Donald Trump isn’t Palpatine, he is Valorum

Let’s get some things straight. I voted for Donald Trump because I wanted the best effort to defeat Hillary Clinton (the Star Wars equivalent of Mother Talzin), so, I admit there may be some levels of hypocrisy associated with this piece. Moving on…

The simplest of ways to put this is that Donald Trump is not the image of the corrupt Sheev Palpatine (a.k.a. Darth Sidious) that the Left has characterized him to be. In fact, it is my belief that Trump – when applying Star Wars canon — holds similar characteristics of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, Palpatine’s predecessor.

Valorum and Trump

Trump is closely linked to Valorum based on a series of similarities that exist among the two.

In the prequel trilogy, Valorum is removed from power after accusations of corruption and control of careerist bureaucrats. Some lawmakers want Trump impeached.

It is commonly known that Valorum was at the helm of the Galactic Republic, during the events of Episode I: “The Phantom Menace.” After his ascendancy to the Office of the Chancellor, and after fighting for his political life, Valorum sat in a position to control an out of control bureaucracy and was accused of corruption and unethical conduct for the majority of his term. Soon, it seemed that the bureaucracy controlled Valorum. This, in turn, resulted in a Vote of No Confidence to be issued onto the floor of the Galactic Senate after the qualms of the Trade Federation’s blockade of the planet Naboo. Valorum ultimately made no effort to resolve the blockade giving Queen Padme Amidala of the Naboo the opportunity to move the Vote of No Confidence.

The logical follow-through was the nomination of Palpatine to the position of Supreme Chancellor due to his stance on the Naboo crisis and his supposed efforts to root out corruption. Granted, we all know that this was of Palpatine’s design as a part of his grand plan to take down the Republic and the Jedi Order; however, that will be addressed a little later.

Applying Trump to this criterion isn’t as hard as it may seem. Trump took over the government of the United States at a time where it was at its largest, especially for the time of the new millennium we find ourselves in. Currently, especially with the presentation of the “American’s First” budget from the Administration, Trump is attempting to cut back on several areas of government. It is clearly evident that he is. Nevertheless, he is still heading a massive bureaucracy that has seen a very little decline in size, in my opinion, despite the efforts.

And, just like Valorum, Trump is faced with many, many corruption accusations from both sides of the aisle. So, my conclusion, though at this point merely a causality, is that the role of Trump is one that is similar to the penultimate leader of the Galactic Republic, prior to Palpatine’s rise. There are several more reasons for this. One of those reasons being, according to some fans, is that Trump and Valorum are a match made in heaven is the fact that they both come from families of great wealth and influential business matters.

Valorum, when he was in office, influenced the docket of the Republic, and its policy makers, to benefit family-linked business ventures. Whether or not this should be allowed of any public official (a different discussion) is a moot point at this point in my argument. Valorum and Trump, to the common man at least, has used the role of their political office to benefit their business profile. I am not saying this is a bad thing; but, merely a similarity that could be relative to the wider argument.

Trade Disputes and Plotting Behind the Scenes

The similarities go on; nevertheless, the leading point that I wish to present is the existence of massive trade disputes in both narratives.

For Valorum, the quintessential point of dispute for trading entities in the Galactic Republic at the time of the Phantom Menace was the aforementioned blockade of the Naboo. It is safe to say that the blockade and his inaction ended his tenure as Supreme Chancellor. Nevertheless, the dispute between the Naboo and the Trade Federation was the precursor of the Galactic infighting that brought on the Clone Wars – conflict between the Republic and succeeding planetary systems.

After the control ship commanding the droid armies on the surface of the planet was destroyed by the young Anakin Skywalker, the Trade Federation began going into darker places and asserting their monopoly by taking advantage of the free trade laws the Republic had in place. Though free trade is commonly a good thing, in the backdrop of the Trade Federation and Republic’s dispute was choreographed by Palpatine as a part of his bigger plan for power.

You know the story from there I hope: Anakin becomes a padawan, then a Jedi Knight, hooks up with Padme and gets hitched, fights the Clone Wars, becomes evil and helps destroy the Jedi after being manipulated with hopes of saving his loved ones by Palpatine. And of course he becomes Darth Vader and Sidious (still Palpatine) adopts him as his apprentice and they rule the galaxy with tyranny until the events of “A New Hope” begin, following into the original trilogy.

Trump is similar in the respects of the trade disputes and the “backdrop” concerns, to me, is because he is playing with fire given the current state of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). I fully believe that NAFTA shouldn’t even be in place and we should have open trade between our Mexican and Canadian neighbors; but, given Mexico receiving the short end of the stick in negotiations thus far, the NAFTA issue can erupt into a trade dispute if the international economic climate is right.

The Palpatine to Trump’s Valorum

For all we know, given the Valorum behavioral complex Trump is perpetuating, a Palpatine-like figure, or group, sewing discontent in the government and among the masses. Trump is merely a pawn if this is the case and the rise of the actual Palpatine has yet to come. It should be believed that the Palpatine-like individual or group opposes Trump and is a popular alternative voice. It also wouldn’t hurt if this person was popular among a wide-ranging series of demographics, economic classifications, and political ideologies.

Yes, Trump has this appeal; however, the Palpatine to Trump’s Valorum would be also a showman, a “man of the people” and their interests, while also being an established politician. The ideology of this person is beguiled by a subtle, but dominating lust for power and influence. Ultimately, the ideal candidate can come from either extreme on the political spectrum and is an excellent pragmatist.

Trump resembles only pragmatism in a sense to advance his business career, to me. Though, like I said, not a bad thing… just not the defining factor to make him out to be the dark lord of the Sith nor a tyrannical autocrat. In fact, he is neither believe it or not.