“Great national leaders dedicate their time in office to strengthening the countries they serve,” wrote David Rothkopf in Newsbreak. “The worst do the opposite. They suck that strength out of the institutions, economies and resources they have been entrusted with protecting and cultivating — and take the wealth, status and influence for themselves.”
Let’s face it; our current president is acting like a vampire, sucking the lifeblood out of our country. If he continues as he has been, when he is done there will be nothing left but the pale, lifeless husk of the America that was.
It’s not a longshot to describe his influence over others, his ability to drain resources, or his persistence in the public eye as akin to the vampires in folklore. He draws energy and attention, thrives in dark, divisive atmospheres, and is powerfully resistant to being ousted from the spotlight.
Vampires historically have represented those who take without giving back and refuse to adhere to traditional norms. For many, Trump’s unapologetic approach and divisive political style embody these traits. He has capitalized on polarized media and spread conspiracy theories which contribute to a social environment that drains unity.
We have all witnessed how he is using the office of the presidency to openly enrich himself like no other president or public official in U.S. history. He is demanding gifts from other nations. He has created elaborate schemes by which they and others who seek his favor can purchase cryptocurrency in ways that have already made him billions of dollars richer this year alone.
The one big piece of legislation passed this year with tax cuts and sweetheart deals helped Trump and his rich supporters while burdening the economy with more debt. That bill includes massive estate tax exemptions, business write-offs, reduced tax enforcement, adds $4.7 trillion to the national debt over a decade, cuts 12% from Medicaid and exacts reductions to SNAP (food stamps) and student loan programs.
Regulatory changes likewise enrich Trump, his family and his donors at the expense of Americans and the country at large, who will watch their environment despoiled and their health and safety deteriorate. Examples include cryptocurrency deregulation, sweeping efforts to eliminate regulations on chemical pollution and ease restrictions on oil and gas drilling, gutting white-collar criminal enforcement, and his erratic tariff policies that have served as an opaque spoils system for corporate corruption, political favoritism, and grift.
And the power of the U.S. government or the courts is being used to squeeze major corporations and institutions, forcing them to settle not in ways that benefit the country as they might have in the past, but with multi-million-dollar contributions to the Trump library. Paramount paid $16 million, Meta $22 to $24.5 million, ABC $15-16 million, and X/formerly Twitter paid $8 to $10 million.
What used to be a shakedown for the public good now looks like civic-minded extortion with a gift shop: powerful institutions settle by writing checks big enough to earn a marble wing in the Trump library.
“Trump is taking resources from departments and agencies that benefit the people — from those that provide healthcare or vital health research or protect us from extreme weather or disasters — and shifting it to enterprises that enhance his raw power or that of a burgeoning police state that he alone controls,” warned Rothkopf.
The Department of Justice is being used not to keep Americans safer but to target Trump opponents, to protect Trump personally, to enable his corruption and to aid his benefactors.
The resources of the U.S. intelligence community are being used in the same way. This further weakens the U.S. as Trump’s decisions to play recklessly with U.S. intel assets have made it less likely that our allies will share intelligence with us or work with us when we need their assistance.
Trump’s foreign policy decisions have gutted vital sources of U.S. influence and power — from foreign aid programs like USAID to our standing within international institutions and alliances — while simultaneously sending the message that everything pertaining to the U.S. now is about the views, interests, whims and decisions of one man, Trump.
The same is true within the U.S. government. All government agencies, which after all are created to serve the people and the interests of the country, now must loyally serve and never contradict or embarrass the Supreme Leader.
If an official dares share an economic or scientific truth that makes Trump or those policing his interests uncomfortable, then firing or defunding (like a bite to the neck) the agency will swiftly follow. Heck, apparently we will even go as far as to destroy satellites (NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatories) that might contradict Trump’s views on climate change.
It’s not supposed to work that way. But it is where we are.
Nevertheless, the vampire comparison also speaks to his appeal to a passionate base, many of whom see him as a symbol of strength and persistence. Vampires are, after all, notoriously hard to defeat and seem to gain power when under siege — a quality some see in Trump’s resilience.
For his supporters, the vampire analogy can even be seen in a positive light. Rather than seeing an anti-social force, they view him as a necessary disrupter who challenges an entrenched and corrupt political establishment while demonstrating a willingness to fight for forgotten citizens against a system they feel no longer serves them.
In the end, the vampire presidency is not merely a gothic analogy; it is a warning about what happens when public office learns to feed on the institutions meant to restrain it. A president who treats law as an obstacle, loyalty as currency, and public attention as lifeblood does not simply bend democracy: He drains it, leaving behind the ceremony of self-government while hollowing out its substance.
The remedy, then, is not another silver bullet or another election treated as an exorcism. It is the slower, harder work of daylight: Congress reclaiming its powers, courts enforcing limits, parties refusing cults of personality, and citizens insisting that no one person is entitled to live forever off the republic’s veins.
Dr. William Kolbe, an Andover resident, is a retired high school and college teacher and former Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga and El Salvador. He can be reached at bila.kolbe9@gmail.com.