Overview
- The assessment covers the first ten months of Trump’s second administration and organizes concerns into twelve markers of democratic erosion.
- The list cites actions such as stifling speech and dissent, prosecuting political enemies, bypassing the legislature, and using the military for domestic control.
- The editorial states the United States is not a full autocracy like Russia or China but warns that once democracies start eroding the process often continues.
- The Times reiterates it stands by its reporting as Trump pursues a defamation lawsuit filed earlier this year against the newspaper.
- A commentary at Lawyers, Guns & Money endorses the diagnosis and argues the Times’ own practices are inconsistent with the gravity of its warning.