The Fashion Of Fascism: Why We Should Be More Scared Of Trump 2.0

This may sound like a trivial place to start, but bear with me as I say that one of the moments that solidified to me that we are entering a terrifying new political era was when fashion designer, Oscar de la Renta, proudly showed off the work he did for Ivanka Trump and Usha Vance for the inauguration.

Of course, there are so many frightening things happening in the world right now due to Trump's second presidency, but the Oscar de la Renta endorsement of the Trump family, and thus acceptance of his presidency, indicates the horrendous political shift we have both witnessed and experienced since 2016.

When Trump first became president in 2016, people were entering unknown territory as the unfathomable had happened, but in hindsight (which may always be 2020) I believe there was a sense that Trumpism could be fought. The question was, how could Trump and his ideologies be resisted? Well, in typical liberal establishment fashion. Not in any real, tangible, policy-driven ways, but rather through what I would dub 'cringe resistance.' Examples of such would be the slogan 'Love Trumps Hate,' which has its origins in Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential campaign.

Wordplay aside, one can't disagree that love should trump hate, but in America, does it? This demonstrates one of the problems with Liberal Establishment/Democrat 'resistance': it doesn't actually mean anything! Especially not coming from a former Secretary of State whose policies inflicted unimaginable pain on the civilians of Libya in particular. If not hate, then violent imperialistic overreaction is certainly a quintessential American value, inherent to both major political parties. Think Vietnam, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Iraq, Afghanistan, the list goes on... To ignore that fact leaves little room for genuine social progress to be made, nor to fight someone like Trump.

Looking back, the predominant mood in traditional liberal spaces was that slogans and vibes alone were enough to challenge Trump. And, to an extent, this approach worked. After all, in 2018 the Democrats managed to flip the House of Representatives to blue in their largest electoral win since 1974, and, Joe Biden won the 2020 election. So, ostensibly it seemed Trumpism was on the down and outs and run-of-the-mill Democratic politics was back on the scene.

So... how did we end up back here and in an even worse predicament than in 2016?

I answered the first question regarding the 2024 election here.

In certain political quarters, commentators argue that we need to be careful about when we use the word 'fascism' to describe Trump, being mindful not to dilute its meaning, and I get this. However, I don't think it's overreaching to describe the newest iteration of Trump's politics as fascist.

Back in 2016, if you can even remember such a time... it seemed that nobody was on Trump's side (except his legion of loyal MAGA followers). The pillars of corporate, capitalist, and political America rallied against Trump and dismissed him as a buffoon, unkempt, uncouth - an idiot who somehow wrangled his way into the highest office in America. Trump was a strange anomaly in what likes to see itself as a civil, dignified, and sophisticated democracy. Therefore, not much credence was given to the authoritarian lengths Trump could go to, nor were the reasons examined as to why a person like Trump could even make it to the Oval Office. Mainstream liberals would have you believe that the most terrifying aspect of Trump is that he is a rude, boorish, and idiotic man who says unintelligent (not to mention unintelligible) things. This is true, but what is more disturbing is the fact that if the systemic problems were not tackled in America, Trump and his ideology would only grow stronger, as for many, Trump is the voice for the disenchanted, forgotten, American citizen. It seemed mainstream liberal media in the States took more offence to Trump being silly than to him being fascist adjacent, and now just a fascist. Now it is clear as day, Trump and Trumpism have grown bolder, more extreme and to an extent, more mainstream. Today, Trump is no longer stumbling his way into the presidency but rather marching like a slick operator on a quest for absolute power with the backing of a highly motivated oligarchy.

So, as Conservatives have also pointed out, in 2017, no major fashion houses made designs for the incoming Trump administration. Vogue would not feature Melania Trump in the way they previously had Michelle Obama or Hillary Clinton. It was clear that nobody wanted their reputation tainted. Yet in 2025, Oscar de la Renta (a prolific designer) being proud of his work for Ivanka and Usha is proof that these pillars of corporatism and the upper echelon want to be on Trump's right side. Once rejected by mainstream culture, Trump is now embraced by it.

Perhaps the most dangerous voice in this regime, apart from Trump himself, is Elon Musk, who did a Nazi Salute at the post-inauguration rally.

Elon Musk has been placed in charge of the so-called 'Department of Government Efficiency.' In this role, he is essentially gutting the civil service and public funding (including USAID which provides billions of dollars of essential assistance to countries experiencing extreme poverty or recovering from disasters.) Musk and DOGE staff (as an unofficial agency), technically are 'special government employees,' meaning they can evade ethics and financial disclosures which typically apply to government employees. This is an oligarchy in action.

Greek economist, Yanis Varoufakis, wrote an excellent book in 2023 entitled 'Techno Feudalism: What Killed Capitalism.' Techo-Feudalism is a term used to describe modern economic and social systems where big tech companies exert immense control over markets, wealth, and individual's lives, resembling a new form of feudalism. Rather than landowners and peasants, tech giants such as Musk and Zuckerberg (who had prominent positions in the inauguration) act as digital overlords, whilst users of their platforms become their vassals. Varoufakis argues that big tech doesn't just compete in the market, which would be the traditional capitalist operandi, but they own the market. This is dangerous because it creates a platform of dependency for small business owners. These platforms profit by collecting and controlling user data, they have the monopoly of power, and ultimately, big tech dictates what people see and think, shaping individuals through algorithm-driven recommendations. Anecdotally speaking, I don't use X (formerly known as Twitter), but I do have an account. I follow no one, no one follows me, and I don't post/retweet or engage with any content. I am essentially a bot on the platform. But, without fail, the first tweets on my timeline are right-wing conspiracies coming straight from Musk. The platform has become Musk's personal far-right playground.

Now, Trump and tariffs. What are tariffs? Tariffs are taxes introduced on goods imported from other countries - charging a percentage of a product's value is the most common type of tariff, and another type imposes a fixed figure on imports, whatever their value may be. By exploiting this mechanism, Trump is essentially waging economic warfare to get what he wants, and it appears to be working. When Colombia refused the planes carrying 'illegal immigrants' on 'deportation flights' from the US to Colombia, Trump threatened to impose huge tariffs, and Colombia yielded, Trump got what he wanted and carried on with his brutal immigration plans. Trump then threatened similar sanctions on European countries. On BBC Newsnight a few weeks ago, a Danish representative, discussing Trump's plans for Greenland, was asked if he was worried about what Trump may do to Denmark (as Denmark still maintains control of Greenland.) To this, he replied that Trump will not do anything, because they are one of the 'good countries.' To me, this highlights another important shift since 2017. People are taking Trump seriously and are nervous about the consequences of not appeasing him, thus granting him even more power. It is time for European leaders to decide what they will do: appease Trump or resist him.

Finally, and most importantly, we must look at Gaza. In what felt like a hallucinogenic moment, I was appalled to see Trump's press conference with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as he discussed how excited he was to make Gaza, 'The Riviera of the Middle East.' Trump opines about the destruction of Gaza, the undetonated bombs, the unlivable conditions, that their homeland has been flattened and their lives destroyed, all whilst the man responsible for the destruction sits smugly grinning beside him. In unambiguous terms, Trump wants to ethnically cleanse Gaza and place it under America's control.

The absolute failure of the mainstream media to accurately describe Trump's plans for the Gaza strip cannot be understated. For example, The New York Times headline reads 'With Gaza Plan, an Unbound Trump Pushes an Improbable Idea.' By idea, you mean ethnic cleansing, right?

It is unclear what the future holds for Gaza. Jordan and Egypt will not accept Gazan refugees, nor should the US try to force them to. So, what does that mean for the future of the Middle East? We don't know. But, what we can be sure of is that Trump does not care, in any way, to any degree, about the Palestinian people. On the back of Joe Biden's Presidency, which was tainted by his facilitation of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, we now have a President who is in no way committed to Palestinian liberation and self-determination. Some may say we've gone from bad to worse, but I think more accurately we could say we have gone from plain horrific to a different, more insidious form of horrific, and the pain inflicted by the Biden administration should never be forgotten or understated as we enter into what is shaping up to be another bleak chapter of US foreign policy.

All this to say, things seem grim, and we have good reason to be frightened of what awaits us in the coming years. BUT... I believe within these movements of hate, that unity and solidarity can still be found. We can see small signs of resistance and a collective awakening to push back against the forces that are crushing the lives of ordinary people. For example, Ben Shapiro's extremely conservative audience disagreed with his stance on Luigi Mangione's shooting of United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. In a rare moment of class solidarity, they acknowledged the parasitical nature of these insurance companies. Or the pro-Palestinian marches happening across the UK and US. Equally, regular people are not buying the mainstream media's wishy-washy coverage of Musk's Nazi salute.

I reference this all the time because it is so prescient, but in the TV version of The Handmaid's Tale, the main characters discuss how Canada is increasingly adopting the theocratic ideology of Gilead, the dystopian setting of Atwood's novel. To this, one of the characters says, 'Remember, Canada isn't Gilead,' to which another responds, 'America wasn't Gilead either... until it was.' So, heed the warning signs, respond to them, and don't underestimate the dystopian power Trump now wields because it is no longer 2016, and if we are not careful, this downward trajectory towards Fascism will only intensify.