https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to donald trump en https://politicalresearch.org/2026/03/31/were-all-together With ICE agents kidnapping thousands and executing people in broad daylight, the Trump administration’s authoritarianism is on full display for all to see. But so is the power of everyday people. Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:00:00 EDT Political Research Associates, Ben Lorber, Ethan Fauré, Steven Gardiner, Annie Wilkinson 2b590605-47e6-4779-b7cc-7fc3027aaf67 https://politicalresearch.org/2026/03/12/fracturing-maga-base-conversation-war-iran-and-its-reverberations-home-steven-gardiner In this season 4 bonus episode, Koki sits down with PRA’s Principal Research Advisor Steven Gardiner to discuss the outset of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, how the war compares to a history of U.S. imperial violence, and… Thu, 12 Mar 2026 05:00:00 EDT Political Research Associates, Steven Gardiner a270b31a-f322-4f72-9a82-8a0ed68abd0c https://politicalresearch.org/2026/03/05/magas-imperial-ambitions On January 3, 2026, the Trump administration bombed Venezuela and abducted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, taking them to New York to face “narcoterrorism” charges. The escalation followed several months of U.S. military strikes on boats in… Thu, 05 Mar 2026 12:00:00 EST Political Research Associates, Steven Gardiner fdbceb27-b29b-481d-be0e-2c8aa741e928 https://politicalresearch.org/2026/01/20/belligerence-abroad-repression-home In this season 4 bonus episode, Koki talks to PRA Principal Research Advisor Steven Gardiner about the Trump administration’s early-January attack on Venezuela and escalating domestic confrontations around ICE enforcement, including the Minneapolis protests around the murder of Renee Good… Tue, 20 Jan 2026 12:00:00 EST Political Research Associates, Steven Gardiner b214e445-93b3-45cd-9365-5e901a467342 https://politicalresearch.org/2026/01/15/beyond-ballot-rise-competitive-authoritarianism-steven-gardiner In this season finale episode, Koki talks to Steven Gardiner, PRA Principal Research Advisor, to reflect on the first year of Trump’s second term and its implications for U.S. democracy. While the MAGA base remains about 15% of the U.S… Thu, 15 Jan 2026 12:00:00 EST Political Research Associates, Steven Gardiner 91f76dc8-9dd9-4e42-afb2-fa9022b14f3d https://religiondispatches.org/2025/10/22/course-it-was-shit The AI video reposted by Donald Trump in response to the No Kings marches has been called everything from “juvenile” to “unhinged.” But as both Michelle Goldberg and Anne Applebaum have pointed out, what’s emerging around Trump is no longer… Wed, 22 Oct 2025 11:16:12 EDT Karen E. Park 03322304-c515-4e75-bb68-2662334d4fcf https://politicalresearch.org/2025/10/15/its-not-backlash-its-strategy In this roundtable, Chelsea Ebin, Matthew Taylor, and Julie Ingersoll discuss the intersection of today’s New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and the New Christian Right of 1970s and 1980s formed by conservative Catholics and Protestants. Building from Ebin’s The Radical Mind… Wed, 15 Oct 2025 12:00:00 EDT Matthew Taylor, Julie Ingersoll, Chelsea Ebin 6d798d19-9554-49e6-972b-e5e5aff1507a https://religiondispatches.org/2025/10/01/brain-worm-science In a rambling press conference last week, Donald Trump announced that commonly used over-the-counter painkiller Tylenol is “not good.” Specifically addressing pregnant women, Trump repeated “don’t take Tylenol” around a dozen times, enough for a mantra or EDM remix. No… Wed, 01 Oct 2025 12:00:00 EDT Susannah Crockford 0baf9ccd-1c7f-4c86-8ad0-a1f5e0e01e84 https://politicalresearch.org/2025/09/25/its-never-just-about-gender-gender-and-authoritarianism-pra-analyzes-trump-20s-first-100 In this second of a two-part series on analyzing Trump 2.0’s first 100 days in office, we share insights from PRA’s researchers about how MAGA weaponizes gender to entrench authoritarianism. Thu, 25 Sep 2025 05:31:32 EDT Political Research Associates 4e3e970b-c997-4ecd-815d-ff2ef117fa33 https://religiondispatches.org/2025/08/26/trump-who-told-voters-he-wants-be-dictator-says-americans-would-dictator Adjudicated sexual abuser and aspirational tyrant Donald Trump announced twice this week that he is not a dictator, but if he were a dictator, lots of people would like that. These dual pronouncements bookend yesterday’s casual declaration of martial law… Tue, 26 Aug 2025 03:47:16 EDT Annika Brockschmidt 1945b671-fb11-49b2-90d5-fb1b79244580 https://religiondispatches.org/2025/08/25/corrosive-conformity-evil-banalities-are-building-blocks-trump-administrations-fascist DHS’s social media is at it again, and while I’m looking forward to more deep dives into DHS speechwriter Eric Lendrum’s personal life , it’s the posts themselves—on a verified government account!—that keep me up at night. Not always because… Mon, 25 Aug 2025 12:53:21 EDT Thomas Lecaque 0264e920-7d7c-4db0-b328-21d9410aa5dd https://politicalresearch.org/2025/08/14/do-not-let-grief-harden-despair-pra-analyzes-trump-20s-first-100-days-part-1 In this first of a two-part series on analyzing Trump 2.0’s first 100 days in office, we share insights from PRA’s researchers about how to move beyond the work on blocking rising authoritarianism, to the work of building power, vision, and solidarity. Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:30:00 EDT Political Research Associates 04d3f966-783a-42b5-b3ee-4b7e4b5e22ea https://religiondispatches.org/2025/07/30/its-homeland-heritage-campaign-trumps-dhs-leaning-sharply-blood-and-soil-ideology Last week was a bad week of social media posts from the Department of Homeland Security. Videos claiming a militarized Border Patrol is God’s will; memes about ICE funding assisting in mass deportation; and then this one , the first… Wed, 30 Jul 2025 04:09:45 EDT Annika Brockschmidt, Thomas Lecaque 12e8e398-1112-4e18-8c18-749d29a87aec https://religiondispatches.org/2025/07/25/obsessed-trumps-penis-south-park-premiere-media-ignore-larger-issue Spoiler Alert: The article below discusses virtually everything that happened in this week’s South Park.If you haven’t seen this week’s season premiere of South Park , you might be forgiven for thinking it’s mostly about Pres. Donald Trump’s small penis… Fri, 25 Jul 2025 02:48:13 EDT Jonathan Larsen 29d60254-eff2-4d24-a96a-10ac9ae28b8c https://religiondispatches.org/2025/07/22/dont-be-diverted-diversions-trump-admins-bizarre-posts-may-be-aimed-qanon It’s just another normal week in America, where the President is reposting—i.e. re-“Truth”ing— deepfake videos of a former President being arrested and on its official Instagram account the White House is posting images like the one above with the caption… Tue, 22 Jul 2025 02:39:24 EDT Thomas Lecaque 4097bf07-683a-449a-8fee-ad92a173ee98 https://religiondispatches.org/2025/07/18/terminally-online-trump-administration-uses-social-media-frame-its-anti-immigrant-agenda Black helicopters roll over the tarmac. From off screen we hear a voice with a generic Southern accent casually intone: “Here’s a Bible verse I think about sometimes, many times. It goes…” The images flashing on the screen settle on… Fri, 18 Jul 2025 05:44:46 EDT Annika Brockschmidt, Thomas Lecaque dbf60c8e-bac5-4487-b1e3-f0f5319dc153 https://politicalresearch.org/2025/07/02/burning-down-house Katherine Stewart traces the rise of the antidemocratic movement fueling Trumpism and the authoritarian Right in this adapted excerpt from her book Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy. Wed, 02 Jul 2025 01:57:01 EDT Katherine Stewart c749e760-8c09-40c1-a7f7-1c7e5317c54a https://politicalresearch.org/2025/06/13/tech-capitalism-and-neoreactionary-movement-behind-doge Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative reveals a new neoreactionary bloc is growing in strength and influence within the Trump administration, although competing interests may reveal fault lines in this coalition of tech capitalists. Fri, 13 Jun 2025 01:26:10 EDT Matthew N. Lyons c8a30ff1-a2bb-451e-916e-e3fe6cd97d27 https://politicalresearch.org/2025/06/12/trump-20s-first-100-days In this wide-ranging piece covering the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, PRA researchers recap the state’s authoritarian gains and sweeping repressive policies, from LGBTQ rights to immigration and Christian Zionism. Thu, 12 Jun 2025 11:22:41 EDT Political Research Associates 33bd0f65-74f8-4781-9062-5ca19c1f34bc https://religiondispatches.org/2025/06/06/musk-v-trump-no-matter-who-wins-american-people-lose It’s the uncoupling of the decade—bigger than Brangelina and messier than Kanye breaking up with everyone. Yes, you got that right, dear citizens of the disunited states: Elon Musk, the sentient vape pen in charge of Twitter (sorry, “X”) and… Fri, 06 Jun 2025 11:51:24 EDT Mary Rambaran-Olm b702746b-cec0-48c6-8ef7-253738161aba https://religiondispatches.org/2025/05/13/germany-classifies-right-wing-extremist-afd-danger-democracy-and-high-ranking-trump Last week, the BfV, a German intelligence agency tasked with investigating threats to the “liberal democratic basic order,” made headlines by officially classifying the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as “right-wing extremist.” This news shouldn’t have come as a… Tue, 13 May 2025 03:42:33 EDT Annika Brockschmidt 06a83ba4-cbc9-45d7-8f44-74700a3a2c53 https://religiondispatches.org/2025/05/06/catholic-right-support-isnt-only-reason-trump-believes-he-can-get-away-mockery Last week, just days after Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome, Trump was asked by reporters if he had anyone in mind for the next pope. His answer : “I’d like to be pope. That would be my… Tue, 06 May 2025 04:34:44 EDT Karen E. Park 92d1d262-b3a4-4826-bc90-d5f0d111b5f8 https://religiondispatches.org/2025/05/01/experts-agree-what-trump-doing-fascism An expanded version of article was originally published in German at “ Volksverpetzer ”, an independent, crowd-funded online magazine covering the far-right in Germany and abroad. While too many American leaders are content to quibble over definitional particularities, experts are… Thu, 01 May 2025 05:13:04 EDT Annika Brockschmidt aa8ebbd0-93e4-4151-bd96-5fd7ef728872 https://politicalresearch.org/2025/04/15/trolling-trump In this excerpt from Coming Out Republican, author Neil J. Young explores far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos’ role in the launching of Donald Trump’s political career. Tue, 15 Apr 2025 10:15:03 EDT Neil J. Young 71ca594a-8f11-4ada-a7e1-a1e1d3ee823e https://religiondispatches.org/2025/04/03/defense-secretary-hegseths-new-kafir-tattoo-perfect-encapsulation-trumpish-foreign Just when you thought you’d talked enough about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ’s tattoos for one lifetime, this week Hegseth revealed a new one : a tattoo on his left bicep of the Arabic word “kafir,” which is usually… Thu, 03 Apr 2025 03:37:55 EDT Annika Brockschmidt, Thomas Lecaque bfce9a43-9be7-40b8-8b53-3af1c10ae92b