The American people have made a clear choice: They elected Donald Trump as the next president, and have given control of the U.S. Senate, and probably the House of Representatives, to the MAGAfied Republicans as well.

One plausible way to read this election is as a protest vote against the Democrats as the incumbent party, reflecting a broad feeling that the country is headed in the wrong direction and something must change on a fundamental level. Ultimately, Donald Trump was able to channel the public’s grievances into his own personal grievances and ride a wave of populist rage into the White House for a second time.

Trump has promised to be a dictator on “day one.” He will most certainly rule as an autocrat who will seek revenge and retribution on his “enemies,” meaning anyone or any group who opposes him or the MAGA movement. The right-wing extremists on the U.S. Supreme Court have ruled that Trump and his successors are de facto monarchs who are, in every meaningful sense, above the law. There will be few, if any, institutional checks and balances on Trump's second term.

It sounds oxymoronic to call someone an “elected dictator,” but the American people are about to find out it is not. Trump's voters and supporters did this to themselves. Many of them will soon feel the negative consequences and painful results of their decision to turn their backs on democracy and freedom very soon. The United States is now an undiscovered country, in the darkest possible sense.

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Any public voice who suggests that everything is going to be fine and that panic or despair are unwarranted should not be taken seriously. That is projection and self-soothing behavior.

There are rumors and reports that senior military leaders are having informal discussions about what to do if President Trump issues illegal or unconstitutional orders regarding the suppression of dissent, the occupation of American cities, the execution of his plans for mass deportation or other efforts to crush “the enemy within.”

During his first term, Trump wanted to use the military to put down the nationwide protests of 2020 that erupted in response to the police murder of George Floyd. Thankfully, that never happened. Some reports suggest that military leaders put steps in place to limit Trump’s ability to order the use of nuclear weapons.

None of this, needless to say, is normal. American voters were repeatedly warned about the existential danger posed by Trump and his MAGA movement, and a majority of them chose to embrace it. What they will reap will likely be poisonous. In an attempt to make sense of Trump’s victory, our collective emotions in this time of trouble and dread, what this election reveals about American values and character, and what comes next when Trump takes power in January, I recently spoke with a range of experts.

Steven Beschloss is a journalist and author of several books, including "The Gunman and His Mother." His website is America, America.

It’s hard to overstate how much damage re-electing Trump will cause, not only to immigrants and other marginalized........

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