Donald Trump and Louisiana’s “Kingfish” Huey Long have often appeared to have much in common. Both were impeached only to be acquitted, and they share a talent for showmanship and commanding a loyal following. Populist was also a term applied to Trump’s MAGA movement and Long’s Share Our Wealth Clubs.

Lately, they share another distinction. They both destroyed parts of the mansions they resided in. Trump destroyed the East Wing of the White House; Long went one better, completely destroying the Louisiana Executive Mansion in Baton Rouge. And they did it without legislative approval.

Although Long had gone through the Board of Liquidation, they demanded that he seek the state legislature’s support. Conservatives protested; after all, they had tried to remove him from office. Long was impatient because of the delay and had the mansion torn down by convicts, courtesy of the warden of the State Penitentiary. This was in 1928 and was designed to humiliate his opponent.

Trump, one suspects, had the same idea since it paralleled his retribution campaign. He is not the first president to change the people’s house, but the difference was the abrupt way he commenced doing the deed. Perhaps his reasons were as Long described the situation, arguing that the mansion was a shambles. Long described his critics, who reminded him of a boarding house manager, “People have been wiping on that towel for a month without complaining. I don’t see what’s the matter with you.”

This type of performative flamboyance, however, is the only thing Trump and Long shared in common. It is doubtful that Long would have had a Russell Vought setting his priorities. Long, who could be terribly vindictive, more so than Trump, was shrewder in his execution of a retribution effort. After all, Long was a very good lawyer and thoroughly understood the system he governed.

As well, MAGA shows every sign of becoming unmoored to its “populist” priorities. Billionaires are the fashion after all; the projected ballroom looks like something out of the Gilded Age. Money is the standard of accomplishment, and social Darwinism, with its survival of the fittest credo, is the governing philosophy.

Forget healthcare or SNAP, the rich should be catered to because they are builders. Trump seems to believe that they will invest their money and restore a new manufacturing base. His philosophy conforms more with an older GOP philosophy, not populism.

Perhaps Trump will correct his course and return to the themes articulated during the campaign. But now he sends $40 billion to Argentina, with its comic-opera, chainsaw-wielding leader.

At this point, he appears more like the anti-Long leadership rather than Long.