The following is an opinion piece by the contributor T. Sinclair, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Pine & Roses Editorial Board.
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You know the trouble with the term “fascism”? There are just too many doggone types. That, and it’s lobbed around like a hot potato so much, to try and divine its actual definition these days is like trying to tell a heap from a pile. After all, we consider Mussolini’s and Hitler’s regimes to be fascist for sure, but where do we land on Hirohito’s Japan, Franco’s Spain, or Salazar’s Portugal? Were they fully fascist, or just authoritarian? If the AfD comes to power in Germany, is that suddenly a fascist state? How many hairs are left before a man is considered bald?
For these reasons of vagueness and the slow dilution of the term’s meaning, I suggest we take a “if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck” attitude when comparing regimes to fascism, so walk with me while we run through that exercise with the current Trump administration. I’ve referenced Keene State College’s “Characteristics of Fascism” for this piece.
Populist nationalism centered on cult of a redemptive, “infallible” leader who never admits mistakes.
Yup, MAGA and Trump, done.
Political power derived from questioning reality.
Trump’s administration has claimed that it has a right to Greenland never before claimed by the US. He and his administration also still deny he ever lost the 2020 election. They said their administration was killing sailors in the Caribbean for being drug smugglers with no evidence ever presented. His Department of Homeland Security has recently openly contradicted video evidence that clearly shows its ICE agents committing murder by arguing without any material evidence that the victims were would-be assassins. Not to mention all the other times Trump has denied blatantly true shit.
Fixation with perceived national decline, humiliation, or victimhood.
“America’s decline is over. Thanks to President Trump, we are facing the world with dignity, power, and strength.” – US State Department, Jan. 20th 2026
“Rather than focusing solely on his own legal troubles or partisan opponents, Trump began portraying the United States itself as a victim of foreign aggression. In this version of events, other countries were villains responsible for plundering American industry, exploiting trade imbalances, and sending criminals across the border.” – ZME Science, referencing a study by Dr. Marianna Patrona of the Hellenic Army Academy.
“Replacement theory” used to show that democratic ideals of freedom and equality are a threat. Oppose any initiatives or institutions that are racially, ethnically, or religiously harmonious.
Trump’s administration has repeatedly gone after “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” rules within federal agencies and educational institutions, arguing that they’re inherently “racist” toward whites. During his first week in office, he signed Executive Orders banning the consideration of DEI within a number of institutions.
He has also dog-whistled the far-right’s “great replacement” theory, according to which white Americans are being replaced by non-white Americans, with the stated goal of muting the political power of white Americans. “Our elections are bad, and a lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they’re trying to get them to vote.” – Trump, Sept 2024 Presidential election. There is also the administration’s push to increase the birthrate and encourage traditional marriage among American citizens, increasing access to IVF and going so far as to consider a proposal for $5,000 bonuses for American women who give birth.
Disdain for human rights while seeking purity and cleansing for those they define as part of the nation.
ICE has consistently denied residents’ human rights, detaining people with legal residence in order to “reconsider” their status, caging children with legal status, deporting people in the middle of the night before their legal due process was completed, sending people to a high-security prison in El Salvador so they don’t have legal recourse. Moving detainees across state lines in order to make legal representation harder to attain in a timely fashion. All of these are denials of human and constitutional rights.
Identification of “enemies”/scapegoats as a unifying cause. Imprison and/or murder opposition and minority group leaders.
The administration consistently has identified undocumented immigrants as “violent criminals,” and brings up the need to deport as many as possible. ICE being sent into areas with strong communities of black and brown folks, detaining both undocumented and legal residents alike in an attempt to ethnically cleanse urban centers of non-white, non-citizen residents. Note how ICE has not targeted undocumented residents from predominantly white nations, but instead has hammered down on immigrants and refugees from Latino and African nations. ICE has also murdered a handful of protestors, and detained hundreds more, who posed no physical threat to authorities, refusing to investigate those instances in an unbiased manner. This is all an attempt to create a unified “enemy.”
There is also the Trump administration’s weaponization of the Justice Department to go after perceived political enemies, like James Comey who investigated Trump in 2016, former New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump on fraud charges before his return to power, and most recently the arrests of journalists like Don Lemon, who are often critical of Trump and his administration in their reporting.
Supremacy of the military and embrace of paramilitarism in an uneasy, but effective collaboration with traditional elites. Fascists arm people and justify and glorify violence as “redemptive”.
Just look at our recent venture into Venezuela, a successful military operation that had Trump praising the might of our military, as well as the true reasons for the incursion. He said as much, “I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America. This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Praising the might of the US military in order to take over a sovereign nation and fill the pockets of America’s elites.
Then there is the arming of thugs to join ICE, modern day Brown Shirts masked, wearing plain clothes and driving unmarked cars. I hate to hammer the point, but these guys are nothing more than civilians deputized and armed in order to chase down black and brown folks who don’t have citizenship, tear them from their families and communities, and whisk them off in the middle of the night to some other country. The government tries to valorize the violence they commit, but so far there has been great pushback against that narrative. Let’s hope it can hold.
Rampant sexism.
Not only is Trump’s administration sexist, supporting anti-choice laws across the country, he’s also attacked the LGBTQ+ community by ordering federal agencies to recognize only two genders on his first day, they’ve made a big deal of being anti-transgender students in school, and restricting gender-affirming care to trans minors.
Control of mass media and undermining “truth”.
The administration’s refusal to admit some major news agencies into official press briefings, and its continual denial of facts as “fake news” is a blatant example of this. Most recently, the doubling down by the DHS and Trump on the two murder victims in Minneapolis as “agitators” and “suspects”, as well as withholding evidence from the state before investigations are begun, let alone completed, is a great example of how they feel the need to control the narrative. Someone call Orwell.
Often seeking to expand territory through armed conflict.
Venezuela, Greenland, and with the recent posturing among the U.S. Treasury and Alberta separatists, maybe even an attempt at parts of Canada. Lebenstraum, we need more lebenstraum! I mean, c’mon folks.
The fact is, it doesn’t matter if you use the “F” word to describe the Trump administration or not. What matters is looking at facts on the ground as they are. Call it a paleo-conservative reordering of the American system. Call it the rise of western authoritarianism, or the inevitable outcome of American hegemony after 70 years. Whether you think the current administration is proto-fascist, quasi-fascist, or something similar but not quite the same, I would encourage you to at least consider: if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, don’t be afraid to use the word.
