I don't draw the same comparison to Hitler's treatment of the arts. I think trump has really bad taste. Look at his golf motels. They're just awful. Look at the Rose Garden. It looks like an enlarged motel patio in a place off the freeway exit. Look at where he eats lunch, or the omelette bar at Mar a lago. It's tasteless, it's soulless, it's artless, it's not creative at all. Look at his building in NY. It's architecturally simplistic. His NY home is covered in gold. The man has no taste.
This. I hate Albert Speer and Riefestahl, but there's competence and professionalism to their work, despite it being towards evil goals. Trump's vision is less than QVC - and as a professional and employed art historian (I was at the Smithsonian until I retired), I know of what I write.
There are rumors Trump long had Mein Kampf on his bed stand. I sort of doubt it, but its possible. We know for certain he loves murderous dictators.
But we also know that if Stephen Miller was any more Nazi, not neo Nazi, not fascist, but flat out Twilight Zone's Hitler lover Peter Vollmer (Dennis Hopper's performance put him on the map) he'd have to be transported to 1938.
Natalie Harp might be the only person with more access to Trump than Miller.
The actual Nazis are hiding behind Godwin's Law. We need to put Godwin to rest before we get final phase Nazism: the part where they self immolate and try to take their country with them. The self immolation, or outright suicide, is no exaggeration. While Needham likely knows this, readers need to know it too. Historically, with one exception (Spain, which quietly moved from fascism, to generic totalitarianism, to authoritarianism, to, shockingly, and hundreds of thousands of bodies and many decades later, democracy) fascism has always ended in self immolation and destruction.
As Stephen Miller sees the end coming he'll work with like minded fascists to burn as much as he can.
I think it was his ex-wife Ivana, possibly murdered, definitely buried on a golf course, who said that Mein Kampf was the only book she ever saw on his bedside table.
It's my hope that when sanity (read Democrat) takes over the White House, that all of the vanity projects built by Trump will be completely destroyed and restored to their original beauty. Please 🙏.
No one close to him wants to tell him the truth. He can never be on Mt. Rushmore. There is no usable carvable surface. If they try, it will likely destroy the existing faces. Those 4 were chosen for the principles they represent—not them personally. Trump does not represent any ideals of America. He represents himself—a Creep State psychopath. Not suitable for a memorial.
Excellent piece. Two comments: (1) I saw an exhibition in London a few decades ago, on “Art of Totalitarianism” and yeah, pretty much. Hyper realism bordering on fantasy - blond, blue-eyed strapping young men gazing into the future they did not yet understand would contain defeat (like those images Trump’s Department of Labor was using to attract men into … something). Oh, and buxom Soviet peasant women with children dangling from everywhere while they do housework. Ugh.
(2) About the degenerate art? Even as they publicly condemned it, corrupt Nazi profiteers like Hermann Göring were squirrelling confiscated masterpieces away not just to sell, but to keep. Because they actually knew its worth, despite the propaganda.
He may not have his own Leni Riefenstahl, but he has a number of anonymous Albert Speers, looking to create Germania II.
Incidentally, I read somewhere -- the Economist? -- that he DOES have a book about Nazi architecture. Meanwhile, AfD hates the Bauhaus, so they have that in common.
Him saying Corinthian-style columns are “the most luxurious in classical architecture” is like Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap claiming D minor is “the saddest of all the keys”
Actually, Trump's gilded taste and penchant for building palaces go back well before Hitler to King Ludwig II of Bavaria - another German (is it a DNA thing?). Every room in Ludwig's Linderhof Palace is over-decorated from floor to ceiling with paintings, murals, gilded carvings, and furniture that looks like this room (https://www.schlosslinderhof.de/englisch/Palace/audienzzimmer.htm) - no exceptions. Ludwig's castle building and decorating was draining the national treasury. Neuschwanstein Castle is his masterpiece. He was eventually declared insane by his oligarchs, dethroned, and murdered the next day to ensure there would be no insurrection. Sometimes history does seem to repeat.
I've been to four of King Ludwig's fantasy palaces. They fit with Trump in that they allowed the King to play out his delusional, egotistical dramas. Your cite to the Linderhof is important, as 1) only a few bedrooms (so Ludwig could play as if in a dollhouse with no visitors), 2) the Grotto, where he re-enacted his favorite Wagner and medieval fantasies. Dude was insane, as is Trump. But Ludwig did have better architects, which is why many of these sites are preserved. Trump has none of this.
I had not been back to Linderhof in about 50 years. I took my spouse there to see what the inside of Trump's brain looks like. The Grotto is an amazing billionaire sort of toy, given that TV was not invented yet. I wonder how many people it takes to dust the place off regularly.
But he does have Cats, Ave Maria and the Village People. Remember the 2024 rally where he just 40 minutes of his playlist, with Kristi Noem dancing along as if it was totally normal? Good times!
Trump’s artistic taste always reminds me of that Simpson episode where Homer’s brother-in-law enlists him to design everyman’s car. It’s chock full of ridiculous super tacky features and would’ve been more expensive than what any one who ogled such a thing could possibly afford.
You probably have neighbors, especially in neighborhoods containing older people who put out a multitude of lawn ornaments. No HOA to reign in the ducks, gooses, gnomes, little statues not unlike Hummel figurines (children, animals, and people posing), fake flowers, large welcoming signs with the resident’s names on the front of the house or on the front door. If they live close to you can observe the Amazon trucks coming to deliver the continuous rotation of such items. It is not a static display. I am not talking about seasonal or holiday displays (although if such things remain up too long they can be just as annoying}.
I was trying to understand this behavior, because it must be some sort of “hoarding”. I searched: neighbor excessive number of ornamental items - what is this called? I was surprised it provided a Latin term for the compulsion, specifically, “An aesthetic of excessive ornamentation is called maximalism, while the compulsive impulse to fill every empty space is known as horror vacui (Latin for "fear of empty space").
Maximalism: A style of decorating that embraces "more is more," using intense layers of color, patterns, and objects. Horror Vacui: The psychological or design urge to leave no blank, open surface untouched by an object or pattern. Lawn Kitsch: A term for quirky, gaudy, or mass-produced yard items like plastic flamingos, gnomes, or whimsical statues. Outdoor Clutter: A general term used when decorations begin to look disorganized, messy, or overwhelming to neighbors. Excessive Acquisition: If your neighbor feels a compulsive, unstoppable need to constantly buy and add new items, it can sometimes point toward hoarding behaviors.
Trump’s behavior is compulsive, demonstrated and reported over and over. Look at his Oval Office with Trump applied gold knick-knacks glued to surfaces. (Or images of his older Trump Tower office). Horror Vacui? Indeed. He has no control. And no one will reign him in. Where is the HOA? At least people in DC were protesting around The Kennedy Center this week Please keep it up!
I hesitated to make comparisons to the Third Reich, but Timothy W. Ryback wrote this for The Atlantic. Gift link should work.
Hitler’s Edifice Complex
He was obsessed with adding an expensive new wing to the Reich chancellery, part of his grandiose architectural ambitions for the nation’s capital.
Drumpf loves the Greek/Roman style since there was so much homosexuality amongst them and the admin is loaded with closeted people. Other than Bessent who is clearly a self-hating gay ban. Look at how Grindr peaks at all these rethug gatherings not to mention so many religious conventions….all so repressed. And then with children…….
I don’t think comparison with Hitler are overblown.
I don't draw the same comparison to Hitler's treatment of the arts. I think trump has really bad taste. Look at his golf motels. They're just awful. Look at the Rose Garden. It looks like an enlarged motel patio in a place off the freeway exit. Look at where he eats lunch, or the omelette bar at Mar a lago. It's tasteless, it's soulless, it's artless, it's not creative at all. Look at his building in NY. It's architecturally simplistic. His NY home is covered in gold. The man has no taste.
All that’s missing is a “couch sized” velvet painting of Elvis … or more likely, a slimmed-out (slimed-out?) Trump.
I was thinking the dogs playing poker, with Felon47's head on one of the dogs
Oh my! I remember those. Both classy and tasteful.
🤣
This. I hate Albert Speer and Riefestahl, but there's competence and professionalism to their work, despite it being towards evil goals. Trump's vision is less than QVC - and as a professional and employed art historian (I was at the Smithsonian until I retired), I know of what I write.
There are rumors Trump long had Mein Kampf on his bed stand. I sort of doubt it, but its possible. We know for certain he loves murderous dictators.
But we also know that if Stephen Miller was any more Nazi, not neo Nazi, not fascist, but flat out Twilight Zone's Hitler lover Peter Vollmer (Dennis Hopper's performance put him on the map) he'd have to be transported to 1938.
Natalie Harp might be the only person with more access to Trump than Miller.
The actual Nazis are hiding behind Godwin's Law. We need to put Godwin to rest before we get final phase Nazism: the part where they self immolate and try to take their country with them. The self immolation, or outright suicide, is no exaggeration. While Needham likely knows this, readers need to know it too. Historically, with one exception (Spain, which quietly moved from fascism, to generic totalitarianism, to authoritarianism, to, shockingly, and hundreds of thousands of bodies and many decades later, democracy) fascism has always ended in self immolation and destruction.
As Stephen Miller sees the end coming he'll work with like minded fascists to burn as much as he can.
Don’t forget Harlan Crow, collector of Hitler memorabilia.
...and shadow Supreme Court justice. Twilight Zones "He Lives" episode pretty much nails it.
I think it was his ex-wife Ivana, possibly murdered, definitely buried on a golf course, who said that Mein Kampf was the only book she ever saw on his bedside table.
It's my hope that when sanity (read Democrat) takes over the White House, that all of the vanity projects built by Trump will be completely destroyed and restored to their original beauty. Please 🙏.
Thank you for a well-timed piece as people prepare for hands around the Kennedy Center this evening.
No one close to him wants to tell him the truth. He can never be on Mt. Rushmore. There is no usable carvable surface. If they try, it will likely destroy the existing faces. Those 4 were chosen for the principles they represent—not them personally. Trump does not represent any ideals of America. He represents himself—a Creep State psychopath. Not suitable for a memorial.
Excellent piece. Two comments: (1) I saw an exhibition in London a few decades ago, on “Art of Totalitarianism” and yeah, pretty much. Hyper realism bordering on fantasy - blond, blue-eyed strapping young men gazing into the future they did not yet understand would contain defeat (like those images Trump’s Department of Labor was using to attract men into … something). Oh, and buxom Soviet peasant women with children dangling from everywhere while they do housework. Ugh.
(2) About the degenerate art? Even as they publicly condemned it, corrupt Nazi profiteers like Hermann Göring were squirrelling confiscated masterpieces away not just to sell, but to keep. Because they actually knew its worth, despite the propaganda.
He may not have his own Leni Riefenstahl, but he has a number of anonymous Albert Speers, looking to create Germania II.
Incidentally, I read somewhere -- the Economist? -- that he DOES have a book about Nazi architecture. Meanwhile, AfD hates the Bauhaus, so they have that in common.
I've also read that the book on his nightstand was Nazi speeches, not Mein Kampf.
Him saying Corinthian-style columns are “the most luxurious in classical architecture” is like Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap claiming D minor is “the saddest of all the keys”
Actually, Trump's gilded taste and penchant for building palaces go back well before Hitler to King Ludwig II of Bavaria - another German (is it a DNA thing?). Every room in Ludwig's Linderhof Palace is over-decorated from floor to ceiling with paintings, murals, gilded carvings, and furniture that looks like this room (https://www.schlosslinderhof.de/englisch/Palace/audienzzimmer.htm) - no exceptions. Ludwig's castle building and decorating was draining the national treasury. Neuschwanstein Castle is his masterpiece. He was eventually declared insane by his oligarchs, dethroned, and murdered the next day to ensure there would be no insurrection. Sometimes history does seem to repeat.
I've been to four of King Ludwig's fantasy palaces. They fit with Trump in that they allowed the King to play out his delusional, egotistical dramas. Your cite to the Linderhof is important, as 1) only a few bedrooms (so Ludwig could play as if in a dollhouse with no visitors), 2) the Grotto, where he re-enacted his favorite Wagner and medieval fantasies. Dude was insane, as is Trump. But Ludwig did have better architects, which is why many of these sites are preserved. Trump has none of this.
I had not been back to Linderhof in about 50 years. I took my spouse there to see what the inside of Trump's brain looks like. The Grotto is an amazing billionaire sort of toy, given that TV was not invented yet. I wonder how many people it takes to dust the place off regularly.
But he does have Cats, Ave Maria and the Village People. Remember the 2024 rally where he just 40 minutes of his playlist, with Kristi Noem dancing along as if it was totally normal? Good times!
The whole slathered in gold Oval Office keeps giving me Saddam Hussein vibes.
Trump’s artistic taste always reminds me of that Simpson episode where Homer’s brother-in-law enlists him to design everyman’s car. It’s chock full of ridiculous super tacky features and would’ve been more expensive than what any one who ogled such a thing could possibly afford.
+! for The Simpsons, and the mention of that specific episode!
🤣
All that AI slop has a truly slimming effect on Our Donny …
You probably have neighbors, especially in neighborhoods containing older people who put out a multitude of lawn ornaments. No HOA to reign in the ducks, gooses, gnomes, little statues not unlike Hummel figurines (children, animals, and people posing), fake flowers, large welcoming signs with the resident’s names on the front of the house or on the front door. If they live close to you can observe the Amazon trucks coming to deliver the continuous rotation of such items. It is not a static display. I am not talking about seasonal or holiday displays (although if such things remain up too long they can be just as annoying}.
I was trying to understand this behavior, because it must be some sort of “hoarding”. I searched: neighbor excessive number of ornamental items - what is this called? I was surprised it provided a Latin term for the compulsion, specifically, “An aesthetic of excessive ornamentation is called maximalism, while the compulsive impulse to fill every empty space is known as horror vacui (Latin for "fear of empty space").
Maximalism: A style of decorating that embraces "more is more," using intense layers of color, patterns, and objects. Horror Vacui: The psychological or design urge to leave no blank, open surface untouched by an object or pattern. Lawn Kitsch: A term for quirky, gaudy, or mass-produced yard items like plastic flamingos, gnomes, or whimsical statues. Outdoor Clutter: A general term used when decorations begin to look disorganized, messy, or overwhelming to neighbors. Excessive Acquisition: If your neighbor feels a compulsive, unstoppable need to constantly buy and add new items, it can sometimes point toward hoarding behaviors.
Trump’s behavior is compulsive, demonstrated and reported over and over. Look at his Oval Office with Trump applied gold knick-knacks glued to surfaces. (Or images of his older Trump Tower office). Horror Vacui? Indeed. He has no control. And no one will reign him in. Where is the HOA? At least people in DC were protesting around The Kennedy Center this week Please keep it up!
I hesitated to make comparisons to the Third Reich, but Timothy W. Ryback wrote this for The Atlantic. Gift link should work.
Hitler’s Edifice Complex
He was obsessed with adding an expensive new wing to the Reich chancellery, part of his grandiose architectural ambitions for the nation’s capital.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/hitlers-edifice-complex/686662/?gift=UHeHt3VJRyQvdAJNFNkjX7sZdqryKU5pf1CLx8JT890&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Drumpf loves the Greek/Roman style since there was so much homosexuality amongst them and the admin is loaded with closeted people. Other than Bessent who is clearly a self-hating gay ban. Look at how Grindr peaks at all these rethug gatherings not to mention so many religious conventions….all so repressed. And then with children…….