Great Gatsby Redux
Like me, you probably read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in high school. I’m not quite sure how this novel achieved its iconic status, but that’s a topic for another day.
I’m writing briefly again today because of my travel plans.
My focus today is on Daisy and Tom Buchanan, the socialite couple at the center of the book, and Jay Gatsby, the upstart “new money” Long Island resident who is focused on winning Daisy back – he had met her and fallen in love with her before World War I.
The narrator in the book – Daisy’s cousin Nick – comments toward the end of the book:
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”
That’s it. That’s the quote.
The current Republican president is careless – about the truth, about the consequences of his actions. He smashes up things and creatures and then retreats back into his money and his vast carelessness . . . and lets other people clean up the mess he has made.
Like Daisy, the current Republican president is insulated by his wealth – in his world, money can defer consequences. Like Daisy, he uses celebrity and superficial charm to disarm critics. Like Daisy, he dismisses or minimizes the harm done by his policies or statements.
Like Tom Buchanan, the current Republican president was born into wealth, and he uses his economic power to control others.
Like Gatsby, the current Republican president has cultivated an image of glamor and success that is at odds with his actual accomplishments. Like Gatsby, he is consumed by ambition. Like Gatsby, he pursues luxury and spectacle to create a brand.
And of course, I’m not the first person to think about this connection. In looking around to remind myself of the characters in the book, I came across this article making this comparison. This was published in April 2025.
And Atlantic hit this theme in 2018, during the first term.
The damage the current Republican president has done in the first six months of his second term in office is breathtaking. He has shattered the institutions of government at all levels and has redefined what it means to be in public life. He grifts and grabs in total defiance of any laws that are supposed to restrict him. He clearly does not believe that his job as president includes the obligation to see that the laws are “faithfully executed.” Rather, he sees his job as an opportunity to nullify the laws he doesn’t like. He truly doesn’t care about what is broken in the process.
We should remember that The Great Gatsby doesn’t end well. Gatsby dies ignominiously, and almost no one comes to his funeral.
From my lips to God’s ears.
The main different between Trump and Gatsby or Tom is that while they are selfish and reckless they have class, which Trump lacks. Trump is all the ugliness of Gastby/Tom without the elegant allure. But their disregard for the hurt and destruction they cause is the same. They think their wealth gives them the right to destroy lives without consequence and they feel no shame or guilt about it. But you're right... that Gatsby quote is spot on.
Love it. And, hey, I felt the same way you do after reading The Great Gatsby. But since my memory is not as good as yours, I'd have to read it again to make my point.
From my lips to God's ear: Ha! Loved your conclusion!