{"id":23705,"date":"2026-01-14T10:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?page_id=23705"},"modified":"2026-01-14T10:47:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:47:58","slug":"ring-the-alarm-bells-the-ten-rules-of-trumps-authoritarian-playbook","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/connect\/ring-the-alarm-bells-the-ten-rules-of-trumps-authoritarian-playbook\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring the Alarm Bells: The Ten Rules of Trump&#8217;s Authoritarian Playbook"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Authoritarianism&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;down the street or around the corner &#8212; it is here right now. We are at the most perilous moment for our democracy since the Civil War.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0We now have all three ingredients of\u00a0a strongman state\u00a0in the United States:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a rubber-stamp Congress doing the President&#8217;s bidding<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a Supreme Court finding &#8220;invisible ink&#8221; in the Constitution to enhance the President&#8217;s powers; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a power-hungry president behaving like a king, breaking the law and violating the checks and balances of our Constitution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>People think of democracies dying at the hands of men with guns. But, in the modern era, they more often die at the hands of elected officials who erode the separation of powers to solidify a strongman state.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Authoritarianism-Book_January-2026.pdf\"><strong>I outlined the 10 rules of Trump\u2019s authoritarian playbook because&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;critical that we all understand what&nbsp;we\u2019re&nbsp;up against before authoritarian power becomes entrenched.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That will require robust citizen action and an unmistakable rejection of authoritarianism at the next election. Both are essential to restore and revitalize our democracy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Our mission is clear:&nbsp;Let\u2019s&nbsp;save our \u201cWe, The People\u201d republic!<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lo mejor de m\u00ed,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"209\" height=\"70\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/JM-signature-and-text_white.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18655\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/JM-signature-and-text_white.png 209w, https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/JM-signature-and-text_white-18x6.png 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 209px) 100vw, 209px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Authoritarianism-Book_January-2026.pdf\">Download &#8220;Ring the Alarm Bells: The Ten Rules of Trump&#8217;s Authoritarian Playbook&#8221;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authoritarianism&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;down the street or around the corner &#8212; it is here right now. We are at the most perilous moment for our democracy since the Civil War.&nbsp;&nbsp; \u00a0We now have all three ingredients of\u00a0a strongman state\u00a0in the United States:\u00a0\u00a0 People think of democracies dying at the hands of men with guns. But, in the modern [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18844,"parent":10593,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-23705","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ring the Alarm Bells: The Ten Rules of Trump&#039;s Authoritarian Playbook - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/connect\/ring-the-alarm-bells-the-ten-rules-of-trumps-authoritarian-playbook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ring the Alarm Bells: The Ten Rules of Trump&#039;s Authoritarian Playbook - Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Authoritarianism&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;down the street or around the corner &#8212; it is here right now. 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