The United States is at risk of losing its democracy due to its president, Donald Trump. Many are concerned with the fact that Trump is showing signs of wanting to get rid of democracy. A lot of the ideas president Trump proposes don’t align with the democratic ideals America was built on. This is rather seen as democratic backsliding, making not only the citizens of the US worry but also outsiders. Trump’s presidential agenda seems to be undemocratic and in a way protects and prioritizes the elites. 

One of the reasons America’s democracy is under threat is because president Trump has a semi populist idea of thinking, which he then implements into his presidential agenda. For example he has tried to undermine political institutions, Trump has tried to go around what the branches of government have told him and failed. Another example of Trump having a populist approach is that he is anti-pluralist in a way because he thinks that he alone can “fix” America’s problems. He also thinks that if one is offending him or opposing what he thinks is best for America, then they are a threat to America and are the enemies. Populists also think like this, they want their country to see them as the best and don’t want anyone to criticize them. If anyone criticizes them they shame the person or organization saying that they are threats to the country and the “enemies of the people.” Although Trump doesn’t seem to be anti-elite which is another component of Populism he does show some signs of populism in his way of governing. In, “How Democracies Die?” Ziblatt talks about how those political figures who adopt a more populist approach usually put democracy in their countries in jeopardy. Often leading to democratic erosion in those countries or backsliding. 

There are various examples: he tried to silence the media, threatened to stop funding states who opposed his agenda, and in the 2020 election where he lost but claimed that it was unfair. This ultimately ended up making his supporters storm the White House. Trump also tried to get rid of birthright citizenship claiming that this was a way immigrants were getting  the resources that are for American citizens. This goes against the constitution and was seen as a major indicator of democratic erosion in the US.  Trump trying to silence the media was seen as unconstitutional because it goes against the First Amendment showing democratic backsliding. The president threatening to stop funding states shows an interference with checks and balances that a democracy has embedded in its constitution. In the 2020 election, in which he lost he told his supporters that the elections were rigged, this shows how he wasn’t treating elections with respect. In a democracy all opponents regardless of their beliefs need to be seen as legitimate opponents. In this case Trump made it seem to his opponents that the whole election was fraud delegitimizing his opponent by making it seem like it would be impossible for them to win. 

This is proof that ever since president Trump has entered office America’s democracy is at risk.

Sources: 

Müller, Jan-Werner.2016. What Is Populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press

Lieberman, Robert C., Suzanne Mettler, Thomas B. Pepinsky, Kenneth M.Roberts, & Richard Valelly. “The Trump Presidency and American Democracy:A Historical and Comparative Analysis.” Perspectives on Politics