Joschka Fischer

BERLIN – The peaceful handover of presidential power has been a political norm in the United States since the end of George Washington’s second term 228 years ago. Notwithstanding a bloody civil war in the 1860s, this tradition has been a hallmark of stability, establishing the US as the modern world’s oldest democracy. As the country’s international influence grew, especially after the twentieth century’s two world wars, its system of governance increasingly became a model for others.

But America’s status and role in the world will change with Donald Trump’s second inauguration. The occasion comes four years after Trump tried to overturn the results of a free and fair election. He has made clear that he wants much more than just a change of personnel or policy in Washington. His real objective – however thinly veiled – is to transform the US system from a democracy into one ruled by the wealthy and powerful – what former President Joe Biden, in his farewell address, rightly called an “oligarchy.”

Already, one can see the contours of an authoritarian oligarchy emerging. The close alliance between Trump, soon to be the world’s most powerful man (again), and Elon Musk, the world’s........

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