Since the United States President was elected and assumed office in Jan. 2025, this question has been growing on the minds of people throughout our country and the world at large.
Some characteristics of dictators include the following: exhibiting a cultish personality centered on the leader, demanding loyalty, suspending civil liberties, proclaiming states of emergency, not abiding by the rule of law, targeting political opponents.
One can argue that President Trump, as with all U.S. Presidents, holds an extraordinary amount of personal and political power. But what a president actually does with the power given them by the Constitution and by Congress is what defines their presidency.
The League of Women Voters—Fremont, Newark and Union City (LWVFNUC) invites the community to the next segment of our Speaker Series, “Defending Our Democracy.” This free program will provide our in-person audience with a video viewing experience.
Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Berkeley Law, was the featured guest at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs on July 24, 2025, just six months into the second Trump administration. It was his most recent appearance at that San Francisco venue. In his talk, ‘The Playbook of a Dictator,’ Chemerinsky enumerates a multitude of instances that describe the troubling and dangerous direction our country has already taken, and continues to take.
We will gather together at the beginning of the new year, watch the video and have plenty of time for a moderated discussion.
President Donald Trump—A Dictator?
Saturday, Jan. 3
10 – 11:30am
Niles Discovery Church
36600 Niles Blvd., Fremont
Free; donations accepted
lwvfnuc.org
