Mr Trump – known for strongman-like tendencies like Mr Putin and Mr Jinping – sent in over 2,000 National Guard troops, dressed like Stormtroopers, to quell a popular uprising sparked by workplace raids on labourers who Mr Trump’s officials claim are “illegals” working in America without papers. It was, as one expert put it, a prime example of authoritarian overreach that has become a feature of American autocracy since Mr Trump’s white nationalist Republican Party came to power in the last election.
