Hannah Arendt: Trump Had Trouble Becoming America's Hitler Before J.D. Vance

Dear Jon,

In 2016, young J.D. Vance wondered privately whether Trump was “America’s Hitler.” You shared the same concern in a message to me (before I was able to respond) published in 2015. Now the rise of Vance clarifies the Trump campaign’s path to achieving that goal.?

The Role of Ideology in Totalitarian Movements

In "The Origins of Totalitarianism," I emphasized the centrality of ideology in the formation and perpetuation of totalitarian regimes. Leaders like Hitler and Stalin did not merely rely on charisma; they were sustained by comprehensive and pseudo-scientific ideologies that justified their actions and unified their followers. Hitler, for example, depended heavily on Alfred Rosenberg to develop and propagate the ideological foundations of Nazism. This ideological coherence was essential in mobilizing and maintaining the Nazi movement.

In 2015, you asked me whether, in the (then-) age of reality TV, Trump could get by as a totalitarian without ideology. With apologies to your readers for my delayed response, I think we now have our answer.

Trump: Charisma Without Coherence

Your 2015 message highlighted both Trump's ability to galvanize a significant portion of the American populace and his fragmented and opportunistic rhetoric, exploiting societal divisions and immediate grievances rather than offering a unifying ideological vision. This absence of a structured ideology may have so far limited his potential to establish a truly totalitarian regime except through insurrection, by limiting his base to roughly one-third of the electorate; some Americans watch reality TV, while others read messages like this one. In other words, in order for a majority of Americans to give up their privacy and freedom of speech in what is still in some part an Idea Nation, some may demand myths that are “good to think with” rather than just the red meat of conspiracy theories.

The Rise of J.D. Vance: Ideological Architect, and Then….

J.D. Vance's emergence in the political landscape introduces a critical dimension to this analysis. Vance's intellectual depth and personal narrative -- together with his evolving ideological core you presented yesterday for President Washington’s critique -- position him not merely as Trump’s heir as many have said, but also as Trump's Rosenberg.

Yet unlike with Rosenberg, we will see Vance’s flowering in the full light of day. Vance's role as “elegist” of the socio-economic and cultural struggles of the forgotten non-billionaires in Trump’s base and the intellectual synthesis he may be close to forging may even -- once he has been fully productized by his billionaire handlers, and given Trump's evident senility -- make Vance himself the American Hitler he once feared.?

Comparative Analysis: J.D. Vance and Hitler's Blood and Soil (Bloot und Boden)

Vance's ideology, in focusing not on civic values but on a "homeland" which a "nation" of people who have lived there for seven generations "know in their bones" (not the nation constituted by law) and for which they would "fight and die" echoes the pernicious doctrine of "blood and soil" (Blut und Boden) that was central to Hitler's vision of the German nation. This concept, rooted in the belief that ethnic purity and a mystical connection to the land define national identity, underpinned the genocidal policies of the Nazi regime. Both ideologies emphasize a return to a perceived primordial essence of the nation, one defined by ethnicity, heritage, and a connection to the land, rather than by civic values and the "constitution" of unity by law to which President Washington alludes.

The Immediate Threat

For now, Trump’s charisma and ability to mobilize his base, coupled with Vance’s potential to craft and articulate a unifying ideology, mirror the historical partnership between Hitler and Rosenberg. Trump acts as the catalyst, rallying support and drawing attention, while Vance shapes this support into a coherent agenda. We must take full advantage of the fact that Vance and the more ham-handed and rhetorically less sophisticated ideologists of Project 2025 are fully available to our critical examination, at least prior to November or perhaps January.?

Thank you for this opportunity to assist Americans in safeguarding democratic principles against such increasingly likely developments.

Yours sincerely,

Hannah Arendt