The U.S. Treasury is starting to mint new $1 gold coins featuring Trump’s silhouette. This is not just a commemorative coin, but a symbolic display of power.

The similarity between Trump’s and Erdoğan’s political styles is usually read only through populism. But the details are hidden in construction and symbolism. Both learned to build power through massive structures and concrete before their political careers. They run politics like a full construction site: searching for absolute loyalty rather than institutional culture, and declaring the opposition media as an enemy of the system.

Most people don’t know this; Trump’s obsession with gold leaf and his attempt to integrate his own brand into the state are based on the exact same psychological foundation as the way Middle Eastern leaders perceive power.

Now he is putting his own face onto the state’s gold money. Those who, while alive, took power and had their own currency minted share one common trait: they see themselves as the very embodiment of the state.