Hitler
The Atlantic writes about Hitler's use of fake security crises to rise to power:
Hitler Used a Bogus Crisis of ‘Public Order’ to Make Himself Dictator
Adolf Hitler was a master of manufacturing public-security crises to advance his authoritarian agenda.
He used inflammatory tactics and rhetoric to disable constitutional protections for the Weimar Republic’s 17 federated states, crushing their leadership and imposing his will on the country. “I myself was once a federalist during my time in the opposition,” Hitler told Hans Lex, a Reichstag delegate for the Bavarian People’s Party, in mid-March 1933, “but I have now come to the conviction that the Weimar constitution is fundamentally flawed.” Federalism, Hitler said, encouraged states to pursue local interests at the expense of the nation.“The rest of the world watched in astonishment and glee as democratic leaders of the individual states, relying on the Weimar Constitution,” Hitler continued, “did not hesitate to attack the Reich government in the fiercest way possible at public rallies, in the press and on the radio.” Hitler vowed to end the “eternal battle” between the states and the central government by dismantling the federated system, crushing states’ rights, and forging “a unified will” for the nation.
In a statement to the press, Hitler said that the imposition of central authority should be seen not as the “raping” of state sovereignty but rather as the “alignment” of state policies with the central government’s.
Three weeks later, on February 27, the Reichstag fire provided Hitler with the “absolutely necessary” excuse he needed. Hitler claimed that an arson attack on the Reichstag by a lone perpetrator—who was caught in the act— was the start of an attempted Bolshevik revolution, using that false claim to suspend civil liberties and suppress the voting rights of the German Communist Party, thereby enabling his supporters in the Reichstag to pass legislation granting him authoritarian power.
At Hitler’s urging, President Paul von Hindenburg issued an Article 48 emergency decree, “Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State.” The first paragraph suspended civil liberties, providing Hitler the means to suppress political opposition in advance of the upcoming elections on March 5. The second paragraph gave Hitler the power to trample states’ rights: “If any state fails to take the necessary measures to restore public safety and order, the Reich government may temporarily take over the powers of the highest state authority.”The key insight from Hitler's success is that authoritarian leaders need not abandon constitutional frameworks entirely. They can achieve their objectives by weaponizing those frameworks against their intended purposes.
Trump
Meanwhile in 2025, djt has created a fake national security crisis out of the protests in Los Angeles over federal immigration raids and arrests. The National Guard troops sent to LA were for show, not to deal with any national security crisis because none exists. He ordered the troops in without any food, water, accommodations or orders about what to do. So they just sit on floors and pass time, apparently slowly starving to death.
But djt's authoritarian "national security" hoaxes and threats get worse. In recent days, djt made explicit threats of violence against protesters, warning that demonstrations during his planned military parade on June 14, 2025, will be met with "very big force." Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, June 10, djt said: "For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force. And I haven't even heard about a protest**, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force." Note that legal protests are still legal. Protesters plan legal protests. The legality of planned protests does not matter to djt. Just like Hitler, he will not tolerate opposition and will crush it by military or police force.
** That is an other insulting djt lie -- why threaten force about a claimed threat that does not exist?
djt characterized the LA protesters as "paid insurrectionists" and threatened further military action, explicitly threatening overwhelming force in the face of nothing: "They spit, we hit." Confrontations between demonstrators and security forces will be met with deadly force. djt wants to provoke mass killings in the face of legal protests.
According to the article in The Atlantic quoted above, Political scientists and authoritarianism experts see important and threatening parallels between djt's tactics and historical patterns of authoritarian consolidation. Hitler created fake public security crises to justify expanding his powers, particularly his actions in Bavaria where he "unleashed his troopers" to create disorder that he then claimed required a strong, forceful governmental response.
I asked Pxy to cobble together a table that summarizes similarities in power consolidation tactics between Hitler and djt, including their use of fake national security crises.