Historical Parallels Update: Trump’s Escalating Authoritarian Agenda (September 2025) – A Report UDPATE

Historical Parallels Update: Trump’s Escalating Authoritarian Agenda (September 2025)

Since February 2025, when DrWeb’s Domain original series analyzed the disturbing parallels between Trump’s tactics and historical authoritarian movements, the situation has dramatically deteriorated. The developments over the past seven months demonstrate an acceleration of authoritarian behavior that mirrors the systematic dismantling of democratic institutions documented in our earlier work.rollingstone+2

Updating: Analysis of Historical Parallels Between Trump Supporters and Nazi Actions

Media Suppression and Control of Information

The Trump administration has escalated its attacks on press freedom to unprecedented levels. Following the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, the administration threatened to revoke broadcast licenses of networks that continued airing Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, successfully forcing him off the air. This represents a direct parallel to Nazi tactics of controlling information flow and eliminating critical voices.nytimes+1

The administration has also pursued a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which was recently dismissed by a federal judge as “decidedly improper and impermissible”. This weaponization of the legal system against press outlets echoes the systematic targeting of independent media that characterized authoritarian regimes in 1930s Germany.cnn+1

Targeting Political Opposition

Trump has ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, demonstrating the weaponization of federal law enforcement against state officials who have opposed him. This represents a direct assault on federalism and mirrors how Nazi Germany systematically eliminated local opposition leaders.democracydocket

The administration has threatened to eliminate the tax-exempt status of liberal nonprofits and urged imprisonment of leftist activists who protested during Trump’s public appearances. These tactics parallel the Nazi strategy of criminalizing political opposition and civil society organizations.democracydocket+1

Updating: Contemporary Analysis of Authoritarian Power Grabs

Executive Aggrandizement and Institutional Capture

Trump has systematically dismantled executive constraints on presidential power while asserting dominance over judicial and legislative branches. The administration has fired thousands of federal workers and replaced them with loyalists, creating what scholars describe as an “integrated, systematic attempt at executive aggrandizement”.carnegieendowment

The Supreme Court has become increasingly compliant with Trump’s agenda, granting multiple emergency stays in favor of the administration. In the case of Perdomo v. Noem, the Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the Trump administration, allowing DHS to continue controversial immigration operations.nga+1

Military Deployment Against Citizens

Trump has dispatched National Guard units to Los Angeles and Washington while identifying other Democratic-led cities as potential targets for military action. He has openly threatened a military incursion into Chicago and utilized masked, unidentifiable operatives in immigration enforcement. These deployments represent the authoritarian use of military force against civilian populations, a hallmark of fascist regimes.theconversation+1

Updating: Judicial Response and Court Complicity

Federal Courts Under Attack

The Trump administration has sued all 15 federal judges in Maryland in an unprecedented assault on judicial independence. Judge Thomas Cullen, ironically a Trump appointee, dismissed the lawsuit as “novel and potentially calamitous” and criticized the administration’s “systematic effort to discredit and undermine judges”.nytimes+1

Federal judges have been labeled by Trump officials as “left-wing,” “liberal,” “radical,” “political,” “unhinged,” “outrageous,” and worse. This systematic campaign to delegitimize the judiciary mirrors how German courts were undermined in the 1930s.cnn+1

Supreme Court Enabling Authoritarianism

The Supreme Court has increasingly enabled Trump’s authoritarian agenda through its emergency (shadow) docket. The Court has granted stays allowing the administration to fire federal officials, continue mass deportations, and implement controversial policies. This represents a concerning pattern of judicial deference to executive power that parallels how German courts gradually accommodated Nazi legal theories.dhs+1

Updating: New Attacks on Democracy

Electoral Manipulation

The administration has issued executive orders requiring proof of citizenship to vote and directed DHS to review state voter registration lists. The Department of Justice has demanded voter registration records from at least fifteen states while dropping all voting rights cases initiated before Trump took office.carnegieendowment

Trump has urged Texas Republicans to redraw congressional districts to switch five Democrat-held seats to Republicans, representing direct interference in state electoral processes.democracydocket+1

Criminalizing Dissent

The administration has moved to classify “antifa” as a terrorist organization while threatening to deport lawful U.S. residents for criticizing Israeli actions in Palestine. This criminalization of political dissent follows the authoritarian playbook of expanding the definition of terrorism to include legitimate political opposition.rollingstone

Climate of Fear

Political scientists report that Trump’s continuous rhetoric labeling opponents as “evil,” “enemies,” “criminals,” and “lunatics,” combined with tangible punishment, has created “a climate of political fear unprecedented in modern American history”. This systematically undermines the democratic norm of loyal opposition.carnegieendowment

Conclusion: Democracy Under Siege

The developments since February 2025 demonstrate that Trump’s authoritarian project has accelerated beyond the warning signs identified in our original series. A survey of over 500 political scientists found that the vast majority believe the United States is moving swiftly from liberal democracy toward authoritarianism.npr+1

The parallels to 1930s Germany are no longer theoretical warnings but present realities. As one scholar noted, regarding democratic erosion, “there are no clear boundaries… people typically discover their situation after it has changed”. The evidence suggests that critical threshold may have already been crossed.theconversation+1

Links to Original Posts:

• Analysis of Historical Parallels Between Trump Supporters and Nazi
• Historical and Contemporary Analysis of Authoritarian Power Grabs
• Historical Precedents for Preventing Authoritarian Rule
• How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days

Bibliography

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23. https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/
24. https://www.nilc.org/resources/trumps-authoritarian-playbook/
25. https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/09/what-the-trump-administration-wants-from-the-supreme-court-this-term/
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27. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf
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Analysis: Kimmel suspension shows how Trump is unapologetically embracing the heavy hand of government – CNN Politics

What Kimmel shows: Trump is unapologetically embracing the heavy hand of government

Analysis byAaron Blake, 2 hr ago

So, it appears this is the satire, wit, and humor that got Kimmel taken off the air: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.

President Donald Trump arrives by helicopter in Aylesbury, England, on September 18.Leon Neal / Getty Images

ABC’s decision to sideline Jimmy Kimmel amid pressure from the Trump administration has led to all kinds of predictable whataboutism from those defending it.

What about the time the Biden administration urged social media companies to remove Covid-19 misinformation, which critics argued carried an implied threat of government retribution? What about when the IRS under Barack Obama targeted conservative groups? Isn’t turnabout fair play?

There are a couple very important differences, though.

One is that that the Trump administration has been extraordinarily brazen about its efforts to pressure and threaten ABC. There’s no real subtlety to it at all.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said Kimmel’s comments appeared to be “some of the sickest conduct possible” and warned ABC could lose its broadcast license if it didn’t move against the talkshow host.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr told podcaster Benny Johnson before Kimmel’s suspension.

The other difference is that the administration appears … quite eager to take credit. Though President Donald Trump on Thursday cast ABC’s decision as being about ratings, he and the FCC chair haven’t exactly disowned their role to avoid looking like Big Brother cracking down on disfavored speech. Rather, they have celebrated Kimmel’s suspension and seemed to embrace the idea that they were instrumental in getting him off the air.

This has become a trend. Over and over again, Trump and his administration have shrugged off concerns about weaponizing the government against his critics and hailed their ability to bring institutions like Disney’s ABC to heel.

They seem to desire the strongman narrative – even if it means opening themselves up to criticism that they’re weaponizing the government in exactly the way they always talk about their opponents doing.

The confluence of events Wednesday was remarkable.

Despite some efforts on the right to pretend this was just ABC responding to organic market forces, Carr essentially laid the roadmap.

Jimmy Kimmel performs onstage at an event in Las Vegas on February 22. Bryan Steffy /Getty Images

The controversy began after Kimmel made a joke Monday about Trump’s response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel also joked that Trump didn’t appear particularly sad in the aftermath of Kirk’s death.

Carr zeroed in on Kimmel’s comment about the “MAGA gang,” saying the host appeared to be trying to “play into that narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican motivated person” — something that was unfounded at the time and has been has been undermined by new evidence. He set about seeking very specific action.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Analysis: Kimmel suspension shows how Trump is unapologetically embracing the heavy hand of government | CNN Politics

#1984 #2025 #ABC #America #BigBrother #Censorship #CNN #DonaldTrump #Education #FCC #FederalCommunicationsCommission #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #Health #History #JimmyKimmel #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #MAGAGang #Opinion #Politics #Resistance #Science #Suspension #Television #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates