Trump Power CheckList

[integral]

 

 

 

XI JINPING'S CONSOLIDATION CHECKLIST (2012-2018+)

✅ COMPLETED - What Xi Actually Did

Eliminating Rivals & Opposition:

✅ Launched massive "anti-corruption" campaign targeting political opponents (1.5+ million officials investigated)

✅ Purged powerful rivals: Bo Xilai, Zhou Yongkang, Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong, Sun Zhengcai

✅ Eliminated factions opposing him (Jiang Zemin faction, petroleum clique)

✅ Installed loyalists in all key party positions

✅ Purged military leadership and replaced with loyalists

✅ Created new anti-corruption agency (National Supervision Commission) answering directly to him

Military Control:

✅ Took personal command as Chairman of Central Military Commission

✅ Restructured entire military command system

✅ Purged dozens of generals

✅ Created new military branches loyal to him

✅ Emphasized personal loyalty to party leader (himself)

✅ Increased military budget and modernization (building loyalty)

Party/Government Control:

✅ Created multiple "leading small groups" with himself as head, centralizing decision-making

✅ Strengthened party control over government institutions

✅ Eliminated collective leadership model

✅ Made himself "core" leader (highest designation)

✅ Had his ideology written into party constitution ("Xi Jinping Thought")

✅ Placed loyalists on Politburo Standing Committee

✅ Controlled personnel appointments at all levels

Ideological & Propaganda Control:

✅ Built massive personality cult

✅ Controlled all media narratives

✅ Created propaganda comparing him to Mao

✅ Banned criticism of leader on social media

✅ Required party members to study "Xi Jinping Thought"

✅ Created apps (like "Study Xi") to promote his ideology

✅ Censored dissent online and offline

Legal/Constitutional Changes:

✅ Removed presidential term limits (2018 constitutional amendment)

✅ Strengthened legal tools for suppression

✅ Expanded definition of national security to justify crackdowns

✅ Eliminated checks on presidential power

Suppressing Civil Society:

✅ Cracked down on activists, lawyers, journalists

✅ Arrested prominent dissidents

✅ Eliminated independent NGOs

✅ Increased surveillance (social credit system, facial recognition)

✅ Created climate of fear through arbitrary arrests

Economic Control:

✅ Strengthened party control over private companies

✅ Required party committees in all major corporations

✅ Used economic leverage to ensure business loyalty

✅ Controlled all major economic resources

Timeline:

2012: Became General Secretary

2012-2017: Purged rivals, built loyalty network

2017: Elevated to "core" leader, added ideology to constitution

2018: Removed term limits

2018-present: Consolidated absolute power

 

 

 

 

 

TRUMP'S CONSOLIDATION CHECKLIST (2017-2021, 2025-present)

Let me break this into: ✅ Achieved | ⚠️ Partially Achieved | ❌ Attempted but Failed | ⭕ Not Yet Attempted

FIRST TERM (2017-2021)

Eliminating Rivals & Opposition:

⚠️ Attacked political opponents verbally ("Lock her up" re: Clinton)

❌ Could not prosecute political rivals (DOJ/FBI resisted)

✅ Purged disloyal administration officials (fired Sessions, Comey, Tillerson, Mattis, etc.)

❌ Could not purge civil service broadly (protected by law)

❌ Impeached twice but not removed

⚠️ Used DOJ to investigate opponents (limited success)

Military Control:

⚠️ Appointed loyalists as Defense Secretary

❌ Could not get military to follow questionable orders (generals refused several requests)

❌ Top generals publicly criticized him (Mattis, Kelly, Milley)

❌ Could not use military against protesters (Esper refused)

❌ Military did not support overturning election

⭕ Did not purge military leadership systematically

Party/Government Control:

✅ Took over Republican Party rhetorically/culturally

⚠️ Some Republicans remained independent (Romney, McCain, Cheney, Kinzinger)

❌ Could not control Congress when Democrats had majority

❌ Many Republican senators voted against him on key issues

✅ Replaced GOP leadership with more loyal figures over time

❌ Could not eliminate Republican opposition entirely

Judicial Control:

✅ Appointed 3 Supreme Court justices

✅ Appointed 234 federal judges

❌ Judges (including his appointees) ruled against him frequently

❌ Supreme Court rejected election challenges

❌ Courts blocked many executive actions

❌ Could not fire judges or control their rulings

Media Control:

✅ Created narrative of "fake news" / "enemy of the people"

✅ Built alternative media ecosystem (Fox News, OAN, Newsmax)

❌ Could not shut down or control mainstream media

❌ Major newspapers, networks continued critical coverage

❌ Could not arrest or prosecute journalists

⚠️ Eroded public trust in media among supporters

Legal/Constitutional Changes:

❌ Did not attempt to remove term limits (first term)

❌ Could not override court decisions

❌ Could not change Constitution

⚠️ Pushed boundaries of executive power (emergency declarations, etc.)

❌ Courts limited executive overreach

Suppressing Opposition:

✅ Rhetorical attacks on opponents

❌ Could not arrest political opponents

❌ Could not shut down protests

❌ Opposition parties continued to function freely

❌ Lost 2020 election and had to leave office

Attempted Election Override (2020-2021):

❌ Pressured state officials to change results (refused)

❌ Pressured DOJ to declare fraud (refused)

❌ Attempted to get Pence to reject electoral votes (refused)

❌ Filed 60+ lawsuits (lost almost all)

❌ January 6th attempt to prevent certification (failed - Congress certified Biden)

❌ Remained in power (was forced to leave)

SECOND TERM (2025-present)

Eliminating Rivals & Opposition:

✅ Talked about prosecuting political opponents ("retribution")

⚠️ Appointed loyalists to DOJ leadership

⚠️ Investigations into political opponents (ongoing/unclear scope)

❌ Has not arrested major political opponents (yet)

⚠️ Cleared out more "disloyal" officials

⭕ No mass purges of opposition (yet)

Military Control:

⚠️ Appointed more loyalist Defense Secretary (Pete Hegseth)

⚠️ Expressed desire to purge "woke" generals

⭕ Has not systematically purged entire military leadership (yet)

❌ Military culture still emphasizes constitutional oath

⭕ No evidence military would support anti-constitutional actions (yet)

Party Control:

✅ Complete dominance of Republican Party

✅ Most Republican critics retired or defeated

✅ GOP largely follows his lead

⚠️ Still some institutional Republicans who might resist extreme actions

⚠️ Congress still has nominal independence

Judicial Control:

✅ Supreme Court has conservative majority (6-3)

⚠️ Supreme Court has ruled for him on some issues (immunity), against him on others

❌ Cannot fire judges

❌ Lower courts still rule against him frequently

❌ Judges maintain independence

Media Control:

✅ Strong alternative media ecosystem

✅ Continued "fake news" narrative

❌ Still cannot control mainstream media

❌ Free press continues operating

❌ Investigative journalism continues

⚠️ Further erosion of media trust among base

Legal/Constitutional Changes:

⭕ Has not attempted to change term limits (yet - 2028 is the test)

❌ Cannot easily change Constitution

⚠️ Push for expanded executive power (Project 2025 proposals)

⚠️ Schedule F to replace civil servants with loyalists (ongoing)

Suppressing Opposition:

✅ Rhetoric about prosecuting "enemies"

❌ Opposition parties still function freely

❌ Protests still occur without suppression

❌ Has not arrested opposition leaders

❌ Civil liberties still largely protected

State-Level Control:

❌ Does not control Democratic-governed states

❌ Blue state governors actively resist

❌ Cannot override state governments

❌ States still run their own elections

 

 

 

 

KEY STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES

Why Xi Succeeded:

One-party state - no legitimate opposition existed

No separation of powers - party controls everything

No independent judiciary - courts serve the party

No free press - all media state-controlled

No federalism - centralized power structure

No civil society - all organizations party-controlled

No democratic tradition - never had meaningful democracy

Weak constitutional limits - party can change rules easily

Military serves party - not an independent institution

Gradual process - took 6 years before removing term limits

Why Trump Hasn't (Yet):

Two-party system - Democrats have real power

Separation of powers - executive, legislative, judicial divided

Independent judiciary - judges can't be fired, rule against him

Free press - First Amendment protections, cannot shut down media

Federalism - 50 states with independent power

Civil society - NGOs, unions, churches operate independently

Democratic tradition - 250 years of constitutional democracy

Strong constitutional limits - very hard to change

Military serves Constitution - professional, apolitical culture

Lost election - had to leave office when he lost

THE 2028-2029 TEST: What to Watch For

If Trump wants to consolidate power Xi-style, here's what he'd need to do by 2028-2029:

Critical Actions Needed:

⭕ Systematic military purge

Replace all generals with personal loyalists

Change military oath/culture to personal loyalty

Use military against domestic opponents

⭕ Eliminate opposition leaders

Arrest Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, etc.

Prosecute on fabricated charges

Imprison or exile

⭕ Control all media

Shut down CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo

Arrest critical journalists

Take over social media companies

⭕ Pack/control courts

Expand Supreme Court with loyalists

Ignore court rulings or purge judges

Eliminate judicial independence

⭕ Override federalism

Remove Democratic governors

Federal takeover of state governments

Control state elections

⭕ Attempt third term

Try to run in 2028 despite 22nd Amendment

Or refuse to accept 2028 loss

Use force to remain in power

⭕ Ban opposition

Outlaw Democratic Party

Arrest party leaders

End competitive elections

⭕ Mass surveillance state

Chinese-style monitoring

Social credit system

Punish dissent systematically

Current Reality Check:

Has Trump done any of these? ❌ No

Could he do these in 3 years? Extremely unlikely given structural barriers

What's the actual risk? Democratic backsliding and norm erosion, not full dictatorship (yet)

 

 

 

 

BOTTOM LINE COMPARISON

Xi Jinping:

Started with: One-party authoritarian state

Ended with: Personal dictatorship

Time needed: 6 years

Barriers overcome: Modest (system designed for this)

Status: ✅ Full consolidation achieved

Trump:

Started with: Democratic republic with strong institutions

Current status: Strained democracy, some democratic backsliding

Time in power: 4 years + 4 years (current)

Barriers overcome: Few (most institutions still functioning)

Status: ⚠️ Authoritarian tendencies, but NOT consolidated dictatorship

Key Insight: Trump would need to overcome FAR more barriers than Xi did, because the U.S. system has much stronger safeguards. Xi was upgrading from authoritarianism to personal dictatorship. Trump would be trying to dismantle democracy entirely - a much harder task.

 

-ai

Edited Thursday at 12:36 AM by integral

[integral]

Why Trump Doesn't Actually "Control" the Military Like Xi Does

 

The Oath Difference (This Is Crucial)

U.S. Military Oath:

Quote

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same..."

Notice: They swear to the Constitution, NOT to the President.

 

Chinese Military Oath:

Quote

 Swear allegiance to the Communist Party of China

 

This difference is everything. What This Means in Practice:

 

In China:

• Military serves the Party
• Party leader = military commander
• Personal loyalty expected
• Disobeying = treason

In America:

• Military serves the Constitution
• President commands, but only lawful orders
• Officers are trained to refuse unlawful orders
• Following unconstitutional orders = crime

Edited Thursday at 12:26 AM by integral

[Hardkill]

That's a pretty good list of reasons why it will be almost impossible for Trump and his party to pull off a true authoritarian takeover of the country.

Although I am still very worried about the elimination of free and fair elections as a real possibility.

Then again, I now think that maybe we have too much democracy because of how many stupid people we really have in this country.

Edited Thursday at 12:48 AM by Hardkill

[DocWatts]

Democracy, at least on a federal level, is likely cooked - SCOTUS is poised to gut section 2 of the Voting Rights act, which will give Republicans the green light to create 220 safe seats (ie a majority) in the House by gerrymandering the shit out of every Republican controlled state.

America can no longer be meaningfully called a democracy when one party has permanent control of the US House, which puts the US squarely in the realm of being a hybrid regime. In other words, a mixed authoritarian-democratic regime, with democracy existing to some degree on a local and state level while being hollowed out on the federal level.

A hybrid regime is essentially a failed democracy that's in the process of authoritarian consolidation, but isn't a full-on authoritarian state yet. It’s a political system that retains some formal features of democracy - such as elections and a constitution - but these are increasingly hollowed out in practice. In such a regime voting still happens, and on paper you still have 'rights,' but those rights function more like optional guidelines than guarantees. If they get in the way of the ruling faction's ambitions, they're ignored, reinterpreted, or swept aside entirely.

So that does that mean we throw in the towel and accept our fascist, pedophile-protecting overlords? Fuck no. Autocratic regimes have been toppled in the past, and they can be toppled in the future. We're not going to become 1940 Germany overnight.

The kind of regime we're going to be left with 3-4 years from now is going to be a reflection of what the American public is willing to tolerate.

 

Edited Thursday at 11:09 AM by DocWatts

[Elliott]

1 hour ago, DocWatts said:

Democracy, at least on a federal level, is likely cooked - SCOTUS is poised to gut section 2 of the Voting Rights act, which will give Republicans the green light to create 220 safe seats (ie a majority) in the House by gerrymandering the shit out of every Republican controlled state.

America can no longer be meaningfully called a democracy when one party has permanent control of the US House, which puts the US squarely in the realm of being a hybrid regime. In other words, a mixed authoritarian-democratic regime, with democracy existing to some degree on a local and state level while being hollowed out on the federal level.

A hybrid regime is essentially a failed democracy that's in the process of authoritarian consolidation, but isn't a full-on authoritarian state yet. It’s a political system that retains some formal features of democracy - such as elections and a constitution - but these are increasingly hollowed out in practice. In such a regime voting still happens, and on paper you still have 'rights,' but those rights function more like optional guidelines than guarantees. If they get in the way of the ruling faction's ambitions, they're ignored, reinterpreted, or swept aside entirely.

So that does that mean we throw in the towel and accept our fascist, pedophile-protecting overlords? Fuck no. Autocratic regimes have been toppled in the past, and they can be toppled in the future. We're not going to become 1940 Germany overnight.

The kind of regime we're going to be left with 3-4 years from now is going to be a reflection of what the American public is willing to tolerate.

 

There is risk with gerrymandering. If they gerrymander too much they risk losing more seats, considering not all voters are reliably red or blue, and given the outcome of gerrymandering tends to result in an unhappy electorate regardless of whether they oppose gerrymandering itself. You might be surprised how many Democrat voters there are in red states, let alone anti maga non-democrats.

Texas may have already blundered their redistricting in favor of democrats. Texas has fully-gerrymandered the last elections, they would have gerrymandered more before but they didn't have the electorate to gerrymander anymore, they still might not. Consider they are using 2024 election results to draw these maps, but that was when biden was in with inflation, Trump is in now, with inflation and a ton of other stuff.

I read an article that estimated IF the Texas gerrymandering is successful, Democrats would only need 3% over the national popular vote to win the house. That's hardly democracy ending.

Edited Thursday at 12:35 PM by Elliott

[Happy Lizard]

@integral how likely is it that the military will rebel against the president in case Trump violated the constitution and wanted to remain for a 3rd term? 

Under which type of event can the military show loyalty to the constitution vs Trump?

Edited Thursday at 10:58 PM by Happy Lizard

[integral]

@Happy Lizard

He tried doing this before multiple times and was blocked, but he learned from these mistakes and he learned to put as many loyallist as possible everywhere. It's unclear how many loyalists are in the army now.