9 Comments
User's avatar
Peter Stork's avatar

Trump would be a half forgotten foot note if the republican leadership had honored their oath to the constitution and acted in the nation's interest by impeaching him after Jan 6.

Expand full comment
Henry Allsebrook's avatar

After watching this film I thought of Macbeth, but Faust is even

better- perceptive analysis

Expand full comment
Thea Zimmer's avatar

This is powerful! I hope it gets around.

Expand full comment
Brandon North's avatar

Brilliant essay. I think you're right to figure Trump as an other worldly figure, since that seems to be how he views himself and acts accordingly. I tried to get at this myself by describing him as a black hole in something I published here:

https://open.substack.com/pub/brandonenorth/p/to-donald-trump?r=7wc7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Expand full comment
Suburban VA Dad's avatar

Well done!

Expand full comment
Peter James's avatar

What’s interesting about this movie is that Trump supporters have really taken to it, or at least parts of it. There are edits and fancam videos of that final scene in his office floating around out there. It’s taking on another life as a meme, sort of like American Psycho.

Expand full comment
Chip Parkhurst's avatar

I liked reading this article! Thank you for it. Mephisto as a lawyer is very American.

Expand full comment
David A. Westbrook's avatar

Bravo!

Expand full comment
Jim Slaven's avatar

Great article. To add to the poem’s echoes, one of the lessons of Goethe’s Faust Part Two is that every development is simultaneously a destruction. With Trump- the developer turned politician-that has certainly been true for many. If not yet for Trump and his family.

Expand full comment