The Friday Night Massacre’s Broader Context: Trump’s Redesign for American Democracy

Joshua Geltzer wrote an article for Just Security on the recent purges of US officials by President Trump.

What has been labelled the “Friday Night Massacre” should be understood as an escalation in President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts that threaten American democratic institutions. We wish other observers were correct that these most recent actions simply represent a president who has the right to have people on his staff whom he trusts. But the broader pattern in which the Friday events fit leads us to a far more ominous conclusion. As we discussed with one of the authors of the book, How Democracies Die (see below), these recent purges of US officials are a direct extension of Trump’s three-year project of politicization of the executive branch, an early move generally taken by autocrats who seek to exploit their election by consolidating power. It is important to take a step back and diagnose, as precisely as possible, the threat to American democracy and the broader pattern.