Notice how you're not actually talking about Trump, but are instead talking about the United States? You're not really making the point that Trump is any differ

Notice how you're not actually talking about Trump, but are instead talking about the United States? You're not really making the point that Trump is any different than Putin or Xi, just that he operates in a place that doesn't let him express himself the same way. That the US is a different place than Russia was not my point, and I wouldn't argue it either. Trump, Putin, Xi, Erdogan, etc are all the same breed. The US, Russia, China, and Turkey are different places. The same set of beliefs/tactics/views/attitudes will produce the different outcomes in different environments. One thing you should consider is your faith the the abstract notion of "rule of law". What you're seeing with Trump is that lots of people don't really care about abstract high-minded principles, they only care that their guy is in power. Laws and conventions will be discarded in his favour. One thing that has really changed in my mind over the last two years is finally understanding Weimar Germany. I used to be perplexed at how an advanced society can fall like that, but seeing 2 years of "progress" under Trump, I can't imagine what terrible outcomes a decade or two of Trumpism will produce.