James II/ Duke of Windsor/ Nixon/ Trump

It's easy to see troubling historic parallels in Trump's behavior as president. Is Trump turning America into a client state like Vichy France? Like Jacobean England? Like the client state Hitler hoped to install––with the Duke of Windsor restored as a puppet king? He also appears to be in the pocket of wealthy Americans, the way Nixon was. That has been a concern in America for decades, but domestic puppetry is less worrying than having foreign puppet masters.

Here are some parallels from history.

James II [like Trump] was compliant and deferential to a foreign power, the French “Sun King”, Louis XIV, who [like Putin] gave him massive financial support. James II was on a foreign allowance. It appears Trump has been on a foreign allowance for decades now.

The Duke of Windsor [like Trump] was flattered, manipulated and seduced by the Nazis [think Putin] who feted him and flattered him and squired him around during his Nazi-paid tour of Germany in 1937. (There's considerable evidence Windsor shared secrets of the allies' defense plans with his Teutonic pals and made it easier for the Germans to blitz France in 1940.)

I also see resemblances between Trump and the way Nixon was bribed by the committee of California bankers, oilmen and real estate magnates who paid into his slush fund in the early 50s––after Nixon made it clear he couldn’t get by on the measly salary paid to members of Congress. The Checkers speech fooled a lot of Americans. Anthony Summers’ Nixon book picks those deceptions apart pretty effectively. Nixon’s financial allowance from his rich backers came in the form of a slush fund, which he hid and denied. Bribery? Slush Fund? Or proper Tribute to a Great Man? Which way do you think Nixon interpreted it? Trump does the same.

If you were to look at these two analogies in a single context, what Trump is involved in seems to fit the definitions of both treason and bribery. Because of his narcissism it’s possible Trump doesn’t understand what treason is. But he appears to have been bribed and lived on bribery from Russia since his empire collapsed in the 90s. He’s lived like a wastrel heir dependent on an allowance managed by his guardians, who are Russian not American. America let him go bankrupt. America refused to bankroll his life ever since, but Daddy Russia does support him, giving him the respect he deserves. The respect a dog owner gives to the pug sitting on his lap.

Nixon’s rationalization for accepting money from wealthy backers resembles Benedict Arnold’s rationalization for his treason: he deserved better pay. And Arnold subsequently felt a greater loyalty toward those who paid him what he was worth. Gen. Arnold also felt slighted by his countrymen’s failure to recognize his genius, which fits the ease with which Putin can manipulate Trump via flattery and praise. (Nixon was less easily manipulated in this manner.)

The Duke of Windsor’s tour of Nazi Germany was one long parade of military pomp and fancy parties, very much like the Asian tour which has transformed Trump from someone who accuses China of rape and theft into someone who happily praises the Chinese and shifts all blame onto his fellow Americans.

Trump has a reputation for loving military pomp. He envies the Russian parades of nuclear missiles and probably even envies the North Koreans’ mass rallies and parades. When these displays are put on for him he is putty in their hands because he is told it is all for him. They bring out all the toys for him which his own people won’t let him play with.