How to Become a Dictator - Step 9:
Consolidate Power
When people envision a dictator’s rise, they often picture tanks in the streets or a constitution tossed aside in a single day. Yet many authoritarian leaders gain control gradually, testing the limits of resistance until they meet no meaningful pushback. They use a mix of cunning legal moves and sometimes raw force to undermine every safeguard of a free society. By the time people realize what is happening, the strongman has already solidified his grip on power.
Donald Trump’s return to the presidency in 2025 exemplifies this methodical approach. Almost immediately, he expanded presidential authority in ways critics compared to a calculated dismantling of American institutions. On February 19, 2025, Trump signed what Politico called “a sweeping executive order bringing independent agencies under the control of the White House—an action that would greatly expand his power but is likely to attract significant legal challenges.” Historically, agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) operated with a high degree of independence to guard against political interference. Trump’s order overturned that tradition by declaring, “Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests all executive power in the president, meaning that all executive branch officials and employees are subject to his supervision.”
Central to Trump’s justification was a controversial legal concept known as the “unitary executive theory.” Critics called his use of it “an aggressive and novel conception” that “is an audacious power grab cloaked in legalistic language,” with one legal scholar warning that “it’s going to be up to the Supreme Court to stand up to it.” The Wall Street Journal explained that Trump was “using the popular conservative ideology known as the ‘unitary executive theory’ to give more power to the executive branch” and “justify firing thousands of federal workers,