In his initial year in office, Donald Trump employed a strategy reminiscent of previous authoritarian leaders, particularly in the way he aggressively targeted his adversaries. This approach mirrored that of figures like Alberto Fujimori, Hugo Chávez, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who also utilized sharp rhetoric to consolidate their power and undermine opposition.

Author Steven Levitsky, in his book "How Democracies Die," outlines how such tactics can threaten democratic institutions. By fostering division and escalating conflicts with opponents, Trump followed a path that could destabilize the political landscape, echoing the behaviors observed in other leaders who sought to diminish democratic norms.