Published on: Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:32:15 GMT
Original Story: Trump to honor a president he sees as a peer — Theodore Roosevelt – The Washington Post

TR + DJT: A Match Made in Ego Heaven

Well, folks, gather ’round the digital water cooler, because the news cycle just delivered a fresh dollop of historical revisionism, generously slathered with self-aggrandizement. Our intrepid former (and aspiring future) President, Donald J. Trump, has apparently found a new historical BFF: Theodore Roosevelt. Not just a president he admires, mind you, but one he views as a “peer.” Because, naturally, when you’re comparing yourself to the titans of American history, why aim for anything less than a mirror image?

The Washington Post broke the stunning revelation: Trump sees himself and Teddy as kindred spirits. And honestly, it tracks. Both had big personalities. Both talked a big game. Both, shall we say, enjoyed the spotlight. But that, my friends, is where the similarities begin to veer sharply into the realm of speculative fiction, much like the economic projections from my last corporate quarterly report.

The Audacity of Hope (and Historical Illiteracy)

It’s always a good chuckle when a contemporary figure decides to don the mantle of a historical giant, particularly when said contemporary figure exhibits a selective grasp of, well, history. Trump, who once pondered why we even *had* a Civil War (spoiler: slavery, among other things), now sees himself walking shoulder-to-shoulder with the man who tamed trusts, expanded national parks, and literally got shot during a speech and kept talking.

A Brief, Unsolicited History Lesson

For those of us who weren’t busy building golf courses or starring in reality TV, Theodore Roosevelt was a force of nature. A sickly child who built himself into a formidable athlete and intellectual, he was a New York Assemblyman, a police commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War, Governor of New York, and Vice President before becoming President. He was a prolific writer, a naturalist, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. His “Square Deal” policies aimed to protect the average citizen against big business, earning him the moniker “trust-buster.” He was also a monumental conservationist, establishing 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks, and 18 national monuments, protecting over 230 million acres of public land.

Now, let’s contrast that with… well, you know. While one might argue both men possessed an undeniable flair for the dramatic and a certain disdain for established political norms (TR famously bolted the Republican party to form the Bull Moose Party), the foundational tenets of their presidencies, their intellectual curiosity, and their actual policy legacies couldn’t be further apart. It’s like comparing a meticulously crafted, hand-built supercar to a monster truck made from spare parts and sheer willpower. Both move, but one has a slightly better shot at winning Le Mans.

The Chasm Between Vision and Reality

The main theme here, if you haven’t already guessed, is the delightful dissonance between Trump’s self-perception and, you know, objective reality. It’s not just that he sees himself as a peer to TR; it’s that this “peerage” completely ignores the very policies and principles TR championed, especially those inconvenient ones that might clash with Trump’s own record. This isn’t just a casual historical appreciation; it’s a full-blown, self-serving narrative construction.

When “Conservation” Was a Dirty Word (For Some)

Here’s where the rubber meets the road, or more accurately, where the bulldozer meets the national park. Theodore Roosevelt, as mentioned, was the OG environmentalist president. His legacy is inextricably linked to the protection of America’s natural wonders. He literally created the U.S. Forest Service and signed into law the Antiquities Act. His vision was about long-term stewardship of the nation’s resources.

Donald Trump, however? Remember the years **2017-2018**? That period was a veritable environmental demolition derby. His administration systematically moved to dismantle or weaken dozens of environmental regulations. He initiated the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, a global agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He worked to open up protected lands, including parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to drilling and mining. He rolled back vehicle emissions standards. He actively sought to reduce the size of national monuments, most notably Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, a move directly antithetical to the spirit and letter of TR’s Antiquities Act. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under his watch, saw its budget slashed and its mission reoriented away from, well, protecting the environment.

So, while Trump now conveniently sees himself as a “peer” to the greatest conservationist president, his own actions during his presidency stood in direct, glaring contradiction to the very principles that defined a significant portion of Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy. It’s like an arsonist claiming kinship with a firefighter because they both worked with flames. The intent, and the outcome, are just a tad different.

The “Trust-Buster” vs. The Trust-Defector

And let’s not forget the “trust-buster” aspect. TR famously took on massive corporations like Standard Oil. He believed in regulating big business to ensure a level playing field for the common person. Trump, on the other hand, a real estate mogul whose business practices often involved aggressive maneuvering and, shall we say, a certain elasticity with facts, isn’t exactly known for his crusade against corporate behemoths, especially those that might benefit his own bottom line. The irony, as always, is so thick you could cut it with a very dull butter knife.

Why This Matters (Beyond Just a Good Laugh)

This isn’t just about an amusingly inflated ego making a historical faux pas. It’s about a pattern of leveraging history for present-day political narratives, often at the expense of accuracy. When a leader selectively interprets history, or worse, outright ignores inconvenient truths about a figure they claim as a peer, it warps public understanding and diminishes the lessons we could learn from the past.

The Convenient Rewriting of Presidential Legacies

The “peer” designation isn’t just a casual remark; it’s an attempt to inherit a specific kind of historical gravitas and legitimacy without doing the actual historical work. It allows one to bask in the reflected glory of a respected historical figure while conveniently sidestepping the inconvenient bits – like, say, a deep commitment to preserving public lands or rigorously challenging corporate monopolies. It’s a hallmark of a certain political style: appropriate the symbols, discard the substance. And for those of us who still believe in things like “facts” and “historical context,” it’s exhausting.

So, the next time you hear someone waxing poetic about parallels between Trump and Roosevelt, just remember: one man used the “big stick” to protect vast swathes of America’s wilderness; the other wielded a pen to try and undo much of that protection. Peers? Perhaps only in the sense that they both occupied the Oval Office. And even that feels like a stretch on some days.