Trump’s Authoritarianism Is A Symptom— Totalitarianism And Oligarchy Are The Disease

Last night, when Chip Cutter and Amrith Ramkumar reported that Señor TACO had publicly called for the resignation of Intel’s CEO— without evidence of wrongdoing— it marked another milestone in the authoritarian drift that has come to define his and his regime’s political DNA. Trump’s command-and-control approach now extends far beyond political appointees and compliant judges; it’s seeping into the fabric of American capitalism itself. He’s told car companies not to raise prices, bullied banks into doing business with his allies and offered tariff exemptions to tech companies in exchange for political obedience (and a chunk of gold). He even gave himself a “golden share” in the U.S. Steel merger, granting presidential veto power over plant closures.

This is more economic coercion than it is economic policy— the kind of behavior we associate with authoritarian regimes, like Putin’s or Orban’s, where political loyalty dictates corporate survival. And Trump doesn’t hide it. He boasts about punishing his enemies and rewarding sycophants. He attacks CEOs, journalists, lawyers, university administrators, researchers and entire industries if they refuse to fall in line. To put it mildly, that sure ain’t the behavior of a president committed to the Constitution. That’s a man using the power of the state to build a patronage machine with himself at the center. This is  totalitarianism, defined by an insistence on total authority over all aspects of society— economy, culture, speech, education, information flow and even personal belief.

The danger lies in the chilling message this sends: that CEOs and corporations must please not just shareholders and customers, but a volatile, politically motivated president. As Cutter and Ramkumar point out, some companies have tried to avoid Trump’s wrath through public flattery or hiring lobbyists with Trumpworld ties, behavior reminiscent of how elites navigate the whims of strongmen in the other totalitarian countries Trump admires. This isn’t just about Trump being “unconventional.” It’s about a president leveraging the power of the state to enforce personal political preferences, to punish enemies and reward allies, and to shape the economy through fear and coercion rather than law and policy. When private companies start adjusting their leadership, investments or even sweetening formulas to avoid public rebuke from the White House, it’s no longer a free-market democracy— it’s a command economy governed by a single man’s political imperatives.

Which makes the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey worth paying attention to. In April, voters were nearly evenly split on whether they preferred a Republican or Democratic Congress. Now, support for Democratic control has ticked up to 49%, the highest for Democrats since 2021, while support for Republican control has slipped to 44%. It’s a dramatic shift. Americans are starting to understand that handing unchecked power to someone like Trump isn't just risky, it’s existential. The fear is no longer abstract; it’s material. CEOs and workers alike are realizing that empowering the Republicans will mean living under a government where one man decides, for example, which industries survive and which get crushed.

And yet, the Democratic Party cannot afford to mistake that growing polling edge for a mandate. It is not enough to be the party that promises to slow the decline. As Evelyn Quartz documented in her dispatch from Montana, where AOC and Bernie drew thousands in a so-called red state, the hunger out West is not for more cautious messaging or procedural defenses of democracy. It’s for a politics that actually fights. AOC’s words— “Donald Trump is not a fluke, he is the inevitable conclusion of a political system dominated by big money”— cut to the heart of the issue. If Democrats want to defeat Trump, they have to defeat the system that created him.

That system is bipartisan, and so is the blame. For decades— certainly since Clinton and Rahm were in the White House— the Democratic Party has been trading its working-class roots for technocratic expertise and donor-class safety. In doing so, it left entire regions of the country— especially in the West— exposed to a right-wing demagogue offering scapegoats and empty strength. What Bernie and AOC were offering is something much harder to co-opt: a structural analysis paired with real organizing power. The “Fighting Oligarchy” tour isn’t about nostalgia— it’s about renewal. It’s about rebuilding a politics of solidarity where working people are not demographics to be triangulated, but the very foundation of political power.

At the Montana rally, labor wasn’t window dressing—it was the core. From Sara Nelson’s fiery invocation of Dr. King’s economic justice legacy to AOC’s personal story of struggle and survival, the message was clear: democracy and economic dignity are inseparable. “Nothing can move without our labor,” Nelson said, “and it’s time to exercise our power.” Forget the branding— we’re talking about a movement grounded in reality. And it’s showing up in places the Democratic establishment wrote off: Bakersfield, Tulsa, Shreveport, McAllen, Folsom, Amarillo, Nampa, Wheeling… Not progressive enclaves— just working-class cities outside the glow of coastal wealth, where people have been waiting far too long to be seen and believed.

In a classic totalitarian move this morning, Trump had his lackeys at the DoJ subpoena the office of Leticia James, new York’s Attorney General, opening an investigation into one of his longtime adversaries. Again, this is how totalitarian regimes operate: by weaponizing the tools of the state not to uphold the law, but to crush political opponents. When authoritarian leaders feel threatened, they don't engage in debate; they retaliate. The point is intimidation not “justice.” Subpoenaing Letitia James isn’t about uncovering wrongdoing as much as it’s about sending a message to any prosecutor, judge or official who might dare hold Trump accountable: fall in line or face the machinery of state power turned against you.

Democracy will not be saved by clinging to the status quo. It won’t be saved by defending institutions that have long failed the majority of Americans. It will be saved by challenging the oligarchic forces that hollowed those institutions out— and by building a new politics capable of taking them on. The party doesn’t need a new slogan. It needs a moral reckoning. It needs to decide whether it will remain a caretaker of decline, or finally become a vehicle for transformation. Because the threat isn’t just Trump’s authoritarianism— it’s a hollow center incapable of confronting it.

Please believe me when I say that this isn’t just about words but also about building political power that can push back against oligarchy and totalitarianism. Blue America’s “Flip Congress” campaign supports bold, progressive candidates in red and purple districts, people who aren’t beholden to donors or “safe” messaging or help from the DCCC, but committed to fighting for working families. If you believe in a politics grounded in solidarity, not spectacle… if you think democracy needs more than defense— it needs transformation— join us and contribute here: Support Progressive Candidates Fighting Oligarchy. Together, we can build the power that Trump fears— and that democracy that’s our birthright.