The King's Court
Autocracies don’t happen in a vacuum. One individual does not take power and hold it alone. So, when an autocratic government enfolds a country, whose fault is it really?
There were two people in this current administration that I wanted to get under the hood and figure out psychologically what made them tick to understand where we are as a nation: Stephen Miller and the man himself, Donald Trump. To that end, I read Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda by Jean Guerrero and Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump, in addition to as many articles as I could find that touched on their development and potential psychology. I think I got to a better understanding of both men, but I still don’t know that I’ve had that “a-ha” moment that helped me understand precisely what twisted their psyches to be such purposefully destructive forces, most notably with regard to Stephen Miller. I can follow his path to radicalization, but still don’t know precisely why he leaned into the radical, hate-filled rhetoric he was exposed to instead of the more tempered, liberal environment he grew up in. I have never found that he was victimized directly by the people he now, in turn, victimizes.
Donald Trump is perhaps easier to understand to a point. I understand that Fred Trump was a harsh, unloving task master who drove one son to his eventual destruction and death and led Donald to an unquenched need and thirst for power as a way to try and show his father – even beyond the grave – that he is worthy of his love and, perhaps more importantly, his respect. Many autocratic leaders grew up in households with domineering, abusive fathers. But so do a lot of other people, so I’m not sure it’s a get out of hell free card. I freely admit that a lot of what drove me throughout my life came from some deep-seated need to impress my dad, even after he was dead. When I was brought in as a partner in my company, I wondered if I would have finally heard him say he was proud of me. I sort of doubt it. It was heavy baggage to be sure, but I like to think I’m carrying it and still managing to be a relatively productive member of society; therefore, it’s the need to destroy that loses me. He could have risen to the presidency driven by the same desire to make his long-dead father proud and attempt to do the job well so that he would be etched into history as a worthy successor to Reagan. That surely would make dear old dad proud. But that’s not what happened: he rules like a vindictive bully who is so angry at all the world that all he wants to do is watch it burn. He is, now that I think of it, a lot like the Joker. Why he’s that way is harder to determine from afar. I’ve continued to read reports that theorize about his health that could impact his mental reasoning. I follow Dr. Mary Trump on Substack and read her columns with interest, and I just watch him like it’s my job, which it is in a way. Yet, recently, I realized I might be asking the wrong question. Does it matter why he is the way he is in the moment? Or is it more important to know how he remains enabled to continue to destroy everything in his path?
Is the real question what is driving his enablers to support his increasingly unhinged actions? His inner circle is failing to check his worst impulses and seems immune to the worry that they will be held guilty in the court of history for allowing Trump to bring Democracy to its knees. Many, like JD Vance and Mike Johnson, aligned with Trump and the MAGA movement because they agreed with most of the platform that he campaigned on. Vance is on record as believing in an America First doctrine and Trump’s campaign promises of no more foreign wars. Therefore, one would expect him to hold to his principles and break with the president over the Iranian war, but he maintains a loyal façade in public.
Vance was not always a fan of Donald Trump. In 2016, when his primary claim to fame was his authorship of Hillbilly Elegy, he described himself as a “never-Trumper,” stating that he believed Trump could identify issues that concerned Americans, but had no solutions. PBS reported, “…Vance wrote that he goes ‘back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a–hole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler[1].’ “ Yet, today he staunchly supports his boss at every turn. In a CBS Town Hall this past Saturday, he even blamed Biden for high gas prices due to diminished refining capacity[2]. Why do it? Vance is the presumptive frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2028. He’s ridden the MAGA coattails to power. He’s not willing to let that go.
Mike Johnson relies on Donald Trump to hold his coalition together and keep his seat as Speaker intact. Of course, let’s not forget Marco Rubio, who engaged in deeply personal barbs with his future boss during the 2016 presidential debates. In his case, he’s aligned himself with the MAGA movement out of political practicality. He morphed his own stated beliefs to align with Trump, and now he’s Secretary of State. I could certainly go on. And it’s not gender specific. There are women within the administration who have compromised their principles to rise to power within this administration as well.
How do they sleep at night after seemingly selling their souls for a seat at Trump’s table? They can’t fall back on some deep-seated pathology that they cannot control that drives them to allow the country to be taken apart by ruinous policies, both large and small. From dismantling DEI, to ruinous tariffs that caused prices to rise for average Americans, to strained alliances with allies, allowing DOGE to run amok among federal agencies with no oversight and forethought, to eroding healthcare standards leading to a measles outbreak now standing at over four thousand reported cases in 2026, the highest number in 35 years[3], to killings and assaults by ICE agents, to the war with Iran, that began with the bombing of a girl’s school. That’s just to name a few of the things that should be weighing on them as they end each day, yet come the next morning, they’re all back at it, defending these decisions with straight faces. Are they in some way even more guilty than the president himself for the state of America and the world because without them, Trump would not have been as effective?
This past weekend, many of you protested yet again in a No King’s rally, which is an honorable and necessary thing to do. But we cannot stop at trying to hold Donald Trump accountable. Everyone in his orbit is stained by his actions. I genuinely believe that in the first Trump White House, there were individuals fighting to keep guardrails in place against the president’s worst instincts. I do not believe that is the case now. When the King is finally ousted, his court needs to go as well. If there is accountability, then they need to share in it.
[1] Putterman, Samantha. 2024, July 15. “Fact-Checking JD Vance’s past statements and relationship with Trump.” PBS News. Retrieved from: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-j-d-vances-past-statements-and-relationship-with-trump
[2] Price, Michelle L. 2025, October 18. “Vance faces tough questions on Iran war, immigration and more in CBS town hall. PBS News. Retrieved from: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/vance-faces-tough-questions-on-iran-war-immigration-and-more-in-cbs-town-hall
[3] National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Illnesses. Updated 2026, October 16. “Measles Cases and Outbreaks.” CDC. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html
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