The British comedy duo of yesteryear That Mitchell and Webb Look asked “Are we the baddies?” The question I am asking is close to that. Philosophically in line, anyways. After Donald Trump’s leaked messages from Macron just ahead of the WEF in Davos, I took a scroll through the comment section below as one does, under the video by Breaking Points and was hit with a deluge of comments that left me wondering during the rise of the National Socialists in Germany pre-WWII, are people looking at us the same as the global community looked at the Germans? Getting a strange feeling that maybe we have been here before.
Now, please understand I am not calling Donald Trump a Nazi. I am not sure there is an ideology to explain him. I’m also not saying that the Nazi’s were good, they were definitively bad. But all of German society were judged for what the minority at the top did, and we are right around the corner from that.
I consider WWII the founding of the American empire and an evil unlike anything unleashed on the world since the fuhrer himself. I totally denounce the so-called lessons learned from WWII as legitimate. The idea that anything less than all-out war is the only way to deal with people like this and the actual evil is appeasement is patently absurd. And the post-war liberal consensus should be sent to the dustbin of society.
But, now more than ever these are exactly the beliefs of all of those who base their entire worldview on WW2 for fear another Holocaust could be right around the corner. Due to this fear we could easily see Americans treated like the new Germans and Donald Trump as the Fuhrer.
You see, we never know how things look to other countries, but when Donald Trump does things that has his most sycophantic supporters raising an eyebrow we must remember that the world is watching.
Consider this, Germany after World War One went through an “affordability crisis,” as we are here today, which was hyperinflation from the sanctions/blockade regime placed on Germany by the Versailles treaty. Hitler used this. Offering himself as the one man who could fix it all with “global Jewry” placed as the enemy causing these omens on the German people.
Sound familiar?
Now, this comparison is obviously lazy at best, and hysterical at worst, but we mustn’t forget how history tends to rhyme. America, as a nation, are on a suicide mission. More militarism, more spending, more aggression, and if we don’t see that we do so at our own peril.
In the following I will outline some more ways there seems to be a throughline between the rise and fall of the National Socialists Germany and the current appearance of Donald Trump as the President of the United States.
Please understand that I am personally guilty of all these delusions.
The “Management” Delusion
The most striking parallel isn’t necessarily between the men themselves, but how the established political class convinced themselves they could control the “disruptor.”
In the 1930s, figures like Neville Chamberlain and conservative elites in Germany (like Franz von Papen) viewed Hitler not as an existential threat, but as a vulgar but useful tool. They believed he was a “transactional” figure who could be “tamed” by the institutions or appeased with specific concessions (The Munich Agreement). They mistook ideological fanaticism for rational bargaining.
You can draw a direct line to how global leaders and the GOP establishment initially viewed the “Current Regime.” The belief was that the “adults in the room” (Generals, career bureaucrats) or the weight of the office itself would constrain the impulses. This is the hubris of the establishment believing they can ride the tiger without being eaten. Clearly displayed in the murder of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
I believed the checks and balances of the other branches would hold the executive to account, of course I should’ve seen that the government as a whole is an administration of corruption and force and would do nothing to hold them back.
The “Bulwark” Justification
Then: Many Western leaders (and even US industrialists) hesitated to stop Hitler early on because they saw him as a necessary bulwark against Communism. They tolerated the brutality because they feared the Soviet Union more.
Now: You see a similar dynamic where global leaders (like Orbán in Hungary or the Silicon Valley factions within the US) align with the current regime not because they love the chaos, but because they view it as the only effective bulwark against “Globalism” or “Wokeism.”
There is also the faction of Western leaders like Macron in France who is at the beckon call when it comes to war with Iran, “totally in line” with putting al-Qaeda in leadership in Syria. But couldn’t imagine he might go for Greenland next. The enemy of my enemy is my “Strongman” right?
They argue that the Left is not a political opponent, but a “Regime” that seeks to end the American way of life. Therefore, conservatives must support a “strongman” (Trump) not because they like his character, but because the alternative is “national death.”
In recent statements (like President of the Claremont Institute Ryan Williams’ post-victory declaration), they frame the current term as a “Counter-Revolution” necessary to dismantle the “Administrative State.” This mirrors the 1930s logic: We must use extreme measures because the enemy (Communism then / “Wokeism” now) will destroy us if we don’t.
But, as we see with the picks for his administration that are directly from the “deep state” the “Counter-Revolution” seems to be against us, not for us.
The United States is drifting into the status of a “Rogue Superpower” in the eyes of the world, creating the conditions for a coalition to form against it—just as the Allies eventually coalesced against Germany.
How They See Us
In the 1930s, Germany was seen as a state that could not be bound by treaties—it tore up the Versailles Treaty, rearmed, and ignored the League of Nations.
Today, much of the “Global South” (BRICS nations) now view the U.S. similarly: as a power that weaponizes the financial system (sanctions) and ignores international law when it suits them with wars of intervention.
When the world decides a superpower is no longer a “stabilizer” but a “predator,” they stop seeking integration and start seeking containment.
The Economic “Stalingrad” (De-Dollarization)
Germany’s fall wasn’t just military; it was the total collapse of an autarkic economy that tried to survive alone.
The U.S. relies on the dollar being the global reserve currency. If the world (China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia) decides the U.S. is too unstable or dangerous—just as nations eventually cut off trade with the Axis—they will accelerate de-dollarization.
If the dollar loses reserve status, the U.S. can no longer print money to fund its debt. The result isn’t just a recession; it’s a standard-of-living collapse that would rival the post-war ruin of Europe. The “Fall” here is economic hyperinflation and infrastructure decay.
The most terrifying parallel is the disconnect. In 1940 Berlin, citizens were enjoying the spoils of conquest, largely unaware of the hatred building against them across Europe.
The “Normalcy Bias” we are facing domestically is fatal. We believe we are the “Good Guys” because that is the domestic narrative, while the rest of the world sees a destabilizing force. When the bill comes due, the American populace will be completely unprepared for the hostility and the hardship, because we never did the hard part and looked in the mirror.
Look at the official joint statements from recent BRICS summits. They explicitly talk about “multipolarity”—which is diplomatic code for “ending U.S. hegemony.”
Which is good. We do live in a multipolar world. Long gone, are the days when we acted as the world police, but if we continue to weaponize our financial system against the other poles of the world we are going to face a collapse ourselves, or worse.
What I am arguing is that the United States is currently experiencing a “Soft Encirclement.” The world isn’t invading with armies; they are invading with ledger entries and trade agreements that exclude the U.S.
Just as we did with NATO encircling Russia.
📉 The Local Consequence
This might seem like something that could not reach outside of DC, but that is just not true. Anything that affects them, affects us in the middle class a hundred times worse with no one able to hear our calls for help. The “Fall” won’t look like explosions; it will look like insolvency. In 1945, Germany’s currency was worthless. In a U.S. “De-Dollarization” scenario, the dollar doesn’t disappear, but it loses the “Exorbitant Privilege” of being the global default. Then prices collapse.
The Global Shift: Central banks are quietly dumping dollars for gold. In 2024–2025, central bank gold buying hit historic highs (over 1,000 tonnes/year). They are building a “lifeboat” while the U.S. is still on the ship.
The Domestic Reality:
“Wal-Mart” Inflation: If the dollar loses reserve status, it depreciates massively. Everything imported (electronics, clothes, car parts) doubles or triples in price. The “cheap goods” era that masked American poverty ends overnight.
Cities like Louisville and states like Kentucky where I live, hold massive “unfunded liabilities” for public pensions. They rely on issuing bonds (debt) to pay this.
If global investors stop buying U.S. debt (Treasuries) because they don’t trust the dollar, interest rates skyrocket. Local governments can no longer afford to borrow. Result: Municipal services are slashed, and pension checks stop clearing. It’s not a war zone; it’s the sudden, brutal evaporation of the middle class’s safety net.
The Psychological Encirclement
To prove the “Rogue State” narrative, we don’t look at what we say; we look at what they say. The language has shifted from “Competition” to “Containment” just as we had against communism back in the Cold War days.
The editors of The New Indian Express noted this January, Washington has ceased to be a partner and has become a 'volatility risk,' forcing the world's largest democracy to seek 'strategic autonomy' from us.
🇨🇳 Beijing (Global Times): The “Chaos Agent” Narrative
The Rhetoric: Recent editorials have shifted from calling the U.S. a “rival” to labeling it a “source of global instability.”
They are framing U.S. foreign policy (sanctions, tariffs) not as “strength,” but as “weaponization.” They argue that the U.S. is “abusing” its financial position, which justifies their push for a “multipolar” (i.e., non-U.S.) world.
Interestingly, they have even framed U.S. influence on Europe as leading to “civilizational erasure”—positioning themselves as the defenders of sovereignty against American cultural/political imperialism.
🇮🇳 New Delhi (The Hindu / Indian Policy Circles): The “Unreliable” Partner
India is the ultimate “swing state.” Their commentary has moved toward “Strategic Autonomy.”
Editorials highlight “diplomatic setbacks” and U.S. “unilateralism.” The sentiment is that the U.S. changes its mind every 4 years (or every tweet), making it impossible to trust with 20-year security deals. They aren’t anti-American, but they are hedging—buying Russian oil and trading in rupees—because they see the U.S. as volatile.
🇧🇷 The “BRICS” Fortress (The Global South):
The Mechanism: The “Insulation” Strategy. The BRICS summits are no longer just photo-ops; they are building a parallel financial plumbing (alternative swift systems, local currency settlements).
The Parallel: Just as nations insulated themselves from a collapsing Germany in the 30s, the Global South is building a firewall against the “weaponized dollar.”
We, the American people are living in a “Truman Show” of stability.
The Illusion: We think we are sanctioning them.
The Reality: They are slowly sanctioning us—by exiting our financial system.
When the exit is complete, the U.S. is left with $35+ trillion in debt and no one to buy it. That is the “Economic 1945.”
Thank you for reading. We could be approaching a tougher season than anything recently experienced. Buckle up and cling tight to your loved ones.
This is Jordan Lee Canter editor-in-chief of the The Lee Canter Report