After the Trump administration pressured late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air last week, my colleague Zack Beauchamp wrote about what it tells us about President Donald Trump’s roadmap to ending American democracy. I spoke with him about some of his big takeaways, including what we can do to prevent that kind of democratic erosion, for Vox’s daily newsletter, Today, Explained. Our conversation is below, and you can also sign up for the newsletter here for more conversations like this.

It was an eventful week. What changed in your understanding of the Trump administration and democracy?

My view for most of the second Trump administration has been that they are pursuing a policy agenda that threatens American democracy, but that they were doing so poorly and haphazardly (and thus were likely to ultimately fail).

But recently, and especially since Charlie Kirk’s death, they seem to have gotten a lot more serious about consolidating power. By that, I meant that the White House has taken credible steps toward policies that would materially stack the deck in favor of the Republican Party.

A few examples include striking a deal to spin off TikTok USA and put it in the hands of MAGA-friendly ownership; threatening to go after leading liberal NGOs using RICO, an anti-racketeering law designed for mob prosecutions; and weaponizing a little-used FCC rule to threaten station licenses if they air Jimmy Kimmel, leading to his suspension.

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