Is Donald Trump a tyrant or a political prisoner? Donald Trump and sycophants claim he’s a political prisoner. This post explores that claim.

Tyrant: a cruel and oppressive ruler; autocrat, bully, despot, liar, dictator, oppressor. Example: Benito Mussolini, Italy,

Political Prisoner: someone detained for their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed without a trial or prosecuted as a form of punishment. Example: Martin Luther King, Jr., United States

In my 2022 book, The Trump Files, I raised the question in blog post (3.3) “Is Donald Trump a tyrant?” The language that Trump uses is taken from the playbook of tyrants who came before him. Jonathan Karl wrote that Trump had a history with Adolph Hitler’s Nazi writings. Karl reports that Trump became the first presidential candidate to say that he had never read Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf.” He made this claim because he had recently said that his political opponents were “vermin” and that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.” Karl also says there are reports that Trump admired Hitler.

Political Prisoner?

Now, Trump is claiming he is a political prisoner, yet he doesn’t meet the accepted definition of a political prisoner. Trump has not been a prisoner. He was not held without a trial or due process. Each of his three convictions in recent months was the result of lengthy trials. He was not detained nor held against his will. In the sexual assault case (liable for $88.8 million and the hush money case, (guilty on 34 felonies) he was tried by a jury of his peers. The civil financial fraud case was a bench trial in the court of Arthur F. Engoron. Engoron ruled that Trump and associates were liable for nearly $500 million.

Autocratic Images

We are witnessing a repeat of what happened in Europe in the 1920s and 30s, which saw the emergence of three nationalist tyrants in Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union. Today, authoritarian leaders exist in several European nations, including Hungary, Turkey, and Russia. Looking to the East, we find autocrats in China and North Korea. For Americans unaware of the rise of autocratic rule, who did Trump cozy up to when he was president? Who helped beat Hilary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump has pushed tyranny and violence to the center of his campaigns since his 2016 run for president.

Political Prisoner or Tyrant?

The following lists of names are grouped into lists of political prisoners or tyrants. The lists are not mine. The list of political prisoners is based on political scholarship reported in a Time article. The list of tyrants is taken from Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s research described in her book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present.

Would you associate Donald J. Trump with Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi, or Andrei Sakharov? Or would you add Trump to the list of Strongmen, identified by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, which includes Edi Amin, Benito Mussolini, or Vladimir Putin?