Previously, I identified five areas of similarities between Adolf Hitler and Donald J. Trump. What follows are four more, as highlighted in The Addlestone Chronicles:
- Trump openly supports white billionaires, old white men with guns, and the NRA.
He has asserted that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country”—a line straight out of Mein Kampf. Hitler’s racist policies were enforced by Heinrich Himmler’s SS (Schutzstaffel) and Joseph Göbbels’ Reich Ministry of Propaganda. In 1990, Trump’s first wife, Ivana, gave an interview to Vanity Fair in which she stated that Donald was fascinated with Hitler, so much so that he kept a book of Hitler’s speeches on his bedside table. When asked about this recently, Trump claimed he couldn’t recall owning the book, and if he did, he would never have read it.
Trump’s limited reading skills are well-documented. While in the White House, his subordinates had to present daily, short, paragraph-long summaries to get him to even glance at briefings.Both leaders urged police and their supporters to assault defenseless citizens. Hitler encouraged his Brownshirts—initially an unofficial organization—to attack dissenters at his rallies. Later, by law, they became the SS. By 1935, laws were enacted allowing them to attack and close down Jewish-run businesses. This escalated into mass detention in concentration camps, culminating in the Holocaust (Shoah for Jews and Porojmos—“the Devouring”—for Roma and Sinti people).
Trump has his MAGA supporters, including the now disgraced groups Moms for Liberty, The Proud Boys, QAnon, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, 11 Percenters, Boogaloo Boys, Rise Above Nation, Unite the Right, NSC-131, Truckers for Trump, and Cowboys for Trump. Individuals from these groups were among the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. As of January 5, 2024, over 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the insurrection. Of these, approximately 730 have pleaded guilty, 170 have been convicted at trial, and 750 have been sentenced, with about 500 incarcerated. Trump has stated he will consider pardoning most of those convicted if he returns to the Oval Office.
- Both attacked labor unions and abused executive power to enrich far-right white industrialists.
Hitler surrounded himself with officers and advisors who pledged unwavering loyalty to Der Führer, even requiring his generals to sign loyalty oaths. In May 1933, just three months after taking power, Hitler dissolved German trade unions, banned strikes, and eliminated collective bargaining rights. Their leaders were arrested, and many were sent to Dachau. Hitler then formed the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF).Similarly, Trump was anti-union and anti-labor. He encouraged freeloading (non-contract workers), made enforcing collective bargaining agreements more difficult, silenced workers, restricted union membership freedoms, and filled federal courts and agencies with anti-labor appointees. Trump opposed wage increases, gutted workplace safety regulations, and helped pharmaceutical companies inflate drug prices while reducing health coverage.
- Both postured as military strongmen while ordering arms buildups that served no immediate needs.
Hitler, a lance corporal (Gefreiter) in the Great War, defied the Versailles Treaty by expanding the Wehrmacht, including the Heer (army), Kriegsmarine (navy), and Luftwaffe (air force). By 1939, the Heer consisted of 75 divisions, with 2.7 million personnel, including women, while the Luftwaffe had 4,000 aircraft and 400,000 personnel. Despite this, the Kriegsmarine remained underprepared for war, with only 78,000 personnel.Trump, during his presidency from January 2017 to January 2021, increased the defense budget from $716 billion to $750 billion. President Obama’s final budget had defense spending at just over $600 billion. In December 2019, Trump founded the Space Force. Although Trump was of draft age during the Vietnam War, he avoided service by citing “bone spurs” as a medical exemption.
- Both purged government officials who lacked loyalty or disagreed with their methods.
Hitler dismissed numerous generals after military failures. His government officials were appointed based on loyalty to him and Nazi policies rather than merit. Jewish civil servants, teachers, and professors were summarily dismissed, stripped of pensions, and rendered unemployable. At the Nuremberg Trials, 199 Nazi officials were tried; 161 were convicted, and 37 were sentenced to death. Hitler’s policies resulted in the murder of 5,728,051 Jews and over 6 million others, including Soviet POWs, political opponents, disabled individuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, gay men, and at least 3 million Roma and Sinti.
Trump boasted about hiring “the best people,” but by the end of his term, 92% of his original advisors and cabinet members had been dismissed or replaced. Eleven of his cabinet members faced federal charges, and 14 of his advisors and donors were indicted or imprisoned. While in office, Trump issued 193 pardons, mainly to allies. Now campaigning for re-election, he promises to purge civil servants and replace them with loyalists who will unquestioningly follow his directives.