Is Donald Trump a Fascist?

Donald Trump is the most prominent figure of the 21st century. In 2016, he staged the greatest political upset in modern history when he overcame 66/1 odds to barely defeat Hillary Clinton in his election as President of the United States. Trump became the first President to lack prior military or government experience upon entering office. Eight years later, he staged the greatest political comeback to again win the White House. 

At the 2020 election, Joe Biden trounced Trump. Next, the former President was met with an onslaught of lawsuits. In 2023, he was found liable for sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll and was ordered to pay $5 million in damages. Trump was also liable for defamation, due to consistent public statements, and mandated to pay $83.3 million to Carroll. In May 2024, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a plot to cover up hush money payments he paid to Stormy Daniels. This made him the first former US President in history declared a felon. 

Meanwhile, Trump was scheming a return to the Presidency. He announced his campaign for the 2024 presidential election in autumn 2022. Soon enough, the Republican party coalesced around him. Meanwhile inflation spiked. The number of illegal migrants crossing America’s southern border soared. Combined with an aging and decaying Biden, fertile ground was set for a Trump victory. Following a disastrous debate for Biden, immediate cracks began to show. Democrats replaced Biden with his Vice-President, Kamala Harris, as their nominee in the impending election. That wasn’t enough. Trump was re-elected as President of the United States of America. He won 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226, and 77 million votes to her 75 million. This made Trump the first Republican since 2004 to win the popular vote. 

The notion of a man returning from a devastating electoral defeat, then receiving near-universal condemnation by his own party over the January 6th attack and becoming a felon, to winning the US Presidency by a margin bigger than he did before is unprecedented. 

Alongside a significant victory for Trump came remarkable criticism. He was described as racist, xenophobic and authoritarian, but the label that stuck: fascist. On January 6, 2021, Trump incited his supporters to attack the US Capitol building in a final attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. As a result, nearly $3 million worth of damages and over 140 injured police officers, one of whom died. Trump’s role in January 6th sparked questions over whether he falls under the general definition of a fascist. “Yes,” Kamala Harris answered.

Fascism is the surrender of freedom, persecution of minorities and promotion of hatred. No nation has ever prospered under its rule. Associated with it are the death of millions of Jews in the Second World War.

In this article, I’ll examine the meaning of fascism, why his critics have applied the label to Trump and answer the question: is Donald Trump a fascist?

Fascism

Fascism developed in Italy after World War I. In 1919, Italian journalist Benito Mussolini organised his campaign in Milan, where squads of street fighters beat up socialists and communists in local government. During that year, Mussolini coined the term ‘fascism’ to describe his movement. He later seized control of government, through violent means, and was appointed Prime Minister of Italy in 1922. In Mussolini’s Italy, liberal democracy was dismantled. Police forces were tasked with rooting out political opposition and controlling the population. Instructors “drilled” fascism into the mind of children. News was censured by the state.

Adolf Hitler, an admirer of fascism, modelled his Nazi party on Mussolini’s regime. In the deadliest conflict in history, Hitler persecuted Jews, civilians and political opponents, compounding to a total of 17 million deaths across Europe. Fascist movements were also formed in Japan and Latin America. 

Considerable debate exists among scholars defining fascism. “Trying to define 'fascism' is like trying to nail jelly to the wall,” historian Ian Kershaw wrote. Some claim it is a socially radical movement with ideological connections to extreme equality, while others say it is an extreme form of conservatism. Fascism is broadly characterised as rejecting liberal democracy and promoting extreme nationalism and authoritarianism through means of political violence and cults of personality. In this examination of Donald Trump, I will use that definition.

Donald Trump and Fascism

Liberal democracy is the bedrock of Western civilisation. It limits the power of government whilst protecting the rights of individuals. Hitler’s Third Reich became a police state in which Germans enjoyed no guaranteed basic rights and the SS, the elite guard of the Nazi state, wielded increasing authority through its control over the police. There are clear parallels with Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Democrat-controlled cities.

In June 2025, he deployed 4,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles in order to quell mostly peaceful anti-ICE protests. Trump again deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Washington, DC, due to a “situation of complete and total lawlessness” related to rising rates of crime and homelessness. He also positioned National Guard troops in Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon.

His actions were unprecedented. The deployment in California was the first time since Lyndon B Johnson, in 1965, when a US President overruled a state’s governor to deploy the National Guard. Johnson’s goal was to protect civil rights protesters. Two months later, Trump placed Washington DC’s police deployment under federal control. The Home Rule Act enables the President to seize control, although Trump is the first President in US history to use that power. While he declared DC in a state of emergency, violent crime in the city was at a 30-year low. 

Trump’s deployments illustrate an unnecessary abuse of power by a rogue character attempting to greatly increase the size of government.

The manner in which Trump governs has also led to concerns over the erosion of liberal democracy. As of July 2026, Trump has signed 269 executive orders. Meanwhile the Republican-controlled Congress has enacted 102 laws. Trump’s most significant include dismantling government departments and reducing federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars. In any other administration, such actions would have involved a lengthy and bruising battle with Congress; in Trump’s, just another day. On the first day of his second administration, Trump pardoned around 1,500 individuals convicted of, or awaiting trials for, crimes related to the January 6th attack. This demonstrates a considerable bias, given he reacted to mostly peaceful protests in Los Angeles with the National Guard. As a result, the US’ political system, designed to prevent centralised power, appeared in trouble. 

In March 2026, the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University stripped the US of its status as a liberal democracy. Their report also concluded that the US is hurtling towards autocracy at a rate quicker than that of Hungary and Turkey.

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Ultranationalism is an extreme devotion to, or advocacy of the interests of, a nation especially regardless of the effect on any other nations. Hitler pursued ultranationalism in his annexation of Austria and invasions of Poland and the Soviet Union.

Immigration is a cornerstone of both administrations. During his first term, Trump promised to build a wall on the US’ southern border with Mexico. He suggested Mexico should foot the bill. In the second term, Trump shifted inwards. He has pursued a policy of mass deportations using deportation flights. As of mid-2026, the Department of Homeland Security claims they have deported 948,000 illegal immigrants since Trump entered office. Some backlash has ensued. In late January 2025, Colombia blocked two military aircraft carrying U.S. deportees from landing in the country, but later reversed its position after Trump threatened steep retaliatory tariffs on Colombian imports. 

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump embraced the slogan “America First” to describe his candidacy. The US government adopted it as its official foreign policy doctrine during the first Trump administration. This resulted in US withdrawal from prior international commitments, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); UNESCO; UNHRC; and the Paris Agreement. In 2018, Trump privately threatened US withdrawal from NATO, then urged European countries to increase defence spending. 

Trump has exhibited the Monroe Doctrine in his second administration, advocating for US dominance in Latin America. In January 2026, US forces successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump’s intention was to replace the Venezuelan dictator so he could gain access to the nation’s oil. Six months after the intervention, Trump claimed his administration had collected $13 billion from the sale of Venezuelan oil.

Whilst he has threatened to annex Greenland, such claims are yet to materialise. In the first state of the union address of his second administration, Trump declared the US would “one way or another” control the territory. He believes Greenland is an “absolute necessity” for American national security.

Trump’s profound and absurd rhetoric leans into nationalism. "All Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration. We are out of space to hold them,” Trump declared, relating to his proposal of a US-Mexico border wall. Most strikingly, he claimed NATO “sent some troops to Afghanistan... and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines." In reality, 1,025 NATO troops died during the US-led conflict.

If he cares more about himself than his country, then is a man truly an ultranationalist? Trump chickened out of military service. He received five military draft deferments during the Vietnam War- one due to a perfectly timed diagnosis of bone spurs in the heel. In 2025, the Qatari royal family donated a private jet, worth close to $400 million, to Trump for use as Air Force One and later his presidential library.

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Political violence is the deliberate use of power and force to achieve political goals. In Mussolini’s March on Rome, thousands of fascists approached Italy’s capital, ultimately resulting in the appointment of Mussolini as prime minister, although he lacked a democratic mandate.

Trump lost the 2020 presidential election by a margin of 232 electoral college votes to Biden’s 306. Rather than graciously conceding, like every other losing candidate in the modern era, he attempted to overturn the results in a desperate bid to remain in power. In a one-hour long telephone call with Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, Trump said, “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.” 

Meanwhile Trump was planning one of the gravest attacks on American democracy. On January 6, 2021, he delivered a one hour and 14 minute speech in which he declared "We can't let that happen,” in relation to Joe Biden’s certification as the winner of the election. Trump called on his supporters to "walk down to the Capitol… And we fight. We fight like Hell.” Up to 2,500 individuals entered the Capitol. As a result, $3 million worth of damages and over 140 injured police officers, one of whom died. Ultimately the attack was unsuccesful. Biden entered the White House two weeks later.

Following the attack, Trump garnered the label “fascist.” Anatomy of Fascism author Robert Paxton, who previously refused to label Trump with the term, changed his mind. Trump’s January 6th attack was compared to Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch. Whilst the attack was a failure, and Trump returned to power with a democratic mandate four years later, it was a clear example of political violence. 

The question is this: will Donald Trump refuse to leave the Presidency in 2029? Trump claimed that he lost the popular vote in 2016 due to millions of illegal immigrants voting for Hillary Clinton en masse. In 2024, when asked whether he would accept the result, he answered "Yeah, if I think it’s an honest election, absolutely.” Trump’s niece, Mary, suggested that, if Trump had lost to Kamala Harris, then he would’ve “called for another insurrection.” 

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A cult of personality is a term applied to leaders who somehow inspire unquestioning loyalty. 

Mussolini developed one when his political party encouraged Italians to purchase a Mussolini-themed calendar each year. Trump sells hats. In 2024, his online merchandise store generated $8.8 million. 

To understand how Trump developed a devoted fanbase, picture his followers. In 2016 and 2024, around ⅔ of America’s white working-class supported Trump’s bid for the White House. The message was apparent- “left-behind” voters in the Rust Belt were frustrated with decades of decline through economic hardship. These voters were willing to support an outsider candidate, such as Trump, who not only opposed the establishment, but was in prime position to defeat it. 

Trump’s charismatic authority cultivated a loyal following among supporters. As a result, an “us versus them” populist approach formed. Trump acknowledged his cultish support when he claimed, in 2016, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” In July 2024, fervent beliefs were strengthened due to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. This enabled him to claim a god-given mandate. 

Political scientists Benjamin Goldsmith and Lars J.K. Moen class “Trump followers” as individuals who voted for Trump in 2020, “strongly approve” of his performance as president, “strongly approve” of his handling of the coronavirus, believe Trump will go down in history as an “above average” or “outstanding” president, believe Trump acted “responsibly” after the 2020 election, believe Republican leaders “should follow Trump's leadership,” and “strongly agree” with the view that mainstream media has treated Trump unfairly. 10% of respondents to their survey, which was an accurate representation of American voters, were classified as “Trump followers.” The research demonstrates the validity of Trump’s cult. 

To some extent, Trump satisfies the definition of “fascist.” He is governing by executive order; his armed forces captured the leader of a foreign government so his could profit; his participation in the January 6th attacks clearly exhibited political violence; and he has developed a cultish following. Despite this, an albeit fragile democracy continues. The Democrats have not been outlawed. Trump’s America does not share a key characteristic of Hitler and Mussolini’s regimes- a one party state. Perhaps Trump’s fascism exists, but is not as severe as 20th century Europe’s. 

Ultimately “fascist” is used as an insult. On the left, Democratic politicians Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz all used the term to describe Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign. On the right, commentators associate the term with Nazism, and by extension socialism. Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene compared mask wearing to the holocaust. In 1944, George Orwell wrote, “It will be seen that, as used, the word 'Fascism' is almost entirely meaningless. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.”