His blazing blonde hair notwithstanding, President Donald Trump is not actually a royal successor to the “Sun King” Louis XIV of France. But he increasingly acts like it.No, Trump does not pursue religious persecution as did Louis against Protestants. And in stark contrast to Louis, who regarded it as the centerpiece of his royal court, Trump has little use for his bed. Trump does, however, share Louis’s affinity for fanatically rendering himself one and the same as the state. Just as Louis built the Palace of Versailles as a monument to his greatness, so also is Trump fixated on the completion of his White House ballroom. Louis also made his personal image central to France’s currency and identity. Now, unsatisfied with planting his face upon U.S. passports, National Park passes, vast posters around the nation’s capital, and his immigration “Gold Card,” Trump plans to introduce a $250 bill adorned with his visage. Trump and the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation on Earth are one and the same, you see?Or not.
It’s pathetic how many Republicans are willing to support this absurd triumph of self-aggrandizement. The very name, “Republican,” should underline why this is so antithetical to America and the Constitution. It speaks to a belief in the freedom of a people against the supremacy of a monarch or dictator. George Washington famously refused to have his face on a coin prior to his death. And since the mid-19th century, federal law has restricted the depiction of living persons on U.S. currency. There is a Roman historical antecedent that underlines this approach. And it cuts to the heart of America’s national identity.
