World Book Day – 1984 Revisited: How Trump’s America Is Rewriting History

Mabon Huws

On January 6 2021 the world watched on as the US Capitol was stormed by thousands of protestors, many fuelled by Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 Election had been “stolen” from them.

A radicalised mob looted, vandalised and abused police officers, with shots being fired inside the building resulting in 174 police officers injured, four deaths and multiple suicides as a result of the attempted coup.

The investigation of the rioters who attacked the US Capitol building was the largest criminal investigation in US history. Millions of dollars and hundreds of working hours were invested to prosecute thousands of protestors. A week after the attack, Trump was impeached for incitement of insurrection, making him the only President of the United States to be impeached twice.

However, in a move not even some of Trump’s allies expected, on his first day in office Donald Trump released around 1500 of these rioters from prisons across the US.

Violent assaults

Among those freed was former Proud Boys’ leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who had been serving a 22-year sentence; Andrew Taake who has since been re-arrested on child solicitation charges; and individuals responsible for violent assaults on Capitol police officers like Brian Sicknick who died the following day.

“Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.” – George Orwell, 1984

These were the words of George Orwell in his book 1984, when describing The Party’s ability to manipulate the past by changing what people read, heard and believed.

In the dystopian novel we are introduced to The Ministry of Truth, the department responsible for producing fake news and propaganda, where the protagonist Winston Smith is tasked with changing the details of the past by editing newspaper dates, altering headlines and falsifying facts to suit the narrative of the Party.

Fast forward to 2025 and the book is frightfully relevant.

Not only are the rapid improvements in AI technology hurtling us towards an era where distinguishing fact from fiction online could be impossible, but we are seeing Trump and Co attempting to change people’s understanding of the past for their own political gain.

Were these pardons Trump’s attempt to rewrite history?

Let’s be clear. Manipulating a narrative is not unique to Trump. History has always been subject to reinterpretation, and we have all been guilty of telling a white lie or bending the truth. However, Trump’s efforts are much more dangerous because it involves people who committed serious, well-documented crimes, and he’s doing it to directly benefit his cause with little regard for the broader impact on society and wellbeing.

Pardoning the prisoners could be seen as an attempt to “prove” that he didn’t lose the 2020 election – to legitimise the claim that the election had been “stolen” from him and therefore implying that the January 6 rioters were within their rights to storm the Capitol.

By now framing the rioters as innocent, Trump sets the narrative that they were unfairly persecuted because of a decision made in the past.

In the name of Making America Great Again, Trump has normalised the use of violence to gain political means; and could very well enable future riots. So, who knows what will happen during the next presidential elections.

“Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.”

When loyalty trumps truth

“The Party” in 1984 demands unwavering loyalty to Big Brother, an all-powerful leader whose image is universal and unavoidable.

Trump’s rise to power has created a personality cult where loyalty is often placed above facts, law, and democratic principles. He has an ability to manipulate truth within his followers, often via a swathe of late-night ill-informed Tweets – labelling any criticism as “fake news” and any lawful investigations into his actions as “witch hunts”.

Since his inauguration, we have seen that these dystopian elements can emerge even in modern democracies. At one time, Ukraine was a victim of Russian aggression, and the US supported them. Now, to suit Trump’s political needs, Zelenskyy is being labelled a dictator. Although most of us know that this is untrue, Trump’s followers would disagree, and a growing number of Republicans now view Russia as “friendly”.

“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.” – 1984

In the book 1984, Oceania is in a constant state of war with Eurasia and Eastasia, ensuring that citizens remain fearful and loyal to The Party. In America, the political-right has continuously evoked a sense of crisis – whether it be through the war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on woke culture, the war on immigration or the recent trade and tariff wars. It could be argued that these narratives keep the public in a constant state of anxiety, making them more accepting of authoritarian policies in the name of protection.

In the words of Orwell “the war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.”

Another interesting concept in his work is ‘Doublespeak’, a language used by The Party to deliberately obscure, disguise, distort, or reverse the meaning of something: “fake news” and “witch hunts” spring to mind.

The same could be said about “MAGA”. Make America Great Again. A loaded and obscure phrase; some would say it disguises a nostalgia for a past where minorities had fewer rights.

Another example would be “alternative facts”, as coined by Trump’s former political adviser Kellyanne Conway and frequently used by the MAGA crowd to reject any counter arguments. You can have alternative opinions, but facts are facts.

By producing a continuous stream of false accusations, outrageous claims and misinformation, Trump and the MAGA crowd make it very difficult to have an open, honest and well-informed dialogue.

Unfortunately, this machine-gun approach of spouting numerous lies hoping that one will stick has been proven to work: “Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it.” – Joseph Goebbels.

Furthermore, JD Vance appears to have mastered the art of ‘doublethink’ – “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and accepting both of them” – as evidenced by his swift reversal on the pardons.

On January 13, ‘Vance says Capitol rioters guilty of violence should not be pardoned’, yet just 14 days later, on January 27, ‘Vice-president says Trump made right decision’, a stark example of the cognitive dissonance rife within the MAGA crowd.

Set-up and shouted down

The remarkable meeting that took place in the White House between Trump, JD Vance, and Zelenskyy has now been seen by millions of people across the world.

It was another attempt to blatantly reshape Ukraine’s struggle from one of resistance, to a narrative of dictatorship. Zelenskyy, one of the 21st century’s greatest embodiments of defiance was accused of “gambling with World War III”.

Following Trump and JD Vance’s condescending attacks on Zelenskyy, accusing him of not being thankful for their support, I couldn’t help but think about the final chapter of 1984.

Zelenskyy looked in genuine disbelief as he was lectured by Trump and Vance. His distant look, gazing down to the floor of the Oval Office in pure disbelief, was eerily similar to when Winston Smith is called to Room 101 clutching on to the fact that “There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth, even against the whole world, you were not mad.”

In Orwell’s 1984, the past is constantly rewritten to serve those ruling the present, ultimately shaping the future.

Reflecting on Trump’s controversial actions – from his constant attempts to manipulate narratives to the use of pardons to redefine history – one cannot help but see themes of Orwell’s vision coming alive.

This isn’t an apocalyptic warning, but rather food for thought. We should be reminded that truth and transparency are not just ideals, they are essential to a healthy society.

So, for World Book Day, I encourage you all to pick up a copy of 1984 whether it’s your first read or a much-needed revisit.

George Orwell’s 1984 is available here and at all good bookshops.