The political climate of our country is something that always occupies the news. News outlets with different biases, different motives and different levels of investigative journalism present within their organizations report on the decisions made and actions taken by the current administration on a daily basis. However, something that may not always be thought of by the average American citizen is how news organizations based in different countries around the world are reporting on what is going on in the United States right now.
Globalization in the modern age means that what goes on in a country is not just relevant to the country itself, but to other nations as well, and many nations have vested interests in the United States due to our position on the global stage. One country in particular has been reporting on the actions of the Trump administration and the direction the U.S. appears to be heading in, and their insight is something that should make each and every American stop in their tracks.
Since the start of the new year, Der Spiegel, or “The Mirror”, has been allotting a portion of its coverage to the actions of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as “ICE”, and the full backing given to this organization by the Trump administration. Der Spiegel is a weekly newspaper based in Hamburg, Germany and one of the most widely circulated newspapers in Europe with a respected reputation for quality investigative journalism.
According to The Guardian, Der Spiegel journalist Arno Frank wrote in an article that what he described as “the authoritarian regime” in the United States “was still establishing its distinctive aesthetic.” This was in regard to a photograph circulating online of senior U.S. border patrol official Gregory Bovino and the outfit he chose to adorn himself with during his work.
“No wonder, then, that figures like Bovino are resorting to tried-and-tested models,” he said. While the other federal agents seem to wear “whatever they have to hand”, he argued that Bovino “stands out from this thuggish mob, just as an elegant SS officer stands out from the rowdy SA mob. The dashing undercut is also spot on; all that’s missing for the perfect cosplay is a monocle,” according to The Guardian.
In case you’re confused as to what Frank is talking about, on behalf of Der Spiegel, he is saying that Bovino intentionally chose to dress himself during his work to resemble a Schutzstaffel member, one of the personal bodyguards of Adolf Hitler during the Nazi Regime. Yes, that is correct. A German news organization is reporting on how those in positions of power in our country are intending to replicate the aesthetic of the Nazis.
Now, one might say that a German journalist commenting on the mere aesthetic of an ICE officials outfit doesn’t warrant that much alarm. It’s just an outfit, after all. Except, this is not the only commentary that has been made by Der Spiegel regarding what is happening in our country, and it goes much deeper than aesthetics.
All the way back in August of 2024, Spiegel International, Der Spiegels International news outlet which publishes articles in English, published an article titled “Finding the Secret Hitler: How Fascism Begins”.
The article aims to explore the question of whether fascism is rising again in the modern age. Part of it specifically explores whether Trump aims to become a fascist leader in the United States from the perspective of two different men: Robert Kagan, a famous conservative historian and Jason Stanley, a leftist professor of philosophy at Yale.
The article details Kagan’s perspective first. “If Trump wins the election, Kagan believes, the old system will be destroyed. It will be, the historian believes, an unimaginable political disruption, as though everything would collapse on the first day. Kagan believes he will use the Department of Justice to take revenge on his enemies and militarize migration policy to round up hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. The system of checks and balances would gradually be eroded. First, the immigrants would lose their rights, followed by opposition activists, who would be arrested and prosecuted. For me, that’s enough,” says Kagan. “Even if the system looks the same,” according to Spiegel International.
It continues with Stanley’s view. “So how does fascism work? Modern-day fascism, Stanley writes, is a cult of the leader in which that leader promises rebirth to a disgraced country. Disgraced because immigrants, leftists, liberals, minorities, homosexuals and women have taken over the media, the schools and cultural institutions. Fascist regimes, Stanley argues, begin as social and political movements and parties – and they tend to be elected rather than overthrowing existing governments,” according to Spiegel International.
This article was published before Trump’s second presidency even began, yet its relevance to what is happening now cannot be overstated. “First, the immigrants would lose their rights, followed by opposition activists who would be arrested and prosecuted” is a quote that conjures images of Keith Porter Jr. and the 70,000 people that have been detained by ICE since the beginning of Trump’s second term, as well as images of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens who protested ICE on behalf of their neighbors and lost their lives.
The significance of Der Spiegel being the distributor of both this article examining whether the current president of our country has the potential to be a fascist authoritarian leader and an article comparing a high-profile ICE official to an SS officer cannot afford to be overlooked. Germany being the home of Hitler’s rise, as well as the wide reach of its “Never Again” remembrance culture, makes for a country uniquely positioned to ring the warning bell for when a nation’s administration is headed towards a goal of systemic, state-sponsored persecution. And they’re ringing it. Right now.
Oftentimes, when Americans in school are learning about events such as the Holocaust, there’s this collective feeling of “how could this have even happened? How come no one stood up?” It is our responsibility as citizens of a representative democracy to acknowledge that cases of mass murder and imprisonment do not happen overnight. They happen slowly and strategically, with leaders weakening the morale of the public and overwhelming the media with propaganda until we are too divided to stand up and protect our neighbors and our rights.
We must acknowledge the comparisons being made between fascist administrations of the past and our administration of the present. We must listen to history, we must listen to the warning bells and we must fight back against the fascism that is currently making a home in our country through the actions of the Trump administration and ICE.
Regardless of one’s political affiliation, it is our civic duty as Americans to protect the land of the free. Now is the time that we must forego the division that is strategically sewn to weaken us, remember our moral code and do so.
Serena Taylor can be contacted at
