Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat warned that President Donald Trump brings things to a “horrifying” new level with his latest rhetoric.
Trump threatened to rid the American citizens of their nationality on Tuesday and then deport if they commit certain crimes – including some who were born in the United States.
“They are not new in our country. They are old in our country. Many of them are born in our country. I think we should also get them here, if you want to know the truth,” he said during a visit to a new migrant detention facility. “So maybe that's the next job we work on together.”
The comments reflect what Trump said in April when it talks about deportations to El Salvador.
“Your own soil is the next one,” Trump said during a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
Ben-Ghiat, the author of 'Strongmen: Mussolini to the present', responded to X about Trump's comments:
Trump's last comments came after NPR reported that the Ministry of Justice “gave aggressive priority” to withdraw the status of naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes.
On Tuesday he said that this could be civilians in the United States who “overlooks people with a baseball bat from behind when they don't look and they kill” or “knife when you walk on the street.”
However, Trump also indicated that the category could be much broader, at least with naturalized American citizens such as former ally Elon Musk. After his last fight with Musk, Trump said he said he would “take a look” in deporting the technical billionaire.
