During last year’s election, Donald Trump joked about becoming a dictator, but “only on day one” of his second term as president.

But over the past month, Trump has ignored laws passed by the US Congress, rejected the authority of US courts, forced the deletion of thousands of government websites and destroyed reams of scientific literature and public health data.

It’s starting to look less and less like a joke.

On this episode of the Briefing, Bension Siebert dives deep into whether Trump is genuinely beginning to turn the US into a dictatorship, and as Trump’s politics gain traction in Australia – most recently through billionaire Clive Palmer’s new political party – we ask what it would mean for this country if the world’s most powerful democracy slid into autocracy. On the other hand, Trump is no Hitler or Stalin – so is calling him a dictator...just a bit over-the-top? 

US investigative journalist Dave Levinthal and University of Melbourne lecturer in history Dr Sarah Walsh join Bension Siebert to help unpack these questions and more.

Listen to The Briefing's episode on Trump's key cabinet picks here.

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