This it the title of a January 25, 2026 article by Jonathan Rauch in the Atlantic Magazine
Rauch has been reluctant to use “F word,” as some call it, arguing instead that Trump’s system of government is patrimonialism, wherein the government is a kind of family business:
Writing a year ago, I argued that Trump’s governing regime is a version of patrimonialism, in which the state is treated as the personal property and family business of the leader. That is still true. But, as I also noted then, patrimonialism is a style of governing, not a formal ideology or system. It can be layered atop all kinds of organizational structures, including not just national governments but also urban political machines such as Tammany Hall, criminal gangs such as the Mafia, and even religious cults. Because its only firm principle is personal loyalty to the boss, it has no specific agenda. Fascism, in contrast, is ideological, aggressive, and, at least in its early stages, revolutionary. It seeks to dominate politics, to crush resistance, and to rewrite the social contract.
— Jonathan Rauch, the Atlantic, pargraph 1
All of this rings as true today as it did when the article was published a year ago, but in the present article, Rauch now goes further:
Over Trump’s past year, what originally looked like an effort to make the government his personal plaything has drifted distinctly toward doctrinal and operational fascism. Trump’s appetite for lebensraum, his claim of unlimited power, his support for the global far right, his politicization of the justice system, his deployment of performative brutality, his ostentatious violation of rights, his creation of a national paramilitary police—all of those developments bespeak something more purposeful and sinister than run-of-the-mill greed or gangsterism.
— Jonathan Rauch, the Atlantic, pargraph 2
Consider those points:
- Lebensraum: Greenland ☑
- Claim of unlimited power: (a) “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”, (b) The Venezuela invasion, not authorized by Congress, not favored by the American people ☑
- Support for the global far right: Bolsanaro in Egypt, Erdoğan in Turkey, Orban in Hungary ☑
- Politicization of the Justice system: calls to prosecute former government officials: James Comey (FBI), Hillary Clinton, etc. etc. ☑
- deployment of performative brutality: the federal occupation of Minneapolis by ICE and CBP agents carrying guns, outfitted in camouflage, bedected with canisters of pepper spray and tear gas to take just one example (see image below). Agents violently slamming citizens to the ground, spraying them point-blank with pepper spray (orange), release some noxious gas (green), or tear gas (white). ☑
- Ostentatious violation of rights: denial of due process, disappearing people who have been detained, deporting people despite a judges protective order, invasion of people’s homes without a judicial warrant. It goes on and on. ☑
- Creation of a national paramility force; That is what ICE and CBP are now. Answerable only to Trump through his Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Noem (known by some as ICE barbie, famous for “putting down” her dog with a pistol shot to the face, famous also for her robotic, nonresponsive answers to reporters’ questions and her stylish getups, always appropriate to the situation: military fatigues, a white cowboy hat, astried a horse — all typical Washington DC bureaucratic attire). ☑
Given its fulfillment of this checklist, given the image above and thousands like them, Rauch’s case for adopting the F-word of political science seems solidly grounded.