Trump Is Not Hitler: He’s Something Uniquely American—and Equally Dangerous
How one man exploits American myth, media, and apathy to dismantle democracy from the inside out.
By Dino Alonso
The Misleading Comfort of Historical Comparison
To say that Donald Trump is not Hitler is both accurate and insufficient. It has become a kind of deflection—a rhetorical fire extinguisher that dampens justified alarms. “He hasn't built death camps,” some argue. “He hasn't suspended elections.” But the absence of totalitarian horror does not negate the presence of authoritarian corruption. Trump is not Hitler. He is something more insidious to a nation like the United States: a sociopathic autocrat forged in the image of American celebrity, capitalism, and injustice. He isn’t aiming to recreate the 1930s. He’s exploiting the dysfunctions of the 2020s to dismantle democratic protections. And he’s doing it openly.
This analysis relies not on hyperbole or borrowed fear, but on evidence—from Trump’s second term and the overlooked warnings of his first. Each example illustrates not a resemblance to historical fascists, but a precise alignment with characteristics long associated with autocrats, cults of personality, and sociopathic demagogues. The goal here is clarity, not grievance recognition, not repetition.
The Autocrat: Rule by Loyalty, Not Law
In the early months of Trump’s second term, one of his first significant moves was to pressure the Department of Justice to end its investigation into his finances and those of his family. When resistance emerged, a loyalist Attorney General was installed, who promptly reassigned or removed dozens of career prosecutors. Civil rights investigations into voting access in key swing states were shelved. Political donors were appointed to judicial nomination committees.
This was no anomaly. It echoed the first-term purge of inspectors general across federal agencies, particularly after Trump’s first impeachment. At the time, it was widely dismissed as political showmanship. But those removals cleared the path for more extreme actions later: a DOJ that functioned less as a justice department and more as a personal legal defense team.
This mirrors the practices of figures like Viktor Orbán and Rodrigo Duterte, who similarly restructured their legal institutions to protect personal interests. The rule of law in these systems no longer functions as a safeguard—it is wielded as an instrument of domination.
The Delusional Egoist: Reality as Mirror, Truth as Threat
In March 2025, Trump declared in a televised address that any media outlet “intentionally spreading disinformation” about his administration would be subject to “review of their license status.” Shortly afterward, local affiliates of major networks received warning letters from a newly restructured FCC, citing “inflammatory bias.”
The precedent had already been set. In his first term, Trump labeled the press the “enemy of the people,” revoked press credentials from reporters who challenged him, and threatened media companies with regulatory scrutiny. The chilling effect was not just intentional—it was strategic.
By the second term, media suppression had become policy. Government grants to journalism nonprofits were frozen. Public broadcasters saw their budgets slashed. Fact-checking groups were subjected to federal audits. In such systems, truth is not merely inconvenient—it becomes incompatible. Reality must align with narrative, or be silenced.
The Bully: Power as Punishment
In May 2025, after governors in several states refused to implement a federally directed curriculum removing references to systemic racism and LGBTQ+ rights, the Department of Education slashed federal funding to those states. Trump referred to their leaders as “un-American Marxists” and suggested federal civil rights investigations be opened against them.
This is an extension of a well-established pattern. In 2017, federal funds were threatened in response to protests at UC Berkeley. In 2019, hurricane aid to Puerto Rico was delayed, while the president mocked its leadership. In 2020, peaceful protestors were forcibly dispersed near the White House for a photo opportunity.
Power, in this construct, is not about guiding a nation. It is about enforcing submission. Disobedience is met not with dialogue, but with retribution. The public nature of the punishment is not accidental—it is the salient purpose.
The Cult Leader: Loyalty as Identity
By July 2025, Trump launched a national “Patriots First” voter registration campaign. It quickly evolved into a loyalty census. Supporters were encouraged to sign a “Pledge to America,” affirming the belief that the 2020 and 2024 elections had been “stolen by globalist interests.”
The groundwork had been laid years earlier. Loyalty oaths, while unofficial, were routine in Trump’s first term. Officials like Rex Tillerson were reportedly required to affirm allegiance personally. Republicans feared Trump’s wrath more than public accountability. Liz Cheney’s political demise became a symbol of what awaited dissenters.
By 2025, ideological screening was introduced into federal contract bidding. Civil service protections eroded, allowing appointees to dismiss staff for “mission misalignment.” Political loyalty was no longer expected—it was monitored. This is not party politics. It is ideological purification.
The Ideologue of Self: Policy as Theater, Governance as a Brand
In August 2025, a sweeping executive order was signed to “eliminate woke influence” from all federal grant recipients. The text was vague, the targets ambiguous—but the visuals were unmistakable: American flags, veterans, choirs, and a prime-time broadcast.
This type of governance has precedent. In 2017, there were multiple “Infrastructure Weeks” with no policy output. In 2019, the “1776 Commission” was launched to combat the 1619 Project, producing a widely criticized report, yet serving its performative purpose.
The model resembles Silvio Berlusconi’s—a blend of politics and pageantry. In this framework, the government is not an instrument of service. It is a brand. A series of curated moments aimed not at solutions but sentiment. Spectacle becomes a substitute for substance, meaning, and purpose.
The Sociopath: Power Without Empathy, Action Without Remorse
Perhaps the most dangerous trait on display is not what Trump believes, but what he lacks. The hallmark of a sociopath is not just manipulation, deceit, or grandiosity. It’s the inability to feel guilt, shame, or empathy. In clinical terms, this is Antisocial Personality Disorder, and it maps closely to Trump’s public behavior.
In the first term, a disabled reporter was mocked. Families were separated at the border as a “deterrent policy.” The COVID pandemic was minimized and monetized with false cures. His second term removed the guardrails.
Climate disasters in the Midwest were met with tweets about golf scores. Cuts to VA programs were met with accusations that veterans’ groups had been infiltrated by “radicals.” Hate crimes were deflected or blamed on “agitators.” This isn’t narcissism—it’s antisocial governance: no empathy, no remorse, no accountability. In such a system, leadership is not guided by morality. It’s driven by domination and the thrill of impunity.
The Danger Is Not Who He Is. It’s What Is Tolerated.
Trump is not Hitler. But he is dangerous, not despite that fact, because of it. Hitler was a horror studied in hindsight. Trump is a corrosion unfolding in real time. This is not fascism at full speed. It is authoritarianism assembled brick by brick.
He is not an invader. He is the insider with the keys to every room. He exploits the very freedoms designed to protect a republic to destabilize it.
The mistake would be waiting for a breaking point that feels like tyranny. Trump’s tyranny arrives with a smile and a signature, not with violence.
The accurate measure is not how much he resembles the worst figures of the past, but whether this generation becomes the next tragic example of how democracies fall.
Tick-tock, people. The jackal is in the window, his sights are set, the rifle ready, and the target is everything you hold dear.
Further Reading:
Now Selling: One Slightly Used Department of Justice (Holy Water Not Included)
How Democracy Dies—And How We Refuse to Let It
The Train to Tyranny: When ICE Boarded in Montana
Sources
“Trump Uses Mass Firing to Remove Independent Inspectors General at a Series of Agencies.” Federal News Network, January 2025.
“Trump DOJ: Pam Bondi Accused of Turning Justice Department into Shield for President’s Allies.” The Guardian, May 2025.
“Trump Signs Executive Order to Cut Funding for Public Broadcasters.” The Guardian, May 2, 2025.
“Patsy Widakuswara of Voice of America Sues Trump Administration Over Free Press Violations.” The Guardian, May 5, 2025.
“What’s Next for Elections Under the Project 2025 Agenda.” Brennan Center for Justice, April 2025.
“A Look at Trump Inauguration Donors and Their Government Appointments.” The Washington Post, 2025.
The New York Times, CNN, and the Associated Press (various articles referencing events such as mocking a disabled reporter, family separations, and COVID-19 misinformation during the first term)