Trump’s Truth Social account shares video referencing ‘unified Reich’
A video posted to Donald Trump’s social media platform featured references to “the creation of a unified Reich” along with hypothetical news headlines should the former president win the election in 2024.
In the 30-second video posted Monday, which was still visible on his Truth Social account early Tuesday, mock-up headlines and newspaper clippings envisioned media coverage after a potential Trump victory.
Under a black-and-white photo of Trump, one all-caps headline states: “What’s next for America?” with text underneath that reads: “Strength significantly increased by the creation of a unified Reich.”
The term “Reich” — meaning empire in German — is often associated with Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, who designated his Nazi regime as the “Third Reich.” Mentions of a “unified Reich” in the video appear to refer to the formation of the German empire in 1871 by unifying several smaller states.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the video was not produced by the campaign and that it was posted while Trump was in court in New York on Monday for his ongoing hush money trial. The video, she said, “was created by a random account online and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word.”
The video appears to feature parts of a sentence referring to a “unified Reich” three times alongside text saying Trump “puts America first” or “Law & order restored.” One such reference said: “German industrial strength and production had significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich.”
As the Associated Press first reported, the line appears verbatim in a Wikipedia entry on World War I, which resulted in the collapse of the German empire.
Other fictional headlines include “It’s a landslide” and “Economy booms,” envisioning that the “border is closed” and 15 million migrants deported during a second Trump term.
President Biden’s campaign team seized on the video, writing on X: “Trump posts a new ad foreshadowing a second Trump term that says he will create a ‘UNIFIED REICH,’ echoing Nazi Germany.”
“Donald Trump is not playing games; he is telling America exactly what he intends to do if he regains power: rule as a dictator over a ‘unified Reich,’” Biden spokesman James Singer said.
Trump has faced criticism for using language echoing Hitler before.
On Veterans Day last November, for instance, the former president called his domestic opponents and critics “vermin,” language that drew rebukes from historians who said it echoed Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
In December, Trump said that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” — a phrase that immigrant groups say echoed Hitler’s characterization of Jews and other minorities.
Monday’s video was posted as Trump accused Biden of having a weak response to antisemitism.
During a speech at the White House on Monday celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month, Biden sought to reassure Jewish voters of his firm support for Israel. He flatly rejected the application for arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court prosecutor who is seeking to charge Israel’s leaders with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Biden also called for the defeat of “the butchers of Hamas.”