President Donald Trump would cross a “potential red line” if he declares a national emergency over illegal border crossings, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Thursday.
Albright told Vox in an interview that while Trump is “certainly anti-democratic, and I say so in the book, but I don’t call him a fascist because he isn’t violent. If he ends up declaring an emergency at the border over immigration, then I might change my position.”
Trump has threatened to declare a national emergency in order to get funding for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, if Congress does not include the money in a funding bill that must be passed by this Friday to avert another shutdown.
She added that "There’s a long history of fascists using 'emergencies' to create fear and conflict, so that’s a potential red line. If Trump does that, then he really is a bully with an army."
"I’ll tell you where the line gets crossed. If Trump actually uses the military to deploy or incite violence, that’s when all bets are off. I’m very careful about who I call a fascist because I really do believe this is where the line is," Albright continued.
"I do think his approach to the free press, to democratic institutions, to the independent judiciary, is extremely dangerous and anti-democratic. And his general disdain for the rule of law is genuinely alarming.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.