Americans have 400 days to save their democracy | Timothy Garton Ash

"I return to Europe from the US with a clear conclusion: American democrats (lowercase d) have 400 days to start saving US democracy. If next autumn's midterm elections produce a Congress that begins to constrain Donald Trump there will then be a further 700 days to prepare the peaceful transfer of executive power that alone will secure the future of this republic. Operation Save US Democracy, stages 1 and 2."

"Hysterical hyperbole? I would love to think so. But during seven weeks in the US this summer, I was shaken every day by the speed and executive brutality of President Trump's assault on what had seemed settled norms of US democracy and by the desperate weakness of resistance to that assault. There's a growing body of international evidence to suggest that once a liberal democracy has been eroded, it's very difficult to restore it. Destruction is so much easier than construction."

"Much has been made of comparisons to other authoritarian power grabs, from Europe in the 1930s to Viktor Orban's Hungary, but I'm most struck by the distinctive features of the US case. To name just four: excessive executive power; chronic gerrymandering; endemic violence; and the way a would-be authoritarian can exploit the intense capitalist competition that permeates every area of US life."

American democracy faces an urgent timeline: 400 days to begin saving democratic institutions via midterm election gains and a further 700 days to prepare a peaceful transfer of executive power. Congressional checks are essential because Congress is the principal constitutional restraint on presidential authority. Rapid executive actions and brutality have eroded settled norms while resistance has been weak. Once a liberal democracy is eroded, restoration is difficult and rebuilding is harder than destruction. Regaining the House on 3 November 2026 is necessary not for policy but to prevent continued Republican domination influenced by Trump. Four US vulnerabilities are excessive executive power, chronic gerrymandering, endemic violence, and exploitative capitalist competition.

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