Predatory Strongmen II: Berlusconi and Trump
The coverage of Epstein and Trump reminds us of the power of a free press and independent judiciary
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Thank you to all who emailed me and commented on Part 1 of this essay, which discussed large-scale sexual abuse by old-school dictators such as Benito Mussolini and Muammar Gaddafi. I know this is difficult reading, but I have always felt a duty to the victims to expose systems of predation that can flourish in contexts that support secrecy, unchecked power, lawlessness, and a use-and-discard attitude toward others.
The essays underscore the importance of transparency, judicial and other accountability, humanitarianism, the promotion of gender equality, checks on the executive, and other foundations of democracy.
What we are seeing unfold now in America, where media outlets from across the political spectrum are informing the public about things that the sitting leader would like to be kept secret –such as President Donald Trump’s relationship and possible complicity with the late Jeffrey Epstein, who sex trafficked and abused underage girls with Ghislaine Maxwell and a network of enablers— could only happen in a functioning democracy.
And without the judicial independence that is a feature of democracy, the legal outcomes for the perpetrators might have been different. Maxwell is now serving a twenty-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, and Epstein was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution and was facing new federal sex trafficking charges when his death occurred in 2019 in his prison cell.
Right now, Trump’s attempts to evade transparency about all things Epstein seem to be backfiring, and he is running scared, as evidenced by his firing of Maurene Comey, a prosecutor with the Southern District of New York (and daughter of Trump nemesis and former FBI Director James Comey) who worked on Maxwell’s sex trafficking case.
Trump can pardon as many criminals as he wants, and can continue to threaten judges and sue and pressure the press, but the history of authoritarianism shows that justice eventually comes for the criminal-in-chief. He cannot hide the truth forever.
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Creating “Pipelines” of Female Bodies Through Modeling, Beauty Pageants, and Television
Epstein’s use of enablers from the private sector to run his sex trafficking and abuse ring gives us a sense of how predatory strongmen may operate in the 21st century. In autocracies, the use of secret police and paramilitaries endures, but leaders and aspiring leaders who are still saddled with the constraints of democracy rely on personal security and fixers and associates from the business and political worlds.
In the late 20th and 21st centuries, Epstein’s kindred spirits may seek out investments or involvements in model agencies and beauty pageants to have continuous proximity to young women. This was the path taken by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Trump, who gained additional leverage by owning television networks and hosting a popular television show, respectively.
Strongmen do not recognize boundaries between public and private, and people from all areas of their professional lives may be involved in the work of satisfying their personal needs. The news director of one of Berlusconi’s television channels (TG4), Emilio Fede, and a talent scout for Berlusconi’s Mediaset conglomerate, Dario Lele Mora, had "side jobs" managing his “sex party” operation and organizing beauty pageants to find new women for his shows and his private needs.
Trump’s ownership of Trump Model Management (1999-2017) and the Miss Universe beauty pageant (1996-2015), along with his time on the reality show “The Apprentice,” provided the future president with his own “pipeline” of female bodies.
Model Jazz Eggers charged in 2017 that she and other Trump models were routinely pressured to serve the boss and work as escorts for his powerful friends. Dozens of women from every era and area of Trump’s professional life have accused him of sexual misconduct, harassment and assault. In 2023, a jury found him liable for sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll.
Until the rupture of their friendship in 2004, Epstein would often attend parties with models held in Trump’s private spaces. The New York Times reports that one young woman was working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago when she met Epstein, who recruited her for his operation and abused her. A “calendar girl competition” drew women for a 1992 party Trump held at Mar-a-Lago, with Epstein the only other guest.
If such predatory individuals enter politics, as happened with both Berlusconi and Trump, their vaunted control of female bodies can become a strongman selling point. Trump leaned into his misogyny after seeing that the Access Hollywood tapes leak, which publicized his 2005 boast, “Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. They let you do anything. Grab ‘em by the pussy,” did not wreck his presidential chances.
Yet predatory practices can become a liability for sitting political leaders who have not yet muzzled the free press and judiciary, as Trump is finding out. And in Italy, revelations in the press about Berlusconi’s “sex parties,” and his April 2011 trial for sex with a minor contributed, along with the Eurozone crisis, to his resignation later that year.
Berlusconi’s System of Sexual Exploitation
Billionaire Berlusconi’s system of sexual exploitation capitalized on his de facto control of his television, publishing, and advertising empire while he served as Prime Minister (1994, 2001-2006, 2008-2011) and as head of the Forza Italia political party.
Those familiar with Epstein’s activities will recognize the pattern: Berlusconi and his powerful friends gathered at Berlusconi’s residences in Sardinia, Rome, or at Arcore, outside Milan, along with young women brought in from all over Italy and the world, including Karima El-Mahroug, who was reportedly 17 when she attended Berlusconi’s parties. As with other predatory strongmen, Berlusconi combined payments and threats to keep the participants silent.
The professional trajectory of enabler Nicole Minetti shows how Berlusconi’s businesses and his political life related to his sexual exploitation activities. Minetti worked as an events hostess for Berlusconi’s advertising agency Publitalia and appeared on Berlusconi’s television programs. After she proved her real worth by scouting women for Berlusconi’s exploitation events and arranging their travel, Berlusconi backed her to become a regional deputy for his Forza Italia party in Lombardy. She was sentenced in 2013 to five years in prison for procurement, as were Mora and Fede (the convictions were confirmed by an Italian high court in 2019).
The last word about Berlusconi and his equivalents goes to Chiara Danese, a former Miss Italy contestant who attended Berlusconi’s parties when she was 18 and moved to America because she feared for her safety after testifying against Berlusconi. “Berlusconi? I feel sorry for him…forced to organize parties so he’s not alone,” she commented to Vanity Fair in 2018.
Her statement applies to all strongmen, who are plagued by an inner emptiness, no matter how much money and power they accumulate and how many bodies they consume. That is why there is no limit to their depravity if they manage to get absolute power. We must shed light on what they would like to keep silent, for that is how we honor the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The public should believe women. Men just lie and lie and lie. They are sick people with no morals. It is never enough for them; money, power, greed, demeaning people that get in their way, making false claims. They must be held accountable for their wrongdoing!
Right now, the United States of America is being led by predators, criminals and their enablers: Trump, Bondi, Hegeseth, Kennedy, Paula White (my god, an evangelical minister with vast reach), Jan6 convicted and pardoned criminals (Ed Martin)....Proud Boys, Oath Keepers (many of whom are likely working inside the government/ICE), Elana Habba, inside traders, Steve Bannon,. We have SCOTUS’s who accepted bribes, and one who was approved even after credible accusations of sexual assault. Oh god help us...the bench is so, so deep!