Jun 30, 2026 – 8.56amThe “Save America Act” sounds hard to oppose. But, much to US President Donald Trump’s frustration, the legislation is stuck in Congress. The bill’s opponents see it as an effort to rig the electoral system by getting Democrats off the voter rolls ahead of this year’s crucial midterm elections.Attempting to tilt election law in your favour — and to entrench yourself in power by fair means and foul — are classic tactics of strongman leaders. The good news is that it doesn’t always work. In Brazil, Hungary and the Philippines, recent efforts by strongman leaders to take decisive control of their countries’ institutions failed — leading Jair Bolsonaro, Viktor Orbán and Rodrigo Duterte to lose power.Financial TimesSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles
This is how Trump and other strongman leaders fall
The downfalls of would-be autocrats in Hungary, Brazil and the Philippines hold lessons for America.
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