To the editor:

In a world filled with divisive rhetoric, it’s easy to seem like just another alarmist voice. However, I truly believe that we are no longer in the Trump wants to be a dictator phase anymore. We’re in the he already is, and we’re in Act II phase.

Since April, the White House has:

• Seized control over independent agencies once meant to check presidential power.

• Purged civil servants for ideological disloyalty.

• Turned internal watchdogs into punching bags.

• Used the courts and the Department of Justice like political target practice.

• And now, is actively weaponizing the U.S. military against its own citizens.

Tuesday’s display at Quantico put this into sharp relief. Pete Hegseth, now secretary of war (an absurdist alpha-bro compensation of a title), announced sweeping cultural purges within the military: Banning beards, reinstating male-level fitness standards, gutting DEI programs and telling anyone who doesn’t like it to leave. Trump, standing beside him, ordered generals to treat San Francisco and Chicago as training zones to respond quickly to the enemy within and threatened to fire military leaders he personally doesn’t like. (Sources: The Wall Street Journal, ABC News and The Associated Press) The military should never be used against its own citizens.

At the same time, Trump’s war on free speech is playing out in plain view. Late-night comedians, traditionally America’s pressure valves, are now political targets. Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after criticizing Trump and the GOP’s willingness to politicize the killing of Charlie Kirk, while Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show,” had his show removed (allegedly) due to pressure from the FCC leaning on the finances of parent company Skydance Media. Colbert said it plainly after the news regarding Jimmy Kimmel: “With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch.” That’s not hyperbole; it’s a warning. (Source: Time Magazine)

Meanwhile, Trump insists he’s restoring free speech, pointing to Executive Order 14149 (signed in January.) But this Orwellian inversion ensures the opposite: Critics face more pressure, fewer protections and less room to push back. (Sources: PBS and Time)

We used to argue whether Trump was sliding toward authoritarianism. That debate is outdated. We are already living through a regime where:

• Dissent is mapped as domestic terror.

• Critics are prosecuted as political targets.

• The military is being reshaped for internal enforcement.

• And independent institutions are being recast as presidential fiefdoms.

If this sounds alarming, it’s because it is. This is not normal. This is not business as usual. This is what the endgame looks like. It is long past time to call it by its name. Trump is no longer attempting to become an authoritarian. He already is one.

The choice now is stark: Dissent while you still can, or accept complicity in the desecration of American democracy. I’m begging all true patriots of America to remember the words of John Lewis: “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”

Cody Alan LaRue

Steubenville