Editorial: Echoes of 1984: Trump’s Second Term and the Rise of the Modern Police State

 

Picture created by AI

By Armando Garcia Alvarez

The controls that Donald Trump's administration is imposing on all levels of society, under the slogan of making America strong again, remind me of George Orwell' book entitled "1984" where the 'Big Brother', had eyes on all the inhabitants of society.

In George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, the world is governed by omnipresent surveillance, manipulated truth, and the crushing boot of authoritarian power. At the heart of Orwell’s vision is the idea that truth is malleable, history is rewritten, and dissent is a threat to be neutralized. While 1984 is a work of fiction, its haunting parallels to the contemporary political landscape cannot be ignored—especially when examining the implications of a potential second term for Donald Trump.

Trump’s first presidency already offered glimpses into what Orwell might describe as a "soft police state": aggressive rhetoric against the press, the branding of factual reporting as “fake news,” and a relentless attack on democratic institutions. But it is the prospect of a second term—unencumbered by reelection pressures and emboldened by loyalist support—that raises the most profound alarm.

In 1984, the concept of “doublethink”—the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs at once—is a tool of control. Under Trump, this has manifested in the form of blatant contradictions that are not just accepted by his base, but celebrated: denying election outcomes while calling it the defense of democracy; claiming to support law and order while encouraging violence at the Capitol; decrying government overreach while promising mass deportations and military crackdowns on dissent.

The novel’s “Thought Police” found their real-world analog in the political targeting of perceived enemies: journalists, judges, whistleblowers, and civil servants who did not fall in line. Trump's flirtation with expanding executive power, the purging of independent agencies, and threats to prosecute political opponents eerily mirror Orwellian tactics designed to silence dissent and enforce loyalty.

Orwell’s Ministry of Truth rewrote history to serve the Party’s narrative. In Trump’s America, revisionist history thrives—from downplaying the events of January 6th, to banning books, to reshaping school curricula in service of a narrow ideology. The manipulation of facts is no longer covert; it is proudly proclaimed and enforced through political pressure and cultural intimidation.

Supporters argue that Trump’s approach is about “America First,” about restoring greatness. But patriotism, when weaponized to suppress scrutiny and question allegiance, begins to resemble nationalism—an Orwellian brand of loyalty where disagreement is treason and critical thought is sedition.

What 1984 warned of was not just the dangers of a tyrant, but the society that enables him: a populace too weary or complicit to resist. A second Trump term, unfettered by the guardrails of traditional accountability, risks accelerating the erosion of democratic norms that have already been weakened.

This is not a claim that a Trump second term would literally replicate Orwell’s dystopia—but the mechanisms of authoritarianism rarely announce themselves with boots and banners. They come disguised as populism, patriotism, and the promise of “law and order.” The danger lies not just in what Trump might do, but in what Americans might accept.

Also to be clear, we are not living in Orwell’s Oceania. But we are witnessing the testing of its principles in real time. The surveillance may come from private tech firms, the censorship from state legislatures, the propaganda from partisan media—but the effect is strikingly similar: division, fear, and control.

Wells once wrote, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four.” In a political landscape where even that basic freedom is subject to spin, distortion, and denial, the warning signs are no longer distant echoes—they are here, loud and clear.

A second Trump presidency may not install Big Brother, but it could very well normalize him.