Chatbot Despotism
Is the Trump regime taking its cues from AI?
I mentioned in a previous post that there were strong indications Trump’s catastrophic tariff plan had been designed by—or at least with the help of—an AI chatbot. The bizarre formula for calculating not-actually-reciprocal “reciprocal tariffs” was the sort of thing it’s hard to imagine any human economist endorsing, but multiple observers noted that popular Large Language Models coughed up essentially the same formula when asked, albeit usually noting that it was a crude and stupid way to go about it. Perhaps even more telling, Trump’s plan purported to impose tariffs on several tiny uninhabited islands, or areas that were fully part of another country—like the French island of Reunion—but which nevertheless have their own top level Internet domains. Again, a mistake it’s impossible to imagine a human trade expert making—or even a minimally knowledgable junior staffer—but easy to see coming from the digital un-mind of an AI chatbot.
It’s not just trade though. Throughout this first 100 days there are elements of Trump’s political and legal strategy that have the similar uncanny feel of something cooked up by an expert system churning text it doesn’t really “understand”—things it seems unlikely a human lawyer would hit on. I think by analogy of game playing engines like Stockfish or AlphaGo: They will often make moves that human grandmasters will tell you no human would ever make, because they derive purely from brute force calculation rather than the general principles of chess or go that humans use to evaluate moves.
It’s not a perfect analogy, because there’s nothing here you’d call superhumanly intelligent, and the uncanniness could be accounted for by the coterie of crackpots and sociopaths Trump has surrounded himself with. Still, given the open enthusiasm this administration exhibits for AI in everything, it seems entirely plausible that this time around, they’ve turned to some simulated strategists for guidance. That in mind, I decided to ask ChatGPT to imagine—purely for entertainment purposes—the outlines of a strategy a freshly-reelected Trump might follow if his aim were to transform the United States from a true liberal democracy into an authoritarian state along the lines of Hungary or Turkey that retained the cosmetic trappings of a democracy. Here’s what it came up with:
Sure, here's a fictional and realistic narrative that follows your premise. This scenario is grounded in plausible uses and abuses of executive power, legal ambiguity, and the strategic manipulation of existing institutions. It's structured chronologically and fhighlights key moves that subtly, yet significantly, erode liberal democratic norms while preserving a veneer of democracy—mirroring illiberal strategies used in countries like Hungary, Turkey, and Russia.
Title: “The Second Term: A Fictional Account of a Quiet Coup”
Phase I: The Consolidation (January–June 2025)
1. Inaugural Messaging: “Restoring Order and Patriotism”
Donald Trump's second inaugural speech focuses on themes of national decline, “deep state betrayal,” and the need for “true American sovereignty.” He claims that his first term was “sabotaged by enemies within,” and this time, he’ll finish the job. The tone is nationalist and populist, but avoids outright authoritarian rhetoric, keeping things within the realm of plausible deniability.
2. DOJ Purge and Realignment
Within days of inauguration, Trump forces out the Attorney General (if not already loyal) and replaces them with a highly loyal figure—a cross between Bill Barr and a Fox News commentator—someone willing to blur legal lines for "national interest." Senior DOJ staff are reshuffled. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which interprets executive authority, is filled with ideologues who believe in an expansive “unitary executive theory.”
3. Weaponizing the Inspector Generals & Whistleblower Channels
Using existing executive authority, Trump orders all agency IGs to be reviewed and replaced if found to be “unreliable” or “biased.” He centralizes whistleblower complaints under a new “Office of Internal Integrity” within the White House Counsel’s Office, effectively turning an oversight mechanism into an information-gathering tool.
4. National Security Excuse: Operation Homeland Fortitude
After a fabricated domestic terror threat is amplified via state-friendly media (e.g. a “false flag” antifa-ISIS collusion narrative), Trump uses this as a justification to declare a temporary national emergency. Under the National Emergencies Act, he invokes sweeping executive powers—border control, surveillance expansion, federal troop deployment to cities—ostensibly to "prevent chaos."
5. Civil Service Reclassification: Schedule F 2.0
Trump reinstates and expands the Schedule F executive order (first attempted in 2020), allowing him to reclassify tens of thousands of federal workers as "policy-making," and thus fireable at will. Loyalists are placed in these key bureaucratic positions, especially in intelligence, education, health, and the EPA.
Phase II: Institutional Decay (July–December 2025)
6. Supreme Court & Judiciary Management
Though the Court's composition is already favorable, Trump signals that justices who "betray the Constitution" (i.e., rule against him) may be investigated. A quiet campaign begins: leaks to media, ethics complaints, pressure via congressional allies. Meanwhile, the Federalist Society pipeline is used to rapidly confirm lower-court judges who share Trump’s ideological vision.
7. Media and Tech Manipulation
Trump expands the FCC’s regulatory authority, pushing for a reinterpretation of Section 230, coercing tech companies to remove content deemed “anti-American” or “election disinformation.” Government contracts are withheld from companies seen as hostile. New federal funding boosts explicitly pro-government news outlets, under a “patriotic journalism” initiative.
8. State Governments & Preemption
States controlled by Democrats face financial strangulation: federal grants are tied to “compliance with national unity standards.” Trump uses federal preemption arguments and DOJ lawsuits to interfere with state-level civil rights laws, voting rules, and climate regulations. Governors who resist are targeted by coordinated disinfo campaigns and selective federal investigations.
9. Militarizing Federal Agencies
Border Patrol, ICE, and even elements of the National Guard are restructured into a “Homeland Security Corps,”reporting directly to the executive during emergencies. Trump uses pretextual emergencies to deploy them in urban centers, clamping down on protests and creating an atmosphere of constant soft repression.
Phase III: Electoral Capture (2026–2028)
10. Election Subversion Architecture
Without changing laws, Trump uses executive power to:
Pressure the Census Bureau to revise demographic modeling.Install loyalists in the Election Assistance Commission, which issues “guidance” to states.Fund “election integrity monitors” in blue states—effectively federal poll intimidation teams.
11. Federalizing Voter Data
A new executive order mandates that all states upload voter registration data to a central “National Voter Integrity Database,” administered by DHS. Under the guise of fighting fraud, this database is used to challenge registrations en masse, especially in urban and minority-heavy districts.
12. Pseudo-Pluralism: Controlled Opposition
Trump allows controlled dissent—liberal commentators, “independent” parties, sanitized protests—but keeps them marginalized. Dissenters are defunded, deplatformed, or surveilled. Think tanks and nonprofits must register under a new “Foreign Influence Transparency Act” that mimics the Russian ‘foreign agent’ law.
Phase IV: The Facade Stabilizes (2028 and Beyond)
13. Loyalist Succession Planning
Trump’s final trick is grooming a successor (perhaps a family member or loyalist like JD Vance or Elise Stefanik) under a new “American Renewal Party” brand, effectively a rebranded GOP. Elections continue—but they’re rigged at the structural level: suppressed turnout, media control, legal harassment of opposition, and gerrymandering.
14. Historical Revisionism & Cultural Capture
Education policy is refocused around “patriotic truth.” Federal curriculum standards promote nationalist mythology. The National Archives are rebranded. History is reinterpreted to portray Trump’s movement as the savior of American liberty from “globalist corruption.”
15. Final Legal Insulation
Using the OLC, Trump engineers a legal memo declaring former presidents immune from criminal prosecution under the theory that any “official act” while in office is inherently lawful. This doctrine is embedded into DOJ precedent, effectively shielding him indefinitely.
Epilogue: Democracy in Form, Autocracy in Function
By 2028, America still holds elections, maintains a Supreme Court, and lets CNN exist. But behind the scenes, power has been centralized. Institutions that once checked executive authority now serve it. Like Hungary or Turkey, democracy survives as a shadow—symbolic, ornamental, and mostly irrelevant.
Now, your milage may vary, but with minor variations, this sounds shockingly similar to… exactly what Trump is currently doing. Among Trump’s first actions was a bulk firing of Inspectors General. The Justice Department is being reorganized, and attorneys deemed insufficiently loyal are purged or resign rather than carry out orders they believe to be unlawful or unethical. Mass layoffs are underway, and DOGE staff have been installed across the bureaucracy, again steamrolling or firing veteran staff who push back. There’s no false flag terror attack, but Trump has, of course, declared a spurious national emergency based on the fiction that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is controlled by the Venezuelan government and therefore tantamount to an invading army. Judges are being smeared and threatened. Insufficiently pliant media outlets are being denied access, or targeted with frivolous lawsuits, and the FCC has opened investigations of broadcasters Trump deems adversaries, with the prospect of deploying its regulatory power for political retaliation. Officers from various federal law enforcement agencies are being repurposed to help ICE, which given its enthusiasm for abducting and renditioning people without due process seems like a plausible candidate to act as Trump’s shock troops.
Trump has sought to seize control of the electoral process via executive order. DOGE is pooling information from federal databases under the pretense of rooting out election fraud. Institutional sources of dissent—notably law firms and universities—are being strong-armed, and ActBlue, one of the main funding platforms for progressive causes and candidates is under investigation. “Historical revisionism” is underway via a ham-handed series of efforts to prevent schools from teaching “woke” or “unpatriotic” curricula. The “final legal insulation,” ironically, is something ChatGPT’s training data apparently doesn’t realize the Supreme Court has already granted.
Does all this necessarily mean that the Trump administration is following some kind of AI blueprint? Maybe not. But it ought to be chilling nevertheless that, if Trump were following a roadmap to stage an authoritarian autogolpe, he’d be doing… exactly all the things he’s currently doing.
Chilling, indeed.