Trump has a clear path to autocratic power right now, but that would be put a bit up in the air if there was a major war.
It would be, at the same time, it is either way, and conflict and war is a strong enabler of dictators. Putin rose from a 2% popularity to absolute systematic power through (probably staged) terrorist attacks and conflict.
It was a different situation, and Trump is not Putin.
He’d still be dealing with 40% of the population who hates him in an organised way, and who no longer can pretend it’s all just on paper. At the same time, the military would have an incentive to not follow his lead, and some legal tradition behind it too.
Sure, he could seize on the crisis to entrench his power further, or something could go wrong. In peace there’s not much that could go wrong anymore.
Edit: Maybe Russia circa WWI would be a better parallel.
It would be, at the same time, it is either way, and conflict and war is a strong enabler of dictators. Putin rose from a 2% popularity to absolute systematic power through (probably staged) terrorist attacks and conflict.
It was a different situation, and Trump is not Putin.
He’d still be dealing with 40% of the population who hates him in an organised way, and who no longer can pretend it’s all just on paper. At the same time, the military would have an incentive to not follow his lead, and some legal tradition behind it too.
Sure, he could seize on the crisis to entrench his power further, or something could go wrong. In peace there’s not much that could go wrong anymore.
Edit: Maybe Russia circa WWI would be a better parallel.