Donald Trumps Path To Authoritarian

“Former national security official warns “Trump is moving faster than most dictators have.”

“Steven Cash knows this firsthand. A former state prosecutor and senior adviser to the undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis, he now serves as executive director of The Steady State, a pro-democracy organization of more than 360 former senior U.S. government officials. The collective careers of the group’s members span decades of service across Republican and Democratic administrations in all three branches of government — as senior Defense Department officials, ambassadors, foreign service officers, intelligence officers, policy advisors, oversight officials, congressional staffers and prosecutors.

In a recent conversation, Cash told me that Steady State members are deeply worried about the weakening condition of American democracy — and the findings of the organization’s new report that the U.S. now shares most of the traits of foreign countries that have fallen to autocratic regimes. Their conversations are focused on contingency planning. Trump’s opportunities for mortally wounding American democracy, he said, remain wide open.”

To read the entire interview of Mr. Cash published by Salon on November 13, 2025: https://www.salon.com/2025/11/13/donald-trumps-path-to-authoritarian-rule-is-wide-open/

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 360 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.