Declaring himself anointed by God, Donald Trump said during his inaugural speech that God saved him from an assassination attempt to make America great again. Fusing God into MAGA and his own personage, through his words and post-inaugural deeds, Trump has made his monarchical intentions clear.
Trump is building a monarchy, one that will keep him in the White House until he dies a natural death. His opening salvo in pardoning and commuting the sentences of men who were willing to kill for him on Jan. 6 was a recruitment event. Trump is rewarding — and thereby summoning — political violence in his name to prepare for Jan. 6, 2028.
Trump considers himself king
By the end of last week, Trump had signed expansive executive orders on gender, immigration, hiring, and energy, left the Paris Agreement, withdrew from the World Health Organization, declared that he would “tariff and tax” neighbors and allies into submission, and jettisoned the 14th Amendment to ban birthright citizenship. A king does not require cumbersome state ratifications to amend the Constitution.
Trump has always viewed his presidential powers expansively, claiming in his first term that the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want as president.” When his Jan. 6 coup attempt failed to keep him in office after he lost the 2020 election, Trump later suggested “termination” of the Constitution. He has said repeatedly that America may have a “president for life” someday, like China’s Xi.
Referring to “manifest destiny,” a theme popular among dictators and monarchs in the 1800s, Trump has also claimed the right to rename geographic designations and grab sovereign territories. His renaming the Gulf of Mexico as “Gulf of America” doesn’t project American strength to the world; it projects petulance, immaturity, and a galling ignorance of history.
Abject loyalists serve one purpose only
To enable and enforce his monarchical power grab, Trump has also chosen the least qualified and most inexperienced cabinet in U.S. history. It is hard to conceive of a more brutal or dictatorial approach to governance than selecting unqualified sycophants who will do his bidding no matter how illegal.
First buddy Elon Musk, who purchased proximity to power, posted un-ironically on X that Trump’s inauguration heralded “The Return of the King.” He then gave a Heil Hitler Salute to wild applause from Trump supporters. Kash Patel published the last of his children’s trilogy about investigations into Trump’s criminality, called “The Plot Against the King,” and snagged an FBI directorship as a reward.
Vice President JD Vance shares the same imperial views, encouraging Trump to defy judicial orders that strike down his unconstitutional policies, pointing out that courts have no enforcement powers of their own.
The Jan. 6 pardons were meant to recruit
Like many coup attempts throughout history, Jan. 6 was a rehearsal. By pardoning the most violent among them, Trump has begun recruitment for the real event.
After claiming he would only consider Jan. 6 pardons on a case by case basis, Trump pardoned and commuted the sentences of all Jan. 6 rioters, including those convicted of bludgeoning and beating police officers.
The blanket pardons are integral to Trump’s plan. Even with an undisciplined drunkard in command of the world’s most lethal military, and a relentless itch to deploy the military on Americans, Trump will still need paramilitary goons to lay the groundwork and stay in power beyond 2028. Rioters who bludgeoned, beat, bear-and-pepper sprayed, and tased police officers on Jan. 6 to keep Trump in power have already shown their willingness to kill for him; there is no more fertile ground for arming his next coup.
Trump’s recruitment efforts are already working
The pardons sent an invitation to the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, white supremacists, and other violent extremists to recruit like-minded criminals to fight on Trump’s behalf. One member of the Proud Boys told Reuters that Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons would increase recruitment, because violent militia members now consider themselves “bulletproof.”
After the pardons were issued, a pro-Trump website began calling for the execution of judges, police officers or Democratic officials, saying they should be hanged, beaten to death or fed into wood chippers. The “QAnon Shaman” who wore horns on Jan. 6 wrote on X, “NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHAFU*KIN GUNS!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!”
To experts on extremism, Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons will embolden extremist groups who thrive on political violence. That was exactly Trump’s plan. Even as he was sworn in again, Trump continued to claim the 2020 election was rigged, and that Jan. 6 was a peaceful “day of love.”
A federal judge in Chicago has an aggravating sign posted in his courtroom that says, “Warning. Dates on the calendar are closer than they appear.” Trump is keenly aware that 2028 is looming, and has begun to fortify his castle.
Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25 year litigator specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. Her Substack, the Haake Take, is free.
