Our government has a long tradition of appointing people who can be counted on to interpret law in a predictable manner, one which is agreeable to the appointer. Now, I'm not saying that this is the exclusive province of the current administration, but, if done skillfully and thoroughly enough, it could well remove most of the problems a potential despot might incur from the Judiciary. As to Legislative...last time I checked, they were pretty much on board with the current programs, so they aren't going to pose much of a problem to our prospective despot, either. Vote along Party lines, outcomes are rather predictable.
Perhaps the American sheep...err, People...will vote to make all of this a bit more balanced? If the votes count, that is.
BTW, the definition of "activist judge" is any judge who fails to rule in accordance to one's own idea of how things ought to be.