ROME — The tycoon-turned-politician spent his career mixing entertainment and power, escaping sex scandals and remodeling his party in his own plasticized image.
But it’s actually Silvio Berlusconi, who died on Monday at the age of 86.
Four times Italy’s prime minister, Mr. Berlusconi dominated Italian politics for three decades and fundamentally reshaped its landscape and imagination.
In leveraging his fame and celebrity to gain power — and managing against all odds to retain it — Mr. Berlusconi provided a template for Mr. Trump’s own political career.
Long before Mr. Trump cried “witch hunt” and labeled the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, a “psychopath,” Mr. Berlusconi was denouncing a Communist plot brought by judges in “red robes” who were out to destroy him.
Persons:
ROME, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, it’s, Silvio Berlusconi, Berlusconi, Mr, Trump’s, strongmen, Long, Trump, Alvin Bragg, ” Mr
Organizations:
First, Mr
Locations:
Italian, Milan, First Republic, Manhattan