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“It’s Brutal!” Trump, Architecture, and American Authoritarianism. (Weird Little Architects Part II). E08.
In this follow up to our episode on Trump’s “Weird Little Architects” (E06) we examine the ways that architecture has been instrumentalized by the Trump administration. Through a close look at the Executive Order “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” and at administration comments around the renovation of the White House, we show how architecture is used by the administration to advance its authoritarian and white supremacist projects.
Major sections include:
Trump’s Architecture Program. 00-37:00
Fascist Aesthetics and the Demolition of the White House. 37:00-56:00
Brutalism and Modernism as a Contrast to the Trump Agenda. 56:00-81:00
We used clips from:
“Justin Shubow Interviewed About Brutalism on Newsmax – Greg Kelly Reports” https://youtu.be/OFRpqpdCikw?si=clvtWq8TSQEO1viR
“Stephen Miller: East Wing was Cheaply Built, Long Overdue for Renovation.” https://www.foxnews.com/video/6383815895112
Zoolander (2001)
References:
Krugman, Paul. 2025. “Trump’s Gilded Ballroom and the Fall of the American Republic.” https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trumps-gilded-ballroom-and-the-fall
Koldehoff, Stephen and Tobias Timm. 2025. Donald Trump Has a History of Pulverizing Historic Buildings. Artnet. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/donald-trump-bonwit-teller-friezes-met-2132673
Benjamin, Walter. 1935. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.”
Medovoi, Leerom. 2012.
“Dogma-Line Racism: Islamophobia and the Second Axis of Race.” Social Text. 30 (2 (111)): 43–74. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-1541754
Compagnon, Madeline. 2020. “What Makes a ‘Beautiful’ Federal Building?” JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/what-makes-a-beautiful-federal-building/
Volner, Ian. 2020. “Trump Can’t Make Architecture Great Again Without an Infrastructure Plan.” Artnews. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/columns/trump-make-architecture-great-again-maga-classicism-1202677813/
We used a quotation: “The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” which should be attributed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k
Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock
Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p
Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel
License code: TPBUUIJWTSHGYJQ9