Trump doesn’t care about the polls. Why would he? Polls only matter if you hold elections. And what if you don’t? The great liberal delusion, that democracy is inevitable, that institutions self-correct, that the system will somehow save itself, has now collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions. Trump’s second presidency isn’t just an assault on democracy; it’s the confirmation that, for the dominant class, democracy is no longer necessary.
The signs were there from the start. His supporters cheered when he said he’d only be a dictator “on day one.” They knew better. From the purges of the civil service under DOGE and Project 2025 to the promise of mass internments under the Alien Enemies Act, the agenda has been clear: state power in service of capital, without the inconvenience of public consent. Elections were tolerated as long as they delivered the right results. Now that they threaten the order of things, they can be ignored, repressed, or, failing that, rigged.
This is not a personalist dictatorship, nor a coup in the classical sense. The old model, one man seizing power, abolishing elections, declaring himself ruler for life, has been replaced by something far more insidious. Trump doesn’t need to dissolve Congress; he just needs to render it irrelevant. He doesn’t need to ban elections; he only needs to ensure they no longer matter. The judiciary, once a minor obstacle, has been reshaped to his will. State legislatures, primed for decades by voter suppression laws, will do their part. The infrastructure of American democracy is being gutted from within.
And who, exactly, will stop this? The Democrats, paralysed by nostalgia for a system that no longer functions? The courts, stacked with Federalist Society ideologues who see in Trump the perfect vehicle for their counter-revolution? The press, locked in its cycle of outrage and amnesia, always a step behind?
The truth is, Trump is not the cause but the symptom. The American dominant class has long since lost faith in democracy as a means of governing. It was always a tool, an instrument for managing class antagonism while maintaining order. The façade was tolerated when it was useful. But now? Now, they have a more efficient model: a state that serves capital directly, without the hassle of popular legitimacy.
The only question left is how long the pretence lasts. There will still be elections, of course. But elections are only a problem if they’re capable of removing those in power. When they no longer serve that function, when they become, as in Russia, as in Hungary, as in Turkey, merely decorative, the illusion of choice remains, but the result is never in doubt. Trump doesn’t need to cancel the next election. He just needs to ensure that, when it comes, it won’t matter.
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