So said Napoleon III, who is my next suggestion as the historical failure on whom Trump seems to be modelling himself.
It's not the barnet this time, just the same old trope of declaring war on someone who has been preparing for exactly that and intends to use it as an excuse to unite currently independent states under their rule.
Other things Napoleon III did that may or may not have echoes this time:
- Promised, but failed, to Make France Great Again
- Carried out a coup when the constitution barred him from standing for re-election
- Declared himself Emperor when he decided that being President wasn't grand enough
- Tried to buy Luxembourg from the King of the Netherlands
- Engaged in a disastrous adventure in Mexico
- Lowered tariffs and opened France to imported goods [Hang on a minute, who put this one in?]
Fun fact: the Empress Eugenie found sex with him disgusting, and refused to sleep with him again after providing him with an heir.
It was, of course, Napoleon III about whom Marx was writing when he said "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historical facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."
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