President Donald Trump is done pretending.

The first 100 days of a president’s term generally show how successful the administration is at the height of its power and popularity — before buyer’s remorse sets in for voters, as the president tries to fulfill key promises made on the campaign trail. 

But in Trump’s first months in office, it’s clear his ambitions are different. He has seized power in a way that exceeds all prior executive authority, weakening the other branches of government in a direct attack on the American system of government itself. 

In January, Trump got right to work issuing the first of his 140 executive orders to undo Biden administration policies and invoke his America First agenda, beginning with immigration. 

In his first days in office, Trump attempted to end birthright citizenship through executive order, called for mass deportation efforts with minimal due process, and began a constitutional crisis as he truly tested the limits of presidential power. Trump’s crackdown on immigrants began with troops heading to the southern border and shutting down legal entry pathways used for asylum seekers.

The administration carried out ICE raids in sanctuary cities, deporting more than just undocumented immigrants, but U.S. citizens themselves. Trump also invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport hundreds of migrants without trial to an El Salvador mega prison, which has come under scrutiny for its inhumane holding tactics. Immigrants whom the administration alleged to be part of gangs were removed from the United States without due process. 

To be clear, if one person doesn’t have due process, no one has due process. Judges immediately attempted to put a stop to the deportations, but Trump has shown he is willing to defy the courts and has been pushing the limits of how much the judiciary’s checks and balances can affect the executive, while testing their ability to enforce their own rulings. The courts have struggled, leaving Trump able to continue his blitz to seize power.  

But ignoring the courts was just the beginning of Trump’s attempted authoritarian takeover. In what he called eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse,” he appointed loyalist Elon Musk to dismantle federal agencies that protect public health, environmental safety, and civil rights. What Trump meant to look like a streamlining of government has actually gutted the state and allowed his band of loyalists to invoke the MAGA agenda rather than the Constitution.   

With loyalists in place, he has been able to direct the Department of Justice to strategically target any sort of opposition as he threatens investigations and funding cuts to all institutions that oppose him. Trump has sought to silence the press, through lawsuits and by punishing media at the White House while rewarding those who provide favorable coverage. 

He has forced everyone from legal firms to tech giants to bend the knee or face consequences. Already, his tariff war has upended the global economy, threatening economic stability at home while wrecking relationships with allies. 

At the same time, Trump has shown his support for authoritarian leaders as he continues to pressure the Ukrainian president to concede the war and appease Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands. 

Trump has ignored the courts, gutted civil services, punished pushback, attacked free media, and abandoned allies. But these are not reckless decisions; they show a pattern, a blueprint. 

Our democracy cannot be all undone at once. But it can be chipped at and unraveled to the point that it nears collapse. 

The small but daily surrenders by the public are what allow Trump to go unchecked. Though Americans may not be familiar with what they see, the signs are clear that we are headed on a slow march toward dictatorship. If we don’t act now, it won’t be Trump’s second presidency, but America’s final one.