For some reason, just when I decide to take a step back from American politics, I find myself pulled right back in. The latest debate? The claim that the Democrats “went too far”, with transgender policies, lax immigration enforcement, and attempts to cancel Dave Chappelle over his jokes. And so, the argument goes, “Trump was the lesser evil.”
You know, there’s a familiar story in politics: people get frustrated with the government, they vote for an outsider promising to tear it all down, and then they wake up years later wondering why everything is worse. This is what happened with Buhari in Nigeria. It’s what’s happening with Trump in America.
Many of those who supported Trump’s return to power will spend the next four years blaming Biden and the Democrats, pretending they had no idea what Trump was going to do. But they did. He told everyone—repeatedly—that he was coming back with vengeance, that he would purge the system, that he would be a dictator “on day one.”
Here are just a few of his chilling statements before he returned into office:
1. “I am your retribution.”
Trump promised to purge civil servants and replace them with his loyalists. This is what dictators do.
2. “We will demolish the deep state.”
The “deep state” is just career professionals in government, from FBI agents to foreign service officers. Replacing them with loyalists means turning the government into a personal fiefdom.
3. “I will pardon those convicted for the Jan 6 insurrection.”
Trump openly vowed to erase accountability for an attack that left police officers dead and democracy shaken. This isn’t law and order, it’s lawlessness.
4. “We will suspend parts of the Constitution if necessary.”
That’s not democracy. That’s authoritarianism.
5. “We will terminate birthright citizenship.”
The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. Trump wants to override the Constitution itself.
And now, America is seeing what that actually looks like.
This isn’t just a case of changing policies; this is about systemic damage. Policies can be reversed. Institutions, once broken, are much harder to rebuild. Nigerians who screamed “Anything But Jonathan” in 2015 thought they were getting a better deal. Instead, they got economic collapse, skyrocketing inflation, and a naira that fell from a per capita GDP of $3,000 to $800. They wanted change; they got ruin.
Now, Americans are watching as Trump does the same to their own institutions.
For over 200 years, the U.S. has relied on checks and balances to keep even the most powerful presidents in line. When Richard Nixon tried to use the presidency for personal gain, the system forced him to resign. When Bush misled the country into Iraq, bipartisan investigations exposed the failures. When Obama overstepped on surveillance, courts reined in the NSA.
But Trump’s second term is different because he doesn’t respect those limits. He’s not just testing the system, he’s dismantling it in real-time:
– Granting teenagers and those in their twenties access to America’s financial systems without congressional oversight; access to Americans’ private information.
– Creating a task force to enforce Christian nationalism with the cringe-sounding “eradicating anti-Christian bias”, a move that echoes religious authoritarianism.
– Proposing that Israel hand over Gaza to the U.S., as if geopolitics is some kind of real estate transaction.
– Asking that CBS News and 60 Minutes be “immediately terminated,” despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution protects the freedom of the press.
– Threatening allies with tariffs—Canada, Mexico, the EU, Japan—turning friends into adversaries overnight.
– Sanctioning ICC officials and their families for daring to investigate war crimes.
This is not normal governance. It’s the behavior of a leader who doesn’t just reject institutions; he wants to destroy them.
Trump’s supporters claim they chose “the lesser evil.” But history has shown that breaking institutions is always worse than bad policies.
– Ronald Reagan moved America to the right, but he didn’t attempt to purge every government worker who disagreed with him.
– Bill Clinton reformed welfare, but he didn’t say courts had no authority over him.
– Obama signed controversial executive orders, but he didn’t threaten to jail his opponents.
Trump’s actions go far beyond political disagreements. He is actively eroding the foundations of democracy.
And yet, supposed moderates and independents are pretending they’re victims. They blame the Democrats for “going too far,” as if their cultural grievances justify the dismantling of democratic norms.
Yes, many liberals pushed radical ideas. But that doesn’t justify handing the country over to a man who openly declares war on the rule of law. You don’t burn down the entire house because you don’t like the wallpaper.
Look around the world, and you’ll find this same mistake repeated throughout history.
– Turkey (Erdoğan’s Authoritarian Turn) – What started as an attempt to “restore order” after a coup became a full-scale purge of judges, journalists, and political opponents. Today, Turkey is a democracy in name only.
– Hungary (Orbán’s Media Takeover) – Hungary had a thriving democracy, but under Viktor Orbán, the government took control of the press, rigged elections, and silenced opposition voices.
– Nigeria (The “Anything But PDP” Mistake) – In 2015, Nigerians wanted Jonathan out at all costs. They got Buhari, then Tinubu, and now the country is in economic freefall.
This is the danger of blind anti-establishment thinking. People convince themselves that breaking the system will fix it. But when institutions fall, they take everything else with them.
Most of what has been parroted these last few days are lies and at best misinformation. Just some hours ago, influencers—including Musk—claimed that USAID secretly bankrolled Politico, claiming that the media site had taken $8 million from USAID. In fact, that sum was not an annual grant, but rather years of subscriptions from across the government to Politico Pro, a pricey subscription service for data and legislative analyses for lobbyists and government officials.
“Politico…has never taken a cent of government subsidies or state funding,” said the chief executive officer of its parent company. “[P]eople are paying for… [Politico Pro] because they need the service,” he said. “It’s not subsidies, it’s capitalism.” When Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) joined the chorus parroting the lie, fact-checkers noted that her office is a subscriber: it paid $7,150 for a yearlong subscription starting last January. Ha! This is a well-orchestrated disinformation campaign to erode the credibility of institutions at its best. A president who purposely created an army to deceive his own people.
Really, Americans who backed Trump are about to learn what Nigerians learned too late:
– You can change policies, but once institutions are gone, they don’t just come back.
– You can vote out a president, but you can’t undo damage to the judiciary, media, and rule of law overnight.
– You can justify extremism, but that justification can be turned against you when power shifts again.
The real tragedy? Many of the people who cheered for Trump’s return will spend the next four years blaming Democrats for the consequences of their own decision.
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