Big Brother Trump is watching you. You shouldn’t be surprised - Orwell did try to warn us.

Orwell, who had first-hand experience with fascism and authoritarianism from working in British-occupied Burma as a police officer, as well as tangential experience with the regimes of the Soviet Union and NAZI Germany, was undeniably adept at recreating the reality of life in these societies. In fact, his novel 1984, is arguably one of the greatest commentaries on the inner workings of totalitarian regimes, from the psychology to the logistics, and beyond.

In his magnum opus, Orwell invites us into the world of Winston Smith, a rather meek member of the Party, who struggles to accept that living under the inescapable scrutiny of the fearless leader, Big Brother, is how life must be - how it has always been. Despite the ceaseless effort by the Party to shape the reality of its citizens at will, Winston believes that there must be another way.

So, what was it that Orwell foresaw over 75 years ago that has come to fruition in the United States in 2025, and what can we expect from the rise of American authoritarianism? Let’s take a look.

The Perception of Reality

One of Trump’s favorite tactics for bending the United States to his will is his war on truth. In fact, his social media platform, Truth Social, even appears to be a callback to a major facet of Orwell’s depiction of society in 1984 - the Ministry of Truth. In the book, the Ministry of Truth engages in the manipulation of the public’s perception of reality, namely the rewriting of history to benefit the agenda of the Inner Party. This tactic is especially evident in 2025, and has been one of the first actions taken by the Republicans as the Trump Administration seeks to expeditiously enact its policies.

The first indications that Trump and his cronies intend to rewrite history lay among the executive actions signed within hours of his inauguration - renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America,’ rebranding the sacred land of Denali, which originally belonged to the native Koyukon people of Alaska, in honor of President McKinley, and changing the official title of the US Digital Service to the Department of Government Efficiency. In reality, these changes have little effect, and do not benefit the American people in any meaningful way. The clear purpose is to display Trump’s sweeping power to recreate the United States in his own image, much as many dictators in modern history have done.

Another dangerous example of this manipulation of reality is Trump’s incessant war on vulnerable minority groups in the United States. Within the past week, Trump has shut down thousands of government websites, violated civil protections by purging the federal government of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) employees, and enacted legislation to cease the US government’s recognition of the transgender community, including barring them from military service.

One of the central tenets of Orwell’s depiction of the Inner Party’s grip on its people is represented by one of its most-recognizable slogans - “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” This is precisely what is transpiring in the United States, and a lack of wherewithal on the part of the American people to consider the dangers of this reshaping of American history at the behest of an autocratic leader is troubling, to say the least. Should this reckless behavior continue, the United States will find itself on the slippery slope that leads to the transformation of the core principles written into our constitution, chief among them being the idea that all persons are born equal, and endowed with the same rights.

Finally, Trump wasted no time in beginning his rampage against the media, starting with the banning of several news outlets from the Pentagon, including the New York Times and National Public Radio. In my mind, this is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment of our constitution, which seeks to protect the freedom of the press. This effort to suppress any viewpoints that differ from that of the administration (or news sources that align with its policies) is especially malicious, as it augments the administration’s ability to propagate false narratives, and sow misinformation. Without any context, these actions leave the American people without the ability to consider any opposing views, or to understand their transgressions against free speech.

Clearly, these actions are an onslaught on the principles that the United States has held dear for centuries, with the freedom of speech and the human right to equality, which are both central to the American ideals of democracy, taking center stage. These efforts not only serve to undermine its institutions, but to install a propaganda machine reminiscent of Orwell’s prophetic notions - unchecked authority to diffuse misinformation that ultimately serves to harm the American people, and wrest away the freedoms promised to them by their motherland.

The Malleability of Facts

In the world of Trump, falsehoods become fact. Orwell lays out the harms of the implementation of a mode of thinking that allows a person to hold two contradictory thoughts as true at the same time, a phenomenon he refers to as doublethink.

For instance, a prime example of this was visible in the anti-mask movement during COVID, during which a group of Americans proclaimed their devotion to the ‘right to life’ in the context of opposing abortion rights, but rallied against measures, like social-distancing and stay-at-home orders, to prevent the spread of a deadly virus that killed over 1.2 million fellow Americans.

How about Trump’s recent pardoning of more than 1,500 convicted felons, who participated in the failed coup on January 6th? How is it that his supporters claim to ‘back the blue’ and stand for ‘law and order,’ but also support this decision to release violent criminals who assaulted and killed police officers? Moreover, for people who are decidedly intent on punishing those with criminal records, how is it that they support and helped to elect a man convicted of 34 felonies? These are just a few of the examples of how Trump’s assault on factuality has mottled the ability of his supporters to think critically about the beliefs that they hold to be true.

Orwell also depicts doublethink as the propensity of people to disregard the realities of broken promises and about-faces by the administration. A core argument of the Trump campaign was reducing grocery prices, which he claimed would happen on day one of his term. Yet, since Trump has been in office, not only has the price of eggs risen to record-highs, he has ordered tariffs to be placed on goods from America’s leading trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, and China. Tariffs are a financial instrument that economists unanimously agree would be tremendously harmful to the US economy, as well as increase prices on everyday goods, like groceries, clothing, automobiles, and appliances. In addition, within days of his inauguration, Trump admitted that lowering the cost of groceries would be ‘hard,’ just weeks after he proclaimed that Americans would be enjoying grocery prices ‘very soon.’ Yet, his supporters continue to stand by his side, even as his policies stand to make their wallets lighter, and their economic prospects dimmer.

This is precisely aligned with Orwell’s grave warning to the future - ‘Power is in tearing human minds to pieces, and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.‘

War is Peace

For someone who views himself as a ‘peacemaker’ and ‘unifier,’ Trump wasted no time going on the offensive against some of America’s closest allies. In the war against climate change, Trump not only withdrew from a pact supported by 195 parties across the world (the Paris Climate Accord) to lower dangerous carbon emissions, but affirmed his intention to ‘drill baby drill’ at a time when climate scientists warn that the planet is ‘on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster.’

Trump has also moved to deport millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, regardless of their criminal history, by relegating tens of thousands to Guantanamo Bay, which has traditionally been reserved for detaining foreign terrorists. Not only does this serve to dehumanize immigrants, it is sure to separate families, disrupt the economy, and further instill division in the United States. Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship is also a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, and calls into question what it truly means to be an American. So much for unity.

Trump is not timid in his desires to further expand US territory either, stating his desire to take control of Denmark, and make Canada America’s 51st state, both of which have already raised concerns among nations that are a part of NATO. In a time when the world faces countless armed conflicts, the impact of globalization, and many global issues that demand a unified, global response, Trump’s ‘America First’ policy appears poised to alienate the United States from trusted allies, and do irreparable damage.

To learn more about how this policy shapes American foreign relations, check out my article here.

Hope Lies in the Proles

Orwell espouses the idea that the only hope to disband the Party, and subsequently end its tyranny, lies with the proles. The ‘proles’ are the working class of Oceania, the society brought to life in 1984, and are the primary targets of the demagoguery and oppression of the ruling class. In Winston’s mind, it is only the proles, who comprise about 85% of the population, who posses the power to overthrow the Party. Yet, they lack the consciousness necessary to recognize their collective strength, and continually fail to act. This appears to be coming to fruition in modern-day America, too.

In 2025, Americans face a litany of crises. From healthcare to student loan debt to the credit crunch, the general quality of life in the United States has markedly declined over the past decades, and it appears that the government has turned a blind eye to the needs of the many. It is shocking that, in a time in which wealth inequality has reached unprecedented levels, the American people have elected a billionaire who has appointed the richest US cabinet in history, as well as elevated Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to head a government agency with direct control over government spending. Even as Americans have watched the wealthiest become even wealthier at their expense, they have essentially opened the door for these individuals to continue this massive transfer of wealth, now entirely unencumbered by resistance from lawmakers.

Orwell makes a profound statement concerning the proles, and their ability to rebel - “They need only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it.”

The Rumble of a Revolution

Hope is not lost in the United States. Thousands have taken to the streets to protest the treatment of illegal immigrants, who contribute immensely to America. Judges have stood up to unlawful executive actions by Trump, including a judge from Seattle who called the order to end birthright citizenship ‘blatantly unconstitutional.’ A group of civil rights activists have come together to sue Trump for stripping the rights of immigrants. America has not lost its resolve, and it will take more than a demagogue and his billionaire friends to destroy democracy.

In 2025, we must take Orwell’s warning in stride. To become complacent and comply is to surrender, and that is precisely what those in power want.

We must choose to defy, lest we cede control over the past, present, and future.