Steve Corbin is emeritus professor of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa and a contributing columnist to 246 newspapers and 48 social media platforms in 45 states, who receives no remuneration, funding, or endorsement from any for-profit business, nonprofit organization, political action committee, or political party. 

Peggy Noonan has been a conservative voice for The Wall Street Journal since leaving the Ronald Reagan administration as his primary speechwriter. Five of Noonan’s books have been New York Times bestsellers. Consuming every word of her weekly column keeps me politically balanced.

In Noonan’s June 14-15 column titled “America is losing sight of its political culture,” she characterized our 47^th president as America’s Mr. Tinpot Dictator. This term refers to a leader who acts like a dictator, often with delusions of grandeur and authoritarian tendencies. I decided to investigate how much Trump resembles a dictator.

A HISTORICAL LENS ON AUTHORITARIANISM

Immediately I was led to study Jeane Kirkpatrick, who played a major role in the foreign policy arm of the Ronald Reagan administration. She was an ardent anti-communist and became the first woman to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. In Kirkpatrick’s 1982 book Dictatorship and Double Standards, she described two kinds of dictatorships, a traditional autocracy (Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and United Arab Emirates) and a tinpot dictatorship (Nicaragua, Philippines, Syria and Panama).

Kirkpatrick argued dictators remain in power by using the tools of repression, domination and fear. In a Perplexity AI research-based search, fifteen documented examples of Donald Trump exhibiting behaviors commonly associated with a tinpot dictator were revealed. The examples—noted below—are referenced by nine different sources and align with patterns seen in authoritarian regimes, where leaders undermine democratic institutions, target minorities, silence dissent and concentrate power to the point where they feel and act like a king.

A DEMOCRACY IN DECLINE

Since January 20, Americans have witnessed a disturbing pattern of presidential rule. Trump is disregarding court orders, attacking the press, suppressing protests, expanding executive power, demonizing opponents, undermining elections, weaponizing law enforcement, dehumanizing minorities, ending asylum and expanding mass deportations, attacking the rule of law, marginalizing racial and LGBTQ+ groups, spreading disinformation, invoking emergency powers, threatening political opponents and promoting fear and division.

In the first 160 days of Trump’s 2.0 administration, the president’s actions have closely mirrored classic authoritarian tactics such as labeling media as “enemies of the people,” downgrading valid research-based polls that show America’s disapproval of him and his cabinet members’ actions, quashing states’ rights, using force against protestors by calling in the military to quell his definition of civil unrest, undermining Congressional and judicial institutional checks, demeaning people—even of his own party—who disagree with him, and presenting himself as the sole savior of the nation.

A TINPOT DICTATOR’S STUNT

Thom Hartmann, columnist for the independent news outlet Common Dreams, noted in his June 23 op-ed regarding Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, “By defying the law – the Constitution, the War Powers Act, and the AUMF (Authorization to Use Military Force) – and simply bombing Iran without any consultation whatsoever, he’s also pulling a dictator stunt […].”

Constitutional scholars concur that as a minimum, Trump should have consulted the bipartisan Congressional “Gang of Eight” that U.S. law (50 U.S.C. 3093) requires before he bombed Iran. Trump’s unilateral, unlawful action on June 22 was a model authoritarian narrative where one person tries to demonstrate that he alone is the king. The U.S. military strikes against Iran opened up a Pandora’s box for 340 million Americans plus our allies. No one—not even the tinpot dictator—knows what the consequences will be.

PILLARS AT RISK

Fair-minded Americans have witnessed numerous authoritarian actions by their president in only 160 days. They’ve got around 1,300 more days before Trump 2.0 ends.

Many pillars of democracy and security are now at risk, including the rule of law, judicial independence, free press, freedom of expression, civil rights, anti-discrimination protection, environmental protection, scientific research integrity, multilateral alliances, international cooperation, domestic and international human rights, migration and refugee protection, whistleblower protection, nuclear security, public health safeguards, economic stability, global supply chain access, minority and vulnerable community protection and last, but not least, Congressional, legislative and executive checks and balances.

A CALL TO CONSCIENCE

Americans sure have a lot on our plate, don’t we? And behold: July 4 kicks off the year-long celebration of our country’s 250^th birthday, which formally occurs on July 4, 2026. Never forget that in 1776 the Declaration of Independence proclaimed American citizens were no longer subject and subordinate to a dictatorial king.

Fellow citizens: What are you going to do between now and July 4, 2026 to protect and preserve our independence from a tinpot dictator? Will you: A) bow down to authoritarianism and normalize anti-democracy actions, or B) reflect on the challenges facing the nation and become an advocate for policies that align with liberty, freedom, sovereignty, democracy and the U.S. Constitution?

This is your country. The choice is yours.