History Shows Trump's Worst Impulses May Backfire on Him

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/opinion/trump-history-dictators.html

https://archive.ph/ae25N

History Shows Trump’s Worst Impulses May Backfire on Him
Feb. 1, 2026, 6:00 a.m. ET
By Ruth Ben-Ghiat

“A dictator comes from below and then throws himself in an even deeper hole.” That sentiment was published by the French magazine Voilà in April 1939 in a preview of Charlie Chaplin’s satirical film “The Great Dictator.”

Today, President Trump appears to be testing the depths of the hole into which he can throw himself — and drag America with him. He faces falling approval ratings and growing unpopularity for his domestic and foreign policies, including his fixation on Greenland and repeated threats of using the U.S. military against Americans. Rather than recalibrating, Mr. Trump is barreling ahead (or down), whatever the costs to the nation and the world. Asked by reporters from The New York Times if he recognized any constraints on his actions, the president replied: “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

I have seen this brand of strongman megalomania and the adverse effects it can ultimately have on leaders and their governments. I call it autocratic backfire. Authoritarian-minded leaders present themselves as bold innovators with unerring instincts about how to lead their countries to greatness. Their personality cults proclaim their infallibility while propaganda machines suppress news of their failures and exaggerate their influence and competency.

As autocrats surround themselves with loyalists who praise them and party functionaries who repeat their lies, leaders can start to believe their own hype. As they cut themselves off from expert advice and objective feedback, they start to promulgate unscrutinized policies that fail. Rather than course correct, such leaders often double down and engage in even riskier behavior — starting wars or escalating involvement in military conflicts that eventually reveal the human and financial tolls of their corruption and incompetence. The result: a disillusioned population that loses faith in the leader and elites who begin to rethink their support.

“I follow my instincts, and I am never wrong,” said the Italian Fascist dictator Mussolini, shortly before he invaded Ethiopia in 1935. That war and Italy’s ensuing occupation initially made him popular at home, further inflating his ego, but eventually contributed to the bankruptcy of the Italian state.

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