Donald J. Trump ran a campaign centered around the American people.

He said he wanted to make America great again and return power to the people, but his extravagant behavior and his elite appointments make it very clear that he lied through his teeth. He told America that his interest was in “draining the swamp,” but all he did was appoint his extremely wealthy associates who did him favors.

While that behavior isn’t new, it’s not returning power to the people. He has shown that his priority is in securing power for himself, his family and his friends, not the people.

But perhaps the most troubling behavior of his are his attempts at convincing the American people that the free press is fake and corrupt, even going so far as to ban certain news organizations not favored by him from even attending press briefings. During the campaign, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said himself that barring certain news organizations from attending briefings is not something they would do, as that is what turns a democracy into a dictatorship. Anything that offers opposition to him is “fake news” or “alternative facts,” which, by the way, already has an Orwellian Newspeak word: blackwhite.

Blackwhite, or “alternative facts,” is based on the principle that the people should disregard anything they know as true and agree with the party in power even when they say what is known to be false. It is believing that black is white, even if you knew as a fact previously that black is, in fact, black. As a general rule, if your leader is exhibiting behaviors that there is a Newspeak word for, you should be concerned.

This behavior seeks to accomplish two things: it allows him to manipulate control of the media by promoting only news outlets he agrees with and tearing down objective news outlets for presenting facts. It’s why the Park Service twitter accounts were ordered to no longer tweet about climate change. This lets him push whatever agenda he wants, but it also allows him to retain support even when he is blatantly betraying his own supporters by telling them that all the bad things they heard are lies.

Trump has even repeatedly attacked the judicial system for doing its job. He fired Sally Yates for defending the constitution, instead of blindly following the ruler. He announces that the judicial system is seeking to allow the U.S. to be attacked due to political affiliations, when even conservative judges are opposing him. His own Supreme Court pick even privately expressed concern with his behavior towards the courts, yet he is unwilling to oppose him publicly because he, like anyone else who ever disagrees with the ruler, is punished in whatever way he can be.

If you are a business, he will try to tear you down for not doing business with his daughter, despite their right in a free market to make their own business decisions and his claim that he has no connections to his businesses. If you can be degraded, you will be degraded, just like the journalists who oppose him are. He’ll even mock your disabilities. If you can be fired, he’ll fire you, just like he did Sally Yates. It is becoming increasingly evident that he may have picked up a few behaviors from his interactions with his good buddy Vladimir Putin.

He seems to be doing everything he can to gain as much power as possible and create a system in which he is untouchable. Right now, only the courts have any power or willingness to oppose him, but soon the highest court will be under his control.

Trump is attempting to unite America under hatred for the press, for Muslims, for anyone he thinks it is convenient to make the enemy. To become a dictator, you need fear, you need an enemy and you need control.

Having an egotistical and power hungry billionaire who blatantly acts in his own self-interest and is ranked as one of the least charitable billionaires in the world is a very dangerous thing in an environment in which there is single party rule in all three branches of government.

Why he ran for president is still a mystery, but it’s starting to look like he only did it so he could have even more power. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t because he cares about the American people. He has made it very clear that he doesn’t care about this country.

As it stands, Trump is not more powerful than his resistance, and so he is not a dictator, but it is essential that we never stop resisting. We cannot let his behavior become normal, or he could grab hold of what he needs to become the dictator he aspires to be.