Former President Donald J. Trump posted a video on Monday afternoon under the headline “What's next for America?” that featured an image of a fictional newspaper article celebrating a 2024 victory and referring to “the creation of a united empire.”
A 30-second video posted by Trump on his social media site, Truth Social, features several articles styled like early 1900s newspapers, praising “Germany's industrial might.” It appears to be reusing text from reports about World War I, including references. and “peace through strength.” One of the articles in the video claims that Trump will deport 15 million immigrants in his second term, and on-screen text lists the start and end dates of World War I. ing.
Another headline in the video suggests that Trump will reject “globalists” in a second term. The term is widely used on the far right, and scholars say it can be used as a signal of anti-Semitism.
The Trump campaign said in a statement that the video was posted by a staffer during Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan. The video remained on his account late Monday night, but his campaign did not respond to questions about why it had not been removed.
Campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said in a statement: “This is not a campaign video, but was created by a random account online and by a staffer who apparently did not see the president's words while he was in court. It was reposted.” “The real extremist is Joe Biden.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized Jews who vote for Democrats, accusing them of hating their religion and Israel. In one video this month, he said, “If Jews are going to vote for Joe Biden, they need to have their heads examined.”
Trump's advisers are planning a more radical second term than his first, but during the campaign he has repeated the words of past authoritarian leaders, calling political opponents “pests” and dehumanizing them. He has also drawn criticism for stripping away the money and promising: He will not be a dictator “except on the first day.”
In November 2022, Trump had dinner with Nick Fuentes, one of the country's most prominent white supremacists and an outspoken anti-Semite. He also sought to downplay the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, describing the event as a “big hoax.” A man who declared himself a neo-Nazi drove his car into a crowd, killing one woman and injuring nearly 40 others.
The term “Reich” is often associated with the Nazi government in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler. Hitler established the Third Reich, which succeeded his first two empires, the medieval Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire from 1871 to 1918 after its defeat in World War I. Allied side.
The reference to “creating a unified empire” is used three times in the video. The full text states: “Germany's industrial power has increased significantly since 1871 with the creation of a unified empire.'' At the beginning of the video, when the announcer asks, “What's next for America?”, a piece of text appears that includes the words “creating a unified empire.”
The German Empire, which fought in World War I, was founded in 1871 when many different German-speaking states and regions were unified, partly by force, into a single, powerful nation. That empire was dismantled at the end of World War I, and Hitler rose to power in the lead-up to World War II, fueled by the loss of former German territory and growing resentment toward Jews.
President Biden's campaign said in a statement on social media that the video was “a precursor to Trump's second term” and accused Trump of imitating Nazi Germany by posting the ad. .