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Schrijverscafé met Frank Schaper

• 25 October 2026
  • 14:30 – 17:00

Trump, Trump and more Trump.

Cultura Plus is organising a writers’ café with Frank Schaper.

On Sunday 25 October, there will be another writers’ café at Cultura Plus. It promises to be an interesting afternoon led by Frank Schaper. He is the author of a trilogy about Trump titled The Great American Dictator.

Who understands Donald Trump?

Donald Trump is an incompetent con man who should never have been in The White House and is not going to ensure peace anywhere. He lives on conflict and chaos. Every day. The best way to deal with him is to project strength, not be afraid, refute his lies and confront him. Flattery is okay, giving in is not. Weakness is punished. Vulnerability is exploited. Europe must therefore become independent of Trump’s whims as quickly as possible. That is what leadership expert Frank Schaper says.

In his richly illustrated trilogy, Schaper describes in detail what makes Donald Trump tick, what drives him, why and how he lies, and how it could happen that tens of millions of Americans still believe in him implicitly. Lies, deceit and intimidation are ways of breathing for Trump. Winning is everything. Losing is dying. Every day he must see his name in the news, for better or worse. For ten years, Schaper, author of the books Hoe je een geboren leider wordt (2009) and Het Dictatorvirus (2015), has worked on this first serious Trump biography from Dutch soil.

Role models

Schaper discovered that Trump has copied almost everything from his 40 role models. Vladimir Putin, for example, is one of those role models; Bond villain Auric Goldfinger and Clint Eastwood are two other examples for Trump. The sources of inspiration for Trump’s second term are the 25th and 26th presidents of America: William McKinley (1897-1901) and Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909). Trade tariffs were McKinley’s favourite weapons and he bought Hawaii, America’s 50th state. Vice president Teddy Roosevelt took over from McKinley in 1901 after he had been killed in an assassination attempt, 60 days after his re-election. Roosevelt was the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize by putting an end to the war between Russia and Japan. Trump aspires to the same reward. Roosevelt was immortalised on Mount Rushmore, something Trump dreams of out loud.

The maga-million cult

Trump manipulates and brainwashes his followers like a cult leader does. His ‘Make America Great Again’ following is a cult that consists of four overlapping groups: right-wing Republicans who hate left-wing Democrats, evangelicals who genuinely believe that Trump was sent by God, QAnon believers who think that Trump is fighting against super-rich paedophiles and white supremacists who see Trump as the leader who will make the white race the dominant caste again. That goal justifies all means. ‘America First’ is code for ‘America for Whites’. The maga cult prefers a white, Christian-nationalist dictatorship over a multicultural democracy and supports the mass deportations of ICE.

Disaster

Trump promises prosperity, but brings only chaos and disaster, especially for his followers. During his first term, he deliberately lied to them about the coronavirus. His mismanagement led to tens of thousands of preventable corona deaths. In November 2020, he knew from the outset that he had lost. His speech on 6 January 2021, in which he incited his fanatical followers to storm the Capitol, was full of lies and fabrications. In 2024, Trump was re-elected after all, partly because he promised to lower prices from day 1. Instead, he started a devastating trade war with made-up import tariffs, which increased prices and uncertainty. His own bank account comes above all else. The corruption is unprecedented. That he is driving up the national debt further does not bother him. His war with Iran is perhaps his biggest blunder. Due to the sky-high inflation, high petrol prices and an unpopular war, his popularity has dropped to an all-time low.

Dictator

According to Schaper, Trump meets all ten characteristics of a dictator, namely megalomania, self-enrichment, cult behaviour, deceit, self-justification, propaganda, state terror, retention of power, secrets and expansionism. In his presentation on 25 October, Schaper will use many examples to show what makes Donald Trump tick and what the world can still expect.

Frank Schaper has promised to give all visitors to the writers’ café part 1 or 2 of his trilogy as a gift and he will bring enough books to sell.

The hall opens at 14:30 and you will be welcomed with a cup of coffee or tea.

Start time is 15:00 and it will finish around 17:00.

Tickets cost € 15.00 in advance and € 17.50 at the door.

Ticket sales: www.ticketkantoor.nl/shop/CulturaPlus2-0