Dec 7, 2023 Eric Posner Although Donald Trump is many things, most of them bad, he was not a fascist when he was president, and he would not become a dictator if elected again. The power of constitutional and bureaucratic hurdles, combined with a dearth of sympathetic right-wing radicals, ensure that anarchy is more likely than tyranny. CHICAGO " Americans have worried about their presidents becoming dictators (or, in the old days, tyrants) ever since the Unites States was founded. The framers of the US Constitution understood that in classical democracies and republics, leaders often tried to seize power from legislatures and other assemblies. That is why they created a system of checks and balances on government power.