Leader State America - Trump punishes those who criticize him

What is happening right now in Washington is not a rhetorical slip, not an unconsidered sentence of a political showman. It is the systematic hollowing out of a social order. When the President of the United States says to reporters on Air Force One: "They only give me bad publicity, or press," and shortly afterwards declares: "I would think, maybe their licenses should be taken away," then this is no longer normal politics - this is the language of a man who answers criticism with punishment.

Anyone who still dismisses this as mere exaggeration misjudges the magnitude of the attack: it is no longer about debate, it is about switching off. Not through tanks, but through authorities. Not through prison gates, but through license withdrawal. The message is clear: whoever does not celebrate the leader loses his voice. This is the logic of authoritarian systems in pure form - but here proclaimed by the president of a country that claims to be the bastion of freedom.

Our investigations have already shown how this calculation works. The sober sentences in a GAO report, response letters from DHS, internal FBI checklists, the statements of Patel, Bondi, Gorka and Trump Jr. - they add up to an overall picture that leaves no doubt. The government does not use the security apparatus to protect democracy, but to rebuild it. It replaces facts with constructions, law with ideology, security with politics of fear. It is a silent but fundamental declaration of war on democracy. Not with weapons, but with papers. Not through violence on the street, but through categories in databases. Precisely because it appears so inconspicuous, it is so dangerous. (See our article at: https://kaizen-blog.org/en/kriegserklaerung-an-die-demokratie-wie-trump-transmenschen-antifa-und-demokraten-zum-neuen-feindbild-macht/ )

Step by step a grid emerges: categories that at first sound like administrative abbreviations develop a highly dangerous sharpness. First it is "trans people," "antifa" or "Democrats" - catchwords that serve as enemy images. But that is only the beginning. Journalists, activists, satirists, late-night hosts who dare a punchline - they can all already belong tomorrow. Already now a president openly threatens to link broadcasting licenses to good behavior. This is not carelessness, this is strategy.

The peculiarity of this attack lies in its banality. One packages disenfranchisement in administrative language. One replaces open censorship with seemingly neutral reviews. And while the mantra of "free speech" is repeated on stage, the executive shifts control over who may speak and who may not into the hands of a small clique. The USA has long since said goodbye to democracy - and that is how they must be treated.

The consequences reach far beyond America. When the once leading democracy of the world begins to systematically cut criticism out of the public sphere, it has a signaling effect. Authoritarian regimes see their practice confirmed. Allies applaud, imitators follow. Orbán in Hungary has already adopted the language. The international order, which is based on mutual respect and public accountability, is being delegitimized piece by piece - not by soldiers, but by laws and regulations.

The psychological dimension of this attack must not be underestimated. A president who declares that broadcasters should lose their license because they criticize him no longer acts within the framework of political rationality. That is megalomania. What used to be called resentment is now state doctrine. The USA thus becomes the arena of a horde that shapes its rules according to personal revenge. The world bears the consequences.

Germany and Europe should make more of this than a side note. It is not enough to express outrage; democratic states must actively defend their media freedom and strengthen international protection mechanisms for independent reporting. Regulation must never become a pretext for the elimination of critical voices. Whoever remains silent today delivers the ammunition for tomorrow.

The truth is as simple as it is brutal: a country whose leader openly says he wants to revoke the license of critical broadcasters has long since left democracy behind. This is the point at which one can no longer relativize. This is the moment when one must stand up - loud, clear, uncompromising.