A personal parade for a President’s self-glory, a new Presidential airplane which has been described as a “flying palace” amid corruption accusations. This is not the description of some “Third World” dictatorship (as part of the Global South was called during the Cold War years). This is America.

On June 14, 2025, the US is set to host a grand military parade in Washington, DC, ostensibly to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army. Yet, the date coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, a detail that has sparked widespread controversy and reignited debates about the state of American democracy. This spectacle, featuring thousands of troops, tanks, and aircraft, is projected to cost up to $45 million—a figure some argue is an underestimate, given unaccounted expenses. More troublingly, the event raises a deeper question: is the US, long a self-proclaimed beacon of democracy, sliding into an illiberal system, thereby undermining its global soft power?

The hard truth is that, for decades already, the US has operated as a democracy in name only, a trend that became more pronounced after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The post-9/11 era saw the expansion of presidential superpowers, with measures like indefinite detention and warrantless surveillance becoming normalized. Even before that, American presidents have long wielded expansive powers to engage in military actions and de facto war and thus shape foreign policy without explicit congressional authorization. By exploiting vague pieces of legislation like the War Powers Resolution and leveraging executive authority, Presidents have, over and over again, initiated conflicts, drone strikes (more recently), and covert operations, often bypassing the........

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