The Culting of It All
The Trump Cult is not the first, nor will it be the last cult of personality in the United States. Let's hope it's the last one that attempts to drag all Americans into their delusions of grandeur.
For years, those of us who have been politically opposed to Donald Trump have lamented the fact that so many of Trump’s supporters practically worship the ground he walks on. The Trump political apparatus, practically the entire concept of “Make America Great Again” is based on a cult of personality, virtually a Jonestown cult with red hats instead of red Flavor Aid.
Now, your tax dollars are being used to cult America in Trump’s image.
The National Park Service this week trotted out its new fee-free days schedule for 2026. Take a close look at something.
Yes, Trump’s Birthday is given as a reason for free admission to a National Park next year. Ironic considering that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is NOT on the list of approved days.
The United States is not a monarchy. We don’t have an official holiday celebrating our heads of state like they do in monarchies. And yet, the sycophants in the Trump Administration decided to make the President’s birthday a free entry day in celebration of His Imperial Majesty Trump.
Bizarrely, “America-First Pricing” is being touted by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum too.
What is “America-first Pricing? It’s a $100 “surcharge” on “non-residents” at 11 of the most visited national parks”. That’s right, you are going to have to prove your legal status to pay a reasonable price to enter a National Park in Trump’s America.
Getting back to the idea of cults, we just don’t create holidays in honor of living people. Then again, we also don’t name existing Government buildings after sitting Presidents either. And yet.
Naming the Institute of Peace after Trump is crazy. At least he didn’t rename the Kennedy Center after himself. Oh, hold on…
That would be truly nuts. Not nearly as nuts as, say, renaming Dulles Airport for him.
If this feels like a replay of a certain former Turkmen strongman, you’re really not wrong. After all, Turkmenbashi renamed the months after himself. Among other things:
Niyazov became a substitute for the vacuum left by the downfall of the communist system, with his image replacing those of Marx and Lenin. During his rule, Niyazov created a strong cult of personality around himself, which resembled the one around the Kim dynasty in North Korea and the Gaddafi regime in Libya. He renamed the town of Janga and city of Krasnovodsk after his nickname Türkmenbaşy, and renamed schools, airports,[67] Ashgabat streets, and even a meteorite after himself and members of his family. The city of Kerki was renamed for his father, and city of Ýylanly for his mother. The doting actions of the official Turkmen media supported his cult of personality. The national anthem of Turkmenistan referred to him. According to the newspaper Neytralny Turkmenistan physicians were ordered to swear an oath to the President, replacing the Hippocratic Oath.[59]
Statues and portraits of him were put everywhere throughout the country. In Ashgabat, he erected a rotating, $12 million, golden statue of himself that always faces the sun.[68][69] Niyazov gave every citizen a watch with his portrait in its dial.
Niyazov simultaneously cut funding to and partially disassembled the education system in the name of “reform”, while injecting ideological indoctrination into it by requiring all schools to use his own book, the Ruhnama, as their primary text. He also made it mandatory to read the Ruhnama in schools, universities and governmental organizations, new governmental employees were tested on the book at job interviews and an exam on its teachings was a part of the driving test in Turkmenistan. Turkmen State University even had a “Department of the Holy Ruhnama of Türkmenbaşy the Great”, and Ruhnama Studies were pursued as a major research agenda in the country, often at the cost of academic disciplines.[70] Niyazov claimed those who read it thrice were destined for heaven.[71][72][73] Like Kim Il Sung and Muammar Gaddafi, there is even a creation myth surrounding him.[74][75]
During Niyazov’s presidency, there was no freedom of the press nor was there freedom of speech. This further meant that opposition to Niyazov was strictly forbidden and major opposition figures were imprisoned, institutionalized, deported, or fled the country, and their family members were routinely harassed by the authorities.[76] A silhouette of Niyazov was used as a logo on television broadcasts.[77] The eccentric nature of some of his decrees, and the vast number of images of the president led to the perception, especially in western countries, of a despotic leader, rich on oil wealth glorifying himself whilst the population gained no benefit. For these, and other reasons, the US government said that by the time he died, “Niyazov’s personality cult ... had reached the dimensions of a state-imposed religion.”[78]
That would be nuts for that to happen in America. Can you imagine a President hanging banners of himself across the country?
The Trump Cult is not the first, nor will it be the last cult of personality in the United States. But let us hope it is the last one that attempts to drag all Americans into their delusions of grandeur.