Donald Trump, in a second term, is expanding federal power to an extent likened to Roosevelt, using tactics including bullying state governments, threatening military force, directing private institutions (media and universities), compelling law firms to provide free work, and acquiring a stake in Intel. Republican rhetoric of small government has reversed, with Trump's mantra becoming governmental takeover rather than help. The political debate has shifted from fear of socialism to its form, asking whether state intervention will be progressive or right-wing. Conservative critics historically used socialism as an epithet, yet Trump's governance blends state control with reactionary aims.
In his second term, the president is embracing perhaps the most sweeping expansion of federal power since that of Franklin D. Roosevelt: bullying state governments, using military force if necessary; telling private institutions, including media corporations and universities, how to operate; extorting law firms into doing free work for the government; and, in the latest escalation, taking a stake in the tech firm Intel.
For decades, the American right and the Republican Party held themselves up as the defenders of individual citizens, corporations, and state and local governments against intrusive control from Washington. But where Ronald Reagan joked that the nine most terrifying words in the English language were I'm from the government, and I'm here to help, Trump's credo is "I'm from the government, and I'm here to take over."
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