Ruth Ben-Ghiat, NYU History Professional:
Yes, in studies of authoritarianism, it's autocratic capture, autocratic capture.
And what this Trump adviser has described is that. When you remake government, you remake civil service. So you purge people who will not be loyal to you. So, loyalty becomes a requirement, not expertise, and you restaff government with people who will do your bidding and, in this way, hugely centralizing and increasing presidential power.
And I was also struck by his language, seizing, looking for pockets of independence, and seizing them. And this also negates the idea of an independent civil service and independent institutions. This is a bedrock of democracy.
And the word seizing, this is not the language of democratic reform. This is the language of authoritarian takeover.
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