Hi angels! A bit of a special one today - this is a guest post by Grace Isabella: A woman in STEM + a writer, from the land of the long white cloud. Show her some of that SYSCAhood love will ya? Luce xx
Trump in Orwell’s Mirror
Did you pay attention in English class?
George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm serve as seminal warnings against totalitarianism, drawn from his own experiences living under both fascism and communism. Donald Trump’s presidency - marked by misinformation, scapegoating, and attacks on democracy - echoes the very themes Orwell warned us about through metaphor.
Scapegoating and the Demonisation of Innocents
In Animal Farm, the dictator Napoleon blames the exiled Snowball for every misfortune on the farm, using fabricated evidence. This tactic - creating an enemy to rally against - is a hallmark of authoritarian rule.
As we’ll continue to see with Trump’s reign, he and his allies selectively interpret the law to suit their agenda; one moment defending gun rights in the name of the Second Amendment, and in the next breath, seeking to strip birthright citizenship, a fundamental aspect of the constitution.
Something’s awry when you’re echoing Hitler’s Mein Kampf, as Trump did when he referred to immigrants as “poisoning the blood of our country”.
Trump repeatedly makes baseless claims linking immigrants to violence, but facts tell a different story. Research shows immigrants are significantly less likely to commit crime than other U.S. citizens, and violent crime rates fall in areas where the immigrant population increases.
It’s actually not a criminal offence to be undocumented - it’s a civil violation (like not paying child support, or an expired driver’s license). Yet, despite significant protest, we’ve seen undocumented families separated and detained in what are essentially prisons. We know he plans to repurpose Guantánamo Bay into a migrant detention centre; the very place where the US has been accused of covert torture tactics and illegal imprisonment, according to Amnesty International.
Trump’s xenophobia doesn’t stop at undocumented people. All international aid funding, refugee services, asylum processes, sponsorship programmes, and migration appointments have faced suspensions and bans due to day one executive orders.
His administration has aggressively targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, freezing trillions of federal funding under the guise of fighting “woke gender ideology”. Federal agencies were ordered to end DEI programmes - threatening federal workers with “adverse consequences” if they did not report noncompliant colleagues - and ordering all federal agencies to remove pronouns, denying trans existence and freedom. His vitriol exceeded absurdity when he claimed that “diversity” caused the tragic Potomac crash without any evidence or investigation.
Trump’s moves reveal a more menacing impulse: the desire to control public discourse and limit rights for anyone who does not fit a rigid, exclusionary vision of America.
The War on Truth: Manipulated Language and Contradictory Logic
A central theme in 1984 is how language can be weaponised. Our protagonist’s job is distorting news stories. Concepts like “Newspeak” and “Doublethink” illustrate how language can restrict freedom of thought and make citizens hold contradictory perceptions (like the party’s slogan: “War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength”). Any non-conformity triggers execution by the “Thought Police”, who monitor citizens via “Big Brother” telescreens.
The same theme peppers throughout Animal Farm, where the character Squealer represents regime propaganda. He masterfully paints Napoleon as a martyr, using convoluted logic and pseudoscience to rationalise Napoleon’s actions, no matter how unconstitutional.
Trump’s strategy: sow distrust in the news media, brushing away any information critical of his presidency as “dishonest” or “fake news”. Meanwhile, Trump selectively directs his followers towards conservative news networks (most often Fox News) willing to bend facts to fit the desired narrative; in doing so, he places himself dangerously above critique.
For a man who signed an executive order to restore freedom of speech and end censorship, it is telling that he called The New York Times “corrupt”, threatened to strip NBC’s broadcasting license, led crowds to chant “CNN sucks”, dubbed the press the “enemy of the people”, sued five media companies, and threatened to jail journalists, to silence expository reporting. His anti-media rhetoric is reflected in his billionaire friends, whose social media networks increasingly promote the spread of conspiracy theories and dismissal of science.
As noted in The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Persuasion, Trump’s media strategy “is reminiscent of authoritarian regimes, where leaders tell the people not to trust any other information source but them.” Experts warn this may be merely the beginning; conservative appointments in the media regulations industry are effectively en route to becoming “online speech police,” censoring content that contradicts the Republican agenda.
Orwell emphasizes that clear language is a tool against political corruption. Voters were therefore duped when Trump called “tariff” the “most beautiful word in the dictionary” and told crowds they were “going to be a cost to another country” (tariffs are taxes charged to US businesses importing goods, not to foreign entities). Economists almost unanimously disagree with Trump’s tariffs, arguing that they harm US businesses and workers, increase costs for US consumers, drive inflation and recession, and could escalate international trade wars. Canada, China, and Mexico have already announced retaliatory tariffs in response. Plus, with unemployment being fairly low and immigrant workers facing deportation, there simply isn’t much room for US manufacturing to grow.
Abuses of Power: Conflating Personal Interest with National Interest
In Animal Farm, Napoleon’s greed is masked by his claim that his actions serve the greater good. The ruling pigs prioritise stockpiling weapons and hoarding resources while other animals starve, abandoning the founding ethics of Animal Farm. Similarly, in 1984, a high-ranking Party member appeared indifferent to the Party’s ideological doctrines. His concern is in maintaining his privileged position, not social or political change.
Trump has shown that he does not want to be President in a constitutional sense - he wants to be President as one wants to be king.
“This president has a habit of doing things out in the open, which are completely improper or even illegal and somehow ... the average person thinks, ‘Well, if he’s doing it out in the open it must be OK.’”- Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.)
As the first billionaire President, Trump has accumulated 3,400 conflicts of interest and counting. Trump-owned hotels, golf clubs, and resorts have become extensions of the White House, used to host foreign politicians, press conferences, Secret Service, and government meetings - effectively funnelling millions of taxpayer dollars into Trump-owned businesses. In a victory for nepotism, his daughter Ivanka and her husband were given senior advisory roles and made up to $640 million from business deals thanks to White House connections, while claiming they weren’t taking government salaries.
Trump has blatantly abused Presidential powers to protect allies and punish resistance. Reassignments and firings amongst government employees came with a message: absolute loyalty must be pledged to him personally - not to the Constitution - or there will be consequences. On a warpath of revenge, Trump purged the government of critical senior officials, pressuring the FBI to investigate perceived opponents, revoking security details for those he disliked, silencing whistleblowers, and stacking government positions with allies of Musk. He pardoned the ~1600 convicted January 6 rioters who infamously stormed the US Capitol with pepper spray, hockey sticks, and brass knuckles.
Trump’s constant lawbreaking and disregard for constitutional limits tear at the very fabric of democracy.
A “national energy emergency” was declared to roll back key environmental regulations. He withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate agreement and fast-tracked fossil fuel production in Alaska. These decisions stem from twisted logic; with his wealth, powerful connections, and frankly his age, Trump is unlikely to ever face the environmental consequences of his actions. However, oil companies - which played a major role in funding his re-election campaign - stand to benefit enormously.
Exploitation and The False Utopia as a Vehicle For Control
Despite enduring poorer working conditions than ever, the animals of Animal Farm are told they’re better off under Napoleon’s rule. Stories are spread of Sugarcandy Mountain, a fictitious paradise. Boxer the horse represents the working class. Despite years of toil and allegiance, Napoleon sends him to meet his tragic fate at the glue factory, symbolising his lifelong exploitation under the pigs’ control. In 1984, characters dream of the Golden Country and the underground revolution - illusions created by the Party to identify dissenters. These stories are perpetuated by the ruling class as a means of keeping citizens obedient and labouring towards a future that will never come.
Trump’s presidency is a political fantasy for U.S. nationalists. “Make America Great Again” is an aggressive promise of a false utopia.
Trump’s campaign exploits low-to-middle-income Americans, their anger, and their deteriorating quality of life, offering scapegoats for their frustrations. He succeeds because he appeals to people’s fears and psychological needs. Republicans, fearing modernity, overwhelmingly reject gender fluidity, deny the legacy of slavery, and believe gun ownership and tough criminal justice systems are necessary for safety.
Trump offers a convenient delusion: In this imagined America, the patriarchy is intact, there is no climate crisis, and he alone will restore the U.S. economy to a golden age. Embodying the carbon-intensive, hyper-masculine American dream, his own actions grant his supporters the right to lift shame from any racist, sexist, bigoted, and downright inhumane thought - in fact, they’re affirmed in their white supremacy, and labelled devout.
Research shows Democrats and Republicans interpret his character in fundamentally different ways. Trump’s supporters see his flaws as evidence of a larger-than-life, heroic cowboy.
Christian America loves him despite his lack of faith and many moral failings, including a rap sheet of affairs and sexual predation. There seems to be no act of crime or inhumanity he can commit to dissuade the illusion of his martyrdom. Many evangelical Christians believe “God wanted Donald Trump to become president”: Trump is a warrior, staunchly defending their right to religious tradition, even when it means using the bible as a shield while hating queer people and opposing women’s reproductive rights. He reassures his supporters that they are the good ones, righteously fighting the evils of liberalism.
In the leader-follower relationship typical to a personality cult, Trump validates the desire for discipline and control, boasting “I alone can fix it. I will restore law and order.”
This is not reality. Trump is a narcissist, not a godlike warrior.
His policies have cut more programmes that benefit poor and working-class people than any other President in U.S. history. His economic agenda points to higher prices for US consumers, less workers’ rights, and a lower overall standard of living. In truth, his tariffs and tax cuts disproportionately benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the working class.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump repeatedly downplayed the virus in public and spread conspiracy, despite admitting to journalist Bob Woodward that he knew it was “deadly stuff” and aimed to “play it down”. His administration’s failure to implement an effective, scientifically-informed response caused hundreds of thousands of deaths that could have been prevented, while operating a public illusion that everything was under control.
Trump’s ability to offend and somehow still command a following with his warped logic is summed up perfectly in his own words: “I don’t care about you, I just want your vote. See, now, the press will take that and say, ‘he said a horrible thing.’”
Rewriting History
Napoleon revises the founding Commandments of Animalism to suit his wishes, legitimising unconstitutional executions. 1984 expands upon how difficult it is to argue against propaganda based on memory alone when history has been systematically rewritten, destroyed, and distorted.
When President Trump “remembers differently” or uses ambiguous language to alter public interpretation of events, he wields a dangerous ability to shape perspective. As fascist leaders have long understood: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”
Trump ordered federal websites to archive website pages that mention resources, research, and tools relating to climate change. He also ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to remove any public health information on contraception, transgender and non-binary people, and HIV testing. These actions seek to erase vital scientific information from public access.
Even acts like renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America or changing Mount Denali (an Indigenous name) back to Mount McKinley (the anglicised name) push a narrative that erases Indigenous culture in favour of conservative, colonialist perspectives.
The U.S. has long positioned Russia as the Western world’s adversary, from the 45-year Cold War to Hollywood’s perpetual depiction of Russian caricatures as eternal bad guys. Yet Trump openly admires Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, calling his invasion of Ukraine “genius”, and similarly praising the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un for holding a “great and beautiful vision for his country.” Then, of course, we have the Nazi salutes of Trump’s right-hand oligarch, Elon Musk, and the US backing of Israel’s genocide in Palestine, to which any criticism is labelled anti-semitic. Trump’s comments and actions dwell in stark contrast to the US’ long-standing justification for war and military intervention in the name of humanitarianism, in a disturbingly ironic example of “doublethink”.
What to make of all of this
Trump’s actions are eerily reminiscent of totalitarian regimes the United States has long claimed to fight against. His decades of alleged sexual misconduct, 34 convicted felonies, incitement of an insurrection, and repeated racist, misogynistic, and bigoted remarks should, by any rational standard, disqualify him from the presidency. Yet, for many of his (often religious) followers, these failings are reframed as proof of his gallantry and wrongful persecution, in perhaps the clearest real-world example of Orwellian “doublethink” one could conjure.
His presidency has felt like a scattergun hellfire, but that chaos has a purpose. The sheer volume of scandals, executive orders, and legal violations creates a smokescreen, making it difficult to focus on any single transgression. As Ezra Klein noted in an audio essay transcribed for the New York Times, Trump cultivates a semblance of power that is far removed from reality.
He has continuously held the lowest approval ratings of any modern U.S. President, never breaking 50% approval. He may be signing executive orders left and right, but these aren’t being pushed into legislation - that makes him at risk of the embarrassment of failure, which would crumble the image of power he’s created.
“In Trump’s first term, we were told: Don’t normalize him. In his second, the task is different: Don’t believe him.”Ezra Klein
With the rising tide of online misogyny, racism, and bigotry, the question remains: Is Trump merely a bumbling fool, doomed to fail? Or is he an Orwellian dictator in the making? Perhaps he is both - a dangerous fool.
Above all else we must remain vigilant, resist his campaign of hate, and stop him from morphing into the all-powerful dictator, as he so desperately wants to be perceived.
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Really brilliantly written - any lessons learned we can take from these two important books as we get organized and consider acts of resistance? I like to believe there will evidently be a line crossed and he will get impeached (round 3), but removed this time.
Excellent summary, I wish every person in the world could read this and open their eyes to what's happening, before it's too late
Really brilliantly written - any lessons learned we can take from these two important books as we get organized and consider acts of resistance? I like to believe there will evidently be a line crossed and he will get impeached (round 3), but removed this time.