Donald Trump’s reelection in 2024 triggered the greatest challenge to American democracy in my lifetime and one of the biggest assaults on American democratic institutions in the history of the republic.
asserted
reelection → trigger → republic
Last week’s Election Day, however, marked a turning point in a two-year campaign of democratic resistance to Trump’s autocratic ways.
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Day → mark → ways
His autocratic project is now winding down.
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project → wind → ?
The Democratic Party’s massive victory in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and governorships around the country now ensures that any future Trump attempts to undermine democratic institutions over the next two years will fail.
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future → ensure → years
Democracy in America bent but did not break.
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Democracy → bend → America
One week on, it’s clear that a new era of democratic renewal has begun.
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era → ’ → renewal
During his first term, Trump tried to undermine many democratic practices in the United States, culminating most tragically in the events of January 6, 2021, when he incited his loyal followers to storm the Capitol and deploy violence to try to interrupt the certification of the presidential election that he lost.
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he → try → that
To this day, Trump continues to falsely claim that he won the 2020 election.
uncertain
he → continue → election
When Trump won reelection in 2024—complete with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and a Supreme Court stacked with conservative justices (three of whom were Trump appointees)—the future of American democracy seemed bleaker than ever.
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future → win → democracy
Trump tried to leverage his electoral mandate and deference from the legislative and judicial branches to ignore democratic norms.
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Trump → try → norms
He launched aggressive assaults against the media, the courts, law firms, and universities.
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He → launch → media
Instead of the rule of law, Trump preferred rule by law, most shockingly trying to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, indicting former FBI Director James Comey, and seeking criminal charges against former CIA Director John Brennan.
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Trump → prefer → Brennan
Trump’s administration also executed purges of personnel in the military, the State Department, the FBI, and the Department of Justice that more closely resembled the practices of the authoritarian regimes in China and Russia than those of a democratic government.
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that → execute → government
In a bid to stay on the right side of Trump, big business—especially the CEOs of many (not all) major tech companies—acquiesced to or eagerly embraced his authoritarian agenda, giving him gifts measured in millions of dollars for his inauguration parties and vanity projects such as building a ballroom at the White House.
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business → stay → House
As Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, two of the most respected democracy scholars in the world, wrote in the Journal of Democracy last month, “The United States crossed the line into competitive authoritarianism during Donald Trump’s second presidency.”
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States → write → presidency
Not everyone, however, went along with Trump’s authoritarian project.
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everyone → go → project
Many Americans—millions and millions of them—resisted.
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Americans → resist → them
Their mobilized resistance helped create the permissive conditions for the free, fair, and peaceful elections this month.
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resistance → mobilize → elections
And when given the chance to ratify Trump’s agenda or reject it, American voters said enough was enough.
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enough → give → it
In a blue tsunami, they overwhelmingly rejected Trump and his Republican Party candidates.
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they → reject → Trump
That’s how it’s supposed to work.
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it → ’ → ?
How American Democracy Held
Several institutions and individuals played an important role in protecting American democracy and safeguarding the electoral process.
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institutions → hold → process
Courts challenged many of the steps Trump took toward autocratic rule.
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Trump → challenge → rule
And let’s not use the passive voice here.
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’s → let → voice
Fighters for democracy like Norm Eisen and his Democracy Defenders Fund, or Ian Bassin and his organization, Protect Democracy, the ACLU, and many, many others brought these fights to the courts, and then independent judges defended the rule of law and the Constitution.
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judges → bring → law
Importantly, several of the Trump administration’s attempts to subvert the electoral process were rebuffed—including by the Supreme Court, which rejected an emergency request to set aside 20,000 ballots in California that the administration alleged were cast by noncitizens.
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administration → subvert → noncitizens
Trump went hard against journalists and news organizations who challenged him, calling them collectively “fake media,” and restricting White House access to news outlets he didn’t like, such as CNN, Politico, and MS Now.
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he → go → CNN
CNN has since been acquired as part of Paramount’s massive merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, led by David Ellison, son of longtime Trump donor Larry Ellison.
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CNN → acquire → Ellison
Trump publicly welcomed the deal, which gives the Ellison family significant influence over American news media.
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which → welcome → media
At his basest, Trump has also resorted to ridiculing and name-calling journalists, particularly women, who dared to ask him tough questions.
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who → resort → questions
But Trump’s broader campaign of intimidation and subjugation has not worked.
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campaign → work → intimidation
Instead, journalists and commentators remained relentless in their reporting of Trump’s autocratic actions, as well as allegations of corruption involving Trump and his close associates.
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journalists → remain → Trump
Amazingly, corruption emerged as a top concern for voters in the midterm elections, thanks in part to the work of those journalists who brought these allegations to light.
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who → emerge → light
I say amazingly because corruption is hard for journalists to investigate and harder for voters to track.
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voters → say → ?
Over the last two years, countless acts of non-violent civic resistance sprouted, often spontaneously, in reaction to Trump’s agenda.
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acts → sprout → agenda
Citizens organized protests outside Tesla stores in response to Elon Musk’s efforts to slash federal spending during his time at DOGE.
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Citizens → organize → DOGE
Millions of Americans joined successive nationwide “No Kings” protests, including more than 3,000 rallies across 50 states in March, according to organizers.
uncertain
Millions → join → organizers
Most courageously, the citizens of Minneapolis mobilized to resist the occupation of their city by ICE agents.
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citizens → mobilize → agents
Tragically, ICE officers killed two of these protesters, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, in January 2026.
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officers → kill → January
For me, these wrongful deaths marked the darkest moment in America’s democratic backslide during the second Trump term.
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deaths → mark → term
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
