Violence as a political tool Philosopher calls Trump a "prince without a plan" - and warns of someone even worse
Peter Sloterdijk interprets autocrats like Donald Trump and Xi Jinping against the backdrop of Machiavelli's classic study "The Prince".
Image: dpa
Donald Trump likes to place himself in a row with great historical figures.
Image: dpa
With expensive representational projects such as the White House ballroom and a huge triumphal arch, Trump is taking up the behavior of former kings.
Image: dpa
Russian President Vladimir Putin is considered by Peter Sloterdijk to be much more dangerous than Donald Trump.
Image: dpa
Narendra Modi is regarded by some of his supporters as a god descended to earth.
Image: dpa
The Bavarian fairytale king Ludwig II, who was declared insane at the end of his life, is considered a representative of the "mad king" category. Even if his mental state is disputed, his behavior was at least highly irrational.
Image: dpa
Peter Sloterdijk interprets autocrats like Donald Trump and Xi Jinping against the backdrop of Machiavelli's classic study "The Prince".
Image: dpa
Donald Trump likes to place himself in a row with great historical figures.
Image: dpa
With expensive representational projects such as the White House ballroom and a huge triumphal arch, Trump is taking up the behavior of former kings.
Image: dpa
Russian President Vladimir Putin is considered by Peter Sloterdijk to be much more dangerous than Donald Trump.
Image: dpa
Narendra Modi is regarded by some of his supporters as a god descended to earth.
Image: dpa
The Bavarian fairytale king Ludwig II, who was declared insane at the end of his life, is considered a representative of the "mad king" category. Even if his mental state is disputed, his behavior was at least highly irrational.
Image: dpa
Philosopher Peter Sloterdijk interprets Donald Trump as a modern "prince" in the sense of Machiavelli. At the same time, he warns of another head of state who he considers to be much more dangerous.
11.05.2026, 18:48
dpa
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- Philosopher Peter Sloterdijk interprets Donald Trump as a modern "prince" in the sense of Machiavelli and as part of a trend towards authoritarian leaders.
- He describes Trump as an impulsive, contradictory power politician with a penchant for self-dramatization, for example through historical comparisons or construction projects.
- Sloterdijk considers Russia's President Putin to be much more dangerous, who is deliberately striving for an empire and is under time pressure.
Trump is playing Jesus and building triumphal arches - there are role models for this, says Peter Sloterdijk. The German philosopher reinterprets the US president - and warns of someone even worse.
Countless Trump explainers have already worked their way through the man in the White House. Now Germany's best-known philosopher is developing a new approach: in his recently published book "The Prince and His Heirs", Peter Sloterdijk draws on Niccolò Machiavelli's classic study "The Prince". Sloterdijk (78) reads this perhaps first work of modern political philosophy not as a historical testimony to a bygone era, but as an analysis of contemporary politics.
Machiavelli walked this earth from 1469 to 1527, and next year marks the 500th anniversary of his death. Half a millennium therefore lies between him and those alive today. "Nevertheless, we still have the feeling that we are being addressed by him," Sloterdijk tells the German Press Agency. The Italian thinker and diplomat is known today primarily for the attribute "Machiavellian": this is generally understood to mean a policy for which success is more important than morality.
Machiavelli accepted deception and violence as political means - but he also praised civil liberty and a republican system of government. His place of activity, Florence, for example, was not a principality but a city republic with elected offices.
"Machiavelli thus already perceived the modern turbulence that arises from the fact that the place at the top is contested," Sloterdijk analyzes. In his groundbreaking work "The Prince" - in the original "Il Principe" - Machiavelli mused on how a state can remain stable under real conditions.
Machiavelli's princes have reclaimed power
Today, the trend is more towards a new principality. "The princes are back in many places, some are already in power," states Sloterdijk. It is a phenomenon that has been described many times before: Voters are tired of coalitions and compromises, demand efficient governing and project this onto a "strong man" at the top. He should no longer have to ask for permission, neither from parliament nor from the courts. As a result, liberal democracy is under pressure or in retreat in many places.
According to Sloterdijk, a "slow-motion coup d'état" has long been underway in the USA, a slow erosion of the 250-year-old republic from within. "You have to look at this process in fast motion to perceive it at all." Step by step, the federal state is disempowering the individual states. In the meantime, the USA has turned into a "merely democratically camouflaged autocracy", is the devastating assessment of the author, who wrote much-discussed works such as "Critique of Cynical Reason" (1983). "When you realize this development, it is no longer so surprising that a figure like Trump rises to the top."
What does Trump have in common with the Bavarian fairytale king?
Sloterdijk describes the new prince Trump as a "near-illiterate at the head of a world power", but also as a "mad man" and a new edition of the "mad king".
This category usually includes figures such as the allegedly mad Emperor Nero from ancient Rome (1st century) or the blue-blooded and construction-mad Bavarian fairytale King Ludwig II (19th century).
According to a report in "The Atlantic" magazine, Trump has recently been comparing himself to Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon and sees himself as "the most powerful person who ever lived". "And it is certainly not just satirical when he recently presented himself as the miracle healer Jesus," adds Sloterdijk.
There are parallels here with medieval kings, who were believed to have the ability to heal the sick. In England, this belief remained widespread until the 17th century. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is revered by some of his followers as a "divine being" who has descended from heaven.
"He therefore has the gift of multiple locations," reports Sloterdijk, who is known as a great mocker. "That means he can be in several places at the same time. This is an invaluable advantage for a politician in an election campaign, especially in a country as huge as India."
A triumphal arch - larger than the model in Paris
In another respect, Trump is putting himself in the same league as historical rulers: As is well known, the US president wants to build a triumphal arch in Washington that would tower more than 25 meters over the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Mocking name: Arc de Trump. The demolition of the East Wing of the White House and the construction of a ballroom based on the French model also fits into this context.
"In terms of his disposition and inclinations, Trump is not a politician, but rather a clown who plays the dictator," says Sloterdijk. Above all, he remains an adolescent who has discovered at an advanced age that the state is a toy with considerable potential for amusement. "However, one should be careful not to infer the giant stature of the player from the size of the toy." Power should not be confused with historical greatness.
Watch out: someone is even more dangerous than Trump
Trump's great weakness, which Sloterdijk believes the Europeans should definitely take advantage of, is his lack of a well-thought-out plan. Instead, he constantly entangles himself in contradictions, for example when he wants to seal off the United States of America on the one hand and intervene militarily in all possible world arenas on the other.
Sloterdijk therefore considers Trump to be nowhere near as dangerous as Russia's President Vladimir Putin, another new prince. Firstly, unlike Trump, Putin does have a plan - the supposed restoration of a Russian empire - and secondly, he wants to see it realized personally.
"This is very dangerous, as he realizes that he is slowly running out of time," warns Sloterdijk. "Given his limited lifespan, we must prepare ourselves for the fact that Putin will make terrible mistakes before the end." An "apocalyptic scenario" cannot be ruled out here.
What would Machiavelli advise today?
If Machiavelli were to return today, it would probably be as a political advisor, Sloterdijk believes. What would he recommend to the Europeans if they were to sign him up? Perhaps, according to the Berliner-by-choice with his summer residence in the south of France, the sober analyst would point out to them that they need to say goodbye to nationalistic narrow-mindedness as well as pacifist illusions. In the age of self-proclaimed "great men", the European Union's only hope of self-preservation lies in strengthening its ability to act.
