The Dismantling of Democracy: How Trump is Turning America into a State of Revenge

The principle of loyalty replaces the principle of merit - and the world watches as the oldest democracy of the modern era tears itself apart. The American Republic does not die with a bang. It dies in memoranda and decrees, in the systematic destruction of democratic norms, in the transformation of a nation into an apparatus of personal revenge. Donald Trump no longer governs the United States as president, but as a vengeful man with the power of the state in his hand. What is happening in Washington is no longer politics - it is the methodical dismantling of a democracy, executed with the precision of a wrecking ball and the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

The Secret Service protection for Kamala Harris? Revoked - just in time for her book tour, while the political climate is permeated by violence. An election conspiracy theorist whose demonstrably false claims contributed to the storming of the Capitol? Appointed as the top guardian of "election integrity." Transgender people? Defined out of existence by decree, banned from the military, stripped of their medical care. This is not conservative policy. This is the concept of an authoritarian state, in which loyalty triumphs over competence, in which revenge becomes the doctrine of government, in which reality itself is declared the enemy if it does not fit into the ruler's worldview.

Heather Honey, the new deputy assistant secretary for "election integrity" at the Department of Homeland Security, is the perfect symbol of this perverse meritocracy. Her qualification? She produced lies that Trump liked. Her demonstrably false analyses of Pennsylvania's voter data were repeated by Trump on January 6, 2021 - hours before his supporters stormed the Capitol. Now she sits in a position from which she can undermine the states' election systems. The Orwellian aspect is no longer even surprising: In Trump's America, truth becomes lie, lie becomes truth, and liars are appointed as guardians of truth.

The revenge machine is running at full speed

What Trump is doing with Harris is a lesson in authoritarian exercise of power. The Secret Service had found no threat? Irrelevant. This is not about security. It is about humiliation. About the demonstration of absolute power. About the message to anyone who might dare to oppose him: I can take everything from you. John Bolton, Biden's family, now Harris - the list of acts of retribution reads like the script of a banana republic.

At the same time, the systematic dehumanization of entire population groups is underway. Transgender people are not only discriminated against - their existence is negated. The federal government recognizes only two genders. Period. Anyone who does not fit into the binary scheme officially no longer exists. Passports are refused, medical treatments are banned, children are robbed of their identity. This is not policy, this is psychological warfare against the population itself.

By now 27 US states have passed laws or regulations that wholly or partially prohibit gender-affirming treatments for minors - including Alabama, Utah, South Dakota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Carolina, New Hampshire and, since 2025, Kansas. The range extends from bans on hormone therapies and puberty blockers to surgical interventions.

Particularly noteworthy is that four states - South Carolina, Kansas, Tennessee and Arkansas - have introduced further provisions beyond these medical restrictions: there, parents or guardians are explicitly held accountable, school staff are required to report changes in gender identity, or doctors are held liable under threat of severe penalties. This shows that this is not about isolated individual laws, but about a coordinated political offensive that encompasses both the private and institutional spheres and penetrates deeply into the life realities of affected families.

The Human Rights Campaign calls it a signal to all Americans. But it is more than a signal. It is a declaration of war on anyone who is different, thinks differently, lives differently. It is the codification of hate as a doctrine of state.

Germany at the crossroads

What is currently happening with deportations in Germany is no longer merely a matter of migration law - it is a foretaste of what threatens if the AfD ever comes into government. And this prospect is no longer a dystopian projection, but a real danger. The mechanisms are recognizable and repeat themselves with oppressive precision: First comes the normalization of the extreme, as inhumane slogans seep into public discourse and gradually become accepted as "sayable." Then follows the hollowing out of democratic institutions, whether through attacks on independent media, the delegitimization of courts or the undermining of fundamental rights. At the end stands the transformation of the state itself - from guarantor of freedom to instrument of targeted oppression.

Even now these tendencies can be observed in parts of Germany. In Bavaria, in Saxony or in Thuringia, refugees and even people in training or care professions are deported, although the shortage of skilled workers has long been recognized as a structural crisis. Authorities carry out decisions that not only destroy individual lives, but also convey a political message: toughness at any price. Thus a policy is executed that in rhetoric and logic differs little from the demands of the AfD. The party does not even need to sit in government offices to have an effect - its program is already being implemented by others through a mixture of opportunism, pressure to conform and anticipatory obedience.

Some examples among many:

July 2025: An Iranian trainee shortly before his exam as a qualified nurse received a deportation order because he could not present valid papers - despite conversion and integration in a care facility.

June 2025: Several young men in training as nursing assistants received deportation notices, although their nursing homes and clinics urgently wanted to keep them.

Summer 2025: An Afghan nursing student in his second year in a retirement home was confronted with a deportation order, even though the management described him as "indispensable."

May 2025: A nursing assistant from West Africa was taken into deportation custody in the middle of the recognition process for her professional qualification, even though a permanent position was already in sight.

April 2025: A Syrian trainee in nursing received a deportation order, even though school and institution had started petitions for his stay.

June 2025: An Afghan nursing trainee was picked up directly at his vocational school by the police, which caused outrage among female classmates.

Summer 2025: An Iranian trainee nurse received a deportation order, even though his institution had even offered to vouch for his documents.

May 2025: A young Afghan woman who had started her training in a diaconal retirement home was to be deported, even though she was firmly integrated into the institution.

July 2025: A Syrian youth in training as a nursing assistant was taken into deportation custody shortly before his first exam.

There is still resistance. People still take to the streets, NGOs document violations and individual politicians raise their voices. But they are too few, and they are too quiet in the face of the force with which the normalization of injustice is advancing. German society continues to indulge in the deceptive certainty that "something like this cannot happen here." But reality proves the opposite: It is already happening - visible in deportation centers, in courtrooms, in police raids at schools and hospitals. The transition from exception to rule is already underway. Anyone who still believes that Germany is immune to the erosion of democratic principles is closing their eyes to the obvious.

The North Korean temptation

rump shows where the journey is headed. A state in which loyalty stands above competence, in which truth is negotiable, in which revenge becomes the maxim of government. A state that declares its own citizens enemies if they do not fit the scheme. A state that denies science, negates facts, rewrites reality. The irony of it is that Trump actually admires North Korea. Absolute control, unconditional loyalty, the ability to shape reality at will. What began as a joke has become a concept. America is not on its way to North Korea - it is already halfway there.

And Europe? It analyzes. Discusses. While the arsonists already hold the torches in their hands. The time for polite debate is over. What we are experiencing is nothing less than the collapse of the liberal world order, executed from within, applauded by those who believe they will benefit from it. History will document this epoch as the moment when democracy did not die with a bang, but with standing ovations for its executioners. In Washington. In Munich. And perhaps soon everywhere.

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