British historian explains why he was 'shaken every day' during US visit

Feminist Avedon Carol, a Maryland native who has lived in London for many years, once commented that the United States has an even closer relationship with the UK than it has with its neighbor to the north, Canada. UK media, from the BBC to the Times of London, typically cover U.S. politics extensively — and British historian Timothy Garton Ash explains why he is so worried about the U.S. in a Guardian column published on September 16.

Ash, who recently returned to Europe from a visit to the U.S., emphasizes that the 2026 midterms may be the last chance to save the democratic American republic from sinking into full-fledged authoritarianism.

"I return to Europe from the U.S. with a clear conclusion: American democrats, lower-case d, have 400 days to start saving U.S. democracy," Ash warns. "If next autumn's midterm elections produce a Congress that begins to constrain (U.S. President) Donald Trump, there will then be a further 700 days to prepare the peaceful transfer of executive power that alone will secure the future of this republic. Operation Save U.S. Democracy, Stages 1 and 2."

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The British historian continues, "Hysterical hyperbole? I would love to think so. But during seven weeks in the U.S. this summer, I was shaken every day by the speed and executive brutality of President Trump's assault on what had seemed settled norms of U.S. democracy and by the desperate weakness of resistance to that assault. There's a growing body of international evidence to suggest that once a liberal democracy has been eroded, it's very difficult to restore it. Destruction is so much easier than construction."

Ash argues that although the Democratic Party's leadership "is a mess," Democrats must retake the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms if American democracy is going to survive.

"Much has been made of comparisons to other authoritarian power grabs, from Europe in the 1930s to Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, but I’m most struck by the distinctive features of the U.S. case," Ash observes. "To name just four: excessive executive power; chronic gerrymandering; endemic violence; and the way a would-be authoritarian can exploit the intense capitalist competition that permeates every area of U.S. life…. It will be a miracle if the U.S. avoids a downward spiral of political violence, as last seen in the 1960s."

Ash continues, "That, in turn, could be the pretext for Trump to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, bring more military on to U.S. streets and further exploit an alleged state of emergency…. Meanwhile, universities, business leaders, law firms, media platforms and tech supremos have utterly failed to engage in collective action in response. They have either kept their heads down, settled humiliatingly like Columbia University and the law firm Paul, Weiss, or fawned on the president, like Mark Zuckerberg. Why? Because they all follow the logic of fierce free-market competition and fear targeted reprisals. I never imagined I would see fear spread so far and fast in the U.S."

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Timothy Garton Ash's full column for The Guardian is available at this link.