The Trump Administration's Threat to American Democracy

Abstract

Donald J. Trump, who served as President of the United States from 2017 to 2021, was the most serious threat to US democracy since the founding of the American republic in 1789. Trump attacked the mainstream media as the “Enemy of the People.” He sought to undermine the separation of powers in the United States by discrediting judges who made decisions with which he disagreed. He sought to undermine the US federal system by attacking governors whose policies clashed with his policies, and he sought to undermine confidence in the US electoral system by claiming that because of fraud he did not really lose the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. Worst of all, Trump inspired an insurrection on January 6, 2021 in which his followers, using violence, sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election by attacking the US Congress. This chapter prepares students and teachers to review the basic elements of American democracy including the nature of elections, the separation of powers, the American federal system, and the concept of “freedom of the press.” Teachers and educators should then use this chapter to demonstrate how Trump violated these basic values of American democracy.