Trump’s checklist for establishing a fascist government (Part IV)

Crikey has been cataloguing the concrete actions of US President Donald Trump’s second administration that resemble those of regimes generally considered to be fascist.

Events in the past few days have necessitated a fourth instalment. You can read Part 1, Part II and Part III here.

States of emergency

Over the past 24 hours, US National Guard troops have begun appearing on the streets of Washington, DC. Trump deployed the troops to the city to fight the apparent “bloodthirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth” assailing the nation’s capital. He has also superseded the local mayor and law enforcement — powers he has because DC is not a state.

The pretext was an alleged attack on a former employee of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) for which two 15-year-olds have been arrested and charged with “unarmed carjacking”, according to DC police.

Despite Trump’s claims, violent crime in Washington is in fact on track to hit a 30-year low — something the US president crowed about as recently as May when he said: “Crime is down in Washington DC, street crime, violent crime by 25%.”

Targets so far have included the district’s homeless population, as well as a man who called a group of police officers “fascists” and threw a sandwich at them.

“He thought it was funny,” DC’s US attorney Jeanine Pirro announced in a video posted on X. “Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today because we charged him with a felony: assault on a police officer.” Pirro is a former Fox News host who repeatedly promoted on her show the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, and is one of many loyalists appointed by the Trump administration.

Trump has indicated he intends to continue the deployment of troops longer than the 30 day limit usually in place without congressional approval, and that he may attempt the same in other cities.

In June he deployed the California National Guard against protestors in Los Angeles, whom he called “professional agitators” and “insurrectionists” who “should be in jail”. He has been talking about turning the army on his citizens since his first term.

Cultural life and reality

It was on Monday that Trump announced the deployment of National Guard troops to Washington. On Tuesday, he announced the White House would conduct a comprehensive review of the Smithsonian museums ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The purpose? “To ensure the museums align with President Trump’s interpretation of American history”.

Earlier this month, the Smithsonian Institution said it would restore information about Trump’s two impeachments to its exhibits, having removed it in July for a “content review”. The institution insisted at the time that it was “not asked by any administration or other government official to remove content from the exhibit”.

Trump has previously purged the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts of 18 members appointed by Democratic predecessors and installed himself as chair. He has issued a list of books, or chapters from books, to be immediately pulled from Department of Defence schools.

Support for human rights (abusers)

Also on Tuesday, the US State Department released its annual report on global human rights practices. It was delayed for several months as Trump’s appointees rewrote the draft that had been left for them by the Biden administration.

The report greatly softens criticism of Israel and El Salvador, the leaderships of which have been greatly amenable to Trump since his second election.

Further, according to The Atlanticthe re-draft removed “observations about rape and violence against women … references to corruption, restrictions on free and fair elections, rights to a fair trial, and the harassment of human-rights organisations” and does not address “systemic discrimination against gay or trans people”.

The report, meanwhile, accuses Germany of “significant human rights issues”, including “restrictions on freedom of expression” because of its hate speech law, including bans on Nazi propaganda.

Cult of personality

While the examples of the cult of personality around Trump are too numerous — and too connected to rhetoric rather than action — to be notable in the usual run of things, this one bleeds into concrete effects.

This week it was revealed that the US Agriculture Department spent thousands of dollars on giant banners of Trump’s face at the same time it was cutting aid to schools and food banks.