I'm Ann Applebaum.
Over the past year, as I watched Donald Trump demand unprecedented new powers, I wondered,
don't he and his team fear that these same powers could one day be used by a different administration and a different president to achieve very different goals?
Well, maybe they are afraid.
And maybe that's why they're using their new tools to change our institutions,
even to alter the playing field in advance of midterm elections later this year.
to make sure their opponents can't win.
Ultimately, destroying trust is the currency of autocrats.
We could win, but we are very, very,
very likely to lose if we keep treating this as business as usual.
Reporting on the sweeping changes unfolding in our country and preparing you to think about what might happen next.
The new season of Autocracy in America, available now.
This week, Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Tim Walls,
the Minnesota governor he considers a political enemy.
The call was something of a minor concession in a week of minor concessions.
The killing of Alex Pretty by federal agents looks like a turning point.
Trump started hearing objections from everywhere, including people who normally support him.
Republicans, gun rights advocates, celebrities, athletes.
So the president made some moves.
He ushered Greg Bovino out of Minnesota.