ABSTRACT
The election of Donald Trump to president of the United States took many people by surprise. After months of highly polarized campaigning, it is important to take a step back, and rationally and realistically assess the potential threat to liberal democracy that Trump presents. Both the US elites and masses support democracy and the US democratic system. While there are worrying aspects of Trump and his campaign, which are indeed reminiscent of aspects of fascism, he lacks the ideological coherence and organizational structure of the fascist movements of the 1930s. Empowered citizens can help protect minority rights and rule of law, when indeed challenged, and can campaign to weaken the grip of Trump and the radical right wing of the Republican Party by taking back the Senate in 2018 and making Trump a one-term president in 2020.
