analysis

A year ago, Donald Trump won the US presidential election. Since then, he has focused on a radical concentration of power and the politicization of all state institutions. Trust in the rule of law is at an all-time low.

All power to the White House – Donald Trump put this concept into practice a year after the US election. Using executive orders in which the president invoked a national emergency, he dismissed hundreds of thousands of civil servants and had immigrants arrested without trial in the first few months alone.

He imposes tariffs at will, abolishes consumer protection and equality regulations, and blocks federal funding for universities, environmental and social programs – even though Congress has approved them.

And: Trump is using the military domestically. As president, he claims he can do whatever he wants if he sees the country in danger.

Politicization of state institutions

Trump is pursuing a consistent politicization of state institutions: Federal police and prosecutors investigate political opponents. Deportation raids take place in cities governed by opposition parties. The State Department grants and revokes visas based on political criteria. Regulatory agencies for the environment, media, and labor protection are headed by loyalists.

And the military is also being used against political opponents, warns Democratic Senator Melissa Slotkin of Michigan."Trump is using the full power of the government against Americans he considers his enemies, so that he and his ilk never have to relinquish power. That, to me, is the connection between his definition of 'domestic terrorists' and his deployment of the military in American cities. That's where we're headed," Slotkin said.

The Trump-aligned Supreme Court

A key role in Trump's second presidency is played by the Supreme Court, whose justices in the US are also nominated by the president. There is currently a Trump-friendly majority there, which dates back to his first term.

The Trump II administration filed no fewer than 27 emergency motions with the Supreme Court seeking confirmation of the constitutionality of its actions. The justices ruled in Trump's favor 17 times, and four more cases are still pending.

Warning to Republicans

This is dangerous, warns Michael McConnell, a law professor at Stanford Law School and a former federal judge himself. He believes Trump's system of concentrated power could also be exploited by the next president.

"Almost everything Trump does has happened before. He himself has already been politically indicted. Joe Biden also wanted to spend hundreds of billions on campaign promises without congressional approval. But anyone who believes in the rule of law must condemn both," McConnell says. He tells Republicans:"You may like what Trump is doing now. But if the other party comes back to power, the same thing could happen to you."

Trump's political base still celebrates his measures as a restoration of American strength and efficiency. But while stock markets are at an all-time high, public trust in independent institutions and the rule of law is plummeting to an all-time low.

While the Democrats' successes in Tuesday's regional and local elections can be seen as a political sign of life, they also show that an anti-Trump campaign alone is not enough to break the Republicans' dominance in the next congressional elections. What's needed is a distinct, nationally viable vision for a post-Trump America – and so far, that's nowhere in sight.