Once fascism takes hold, it’s already too late to do anything about it

History offers 2025 America a stern warning. The question is whether enough people are paying attention to do anything about it.

A few days ago I wrote about the history of the Peniche Fortress, its use as a military prison during the fascist regime of António de Oliveira Salazar, and its recent rebirth as Portugal’s National Museum of Resistance and Freedom.

Which got me thinking… How did Portugal become a fascist country in the first place, why did it last for 40 years, and what did the Portuguese people do to finally cause its downfall?

So today, let’s examine Portugal, along with several other fascist states from recent history, as well as a couple of contemporary examples, ask ourselves those questions, and figure out how America can extricate itself from the authoritarian path Donald Trump and his MAGA minions have taken us down. Because history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. And when it comes to fascism, the rhyme is chillingly consistent.

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The Historical Record: Fascism Never Leaves Peacefully

When Adolf Hitler consolidated power in Germany in 1933, he did so with the veneer of legality — elections, appointments, laws. But once fascism was in place, elections stopped being real. No amount of ballots could have removed the Nazis; only military defeat in 1945 ended their reign of terror.

The same was true in Mussolini’s Italy. He rose to power legally, too, in 1922. Once there, the Fascists made sure the rules were rewritten so they could never lose. It wasn’t the Italian people who voted Mussolini out — it was his own allies, who turned on him when the war was lost. And even then, the Germans propped him back up for another two years as a puppet.

Look further west: Franco’s Spain and Salazar’s Portugal. Both began as fascist-inspired dictatorships in the 1930s. Both lasted decades — Franco until his death in 1975, Salazar’s Estado Novo until the military’s Carnation Revolution in 1974. Neither ended with ballots being counted. Neither ended because the people “voted them out.” Fascism dug in, and the only way it left was with death, collapse, or revolt.

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The Contemporary Rhymes: Russia and Hungary

Fast forward to the present. Vladimir Putin’s Russia has all the markers of fascism: ultranationalism, cult of the leader, militarism, suppression of dissent, and the weaponization of elections as mere theater. Anyone still waiting for Russians to “vote Putin out” is ignoring the obvious.

Viktor Orbán in Hungary has built a softer, subtler version — one he brands as “illiberal democracy.” But the principle is the same: manipulate the media, weaken the courts, redraw the electoral rules, and ensure that elections exist only to confirm, never to challenge, his grip on power.

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The American Warning

Which brings us to Trump’s America in 2025.

Since Inauguration Day, Trump’s actions align with the historical blueprint of authoritarian and fascist regimes. Here's how he’s ticking the fascist playbook—documented, not speculative.

1. Supremacy of the Executive & Erosion of Checks and Balances

• Mass Firings of Watchdogs
  Within days of taking office, Trump purged at least 17 independent inspectors general—ostensibly violating federal law requiring notice and rationale—alongside members of oversight boards and civil service agencies. Critics see this as an aggressive move to dismantle institutional checks on power.

• Unilateral Control Over the Executive-Branch
  Trump issued an executive order proclaiming the executive branch “an extension of his own person,” concentrating interpretive and enforcement authority in his hands and the Attorney General’s—undermining agency autonomy.

2. Weaponization of Law Enforcement & Militarization of Domestic Policy

• Federalization of Washington, D.C. Police
  In August 2025, Trump invoked emergency powers to wrest control of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department from local leaders, deploying federal forces and National Guard units—despite crime rates being at historic lows.

• Deployments to Other Cities with Authorization for Force
  He authorized militarized responses to civil unrest, including deploying armed National Guard units with lethal authority to cities like Washington, D.C., and proposing expansion to places like Chicago.

3. Suppression of Free Speech & Press

• New Restrictions on Flag-Burning
  Trump signed an executive order criminalizing flag burning with prison sentences despite a Supreme Court ruling protecting it as free speech—seeking to overturn a constitutional right based on content.

• Controlling Press Access
  His administration blacklisted media outlets and restricted press pool access, purging mainstream journalists while favoring aligned, partisan outlets.

4. Targeting Political Opponents & Institutions

• Weaponizing the Department of Justice
  Trump created the Weaponization Working Group to investigate political opponents—many uncharged—seeking to shame them without due process.

• Investigating Democratic Infrastructure
  Directing DOJ to investigate ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform, he attempted to weaken political opposition infrastructure.

5. Attacks on the Judiciary & Threats Against Courts

• Attacking Judges & Judicial Independence
  Trump regularly vilified judges who ruled against him, calling for impeachments or retaliation, fueling threats that have dramatically increased—from “monsters” to harassment of judges and even their families. He’s even had some arrested.

• Ignoring Court Orders
  He has openly defied judicial rulings, further eroding the judiciary’s role as a check on executive power.

6. Consolidation & Loyalty—Authoritarian Structures

• Loyalty Tests & Patronage
  Trump installed loyalists in key positions across agencies—from USAID to law enforcement—dismissing officials deemed disloyal and embedding allegiance-based governance.

• Policy Avoidance Through Non-Enforcement
  Departments like the EPA and PHMSA saw a dramatic drop in enforcement actions. Trump’s administration actively chose not to enforce laws he opposed, bypassing both rulemaking and legal processes.

Observers warn that Trump is moving faster toward authoritarianism than many contemporaries, even more rapidly than Putin or Orbán during their early consolidations of power. And just yesterday, he even stated, “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.’” Some will laugh this off as “Trump just being Trump; shooting from hip.” But there’s a lot of truth when “Trump is just being Trump.”

The hopeful voices say: “Don’t worry. We’ll take back Congress in 2026 and the White House in 2028. It’s only four years” But that’s not how fascism works. That’s not how it has ever worked.

Once fascism takes hold, elections stop being meaningful. They become rituals, stagecraft, propaganda. Those clinging to the idea that the United States can simply “vote MAGA out” between 2026 and 2028. If January 6 was the dry run, then January 20, 2025, was the curtain rising.

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The Hard Question: What the Hell Do We Do About This?

If history teaches us anything, it’s that waiting for the ballot box to solve fascism is magical thinking. Germany didn’t vote Hitler out. Italy didn’t vote Mussolini out. Spain and Portugal didn’t vote Franco and Salazar out. Russia and Hungary aren’t voting Putin and Orbán out. The uncomfortable truth is fascism doesn’t end because the dictator loses an election. It ends because people and institutions refuse to cooperate.

So what the hell do we do about Trump?

1. Mass Mobilization. Protest is not optional. When authoritarian governments fear anything, it’s crowds in the streets. The Civil Rights movement, Solidarity in Poland, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, all remind us that organized, sustained protest can shift the ground under regimes that look untouchable.

2. Civil Disobedience. If laws are rewritten to criminalize dissent, then breaking those laws becomes a civic duty. Rosa Parks, lunch counter sit-ins, ACT UP. History is filled with examples of how defiance exposes illegitimacy.

3. Local & State Resistance. States and cities must prepare now to serve as bulwarks. That means refusing to enforce unconstitutional federal edicts, protecting vulnerable populations, and becoming havens for civil rights. Federalism can cut both ways, and it must. See, e.g., Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who just told Donald Trump not to bring the National Guard to Chicago and called him out for his authoritarian power-grab.

4. Institutional Courage. Universities, businesses, churches and other houses of worship, and the press cannot normalize authoritarianism. This means refusing to give platforms to lies, refusing to fund propaganda, refusing to cloak repression in the language of “policy differences.” Institutions that bend out of fear or profit will only grease the wheels of fascism.

5. Building Parallel Structures. Authoritarian governments control information, culture, and often even commerce. Democracies-in-exile have survived before — through underground newspapers, pirate radio, smuggled books, encrypted communication. In a digital age, parallel institutions of truth and solidarity are both possible and necessary. If ever there was a time for a shadow government, it is now.

6. Solidarity Over Cynicism. Fascism thrives on isolation and despair — on convincing people that nothing matters, that no one else will stand up, so why should you? The antidote is radical solidarity: showing up, linking arms, refusing to abandon neighbors.

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Conclusion

The lesson of history is brutally clear: once fascism takes hold, it’s already too late to trust elections to fix it. Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Hungary. They all tell the same story.

The United States in 2025 is not immune. Those waiting for the ballot box in 2026 or 2028 are clinging to a fantasy. If we want to stop America from joining that dark list, we need to act. Not later, not after the next election cycle, but now. This isn’t about “waiting him out.” Fascism doesn’t wait. Fascism doesn’t rest. Fascism doesn’t give up power voluntarily.

Because the only way to stop fascism is before it consolidates power. After that, history offers no examples or hope of ballots being enough.

This is table stakes for America. We need to start acting like it.