Most American Monarchists Don't Want King Trump

By Jack Royston

Chief Royal Correspondent

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Donald Trump—despite "No Kings" protests—would not be picked to rule an American monarchy by the campaigners pushing to create one.

Almost 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, it may surprise some to learn that there are movements aimed at creating an American king, or queen—though not all agree on the issue of gender.

Monarchists of America, one such group, is yet to settle on a specific pathway to selecting a preferred candidate to be king but is clear about one thing—Donald Trump is not currently in contention.

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Ian Hoover, who writes as Thomas B Brightsworth on Substack, is the organization's head ideologist and told Newsweek: "This is not just speaking for the Monarchists of America, but the majority of American monarchists do not want a Trump dynasty.

"We do not want Trump to be king. That is a misconception. And it's only because Trump is so loud and is made 'kingly' that people automatically assume American monarchists want the Trump dynasty. We do not. The Monarchists of America specifically do not support any current dynasty."

No Kings Protests

On October 18, millions gathered in thousands of locations across the U.S. to protest the perceived autocratic style of Trump. Organizers estimated upwards of 7 million participants.

The movement, rooted in the slogan “No kings,” articulated concerns over executive overreach, mass deportations and military deployments in American cities.

Hoover, though, objected to the "No Kings" protests not so much because they maligned Trump but because, he felt, they misunderstood monarchy.

"In 30 years down the line, people are going to be debating Trump's legacy," Hoover said. "I think there's a lot of good. I think there's a lot of bad. The worst you could say is Trump is acting like a dictator, but a dictator is not necessarily a king.

"Just because King Charles III has little to no actual power, it doesn't make him any less of a king. But a dictator has to have absolute power."

"We think the whole 'No Kings' protest is first based on a misconception of what it means to be a king," he continued. "Because kingship is not just about power. There's so much more that goes into it."

Why Some Americans Want a Monarchy

Hoover said they are a "big tent" organization that is home to many viewpoints but his own personal hope is to see a U.S. monarchy that is religious in nature, bringing his Catholic faith closer to the center of power.

The organization, though, has a number of arguments in favor, including one arising from human nature. They believe monarchs have a greater incentive to govern well knowing they will leave their kingdom to their own heir.

"It is actually human nature," Hoover said. "Especially as a parent, to want to leave everything you have better off for your children. This has been the case throughout history and that instinct does not suddenly die when you enter into the government.

"In monarchy, you have that dynastic, but you also have the idea of someone raised from a very young age in the art of everything political and that doesn't just include governing a country.

"That includes diplomacy, economy, even religion, morality. Someone trained from a very, very young age in all of these different forms of governance has a much higher ability, or probability, of doing it well."

Another argument speaks to recent debates in American politics about the power of lobby groups to influence politics.

"There's also a lesser incentive and probability of bribes," Hoover said. "We see this in the American system. We even see this in every system around the world with some sort of election.

"Elections have a natural incentive to have bribes. You need to get elected and you need to appeal to many. So you have a much higher incentive to either lessen your morals or to take on the morals of others, even if they're contrary to yours, contrary to goodness even, for the sake of getting into power."

Pomp and Ceremony

One further question though is the extent to which an American monarchy would use the symbols associated with the historic monarchies: the crowns, the palaces, the carriages.

"I have to admit," Hoover said. "It's not the first thing on our minds, because again, we're dealing with the political philosophy but I have not found a monarchist who believes that the monarch should dress like your average president. Let's just say that.

"Yes, you would have the crown, you would have the scepter, you would have the ceremony, because that is important. People do underestimate the power of ceremony, the power of symbolism."

"On the White House," he continued. "I would not mind making it like a palace, because again, there is a thing where palaces aren't just made to look good for the sake of the king being egotistical. That is a stereotype.

"The palaces were meant to be a display of the wealth of the country and the greatness of it. And this is where the argument from aesthetics comes in. When a king is coronated and consecrated with the holy oil, when he is regaled in all these robes and jewels, it is symbolizing the nation with all of its glory being coronated, consecrated, et cetera.

"And that's why people are so focused on the coronation of kings, even when they have little to no impact anymore. It shows that reality of... you are giving your nation what it is due."

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