16 July 2025, 08:33

By Andy Coulson

Donald Trump is not, on the face of it, your regular philosopher king.

He builds golden temples in his own name, posts on social media like a filter-less teenager and has a tendency to run the United States of America like a personal fiefdom.

But look again - through the lens not of X outrage or political tribalism, but of ancient resilience - and you’ll spot something unexpected. A man who, in his autumn years, appears to be applying Stoic strategy to his personal playbook.

The bearded gang of Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus advocated accepting what you cannot control, mastering what you can, and staying steady in the storm.

Two thousand years later and Donald Trump appears to be picking up the mantle.

When BBC interviewer Gary O’Donoghue asked if the attempt made on his life a year ago in Pennsylvania had changed him, President Trump said: “Well, I like to think about it as little as possible, to be honest. I don't like to think about ‘did it change me?’, because it could have changed a lot of people.........

© LBC