In twelve months’ time America will inaugurate a new President. It could be a man who says he’ll act as a “dictator on day one,” who rejects elections if he doesn’t win them, and whose America First ideas could shatter what remains of the global order.

With a year to go, UCL Associate Professor in Global Politics Brian Klaas tells Gavin Esler how Donald Trump has damaged American politics more deeply than anyone realises – how driving Trump off mainstream social media to Truth Social only hid his increasingly fascistic outbursts from public view – and what it will take to stop him.

• “Trump 2.0 would be way more dangerous than Trump 1.0.”

• “It is highly likely that if Trump loses there will be significant political violence – probably worse than Jan 6.”

• “Once you don’t have a shared sense of reality, democracy falls apart.”

• “Come November, nobody will be able to say they didn’t know what was going on. He’s been completely open about it.”

Buy Brian Klaas’s book Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund This Is Not A Drill by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

Support This Is Not A Drill on Patreon to get early episodes, merchandise and more.

Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices