As someone else in this section said, propaganda is the problem. This election demonstrated that we’ve flipped, and like in Russia, propaganda is now more powerful than truth. I can think of three potential solutions to this problem (without open conflict):

• Prevent the propaganda from reaching citizens. Enact a truth in news law that both does not allow news reporting to allow falsehoods to be spread without fact-checks at the moment of reporting, and requires digital platforms to uphold similar standards for user-generated content. The likelihood of this happening was nearly zero before Trump got his second term because politicians and businesses were already irrationally terrified of being seen as suppressing right-wing speech, but after Trump, it’s infinitesimal without some huge public push (which won’t happen).
• Educating the public about civics, fascism, authoritarianism, oligarchy, etc to allow them to individually reject the propaganda themselves. The natural place for this is high school Civics classes. This won’t bear fruit for 10-20 years at least, and now that Trump is able to exert nearly unchallenged power, it is also going to be instantly suffocated in the crib as soon as it looks critical of Trump’s rule.
• Individually remove the propaganda spread at the ground level. There is also the very remote possibility of focused conversation, where those who are not brainwashed throughout the country act as T-cells rooting out the “infection” of reactionary propaganda. This would be a simultaneous conversation that millions of Americans initiate to try to bring those who are brainwashed back to reality, at a neighborhood level. This won’t happen because Trump’s supporters explicitly are trained to reject and fight back against any non-white-listed source of information; because we’re in our social media bubbles and have no desire to get out of them; and it would require an incredible act of will on non-Trump supporter’s parts, which I don’t believe we have the capability to do.

So I think we’re screwed. My best guess:

Like in Russia, Trump will create a culture that corruption and ineptitude is “normal” so the public stops expecting (and fighting) for anything better; like in Russia, he will control messaging and suppress media to blame the opposition and scapegoats at every possible moment of political weakness; and like in Russia, he will remove election safeguards to the point where elections are no longer reliable ways to act democratically.

The eventual result is that the US’s system of government will fail hard and consistently enough that public faith in it will fall apart. But that corrupt, decayed state will probably outlast our lifetimes. Like in Russia, properly managed and with a continued monopoly on violence, a corrupt and undemocratic government even in 2024 can last for decades.