people can get deported without due process, if it is established that they came to the USA without immigration documents and have been in the States for less than two years. In these cases, they can be removed by “United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement”, aka ICE-agents without appearing in front of a court. ICE raids were undertaken in big cities, in broad daylight and everywhere – people were taken away in shops, at schools and on the streets, on their way to volleyball practice or after their routine immigration hearing. Students and academics on visas and green cards were detained, allegedly over pro-Palestinian protests, but also for other reasons. Mahmoud Khalil and Rümseya Öztürk are only two of many students and academics to be mentioned here.

Along with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to CECOT mega prison in El Salvador, more than 230 Venezuelan men were sent there. After having some trouble with a federal judge trying to stop the flights, Trump resorted to a 1798 wartime law called “Alien Enemies Act”, which allows presidents to detain or deport people from enemy countries. After being called illegal by some courts, judge Stephanie Haines allowed the use of the Alien Enemies Act as a legal means to proceed with the deportations. But it’s not only people from El Salvador who will be sent to the mega prison. The Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, that El Salvador will host illegal immigrants of every country. And El Salvadors President Nayib Bukele has also offered to host dangerous American criminals as well.

In all this hustle and bustle, legal U.S. citizens who look like “the other”, speak Spanish or cannot show the ICE-agents the demanded documents, might be detained as well – which already happened numerous times. At the moment, protests and demonstrations against the ICE-raids flared up all over the country. All eyes are on L.A. now, as Trump ordered National Guard troops to be deployed to Los Angeles without the request of the Californian governor, after three days of anti-ICE protest. Some argue, that Trump profits from escalating the situation, from probably sending National Guard troops into other cities as well. This would be an opportunity to gather all the power. Even though Californian officials plan to sue Trump due to ignoring the chain of command, history is written by the minute, as I try to document what is happening right now.

source:https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump?gsid=9dc8aa70-9ad0-43a9-b40c-b3145f223e2e, accessed on 9th of June 2025

Not only am I concerned for the people in the States that experience repression, I also fear what other political bullies will feel free to do, because Trump got away with it. The scale of things that can be said without even flinching an eye is worrying. The rights of minorities, transgender people and women are no given any longer. In an endless war, we have to defend what we thought was already a solid base to build upon. In times of “Alpha Males” and “Trad wives”, I feel the urge to hold against it, with being true to myself as an individual. All over Europe, we experience conservative forces getting stronger. I stand in solidarity with all people who experience repressions. Neither do I want to, nor do I intend to live in a world, where the public bullying and persecution of minorities is no longer immoral, but justified due to a complex of Christian and political conservatism.

As it is simply wrong. And we have already seen where it leads to.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
– Martin Niemöller