Our government under Donald Trump mirrors  George Orwell’s 1945 book Animal Farm. The book tells the story of the farm animals who overthrow their human owner in order to have a democracy, but end up with a dictator, the farm pig named “Napoleon.” He became a dictator by gradually crushing opposition and transforming himself into the absolute ruler of Animal Farm. Once in power, Napoleon abolishes democratic meetings and rules through fear, false propaganda, and deception. His philosophy about being a dictator was: “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”  Orwell shows that the greatest danger to any movement for equality is the corruption of absolute power into a single, self-serving leader. It was written as an allegory about how Stalin consolidated power after Lenin’s death in Russia, but mirrors Donald Trump’s political actions as well.

We have numerous examples in the Trump government that illustrate this truth. Here are two. . The first one involves the President’s effort to be paid $230 million of Taxpayer money for legal and authorized investigations that demonstrated his criminal guilt for which he was indicted by a Grand Jury. Trump, however, is planning to pay himself through the Justice Department about $230 million because he was investigated by the Justice Department. He plans to do this even though the charges haven’t been permanently dismissed but are only suspended while he is in office.  Despite  obvious concerns about conflict of interest and corruption, the president declared during an Oval Office gathering that Justice Department officials “owe me a lot of money.” On top of that, he claims he is the sole judge for deciding to make the payment and the amount he should be paid: “I’m the one that makes the decision and that decision would have to go across my desk,” he told reporters, “and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.” Even those who’ve come to expect routine corruption from Donald Trump were taken aback by his latest action. The facts are:

In  2022, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as Special Counsel to oversee two existing investigations into Trump:

1. One into Trump’s handling of classified material and presidential records after his term ended.
2. The other is into Trump’s efforts to overturn or obstruct the 2020 presidential election result, including events around January 6, 2021.

In 2023, a grand jury indicted him for both crimes, and special prosecutor Jack Smith filed criminal charges against him. But in 2024, he was elected president. After being elected, he fired and replaced the members of the Justice Department with his own selection of lawyers. This was done without prior Congressional approval. At that point, Smith  filed a motion with the court to temporarily dismiss the charges because:  “It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President.” The motion made it clear that the government had proof to convict for the charges, but that while in office, no charges could be prosecuted and had to be temporarily dropped. However, it was made clear that there was significant proof for the charges, and they would be pending while he was in office.

The result is that the indicted criminal, who is still subject to the charges, now claims he should be paid $230 million of taxpayer money because he was investigat for serious crimes, even though there is substantial evidence of his guilt and the matter is only temporarily suspended. He insists he has the right to direct the  Justice Department, which is under his control, to pay him the money even though the serious criminal charges are still unresolved. He also insists he can do this without Congressional approval. He insists he has the sole power to order this to be done, plus the sole power to decide how much he should be paid, without any Congressional or judicial decision or involvement, but cites no legal authority for his claims of power.

The other recent example involves structure construction at the White House. Construction has started on the $300 million ballroom that President Donald Trump is adding to the White House as construction crews began tearing down the East Wing, where the new space is being built.

The Republican president and top White House officials had initially said nothing would be demolished during construction. “It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it but not touching it,” Trump said at the time, adding that it would pay “total respect” to the White House. The plan changed to be an extensive construction and was unfolded in secret until the demolition suddenly began this week. At that time it was claimed the East Wing had to be torn down completely.  Trump now said that it was needed to “do it properly.” And besides, it was “very small” and “was never thought of as being much” anyway.

The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will dwarf the main White House itself, at nearly double the size, and Trump says it will accommodate 999 people. President Donald Trump will likely name his new $300 million White House ballroom after himself, according to senior administration officials. Already, officials are referring to it as “The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom.”

The National Capital Planning Commission was created by congressional law as the central planning agency to preserve important and historical features of the National Capital. Any extensions of or additions to those buildings and grounds are under the jurisdiction of this Commission. This includes the White House and the area now under construction.

Trump is moving ahead with construction despite the lack of approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, the executive branch agency that has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region. Furthermore, he is personally deciding all of the design and decoration of the construction without any supervision or guidance.

The political and governmental situation in this country today is no longer simply a political difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. It is a fundamental difference in how the country is governed. This country was founded as a constitutional federal republic — a representative democracy governed by the Constitution. No U.S. president “runs” the government itself; that’s defined by the Constitution. We are, by the Constitution, a democracy with full public participation. The government Trump is conducting is not a democracy, but a populist-nationalist form of government based on authoritarian rule. While the exercise of dictatorial power in the United States is frightening, what is even more disturbing is the lack of real protest and outrage over the disregard of our constitution and laws by this government and president. There is not even an effort to comply with the rules of law. Trump simply ignores any legal restraint, does what he wants, knowing no one, including Congress, will step up and object. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, a complete ventriloquist dummy of Trump, has kept the House from even meeting. Over 100 days, it met only 17 times. As of October 26th, it had gone 35 days straight without meeting. Congress has abandoned all responsibility. Trump is allowed to do what he wants without asking anyone or complying with laws and the Constitution. Welcome to a new America

The theologian William Barclay has written: “All power is in itself quite neutral. It is neither good nor bad. It is potential for goodness and for evil, for blessings and for destruction. The important thing in relation to all power is the character and the quality of those who possess it. In the hands of good and loving men, power is a blessing. In the hands of selfish, self-seeking, reckless men, power is an evil.