"Something More Purposeful and Sinister Than Run-of-the-Mill Greed or Gangsterism"

"The resemblances are too many and too strong to deny. Americans who support liberal democracy need to recognize what we're dealing with in order to cope with it, and to recognize something, one must name it. Trump has revealed himself, and we must name what we see."

Jonathan Rauch at The Atlantic calls Donald Trump a fascist.

"Fascism Is the Banal Dream of Tiny Men and Deserves Its Place in the Sewage of History"

"Self-described socialists have made many mistakes. Some of these have been brutally tragic and ruthlessly genocidal. Authoritarian socialists like Stalin committed mass atrocities that serve as a chilling reminder of the horrors that can be inflicted by those mouthing well meaning platitudes.. But the ethical core of socialism remains inspiring because, in sharp contrast to fascism, it makes far greater demands of us. Socialists want a world where, even if everyone won't be happy, ordinary human misery will replace unnecessary suffering. This is a goal that is so ethically demanding we've yet to fully build a society that realizes it. Despite all the bombast about heroism and power, in the end fascism resonates because it appeals to our lowest instincts. It is so tempting to imagine one's self a dispossessed racial aristocrat, in part because that makes it so much easier to push aside all ethical demands that get in the way of our greed and lust for power. Fascists strive impotently for a bigness the shrunken aspirations of their soul can never reach."

Matt McManus at Current Affairs explains "Why Fascists Always Come for the Socialists First."

"The Label Now Seems Not Just Acceptable but Necessary"

"Like Hitler, among the first political leaders to master radio, Trump mastered electronic media like Twitter and won the support of America's largest television chain, Fox News. Like the fascist leaders Trump understood the deep disaffection of parts of society for traditional leaders and institutions, and he knew how to exploit a widespread fear of national division and decline. Like Hitler and Mussolini he knew how to pose as the only effective bulwark against an advancing Left, all the more fearful because it took on cultural forms unfamiliar to provincial rural America—feminism, Black Power, gay rights."

In a 2021 Newsweek article, Robert O. Paxton calls Donald Trump a fascist.

As does Will Saletan in The Bulwark.

And at The Bulwark, Gabriel Schoenfeld writes, "After all, it is Trump himself—and figures close to him—who for years now have been stoking the flames of discord in fascist-lite mode."

"What He Has Tapped into Is What the Founders Most Feared"

"This phenomenon has arisen in other democratic and quasi-democratic countries over the past century, and it has generally been called 'fascism.' Fascist movements, too, had no coherent ideology, no clear set of prescriptions for what ailed society. 'National socialism' was a bundle of contradictions, united chiefly by what, and who, it opposed; fascism in Italy was anti-liberal, anti-democratic, anti-Marxist, anti-capitalist and anti-clerical. Successful fascism was not about policies but about the strongman, the leader (Il Duce, Der Führer), in whom could be entrusted the fate of the nation. Whatever the problem, he could fix it. Whatever the threat, internal or external, he could vanquish it, and it was unnecessary for him to explain how. Today, there is Putinism, which also has nothing to do with belief or policy but is about the tough man who single-handedly defends his people against all threats, foreign and domestic.
"To understand how such movements take over a democracy, one only has to watch the Republican Party today."

Robert Kagan in a 2016 Washington Post article defines the threat from Donald Trump.

"Fascists Want the Apocalypse"

"What do those ethics entail? 'In fascist mentalities, kindness, empathy, and sympathy are seen as weaknesses, critical self-reflection is seen as a danger to security, and discussion and negotiation is seen as failure,' Gencarella says. 'Existence is a tragic struggle to be won or lost.' This mentality can be traced back to the fascist Ur-text, The Doctrine of Fascism, ghostwritten for Benito Mussolini by his Minister of Education Giovanni Gentile. 'The Doctrine is clear that perpetual war is the preferred mode of existing with others who are different, and especially to crush the weak in order to demonstrate that one is strong,' Gencarella says."

Sean T. Collins at New York argues that "The Walking Dead is the only show that actively courts, rather than critiques, fascist ethics."

And Dominic Green at The Atlantic looks at debates over "fascism."

The "Homegrown Authoritarian"

"Italians learned in the 1920s what Americans are learning in 2016: Charismatic authoritarians seeking political office cannot be understood through the framework of traditional politics. They lack interest in, and patience for, established protocols. They often trust few outside of their own families, or those they already control, making collaboration and relationship building difficult. They work from a different playbook, and so must those who intend to confront them.
"The authoritarian playbook is defined by the particular relationship such individuals have with their followers. It's an attachment based on submission to the authority of one individual who stands above the party, even in a regime."

Ruth Ben-Ghiat in The Atlantic compares Donald Trump to Benito Mussolini.

And Colin Campbell at The New Republic sees Trump in a character inspired by Mussolini in Thomas Mann's short story "Mario and the Magician."