Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, on the comeback trail, hates being compared to Trump


You may see similarities between President Trump and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi — both elderly billionaires have suspiciously tanned skin, surgically enhanced hair, reputations for active libidos, high esteem for Russia's Vladimir Putin, a penchant for mixing their business and politics, anti-immigrant politics, and a preternatural ability to drive their critics crazy. But don't tell that to Berlusconi.
The former Italian leader is making his political comeback, The New York Times reports, though his long string of business and sex scandals led Parliament to bar him from holding office until 2019, he was convicted of tax fraud in 2013, and he still faces trial for alledgedly bribing witnesses to keep silent about his sex-fueled Bunga Bunga parties. In March 4 elections, Berlusconi, 81, is expected to emerge as kingmaker, the Times' Jason Horowitz reports:
His resurrection is both astonishing and entirely unsurprising when one considers that Mr. Berlusconi has over the decades conditioned and desensitized an electorate that has picked him as prime minister three times despite, well, everything. ... In a measure of how unpredictable global politics have become, things have come back around for the pre-Trump era's leading personification of conflicts of interest, outsize appetites, and the politics of victimization and press demonization. In the age of President Trump — comparisons to whom Mr. Berlusconi cannot stand — the Italian mogul has successfully recast himself as grandfather, or nonno, to the nation. [The New York Times]
Berlusconi, who appears almost nightly on the TV stations he owns, "has been deeply reluctant to discuss" Trump, Horowitz writes, but "one person who spoke privately with the Berlusconi family" about Trump said "Berlusconi had a low opinion of the American president and disliked being compared to him." "Surely Berlusconi doesn't love it," close ally Giovanni Toti tells the Times. "It's a mistake to compare Trump to one of the most experienced statesmen in Europe." Read more about Berlusconi's improbable comeback at The New York Times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How will the new tax deductions on auto loans work?
the explainer Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduced a tax deduction on auto loan interest — but eligibility for the tax break is limited
-
Is Trump actually going to prosecute Obama for 'treason'?
Today's Big Question Or is this just a distraction from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal?
-
5 best movie sequels of all time
The Week Recommends The second time is only sometimes as good as the first
-
Trump executive order targets homeless
Speed Read It will now be easier for states and cities to remove homeless people from the streets
-
Columbia pays $200M to settle with White House
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the school of failing to protect its Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests
-
Florida judge and DOJ make Epstein trouble for Trump
Speed Read The Trump administration's request to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein investigation was denied
-
Trump attacks Obama as Epstein furor mounts
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the Obama administration of 'treasonous' behavior during the 2016 election
-
Trump administration releases MLK files
Speed Read Newly released documents on the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not hold any new revelations, King historians said
-
Japan's prime minister feels pressure after election losses
Speed Read Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein