Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.
President Donald Trump compares himself—always favorably—to previous U.S. presidents, particularly George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Trump has faulted Lincoln for not avoiding a Civil War. Our current president is a self-styled peacemaker, claiming to have ended eight wars in eight months—which would be more wars solved than bankruptcies he presided over as a businessman. (That would be four or six bankruptcies, depending on whether you count three of the bankruptcies as one, as Trump does.) The BBC examined the supposed peace agreements—which may or may not have staying power—and how much credit the president deserves for each one.
Some observers of Trump’s governing style see more alarming historical analogies. They may liken the United States in the 2020s to the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
If you’re not satisfied with these comparisons and contrasts, consider another: Trump and Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (37-68 AD). He’s better known in the Western World as Nero, the Roman emperor (54-68) who supposedly fiddled while Rome burned in the year 64.
Nero came to mind as news spread last month of the destruction of the White House East Wing. The demolition turned a working monument to American history and progress into rubble used as golf course fill! This article from Town and Country Magazine provides a brief history of what was demolished. NPR explained the East Wing’s role in empowering women.
It may seem like a stretch to compare Trump’s demolition of the East Wing of the White House to the fire that destroyed much of Rome, but the biography of Nero in the Encyclopedia Britannica makes the stretching a good exercise. (It’s worth a visit.)
TRUMP’S GOLDEN BALLROOM, NERO’S GOLDEN HOUSE
For example, Trump demolished the East Wing to make space for the construction of a grand gold-plated ballroom of some 90,000 square feet at a cost of $300 million. It will dwarf what remains of the White House complex.
Britannica tells readers: “Taking advantage of the fire’s destruction, Nero had the city reconstructed in the Greek style and began building a prodigious palace—the Golden House—which, had it been finished, would have covered a third of Rome.”
The Golden House is another extreme, but still…
Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court exercise little or no checks upon Trump. Nero also was an independent actor after he became emperor at age 17 in the year 54, thanks to the influence of his mother, Agrippa.
Nero had a good start to his rule: “Up to the year 59, Nero’s biographers cite only acts of generosity and clemency on his account.”
But from 56 to 62, the government was directed by his boyhood mentor, the philosopher Seneca, and Sextus Burrus of the Praetorian Guard.
Britannica says “they largely left Nero uncontrolled to pursue his own tastes and pleasures.” Nero saw “that he could do what he liked without fear of censure or retribution.” Meanwhile, “To the Romans [his] antics seemed to be scandalous breaches of civic dignity and decorum.” The emperor reportedly “became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances.”
Nero’s mother was put to death at his orders in 59. His wife Octavia met the same fate in 62.
While Trump has not had relatives killed, as president in 2020 he “repeatedly promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine […] as both a preventative against and treatment for Covid-19. He did this despite the drug not having proven effectiveness or safety. According to a study published in the February 2024 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, the pharmaceutical has now been linked to approximately 17,000 deaths.”
Trump continues to offer medical advice not backed by scientific research, recently warning pregnant women and young children not to take Tylenol.
GET READY FOR THE ARC DE TRUMP
And as for Nero’s “scandalous breaches of civic dignity and decorum,” how about the AI-generated video Trump posted on social media, showing him as a fighter pilot dropping what appeared to be shit-bombing on “No Kings” protesters?
Whether Nero did in fact fiddle while Rome burned is disputed. It’s unlikely, because the fiddle wasn’t around then. If he played any instrument, it might have been a lute.
Besides, the notion of Nero fiddling didn’t gain traction until Shakespeare wrote a few lines in the play Henry VI around 1590:
Plantagenet, I will; and like thee, Nero,
Play on the lute beholding the towns burn.
It’s not debatable that Trump is changing the landscape of democracy, figuratively and literally.
Trump’s next building project may be a triumphal arch—what the BBC labeled the “Arc de Trump.” It would stand across from the Lincoln Memorial and would commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding in 1776.
Trump unveiled some models of it at a dinner for the donors paying for the grand ballroom. Models were similar to the Arc de Triomphe, inaugurated in Paris in 1836.
The Irish Times reported that the president “showed off renderings and presented three models in different sizes.” The paper quoted Trump as saying, “Small, medium and large – whichever one, they look good […] I happen to think the larger one looks by far the best.”
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris stands 162 feet tall. A monumental arch built in Mexico City in 1938 is 220 feet. An arch erected in 1982 in Pyongyang, North Korea is 197 feet. The Grande Arche De La Defense, built near Paris in 1989, tops them all at 361 feet.
The Washington Monument stands 555 feet tall, but it is not an arch. It better not block viewing of the arc de Trump.
Given Trump’s recklessness and arrogance in redesigning the White House, it’s not folly to fear for the future of monuments to Washington, Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and other people and events that have been so significant to our national life.
Consider that in July, Trump (falsely) assured the public that the new ballroom would not interfere with the current White House structure: “It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”
Perhaps for centuries to come, we will have the ballroom as a $300 million scar on the White House complex—a reminder of the damage Trump and his MAGA movement did to our nation, with support from the Iowa Congressional delegation, billionaires, and voters.
Top image: A screenshot from a live video Aaron Rupar posted on October 23, 2025, showing the East Wing of the White House being demolished.